Remember “Hell Joseon,” the name for South Korea among social critics that spread rapidly on social media a few years ago? The election of President Moon Jae-in in May after the impeachment of Park Geun-hye stirred new hope in Korea, helping to push Hell Joseon to the sidelines. President Moon has initiated reforms and has offered reassuring leadership amid sharply rising tensions between the US and North Korea. The public has approved, and his approval rating has not dropped below 70 percent si

Aug. 15, 2017

Recently foreign readers wrote me that they would like to know what young Koreans think of the current political climate of the Korean Peninsula and what South Korea can and should do under the circumstances. In their eyes, Korea is now helplessly caught between a rock and a hard place. I conversed with young Koreans only to be disappointed by their indifference and apathy. Their primary concern was to find a decent job and live comfortably in material abundance. As for national security, they s

Aug. 15, 2017

The most depressing aspect of the current North Korean crisis is that even if Donald Trump wins, he loses.Despite doubling down on his rhetoric of “fire and fury” and deriding his predecessors for failed negotiations, Trump looks like he wants to eventually strike a deal with the nation’s tyrant, Kim Jong-un. Just look at what Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is doing. Trump threatens war and Tillerson promises no regime change. Remember it was only a few months ago that Trump said he would be h

Aug. 14, 2017

Here’s the good news about the crisis over North Korea.We are not going to war. Donald Trump is not going to nuke Pyongyang, reckless, rhetorical threats to the contrary. Nor is North Korea’s Kim Jong-un going to nuke Guam.Yes, I know the president just threatened to meet any more North Korean threats to the United States “with fire and fury like the world has never seen.” This is the kind of extreme military rhetoric by a US president the world has never seen, except by Harry S. Truman before b

Aug. 14, 2017

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has defiance in his blood. It’s said his grandfather once asked what would happen if America defeated North Korea in war, to which his father answered: “If we lose, I will be sure to destroy the Earth. What good is the Earth without North Korea?”President Trump has decided to confront what’s probably the most reckless, risk-taking regime on the planet. His hope for a diplomatic solution depends on convincing North Korea and China that he’s ready for the “fire and

Aug. 13, 2017

As the world ponders the meaning of President Donald Trump’s threat of “fire and fury” on North Korea, it’s worth asking why his predecessors never took those steps to stop its nuclear program.When Bill Clinton was confronted with the threat of North Korea’s exit from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, he considered military force. But he ended up going for negotiations in what became known as the Joint Framework Agreement. The North Koreans froze their plutonium program in exchange for fuel

Aug. 11, 2017

Imposing United Nations sanctions on North Korea is the first major foreign policy success of the Donald Trump administration. The effort has a chance of working -- provided Trump keeps following a model borrowed from President Barack Obama’s dealings with Iran. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And the only way to pressure a nuclear or near-nuclear power to the table is with economic sanctions that weaken the regime without threatening its existence.To get the UN Security Council to

Aug. 10, 2017

Dear President Trump,On the off-chance you might be a fan of The Korea Herald, I think it is important to go over a few things about North Korea. Some of the comments you made recently have left me scratching my head and very worried you might want to start a war. I think these worries are not just mine but shared by the residents of South Korea, all 51 million of them.First, let’s get over this idea of nuclear disarmament. For the last decade, North Korea has spent about one-third of its entire

Aug. 10, 2017

The North Korean nuclear threat is a “hinge” moment for the US and China, and for the new international order both nations say they want. If Washington and Beijing manage to stay together in dealing with Pyongyang, the door opens on a new era in which China will play a larger and more responsible role in global affairs, commensurate with its economic power. If the great powers can’t cooperate, the door will slam shut -- possibly triggering a catastrophic military conflict on the Korean Peninsula

Aug. 9, 2017

Last summer was memorable. Memorable in a bad way. I love summer, but last year’s was unbearable, with day highs hovering over 35 degrees Celsius for weeks. My long-awaited summer holiday was ruined because the wet, sauna-like conditions outside made me not want to leave the comfort of an air-conditioned room. I was then served with electricity bill “bombs” for resorting to air conditioning day and night. I thought it was an exceptional summer.And here we are, in the middle of another scorcher.

Aug. 9, 2017

These days, Korea is roasting under the scorching sun. During the day, Koreans seek refuge in air-conditioned buildings and at night, they toss and turn because of the unbearably high temperature and suffocating humidity. People mutter, “Is Korea burning?”The heat is coming not only from above, but from all sides. South Korea is caught in the crossfire between China, Japan, Russia and the United States these days. The leaders of those four nations are all invariably strongmen who have vowed to m

Aug. 8, 2017