A Terrible Tragedy

The train accident in North Korea looks absolutely horrific. The AP is talking about thousands of dead and injured after two fuel trains collided. One can just imagine the state of North Korean medical facilities for treating thousands of burn victims, much less transporting anyone to them. How many will die long, agonizing deaths because North Korea will almost certainly refuse to allow foreign doctors to treat the patients, or allow the patients out to seek medical treatment? Could this...

A Terrible Tragedy

The train accident in North Korea looks absolutely horrific. The AP is talking about thousands of dead and injured after two fuel trains collided. One can just imagine the state of North Korean medical facilities for treating thousands of burn victims, much less transporting anyone to them. How many will die long, agonizing deaths because North Korea will almost certainly refuse to allow foreign doctors to treat the patients, or allow the patients out to seek medical treatment? Could this...

News Without News

Yes, there is indeed much substance in what doesn’t happen, such as the non-reaction on the streets of Seoul to China shooting and killing a North Korean refugee. His life meant nothing because there weren’t any Americans to blame. On the flip side, here’s a story that drones on for columns, all speculation about the unknowable, secretive workings of Chinese and North Korean diplomacy, spiced up with doltish speculation. I challenge anyone to find a shred of substance in this....

With Allies Like These . . .

I have previously described South Korea’s approach to sending troops to Iraq as study-and-stall. Take a look at this article from today’s Chosun Ilbo: ————– The government has chosen Irbil, located in the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq . . . . A high-level government official said Wednesday that the government has tentatively decided that of the two candidate sites — Sulaimaniyah and Irbil — Irbil is better suited for the deployment in terms of is security situation, basing...

A Basket Full of Makkoli

. . . is how I would describe pouring one’s hopes into Chinese arm-twisting of Kim Jong-Il to give up his nukes. The Marmot initially seems optimistic, but by the end of the post, he isn’t falling for it. One point where I agree with Marmot wholeheartedly is the incomprehensible failure by U.S. leaders to talk frankly to the Chinese about the consequences of them not restraining the Norks. One hopes that we have done so privately, and Cheney is...

News Without News

Yes, there is indeed much substance in what doesn’t happen, such as the non-reaction on the streets of Seoul to China shooting and killing a North Korean refugee. His life meant nothing because there weren’t any Americans to blame. On the flip side, here’s a story that drones on for columns, all speculation about the unknowable, secretive workings of Chinese and North Korean diplomacy, spiced up with doltish speculation. I challenge anyone to find a shred of substance in this....

With Allies Like These . . .

I have previously described South Korea’s approach to sending troops to Iraq as study-and-stall. Take a look at this article from today’s Chosun Ilbo: ————– The government has chosen Irbil, located in the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq . . . . A high-level government official said Wednesday that the government has tentatively decided that of the two candidate sites — Sulaimaniyah and Irbil — Irbil is better suited for the deployment in terms of is security situation, basing...

A Basket Full of Makkoli

. . . is how I would describe pouring one’s hopes into Chinese arm-twisting of Kim Jong-Il to give up his nukes. The Marmot initially seems optimistic, but by the end of the post, he isn’t falling for it. One point where I agree with Marmot wholeheartedly is the incomprehensible failure by U.S. leaders to talk frankly to the Chinese about the consequences of them not restraining the Norks. One hopes that we have done so privately, and Cheney is...

Radio Free Korea

The North Koreans have taken a gigantic step forward if they get this off the ground (the link is in Korean and requires a Korean ID number). The pop-up letter roughly translates to “send a letter for freedom in North Korea.” More info and a picture here. Say what you want about Norbert Vollertsen; you can’t deny his acute grasp of the power of agitation. I strongly agree with him that the North Koreans must lead the movement for their...

Radio Free Korea

The North Koreans have taken a gigantic step forward if they get this off the ground (the link is in Korean and requires a Korean ID number). The pop-up letter roughly translates to “send a letter for freedom in North Korea.” More info and a picture here. Say what you want about Norbert Vollertsen; you can’t deny his acute grasp of the power of agitation. I strongly agree with him that the North Koreans must lead the movement for their...

We Should Listen to Our Mothers

Mine sent me this column, which puts the killing of Rantisi neatly in its true moral context: ———————– “The world” has never cared about evils inflicted on human beings. The Communist genocides meant nothing to humanity. The Holocaust meant nothing. With almost no exception, the mass atrocities since World War II have likewise absorbed humanity less than the Olympics or the Miss World Contest. I have contempt for the United Nations. It is one of the great obstacles to goodness...

We Should Listen to Our Mothers

Mine sent me this column, which puts the killing of Rantisi neatly in its true moral context: ———————– “The world” has never cared about evils inflicted on human beings. The Communist genocides meant nothing to humanity. The Holocaust meant nothing. With almost no exception, the mass atrocities since World War II have likewise absorbed humanity less than the Olympics or the Miss World Contest. I have contempt for the United Nations. It is one of the great obstacles to goodness...

The Case for the Prosecution

Thanks, Owen, for your link over at The Rathbone Press. I�m still stunned by the utter apathy on the streets of Seoul that foreign soldiers are shooting what appear to be unarmed Koreans dead (if you believe that this fleeing refugee really reached for a weapon, there�s a job waiting for you at Internal Affairs at the Chicago P.D.) The fact that the victim was a North Korean shot by a Chinese soldier apparently puts a steep discount on the...

The Reckoning Approaches

I have long argued that for South Korea and the United States to agree on a sensible North Korea policy, these two nations must first resolve their own differences, which are fundamental differences of values the two nations no longer share. A reckoning is inevitable, and it will end in a reaffirmation of the alliance or a bitter divorce, followed by the sucking sound of 37,000 U.S. troops moving to Guam (followed by an investment capital whirlpool of historic proportions)....

The Case for the Prosecution

Thanks, Owen, for your link over at The Rathbone Press. I�m still stunned by the utter apathy on the streets of Seoul that foreign soldiers are shooting what appear to be unarmed Koreans dead (if you believe that this fleeing refugee really reached for a weapon, there�s a job waiting for you at Internal Affairs at the Chicago P.D.) The fact that the victim was a North Korean shot by a Chinese soldier apparently puts a steep discount on the...

The Reckoning Approaches

I have long argued that for South Korea and the United States to agree on a sensible North Korea policy, these two nations must first resolve their own differences, which are fundamental differences of values the two nations no longer share. A reckoning is inevitable, and it will end in a reaffirmation of the alliance or a bitter divorce, followed by the sucking sound of 37,000 U.S. troops moving to Guam (followed by an investment capital whirlpool of historic proportions)....