Think of the North Korean problem as a set of two dangerous streams of activity, moving rapidly toward each other. One is the increasing range of the Kim Jong-un regime’s intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are now verifiably in the 3,000 to 4,000 mile range -- probably far enough to strike the continental US.The other stream consists of the North Koreans’ efforts to produce reliable nuclear weapons small enough to affix to the warheads of those ballistic missiles. Both US intelligence se

Persuading a dangerous country to abandon its ambition for nuclear weapons is akin to a two-horse race. In one lane is the adversary (say, North Korea) galloping ahead as quickly as possible toward ever greater levels of destructive capacity. In the other is the rest of the world (or whatever coalition of responsible nations can be cobbled together), using carrots and sticks to compel the adversary to slow, stop and ultimately reverse its course.The finish line (you could call it a red line) var

In July 2015, the Character Education Promotion Act was introduced and enforced for the purpose of educating citizens with a heathy mind.The Character Education Promotion Act was institutionalized as a required curriculum in character education. The purpose of the act is to contribute to the development of our society by educating citizens of sound and upright character. The character education entails cultivating one’s internal self and raising various faculties necessary to cope with others an

When North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile this week -- what its boy tyrant called a “gift to the American bastards” -- the response from the Trump administration was fairly conventional.Secretary of State Rex Tillerson correctly called it an escalation. He announced America’s intention to bring the matter before the UN Security Council. And he assured, “We will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea.”If that sounds familiar, it’s because not tolerating a nuclear North Korea

President Donald Trump still seems to think that pressuring China to rein in North Korea’s Kim Jong-un is the best way to push back against the rogue state’s nuclear expansion, most recently in the form of testing an intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach Alaska.This approach hasn’t worked so far and there’s a reason: Chinese President Xi Jinping has no strong reason to object to a North Korean nuclear insurance policy against the threat of being overthrown by the US.China values re

President Donald Trump said back in January it would never happen, but it did. North Korea successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, meaning it could maybe someday hit the West Coast with a nuclear weapon. Here is a major concern demanding answers, and here is one thing that will not work.That would be for Trump to send North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a video in which the president grabs him, throws him to the ground and starts punching him in the face.Trump’s juvenile foray a

Less than two months in her position as the first lady, Kim Jung-sook is on second visit abroad.Accompanying President Moon Jae-in to the annual G-20 summit in Germany, Kim has her own itinerary as well, the first stop being a visit to Korean-born composer Isang Yun’s grave in Berlin. It was a bold move, given the controversy surrounding the composer who had ties with North Korea. He was abducted from Germany by the Korean Central Intelligence Agency in 1967 and sentenced to life in prison on sp