Writing
North Korea Is Not Vietnam
Expecting the brutally repressive state to liberalize magically the way Vietnam did is a pipe dream.
By Geoffrey Cain
The New Republic
Feb 28, 2019
New coins, no change
I trekked through Washington DC on a mission. The US government had released a commemorative coin showing Donald Trump and Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un face-to-face. Their respective flags were behind them and above them the words “peace talks” in Korean and English.
By Geoffrey Cain
Mekong Review
May 29, 2018
The Korea Hawk Who Wasn’t Hawkish Enough
Victor Cha is experienced, informed – and no peacenik. None of that mattered for the Trump administration.
By Geoffrey Cain
Foreign Policy
Feb 2, 2018
Why Samsung’s recall of Galaxy smartphones threatens its universe
As exploding batteries force recall of flagship phone, can a rising star rethink company’s business model to prevent an even bigger bang?
By Geoffrey Cain
South China Morning Post
September 26, 2016
Fake News and the Death of Democracy in Cambodia
At half-past-midnight on September 3, more than 100 police raided the home of Cambodia’s opposition leader, Kem Sokha. The security forces hustled him away to a maximum-security prison just outside of Phnom Penh. More than two months later, he’s languishing in a cell, awaiting trial for treason.
By Geoffrey Cain
The Nation
Nov 21, 2017
The Knives Are Out for South Korea’s Robber Barons
Business clans have dominated the country’s economy for decades – but their time may finally be up.
By Geoffrey Cain
Foreign Policy
Jun 23, 2017
From Crisis to Creative Destruction at Samsung
Combustible smartphones are a symptom of deeper management problems at the Korean company.
By Geoffrey Cain
The Wall Street Journal
Oct 12, 2016
Scorched Earth Doctrine
IN FEBRUARY 1951, New York Times correspondent George Barrett, traveling with an American armored column, stumbled on the ghostly remains of a Korean hamlet that had been bombed out by US aircraft.
By Geoffrey Cain
Los Angeles Review of Books
May 11, 2015
How I Became an Ajumma
The Korean version of this essay appeared in the Kyunghyang Shinmun on 12 February 2015. The English version here has been published with the permission of the newspaper and the author.
By Geoffrey Cain
Kyunghyang Shinmun
Mar 31, 2015
This North Korean is getting rich off capitalism
SEOUL, South Korea — For many North Korean defectors, the escape to freedom in the South is, sadly, the start of another lifelong struggle.
By Geoffrey Cain
USA TODAY
Mar 26, 2015