• OPINION

  Thailand's going bananas for Korea

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 17/09/2019

  » When South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited Thailand recently, he highlighted two Thai names, Nichkhun of 2PM and Lisa of Blackpink as symbols of the excellent South Korean-Thai friendship. Nichkhun Horvejkul and Lalisa Manoban are young Thai idols who are making a living as K-Pop performers in Seoul. Both of them speak fluent Korean, they are trained to sing in Korean and are well-versed in K-Pop dancing.

• OPINION

  ROK-China relations face challenges

  Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 16/08/2022

  » While United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has long departed South Korea for home, the news headlines generated by her journey continue unabated around the world.

• OPINION

  Without Trump, CJK becomes friendlier

  Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 01/12/2020

  » It has been a four-year hiatus for the three Asian economic powerhouses. Whatever their collaborative configurations may have been, they were frequently constrained by the world's biggest disruptor, President Donald Trump. With the lame-duck president now leaving the global scene, China, Japan and Korea (CJK) are salvaging their relationships at Shinkansen speed. Being Asian, they can now be a little bit humble, saving the faces of each another for a while for being so rigid and aggressive.

• OPINION

  Asean mulls role in Korean Peninsula

  Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 06/10/2020

  » At the recent Asean Regional Forum (ARF), issues related to peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula were extensively discussed by the participants of the region's only security forum. The chairman's statement released after the meeting, the 27th since its inception in 1995, was exceptional regarding one of the world's hotspots.

• OPINION

  Embedding S Korea in Southeast Asia

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 19/11/2019

  » For three days from Nov 25-27 in the port city of Busan, South Korean President Moon Jae-in will have a rare opportunity that eluded his predecessors -- to set in cast iron the future and shape of South Korean-Asean and Mekong riparian country relations amid the ever-changing regional and international environment.

• OPINION

  East Asian leadership rises in Bangkok

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 05/11/2019

  » The 35th Asean-related summits, which ended on Monday, saw the region's leaders display their magnanimity through collective leadership and common commitments for a stronger and more prosperous East Asia. The absence of US President Donald Trump was a blessing in disguise, since it meant the global media had to focus on the substance of their talks. These days, East Asian leaders are bolder and more willing to work together despite their domestic constraints and the longstanding bilateral disputes among them.

• OPINION

  Time for Japan and S Korea to end spat

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 20/08/2019

  » Japan and South Korea must stop their tit-for-tat measures before their worsening relations reach the point of no return. The ongoing spat between Asian's two economic giants has sent chills down the spines of regional leaders, who are very concerned that it could spiral out of control and break down the longstanding spirit of East Asian community-building. If that happens, the post-war stability and prosperity of the past seven decades would quickly disappear. Difficult as it is, now is the time to mend fences.

• OPINION

  Asean-S Korea ties surging forward

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 09/04/2019

  » South Korea is catching up with China and Japan in developing all-around relations with Asean. Last week's announcement of the third Asean-Korea Summit to be held in Busan from Nov 25-27 together with the first Mekong-Korea Summit is a speed indicator of South Korea's approach to Asean. Under current President Moon Jae-in, South Korean officials have described bilateral relations as going gosog, or high-speed.

• OPINION

  Asean must continue to engage N Korea

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 05/03/2019

  » The second Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi failed to produce an outcome that would enable regional partners to play a bigger role. Last week's meeting was strictly a leader-to-leader negotiation, nobody else. US President Donald Trump walked away from the tête-à-tête without an agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, simply because he thought it was a bad deal to end sanctions at this crucial moment. It is a chicken-and-egg situation.

• OPINION

  Asean must maximise East Asia meet

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 06/11/2018

  » When the world's most powerful leaders converge in Singapore next week for the 13th East Asia Summit (EAS), they will know the region's overall security situation and economic cooperative atmosphere has improved greatly in the past six months. Given this favourable atmosphere, Asean leaders have to seize the opportunity and take the lead in engaging EAS leaders in ways to lock in a more predictable and stable future.

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