Another event is approaching that may turn out to be a new reason for inter-Korean aggravation or at least a marker of the current state of inter-Korean relations. Yet another US-ROK joint exercise. Let’s recall: The United States and the ROK usually conduct major joint exercises twice a year in March and August and smaller-scale […]
In previous articles we have already noted that anti-Japanism is a key part of South Korea’s political narrative, and commented on the country’s determination to erase “inconvenient persons and events” from its national history. But each time this issue is discussed we see comments from people who are unable to accept that South Korea’s preoccupation […]
In 2003, when several lawyers, including myself, visited North Korea to learn more about socialism there, we were shown US Army documents captured in 1950 by the communist forces when they seized control of Seoul and overran the American Army headquarters. The documents confirmed that it was the US and its puppets in South Korea […]
The trip made by the PRC’s leader Xi Jinping to the country’s Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) on July 21-23 turned out to be among those particularly significant events that were covered and commented upon by the world media with particular attention, and which occurred in the world political arena during a specific period of time. […]
The Republic of Korea’s intelligence agency has changed its name and motto several times, but this has not boosted its reputation. The scandals associated with its previous leadership have not gone away, and new ones have piled on top of those. Let’s start with the old ones, because the “case of trolls in uniform”, and […]
Xiaomi went from a startup smartphone company competing in China’s domestic markets in 2010, to entering global markets between 2014 and 2015, to this year surpassing Apple in global smartphone sales, with only Samsung selling more. CNN in a July 2021 article titled, “Xiaomi has Samsung in its sights after overtaking Apple in smartphone sales,” […]
At the end of July 2021, two events occurred in South Korea that could be conventionally called “the return of the political boomerang” – especially for those who remember the high-profile events surrounding the circumstances in which the current President Moon came to power. On July 19, 2021, police arrested a former special prosecutor in […]
A short while back, we covered Yoon Seok-yeol’s entry into the presidential race. This long-awaited event aggravated various law enforcement squabbles, most notably the confrontation between the Blue House and the prosecutor’s office, and which way the newly-formed Office of Investigation of Corruption Among High-Ranking Officials would begin to operate. Events are unfolding simultaneously on […]
The rising tide of media coverage about the Summer Olympics in Tokyo shows that they claim not only to be the most problematic major sports tournament in history. The Tokyo Olympics, postponed from 2020 because of the coronavirus, will begin July 23. At the July 20 session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Tokyo, […]
The author has repeatedly told his readers about the complexities of Japan-ROK relations and the role that militant nationalism and President Moon’s policies play in them. Here’s another story of how, on the eve of the Olympics, the South Korean President, pinned down by the situation, made an unsuccessful attempt at reconciliation and how it […]
