The "crisis" on the 38th parallel has little to do with the two Koreas: it's about oil and gas for China, the prelude to an energy grab that will safeguard the expansion of the Chinese economy for decades to come. Six months ago Taiwanese and Japanese coastguard cutters were drenching each other in spray from water cannon, in footage now forgotten. The present pantomime, with hisses greeting North Korea as the villain, is not a replacement of the fountain show but its encore. The Senkaku islands, if you're Japanese – Diaoyu if you're Chinese – halfway between the two countries, and the fossil resources that underlie them, are the issue of contention, not the integrity of the Korean border. In the twilight of oil, long-term energy security is at the top of all great powers' agendas, but it has a highly personal dimension for those in power in China today. Two hundred dollars for a barrel of oil and 15% unemployment will lose a presidential election in America. In China, it … [Read more...] about Korea is the focus, but this is China versus Japan
Korean chinese in south korea
Timeline: North Korea – key events since the end of the Korean war
27 July 1953 The war ends when a truce is signed by a representative of the US-backed UN forces, and a representative of North Korea and allied Chinese forces. South Korea was not a signatory. There is no formal peace treaty, meaning the two countries remain technically at war. The Korean war cost 2 million lives. January 1968 North Korean commandos launch a failed assassination attempt on the then president of South Korea, Park Chung-hee. 15 August 1974 There is another assassination attempt on Park Chung-hee, by a North Korean agent in Seoul. Park survives, but the first lady is killed. 9 October 1983 North Korean agents target the venue of a visit by South Korean president Chun Doo-hwan to Burma, killing more than 20 people including four South Korean cabinet ministers. The president escapes. 29 November 1987 North Korea blows up a South Korean civilian airliner, killing 115 people. The US decides to include the North on its list of countries that support terrorism. 1991 North and … [Read more...] about Timeline: North Korea – key events since the end of the Korean war
North Korea: US and Seoul brace for missile test
The US and South Korean combined forces command in the South has stepped up surveillance of the North and added intelligence staff as the region prepares for an expected missile test. The joint command has increased its alert level one notch above the standard status, an unnamed military official told the South's Yonhap news agency, while Seoul's foreign minister, Yun Byung-se, told parliament the prospects of a launch were "very high". While tensions on the peninsula have escalated rapidly in recent weeks, with Pyongyang issuing a series of threats and withdrawing workers from a joint industrial zone, analysts believe the North is simply trying to exert pressure on other countries in the hope of a security guarantee and aid. "If history is any guide, in a few weeks' time things will calm down ... It does not make sense to credulously take their fake belligerence at face value and give them the attention they want now," Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University wrote on Wednesday. He … [Read more...] about North Korea: US and Seoul brace for missile test
Japan public broadcasting head regrets defending use of wartime sex slaves
The new chairman of Japan's national broadcaster NHK has expressed regret for defending the country's use of wartime sex slaves during remarks in which he also suggested he would toe the government line on key diplomatic issues. Katsuto Momii faced calls to resign over the comments, made at the weekend during his first press conference as head of NHK, and quickly drew criticism from South Korea, a victim of Japan's militarism in the first half of the 20th century. The furore also risks adding to the prime minister Shinzo Abe's diplomatic woes amid rising tensions with China and South Korea over territorial disputes and interpretations of Japan's wartime conduct. Momii said brothels were "common in any country at war" at the time, and described as "puzzling" criticism of Japan's enslavement of up to 200,000 mainly Korean, Chinese and Filipino women – euphemistically known as "comfort women" – in frontline brothels across Asia between 1932 and 1945. "Can we say there were … [Read more...] about Japan public broadcasting head regrets defending use of wartime sex slaves
Samsung and 5G: Will this time be different?
Samsung gives CES 2019 attendees a first look at 5G smartphone Samsung is showing off its 5G smartphone prototype at CES 2019, giving users a first taste of what the device will look like. Special Feature Special Report: How 5G Will Transform Business (free PDF) This ebook, based on the latest ZDNet / TechRepublic special feature, explores how 5G will connect the Internet of things, edge computing and analytics infrastructure with minimal latency. Read More Among Samsung's numerous businesses, probably no other has been plagued more by rumors of an imminent exit than its network business in recent years. From 2014 to 2016, when Samsung Group -- of which Samsung Electronics is the crown jewel -- was commencing its biggest restructuring in over a decade, many considered the network business to be at the top of the list to go. Businesses that had little to do with IT were sold first, such as its defence business in 2014. Samsung sold its printer business … [Read more...] about Samsung and 5G: Will this time be different?
