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Mon, October 22, 2018 | 17:54

Opinion > Columnists > Donald Kirk >

Courting dictators

WASHINGTON - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, meet North Korea Chairman Kim Jong-un. These two have a lot in common. They're both in their early 30s. Both have almost unbridled power in their own kingdoms and ways of getting rid of their enemies.

Donald Kirk | 2018-10-18 17:35

Bargaining for peace

WASHINGTON - How about Pope Francis inspiring millions of the faithful in North Korea as he did in South Korea four years ago? Can we picture highly organized throngs cheering him on the way in from Pyongyang's sparkling new international airport, blessing one and all while host Kim Jong-un smiles happily beside him in the limo?

Donald Kirk | 2018-10-11 17:19

All news, all day

WASHINGTON _ Foreign observers may be wondering why the case of a teen-aged boy molesting a teen-aged girl 36 years ago should sweep other news off American front pages. Koreans in particular might want to know why this transgression reaches the same proportions as did their Candlelight Revolution of two years ago when a million or so turned out nightly to protest a regime seen as corrupt and abusive.

Donald Kirk | 2018-10-04 17:03

On the road to peace

WASHINGTON - The road to peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula is so full of potholes and pitfalls, twists and turns, that it's impossible to imagine where and how the process will end.

Donald Kirk | 2018-09-27 17:48

Awakening from nuclear nightmares

Stephen King, author of global best-selling novels of horror and fantasy, has written about the craving for horror stories, books and films. He thinks all of us are more or less "mentally ill," but most of us hide or sublimate our worst instincts. From there he tries to answer why we sit through horror movies that frighten us.

Donald Kirk | 2018-09-20 17:57

NY Times versus Trump

WASHINGTON - We hear so much speculation as to who wrote the infamous, anonymous New York Times op-ed, “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration,” it's surprising we hear not a word about whether the piece was actually an inside job.

Donald Kirk | 2018-09-13 17:03

No trusting Trump

WASHINGTON - Here in the swamp of the American capital, you appreciate how easy it is to forget about Korea when North Korea isn't firing missiles and testing warheads or, conversely, when no one's talking about another summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un.

Donald Kirk | 2018-09-06 17:28

Searching for peace

The U.S.-Korea alliance is at a crossroads, and the North Koreans think they know what to do to send Washington and Seoul in different directions. How about demanding, repeatedly, a “peace declaration” that President Moon Jae-in also thinks would be great? Everybody wants peace. Nobody wants Korean War II, so why not all the protagonists in the first Korean War, North and South Koreans, Americans, Chinese too, sign a paper declaring the war's over and let us now live in everlasting peace.

Donald Kirk | 2018-08-30 17:33

Hosting reunions for power and influence

The bait of reunions of members of families divided by the Korean War has got to be about the most cynical ploy devised by the North Koreans to exploit human suffering for no reason other than to inflict cruel punishment on defenseless people.

Donald Kirk | 2018-08-23 17:11

Sweltering with summit fever

Summit fever these days is as hot as the weather. We face weeks of heated debate in the run-up to a third summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korea's Kim Jong-un and maybe a second summit between President Donald Trump and Kim. The Moon-Kim summit is going to test Moon's willingness to stand up to Kim.

Donald Kirk | 2018-08-16 16:55

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