John Barry Kotch - The Japan Times

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John Barry Kotch

For John Barry Kotch's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 19, 2001

Does self-defense justify Afghan war?

SEOUL -- Even as the scope of combat operations in Afghanistan widens and their scale intensifies, the legal basis for waging war under international law grows ever more tenuous. According to U.S. President George W. Bush, the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were an act of war. Similarly, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft have stated that "we are at war against terrorism" in Afghanistan as well as on the home front.

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 12, 2001

Kim's final destination remains a mystery

SEOUL -- For Korean watchers, the overriding question regarding North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's visit to Moscow is whether it has brought him any closer to Seoul. Beyond receiving accolades for a summit in Moscow last weekend, the exact purpose behind the trip or, more precisely, Kim's final destination, remains obscure.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 15, 2001

Korean summit fails to meet expectations

SEOUL -- Under normal circumstances, the meaning of a great event should become clearer in retrospect than in prospect. Yet on the first anniversary of last year's Korean summit, confusion rather than clarity reigns. In a sense, a year is too short a time to know if real change has occurred, setting peninsular relations on a new trajectory, or whether we are still circling the same track. It is still hard to know if the Pyongyang summit meets the test of a historic event: Has it truly altered the political landscape on the Korean Peninsula?

COMMENTARY / World

May 13, 2001

Salvaging South Korea's Sunshine Policy

SEOUL -- If the two Koreas agree on anything, it is that the reconciliation process is theirs alone to decide. So what were the EU president and the Swedish prime minister doing in Pyongyang and Seoul recently?

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 12, 2001

Will Pyongyang split U.S., South Korea?

SEOUL -- The recent shakeup in Seoul's foreign policy and security team in the aftermath of the Washington summit represents a double effort to patch up relations with the United States, while persuading North Korea to come back to the bargaining table. Both tasks require supreme diplomatic skill.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 20, 2001

U.S.-ROK ties show new signs of strain

SEOUL -- It is difficult not to compare the Seoul summit between South Korean President Kim Dae Jung and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and its sequel in Washington between Kim and U.S. President George W. Bush, given both countries' long history and deep involvement in Korean affairs. The stark contrast in the tone of two summits itself was particularly striking.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 24, 2001

Putin, history and the Korean Peninsula

SEOUL -- The inter-Korean railroad project across the DMZ makes a great deal of sense for the two Koreas, but it also makes sense for outside powers, above all for Russia. With space to spare on the trans-Siberian route on the return trip east, Moscow is looking south for passengers. It is offering huge sums -- reportedly in the billions -- to assist in the refurbishing of the North Korean system, currently in a state of total disrepair, particularly the Kyongwon line linking Seoul to Wonsan and then continuing up the east coast to Vladivostok. This is the missing link in the so-called Iron-Silk Road connecting Asia and Europe and takes advantage of Russia's state-of-the-art container-cargo express trains.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 3, 2001

Europe puts out feelers toward N. Korea

A mixture of adventure, altruism and a desire not to be left behind economically is responsible for the European plunge into Korean political affairs that began this year. First Italy and then, in rapid succession, Belgium, Britain and Germany have dispatched missions to Pyongyang. Only France held back, citing human-rights and nuclear-proliferation concerns. Even the European Union dispatched a mission. And although only Italy and Britain have actually tied the knot so far, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium have all announced their intention of normalizing relations with Pyongyang soon.

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 30, 2000

The right man for the Korean problem

SEOUL -- Now that U.S. President Bill Clinton has decided not to go to Pyongyang before his term expires, Colin Powell, U.S. secretary of state-designate in the new Bush administration, inherits the Korean problem. With it comes a golden opportunity to do something that has eluded statesmen for 50 years: to put in place a workable multilateral security framework for the Korean Peninsula, which has for too long been a loose cannon in Northeast Asia.

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 21, 2000

Kim, de Gaulle: visionary but vulnerable

SEOUL -- South Korean President Kim Dae Jung returns from Norway and Sweden this week with his Nobel Prize in hand, having secured his place on the world stage. But at home, he faces a nation deeply divided over his "sunshine policy," deeply troubled over its economic prospects and enveloped in a social malaise stemming seemingly endless corruption and political scandals.

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 4, 2000

Two Koreas grapple with a long history

U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright's recent remark that "my glasses aren't rose-colored" when it comes to North Korea has touched a deep chord in South Korea. The pace and productiveness of North-South exchanges has noticeably slowed since the summer, and off-again, on-again North-South meetings on economic and military cooperation and family reunions have taken the gloss off a successful summit, raising public concern and resulting in sharp criticism of the government for being overly solicitous of the North.

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 26, 2000

ASEM fails to live up to hype

The third Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) held in Seoul last weekend was long on ceremony and performance, but short on substance. While impeccably hosted by South Korea and held in a glittering new conference center in southern Seoul, the conference lacked "soul." For all the talk of Partnership for Shared Stability and Prosperity in the 21st century, there was no sense that this particular partnership would make much of a difference.

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 28, 2000

Koreas need peace, not a peace treaty

SEOUL-- This week's defense minister-level meeting on Cheju Island is welcome news as the two Koreas take another historic step forward in their rapidly developing rapprochement. But the road ahead will be long and convoluted. According to one well-placed South Korean official, "we are in the realm of ambiguity" when it comes to structuring the peace process.

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 9, 2000

The two Koreas and the great powers

The multifaceted character of the Korean problem and the uneven progress made by its protagonists were once again on display last week.

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 6, 2000

A step forward in Asian cooperation

SEOUL -- Asia is gradually moving toward a security framework dramatically different from that in Europe, consisting of processes rather than institutions between and among nation-states -- many of which have outstanding political, ideological or territorial conflicts. And in Asia, unlike the case in Europe, the principle of nonintervention in sovereign affairs has been traditionally taken as a mantra -- particularly for China -- whether under the guise of humanitarian intervention or conflict prevention. (In this regard, it remains unclear whether Indonesian intervention in East Timor constitutes a one-time exception or the harbinger of a new process.)

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 26, 2000

Russia gets back into the Korean fray

At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union re-established itself as a major player on the Korean Peninsula largely as a result of U.S. initiatives in dividing the country, for administrative convenience, between two zones of military occupation. In doing so, the Americans displayed great ignorance regarding Moscow's prior role in Korean affairs and its legitimate security interests, as well as committing policy blunders on a grand scale. The result was Soviet-U.S. conflict and the perpetuation of Korea's division, setting the stage for the Korean War five years later.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 21, 2000

Two Kims now face a win-win situation

SEOUL -- Both North Korea's Kim Jong Il, the younger host, and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung, his older guest, have come off last week's world-dazzling summit with a bounce. But can they keep the momentum going?

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 4, 2000

Korean summit expectations vs. reality

SEOUL -- When the two leaders of the two Koreas meet for the first time in Pyongyang in less than two weeks, the possibility of creating conditions for genuine reconciliation will also come into play for the first time.

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 25, 2000

Kim unscathed in parliamentary vote

SEOUL -- South Korea's 16th general election for the National Assembly held two weeks ago was hardly a mandate for President Kim Dae Jung's ruling Millennium Democratic Party. Although it forced Kim to reach out to the opposition Grand National Party, it has not impaired his ability and authority to govern. He can thank the power of the office he holds under a presidential as opposed to a parliamentary system. Indeed, that is perhaps the main reason why he has been reluctant to support South Korea's transition toward the latter, as advocated by his erstwhile Prime Minister Kim Jong Pil and coalition partner -- a principal factor precipitating their breakup.

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 14, 2000

Behind the surprise inter-Korean summit

"Hold on to your hat. Korea is full of surprises," Don Oberdorfer advises us in the conclusion to his recent book, "The Two Koreas." And not since Egyptian President Anwar Sadat flew into Jerusalem more than two decades ago to mend fences with his arch rival, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and address the Israeli Knesset has there been a more improbable summit pairing.

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The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces

By Stephen Mansfield

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