Kim Jong-Un’s frequent visits to front-line bases makes South anxious

Kim Jong-Un’s frequent visits to front-line bases makes South anxious

Special to WorldTribune.com By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea — North Korea’s youthful new dictator Kim Jong-Un’s frequent visits to front-line military bases have put residents of this border island on alert over fears that the North will launch another deadly artillery attack similar to the one in November 2010. While fishermen continue […]

‘Playing God’ with birth rates: The soft underbelly of geopolitics

‘Playing God’ with birth rates: The soft underbelly of geopolitics

Sol W. Sanders   Paying a visit to my phlegmatic Punjabi physician in New Delhi in the early 1960s, I found him uncharacteristically upset. Amniocentesis had come to India and some of his patients were asking him to abort fetuses if they were female. Out of moral scruple, he was refusing, losing patients — and […]

N. Korea’s new leader expected to announce economic reforms in shift from military supremacy

N. Korea’s new leader expected to announce economic reforms in shift from military supremacy

Special to WorldTribune.com By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com SEOUL — North Korea has formed a task force to overhaul the reclusive country’s rigid economic management under new ruler Kim Jong-Un’s reform initiatives, South Korea’s intelligence officials said. The task force is reviewing a set of economic measures drafted on June 28 that focus on improving the […]

Reports: Wiretap led to Ri’s ouster in N. Korea; firefight killed 20

Reports: Wiretap led to Ri’s ouster in N. Korea; firefight killed 20

Special to WorldTribune.com By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com SEOUL — Ri Yong-Ho, the most ardent supporter of late North Korean ruler Kim Jong-Il’s “military-first” policy, was purged because he had complained about youthful new ruler Kim Jong-Un’s push for policy changes, sources and officials in Seoul say. But Ri’s dismissal could encourage his supporters and hardline […]

From the safety of the West, recalling Stalin’s infinitely dangerous madness

From the safety of the West, recalling Stalin’s infinitely dangerous madness

Lev Navrozov Let me remind my dear readers that I was born in 1928, that is, I was to live in Stalin’s hell on earth. Created in pre-Soviet Russia were works of genius (such as those of Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, or Chekhov), which were translated into the languages of all culturally advanced countries. The Russian classical […]

Frenchman turns states evidence in murder mystery involving wife of once-powerful Bo Xilai

Frenchman turns states evidence in murder mystery involving wife of once-powerful Bo Xilai

Special to WorldTribune.com East-Asia-Intel.com A former intimate of Gu Kailai, the wife of ousted Chinese strongman Bo Xilai, flew to Beijing only days before prosecutors announced she was being charged with murder. Patrick Henri Devillers, the Frenchman who shared an apartment in Britain with Gu, surrendered to Chinese authorities on July 17. Gu’s indictment for […]

China constructing extensive transportation network along N. Korea border

China constructing extensive transportation network along N. Korea border

Special to WorldTribune.com By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com China is building a massive highway and rail network along the border with North Korea in an apparent bid to tap into its neighbor’s natural resources and to secure easy access for troops in case of an emergency in the destitute nation. China will spend more than $10 […]

There’s a word for Beijing’s new island dispute tactics with Tokyo: Hardball

There’s a word for Beijing’s new island dispute tactics with Tokyo: Hardball

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com Since territorial disputes erupted between China and Japan in the early 1970s over the Diaoyu islets (called the Senkakus in Japan), Beijing has stuck to late patriarch Deng Xiaoping’s famous dictum: “Leave the question of sovereignty for the next generation; let’s put the emphasis on joint [economic] development.” […]

With 150,000 ‘Arab Spring’-like incidents from Hong Kong to Xinjiang, are CCP’s days numbered?

With 150,000 ‘Arab Spring’-like incidents from Hong Kong to Xinjiang, are CCP’s days numbered?

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com For years, analysts of domestic Chinese politics have been pondering this important question: With riots and protests increasing to more than 150,000 incidents a year, how close is China from an Arab-style mass uprising that could result in the destruction of the dictatorial Chinese Communist Party (CCP)? Even […]

Power struggle gives rise to top Chinese generals, hawkish foreign-policy statements

Power struggle gives rise to top Chinese generals, hawkish foreign-policy statements

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com A ferocious power struggle among three of China’s most powerful figures — former President Jiang Zemin, current President Hu Jintao, and expected President Xi Jinping — has resulted in top generals of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) acquiring unprecedented power. The extraordinary clout of the top brass of […]