Monthly Archive: October, 2004

Suzanne Scholte of the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea forwarded me this message today, via NK Gulag in Seoul. According to the report, on October 26th, Chinese police raided two locations on the outskirts of Beijing, arresting 65 North Korean refugees and South Korean activist workers working for NKGulag. Among the refugees arrested were 11 teenagers and one person who is over 70 years old. Defections to foreign embassies in Beijing appear to have spiked in the...

Suzanne Scholte of the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea forwarded me this message today, via NK Gulag in Seoul. According to the report, on October 26th, Chinese police raided two locations on the outskirts of Beijing, arresting 65 North Korean refugees and South Korean activist workers working for NKGulag. Among the refugees arrested were 11 teenagers and one person who is over 70 years old. Defections to foreign embassies in Beijing appear to have spiked in the...

Suzanne Scholte of the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea forwarded me this message today, via NK Gulag in Seoul. According to the report, on October 26th, Chinese police raided two locations on the outskirts of Beijing, arresting 65 North Korean refugees and South Korean activist workers working for NKGulag. Among the refugees arrested were 11 teenagers and one person who is over 70 years old. Defections to foreign embassies in Beijing appear to have spiked in the...

Whatever you call that particular body of water, interesting things are afloat on its troubled surface. James Brooke has this fascinating piece in the NYT, and it’s jam-packed with interesting tidbits about things that really matter: “We are sending a signal to everybody who wants to traffic weapons of mass destruction that we have zero tolerance for that, ” John R. Bolton, United States Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, told a group of 50 reporters standing...

Whatever you call that particular body of water, interesting things are afloat on its troubled surface. James Brooke has this fascinating piece in the NYT, and it’s jam-packed with interesting tidbits about things that really matter: “We are sending a signal to everybody who wants to traffic weapons of mass destruction that we have zero tolerance for that, ” John R. Bolton, United States Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, told a group of 50 reporters standing...

It has been almost a year since Chief Warrant Officer Sharon Swartworth was killed in Iraq. Chief, as we called her, was a person of high rank, and I was one of thousands of lowly JAG captains, but her warmth, compassion, and easygoing humanity belied her importance as the Army’s top JAG warrant officer. I will never forget the reception where she told myself and one other JAG lawyer the story of how she sneaked out of tiny Camp Colburn,...

Finally, some ink for the NKHRA in a major U.S. newspaper, even if it is buried inside a headline about Secretary Powell’s efforts to restart the futile six-way talks. All of this makes me speculate about how today’s Times crew would write the headline on the day the Soviet Union fell: Gorbachev Says Bush Stalling on Arms Control Summit . . . or the day the Russians took Berlin: No Progress in German Cease-Fire Talks As for the coverage itself,...

It has been almost a year since Chief Warrant Officer Sharon Swartworth was killed in Iraq. Chief, as we called her, was a person of high rank, and I was one of thousands of lowly JAG captains, but her warmth, compassion, and easygoing humanity belied her importance as the Army’s top JAG warrant officer. I will never forget the reception where she told myself and one other JAG lawyer the story of how she sneaked out of tiny Camp Colburn,...

It has been almost a year since Chief Warrant Officer Sharon Swartworth was killed in Iraq. Chief, as we called her, was a person of high rank, and I was one of thousands of lowly JAG captains, but her warmth, compassion, and easygoing humanity belied her importance as the Army’s top JAG warrant officer. I will never forget the reception where she told myself and one other JAG lawyer the story of how she sneaked out of tiny Camp Colburn,...

Finally, some ink for the NKHRA in a major U.S. newspaper, even if it is buried inside a headline about Secretary Powell’s efforts to restart the futile six-way talks. All of this makes me speculate about how today’s Times crew would write the headline on the day the Soviet Union fell: Gorbachev Says Bush Stalling on Arms Control Summit . . . or the day the Russians took Berlin: No Progress in German Cease-Fire Talks As for the coverage itself,...

Suzanne Scholte at the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea wrote today with this announcement: NORTH KOREAN HOLOCAUST EXHIBIT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, SEOUL NOVEMBER 8, 9, and 10, 2004 [T]he Citizens Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, the Democracy Network Against the North Korean Gulag, and Helping Hands Korea, [will] sponsor and moderate panels as part of the North Korea Holocaust Exhibit. Other organizations will be contributing material for the exhibit as well as participating in these panels. In...

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ______________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release October 21, 2004 STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY President Signs the North Korea Human Rights Act On October 18, 2004, the President signed into law the North Korea Human Rights Act. The United States has long been committed to alleviating the suffering and repression of the North Korean people. This Act provides us with useful new tools to address the deplorable human rights situation in North Korea by...

The South Korean government has launched a new crusade against false information about Korea: The Korea Overseas Information Service has announced another contest in which Internet users who report erroneous information about Korea that appears on foreign Web sites are eligible to win prizes. The errors may be wide ranging, such as factual errors about the nation’s history and culture. The competition will kick off next month and continue through Dec. 10. Allow me to be the first to offer...

Suzanne Scholte at the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea wrote today with this announcement: NORTH KOREAN HOLOCAUST EXHIBIT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, SEOUL NOVEMBER 8, 9, and 10, 2004 [T]he Citizens Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, the Democracy Network Against the North Korean Gulag, and Helping Hands Korea, [will] sponsor and moderate panels as part of the North Korea Holocaust Exhibit. Other organizations will be contributing material for the exhibit as well as participating in these panels. In...

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ______________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release October 21, 2004 STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY President Signs the North Korea Human Rights Act On October 18, 2004, the President signed into law the North Korea Human Rights Act. The United States has long been committed to alleviating the suffering and repression of the North Korean people. This Act provides us with useful new tools to address the deplorable human rights situation in North Korea by...

The South Korean government has launched a new crusade against false information about Korea: The Korea Overseas Information Service has announced another contest in which Internet users who report erroneous information about Korea that appears on foreign Web sites are eligible to win prizes. The errors may be wide ranging, such as factual errors about the nation’s history and culture. The competition will kick off next month and continue through Dec. 10. Allow me to be the first to offer...

. . . and that’s just in Beijing. Of course, embassies can only hold so many people. When the North Koreans start using boats, whether they embark from North Korea or China, the mass exodus becomes a real possibility. You’d think that under those circumstances, Kim Jong-Il would be less intransigent. To what extent does reality penetrate the Dear Leader’s universe? UPDATE: On 10/24, another 18 tried to get into the South Korean international school; only 4 made it. UPDATE...

. . . and that’s just in Beijing. Of course, embassies can only hold so many people. When the North Koreans start using boats, whether they embark from North Korea or China, the mass exodus becomes a real possibility. You’d think that under those circumstances, Kim Jong-Il would be less intransigent. To what extent does reality penetrate the Dear Leader’s universe? UPDATE: On 10/24, another 18 tried to get into the South Korean international school; only 4 made it. UPDATE...