Showing 1 - 10 of 21
Nuke walkout not a disaster
News, Editorial, Published on 05/03/2019
» United States President Donald Trump won a lot of praise for walking out of the negotiations with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong-un, last week. Prior to the two-day summit, there was speculation that both leaders were looking to make a deal. Hopes for such a deal have been dashed, at least for now, after Mr Trump refused to give in to Mr Kim's demand to move forward.
Momentum for peace
News, Editorial, Published on 26/02/2019
» The cast is assembling in Hanoi for a performance probably worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize. Trump-Kim Summit II isn't likely to produce anything resembling nuclear disarmament. But the personal diplomacy of the US president and North Korea's leader has indisputably removed the threat of the most terrible kind of warfare from Northeast Asia and the entire region.
Pyongyang steps out
News, Editorial, Published on 25/09/2018
» Last week's summit between the leaders of South Korea and North Korea piles more hope on the chances for peace and a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. There are plenty of hurdles left, however, and Pyongyang must work hard to leave behind its lamentable record of resorting to bait-and-switch tactics. But what is known and sensed from the talks between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un provides optimism. North Korea may finally be ready to accept the invitation to emerge as part of the responsible world community.
Keep pressure on N Korea
News, Editorial, Published on 08/08/2018
» The harsh words and wavering debate about North Korea that emerged from the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) are disconcerting. The foreign ministers of the US and Japan urged members of the Forum it is vital to keep tight sanctions on Pyongyang until there is clear progress towards what now is generally called denuclearisation. One voice, North Korea's Ri Yong-ho, demanded relief from sanctions. But the forum quite properly decided his argument that Pyongyang deserves relief for showing good faith was unconvincing and invalid.
Good start at nuke summit
News, Editorial, Published on 13/06/2018
» It's a long road from a handshake to peace with nuclear disarmament. That said, the first meeting ever between a sitting US president and the leader of North Korea Tuesday seemed the best first step possible on that road. Neither Donald Trump nor Kim Jong-un has been kidding during the month-long lead-up to their summit. This meeting alone makes war in the region unlikely. The mood between the two men and their advisers spoke well for a peaceful future.
A summit to prevent war
News, Editorial, Published on 31/05/2018
» It is taking feverish preparations to bring about the June 12 Singapore summit between the two most extroverted world political leaders. Presumably, US President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un are back on schedule for their meeting. It is necessary to say "presumably" because this summit has gone from impossibility to certainty, then from unlikely to cancelled, and now "back on schedule". Two weeks out, the summit offers some promise of being the most important such meeting of our age.
Signs of hope after summit
News, Editorial, Published on 28/04/2018
» Rogue regime leader Kim Jong-un has laid his cards on the table following the first meeting in a decade between North and South Korea yesterday. Now it is up to South Korea and the United States to play their cards right to prevent what appears to be a roadmap to a peace treaty from collapsing.
Good sports, bad sports
News, Editorial, Published on 07/02/2018
» The Winter Olympic Games begin on Friday at Pyeongchang in eastern South Korea. There has been plenty of good news around this biennial, international gathering. Thailand will have four competitors in the skiing competition. That puts the emphasis on the Olympics as an event of peace and participation, as well as competition. Unexpectedly, North Korea decided at the last moment to join and to participate in the Pyeongchang Games.
The trouble with Korea
News, Editorial, Published on 01/11/2017
» The North Korean crisis continues to escalate, without any sign of imminent relief. Japanese voters have renewed the mandate of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, this time to amend the national constitution's prohibition against war. US Defence Secretary James Mattis said last weekend Pyongyang engages in outlaw behaviour. He vowed the US will never accept a nuclear North Korea. South Korean Defence Minister Song Young-moo was at his side.
Nobel Prize's new surprise
News, Editorial, Published on 09/10/2017
» The Nobel Peace Prize committee has added another surprise to its recent lists of winners. The 2017 Prize was awarded to a little known group with a big ambition. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons of Switzerland, known as Ican, has a single accomplishment, of arguable value. Interestingly, Ican's success in putting together a UN-approved treaty to ban nuclear weapons had a catalyst that almost all reports of the the Nobel Prize ignored: Thailand.