Christine Ahn

Gwyn Kirk is a founder member of Women for Genuine Security and a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus. Christine Ahn is a policy and research analyst with the Global Fund for Women and a FPIF columnist.

Americans and South Koreans Want Peace. Will Trump Listen?

As the newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in meets President Donald Trump for his first White House visit, the South Korean leader should stay focused on his calls for diplomatic, economic, and cultural engagement with Pyongyang. The Trump administration will undoubtedly try to steer Moon in the opposite direction, towards “maximum pressure” on North … Continue reading “Americans and South Koreans Want Peace. Will Trump Listen?”

War Is Not an Option for Korea

“Let me be very clear: The policy of strategic patience has ended,” U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters at a news conference in Seoul, South Korea. “All options are on the table,” Tillerson continued, including “an appropriate response” to any North Korean threat. The United States and North Korea are like two “accelerating … Continue reading “War Is Not an Option for Korea”

Let the Peace Games Begin

The contrast between the two games couldn’t be starker. On the one hand, the world’s most technologically advanced militaries and weapons systems are deployed to practice combat. On the other, despite tremendous nationalist pressure to beat the other, athletes from North Korea and South Korea competed with each other peacefully, even gracefully, in the 2016 … Continue reading “Let the Peace Games Begin”

To End North Korea’s Nuclear Program, End the Korean War

North Korea announced recently that it had successfully detonated its first hydrogen bomb. “This test is a measure for self-defense,” state media announced, “to firmly protect the sovereignty of the country and the vital right of the nation from the ever-growing nuclear threat and blackmail by the U.S.-led hostile forces.” South Korea, Japan, and China … Continue reading “To End North Korea’s Nuclear Program, End the Korean War”

Okinawa: The Small Island Trying To Block the US Military’s ‘Pivot to Asia’

On December 10 – International Human Rights Day – Takeshi Onaga began his term as the new governor of Okinawa. Last month, the citizens of Okinawa delivered a landslide victory to Onaga, who ran on a platform opposing the construction of a new US Marine Corps base in northern Okinawa. Using the campaign slogan “All … Continue reading “Okinawa: The Small Island Trying To Block the US Military’s ‘Pivot to Asia’”

Naval Base Tears Apart Korean Village

“The land and sea aren’t something you bought,” explained Kang Ae-Shim. “Why are you selling something that was there long before you were born?” Kang Ae-Shim is a haenyo, one of the legendary Korean women sea divers from Jeju Island who can hold their breath for up to two minutes while foraging the ocean floor … Continue reading “Naval Base Tears Apart Korean Village”

Sixty Years of Failed North Korea Sanctions

In response to the March 26 sinking of the South Korean ship, the Cheonan, allegedly by a North Korean submarine, the United States is poised to adopt even more stringent sanctions against North Korea. Robert Einhorn, the U.S. State Department’s special advisor for nonproliferation and arms control, recently announced in Seoul that after legal and other questions … Continue reading “Sixty Years of Failed North Korea Sanctions”