Politics

Hello. I am an ordinary Korean teenager but I am not sending you this letter for an ordinary reason. I wanted to talk about something very serious with you. It is about the new agreement between the Republic of Korea and the United States. Our countries are now both very sensitive about the beef issue. My belief is that free trade must be fair trade, as US ambassadors are on record as saying in the FTA between Peru, which means that both countries should benefit. I admit that Korea has benefitted from trade in the areas of automobile exports, IT products, and cell phones. However, Koreans are very upset with their government. This is clear from the candlelight demonstrations in Korea, yet our government is saying that it is not possible to renegotiate the KORUS FTA...

Dear Leader, I’ve heard that’s how you like to be addressed by the people of North Korea, but since this is the beginning of a letter I guess I should say Dear Dear Leader. My editor sent me this article claiming that while your people are starving you own six luxurious trains fitted with high-tech communications facilities, conference rooms, and even ballrooms. Since you’re reportedly afraid of flying, I can understand you needing a train with all the communication equipment you’d find in, say, Air Force One, but do you really need the ballrooms? Do you like to invite your nuclear scientists to an evening of waltzing? Perhaps this story isn’t true. Not all stories about dictators are, after all. The rumor that Hitler only had one ball is highly debatable, for example, and while...

Dear Tony, Hello, I am a Korean female with three children. I was deeply moved to write to you after reading your article which appeared in the Korean Herald dated June 25. As I was reading your article sentence by sentence, my heart was beating and my eyes were getting wet. It was almost a shock to me for two reasons; I have never heard of or read a story like yours in which dreadful fear of war lasted a man throughout his life. And I was very sad that so many foreign soldiers died and suffered for the sake of the unknown land of Korea during the Korean War. How sad their families were, losing their beloved sons, fathers or husbands! If they fought and died for their own country, they would have been honored as heroes. I don't even want my husband to give up his life for my country...

An Open Letter To President Mugabe Dear Mr President,  I hope this letter finds you well since your recent pronouncements about the fatigue already building up day-in, day-out. I just hope God can make you recover as quickly as possible as there is no other that heals the sick and opens the eyes of the blind. Mr President, its obvious from your other recent announcement that the controversial land grabs have yielded nothing but poverty. Its also obvious that white Zimbabweans had their citizenship and rights taken away by their fellow citizens with the endorsement of a black president and the connivance of the securocrats. It is unfortunate that a Zimbabwean black president is racist towards whites, whereas US Vice President Joe Biden, a white man himself, proudly champions the...