Kim Jong Un Goes To The Zoo 
North Korea Faces Grave Drought 
North Korea: The End Game of Post Modernism 
N. Korea Ramps Up work At Nuke Site 
UN Investigating Potential Arms Trade Between North Korea, Syria
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The Blog
The assumptions that there is nothing new regarding crime and corruption and that these plagues are an inevitable part of the human experience are clouding an important change: the ascent of the mafia state, an old player that has gained renewed potency.
The whole thing is very odd. It all highlights what a conundrum that leaders from Washington to California face in dealing with the challenges and opportunities presented by a clearly ascending and not very well understood China.
There are certain aspects of America that I find enormously attractive -- the openness and friendliness of the people, their generosity and the lack of a stifling European-style class system. However, there is a side to America that I find extremely unsettling -- the relentless fixation on money.
For reasons that defy all logic, the administration wishes to spend yet another $400 million on MEADS, the Medium Extended Air Defense System, while simultaneously acknowledging that the missile system will never get off the ground.
'One Day on Earth' is a living time capsule of who we are. We have much to fix -- but we have more going for us, it seems, than not.
Sitting at the center of what is currently the most economically and geo-strategically important region in the world, North Korea matters for everyone, and its failed rocket launch only increases the chance of danger ahead.
We took the threat of Saddam seriously. Likewise, there has been no comedic perspective over the slaughter of the Syrian people happening at this very moment. Yet for some reason North Korea doesn't come across as such a pressing matter that must be dealt with forthwith.
North Korea's military capabilities and intentions get scant attention in the American media, among politicians, and in Congress, in contrast to the all-consuming obsession with Iran. Why?
Truculence reinforced by conciliation guarantees more of the former. But North Korea is no child. Nor should it be treated like one given the catastrophic consequences that war on the Korean peninsula would bring. Yet, analysts tend to exaggerate North's power.
After Rick Santorum's sudden withdrawal essentially handed the Republican nomination to Mitt Romney, on the 100th anniversary of Titanic setting sail on its fateful voyage, President Barack Obama had a mostly good week.
North Korea remains a serious military threat. It still possesses as many as a dozen nuclear warheads, proven short-range missiles, and a formidable conventional fighting force. It is as much an army with a country as vice-versa.
One thing we know for sure is that Rhee has gathered followers all over the world who are eagerly anticipating his reappearance. In his absence, the legend only grows stronger.
"I don't oppose all wars," said a young Barack Obama in 2002 during the lead up to the invasion of Iraq. "I am opposed to a dumb war, a rash war," and a war with Iran is dumb and rash.
Trimming Cold War arsenals, bringing our nuclear strategy into the 21st century, makes sense. It makes sense for Republicans and Democrats, defense hawks and budget hawks. Politicians trying to score cheap political points do so at the expense of our national security.
There is no need to idealize Korea. But it is hard not to admire the resolution of a country surrounded by big brothers and an enemy. It is a country of talents.
The real nuclear threat to the United States does not lie in the fact that it does not (or will not) possess enough nuclear weapons to deter a nuclear attack. Rather, it is that there is no guarantee that nuclear deterrence works.
