Eastern Asia

If we continue discussion on the matter of the Anti-Terrorism Act, it is impossible to avoid noticing how the authorities reinforced the attempts to push it through in light of the inter-Korean aggravation, loudly stating that “the enemy is on the watch,” and the Act should be adopted as soon as possible.

In the previous material we analyzed Ahn Cheo-soo, but at the threshold of the 2017 election, another figure may appear on the South Korea’s political horizon – the current UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon. In the past, Ban Ki-moon worked in South Korea’s Foreign Service, having reached the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs.

In recent years, the difficult ecologic situation in China has become an international issue. Decades of industrial and agricultural development, with no attention paid to environmental issues, have driven some regions to the brink of an ecological catastrophe. For a long time the Chinese Government has concealed the true scale of the threat, but recently it has become impossible to conceal, and Chinese leadership had to implement a policy to save the environment.

While drafting the previous article on the subject, the author concluded that the inter-Korean relations passed the point of no return after the shutdown at the Complex, similar to the situation with the freezing of the inter-Korean Mount Kumgang Tourist Region project (at Lee Myung-bak’s decision).

Closure of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, is ongoing. At 11.53 p.m. local time, on February 11, the South cut off the electricity and water supply. This is quite important as not only the Complex but the nearby town was supplied in this way. In addition, on February 11, all the 280 South Korean nationals remaining in the technology park left the complex and successfully returned to their native country.

For a long time now China has been Asia’s leading economy. Its influence and growing ambitions worry many neighbouring countries. At the same time, in recent years, United States influence in the Asia Pacific region has decreased noticeably. Therefore, Washington needs strong Asian partners, who can assist in restraining the growth of China’s power.

For some, political prejudice and poor competency have become synonymous with the South Korean intelligence services. Every now and then our magazine informed its readers about yet another fishy story it got itself into and published some mind-boggling “revelation,” which later got exposed as utter gimmicks.

Recently we discussed the story of how the South Korean intelligence service tried to accuse Russia of assisting the North Korean missile project, but under the pressure of circumstances and facts was forced to dismiss the statement, shifting the blame to a Member of Parliament, who might have got something wrong (link to the article “Russian trace” of the North Korean missile).

An interview, which George Soros, an international investor and trader, gave to Bloomberg TV on January 21 in the course of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he shared his thoughts about fundamental trends in world economy, caused a major stir up in mass media around the world and in Russia. This time, though, Russia was not the main topic of the interview.