John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — The increasingly ballistic bluster pouring out from Pyongyang and threatening South Korea, Japan and the USA, with nuclear attacks has jolted East Asia into “paying attention.” Perhaps that’s the real intent of Kim Jong-Un, the new and untested Marxist monarch of the quaintly titled “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” […]
Sol W. Sanders That clanking and screeching you hear out of Washington, almost drowning out the caterwauling of the budget debate, is the Obama administration making a 180-degree turn on Pacific Ocean anti-missile defense. As usual with the cloying mainstream media, the significance of this complete reversal of strategy has been obfuscated at the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com East-Asia-Intel.com South Korea’s latest pop culture, including the international hit song “Gangnam Style,” has found its way into the tightly-controlled North Korean world, a video footage shows. In the clips, two North Koreans are sitting in a dark room with a blanket over their head to hide themselves, moving their shoulders up […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com Pyongyang’s claim to have called Gen. James Thurman, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, to warn him about “a grave situation” on the Korean Peninsula inspires speculation about what the general and his caller from the North might have talked about. North Korea did not say who made the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Following is a transcript of the inaugural address of South Korea’s first female president, Park Geun-Hye: My fellow Koreans and seven million fellow compatriots overseas, As I take office as the 18th-term President of the Republic of Korea, I stand before you today determined to open a new era of hope. I […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com MANCHESTER, England — The Brits face a problem that Koreans might — or might not — appreciate. By now Koreans have gotten thoroughly used to zipping up and down the Republic of Korea, that is, the Korean peninsula south of the DMZ, on super-fast trains at relatively inexpensive […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com North Korea independently built most of the key parts of the long-range rocket it launched in December 2012, indicating that the destitute nation has the capacity to build intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of delivering a nuclear weapon to the U.S., South Korean official said. After analyzing the […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Shortly after the Security Council unanimously condemned the recent North Korean missile launch and demanded that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea abandon nuclear testing, Pyongyang’s rulers decided to up the political ante. They announced that they are on the verge of a third nuclear test and for good […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com WASHINGTON — A mood of collective celebration swept over the American capital as President Barack Obama entered his second term under clear skies in freezing temperatures. It was as though the country were taking a break from fears about the economy, the next “fiscal cliff” and debate on […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com Fleeing North Korea has been increasingly difficult due to tightened border controls and stronger internal security measures since the country’s new ruler Kim Jong-Un assumed power a year ago, South Korean officials and sources say. But defectors in Seoul say that desperate North Koreans will keep trying to […]