Good Thing It’s Pure Fiction

I first heard this at the rally, but I had to see it to believe it. North Korea is praising “heroes” in Ryongchon who ran into burning or collapsing buildings–not to save their wives and kids–but to save portraits of the Great Leader, Dear Leader, and Dogs Playing Pool (not really, but wouldn’t that be a better story?). First reaction: as if. Second reaction: even the North Korean people have to quaking with quiet fury when they feel the indignity...

North Korean Freedom Day

Between all of the activities of this day, a full-time job, a family, and closing on a house, it’s been a very busy week. Yes, I was there. There were certainly hundreds of people there, maybe a thousand. I will plead exhaustion for now and just convey a few brief impressions: 1. In spite of 9/11, it’s still astonishingly easy to walk into a Senate office building and personally deliver your views to the most powerful people on earth. 2....

Meanwhile, at the Theater . . .

At this moment, as you read this, young children in Ryongchon and Sinuiju are dying prolonged, agonized deaths. Their parents sit beside their kids in helplessness and despair, watching them die. And what are their government’s leaders doing to respond to the crisis and ease their suffering? They’re all at the theater, watching creepy mass games. Meanwhile, truckloads of aid and busloads of doctors and nurses are blocked at the border. The risk of political infection is apparently a greater...

Meanwhile, at the Theater . . .

At this moment, as you read this, young children in Ryongchon and Sinuiju are dying prolonged, agonized deaths. Their parents sit beside their kids in helplessness and despair, watching them die. And what are their government’s leaders doing to respond to the crisis and ease their suffering? They’re all at the theater, watching creepy mass games. Meanwhile, truckloads of aid and busloads of doctors and nurses are blocked at the border. The risk of political infection is apparently a greater...

Ryongchon Photos

There is a link to a story on the NK rejection of South Korean aid here, which contains a slide show of photos of Ryongchon. Warning: this is heartbreaking stuff, including many horribly burned children, many of whom appear to have been blinded. What’s more, you have to know that the most critical hours for medical treatment may already have passed. In other words, the paranoia and heartlessness of the government means that the chance has already been lost to...

Predictable Old North Korea

The Beeb is reporting more about the official North Korean response to the Ryongchon disaster. Nothing shocking. 1. As thousands of children lie suffering–many of them blind–on metal file cabinets for lack of hospital beds, the North Koreans are refusing to allow international medical aid that might put the victims in contact with sympathetic foreigners. A disproportionate number of them are children. One must conclude that their suffering means nothing to their leaders; even South Korean aid–much of it raised...

Ryongchon Photos

There is a link to a story on the NK rejection of South Korean aid here, which contains a slide show of photos of Ryongchon. Warning: this is heartbreaking stuff, including many horribly burned children, many of whom appear to have been blinded. What’s more, you have to know that the most critical hours for medical treatment may already have passed. In other words, the paranoia and heartlessness of the government means that the chance has already been lost to...

Predictable Old North Korea

The Beeb is reporting more about the official North Korean response to the Ryongchon disaster. Nothing shocking. 1. As thousands of children lie suffering–many of them blind–on metal file cabinets for lack of hospital beds, the North Koreans are refusing to allow international medical aid that might put the victims in contact with sympathetic foreigners. A disproportionate number of them are children. One must conclude that their suffering means nothing to their leaders; even South Korean aid–much of it raised...

Norbert Vollertsen on the Ryongchon Disaster

Norbert Vollertsen, who has personal knowledge of the state of North Korean medical facilities near Ryongchon, and who knows first-hand of North Korea�s lack of facilities and expertise for treating burn victims, has written in with his comments on the rail disaster there. Dr. Vollertsen, as some may know, once received a friendship medal from the North Korean government for donating a skin graft for a young North Korean girl who was severely burned. �The nearby hospitals in Sinuiju and...

Norbert Vollertsen on the Ryongchon Disaster

Norbert Vollertsen, who has personal knowledge of the state of North Korean medical facilities near Ryongchon, and who knows first-hand of North Korea�s lack of facilities and expertise for treating burn victims, has written in with his comments on the rail disaster there. Dr. Vollertsen, as some may know, once received a friendship medal from the North Korean government for donating a skin graft for a young North Korean girl who was severely burned. �The nearby hospitals in Sinuiju and...

Disaster Conspiracy Theories

I have joined the swirling speculation at NKZone about what will come of the North Korean train accident, other than horrific and unnecessary suffering for more innocents. My prediction is . . . even more unnecessary death and suffering. While I don’t think it was an attempt to whack Dr. Evil, he’ll at least suspect it was. My first prediction is that he won’t accept any invitations to China anytime soon. Next prediction–the paranoia and purges this incident will unleash...

Denial Spills Its Banks, Floods Korea Again!

The new U.S. Ambassador to Seoul hasn’t even taken office yet, and he already sounds like my kind of guy. The Chosun Ilbo has some highlights of his confirmation hearing, like this gem: “The Korea-U.S. alliance must always re-adjust itself in accordance with the changes of the times, and that’s not an easy thing.” Funny, if I wrote the headline for that, it wouldn’t say, “Next Ambassador Stresses U.S. Alliance,” which he indeed did, of course, after dropping that thermonuke....

Disaster Conspiracy Theories

I have joined the swirling speculation at NKZone about what will come of the North Korean train accident, other than horrific and unnecessary suffering for more innocents. My prediction is . . . even more unnecessary death and suffering. While I don’t think it was an attempt to whack Dr. Evil, he’ll at least suspect it was. My first prediction is that he won’t accept any invitations to China anytime soon. Next prediction–the paranoia and purges this incident will unleash...

Denial Spills Its Banks, Floods Korea Again!

The new U.S. Ambassador to Seoul hasn’t even taken office yet, and he already sounds like my kind of guy. The Chosun Ilbo has some highlights of his confirmation hearing, like this gem: “The Korea-U.S. alliance must always re-adjust itself in accordance with the changes of the times, and that’s not an easy thing.” Funny, if I wrote the headline for that, it wouldn’t say, “Next Ambassador Stresses U.S. Alliance,” which he indeed did, of course, after dropping that thermonuke....

How Dictatorship Compounds Tragedy

When you can’t get real news, you can only speculate. We can choose to ignore the grainiest theories about why Kim didn’t get his picture taken with Hu, but the North Koreans don’t have that choice. But it’s not enough that they were victims of this terrible accident; soon, heads will roll. Coup or not, the Dear Leader will see one, and so will many common citizens. He will also try to blame the outside world . . . in...

How Dictatorship Compounds Tragedy

When you can’t get real news, you can only speculate. We can choose to ignore the grainiest theories about why Kim didn’t get his picture taken with Hu, but the North Koreans don’t have that choice. But it’s not enough that they were victims of this terrible accident; soon, heads will roll. Coup or not, the Dear Leader will see one, and so will many common citizens. He will also try to blame the outside world . . . in...