Kim Jong-Un speeding up generation shift, may have sidelined powerful stepmother

Kim Jong-Un speeding up generation shift, may have sidelined powerful stepmother

Special to WorldTribune.com By East-Asia-Intel.com”>Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com North Korea’s newly-installed ruler Kim Jong-Un has been accelerating efforts to form his own independent power base, placing individuals loyal to him in key positions of authority after purging a number of potential rivals, sources in Seoul said. “A series of reshuffles are undergoing in the Party, the […]

Tale of two brothers: Speaking out costly for older? Silence is golden for the kid

Tale of two brothers: Speaking out costly for older? Silence is golden for the kid

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com SEOUL — The youngest son keeps his mouth shut, and the oldest one talks too much. Clearly, the silent one knows what’s best for him as he plays the title role bequeathed to him by his late father, North Korea’s “Dear Leader” Kim Jong-Il. Kim Jong-Un is showing […]

N. Korean hell on earth: Purges, gulags for unconvincing mourning loom

N. Korean hell on earth: Purges, gulags for unconvincing mourning loom

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com The rise of the son as “supreme commander” of North Korea’s armed forces gives rise to nostalgia. Already the reign of the father is beginning to seem like the good old days. At least as long as Kim Jong-Il was around a certain sense of security prevailed. South […]

2012: What a year and it’s just starting!

2012: What a year and it’s just starting!

John J. Metzler NEW YORK — It’s once again time to peer into the foggy crystal ball and try to decipher the future political trends and events. Indeed, after the roller-coaster year of 2011, it’s hard to imagine that 2012 could hold some equally disquieting social, political and economic turmoil. But few predicted the sweeping […]

TOP STORY, 2000-2011 — Move over Tiger: N. Korea’s Kim shot 38 under par his 1st time out

TOP STORY, 2000-2011 — Move over Tiger: N. Korea’s Kim shot 38 under par his 1st time out

Special to WorldTribune.com EAST-ASIA-INTEL.com     Wednesday, June 16, 2004 South Korea’s Pyeonghwa (Peace) Motors Corporation plans to stage an inter-Korean golf game next month in the North’s capital city of Pyongyang, company officials say. “We have agreed with North Korean authorities to hold a friendly golf competition between the two Koreas from July 30 to Aug. […]

Potentially explosive movements on a volatile Asian chessboard

Potentially explosive movements on a volatile Asian chessboard

Sol W. Sanders A new era of increasing instability is opening in East Asia. The death of North Korean leader Kim Il-Jong is only adding another, if explosive, element to an already volatile equation: China enters a period of substantially slower economic growth, if not a crash, on the eve next autumn of a takeover […]

The Kim is dead, long live the Kim!

The Kim is dead, long live the Kim!

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com SEOUL — The death of bouffant-coiffed, platform-heel wearing North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il on Saturday ushers in a new era of rampant speculation, pontification and no doubt obfuscation about what’s really going on inside the Hermit Kingdom. The fact is that Kim Jong-Il late last week appeared just […]

N. Korean ruler Kim Jong-Il dead at 69

N. Korean ruler Kim Jong-Il dead at 69

PYONGYANG, North Korea — Kim Jong-Il, North Korea’s mercurial and enigmatic leader, has died. He was 69. In a “special broadcast” Monday from the North Korean capital, state media said Kim died of a heart ailment on a train due to a “great mental and physical strain” on Dec. 17 during a “high intensity field […]

Video backs reports N. Korea’s military ordered to shoot to kill refugees escaping into China

Video backs reports N. Korea’s military ordered to shoot to kill refugees escaping into China

By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com North Korea’s military has been ordered to shoot anyone crossing the border into China, even if they had reached Chinese soil. The directive was issued by Kim Jong-Il’s son and heir-apparent, Kim Jong-Un, who is seeking to tighten his grip on the populace, activists and media reports from Seoul say. It […]