Jun 30, 2012

North Korea needs a new direction

A half year has passed since the Dec. 17, 2011, death of former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. The “military first” policy is his legacy. North Korea’s new leader, Kim Jong Un, his youngest son, should pursue the path of giving priority to ...

Apr 21, 2012

Conservative comeback in S. Korea

Conservatives eked out a surprising victory in National Assembly elections in South Korea last week. Capitalizing on voter anger at President Lee Myung Bak and a general anxiety over economic prospects, progressives were expected to prevail in the ballot. The outcome is a likely ...

Apr 14, 2012

North Korea's failure that provokes

North Korea on Friday failed in its anticipated satellite launch, with the rocket splintering into pieces. The North should not attempt another launch or nuclear test, which will only contribute to heightening tensions in the region. The launch came after its young leader Kim ...

Mar 22, 2012

Provocative rocket launch plan

North Korea on March 16 announced that it will launch a rocket mounted with an Earth observation satellite in mid-April. It insists that every nation has a right to pursue peaceful use of outer space. But given its nuclear weapons program, it is not ...

Mar 9, 2012

Breakthrough is close, again

by Ralph Cossa

The recent “food for freeze” agreement between the United States and North Korea has been described accurately by the State Department as reflecting “important, if limited, progress” and inaccurately by the media as constituting a “breakthrough” in the seemingly endless march toward Korean Peninsula ...

Mar 4, 2012

Small step in the right direction

The United States and North Korea have found common ground. Washington and Pyongyang announced on Wednesday that the North would stop nuclear and missile provocations as the U.S. would proceed with the provision of food aid. This seeming consensus should open the door to ...

Jan 12, 2012

U.S. overlooks the true tolls of its wars

by John Tirman

As the United States officially ended the war in Iraq last month, President Barack Obama spoke eloquently at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, lauding troops for “your patriotism, your commitment to fulfill your mission, your abiding commitment to one another,” and offering words of grief ...

Jan 11, 2012

Does promise or peril await in North Korea?

by Javier Solana

Two days after Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s leader, died in a train in his country, South Korean authorities still knew nothing about it. Meanwhile, American officials seemed at a loss, with the State Department at first merely acknowledging that press reports had mentioned ...

Jan 6, 2012

Mr. Kim Jong Un's direction

There are signs that following the death on Dec. 17 of North Korean “Dear Leader” Kim Jong Il, his youngest son Kim Jong Un is consolidating his power as the new leader. But it is unclear what direction his foreign policy will take. Japan ...