U.S. & Korea – Page 16

March 30, 2006

Someone Please Prosecute This Fool

Prosecution Exhibit A should be this photograph of a South Korean leftist thug putting his hands on a United States Marine. While there are numerous reasons why this is widely considered unwise, those reasons don’t include any reason to fear that the leftist-dominated Korean government will actually prosecute people like this for assault. “Assault” is what you call it when one person puts his hands on another with hostile intent. It’s a tribute to this Marine’s discipline that he didn’t...

An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/Korean Law/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military/UCMJ & SOFA

March 28, 2006

N. Korean Trade Official Defects

This guy no doubt can tell us where a few bodies are buried (not literally, one hopes): A North Korean employee of a state-run company defected to the South with three family members recently, sources in the Foreign Ministry confirmed yesterday, correcting some media reports that the man was a diplomat. He worked at a trading company run by the government, the ministry sources said. They gave few other details of the matter, citing its sensitivity. Unfortunately, it’s almost a...

An Alliance?/Appeasement/Censorship/Defectors/NK Economics/Refugees/U.S. & Korea/WMD

March 26, 2006

WANTED

Two U.S. senior congressional researchers say Washington could bring criminal charges against North Korean leader Kim Jong-il over his country’s alleged counterfeiting of U.S. dollars. The two authors of a Congressional Research Service report say the U.S.’s increasing keenness to back up its allegations with legal evidence is fueling speculation that it is considering going after Kim. Well, that would certainly mark a decisive policy shift — one that it would extraordinarily difficult for future presidents to reverse. “Earthquake” might...

Counterfeiting/Diplomacy/North Korea/Six-Party Talks/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Law/Uncategorized

March 25, 2006

Yongsan Fire Pics

Thanks to readers who responded to my request for more info on the Yongsan fire last week. That fire destroyed three buildings on Yongsan or the adjacent Korean Service Corps compound. Worse, it severely burned three Korean workers. One was burned on 60% of his body and had to be put on a respirator. Reader “Dan,” presumably a soldier, was living near the scene and ran out to take photographs. He responded to my request for photos; you can see...

An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/Korean Society/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military

March 25, 2006

The Death of an Alliance, Part 35

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld adds the second hint in about a week that more troops cuts are coming for South Korea. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on March 23 that South Korea and the United States have agreed on the transfer of wartime command of South Korean forces to South Korea, and that the two nations are discussing a timetable. Rumsfeld confirmed this in a Pentagon news briefing yesterday and commented on the timing of the turnover, saying, “The...

An Alliance?/China/China & Korea/Diplomacy/ROK Military/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military/Uncategorized/Washington Views

March 1, 2006

The Death of an Alliance, Part 33

Exasperation with the recently awful state of things in South Korea has been a bipartisan concern for a while now. First we had the unanimous passage of the NK Human Rights Act, over the opposition of, and despite lobbying by, both Koreas. Then came the failure of what should have been a voice-vote resolution affirming the 50th Anniversary of the US-Korea alliance. More recently, Hillary Clinton accused South Koreans of “historical amnesia.” Now a former Clinton Administration official is comparing...

An Alliance?/Diplomacy/U.S. & Korea/Uncategorized

February 18, 2006

Sec. Rice: Lefkowitz Will Be More Vocal

It’s the latest suggestion that the Administration is less worried than ever about upsetting Kim Jong Il: The United States will have its North Korea human rights envoy become more active in coming days to get more international attention on the issue, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday. “We are going to get him out more,” Rice said at a U.S. House of Representatives International Relations Committee hearing. “We need the rest of the international community to also...

Activism/An Alliance?/Appeasement/Diplomacy/Human Rights/Korean Politics/Refugees/U.S. & Korea/Uncategorized/Washington Views

February 17, 2006

Will U.S. Finally Let in N.K. Refugees?

It’s long past time we did this. The U.S. government plans to break with long-established policy and start giving asylum to refugees from North Korea. Wording in the 2004 North Korean Human Rights Act that allows it to admit defectors from the Stalinist country has not yet been put into practice due to failure to confirm identities and objections from countries where the refugees were staying. Prominent activists for human rights in the North – Suzanne Scholte, Jae Ku, and...

Activism/China/China & Korea/Defectors/Diplomacy/Human Rights/North Korea/Refugees/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Law/Uncategorized/Washington Views

Category: U.S. & Korea