Colder Weather Gathers Over Washington

(continued from here) The event, held at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, was modestly attended by about fifty people, mostly NGO representatives, activists, and Korean media types. It began with a screening of Seoul Train, which documents the efforts of North Korean refugees to escape to South Korea through China, despite the constant risk of being caught and sent back to the North Korean gulags, where they could face starvation, torture, forced abortion, infanticide, or even summary execution. The WG...

LiNK Press Release

On Friday, November 12th at 2:00 pm EST leading human rights groups for North Korea will rally in New York City and Los Angeles in front of the permanent Chinese mission to the UN and the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles, at the second rally in two weeks organized by Liberation in North Korea (LiNK). They will be protesting China’s arrest and repatriation of 70 North Korean refugees, 62 who were arrested on October 26 at safe houses near Beijing,...

Names, Addresses, Telephone Numbers of Chinese Officials

Chinese U.N. Permanent Representative: H.E. Mr. Wang Yingfan Deputy Permanent Representative: H.E. Mr. Zhang Yishan Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations 350 East 35th Street New York, NY 10016 Telephone:+1 (212) 655-6100 Telefax:+1 (212) 634-7626 E-mail: chinamission_un@fmprc.cn His Excellency Hu Jintao President of the Peoples’ Republic of China c/o Minister Li Zhaoxing Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2 Chao Yang Men Nan Da Jie Beijing 100701 People’s Republic of China Email: webmaster@FMPRC.gov.cn Ambassador Yang Jiechi...

LiNK Press Release (Continued)

Liberation in North Korea (www.linkglobal.org), a nationwide movement that includes several thousand American college students and professionals, will be joined by a coalition of leading American and South Korean organizations to demand China’s release of the 62 North Korean refugees and 2 South Korean activists who were arrested on Oct. 26, 2004 at 4am. These 62 North Korean refugees are in danger of being sent back to North Korea,where they may be executed. These refugees were reportedly planning to seek...

Names, Addresses, Telephone Numbers of Chinese Officials

Chinese U.N. Permanent Representative: H.E. Mr. Wang Yingfan Deputy Permanent Representative: H.E. Mr. Zhang Yishan Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations 350 East 35th Street New York, NY 10016 Telephone:+1 (212) 655-6100 Telefax:+1 (212) 634-7626 E-mail: chinamission_un@fmprc.cn His Excellency Hu Jintao President of the Peoples’ Republic of China c/o Minister Li Zhaoxing Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2 Chao Yang Men Nan Da Jie Beijing 100701 People’s Republic of China Email: webmaster@FMPRC.gov.cn Ambassador Yang Jiechi...

LiNK Press Release (Continued)

Liberation in North Korea (www.linkglobal.org), a nationwide movement that includes several thousand American college students and professionals, will be joined by a coalition of leading American and South Korean organizations to demand China’s release of the 62 North Korean refugees and 2 South Korean activists who were arrested on Oct. 26, 2004 at 4am. These 62 North Korean refugees are in danger of being sent back to North Korea,where they may be executed. These refugees were reportedly planning to seek...

About This Picture

This NASA low light level image of the Korean peninsula was taken on the  night of  April 15, 2001.  I first saw this image when I was serving with the Army in Korea, and it became popular to put this image,  and perhaps  other similar images  you can find on the  Web, on soldiers’ farewell plaques.  I found this particular  image  here, at the Web site of the left-of-center Federation of American Scientists, after Christopher Hitchens linked it in his...

Vollertsen Interview Part II, On Arirang, Food Aid, and the General Assembly Vote on N. Korean Human Rights

Q: So whatever happened with the planned demonstration at the Arirang Festival? Just nature: The Kashmir earthquake – and some medical emergency call[s] – but maybe the timing will be even better during the APEC summit. Q: What is your latest word on the food situation in North Korea? Kim Jong-Il is using food as a weapon against his own people – there is enough food in North Korea for the elite – there is no need for hunger in...

Keynote Address by Suzanne Scholte, North Korean Human Rights Conference, Seoul, December 2005

I’d like to thank my friend Suzanne Scholte for forwarding the full text of her keynote address at Freedom House’s North Korean Human Rights Conference in Seoul. Keynote Speech for Seoul Summit: Promoting Human Rights in North Korea Remarks by Suzanne Scholte . . . December 8, 2005 I am deeply honored to be a part of this Seoul Summit: Promoting Human Rights in North Korea and thank the Organizing Committee and Freedom House for asking me to be one...

Defining Genocide Down

The president of the Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, is calling for a historical reappraisal of one of the last century’s darkest events: Yushchenko was addressing a candlelight ceremony marking the 1932-33 famine induced by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s orders to requisition grain and break the spirit of Ukraine’s “kurkuly” farmers who resisted his drive to collectivise agriculture. The day had been chosen as the official commemoration day for the famine that was never recognised by the Soviet Union. The president told...

Key House Aide’s Remarks on the State of the U.S.-Korea Alliance

20th ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE COUNCIL ON U.S.-KOREA SECURITY STUDIES Changing Dynamics on the Korean Peninsula: Implications for the U.S.-ROK Alliance October 7, 2005 The Heritage Foundation 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE Washington, DC Paper: The Trojan Horse: Pyongyang’s Successful Propaganda Campaign to Win the Hearts of South Koreans and Undermine the U.S.-ROK Alliance by Dennis P. Halpin Professional Staff, House International Relations Committee This paper reflects my own views and not necessarily, except where explicitly stated, the views of Chairman...

OFK Archive: Anti-Americanism in Korea–The Statistical Record

[Update 7/2006: There are signs of a modest improvement — possibly more of a backlash against the violence of the radical left — although these results hardly indicate a groundswell, nor are the questions worded in such a way as to make the data comparable to what is posted below.] Here is a listing of some of the recent relevant polling data on anti-Americanism in South Korea, with a particular emphasis on the views of younger voters: June 2003–Pew Global...

OFK Archive: Anti-Americanism in Korea–The Statistical Record

[Update 7/2006: There are signs of a modest improvement — possibly more of a backlash against the violence of the radical left — although these results hardly indicate a groundswell, nor are the questions worded in such a way as to make the data comparable to what is posted below.] Here is a listing of some of the recent relevant polling data on anti-Americanism in South Korea, with a particular emphasis on the views of younger voters: June 2003–Pew Global...

OFK Archive: Anti-Americanism in Korea–The Statistical Record

Here is a listing of some of the recent relevant polling data on anti-Americanism in South Korea, with a particular emphasis on the views of younger voters: June 2003–Pew Global Attitudes Project / Gallup Korea. 719 adults, face-to-face. Margin of error, 3.7%. 58% of South Koreans were disappointed that the Iraqi Army did not fight harder outside Baghdad, more than twice the number (26%) who said they were “happy” with the quick Iraqi collapse. This result was within the “moderate”...

Statement by Rep. Ed Royce

WASHINGTON, D.C. – – On Monday, U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA-40) participated in a general meeting of the International Parliamentarians’ Coalition for the North Korea Refugees and Human Rights. The event was held in Tokyo and was attended by parliamentarians from the United States, South Korea, Japan and Mongolia. As a co-chairman of the group, Royce issued the following opening statement at the event: “I would like to thank our Japanese hosts, Representative Shu Watanabe, Representative Yoshihide Suga, Representative Akihisa...