On the Korean Peninsula

If Trump wanted to fix both China and North Korea, he should add more tariffs and sanctions every time China coddles its buffer state:

Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to foot the bill for the completion of a bridge between North Korea and China when he visited Pyongyang last month, the Asahi Shimbun reported Monday quoting sources. 

Construction of the bridge across the Apnok or Yalu River between the border towns of Sinuiju in North Korea and Dandong on the Chinese side started in 2011. It was nearly complete in 2014 but never opened for traffic because Pyongyang demanded money from Beijing for an access road and auxiliary facilities.

Chinese engineers have been conducting field surveys since late June, right after Xi's visit to Pyongyang, the Japanese daily added. 

The sources said China has paid about 1.8 billion yuan for the bridge and will pay some 2.5 billion yuan more.

Uh, North Korea, for your information:

Earlier this month, a bridge in Harbin city that cost 1 billion yuan to make collapsed killing 3 people. 

But as many as six bridges have collapsed across China since July 2011, and most have been attributed to poor construction and overloading, according to The Telegraph.

 

 

 

That's an excellent question:

 

President Moon Jae-in vowed to break down the outdated Cold War order that has pitted South Korea, the U.S. and Japan against North Korea, China and Russia. Many supporters were delighted, but South Korea's regional neighbors interpreted it as a pledge to distance itself from Washington and Tokyo. Instead of giving Seoul any brownie points, that only encouraged China and Russia to ride roughshod over it. How much longer will Moon stay silent?

 

As long as he remains in office.

 

That's how long.

 

 

 

 

South Korea has been a functioning economy and a democratic state since the Eighties. It has earned its place among free and prosperous nations: 

U.S. President Donald Trump is pressuring the World Trade Organization to stop classifying Korea, China and other countries as "developing," which has given them some trade privileges he now considers unfair.

In a tweet littered with even more capital letters than usual, Trump said Friday, "The WTO is BROKEN when the world's RICHEST countries claim to be developing countries to avoid WTO rules and get special treatment. NO more!!!" 

He added, "Today I directed the U.S. Trade Representative to take action so that countries stop CHEATING the system at the expense of the USA!" 

At the time of the WTO's launch in 1995, developing countries risked losses by joining, so they were granted special status. Once recognized as developing economies, they could enjoy more lenient rules. 

When Korea joined the OECD in 1996, it was asked to declare itself an advanced country, but its decided to retain its developing status for fear of damage in the agricultural sector. But it relinquished its rights as a developing country in areas other than agriculture at the WTO.  

Now that decision is coming back to haunt it. Trump cited G20 and OECD member nations as prime examples of countries that need to stop being treated as developing economies by the WTO. They include Korea, Mexico and Turkey. 

The U.S. has set four criteria for the WTO to stop granting developing status to a country. The first is OECD membership or application to join the rich countries' club. Second is G20 membership. Third is a per-capita GDP over US$12,056 a year. And fourth is accounting for more than 0.5 percent of global trade. 

Korea meets all four of those criteria.