author

 
 

Meta

Yoon Young-kwan
For Yoon Young-kwan's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2023
How China lost Asia
China’s efforts to bully its neighbors into acquiescing to its demands have not only failed, they have led Asia"s democracies to deepen cooperation with the United States.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 18, 2023
South Korea, like Japan, advances a new strategic posture
Seoul and Tokyo"s historical enmity may be consigned to the past as the two face a rapidly changing geopolitical environment.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2020
The shape of Asia's new cold war
Asian leaders should assess the Sino-American conflict across three distinct but related dimensions.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2018
Getting to yes with Kim Jong Un
Only bold political decisions and realistic prudence can lead to the denuclearization of North Korea.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2018
From Pyeongchang to peace?
Kim's charm offensive is aimed at resurrecting the North's sanction-battered economy.
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2017
Moon's South Korean Ostpolitik
South Korean President Moon Jae-in will attemp to revive an updated version of the Sunshine Policy to improve ties with North Korea.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 22, 2017
The art of the North Korean deal
Unless the North Korea problem is separated from the strategic competition between the U.S. and China, diplomatic efforts will continue to fail.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2016
Brexit marks the start of an anti-globalization era
Brexit marks the beginning of the end of the latest era of globalization.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2015
A Helsinki-type process could work for Koreas
The recent military tension between Seoul and Pyongyang shows that an institutional framework for permanent inter-Korean peace is more urgent than ever.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 7, 2015
Realizing rapprochements with rogue states
With a regime as volatile as North Korea's, patience is never a virtue. The U.S. should begin informal contact with the North to probe Kim Jong Un's intentions.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 6, 2014
An opportunity for Abe and Xi
One reason for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping's newfound flexibility toward each other may be domestic political shifts in both countries that have created a more equal balance between conservative, nationalist groups and more internationally oriented business interests.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2014
Tensions will rise in Asia until China and the U.S. talk
If a direct confrontation between China and its neighbors is to be avoided, meeting the perceived "China threat" will demand that the region's political leaders address their disputes in more creative ways. And the U.S. and China must talk.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2013
Leadership vacuum begs for a Sino-U.S. accord
A comprehensive Sino-U.S. economic partnership — which is what the world really needs — will be impossible unless the U.S. recognizes China as an equal partner.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 10, 2013
China's pivot toward North Korea
It's time for China to rebalance its traditional geostrategic interests with its role as a global leader. That calls for a policy of disciplined engagement toward North Korea.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 4, 2013
Getting real on North Korea
The task in addressing North Korea's saber-rattling is made no easier by the world's having to confront an impoverished and effectively defeated country.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 1, 2013
Wake-up call for Asia's leaders
Whether East Asia's politicians and pundits like it or not, the region's current international relations are more akin to those of Europe before World War I.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 28, 2011
What will become of North Korea?
According to North Korean state television, the heart attack that killed Kim Jong Il on Dec. 17 was "due to severe mental and physical stress from overwork."
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 1, 2011
Strong trilateral ties in Asia are key to stability
Like many regions of the world, Northeast Asia faces severe political challenges in creating a viable structure of peace. But given China's rising power, such a regional structure is becoming all the more necessary if today's lack of trust is not to devolve into military antagonism.
OLYMPICS
May 5, 2011
The least that East Asians can do to cooperate
As China continues its unremitting rise, people throughout East Asia are wondering whether their states will ever be able to achieve the peaceful, stable relations that now characterize Europe. Given the regularity of serious diplomatic spats — over everything from tiny atolls in the South China Sea to the legacy of World War II — this may sound like an elusive dream. But, with nationalism and military budgets rising sharply, achieving consensual stability has become imperative for the region.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2010
Seoul's opportunity amid economic change
SEOUL — Hubris usually gives birth to disaster. The root cause of the current global crisis was intellectual hubris in the form of the blind belief that markets would always resolve their own problems and contradictions. Thirty years after the Reagan-Thatcher revolution, the ideological pendulum has begun to swing in the opposite direction.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world