Jan 3, 2012

Unnerving year for Northeast Asia

While 2011 was “the great unraveling,” 2012 holds out the prospect of equally consequential changes for Asia, but the inflection points are visible well ahead of time. The most notable feature of the calendar will be elections that are scheduled to be held throughout ...

Dec 12, 2010

Shortages preserve 'Dear Leader'

Regarding John J. Metzler’s Dec. 3 article, “North Korea evokes pity and condemnation“: We need to acknowledge that starvation is a means of preserving power for Pyongyang. Our sense of humanity is being manipulated by the Kim Jong Il regime. Kim created the food ...

Dec 3, 2010

North Korea evokes pity and condemnation

by John J. Metzler

UNITED NATIONS — Amid severe food shortages affecting up to a quarter of the population, horrific human rights abuses, and an expanding and costly nuclear weapons program, the United Nations has tried to respond to North Korea with a combination of carrots and sticks. ...

Dec 2, 2010

Kan sets example during crisis

I was somewhat disturbed by the Nov. 24 front-page headline “Pyongyang shells South Korean island.” I am as cautious about North Korea as anyone, but in times of crisis, we need to remain calm. It was not known that “Pyongyang” rather than some North ...