Kim Jong-un
One April Morning
Moon Jae-in wore a blue tie for the occasion, the color of the Korean Peninsula on the unification flag. Kim Jong-un stepped over the thin strip of concrete dividing North and South Korea inside the demilitarized zone. Sand on the North Korean side, pebbles in South Korea. He stepped onto
Why I Decline 'North Korean Defector' Interview Requests
Over the past few years, journalists from all sorts of global media have contacted me to get my ‘defector point of view’ on all things North Korean. And the current inter-Korean drama has been yet another occasion. A famous European TV station crew, flying to South Korea for the Apr.
No More Rocket Man?
Kim Jong-un is stepping onto South Korean soil tomorrow morning, the first ever for a North Korean leader. Moon Jae-in and Kim will most likely talk about some form of peace…but what will come afterwards?
Tunnel Vision: A View from South Korea's Right Wing
“Have you heard about the North Korean tunnels?” a friend asked me one day in 2014. There was panic in her voice. “They’ve dug dozens of them, everywhere under Seoul. Under the Blue House [the presidential office], under Gangnam, right up to the walls of underground car parks, just
North Korea Summit and the Elephant in the Room
Just two days remain before the two Korean heads of state meet by the inter-Korean border. North Korea’s Kim Jong-un recently announced that Pyongyang would “discontinue nuclear testing” and that no ICBMs would be tested after Apr. 21, 2018. Telephone lines were established between Kim and
North Korea Summit 101
For those of you who haven’t been following the news, Kim Jong-un has been coming out of the Peninsula. Recently he met China’s Xi Jinping. Next on his platter are the presidents of South Korea and the U.S. Here is our introduction about the basics
Se-Woong Koo: On U.S.-North Korea talks for Al Jazeera
Donald Trump accepted Kim Jong-un’s invitation for talks, and agreed to meet by May. Korea Exposé publisher Se-Woong Koo commented on the surprising turn of events. “People are amazed on the ground at just how fast everything has been moving forward,” he said on Al
'One Nation' Dream: Do Younger South Koreans Want Reunification?
Olympic reconciliation, ongoing North Korea-U.S. hostility, yesterday a South Korean delegation to Pyongyang…. As usual, the Korean Peninsula is keeping observers on their toes. Amid all the intrigue, it’s easy to overlook the 50 million Koreans south of the demilitarized zone. How do they perceive North
Pyeongchang Olympics' Funniest Moments: There's A Lot of Curling
There was that time a guy from Australia impersonated Kim Jong-un in front of North Korean cheerleaders. Or when P.F. Chang’s — not Pyeongchang — got massive, unintended publicity on an American TV station. Then there is an entire ecosystem of funny South Korean memes
N. Korea's Olympics Proposal Undermines U.S. Hawks
At a scholarly conference on international politics and security I attended early December in the U.S., many an opinion was proffered on the state of geopolitics in Northeast Asia. But one dominant view, expressed at least privately by a number of scholars, was that the Donald Trump administration is
Why Does China Hate THAAD So Much?
THAAD is a useful acronym to know if you’re interested in the geopolitical tensions in East Asia. The deployment of the U.S.’s Terminal High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea caused a sudden transformation of Korea’s relationship with China, its neighbor and number one
Dear President Trump: Postcards From Seoul
Dear President Trump… What would South Koreans say if they could talk to you, one-on-one? A few hours before Donald Trump, with First Lady Melania and his presidential entourage, landed in South Korea on Tuesday, I was talking to a group of middle school students in Seoul, huddled in