John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — The impending launch of a North Korean ballistic missile has as much to do with the propaganda goal of putting a satellite into orbit as to serve as a less than subtle bullying to neighboring states all undergoing a period of political transition. Though Pyongyang has forewarned regional governments […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com WASHINGTON — Shin Dong-Hyuk has an unequivocal message for anyone contemplating a trip to North Korea: Don’t go, you’re only aiding and abetting a money-hungry regime. Shin, who remains the only person to have escaped from North Korea’s notorious Camp 14, offered that blunt view at a session […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Tis’ the season in the General Assembly for some serious if generally overlooked work and reports. An Assembly committee has soundly condemned the continuing human and political rights abuses in three global transgressors; Syria, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the quaintly titled Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, aka […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com The spectacle of the ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh did more to lay bare the problems, conflicts and paradoxes of relations among the region’s wildly different and widely scattered nations than to resolve them. The fact that at least three of the leaders at this year’s ASEAN summit […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com SEOUL — Several additional senior North Korean officials favored by the country’s late leader Kim Jong-Il have been recently dismissed from their posts by new ruler Kim Jong-Un, who is cementing his own power base, officials and sources in Seoul say. Among those sacked in October are Minister […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com What are the experts thinking when they talk in learned tones, replete with facts and stats, about issues and conditions for North-South Korean reunification, the pitfalls and problems, but omit passing mention of one of the most awful obstacles? At a conference this week bearing the portentous title, […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com They formed one of the oddest, blood-stained duos in Asian history. Cambodia’s king and prince and then king again, Norodom Sihanouk, bonded with North Korea’s “Great Leader” Kim Il-Sung for reasons that had to do with their mutual hatred of the United States. Never did the adage, the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea — North Korea’s youthful new dictator Kim Jong-Un’s frequent visits to front-line military bases have put residents of this border island on alert over fears that the North will launch another deadly artillery attack similar to the one in November 2010. While fishermen continue […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com SEOUL — North Korea has formed a task force to overhaul the reclusive country’s rigid economic management under new ruler Kim Jong-Un’s reform initiatives, South Korea’s intelligence officials said. The task force is reviewing a set of economic measures drafted on June 28 that focus on improving the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com SEOUL — Ri Yong-Ho, the most ardent supporter of late North Korean ruler Kim Jong-Il’s “military-first” policy, was purged because he had complained about youthful new ruler Kim Jong-Un’s push for policy changes, sources and officials in Seoul say. But Ri’s dismissal could encourage his supporters and hardline […]
