On the other hand, this statement from U.S. Ambassador Kathleen Stephens speaks of something our government is doing that’s actually effective: “‘We will continue to fund radio broadcasts into North Korea to try to provide information about the outside world,’ she said, adding that her government will also work to support North Korean refugees.” Well, not so much on that last part, so far.

Pirates seized a North Korean-flagged cargo ship owned by Libya’s White Sea Shipping in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia and Yemen, an anti-piracy task force said. The 4,800-ton MV Rim changed course and was headed for the Somali Basin Wednesday, the European Union Naval Force said, CNN reported.

After speaking recently to a group of young South Korean soldiers about North Korea’s harsh labor camps, former prisoner Jung Gyoung Il — himself once a soldier in North Korea’s massive army — was stunned by the questions from the audience. One soldier asked how many days of leave North Korean soldiers were given. Another asked if North Korean soldiers were allowed to visit their girlfriends. No one showed any curiosity about the notorious network of gulags, a signature marker of the North’s brutality toward its own people.

In a rare acknowledgment, the South Korean government recently noted in a report that hundreds of thousands of North Koreans are languishing in the prison camps. But Seoul has made no public effort to exert pressure on Kim Jong Il’s regime over the issue. And many South Koreans, who hold deeply conflicted feelings toward their communist neighbor, are reluctant to even concede that the camps exist. [Stars & Stripes]

Actually, I don’t think this guy’s views are conflicted at all:

Jung Wook-sik of the Peace Network, a group of civic activists, said the existence of the gulags is “not relevant” in South Korea because many citizens feel their own human rights are being abused. Lee has been heavily criticized for, among other things, subduing peaceful protests and firing members of a teacher’s union that questioned his administration.

And it’s exactly the same thing, of course! You do remember Jung, don’t you, from when he was writing at OhMyNews as “Cheong Woon Sik?”

David Hawk, author of the study “The Hidden Gulag: Exposing North Korea’s Prison Camps,” said little was known about the gulags until about five years ago, when large numbers of North Koreans managed to defect from the famine-stricken country.

Nothing in there surprises me much after four years in the USFK.

Marcus Noland, catching up on the latest reports for the BBC, wonders if the failure of the Great Confiscation has damaged Kim Jong-Eun’s succession prospects. Noland says North Korea “is beginning to look increasingly like a nuclear-capable failing state.”

Both views seem partially right to me. Violence against the state is a big risk anywhere, and especially there. If the regime’s climbdown makes the people less desperate, they won’t resort to violence until the next time they’re this desperate, but because it’s North Korea, that time will come. And when it does, the Great Confiscation has taught the people that (a) they aren’t alone in their anger, and (b) if enough of them challenge the state at once, they can win. More fundamentally, a restoration of the markets will mean that people may regain their economic independence, escape from their state-assigned jobs and the propaganda harangues they endure there, and build the physical and mental strength to get into a rebellious mood. Starving people don’t rebel. People who struggle against the state for their daily bread, and who live in envy of those atop the state’s caste system, might.

But if we’ve learned anything from the lessons of the Rangoon Autumn or Robert Park, it’s that nonviolence is useless against brutal tyrannies. No rebellion will succeed unless the security forces splinter or mutiny, or unless the people organize and arm themselves. Look at how long the Burmese regime survived since the massacres of 1988.

I’m struck by the quality and perceptiveness of Enzo’s questions. His knowledge of the subject matter greatly exceeds that of many journalists I see covering North Korea. It makes for a jarring contrast between Cao’s reality and ours. My favorite example is when Cao says, “I am well-known and respected person.” Cao also claims that he and Kim Jong Il have exchanged e-mails, which could actually be true.

For those who don’t know who Alejandro Cao de Benos is, I’d recommend the documentary “Friends of Kim.”

Once again, my thanks to Enzo. Don’t forget to check out his blogs, 1972 and Asiaedintorni. Questions and answers below the fold. Enjoy!

Looking at the pictures coming from North Korea, Pyongyang seems an imposing but empty city, with few passers-by and policemen directing a nonexistent traffic. Is this the reality?

Pyongyang is a monumental city, almost entirely rebuilt after the American bombing, with a population of 4 million people more or less. The sensation of emptiness comes from its size. In North Korea there is no traffic because we need to save fuel and the transport is entirely public. Every company, every ministry, every organization has 3 or 4 vehicles. Only certain categories of people have a private car: Korean residents in Japan who returned home in the ’80s, athletes, celebrities or prominent scientists. In Pyongyang all the buildings are people’s property but there are no private homes. The state gives the house to the citizens who don’t have to pay anything for renting or maintenance, provided they remain within the established parameters of energy consumption.

Is there any nightlife in Pyongyang? Are there cinemas, restaurants?

Of course there are. And also karaoke, bowling halls, cultural centers. Life is based on the spreading of culture, not only to Pyongyang, but throughout the country. People go to the parks with their families, play cards, fish, and generally go to bed very late, around 2 or 3 am.

What films are shown?

The cinema’s purpose is the formation of a social conscience. We don’t screen any movies that foster capitalism or the destruction of our society and there is no pornography. Kim Jong-il is a film enthusiast but, unlike what is said in the West, his film library does not include Hollywood titles.

How do people live in the capital and in the countryside? What are the differences?

Obviously rural areas have less services than the capital of the state but, in general, life in villages has always been better than in the big towns. For example, families can grow everything on the land allocated to them within the cooperatives. When there were food problems, peasants survived much better than the citizens of urban centers. Moreover, their wages are higher than those of the civil servants, almost double. The state takes care of everything: home, health care, food stamps (coupons).

Is the Public Distribution System (PDS) still working?

Of course. To each family are allocated quotas for food - eggs, chickens - but also for garment - shoes, clothes -. It ’s true that during the “Arduous March” this system was curtailed but it was never interrupted, and since 2000 it has returned back to the previous levels. It’s the core of our socialism.

How do you judge the quality of life of North Korean people?

It ‘a humble but dignified life. People don’t need to worry about the day of tomorrow, don’t have loans to pay, they’re not afraid of losing their jobs. Every need is covered by the state.

Let’s suppose that I work so hard that I can afford a bigger house. Why can’t I buy it?

Because you have to sacrifice your selfishness for the common good. You have to focus your objectives toward ideology, not toward your material needs. It’s the advantage of an ideological system vs. a model based only on the economy.

Do people accept this view?

Totally. For that reason the system stands firm. In 2010 it wouldn’t be easy to remain a communist country of 24 million against people will.

There are many ways to keep up a system …

Currently, everyone without exception supports the system and would give his life for its survival. It’s not an imposition, it’s a reality.

In a quote recently included in an editorial of the party newspaper Rodong Sinmun, Kim Jong-il seems to recognize that the minimum needs of the population have not been covered yet. How should we interpret this admission?

Simply as awareness of what happened between 1995 and 2000 and that North Korea has never denied. After the collapse of other communist systems, our nation lost its foreign trade, the U.S. economic blockade became more intense and we were hit by a series of natural disasters. It was necessary to convert the country’s economy because it could work again, also opening to contacts with companies from the capitalist world. This phase of readjustment is not over yet.

It’s notorious that political and military elites enjoy privileges in comparison with the general population (in terms of houses, food and consumer goods). But North Korea is an egalitarian country: isn’t there a contradiction in this difference of conditions?

This is false. An army general is living like an employee of a shoe factory, in all areas of the country. Our vice-president lives in an apartment just like any other citizen. Otherwise the system would fall. People are not stupid.

But during the famine the members of the nomenklatura did receive bigger food rations compared to common people…

No, Kim Jong-il himself ate a bowl of rice like any other North Korean.

But he’s living in a palace …

Another lie. Our leader has some secret residences in different parts of the country for the simple reason that he constantly travels to stay with the people. On the contrary you could not see his pictures day after day from different locations.

Are all these pictures real?

All are real. Today he visits a pigs’ farm, tomorrow a military outpost, the next day a cooperative and every morning news reports keep the public informed about his travels and his meetings with common people at their homes.

What kind of books is it possible to read in North Korea? Is it true that the Grand People’s Study House of Pyongyang hosts Western texts, including novels by Orwell or even French classics? Who can frequent it?

I don’t know if there is Orwell, and it seems a mockery to me. But there are many Western books, usually classics. There are no problems provided that the texts don’t spread pornography or capitalist propaganda. All citizens can attend the Grand People’s Study House.

And in the bookshops what can be found?

A taste of everything: mathematics, geometry and the works of our leaders. Obviously control is crucial to ensure the vitality of the system.

Is it true that Kim Jong-il is an Internet’s fan?

He’s in general interested in new technologies. And I know for sure that he has an e-mail address.

Who writes to Kim Jong-il?

I’ve contacted him several times and I got answers. Obviously I bother him just for urgent matters.

As far as I know, in North Korea there’s no Internet as we conceive it. Can you describe how the network works and who is using it?

It’s an Intranet. Users can connect for free to chat or check their e-mails. It’s the same as the world wide web but it only works within the country. The informations are filtered to prevent people from coming into contact with pornographic or violent contents.

Like CNN’s news?

That is pure propaganda, not news.

How do North Koreans see themselves? Are they racist or tolerant people? To what extent nationalistic sentiments help to cement the regime? I ask you because it’s just been published a new book by B.R. Myers whose title is “The Cleanest Race”. I think it will provide some hints for a debate among experts and pundits.

North Korean nationalists are included within the Workers’ Party, which defends the sovereignty and integrity of the country. But the concept of race is alien to the North Korean society that, in fact, suffered immensely under occupying Japanese racist policies.

Did you have to pay a personal price for your political beliefs?

A very high price, because Western society is not free, but completely manipulated by the interests of the ruling class. I’ve lost important jobs, friendships that I thought consolidated, during many years I’ve had problems with my family. I suffered a lot. Now it’s different, I am well-known and respected person.

Do you feel freer in North Korea?

Of course. I’m living in a country where people share my own ideals and where you don’t have to worry about keeping an eye on the wallet. It ‘a social model that allows you to relax.

In the West, North Korea is widely regarded as the paradigm of the totalitarian state in which human rights and fundamental freedoms are nonexistent and where each position contrary to the official one is radically suppressed. I would like to know your version.

Those who support such a point of view don’t know anything about the history and culture of North Korea. I am a person who has always preferred to see for myself what others took for granted. So I did with North Korea and I must say that the vast majority of people who visit our country change their mind once they take note of the reality.

How would you describe North Korean political system?

A socialist system based on Juche ideology, whose core is the man as main actor of social transformation.

Do you believe that North Korean people are generally happy with their way of life?

Yes, very happy. Much more than in the West. Every time I come to Spain I cannot wait to return to Pyongyang, after seeing the amount of people in economic distress and worried about their future. The North Koreans live in a better society from a mental, ideological and spiritual point of view.

So why are people trying to flee abroad, risking their own lives?

Because propaganda in Western media is very strong. In any case many of so-called “refugees” crossed the border with China in the years of food shortage, because the conditions in the North were very hard. Most of them returned later and only a few hundred people decided to stay in China, convinced by promises of easy profits. If these people today came back to Korea, they should explain why they decided not to return along with all others. Fearing social rejection, they prefer to try their luck in South Korea.

But today the flow of refugees continues.

They are isolated cases, usually influenced by propaganda. In many cases, they come back and are again accepted. There is no punishment for them, contrary to what some Western media say. Something different are spying cases, actually a crime against the state. For one who leaves, every day many thousands show their loyalty to the regime.

Why the North Korean government does not allow its citizens to travel outside the borders of the state?

North Koreans can travel abroad but always with a very specific mission assigned or approved by the government. Moreover travel is expensive and requires funds that only the state can make available. In the future, with a better economy for everyone, North Koreans will be able to travel freely.

If I visit Pyongyang may I talk to people?

Yes, if I am with you.

Foreigners who visit North Korea must always be accompanied by an official guide that never let them alone. Why?

Because people don’t know them and, for security reasons, we have to keep some distance. Every day the United States are trying to infiltrate spies into our country, slaughter us with their propaganda and destroy our economy. By the CoCom Americans affect our trade relations with foreign countries. For example, we cannot buy medicines from Canada because, otherwise, they would have many problems with Washington. In this situation of uninterrupted oppression at all levels, a small and economically fragile country like North Korea must defend itself against unwanted intrusions. North Koreans are tired of lies and false people.

Why in North Korea there’s no opposition to the government? Why don’t you ever listen any dissenting views from the line of the Party-State?

Because in our socialist system there’s a concept of unity that makes us all work for the same common project. In North Korea we have an ideology that, from an early age, nurtures in the citizens a natural attraction towards this kind of society, so that everyone wants to feel involved. The key of the system’s victory lies in preventing anti-socialist propaganda from entering the country, but above all in the education of the new generations. There aren’t any discordant voices in North Korea because nobody tries to impose his vision to the neighbours.

But it’s probable that, privately, everyone has deeply different views about the political and social situation. Why can’t these ideas be publicly expressed?

Of course they can, as long as people respect the institutions. What we cannot afford is washing our dirty linen in public. Grievances can be submitted to the district’s political representative who will see, if necessary, to submit a motion to the Party and the People’s Assembly. There will be no retaliation if the proposal is respectful. What we don’t allow is the spreading of social disorder by anti-government activities, proselytism, conflicts among religious groups.

Refugees and even former members of the regime attest to the presence of a dense network of concentration camps in North Korean territory. What are these camps and who is locked up there?

There aren’t any concentration camps but extensive portions of territory where common people work, collective farms or groups dedicated to forest services. There are no prisoners. The statements of the so-called refugees are handsomely paid by those who have an interest in spreading these lies. Who is talking about concentration camps does it for money, more often than not bestowed by fundamentalist Christian organizations in exchange for false testimonies. For a home and a job in Seoul it’s normal that some people are willing to lie.

There are also satellite images showing the existence of fenced and monitored fields.

The satellites don’t explain what they are about. We can see “something”, not concentration camps. The military presence is due to the fact that the army is always in the forefront in the most important and complex works. The buildings we can observe are, in many cases, military bases or barracks for the soldiers. It’s impossible by satellite to distinguish these structures from collective farms or something else.

Do you deny the existence of political prisoners in North Korea?

It’s a phenomenon that doesn’t occur in our country. I never heard of anyone who protested against Kim Jong-il, nor have I ever seen anti-government graffiti on the walls in our cities or villages.

If it has nothing to hide, why doesn’t North Korean government allow the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights to enter the country?

Would you open your house’s door to someone who has publicly insulted and slandered you and your family? Both UN and Amnesty International, without any knowledge of the reality of the country, dare to publish reports that damage our reputation. By whom are these organizations paid?

Do you believe that in North Korea human rights are respected?

Yes, I do.

What’s your personal concept of human rights?

Everyone is entitled to the satisfaction of his basic needs, without exception: housing, food, work, a life in peace, harmony and happiness. These are the basic rights of the person, in our view.

And freedom of speech, press, movement, association?

You cannot have it all. It ’s necessary to sacrifice one’s own individuality for the good of the community. Besides, the concept of freedom is closely linked to the people’s economic possibilities and, as such, purely theoretical: 80 percent of the world population can’t benefit from it. Let’s hope that capitalism goes through many other crisis like the last one.

What about religious freedom?

It’s granted in North Korea.

Nowadays, are there class enemies in North Korea?

Not just class enemies but in general people who make mistakes and need to be socially re-educated. If one citizen acknowledges his error - for example in a case of corruption - and publicly apologizes, then he’s forgiven. Depending on the job, he can be downgraded.

So, you still play public sessions of self-accusation and ideological indoctrination.

Of course, in work units and in Party cells. The idea is that everyone is an integral part of a large family and he must bear the responsibility before the other members.

What is your personal position on death penalty? In what situations is it inflicted in North Korea?

I am totally against death penalty. In North Korea this kind of punishment officially exists but it is applied very rarely, only in espionage and sabotage cases.

(End Part 2)

Adding to the confusion, the state has finally announced the long-delayed “official” prices for foodstuffs, threatening to confiscate goods sold for higher prices, despite the fact that the goods’ market value is substantially higher. The Daily NK thinks the new prices will be difficult to enforce.

The regime’s retreat appears, remarkably, to be the result of civil unrest like the reported riot in Hamhung, what I call the Ajumma Rebellion, and alarming reports of violent attacks against members of the security forces. Via Good Friends, there is a new report of civil unrest, this time in the South Hamgyeong town of Dancheon:

Danchun City, South Hamgyong Province is named to have the highest death due to starvation by the result of the field survey, and war veteran residents from the city held a mass protest in front of their city hall. Mainly war veterans over the ages of 70-80 gathered and they were followed by other elders and residents, so the momentum was great. War veterans sat across from city office and violently complained, “We worked hard for our survival during the Arduous March, but the current movement of opening doors to the Strong and Prosperous Nation would make everyone starved to death with currency exchange. Are you going to starve us to death?” The atmosphere turned ugly for a while when residents charged up with emotions screamed after hearing war veteran’s speech. An elder cried, “What is the use of the City Party or people’s government organization when they cannot feed their people? When we followed the Great Leader during the revolution, we wanted to make sure our descendents were well-off. It doesn’t matter if old people die, but our descendents are all about to die. We don’t need such government.” The City Party of Danchun City reported this incident directly to the Central Party. On January 26, the Central Party ordered, “Distribute 1,000 tons of rice that is being saved as Number 2 reserve in Danchun City farms.” The City Party rushed distribution at the end of January to residents with the most difficult living situation. An official at Danchun City commented, “Residents of other cities and counties are having difficulties, but our residents seem to suffer the most. More people are dying and many households with 4-5 members are living off of 500g of corn noodle boiled in water.” [Good Friends]

Even among those without the extraordinary courage needed to openly resist the state, there is more open discontent than in previous years:

Chang, Keum-Ok (alias), a resident in Danchun city, south Hamgyong province complained about the government’s inaction: “they know of people dying of hunger, but they do nothing to resolve people’s suffering.” People cannot find grain even if they want to buy, and the food prices skyrocket everyday. People can do nothing but despair at this moment. Ko, Byong-Gook (alias) complained that “if the government took away all of people’s money, they should provide services and goods to ensure people’s basic living conditions. They just say nicely, but nothing is actually coming out to support people’s basic living conditions.” There are some rumors from some part of the City Party that PDS (Public Distribution System) may be reactivated around February 16 holiday, but people are not terribly excited by that. People complain that “even if that is true, people will die of hunger while waiting for that to happen. Will the government let starving people die?” People complain that they are experiencing the worst ordeal right now: “our government does not show any mercy; instead they seem to test how long their people could survive without sufficient food.”

Good Friends also reports dire conditions in Chongjin, and reports that the damage to the market system is persistent. Traders who lost everything in the Great Confiscation were hit hardest. The markets were their survival strategy. Now, some of them are literally starving. Most ominously for the state, there are worries about the sufficiency of the army’s food supply. And according to multiple reports, people are speaking much more openly of their discontent than in the past:

The residents in Sunchun, South Pyongan province do not hide their opposition. They complain that “the government’s new economic measures make people die of hunger. Instead of making a Strong and Prosperous Nation for people, the new economic measures open the door of poverty and hunger for people.” Heyoung Kim (alias) said “women who feed a family have many opinions on the new economic measures. Compared to the days of old monetary system, our living condition is much worse. Many households cannot even eat corn porridges. Since people’s living condition is at the bottom, they talk badly to the government.” Police officials agree with such sentiments. “In these days, people are increasingly angry and harshly blame the government. Their firm belief and commitment about the Strong and Prosperous Nation are already gone. Political speeches and lectures these days are not effective to reorient and realign the people to the nation’s ideology. They seem to think only about the means and ways to make their living.” [Good Friends]

For obvious reasons, it’s hard to know how much of this is true, though it’s consistent with other things we’ve heard recently. North Korea never emerged from the Great Famine entirely. The most vulnerable and obedient are already dead, but in a place like North Korea, the arbitrariness of the state produces an unsteady but constant supply of vulnerable people whose deaths pass unnoticed.

I predicted before that eventually, “the diktats that demand tomorrow’s sacrifices will be mostly forgotten because no one will have the luxury of obedience.” Most likely, what we’re seeing is a return to the old pattern of the people ignoring, evading, and bribing their way about the state’s economic regulations, as the security apparatus ceases to enforce those regulations as anything more than good reasons to shake down targets of opportunity.

Ordinarily, the palace economy and the peoples’ economy live their separate lives, but there are exceptions. If the state is willing to risk civil unrest because the state wants the money, I’ll speculate that this means that the palace economy needs the money. The sharp drop in revenue from weapons sales certainly also suggests as much. The most telling evidence, however, is the indication that the regime is purging the people who finance the palace economy: first, Pak Nam Gi, the Finance Director of the Workers’ Party, and now, Kim Dong-Un, the head of the notorious Bureau 39:

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said Kim Dong-un was dismissed because he had been blacklisted by so many foreign governments, including the EU in December, leaving him unable to travel on behalf of Room 39’s legal companies. He has been replaced by his deputy, Jon Il-chun, Yonhap said, citing an unidentified source.

Housed in an unremarkable government compound in Pyongyang, Room 39 oversees 120 companies and mines, accounting for a quarter of all North Korean trade and employing 50,000 people, according to Lim Soo-ho, a research fellow at the Samsung Economic Research Institute. He said Kim’s dismissal may be part of attempts to get around international sanctions. [….]

Some of the money generated by Room 39 is used to buy the loyalty of senior party officials, a role that may take on greater prominence as Kim Jong-il, who suffered a stroke in 2008, prepares to hand over power to his third son, Kim Jong-un. Analysts have estimated that illegal activities account for up to 40% of all North Korean trade and an even higher share of total cash earnings. [The Guardian; hat tip, Curtis]

It’s possible that Kim Dong-Un was replaced simply because he was a marked man outside North Korea, but his dismissal now seems unlikely to be completely unrelated to the regime’s current instability. There are other indications of infighting within the inner party:

“Right now, North Korean officials are busy blaming each other for the failed currency reform and Pak, who spearheaded the revaluation, is believed to have been sacked,” said a diplomatic source in Beijing. “Markets have come to a grinding halt following the currency revaluation and prices have soared,” the source said. It seems North Korea hoped to stabilize prices through the currency reform and then credit the achievement to Kim Jong-il’s third son and heir apparent Jong-un to consolidate his grip on power, but this flopped, the source added.

Some North Korea watchers in China predict that the regime may perform a U-turn back to timid market reforms now that Pak, who led the crusade against capitalism, has been fired. One North Korea expert in Beijing said, “There is a strong possibility that high-ranking North Korean officials who led the drive to crush market forces since 2004 will be removed from office, while policies will shift toward market reforms starting in the second half of this year.” [Chosun Ilbo]

Although it would be reasonable to infer from this that the sanctions are working, as is often the case in North Korea, not all signs point in the same direction. One would not expect a regime in financial distress to proceed with something as useless as cladding the useless Ryugyong Hotel in glass (see, e.g., this excellent photograph, and yes, Pyongyang looks even colder than D.C.)

In contrast to his animated pose with his North Korean captors — these obviously being the “good cops” — look at this video and tell me the man doesn’t look like one whose spirit has been completely broken. He looks thinner, with no obvious signs of physical torture, and every sign of being devastated, emotionally. I don’t know if it’s the statement he made or the decision to cross, but Park certainly regrets something. I feel terrible for him, though not as terrible as I do for the others he put in danger. He meant well. But he obviously knows by now that didn’t do well.

Cute of Xinhua, by the way, to refer to Park as a “trespasser,” making no reference to the reason Park walked up to the borders guards in broad daylight, petition in hand, while reporting his “confession” to the North Koreans as fact. But we’d expect no less from fascist China, would we?]

[Update 3: Via Yonhap, here’s photo of him arriving in Beijing.]

[Update 2, and bumped: The Chosun Ilbo publishes this photograph of Park. I don’t see any scars or bruises.]

Here’s the breaking news, straight from the relevant organ, no less:

North Korea said on Friday it will release U.S. religious activist Robert Park, arrested in December for illegally entering the country in a journey to raise awareness about Pyongyang’s human rights abuses. “The relevant organ of the DPRK (North Korea) decided to leniently forgive and release him, taking his admission and sincere repentance of his wrong doings into consideration,” the state KCNA news agency said.

KCNA said Park had confessed to illegally entering the state and that he had changed his mind about North Korea after receiving kind treatment there.

“What I have seen and heard in the DPRK convinced me that I misunderstood it. So I seriously repented of the wrong I committed, taken in by the West’s false propaganda,” KCNA quoted Park as saying. Defectors from the North say the state often uses torture to extract confessions. [Reuters]

It would be premature for me to assume that Robert Park (a) said those things, or (b) said them of his own free will, but if he did, I think it will vindicate my initial observations about Park. On the other hand, it seems unlikely that this would be happening now if those reports that he was beaten were accurate.

Now, who else finds it oddly coincidental that this should happen just one day after President Obama says he won’t put North Korea back on the terror-sponsor list? Am I out of line to suspect that a deal of some kind was struck? [Update: In its daily press brief on February 5th, State denied that there was any deal. Believe that if you wish. I certainly don’t. The transcript will be here when it’s available.]

So aside from getting one North Korean defector arrested and possibly exposing others to the risk of capture, what exactly did Park’s foolish act accomplish for the people of North Korea? If my speculation above turns out to be right, Park was traded for a very significant ransom payment indeed. Which means that, as I predicted from the beginning, Park’s actions did Kim Jong Il far more good than harm.

Hat tip to a valued reader and friend.

Update: Here’s KCNA’s report. Below the fold, you can read KCNA’s complete “interview” of Park in which he denounces the “false propaganda” about “non-existent human rights abuses” and heaps praise on the benevolence of the Sun of the Nation, who guarantees religious freedom for all! It’s definitely not to be read by those who’ve eaten in the last hour or who have expensive carpeting. I suppose we should keep our minds open until he can explain himself (sigh), but if he really said this, we should only pity him more.

On a side note, I’m deeply disappointed not to have been singled out by name as a source of “false propaganda.”

Pyongyang, February 5 (KCNA) — As already reported, American national Robert Park was detained for trespassing on the northern border of the DPRK in December last year.

He was interviewed by KCNA at his proposal while he was under investigation by the relevant organ of the DPRK.

At the interview, he said that he was taken in by the false rumor spread by the West and committed a criminal act in the end.

He went on to say:

I trespassed on the border due to my wrong understanding of the DPRK caused by the false propaganda made by the West to tarnish its image.

The West is massively feeding “Children of Secret State”, “Seoul Train” and other documentary videos with stories about non-existent “human rights abuses” and “mass killings” in the DPRK and “unbearable sufferings” of its Christians and the like.

This false propaganda prompted me, a Christian, to entertain a biased view on the DPRK.

So I didn’t know what to do at that time. I just prayed and fasted and that was my initial response, but year by year more news reports, international media reports came and there were more videos saying the same thing, in fact, saying that it was getting worse, and so that’s why I started to become more and more distraught. If there are people in concentration camps, if Christians are dying like this, if there is starvation I have to die with them. If I help them I would go to Heaven but if I don’t help them I would go to Hell.

At last I made up my mind to go to the DPRK.

Upon trespassing on the border, I thought I would be either shot to death by soldiers or thrown behind bars, prompted by Americans’ false propaganda about the DPRK.

However, the moment I trespassed on the border, the attitude of soldiers toward the trespasser made me change my mind.

Not only service personnel but all those I met in the DPRK treated me in a kind and gentlemanly manner and protected my rights.

I have never seen such kind and generous people.

People have been incredibly kind and generous here to me, very concerned for my physical health as never before in my life. I mean, my family, of course, is concerned about my physical health but people here have been constantly concerned and I’m very thankful for their love.

Another shocking fact I experienced during my stay in the DPRK is that the religious freedom is fully ensured in the DPRK, a reality different from what is claimed by the West.

Being a devout Christian, I thought such things as praying are unimaginable in the DPRK due to the suppression of religion.

I, however, gradually became aware that I was wrong.

Everybody neither regarded praying as something unusual nor disturbed it. I was provided with conditions for praying everyday as I wished.

What astonished me more was that a bible was returned to me.

This fact alone convinced me that the religious freedom is fully ensured in the DPRK.

I came to have stronger belief as I had an opportunity to attend the service in the Pongsu Church in Pyongyang.

I worshipped and there, there was the Jondosa, there, there was a pastor, there was a choir, they knew the hymns, they knew the word of God. That’s why I was completely amazed. But I began to weep and weep in the Christian service because I learned that there are churches and Christians such as Pongsu Kyohoe (Church) in different cities and regions all throughout the DPRK. They worship, pray and preach freely the word of the Bible and Christ word. I’ve learned that in the DPRK people can read and believe whatever they want, whenever they want, wherever they want, that there’s complete religious freedom for all people everywhere throughout the DPRK.

What I have seen and heard in the DPRK convinced me that I misunderstood it. So I seriously repented of the wrong I committed, taken in by the West’s false propaganda.

I would not have committed such crime if I had known that the DPRK respects the rights of all the people and guarantees their freedom and they enjoy a happy and stable life.

I have felt shock, embarrassment, shame. Here I’m in the lands where people respect human rights and, not just respecting human rights, they have actually loved me and showed me more than just human rights. They have shown me grace. I repent and ask for forgiveness to the DPRK for my misunderstanding totally DPRK’s reality and my criminal illegal behavior. Had I known the reality of the DPRK, what I’ve learned here, what I have been shown here, what I’ve been taught here, what I’ve been informed here by all the kind people here about the DPRK, I would have never done what I did on the December 25th and I repent and I’m very sorry.

Prompted by my desire to redeem the crime I committed against the government of the DPRK, I would make every effort to let those who misunderstand the DPRK properly know what I experienced here so they may have a correct understanding of it.

He, as a Christian, expressed his will to earnestly pray so reunification may be achieved and peace settle on the Korean Peninsula as early as possible.

We’re shivering in good spirits and have plenty to eat — my son has now beaten me in three straight games of Monopoly — but this may be the last post for a while until power is restored, meaning the unfortunate delay of Part II of the Cao de Benos interview and other regularly scheduled programming.

In conclusion, I blame Al Gore for global cooling, caused by his dangerous manipulation of our supply of greenhouse gases.

OFK, signing off for now.

Iraq has largely disappeared from policy debates in Washington. There are special envoys for every critical country in the region except Iraq, the country whose evolution will help determine how American relevance to the currents of the region will be judged. The Obama administration needs to find its voice to convey that Iraq continues to play a significant role in American strategy. Brief visits by high officials are useful as symbols. But of what? Operational continuity is needed in a strategic concept for a region over which the specter of Iran increasingly looms. [Henry Kissinger, Washington Post]

If only we had a some sort of senior government official in Baghdad whose job it was to make sure that Iraq’s interests and views were heard at the highest levels of our government, and who performed that function competently and effectively.

A high-ranking Pakistani diplomat reportedly cannot be appointed ambassador to Saudi Arabia because in Arabic his name translates into a phrase more appropriate for a porn star, referring to the size of male genitals, Foreign Policy reported.

The Arabic translation of Akbar Zeb to “biggest d**k” has overwhelmed Saudi officials who have refused to allow his post there.

Zeb has run into this problem before when Pakistan tried to appoint him as ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, where he was rejected for the same reason, according to Foreign Policy. [Fox News, via Foreign Policy]

On the one hand, you can’t say that the man’s name would necessarily be harmful to Pakistan’s image. Just think of the tourist trade! On the other hand, just try to imagine the challenge of introducing this guy at a formal reception, or a state dinner:

The underlying political stability of that regime, I think, is starting to be called into question.

Noland emphasizes how difficult it is to confirm reports of civil unrest in North Korea, but I think there’s sufficient evidence for us to conclude that North Koreans are questioning and challenging their government more openly than ever.

According to the account by Mi Hyang, a former member of one of Mr Kim’s “pleasure squads” – groups of attractive young women enlisted to provide entertainment and sexual services – the leader could be sentimental when drunk, and even shed tears.

His favourite delicacy contains the reproductive organ of sharks.

Sharks … with frikkin’ laser beams attached to their heads!

He has a number of private residences around the capital city, some equipped with a 50-metre-long underground swimming pool. Mr Kim is known to be irascible towards his aides, but is surprisingly caring towards his private female attendants….

Caring right up to the point he signs the warrant to ship your entire family to Camp 22.

Mi Hyang, who goes only by her first name, served in one of Mr Kim’s pleasure squads for two years before fleeing to the South and defecting after her family was accused of treason, for reasons not yet revealed. She now resides in Seoul. The fate of her family has not been publicly disclosed.

Also, we learn that a lifetime of indoctrination and deification is still no substitute for good dental hygiene:

“When I first met Kim Jong Il, he looked so normal … like a next-door neighbour. He has many brown spots on his face. His teeth were yellowish. My previous fancy about the great leader was shattered at that very moment,” Mi Hyang says in the interview. “But he was very considerate towards me.”

… said “Mi Hyang,” who used only her first name to prevent Kim Jong Il sending hit squads to track her and her family down and kill them. Hey, he sounds like a gentle soul … a great catch! Hat tip: Mike Madden.

North Korea is acknowledging the obvious: the Great Confiscation has been an economic and political fiasco:

Pak Nam-Ki, the Communist Party’s director for planning and finance, has reportedly been absent from public activities since early January. South Korea’s Intelligence Service said it could not confirm his sacking. But an intelligence official told the Associated Press news agency it had been closely monitoring Mr Pak’s whereabouts and he had recently disappeared from view. [BBC]

There has also been infighting within the Inner Party:

“Mutual recriminations are rampant within the North’s power circles over the failure of the redenomination, [and] Director Pak who led the reform has been sacrificed,” a diplomatic source in Beijing told Chosun Ilbo. Yonhap news agency, quoting traders in the Chinese city of Dandong near the North Korean border, said Mr Pak had been sacked and was awaiting trial.

Related Korean article here. Wondering about the meaning of this, I asked Kim Kwang Jin, a friend and former senior regime official involved in North Korea’s insurance fraud scam, what this means. He gave me permission to print his response.

We are now seeing the sad reality that North Korea has as leadership for economy somebody like the current “scapegoat” Pak Nam-kee who does not know how credit card works and has no idea how bad the hyper-inflation is. It is even sadder that in North Korea they have no right and access to know this, not to say any right to act what they think is right. So, this time again, another “stupid” currency reform by the government, increased sufferings for the people and another scapegoat to calm down anger, on its painful way of final collapse, which is coming closer.

All the signs point to Mr. Kim being right about that. Even Kim Jong Il himself must again acknowledge that the people are unhappy:

The official Rodong Shinmun newspaper on Monday said Kim expressed “compassion” for the reliance of his people on broken rice, a cheaper, inferior product, in their staple diet. “What I should do now is feed the world’s greatest people with rice and let them eat their fill of bread and noodles. Let us all honor the oath we made before the leader [Kim Il-sung] and help our people feed themselves without having to know broken rice.”

The newspaper on Jan. 9 quoted Kim as recalling nation founder Kim Il-sung’s promise of rice and meat soup for all, but adding, “We have not yet fulfilled his wishes.” [Chosun Ilbo]

So who will be the one to postpone the inevitable and bail Kim Jong Il out now?

President Barack Obama will work hard to build trust with China during his trip there, but how far will he be able to go in seeking changes on the key issues — currency, the trade surplus, North Korea, Iran, human rights and others — when he’s sitting down with his nation’s largest creditor? China holds $800 billion in U.S. debt and gets $50 billion a year in interest.

Next, we hear from Glenn Kessler, a fawning admirer of the Chris Hill approach to North Korea and probably the worst correspondent covering the North Korea story for a major newspaper in the last decade. Here, he co-writes with Ariana Eunjung Cha about the Clinton Obama Administration’s soft line on human rights with China:

China is the biggest foreign holder of U.S. debt, which helped finance the spending binge the United States went on before the economic crisis. Some experts have expressed concern that China’s substantial holdings of U.S. debt give it increased leverage in dealings with Washington because any halt in Chinese purchases of U.S. bonds would make it more difficult to finance the government bailout and stimulus packages.

Not even Kessler can be faulted too much for failing to mention other perfectly sensible reasons why Clinton tends to go soft on China until forced to do otherwise. If you’re of a conspiratorial mind, you can always consider the case of naturalized U.S. citizen Norman Hsu and others whose bundled campaign donations to Mrs. Clinton’s past campaigns greatly exceeded their accountable earnings. The same suspicions of undue Chinese influence stalked President Clinton and Al Gore before her. A simpler explanation may be that Clinton is bound up with the foreign policy establishment, an establishment that’s increasingly subject to Chinese influence, and which includes people like Chris Hill and Chas Freeman, people who are trusted by this administration, and who are also predisposed to defer to Chinese interests.

None of this, of course, should deny that our borrowing is excessive and dangerous. So far, there’s little evidence that it has created many jobs, either. But between the lines, something else has to have these non-economists (not to mention every Chi-Bot on Sina.com) so suddenly interested in economics. I sense a certain welcoming of America’s loss of influence to do things the editorialists didn’t want us to do anyway — such as putting human rights on our diplomatic agenda, or putting serious economic pressure on North Korea. Others can scarcely contain their glee that the American hyperpower is dethroned, even if a newly ascendant fascism is the consequence, with all computers henceforth arriving with Green Dam pre-installed. Something about the tone of this seemed awfully familiar to me somehow: