The Kaesong Industrial Complex is a veritable Rorschach test for those who follow developments on the Korean peninsula. Everyone who looks at the special economic zone located in North Korea just north of the DMZ sees something very different. And these interpretations often reveal more about the viewer than the viewed Unification advocates in the… Continue reading The Kaesong Industrial Complex
When two young boys square off in the school playground, they will often appeal to higher powers. “My big brother can beat up your big brother!” they cry out as a scare tactic. Even if the two kids don’t come to blows, one will still try to impress the other by claiming that his elder… Continue reading Summit: Post-Playground Politics
After finally receiving $24 million in frozen assets, North Korea shut down its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon in July. The optimists cautiously celebrated the move as the first step toward the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and the eventual establishment of diplomatic relations between Washington and Pyongyang. The pessimists drolly pointed out that we’re back… Continue reading Three Hard Truths
Poor Roh Moo-Hyun. The South Korean president’s popularity rating has dipped as low as 10% recently. His backers on the left have savaged him for pushing a free-trade agreement with the United States. With only a few months remaining in his term and the presidential elections coming up in December, he faces a likely victory… Continue reading Seoul Searching
The North Korean film projectionist is thinking back on her earlier life. When she was younger, she tells the camera, she dreamed of acting. She wanted to play a heroic role on the screen. Her eyes take on a wistful look. And there is a hint of pain in her voice. In any other country,… Continue reading Screening North Korea
The risk of war on the Korean peninsula remains high, and the U.S. government is raising it higher by opening an economic front. In September 2005, one day after regional negotiations produced an agreement with the potential to defuse North Korean-U.S. tensions, the U.S. government charged North Korea with counterfeiting $100 bills. Calling this alleged… Continue reading Sanctions and the Road to War on the Korean Peninsula
Korean Quarterly, Fall 2006
Washington vs. Pyongyang: War or diplomacy? In this analysis of US policy, John Feffer shows how Bush’s combination of uncompromising negotiating positions, strong rhetoric and firm containment measures has served to accelerate North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme instead of ushering in the de-nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. Unfortunately, Republican reverses in the recent US… Continue reading Washington vs. Pyongyang: War or Diplomacy?
North Korea’s decision to return to the negotiating table is a win-win-win situation, at least temporarily. The United States, China, and even North Korea gain from the announcement. However, the boost given to each country—a modest “October surprise” for the Bush administration, a diplomatic achievement for China, and a stronger negotiating position for North Korea—will… Continue reading North Korea Returns to the Negotiating Table
The United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK) have enjoyed a close alliance for more than a half century. When South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun met with George W. Bush in November 2005, an official White House statement summed up the relationship between the two countries: “The two leaders agreed that the alliance not… Continue reading American Apples, Korean Oranges
Many foreign policy challenges lie ahead for Japan’s new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, but his most pressing concern is much closer at hand: North Korea, especially in the wake of its declaration of a nuclear test on Oct.9. Since then, Japan has been lobbying for strong United Nations-backed sanctions and implemented even stronger unilateral measures.… Continue reading North Korea Tops Abe’s Agenda
Japan Focus, September 18, 2006 Introduction Access to food is a basic human right. For several decades, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) prided itself on meeting the food needs of its population, although it has little arable land. Like many socialist countries, North Korea emphasized this success—along with high literacy rates, an equitable… Continue reading North Korea and the International Politics of Famine
The Contradictions of Kaesong John Feffer I admit that the issue of North Korea has scrambled my political compass. Ordinarily, I oppose nuclear power as an expensive, even dangerous source of energy. But I support civilian nuclear power plants in North Korea as part of a deal to end the current standoff. Usually I… Continue reading The Contradictions of Kaesong
Sovereignty Matters John Feffer It is a relatively poor country, but the people who live there are proud of their long history and rich culture. Aside from mining, there are few profitable enterprises, though recently casinos have begun to attract outsiders. Nevertheless, the country’s government values its independence and uniqueness. Even more important than… Continue reading Sovereignty Matters
FPIF, November 13, 2006
FPIF, October 10, 2006
Asia Times, August 1, 2006
FPIF, June 30, 2006
North Korea claims to have tested a nuclear weapon. Iran refuses to halt its uranium enrichment program. The non-proliferation regime teeters on the brink. Washington’s uncompromising tactics with both Tehran and Pyongyang have failed to achieve anything but the most radioactive results. When President Bush introduced the “axis of evil” of Iraq, Iran, and North… Continue reading Tehran or Pyongyang?
According to the official North Korean version, the Americans were the culprits. In October 1950, the first year of the Korean War, American soldiers massacred tens of thousands of innocent people in the North Korean city of Sinchon. In perhaps the most horrifying incident, US soldiers led 900 residents, including 300 women and children, into… Continue reading Writers from the Other Asia, The Nation
George Bush held a summit last week with a key ally. But if you blinked, you might have missed it. It lasted for about an hour. There was no joint statement or big press conference. It was one of the least newsworthy events in Washington. South Korean president Roh Moo-Hyun had been hoping for more.… Continue reading Roh v. W
The US has put North Korea under quarantine. Pyongyang stands accused of a multitude of crimes, from missile exports and drug smuggling to counterfeiting and money laundering. North Korea has long relied on illicit activities to acquire what it has had difficulty obtaining through legitimate means. Yet isolating Pyongyang from the global economy could prove… Continue reading Time to Lift North Korea’s Quarantine
Even though North Korea’s long-range missile turned out to be a dud, Pyongyang has nevertheless achieved its aim by getting the world’s attention. Governments around the world have rushed to condemn Pyongyang. Japan and the United States want to bring the full weight of the United Nations against the country. North Korea, meanwhile, has argued… Continue reading Negotiating Space with North Korea
Korean Quarterly, Fall 2005
Korean Quarterly, Fall 2005
Korean Quarterly, Spring 2005
When I lived in Moscow in 1985, in the first year of the Gorbachev era, it was hard to get a decent meal. I waited on line with my friends for hours just to eat a mediocre pizza with a sour tomato at its center. It was not the same everywhere in the Soviet bloc.… Continue reading The Restaurant Theory of Reform
Alternet, June 10, 2005
Asia Pacific Resource Center, Stanford, February 2005
Though it would be difficult to find anyone in the United States who would praise North Korea for its dismal human rights record, this consensus of opinion by no means extends to practical foreign policy. In other words, there is broad agreement on what is wrong in North Korea, from the political labor camps to… Continue reading To Link or Not to Link: The Human Rights Question in North Korea