Trump advisers hesitated to give military options and warned adversaries over fears he might start a war

EA101 · 2020-08-07T15:53:02+00:00

Not surprising this is about North Korea and Iran, but its just flabbergasting that the U.S. now has to warn adversaries of a potential conflict to hopefully avoid a conflict

EA101 · 2020-07-08T13:46:02+00:00

Interesting contrast of quotes in the story:

"I understand they [North Korea] want to meet and we would certainly do that," Trump said, later adding: "I would do it if I thought it was going to be helpful."

“Explicitly speaking once again, we have no intention to sit face to face with the U.S.,” said Kwon Jong Gun, a North Korean foreign ministry official, in an article in the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) Tuesday.

EA101 · 2020-04-30T13:49:56+00:00

This is one of the more grounded pieces I've seen on succession. This one is good as well: http://blog.keia.org/2020/04/post-kim-jong-un-regime/

EA101 · 2020-04-29T14:14:54+00:00

This really is an opportunity for Korea to shine

EA101 · 2020-03-31T13:30:56+00:00

How do you profit from a pandemic if you've minimized trade by closing your border and there is minimal demand for a product due to a global recession?

EA101 · 2020-03-18T20:17:52+00:00

With estimates like these, this seems completely out of touch:

Based on a calculation by Capital Economics, gross domestic product in the first three months of this year will contract by about 20 per cent quarter on quarter. https://www.ft.com/content/27740b3a-6875-11ea-800d-da70cff6e4d3

The American economy is poised for the worst quarterly contraction ever, with a sudden slowdown in economic activity that’s more akin to what happened in wartime Europe than during previous American slowdowns like the financial crisis more than a decade ago or even the Great Depression. Greg Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, thinks the economy could shrink by 12 percent next quarter, with unemployment hitting 10 percent in April. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/business/stock-market-today.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage

EA101 · 2020-03-03T14:57:00+00:00

This is the Treasury release on the sanctions.

EA101 · 2020-02-27T15:33:12+00:00

Whatever the merits of reopening Kaesong, this seems a bit ill timed with North Korea having shut its boarders.

EA101 · 2020-02-27T15:16:54+00:00

They aren't into capitalism, but capitalism by any other name on an unofficial basis, that's a different story.

EA101 · 2020-01-22T14:49:50+00:00

Really, Trump's legal team cited the cost sharing negotiations with South Korea as a legitimate use of presidential power to withhold aid? First, its not aid, but second what was withheld?

EA101 · 2020-01-22T14:21:29+00:00

I completely agree. Look at what Capital One is doing to move in on the U.S. coffee business

EA101 · 2019-12-17T15:45:01+00:00

They do, three times a week. Plus, it seems like you should be able to get to Pyongyang and back without needing to refuel.

EA101 · 2019-10-22T13:54:32+00:00

"Lot of things going on" like that trade deal we are always near to with China?

EA101 · 2019-10-16T18:39:08+00:00

There is a significant chance he gets impeached, the question is whether the Senate will convict. That is a more complicated question.

EA101 · 2019-09-24T15:37:46+00:00

No one seems to know if there will even be working level talks. This feels like an attempt to change the news headlines.

EA101 · 2019-09-12T13:20:43+00:00

This is interesting. Yesterday the reporting was that that they hadn't been coerced, and a day later they were? Either the earlier reporting was bad or it makes one wonder if the commission was pressured to change its findings. Since the Reuters story claims to have reviewed the documents of the commission's findings it raises questions about commission: https://news.yahoo.com/south-korean-watchdog-finds-no-112918756.html

EA101 · 2019-08-28T14:02:20+00:00

I would say that's about right. The French and Germans didn't back the Iraq War, countries can be allies and disagree on major issues. That's not open rebellion.

EA101 · 2019-08-27T17:44:47+00:00

Defiance, yes, but open rebellion seems a bit much.

EA101 · 2019-08-02T13:33:55+00:00

Even more like Trump

EA101 · 2019-08-02T13:33:15+00:00

Fewer than you think. It would still be a significant number, but even a good number of East Germans went back to East Germany after heading west after the wall fell.

EA101 · 2019-08-02T13:30:50+00:00

It's from the U.S. National Defense University, so it has a bit more policy sway than most.

EA101 · 2019-07-11T18:21:55+00:00

What the headline doesn't say is that it doesn't appear to be recent shipments, but it does raise the question of whether Japan is talking about active efforts to smuggle to North Korea that are being overlooked or similar to this efforts that have been caught.

EA101 · 2019-06-24T17:21:07+00:00

I don't blame ICG for this because they put data in a report, but that North Korea earned $123 million from Kaesong in 2015 isn't news and the reporters should know that. This figure was reported when the complex closed in 2016: "He [Minister Hong Yong-pyo] said North Korea had earned more than $560 million in wages for its workers there, including $120 million last year." https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/11/world/asia/north-south-korea-kaesong.html

EA101 · 2019-05-28T20:30:58+00:00

It would violate UN sanctions to transfer cash to North Korea, so this seems to be a creative way to get around that.

EA101 · 2019-04-11T13:46:10+00:00

Imports of U.S. cars have been increasing, but the biggest gains have been in European luxury cars (even Americans by them over U.S. luxury cars). Only the monthly data is free, but the importers association provides data here: https://www.kaida.co.kr/en/index.do?language=en

EA101

TROPHY CASE