Dear supporters of ZoominKorea

From the bottom of our hearts, a Big Thank You for your kind support, love, encouragement, and wise words to keep us going in 2017

The year 2017 (what a year!) is drawing to end. Before it happens, perhaps think about once more showing your support for ZoominKorea by making a year-end donations and also insurances.

To find guidelines on giving, scroll to the bottom.

For those who donate $100 or more by December 31, 2017, we will send you our gesture of thanks—this fantastic 2018 calendar to help you welcome the next year

Thanks Hyun Lee

Kim Yong-nam, the president of the Supreme People’s Assembly of North Korea, silently wiped his eyes as North and South Korean singers sang in harmony at a concert honouring the winter games, maybe the most poignant moment in the first days of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. As photos of sad North-South family reunions played in the backdrop of the finale of the North Korean Samjiyeon Orchestra’s historic performance in Seoul on February 11, South Korean k-pop diva SeoHyun clasped hands with North Korean vocalists. They sang, “Be well, let us meet again,” as the concert drew to end. Go safely; let us meet again; and waved their hands as the audience waved back, Kim softly crying.

Art sometimes suggests solutions that the stodgy logic of policy analysts cannot.

Those who have really felt—even for a little moment—the agony of seventy years of artificial national division likely experienced a stir in the pit of their hearts at witnessing the rare emotional outburst of the ninety-year old North Korean politician. Koreans from all sides of the conflict express the same sense of exhilaration at the brief inter-Korean reunion followed by sadness and grief at not knowing when or if the two Koreas will ever meet again. And thus might be the solution to the ongoing, seeming unsolvable strife on the Korean peninsula. Threats of maximal pressure and a “bloody nose strike” will finally yield to that common yearning for reunion.

Prospect for North-South Summit

On the heels of the historic summit, the United States eased sanctions on North Korea, which reciprocated with a pledge not to flight-test its long-range missiles. Just four months after the inter-Korean summit, in October 2000, North Korea’s Vice Marshall Jo Myong-rok traveled to Washington and met with then-President Clinton. They signed the US-DPRK Joint Communique, which stated that in light of the “changed circumstances on the Korean Peninsula created by the historic inter-Korean summit,” both sides agree to “remove mistrust and build mutual confidence” based on the principles of “respect for each other’s sovereignty and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.” U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright subsequently traveled to Pyongyang to pave the way for a summit between Kim Jong-il and then-President Clinton. This took place during President Clinton’s last days in office, and he unfortunately ran out of time to make the summit a reality. The momentum toward rapprochement was then quickly scuttled by George Bush Jr, who scrapped all agreements with North Korea as soon as he took office.

Central Government Complex in Seoul.

Weeks prior, GM had threatened to start its “first step” in reorganising the GM Korea division by closing its Gunsan factory by the end of May 2018. GM Korea experienced a $1.9 billion deficit over five years, 2012 to 2016. At its height, South Korea generated over a fifth of GM’s world production.

The South Korean government has taken notice of GM's

“first step” in reorganising its subsidiary in South Korea and the two sides started talks on how to keep GM Korea afloat. To normalise management at GM Korea, the GM headquarters sought aid on February 22 including tax incentives from the South Korean government and financial support.