Writing
Will Asia’s economies benefit from fracking?
DAEGU, South Korea — For the past three years, the US has gone full force into its much-headlined fracking revolution, capitalizing on technological innovations to tap into enormous newly-exploitable reserves of oil and natural gas. The result? Long living in fear of...
Propaganda balloons carry rumors of a North Korean porno
SEOUL, South Korea — For more than 60 years, North and South Korea have been divided along the demilitarized zone, or the DMZ. Barriers — political, legal and physical — often prevent South Koreans from communicating directly with their northern brethren. To surmount...
Did North Korea really kill off 20,000 political prisoners? (VIDEO)
SEOUL, South Korea — In 2009, American minister Robert Park crossed into North Korea to protest what he called a “genocide” in the country’s six prison camps. Of course, the regime detained and later released him, making him one of six Americans held in North Korea in...
Kenneth Bae’s mother visits son in North Korean hospital
SEOUL, South Korea — Ever since his arrest in North Korea 11 months ago, the world has feared the fate of Korean-American missionary Kenneth Bae. The 45-year-old pastor is serving a 15-year hard labor sentence on the charge that he tried to “overthrow” the state. Two...
Wanna do business in North Korea? Good luck!
SEOUL, South Korea — For foreign investors, North Korea has long been akin to a dark, forbidden outpost in a distant galaxy. It is among the most difficult countries to navigate. Its dictator, Kim Jong Un, oversees a heavily sanctioned nation and, by some measures,...
North Korea threatens a ‘terrible disaster’
It’s almost an age-old tradition: North Korea gets upset over a joint military exercise between the US and South Korea, and vents its anger in a couple vague war threats. The North Korean regime did just that Tuesday, threatening a “terrible disaster” should...
North Korea appears to be making weapons-grade plutonium again. Should we be scared?
SEOUL, South Korea — Earlier this year, North Korea tested its third underground nuclear device and then launched a flurry of war threats against the US and South Korea. The three months of tensions, from January to April 2013, are often called the “2013 North Korea...
The South Korean leaders who (supposedly) love Kim Jong Un
SEOUL, South Korea — Since taking parliamentary office a year and a half ago, Kim Jae-yeon, 33, has been called a North Korean apologist, a pinko, and a “leftist zombie” — a derogatory phrase that fringe web commentators deploy against liberals and socialists in the...
North Korea’s impending collapse: 3 grim scenarios
SEOUL, South Korea — According to conventional wisdom, North Korea is headed for collapse. The only question is when. The answer: maybe sooner than we might expect. A 342 page report released this month by the RAND Corporation urged Washington DC to prepare for an...
Tour de North Korea
SEOUL, South Korea — It’s not every day that 47 Western bikers can ride through the world’s most reclusive state. Yet as part of a race that began in China, athletes zipped through North Korea’s port town of Rajin this week, Reuters reports. Traffic was blocked off,...