How many Edward Snowdens are there and why aren’t we tracking N. Korea?

How many Edward Snowdens are there and why aren’t we tracking N. Korea?

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com Sometimes you have to wonder when reading the top stories how much people are really thinking about some of the implications. Take this running story about Edward Snowden. It’s a fun read, and it would not be a good idea to put him in jail for a lot […]

Forgotten then and unreported now: The bloodletting inspired by ‘Maoism’

Forgotten then and unreported now: The bloodletting inspired by ‘Maoism’

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com NEW DELHI — The late “Great Leader” Kim Il-Sung no doubt drew upon the teachings of Mao Zedong when he formulated his philosophy of “juche” or self-reliance, but one word you never hear on visits to North Korea is “Maoism.” If North Korea recognizes Mao Zedong as an […]

North Korea missile tests seen advancing the threat south of Seoul

North Korea missile tests seen advancing the threat south of Seoul

Special to WorldTribune.com By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com SEOUL — North Korea is thought to be progressing with the development of KN-02 ballistic missiles and is also testing longer range 300 mm-caliber rockets that can reach beyond Seoul to strike U.S. bases, military sources here said. The North launched six short-range projectiles from the country’s east coast — […]

Kim Jong-Un shifts focus to economy from military escalation

Kim Jong-Un shifts focus to economy from military escalation

Special to WorldTribune.com By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un who mobilized the military and threatened U.S. allies with Weapons of Mass Destruction for the past months has shifted his focus to the economic front. On March 31, the Workers’ Party adopted the country’s “new strategic course of parallel economic construction and nuclear weapons development […]

N. Korean paratroopers exercise near China to block defections; border villages demolished

N. Korean paratroopers exercise near China to block defections; border villages demolished

Special to WorldTribune.com By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com North Korean troops have demolished villages near the border with China and forcibly relocated residents to prevent defections that could threaten the Kim Jong-Un regime, sources in Seoul said. “North Korea has been tearing down villages along the Duman (Tumen) River and relocating villagers to places further from the border,” […]

Kim’s absence from public view triggers speculation about the hierarchy in Pyongyang

Kim’s absence from public view triggers speculation about the hierarchy in Pyongyang

Special to WorldTribune.com By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s two-week absence from the state media propaganda feed coincided with a reduction in the stream of belligerent threats against South Korea and the West. This has in turn triggered speculation of a coup against the youthful dictator. But government officials and analysts in […]

Tail wags the dog: U.S. policy of outsourcing N. Korea crisis to China has failed

Tail wags the dog: U.S. policy of outsourcing N. Korea crisis to China has failed

Special to WorldTribune.com By Parris H. Chang In diplomacy, an inch can be longer than a foot, and the weak can wield greater leverage over the strong. This is why North Korea, a rogue state, impoverished and vulnerable is able to irritate, bully and even threaten the two superpowers, the U.S. and China. For many […]

What would the Iron Lady have done about North Korea?

What would the Iron Lady have done about North Korea?

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com Memories and images of Margaret Thatcher and her legacy as displayed in the media this week evoke an obvious question: What would the Iron Lady have done about North Korea? The answer would seem clear. It’s hard to imagine the woman who dispatched troops to the Falklands in […]

Beijing troop movements foreshadow upheaval in neighboring N. Korea

Beijing troop movements foreshadow upheaval in neighboring N. Korea

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com Communist Party General Secretary and commander-in-chief Xi Jinping has asked the nation’s military and police forces to take full precautions regarding the possible collapse of the Kim Jung-Un regime. Chinese sources close to the foreign-policy establishment said earlier this week that Xi, who chairs the Communist Party’s Central […]

Calling N. Korea’s hand: Decades after Hiroshima, proliferation threat becomes real

Calling N. Korea’s hand: Decades after Hiroshima, proliferation threat becomes real

Sol W. Sanders   A bitter and unresolved struggle behind the scenes for control of North Korea, the world’s most regressive regime, is the likeliest explanation for Pyongyang’s unprecedented deluge of threats against South Korea, the U.S. and Japan. For heavy hangs the head of Kim Jong-Un, heir to the world’s only Communist monarchy, a […]