Monthly Archive: July, 2005

South Korean President Roh Moo0-Hyun is offering his “conservative” archenemies key roles in his proposed coalition. This, you must see: In a letter to his political supporters, President Roh Moo-hyun wrote yesterday that if the opposition Grand National Party would agree to form a coalition government with the Uri Party, he would allow his opponents to make key appointments, including that of prime minister. “If the Grand National Party takes the initiative to form a coalition government where the Uri...

No good idea ever contains the word “education camps.” This bit of social engineering doesn’t seem likely to break that well-grounded historical trend.

Absolutely nothing new to report, as far as progress toward agreement between the U.S. and North Korea, according to the BBC. In fact, things are starting to get downright acrimonious: Negotiators are reported to have had heated exchanges on the sixth day of six-party talks in Beijing on North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme. One delegate said fierce clashes occurred as the negotiating teams tried to hammer out an agreement on a statement of basic principles. The parties failed to agree...

This looks like good news. In the wake of the deal to keep our air bases in Kirghizstan, I’d suspect that the U.S. felt itself in a better position to unburden itself of a repugnant ally, or to demand that Uzbekistan reform itself meaningfully. I’m only speculating on what the terms of this conversation were, but the fact that it ended in disagreement on the U.S. role in supporting that regime is a very good sign that this administration is...

Korean nationalism appears to have taken its toll in Japan, too. According to the blog rankings, Japanese bloggers are in no mood for reconciliation. And despite the popularity of all things Korean in Japan, the so-called Kan-ryuu, or Korean Wave, many bloggers are taking aim at Korea. Choose (what you believe) Carefully! Information on Korea is the sixth most popular blog in Japan right now, according to Ninki Blog Ranking, and bills itself as an antidote for the Japanese “mass...

Let’s begin with the title of its editorial today, “Six-Party Talks Must Stay Focused on Essentials.” We are soon to learn that the non-essential matter to which the editorial refers is not the U.S. “hostile policy,” or the public statement in a congressional hearing or the Rodong Sinmun, or the new canard of U.S. nukes in South Korea, but human rights in North Korea, and more specifically, the U.S. position that it must be made a part of the talks....

Most of this coverage probably relates to Day Three, nonetheless, it doesn’t suggest much progress, as the AP’s Lim Bo-Mi reports: U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill held a one-on-one meeting Friday morning with North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, their fourth such encounter this week. Hill said the nations were still divided over the issue of when the North will receive aid in exchange for giving up its nuclear weapons program. “Still we have a lot...

Daily NK has now released the inteview of the North Korean soldier I first blogged about here. You can see the video here and an English transcript here. In some ways, the tape is a bit of a disappointment. The soldier’s voice is inaudible for the understandable reasons of his health and apparent efforts to disguise his voice. But why, then, didn’t they pixelize his face, which is identifiable in two portions of the tape? I also wished for some...

The Korean site DKB news has a on the dugout shelters used by North Korean refugees in China. Text is Korean only. The comments are interesting as well, even from my somewhat limited Korean. What else occurs to me from seeing these pictures? That the North Korean regime has taught most of its people to handle and use firearms, and that less intentionally, it has taught them how to build and live in crude earthen shelters; to live on wild...

Scroll down for updates. I suppose Day One is a bit hasty to declare a deadlock, but this isn’t very promising: North Korea took a tough stand Wednesday during talks with the United States, reportedly insisting Washington normalize relations and remove all atomic threats before it would give up nuclear weapons. For its part, the United States stood by an aid-for-disarmament offer the North rejects as unfair. . . . . North Korea said the United States must abandon plans...

Our focus group has submitted its first entry. Unedited, as promised. 먼저 북한, 한국, 중국에 있는 북한사람들의 복지에 관심을 가져주셔서 감사합니다. 제가 선생님의 웹페이지를 알고 있어서 몇번 방문했는데, 조금 밖에 이해를 못했지만, 여러번 반복해서보았습니다. 지난 화요일 밤에 저와 친구는 “FREEDOM HOUSE”의 “RFA”방송을 들었습니다. 참석자 1000명 중에 인권활동가와 정부입안관계자들이 참석한 것은 매우 인상적이었습니다. 그런분들이 참석한 것은 ê·¸ 회의에 명예로운 것이었습니다. 그러나 한편으로 미 콘돌리자 라이스 국무장관이 참석하지 않은것은 실망스러운 일이었습니다. 물론 바쁜 일정 때문이었겠지요. 힘이 되는 것은 재미교포로 구성된 비정부단체들이 회의에...

Ambassador Hong steps down.

Question: How can you effectively monitor the distribution of half a million tons of rice from two locations–particularly if the North Korean government is jointly responsible for the monitoring?

Fair and Balanced! The New York Times is hosting a Q&A with Jack Pritchard and Nick Kristoff. That should get them buzzing inside that particular cocoon.

Here’s just a cutting from a report on the first day of the six-nation talks: While Kim Gye-gwan, the North’s top envoy to the talks, paid close attention to the opening remarks of his counterparts, throughout the opening ceremony, he seemed purposely to ignore the Japanese delegation. Mr. Kim deliberately looked the other way when Mr. Sasae made his speech and closed his eyes. Apparently worried the talks might be derailed by the dispute, Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon of...

Professor Donna Hughes, who spoke at last week’s Freedom House conference, has an article in National Review online about the trafficking of North Korean women in China. Thanks to her for forwarding a copy. Women and children are increasingly the majority of refugees crossing the river into China. If they can locate a friend or relative’s house, they have a chance at finding a safe haven. But if the ethnic Korean Chinese traffickers find them first, they are abducted and...

I haven’t had time to read all five pages of what looks to be a very interesting report on the evidence for or against, but I’m not surprised that (1) people don’t trust the conclusions of the CIA, or (2) the evidence, overall, is inconclusive. In fact, I’d be very suspicious if any analyst made a conclusive judgment about what North Korea possesses or does not possess. The country is interlaced with literally thousands of tunnels and UGF’s, and is...

Nicholas Kristof is a man who knows the power of righteous indignation to save lives by hitting genocidal dictators where they’re most often vulnerable: their economies. Listen to the moral authority of Nick Kristof and the New York Times in full roar when millions face imminent mass murder: So what can stop this genocide? At one level the answer is technical: sanctions . . . , a no-fly zone, a freeze of . . . officials’ assets, prosecution of the...