Let’s just be clear that Professor Kang Jeong-Koo is a lying Stalinist media whore and failed petty tyrant:

In a lecture in Incheon last year, Kang said, “Had the United States not
intervened, the Korean War would have ended in a month with the death toll in
both South and North less than 10,000. But 3.99 million more people died
additionally because of the American intervention. The U.S. is the main culprit
in the war and Douglas MacArthur its advance guard.” Kang’s regret that a North
Korea-led communist unification failed is evident in every line of his remarks.
At the time, he was already being tried for groveling in the visitor’s book at
Kim Il-sung’s birthplace of Mansudae, “Let’s achieve unification by succeeding
to the spirit” of the great leader’s hometown.

First, let’s begin with the dramatic overstatement of Korean War casualties, which are much closer to 2.5. million. The millions who would have been starved/frozen/tortured/shot to death under the reign of the Kim dynasty — anywhere from 700,000 to 3.5 million, not including victims of the engineered famine of the 90′s, are conveniently excluded from the numerator, even as those massacred by the North’s forces — around 130,000 — are left in the denominator. Kang’s prescription would have plunged Korea into a dark age that would have made Pol Pot’s Year Zero Kampuchea look like a tropical resort. Instead, South Korea has gigantic digital TV screens mounted on skyscrapers that overlook traffic jams, and Prof. Kang has tenure.

See how easy that was? The logical flaws are obvious enough. Now how about making the argument instead of answering idiocy with idiocy. Given that far too many South Koreans seem to think that Nogun Ri was the only massacre of the whole Korean War, with Kwangju and Cheju being the only others of recent historical significance, it’s an argument South Korea needs to have, but won’t:

The Seoul Central District Court on Friday handed down a suspended two-year
jail term to Prof. Kang Jeong-koo of Dongguk University, who famously asserted
the Korean War was North Korea’s “war of unification. Kang was found guilty of
violating the national security law with remarks that, the court said, are
capable of substantively harming the existence and safety of the Republic of
Korea and its liberal democracy.

When a war of ideas becomes one of state vs. dissident, the dissident always emerges as a martyr with a gathering of followers. In other words, the “dissident” wins, regardless of how wrong he may be. Kang, intoxicated with undeserved fame, will assuredly spout more of this blather, and his sentence will be swiftly unsuspended, meaning he will become even more famous. If the world were just, he would be an unknown, frustrated transmission mechanic in a forgotten district near Tongdaemun.

Phrased more colloquially, two stupids don’t make smart. Kang’s university ought to impose some rational academic standards and protect its reputation by getting rid of him, but since when do free societies prosecute the insane for mere words?

America is doing the right thing:

China and the U.S. have reportedly agreed that four North Korean defectors who barged into the U.S. Consulate in Shenyang after making their way into the South Korean legation will be permitted to leave the country. It is understood that the U.S. has decided to give them asylum.

Sources said Thursday’s secret negotiations were favorable to the defectors, adding Washington would accept the group’s request for asylum.

Could this have been a deliberate provocation, a defection attempt, or neither?

Two North Korean soldiers crossed a stream some 20-30 m into the South in
Hwacheon, Gangwon Province at around 12:47 p.m. on Friday but returned to the
North when South Korean troops fired warning shots. This is the first time in
five years the South Korean military has had to fire over the heads of North
Korean soldiers crossing the Military Demarcation Line (MDL). The last time was
in September 2001.

Yes, North Korean soldiers posted to the DMZ do defect. I actually met one of them recently.

Move America Forward will have webcasts this weekend devoted to the memory of those who have fought and died fighting the terrorists who would destroy all of us and our families the moment they had the means to do so.

Part One Airs for Two Hours: 12:00 ““ 2:00 PM Pacific // 3:00 ““ 5:00 PM Eastern
Part Two Airs for Three Hours: 3:00 ““ 6:00 PM Pacific // 6:00 ““ 9:00 PM Eastern

What we owe these brave people and their families is simply incalculable.

You Don’t Say:

The head of U.S. private equity fund Lone Star says criticism of the firm’s
investment in Korea Exchange Bank is driven by an “anti-foreign political
climate” in Korea.

I don’t know enough to evaluate Korea’s accusations against Jay Grayken, but Grayken’s accusations against Korea certainly have a ring of truth to them. Meaning that even if Grayken is a complete scoundrel, he’s at least standing on firmer ground than Cynthia McKinney.

What Korea really needs is a futures market devoted exclusively to joint North-South projects. A very simple model here is to imagine yourself as a ruthless North Korean tyrant ensconced in an underground lair in Pyongyang, surrounded by his pleasure squad. Then ask yourself, “what’s in it for me?”

Having done this, try to spot the irrational exuberance. If you can, and if that market actually did exist, there would be a beach house in Ko Samui with your name on it:

South Korea will conduct test runs of cross-border railways without guarantees of safe passage from the North Korean military after talks between top brass from both sides collapsed last week. Seoul on Monday proposed fresh working-level military talks about the test scheduled for Thursday, but there has been no response from the North.

That would have been enough for me to mortgage my house and short-sell Peace Train Holdings, Ltd. Such risks tend to end badly, but this one really was the “sure thing” so many bookies have heard about:

North Korea on Wednesday unilaterally called off the planned test run of cross-border railways, a day before it was scheduled.

The North canceled the planned test run citing the absence of military guarantees of safe passage and “unstable conditions in the South,” according to a Unification Ministry official. A government official said it appeared the North’s powerful military stubbornly opposed the plan.

Well, duh. The North Koreans were actually demanding that South Korea agree to renegotiate their Western maritime boundary — presumably on terms that favored the North. A week before an election, no less.

A government official said Pyongyang gave notice on Tuesday afternoon saying “no issue” can be solved without addressing fundamental matters such as preventing military clashes in the West Sea, and it is “unacceptable to seek a military guarantee of safe passages for cross-border railways without mutual agreement. Seoul had earlier said it would ignore the matter and simply notify the North of the passengers who are to travel on the train since the test run was agreed at ministerial level.

I wonder how long before the South Koreans cave. As if they haven’t dishonored the sacrifice of these men enough already….

Tdaxp has been one of my favorite blogs since day one. Dan strips each problem to its foundational assumptions and rebuilds a range of solutions around interlocking analyses from political, economic, social, and even behavioral laws. To a greater degree than I am, Dan is a TPM Barnett fan — I tend to think Barnett places too much confidence in the power of economics to overcome the predatory nature of tyrants — but every word of his full thesis, “Redefining the Gap,” is certain to make for fascinating reading. He even has a plug from Barnett himself.

Lunarpages Reeks: Once again, TKL is down and we’re getting dismal support from Lunarpages. Yes, we’re contemplating a move elsewhere, as anyone would, but no decision yet. Suggestions for better web hosting are invited.

This morning, I tried to log into The Korea Liberator and saw this:

As Richardson, James, and I gather dust waiting for WordPress to fix whatever caused the problem, I put up a few posts here that I’ll import into TKL later.