Showing 1 - 10 of 95
Why is North Korea courting Russian tourists?
Oped, Saahil Menon, Published on 13/08/2025
» Hoping to replenish state coffers with much-needed foreign exchange reserves and offset the sharp post-Covid decline in Chinese tour groups, the Hermit Kingdom has set its sights on inquisitive holiday-makers from an ideologically aligned Russia.
Breaking the silence over North Korea
Oped, John J Metzler, Published on 29/05/2025
» Speaking out to break the information barrier inside the North Korean dictatorship is in itself nothing new, and usually quickly forgotten. North Korean exiles, friendly governments, and humanitarian organisations periodically raise the oft-forsaken banner of human rights, only to be confronted by realpolitik through another round of North Korean missile launches or nuclear proliferation.
GDP figures don't reflect real situation
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 26/12/2024
» This article is the last for 2024. I have made many bad predictions about the Thai economy throughout the year. Many became true, like the contracting credit market, the NPL explosion, and an ineffective cash handout programme. Many have not become true (or have they?). One was GDP growth. Instead of shrinking as I predicted, GDP growth rates improved from quarter to quarter. They were 1.6% for Q1, 2.2% for Q2, and 3.0% for Q3. And it is expected to be 3.5% for Q4 to fulfil the annual 2.6% growth projection.
Inside rightist YouTube world embraced by Yoon
News, Ju-min Park and Tom Bateman, Published on 17/12/2024
» When South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol cited claims of election hacking and "anti-state" pro-North Korean sympathisers as justification for imposing a short-lived martial law, right-wing YouTuber Ko Sung-kook had heard it before.
Anocha saga reopens
News, Editorial, Published on 02/12/2024
» Anocha Panjoy's disappearance 46 years ago remains a haunting chapter in Thailand's history.
Trump to challenge global order
Oped, Kantathi Suphamongkhon, Published on 22/11/2024
» With President Donald Trump back in the White House, the fate of the liberal international order created by the US at the end of World War II is at risk.
Ukraine War: South Korea to the rescue?
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 20/11/2024
» The consensus assumption is still that Donald Trump will force Ukraine to yield to Russia as soon as he takes office on Jan 20. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky himself said on Friday that once Mr Trump becomes president the war with Russia will "end sooner" than it would otherwise have done.
NK troops sent to the Ukraine: cannon fodder?
Oped, John J Metzler, Published on 24/10/2024
» The rumours were true. The apparent dispatch of elite North Korean military units to fight alongside Russian troops in Ukraine appears at first surprising but actually is quite logical given the historic and comradely ties between Pyongyang and Moscow. After all, North Korea's isolated Kim Jong-un regime has forged increasingly close ties with Vladimir Putin's Russia and the cash-strapped North Koreans have shipped more than eight million 122mm and 152mm artillery shells to Russia during in the past year.
What to make of the Russian-N Korean alliance
Oped, Yoon Young-kwan, Published on 12/07/2024
» Not content with disturbing the peace in Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin recently signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong-un. As troubling to China's leaders as it is to Western officials, the deal is shaking up the geopolitics of Northeast Asia and sending reverberations around the world.
The art of rolling out the red carpet
Roger Crutchley, Published on 23/06/2024
» Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to enjoy the red carpet treatment he received in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang this week. Over the years the Russian leader will have become quite familiar with walking on such plush carpets, but one wonders if he knows why they are red.