Wall Street Journal (March 27)
“North Korean leader Kim Jong Un paid a surprise visit to China this week, in his first known foreign trip since taking power in late 2011.” With upcoming U.S. and South Korean summits approaching, “analysts say the trip appears to be an effort to mend fences with Beijing, as Washington stakes out a tougher line on denuclearization talks planned for May.”
Tags: Analyst, China, Denuclearization, Kim, North Korea, South Korea, Summits, U.S.
The Economist (February 3)
University degrees are becoming more widespread. In South Korea, for example, 70% “of pupils who graduate from the country’s secondary schools now go straight to university… up from 37% in 2000.” The cost of a degree is also rising and evidence suggests ROI is falling. Still, “most young people will want a degree. It may not boost their earnings as much as they had hoped, but without one, they will probably fare even worse,” as a degree has also become the entry level threshold for many positions.
Tags: Cost, Degrees, Earnings, Entry level, ROI, South Korea, Threshold, University, Widespread
Time (November 22)
“The defection, subsequent surgeries and slow recovery of the soldier have riveted South Korea, but it will be a huge embarrassment for the North, which claims all defections are the result of rival Seoul kidnapping or enticing North Koreans to defect. Pyongyang has said nothing about the defection so far.”
Tags: Defection, Defections, Embarrassment, Kidnapping, North Korea, Recovery, Soldier, South Korea, Surgeries
Newsweek (October 25)
“The power of a U.S. passport has plummeted under President Donald Trump. American passports have now fallen behind those of 18 countries in terms of global mobility—a staggering collapse…. In 2015, the United States tied for first place with the United Kingdom on the list; last year, it slipped to fourth place. Americans now trails 18 countries, including Belgium, Japan, Sweden and first-place Singapore.” Japan tied for fourth place behind Singapore, Germany, Sweden and South Korea.
Tags: Belgium, Collapse, Germany, Global mobility, Japan, Passport, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Trump, U.S., UK
ABC News (September 18)
Progress could involve an “active containment” strategy “using existing military capabilities, by forming a missile defense perimeter in international waters surrounding North Korea that would knock down every missile launched.” Not only is the idea currently feasible, it could be achieved relatively simply. “Just two U.S., Japanese, or Korean destroyers in international waters off North Korea could form this missile defense perimeter…. Intercepts could be calculated to occur outside of North Korean airspace, and to have the debris fall harmlessly into the ocean.”
Tags: Active containment, Airspace, Destroyers, Intercepts, International waters, Japan, Military capabilities, Missile defense, North Korea, Progress, South Korea, Strategy, U.S.
Korea Times (September 15)
South Koreans were not pleased by an editorial in the English version of the state-run People’s Daily, which stated “”Korean conservatives have become stupid after eating too much kimchi.” In response, the Korea Times noted that “being a state mouthpiece, the paper is deceitful as well,” before taking a shot at Chinese journalists. “People do not become stupid only because they eat specific foods. They become so because they are unable to think logically due to blind emotion or obedience (to government authorities).”
Tags: China, Conservatives, Deceitful, Journalists, Kimchi, Mouthpiece, Obedience, People's Daily, South Korea, Stupid
The Economist (September 2)
“After pausing his missile tests just long enough for America’s secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, to say that Mr Kim was showing ‘restraint’, and for Mr Trump himself to claim to have Mr Kim’s ‘respect’, North Korea’s dictator unleashed three short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan.” Then Mr Kim shot an intermediate-range missile over Hokkaido, leaving many on edge. Despite this menace, it remains “striking that in Japan and South Korea, many fear Mr Trump’s unpredictability even more than Mr Kim’s.”
Tags: Hokkaido, Kim, Missile tests, North Korea, Respect, Restraint, Sea of Japan, South Korea, Tillerson, Trump, U.S., Unpredictability
The Korea Times (August 13)
“In South Korea, frustration is increasing more over Trump’s loose lips than the North’s provocations. The reason is not that South Koreans have any brotherly love left for their northern neighbors. But from their experience living with the time bomb to the north, they think the real risk comes from Trump’s mouth. Their fear is backed by the market—foreign investors are in a sign of nervousness taking their money out of the country, albeit not at an alarming level so far.”
Tags: Fear, Frustration, Investors, Loose lips, Market, Nervousness, North Korea, Risk, South Korea, Trump
The Economist (August 5)
“It is odd that North Korea causes so much trouble. It is not exactly a superpower. Its economy is only a fiftieth as big as that of its democratic capitalist cousin, South Korea. Americans spend twice its total GDP on their pets.” And yet everyone is wondering what to do with this rogue. “There are no good options to curb Kim Jong Un.” But a first strike or “blundering into war would be the worst… The world must keep calm and contain Mr Kim.”
Tags: Blundering, Capitalist, Contain, Democratic, Economy, First strike, GDP, Kim Jong Un, North Korea, Pets, Rogue, South Korea, Superpower, Trouble, U.S.
New York Times (June 13)
“Tensions are reaching a dangerous pitch on the Korean Peninsula, testing the leadership of South Korea’s new president, Moon Jae-in…. In effect, Mr. Moon finds himself pincered between two rival powers, China and the United States, while facing an existential threat from the dictator next door.”
Tags: China, Dangerous, Dictator, Existential threat, Korean Peninsula, Leadership, Moon, Rival powers, South Korea, Tensions, U.S.
