18 July 2012 Varieties of Nepotism: Korea By Gwynne Dyer What has been happening in North Korea recently is straight out of the “Hereditary Dictatorship for Dummies” handbook. Kim Jong-un, the pudgy young heir to the leadership of one of the world’s last Communist states, is removing powerful people who were loyal to his father …
UPDATE: The US biosecurity people have just ordered some details of the H5N1 research to be omitted in the papers that will be published in scientific journals. Rejoice! The article has been modified accordingly. Use this version. 20 December 2011 North Korea and H5N1: A Sense of Proportion By Gwynne Dyer Western intelligence agencies have …
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20 December 2011 North Korea and H5N1: A Sense of Proportion By Gwynne Dyer Western intelligence agencies have been warning for years about the terrible consequences that would ensue if Iran were to get nuclear weapons. Better bomb the place before they do. But North Korea already has nuclear weapons, and now they are falling …
26 November 2010 The North Korean Dilemma By Gwynne Dyer South Korea’s defence minister, Kim Tae-Young, was forced to resign after criticism that he was too slow to respond when North Korea attacked the island of Yeonpeong on Tuesday, killing at least four people. But what was he supposed to do? What can his replacement, …
24 September 2010 The Son Also Rises By Gwynne Dyer Next week, according to North Korea-watchers, the Korean Workers’ Party (i.e. the Communists) will hold an assembly in Pyongyang to anoint Kim Jong-un, the youngest son of Dear Leader Kim Jong-il, as the successor to his father and grandfather. There is already a song, “Footsteps”, …
28 May 2010 Korea Again By Gwynne Dyer Start with the worst-case scenario. What if there really were a war in the Korean peninsula? Even by local standards, the rhetoric has been heated since the South Korean warship Cheonan was sunk by an explosion last March, killing 46 sailors, and it has been white-hot since …
5 August 2009 The Pariahs of Asia (and their Nukes) By Gwynne Dyer It is generally agreed that North Korea and Burma have the two most oppressive regimes in Asia. They rule over two of the poorest countries in the continent, and that is no coincidence whatever. But there is one marked difference between them. …
31 May 2009 China: Haunted by Tienanmen By Gwynne Dyer It would be child’s play to take out North Korea’s nuclear facilities in a single coordinated strike. The North Korean air force is not modern enough to stop US or Russian or even Chinese strike aircraft. The country’s few nuclear weapons are not deliverable by …
14 October 2008 North Korea: Do Not Access All Areas By Gwynne Dyer Korea is not a tropical country. In the autumn, the leaves turn yellow and red, and by October the process is pretty far along, especially in North Korea. Which is why there are grave doubts that Kim Jong-Il is in good health, …
14 July 2007 North Korea: Five Wasted Years By Gwynne Dyer North Korea has shut down its one nuclear reactor and the associated plutonium reprocessing plant, and a team of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency has arrived in Yongbyon to seal the equipment and oversee the decommissioning process. Pyongyang has promised to deliver …