In its latest report on worldwide displacement, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees puts the number of forcibly displaced persons in 2015 at an all-time high of 65.3 million. About 12.4 million people were newly displaced last year, which means that every minute, 24 people were forced to flee their homes. If the forcibly displaced were to constitute a country of their own, they would make up the world’s 21st biggest nation. It is not difficult to imagine the colossal human pain and grief behin

Foreign Affairs Sept. 18, 2016

The two Koreas are poised to face off at the UN this week as tension continues to intensify following Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test, with Seoul ramping up its push for stiffer international sanctions. South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se arrived in New York over the weekend to deliver a keynote address at the General Assembly and hold some 15 rounds of bilateral and multilateral talks with his counterparts from the US, Japan and other countries. Atop his agenda is rallying member states

North Korea Sept. 18, 2016

Amid the escalation of the Cold War, David Lassiter, then a 22-year-old college student in international relations, landed at Gimpo airport in 1966 as part of the maiden batch of US Peace Corps volunteers tasked with aiding South Korea’s post-war reconstruction. A lover of Chinese food who had not traveled outside the US and who was largely ignorant of Korean society, he came directly into solitude, homesickness and “culture shock,” among other snags, as soon as he began teaching English at Euij

Foreign Affairs Sept. 13, 2016

With ripples from North Korea’s latest nuclear test continuing to spread throughout the region, speculation surfaced Monday that the communist state may be gearing up to detonate another fission device in defiance of international condemnation. Friday’s underground explosion as well as the previous three rounds occurred in the second of the three tunnels installed at the North’s Yongbyon nuclear complex in the northwest town of Punggye, leaving the others ready for additional blasts, Seoul’s Def

North Korea Sept. 12, 2016

As Pyongyang’s fifth nuclear test highlighted its threats, Seoul is coming under mounting pressure for an overhaul of its North Korea policy that critics say has failed to deter the regime’s military ambitions while eroding room for its own maneuvering. Despite its earlier introduction of a series of bold inter-Korean initiatives, the Park Geun-hye government has turned hard line, in particular after the North detonated a fission bomb for the fourth time last January, followed by another success

North Korea Sept. 11, 2016

The UN Security Council has set out to craft a fresh set of tougher punitive measures over North Korea’s latest nuclear test, while Seoul and Washington mull independent sanctions to deepen the North’s isolation and further tighten the economic screws. The 15-member council convened an emergency session in New York on Friday, hours after the communist state carried out its fifth underground blast, which demonstrated the strongest explosive power yet. The body issued a press statement condemning

North Korea Sept. 11, 2016

The UN Security Council on Tuesday managed to promptly condemn North Korea’s latest test of ballistic missiles, propelled by China’s endorsement despite its opposition to the plan to deploy US anti-missile assets in South Korea. The 15-member body issued a press statement from New York, “deploring” Monday’s launch that marked its 22nd missile experiment this year alone and was “in flagrant disregard” of multiple UNSC resolutions. The projectiles, presumed to be the intermediate-range Rodong, fle

North Korea Sept. 7, 2016

North Korea claimed Tuesday to have used an upgraded model of its mid-range Rodong projectiles during their test fire one day earlier in a fresh display of its unbridled ambition to shore up its nuclear and missile programs.   State media said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un observed the liftoff in which three ballistic missiles flew some 1,000 kilometers above the East Sea toward Japan, expressing “great satisfaction” and calling for sustained efforts to develop the country’s nuclear capabiliti

North Korea Sept. 6, 2016

Despite Seoul’s attempts to contain the rows with China over its plan to host a US anti-missile system, tension is expected to endure for the time being given the stark differences between the two countries’ positions, observers said Monday. President Park Geun-hye held a summit with her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the margins of the Group of 20 conference in Hangzhou. The face-to-face meeting was their first since Seoul unveiled its decision last July to station a Terminal High Altitude A

Foreign Affairs Sept. 5, 2016

A new law on North Korea’s human rights came into force Sunday, fueling momentum for decade-old efforts to ease the plight of the people and boost pressure on the reclusive regime.Under the plan, a foundation is expected to be set up in Seoul as early as this week with the mission to survey the communist state’s living conditions and provide policy advice.The Unification Ministry is gearing up to launch a records center later this month. It will document cases of Pyongyang’s rights violations an

North Korea Sept. 4, 2016

President Park Geun-hye called North Korea a "disconnected node in Eurasia and the greatest threat," on Saturday, saying the country is getting in the way of Russia's Far East realizing its full potential.During her keynote speech at the Eastern Economic Forum in Russia's eastern port city of Vladivostok, the president urged continued global efforts to pressure Pyongyang into renouncing its nuclear ambitions and becoming a responsible member of the international community."Although the Far East

Foreign Affairs Sept. 3, 2016