The Korea Herald

[Yoon Young-kwan] Dangerous game of chicken

Aug 16, 2017

So far, the war between US President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un over the latter’s nuclear program has been fought only in words. But each turn of the rhetorical screw deepens the risk that, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, “jaw-jaw” could turn into “war-war.”Last month, following North Korea’s second intercontinental ballistic missile test of the summer, the United Nations Security Council unanimously agreed to impose new and even stricter sanctions on the tiny country. T
[Katharine H.S. Moon] Can S. Korea save the day?

Aug 16, 2017

As North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump’s war of words escalates, National Liberation Day celebrations -- commemorating the Korean Peninsula’s 1945 freedom from Japanese colonial rule -- have unfolded in both North and South Korea. The occasion underscores not just the shared history between the two countries, but also the South’s unique qualifications to bring about a peaceful resolution to the current military standoff.As much as Kim may enjoy threatening the most po
[Daniel Moss] Japan’s booming -- now it needs more immigrants

Aug 16, 2017

Japan has served its time as a symbol of economic failure. Its latest growth surge puts it in a welcome new role.The country’s demographics, according to conventional wisdom, are supposed to be bad for the economy. Instead, Japan unexpectedly shot to the top of Group of Seven club, with its gross domestic product notching 4 percent annual growth last quarter. That easily outpaced the 2.6 percent recorded in the US during the same period.The biggest gains were in consumption and business spending
[Dan K. Thomasson] Loudmouth Trump putting world at risk

Aug 16, 2017

What ever happened to Theodore Roosevelt’s admonition to “speak softly and carry a big stick”? Oh, that’s right, Donald Trump doesn’t spend much time studying history -- or anything else.Granted, things have changed more than a bit since the hero of San Juan Hill sat in the Oval Office. These days, the big stick has a nuclear tip, and the stakes are much higher.But President Trump’s gone and broken the foreign policy mold set by his predecessors by provoking North Korean leadership into threats
[Minxin Pei] China’s ‘double-freeze’ con

Aug 15, 2017

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un says the United States will pay a “thousandfold for all the heinous crimes” it has committed against his country. US President Donald Trump warns that North Korea will experience “fire and fury like the world has never seen.” Kim threatens to fire four missiles at the US territory of Guam. Trump promises that Kim “will truly regret it” and “regret it fast” if he follows through on that threat, or issues another.As the unprecedented exchange of white-hot rhetoric
[Robert J. Fouser] What happened to “Hell Joseon?”

Aug 15, 2017

Remember “Hell Joseon,” the name for South Korea among social critics that spread rapidly on social media a few years ago? The election of President Moon Jae-in in May after the impeachment of Park Geun-hye stirred new hope in Korea, helping to push Hell Joseon to the sidelines. President Moon has initiated reforms and has offered reassuring leadership amid sharply rising tensions between the US and North Korea. The public has approved, and his approval rating has not dropped below 70 percent si
[James Gibney] The new world order is leaving the US behind

Aug 15, 2017

Of all the global consequences of President Donald Trump’s first half-year, surely one of the most surprising is the rise in multilateral diplomacy.After all, this is the guy who came into office pledging to put “America First.” He downgraded the security guarantees of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to a definite maybe -- and only if its members ponied up more defense dollars. The Iran nuclear pact was “the worst deal ever,” and the Paris accord on climate change wasn’t much better. The
[Susan Southard] Nuclear terror, still a threat after 72 years

Aug 15, 2017

This week marked the 72nd anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. At 11:02 a.m. Aug. 9, 1945, a five-ton plutonium bomb exploded around 530 meters above the city. Its blast winds tore through the city at 21/2 times the speed of a category five hurricane.Two-year-old Masao Tomonaga was asleep in his home while his mother worked in another room. Within seconds of the blast, their house imploded on top of them. Remarkably, both survived. At 2.73 meters from the bomb’s hypocenter, they were o
[Kim Seong-kon] Korea caught between Scylla and Charybdis

Aug 15, 2017

Recently foreign readers wrote me that they would like to know what young Koreans think of the current political climate of the Korean Peninsula and what South Korea can and should do under the circumstances. In their eyes, Korea is now helplessly caught between a rock and a hard place. I conversed with young Koreans only to be disappointed by their indifference and apathy. Their primary concern was to find a decent job and live comfortably in material abundance. As for national security, they s
[Eli Lake] The alternative to nuclear war is a revolution

Aug 14, 2017

The most depressing aspect of the current North Korean crisis is that even if Donald Trump wins, he loses.Despite doubling down on his rhetoric of “fire and fury” and deriding his predecessors for failed negotiations, Trump looks like he wants to eventually strike a deal with the nation’s tyrant, Kim Jong-un. Just look at what Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is doing. Trump threatens war and Tillerson promises no regime change. Remember it was only a few months ago that Trump said he would be h
[Bloomberg] Don’t play North Korea’s game

Aug 14, 2017

Immediately after a notable diplomatic win -- unanimous backing at the United Nations for tougher sanctions against North Korea -- President Donald Trump undid much of the benefit by exchanging useless threats of nuclear annihilation with the rogue regime. Instead of playing North Korea’s game of reckless propaganda, Trump should be quietly piling on the pressure while showing more clearly that he’s willing to talk.The president’s threat to rain down “fire and fury” on the North doesn’t change t
[Trudy Rubin] Trump’s loose lips could sink us all

Aug 14, 2017

Here’s the good news about the crisis over North Korea.We are not going to war. Donald Trump is not going to nuke Pyongyang, reckless, rhetorical threats to the contrary. Nor is North Korea’s Kim Jong-un going to nuke Guam.Yes, I know the president just threatened to meet any more North Korean threats to the United States “with fire and fury like the world has never seen.” This is the kind of extreme military rhetoric by a US president the world has never seen, except by Harry S. Truman before b
[Martin Schram] Rewinding the world to the days of duck and cover

Aug 14, 2017

It’s been more than a half century since America’s grade school children learned how to properly fear the nuclear bomb -- and protect themselves from it -- back in the dark daze of the Cold War.Children of the era learned their self-protection lesson well from the cartoon star of “Duck and Cover,” Bert the Turtle. “Bert is a very, very careful fellow,” the announcer says, as Bert suddenly vanishes inside his shell. All you can see are his eyes peering out.“When there’s danger, this is the way he
[Ann McFeatters] Trump and Kim: Bullies with bad haircuts and unfit to lead

Aug 14, 2017

Much has been made of the silly, weird, contrived hairstyles of America’s president and North Korea’s Dear Leader.The incredible gold helmet that finds no parallel in nature. The side-shaved mop top that astonishes with ugliness.Unfortunately, the comparisons do not stop there.Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un were both spoiled rich bullies growing up with unusual appetites for food, expensive toys and women. They both had father complexes. They both crave daily doses of flattery and adulation. And t
[David Ignatius] US can’t go it alone against NK

Aug 13, 2017

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has defiance in his blood. It’s said his grandfather once asked what would happen if America defeated North Korea in war, to which his father answered: “If we lose, I will be sure to destroy the Earth. What good is the Earth without North Korea?”President Trump has decided to confront what’s probably the most reckless, risk-taking regime on the planet. His hope for a diplomatic solution depends on convincing North Korea and China that he’s ready for the “fire and