May Day 1979. Kim Il-sung Square, Pyongyang, North Korea.Some 50,000 of my closest Korean friends and I thronged the plaza as dancers of all ages, dressed in traditional joseon-ot of many colors, swayed and swung to ancient Korean folk tunes.The international holiday for workers was celebrated in what was then ― and today even more so ― one of the last bastions of communism in the world.In one circle of 50 or so people, I clung to the hand of a pretty young woman as we spun round like Ferris whe

The White House said last week that President Obama will sign a controversial $662 billion defense authorization that permits indefinite detention without trial for some terrorism suspects and broadens the authorization for the use of force against people and groups “associated” with al-Qaida anywhere in the world. It’s the wrong choice.The bill, which passed the House Wednesday and the Senate on Thursday, is being advertised as a compromise with the administration, and indeed it includes provis

With the death of Kim Jong-il, the world is both a better and a more dangerous place. Better, because over his nearly two-decade rule of North Korea, Kim Jong-il killed or brutalized millions of his countrymen, illicitly spread nuclear technology and stoked regional tension and conflict. More dangerous, because Kim’s heir apparent, his son Kim Jong-un, is untested and unknown. Rumor has it that Kim Jong-un likes American basketball and expensive sneakers. He may be 28, or he may be 29. He may sp

If there is a reason famous people die in threes, imagine the lively debates Vaclav Havel, Kim Jong-il and Christopher Hitchens are having in eternity’s waiting room. Havel had long been on the Nobel Peace Prize short list for his role in bringing democracy to Czechoslovakia and central Europe. Were there an award for the opposite feat, destabilizing the world and playing a role in the deaths of millions, North Korean leader Kim would win easily. And the indefatigable Hitchens would be there to

Chinese hackers have redefined the concept of room service: In one recent attack, they infiltrated an Internet service provider to some of the world’s leading hotels, potentially gaining access to millions of confidential messages of traveling executives, as well as to the victims’ corporate networks. The electronic theft of proprietary information from U.S. companies has reached the level of grand larceny on a national scale. One declassified government estimate put the value of information sto

Any discussion of financial regulation and its chronic failures should start with a simple, jarring truth: It’s impossible to outregulate a banker. Each crisis in the financial sector brings calls for new rules, which take hold after much political jostling. Then we are supposed to sleep easier, certain that this time we are protected. We never are. Fresh rules are like antibodies, and banking ― much like viruses ― keeps evolving to outwit the regulations. Financial incentives tilt hugely in ban

I’ve had it with this useless, ongoing charade to “save Europe.” It’s time to get serious and consider jailing and impeaching some of these European Union member leaders for requisite incentive.Last week’s EU show was pathetic. It made me throw a pack of gummy bears at my television screen. You’d think these European leaders were actually in a position to save others when they can’t even save themselves as their own countries drown in debt.As every trained water rescuer knows, when faced with a

Are we witnessing the birth of the United States of Europe?There are uncanny similarities between the current round of wheeling and dealing and the founding of the United States of America. The Philadelphia Convention of 1787 represented America’s second try at continental union. In 1781, the 13 states had come together behind a treaty-constitution that broadly resembles present European arrangements.America’s first effort was the Articles of Confederation. Like the European Union treaties, it g

Want to know why Japan’s earthquake recovery efforts are moving in slow motion? Ask the whales. Tokyoites have grown accustomed to shocking news items since the earth shook and the oceans rose: the nuclear meltdown has proven far worse than the government admitted; radioactive cesium made its way into baby food; more leaks were found in the damaged Fukushima reactor; warnings by seismologists still go unheeded. Yet the tale of the whales and the $30 million is what proved most disturbing ― and s

It was one of those uncomfortable moments when you suddenly realize you’re in the wrong place, that you’re a rube from the sticks in a sophisticated city whose customs you don’t quite understand.Politico was recently sponsoring a “Washington Year in Review” symposium, and they’d invited me to be part of the energy panel. So even though I’d spent barely three weeks in Washington this year (and the most memorable nights were spent in its central cellblock for protesting outside the White House to