It seems that a new cold war system is emerging right now. The following changes in the world order are symptomatic of this phenomenon:First, the ideological cold war has been replaced by a geopolitical cold war. The ideological cold war was started by the two great powers, the US and the USSR immediately after World War II. World War II was started by the imperialist powers, mainly Germany and Japan, while the cold war was touched off by a power struggle between the Soviet Union leading the com

North Korea says it has no choice but to become a nuclear state because it is the only way to defend itself from a nuclear attack from the US. This reaction may be a justifiable but not wise counterstrategy.Let us assume that the US would resort to nuclear weaponry even if North Korea attacked South Korea with conventional weapons. The world would not condone such a brutal response. I believe that world opinion is likely to support the use of nuclear weapons only if the US-South Korean combined

I have selected the following 10 events as major issues in 2018:1. Growing populism and nationalism 2. Denuclearization of North Korea3. Tribalism in Africa and racism in Western Europe4. Worsening global warming and pollution5. Continuing Muslim sectarian conflicts in the Middle East6. Rapid globalization and technological change in the world7. Massive migration of people from developing countries to developed countries8. A cold war between the US and China (Cold War II)9. Global strengthening

The main pillar of traditional Korean culture was collectivism. Collectivism in the Korean context can be defined as a culture based on the hierarchical social structure which subjugates the individual rights to the collective goods of society. This cultural structure is diametrically opposite to the Western cultural structure based on the egalitarian social structure which emphasizes that the collective goods are to serve the individual’s rights, not vice versa.After Korea regained independence

These days the term “Global Citizen” has become a popular catch-phrase in Korea, particularly among the so-called “internationalized people.” Why has this term become so popular or even “sexy”? The trend reminds me of a speech I delivered at the International Management Institute of the Federation of Korean Industries on April 6, 2000. The title was “How to Become a Global Person.” Strictly speaking, the term “global person” is more appropriate than the term “global citizen,” because global citi

I have received university education in both Korea and the US, majoring in English literature in Korea and political science in the US. Perhaps because of this, the differences between Western and Oriental civilizations have become my main academic interest. In most East Asian countries authoritarianism is one of the most distinguished traits of their cultures. This is particularly true of Korea. After liberation from Japanese colonialism in 1945, Korea was divided into two -- South and North Ko

When globalization began to accelerate in the 1990s, globalists rejoiced and predicted that globalism would eventually weaken nationalism, and international organizations, particularly the UN, would become more powerful. However, such optimism has turned out to be a naive dream. Nation-states have become more vital and powerful, while within nation-states ethnic or religious minority groups have become more assertive of their identity and have often sought to establish a separate state. In the c

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis said at the Graduate Ceremony of the US Naval War College on June 15, 2018 that “China has a long-range plan to change the existing international order” and it wants to lead it. He cited the following as China’s motives: To replicate its authoritarian politico-economic model (Marxism-Leninism with Chinese characteristics) in other parts of the world, to control the South China Sea, and to impose its predatory economics of piling massive debt on others. The ab

Lately the North Korean nuclear issue has affected the tripartite relationships among the two Koreas and the US: North Korea and the US have become the direct parties for the nuclear negotiations with South Korea as a third party providing good offices or playing the role of a mediator. It is very difficult to understand why the country which will become the primary target of North Korea in case of military conflicts on the Korean Peninsula is not the main party to nuclear negotiations. Some arg

The South Korea and North Korea summit took place at Panmunjeom on April 28, 2018 and the two heads of state agreed on the following among other things: the establishment of a permanent peace regime by July 27 this year participated by the two Koreas and the US (a trilateral peace regime) or the two Koreas, the US and China (a quadrilateral peace regime) replacing the existing armistice agreement. Through the above agreement, discussions and remarks the North Korean leader revealed that North Ko

Seizing the occasion of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, North Korea started a peace campaign toward South Korea and the US. Different North Korea specialists and observers have different interpretations of North Korea’s sudden policy U-turn. Has the North Korean leadership’s siege mentality -- real or imagined, which it has been using as a tactical means to justify its totalitarian rule and military and subversive offensive against South Korea since the end of the Korean War -- turned into a pa

If we look at the world map, we can see that the Eurasian continent and North America are getting involved in a new type of cold war, while the African and Latin American continents are getting mired in increasing tribal conflicts and the Arab world in intensifying religious sectarian fights. Consequently, humanity suffers from the new Cold War, tribalism and religious conflicts simultaneously. In a sense, humanity suffers more from these new conflicts than the old Cold War.In the new Cold War R

The Dec. 11, 2017 edition of The Korea Herald carried an article titled “Why Koreans want to leave ‘Hell Joseon’.” According to the article, 62.7 percent of people polled in December last year regarded South Korea as “Hell Joseon.” Fifty-six percent were willing to give up their nationality. The desire to leave Korea is more prevalent among the young generation, many of whom struggle to find employment. The main reasons for the Hell Joseon mentality are that Korean society is unfair and corrupt.

Since President Moon Jae-in was inaugurated in May, he has formulated four national security strategies: western diplomacy dealing with China; eastern diplomacy dealing with Japan; northern diplomacy focusing on the Russian Far East and China’s three northeastern provinces, Central Asia and Mongolia; and southern diplomacy focusing on Southeast Asia and India. The South Korea-US alliance plays the role of an axis in the sense that it affects the above four diplomatic strategies.President Moon’s

I attended as an invited guest the opening ceremony of the 22nd Busan International Film Festival on Oct. 12. I immensely enjoyed the whole ceremony and the reception. It reminded me of the 10th Singapore International Film Festival in April 1997 I attended when I served as Korean ambassador to Singapore. After the event in Singapore I wrote an article on the SIFF in the Strait Times in which I emphasized that nations can cope with deepening racial, ethnic and cultural conflicts through cultural

US President Trump declared in his UN General Assembly speech on Sept. 19 that Kim Jong-un was a “Rocket Man on a suicidal mission for himself” and the US would totally destroy North Korea if the North attacked. Kim Jong-un personally responded by declaring that “I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire.” Trump also made a famous statement that “they will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen” on Aug. 8 in connection with the report that North

Samuel Huntington’s seminal work “Clash of Civilizations” has awaked the world leadership to the new threat to world peace in the post-Cold War period. His study concentrated on the clashes between major civilizations. But the real world is suffering from racial, ethnic and religious sectarian conflicts rather than the conflict of civilizations.During the Cold War, political ideology was the main cause of world conflict, although ethnic conflicts in newly independent countries began to surface.

Since North Korea conducted another intercontinental ballistic missile test on July 28, the US has become more confrontational rather than conciliatory toward North Korea. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley declared at the UN Security Council that the “time for dialogue is over.” The Trump administration has adopted the maximum pressure and engagement policy, abandoning Obama’s strategic patience policy. It has first concentrated on a confrontational approach, resorting to mainly three paths: s

When a peaceful transition of power from the Park Geun-hye government to the Moon Jae-In government was successfully completed, following Park’s impeachment and the presidential election within a short period without any violent confrontation between the pro-Park conservative forces and the anti-Park liberal forces, the world, particularly the Western democratic world, was quite impressed. This was mainly because a divided and newly independent non-Western state had not only successfully overcom

North Korea and Syria are two powder kegs in the world at the moment. By comparing these two states we may be able to find solutions to the two crises.The North Korean crisis is directly related to the division of Korea into two separated states by the Allied Powers in World War II in 1945, whereas the Syrian crisis was touched off by a domestic democratic movement influenced by the Arab Spring in 2011. The main cause of the North Korean crisis is the North Korean regime’s complete distrust and