Providence made me a citizen of the Republic of Korea. I lived under the rule of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for three months during the Korean War. But afterward I was blessed to be on the southern side of the line that divides the Korean Peninsula in two. Sometimes, I find myself drifting in the fantasy of living on the other side of the line by some vagary of God’s will.My wife is a refugee from North Korea. Her family, whose ancestors lived for centuries in Hwanghae Province, s

While largely unnoticed under the stack of North Korea-related news, an alarming and embarrassing report has been released. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce submitted its 2013 report to U.S. Congress, in which it had designated 10 countries as having engaged in IUU fishing activities: Colombia, Ecuador, Ghana, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Spain, Tanzania, Venezuela and South Korea. IUU is an acronym for Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing a

When a tragic incident or disaster happens, we all wish we could go back in time to prevent the unfortunate incident from unfolding. There are a number of American movies that precisely portray such fantasies. “Deja Vu,” for example, implicitly reflects the American people’s secret wish to time-travel and alter disastrous events such as 9/11. “Retroactive,” deals more explicitly with the theme of returning to the past to prevent a murder. “Back to the Future,” too, comically depicts the protagon

What to do about Kim Jong-un, the world’s greatest showman, who is noisily threatening a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula and preparing to test a missile that could reach Guam?Politicians and pundits are furiously debating the answer, but I’ve heard no ideas likely to persuade North Korea’s twenty-something leader to behave better. That is, until Tuesday, when a prominent South Korean legislator suggested a response that would be bitterly opposed by Washington (and Beijing and Pyongyang).I co

KHARKIV, UKRAINE ― Prison is always a place of mourning. But perhaps learning of Margaret Thatcher’s death in this place is grimly appropriate, because it made me remember the imprisoned society of my youth that Thatcher did so much to set free. For many of us who grew up in the Soviet Union and its satellites in Eastern Europe, Margaret Thatcher will always be a heroine. Not only did she espouse the cause of freedom ― particularly economic freedom ― in Britain and the West; by proclaiming Mikha

NEW YORK ― The Indian Supreme Court’s refusal to uphold the patent on Gleevec, the blockbuster cancer drug developed by the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, is good news for many of those in India suffering from cancer. If other developing countries follow India’s example, it will be good news elsewhere, too: more money could be devoted to other needs, whether fighting AIDS, providing education, or making investments that enable growth and poverty reduction.But the Indian decision also means

So far, the much-dreaded “sequester” ― some $85 billion in federal spending cuts between March and September 30 ― hasn’t been evident to most Americans.The dire warnings that had been issued from the White House beforehand ― threatening that Social Security checks would be delayed, airport security checks would be clogged and other federal facilities closed ― seem to have been overblown.Sure, March’s employment report was a big disappointment. But it’s hard to see any direct connection between t