Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON – U.S. officials and so-called “Korea experts” look with clearly mixed feelings on the prospects of North Korea sending hundreds of performers, artists and officials to the upcoming PyeongChang Olympics. Conservative forces in Washington share the misgivings of Korean conservatives over athletes from the two Koreas parading together […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia ― How quickly we forget. Memories, dates and events fade away, only to be revived on anniversaries. A lot of historical events are barely recalled. I was in a country named “South” Vietnam 50 years ago when North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces attacked almost every […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON – Koreans may not believe it, but the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics are not uppermost on the minds of Americans. In fact, no one in the upper reaches of the U.S. government, including President Trump, is worrying about whether North Korea is using the Games to drive a […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — In a sweeping and sobering tour of the world crises and trouble spots, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned of a dire global situation plagued with “protracted conflicts and the spread of terrorism.” Stressing that, “We face a Gordian knot in the Middle East and […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON ― Ah, let the games begin! The fun and games, that is, of seeing how the clever North Koreans play the Winter Olympics for all they’re worth. For sure, North Korean strategists are looking for a diplomatic and political triumph regardless of who wins what at PyeongChang and […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON ― Uh oh. Watch for all the soothsayers putting in their two cents or two won worth on the future of the Korean Peninsula, post-PyeongChang. Beware of the cognoscenti with dire forecasts of capitulation to the evil Northers, with hopeful words of peace at last, with demands for […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Surging crowds thronged the streets of Tehran and cities across Iran screaming Death to the Shah, Death to America. A situation brewing for a few years reached its boiling point with the return of an obscure Ayatollah from exile. The old order collapsed as the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON – North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is planning more missile tests even as he tries to split the historic South Korea-U.S. alliance with a skillfully worded offer of North-South dialogue and North Korean participation in the upcoming Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. The widespread view here is that Kim has […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Consulting my crystal snow globe reveals a blizzard of events, many of them unpredictable which await us in the New Year. And after 2017’s roller coaster and often bizarre political events, it’s difficult to believe that 2018 may hold many unexpected surprises. UN Secretary General […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk This article by WorldTribune.com columnist Donald Kirk was first published today at the South China Morning Post. The timing of the Winter Olympics, in the South Korean mountain district of Pyeongchang in February, could not be better – or worse. By hinting at sending a team, North Korea’s leader […]
