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Joshua

Judge Advocate Officer, U.S. Army, Korea, 1998-2002.  Left active duty, 2003.  Currently an attorney practicing in Washington, DC.  Webmaster of  OneFreeKorea–read daily in the U.S. Congress, major newsrooms, and other government agencies–from 2004 to 2006.   Volunteer writer, thinker, and organizer on behalf of human rights for the North Korean people; have argued their case directly to congressmen, senators, and ambassadors. 

Use the comments section  to contact me.

41 Responses

  1. Hey, nice site! I look forward to your posts.

    I see you have managed to keep the image from your former site on this one…nice!

    Quick question. I don’t see any ads on the site, so how can we support you (besides a donation that is)?

  3. I ran across this report on the CNN website. A tragic story in my eyes. I figured you guys might be interested.

    SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Twenty-one members of North Korean cheering squads who traveled to South Korea for international sports events are being held in a prison camp for talking about what they saw in the South, a news report said Friday.

  5. Based on continuing requests, I have assembled a one-stop shop for all of the official documents related to the North Korean Human Rights Act (P.L. 108-333). It includes links to the law itself, to the House hearings on the subject, to the Executive Branch reports filed pursuant to the Act, and to the legislative history of the Act. I’ll try to keep it relatively current, and have reason to believe that it will be updated in the next day or two to include a letter from some key Congressional Members encouraging the Administration to begin implementing Title III of the bill (relating to refugees). You can find the materials at:

    http://www.house.gov/international_relations/nkhra.htm

    Pass it on.

  6. Joshua,
    I am a diehard reader of OFK, and I must admit this new site is taking some getting used to. No offense to your coauthors (I liked their previous sites), but PLEASE go back to OFK. I can’t put my finger on it but this new site just isn’t doing it for me. (And if you must keep this new site going, any chance getting rid of the “continue reading…” links and just show the complete posts. Any way, many thanks for the years of great information, and even if you must continue this new site OFK dead-enders like me will have no choice but to keep reading (still the best on NK on the web).

  7. Andrew, Thank you for your kind words. As much as I appreciate them, they are against the overwhelming weight of the feedback we’ve received, as well as my own strong opinion on the matter. To me, it just couldn’t be clearer: not one of these blogs could compare to the sum of all three of them. Just begin with the volume of material in the archives. What James and Richardson add, in addition to being frankly better writers than I am, is content that’s complimentary to what I write. What’s more, you need not starve yourself of knowledge if any of us is traveling, sick, busy, or just suffering from an attack of blogger’s fatigue.

    Frankly, I haven’t considered going back since Day One. I hope in time you’ll get used to the new theme and come to appreciate the contributions of James and Richardson (just as I hope that their readers will come to at least tolerate me). I would never agreed to marry up so much of my work with theirs if I wasn’t a great fan of their work.

  8. I know who is responsible for 280106 in Tumen, Jilin Province, China. I was there. I can help. Contact via e-mail Joshua. Out.

  9. Hello,
    I am an italian journalist, my name is Luca Dello Iacovo. I’m writing an article about comunist dictatorship and freedom of blog information in four states: China, North Korea, Vietnam and Cuba. I’m looking for journalistic blog written by people who live in that countries or who live abroad.
    I would like to ask you some questions:
    – What are lastest news censored in your country (or country about you write)? Have you written that news on your blog?
    – Have you had troubles with local authorities for your blog activities? Make me an example.
    – Why do you write a blog? What is your work to live?
    – In your opinion, what is changing in your country (or country about you write)?
    – Do you know how can i find more blog about your nation (or country about you write)?
    Thank you

    Luca Dello Iacovo
    luca.dello@gmail.com

  10. Joshua,

    I am a student at Penn working with Adrian Hong on an important LiNK project. I would greatly appreciate your (and ideally all of the Korea Liberator’s) wisdom on this matter. Please email me, johnak [at] sas.upenn.edu

    Thank you

  11. Joshua, this is Matt from Occidentalism. Could you send me your email address? I have something to discuss with you and the other writers of KL.

  12. If you folks could put a link to the Committee’s page of official materials, statements, and legislative history at the appropriate place on your webpage, it would be helpful in disseminating the information and answering many of the public inquiries we get:

    http://www.house.gov/international_relations/nkhra.htm

    The page has been updated within the past week to include: the new USAID report on humanitarian assistance inside North Korea; and the prepared statements from our hearing last Thursday (with Special Envoy Lefkowitz and abductee-related witnesses).

  13. May I ask a general question? If the typical tactics of ‘name & shame’ are not yielding results in promoting human rights in North Korea, ought we not consider other tactics? I don’t know if simply “increasing the volume” (more protests, more conferences, more videos) will have much of an impact, except to further entrench a rather insecure, brutal leader? And … I hate to be a pessimist but with the overload of information and the daily barrage of tragedies and injustice or “compassion fatigue” do you honestly think America will “take on” North Korea as a “cause”? I think we only lasted for about a month with the Tsunami … and that was absolutely devastating with incredible coverage. Or, perhaps, do you think it’s premature to make the conclusion that “it’s not yielding results”?

  14. Reggie, I think the political accomplishments are hard to argue with. We’ve influenced the President, Congress, and possibly even the South Korean government to move in our direction. Ambassadors feel the need to meet with us and end up giving us what we ask for. We’ve made substantial gains in getting legislation passed and shoving it down the throat of a reluctant foreign policy establishment. Not bad for a small band.

    As for persuading Kim Jong Il, I don’t think any of us are under the illusion that that will happen. Kim Jong Il will never act voluntarily, so we’re trying to put pressure on him to act involuntarily under the threat of extinction (or better yet, to help bring about his extinction).

    My question is whether our modest gains are sustainable in the face of shifting political and diplomatic currents unless we get more effective at public advocacy. People who learn the facts about North Korea today tend to be moved by them. That means that instead of giving up, we need to get smarter at getting the facts out and persuading people who are likely to join our “base” or donate money that can be invested in ads, which will in turn attract new support.

    I agree that strategies for doing that always deserve reexamination, and that protest rallies might be overrated, if the illegal alien rallies are any indication. Still, you have to find a way to get public support and demonstrate political power. The big, bipartisan turnout for Sunday’s Darfur rally gained that cause much free media coverage and encouraged policymakers to support them, although I think the “out of Iraq, into Darfur” message is a non-starter (lesson: message control is key!).

    What I’m starting to conclude is that we have to back up a step and sell this cause to smaller, more affluent, groups of potential activists first, to build up strength and recruit capable people, one church, synagogue, or meeting at a time. Once we’ve built up the organization and raised some funds, we can market the cause to the public and lay the groundwork for Step 2.

  15. Thank you for your thoughtful reply Joshua.

    True, I guess there has been progress domestically. There is a growing awareness, the NKHR Act, Bush meeting with defectors, an occasional airing on PBS of NK videos… but there is still an absence of change in the regime itself. Perhaps I’m too impatient.

    When you say:
    “My question is whether our modest gains are sustainable in the face of shifting political and diplomatic currents unless we get more effective at public advocacy.” . . . “. . .invest in ads, which will in turn attract new support.”

    You seem to imply that public advocacy will somehow be the impetus behind changing NK. I don’t know if I see how all “the dots are connected.” I mean in the purely domestic context, the dots connect very well: civil rights movement, unionization, women’s suffrage etc. But, I’m not sure the methodology can be “cookie cutter”-ed into the international context. Could you elaborate?

    After I further browsed your site, I saw the statement on regime change:

    “We believe that the liberation of North Korea should be accomplished by the North Korean people with the political and material support of free nations everywhere. This requires us to help North Koreans build a clandestine opposition movement inside their country. This process will not be quick, easy, or bloodless. It is still the best remaining alternative, and there is reason to hope that it can undermine the loyalty of portions of the North Korean military.”

    So is that step 2? … to start/encourage an internal reformist or dissident faction within? This, I think, has more potential than domestic/U.S. rallies. I’m assuming you probably attended the Freedom House conference in July ’05 since you’re in DC. It felt rather “insular” – like the speakers were “preachin’ to the choir” or an audience that was already on board. I’m much more inclined to think radios or pamplets that explain how to convert your radio into a multiband frequency would be much more effective. So, the funding for the Radio Free Asia actually makes a lot of sense to me.

    One final question and then I promise I’ll stop. Why must it be a “clandestine” movement? I mean, that sounds like a stupid question and I don’t mean it that way. What I mean is, don’t you think it’d be equally destabilizing and cause a lot of “cognitive dissonance” or independent thinking if businessmen went into the SEZs and basically helped financed and train entrepreneurs?

  16. By Step 2, I mean public advocacy, which might or might not include protests. But the idea there is to promote policies that will eventually empower the North Korean people to challenge the regime. The perfect example is funding for radio broadcasting and radio drops, which was a major theme of last week’s events. Other items should include funding for dissident newspapers like the Daily NK, and maybe even support for an opposition movement itself. I’ve even suggested that we should train doctors, nurses, teachers, and mechanics who could infiltrate back into their home villages and form the roots of the underground network. Medical care is a particularly great need in N. Korea.

    Such a movement would have to be clandestine. The North Koreans would absolutely never tolerate anyone training entrepreneurs in the SEZ’s. First, there are no functioning SEZ’s. There have been several proposals, but the closest thing you have is Kaesong, where the regime keeps a very tight lid on everything and closely monitors all contact between North Koreans and foreigners. In fact, the North Koreans have spoken at great length about how such “capitalist tricks” undermined socialism in Eastern Europe (see Nicholas Eberstadt’s piece on “The Persistence of North Korea”). The North Koreans are on to you, I’m afraid. You’re back to doing it clandestinely.

  17. I’ll read your Eberstadt reference in a few weeks. I’ve got finals next week. But two points:

    1) the assertion that the SEZs are not functioning … is that based on news reports or first hand knowledge? I think it may be a premature conclusion.

    2) Even though Kim Jong Il wants “mosquito nets” to filter out the negative impacts of capitalism, the fact that foreigners are still granted residence and sends party officials to Austrailia for business training (1 article I read cited 430 officials. Richard Tait, Playing By the Rules in Korea: Lessons Learned in the North-South Economic Engagement, 43 ASIAN SURVEY 305, 314 (2003)), I think points to pride. Or a belief that regardless of what has happened to the Soviets & China – nk is different. Is that not the beginning of the end? (I do not mean for this to be a comment on speed — it may be an erosion process or a sudden downfall — I can’t speculate on that.)

  18. joshua – only just had a chance to read your write up of nk freedom day/week… i need to communicate with you more! re: coverage of norway conference. i won’t be near a computer for at least 10-12 days immediately after, so if someone else offers to do it, that could be your best bet. otherwise i’ll see what i can do… By the way, is there some way I can write to you so that it won’t be published on the comments page?
    danielle (the australian you met at the reception in rayburn house).

  19. Please delete the second printing of the message. That was an accident. My apologies.
    Jim Baxter
    Sgt. USMC
    WWII & Korean War

  20. Re: NK refugees currently jailed in Laos

    Joshua,

    I e-mailed a copy of your example of your letter to: laoemb@verizon.net

    Since it’s been several hours and it hasn’t bounced yet, I’m guessing that it’s a valid address.

    You recommended actually calling the embassy. In your personal experience, has this; i.e., telephone calling, proven to be effective?

    I’m a little apprehensive about doing it in that I would think that little would be accomplished other than irritating a clerk at the embassy.

    I’ll be sending a letter by USPS on Monday … I am thinking on using ‘Express Mail’ as an attention getter. Any opinion on this?

    Regards,

    Michael Sheehan

  21. You photoshopped Pyongyang black in your banner. Put it back to how ti is in that silly ass KOB.

  25. Joshua — have you been following the story of the Radio Free Asia general counsel who was killed last week? Robert Wone was his name and he was stabbed in his NW home. any insider information?

  26. It’s a very sad case, and I hadn’t heard of it before your comment. No inside information, I’m afraid.

  27. what do you think about this ‘marshall plan’?

    North Korea’s Marshall Plan
    By MICHAEL R. AUSLIN
    August 15, 2006

    Kim Jong Il’s most recent belligerence has engendered a rare moment of unanimity in the U.N. Security Council. But few regional leaders have offered plausible suggestions on how to prepare for, and peacefully precipitate, a post-Kim, unified Korea.

    A Korean Marshall Plan might do the trick. Creating a multi-billion dollar stabilization fund could help bring about peaceful regime change, by emboldening the North Korean people. At the very least, the direst consequences of a Kim collapse could be avoided if such a reconstruction plan were ready to be activated immediately after the dictator falls from power.

    Such a plan shouldn’t presuppose an invasion of the North. Rather, it should be seen as a means of putting nonviolent pressure on Pyongyang. It would show the long-suffering North Korean people that the world stands ready to help rebuild the shattered country if they are willing to rise up and overthrow Kim’s dictatorship. To this end, word of the plan needs to be spread among North Korean émigré communities and broadcast widely by the U.S., so that it penetrates into the Stalinist state.

    The cost of such a reconstruction exercise would not come cheap. The world would have to commit enough to show the North Korean people the seriousness of its intent — perhaps $100 billion, or two-and-a-half times North Korea’s estimated current annual GDP. But that would be a small price to pay to promote peaceful change. The monies could be supplied by the U.S., Japan and South Korea, the countries arguably most threatened by North Korea’s missiles, and with the most to gain from a democratic, unified peninsula.

    The fund’s usage would be best consigned to South Korea. Koreans — from the South and, ultimately, the North — need to control the recovery program because only they can heal the rift on their own peninsula. In its current policy trap, South Korea sees a stalemate with North Korea as the only alternative to a catastrophic Northern implosion that would send millions of refugees spilling across its borders. But empowering South Korea through a multilateral reconstruction plan could give it the confidence needed to push for regime change.

    International organizations could also play a large role. To defuse political conflicts over the disbursal of funds, the International Monetary Fund could supervise the distribution of the monies. The U.N. could be brought in as the key technical manager and support provider. The Japanese and South Koreans might be more willing to work under U.N. oversight, given their heavy participation in that organization, and they could well prefer to use existing U.N. agencies (like the United Nations Development Program) rather than trying to create ad hoc agencies for North Korean reconstruction.

    The fund would be used to provide humanitarian relief and short-term economic stabilization. It would also lay the foundations for long-term economic development. Funds would be used to expand electrical and telecommunications networks, upgrade medical facilities, purchase energy resources and consumer goods and downsize the military. They could also be used to organize government departments that would handle local and national planning. Longer-term use of the monies would include building schools and establishing consumer and light industries, with South Korean and Japanese help, in order to put North Korea on the road to eventual participation in the global economy. The funds would also go toward guaranteeing the salaries of top military officials, effectively sidelining them during tenuous post-collapse days. International NGOs could provide services crucial to the establishment of civil society.

    By improving living standards in North Korea, these stabilization measures should convince many North Koreans to stay in their country after the fall of Kim’s regime. The flight of millions of refugees to the South needs to be prevented; otherwise South Korea’s nightmare scenario will come true and discourage it from leading reconstruction efforts in the North. That means retaining some emigration controls in post-Kim Korea. However, free movement could be allowed for those needing medical services, parents separated from children in the South, and students attending universities abroad.

    Announcing the plan would also force China, a crucial player in the North Korean issue, to clarify its position. Beijing would essentially be forced to take sides. It would have to either publicly defend Kim’s regime, or decide that it was no longer in China’s interests to protect this volatile and economically costly pariah state. Critics will dismiss the likelihood of China participating in any plan to change the Korean status quo. To woo China onto their side, the U.S., South Korea and Japan could make it clear that their goal is to create a regional partnership that will ensure a united, stable, neutral, and non-nuclear Korea — and a Korea that would be a major market for foreign imports, including those from China.

    For the U.S., the success of this venture may seem costly in the short run. However, no one should doubt the necessity of making huge investments in Korea’s future — from education to social services, agriculture to entrepreneurialism. Americans need to understand that Kim’s regime represents a direct threat to U.S. security, since any East Asian conflict provoked by Pyongyang would be bound to draw in the U.S., and could easily destabilize the global economy. The current crisis emanates from fears that North Korea may become a nuclear-weapons exporter, not to mention develop missiles that could one day accurately strike U.S. territory.

    One hundred billion dollars is far less expensive than the use of force. With an innovative push for a unified Korea, today’s crisis could be the portal for a peaceful and prosperous future for the peninsula and its neighbors.

    Mr. Auslin is an associate professor of history at Yale University.

  29. Glad I found your blog. I am very curious about the S. Korea/US relationship as our city has a growing Korean population. They seems to at the same time admire and despise the US.

  30. Hi, Joshua. I came across this website accidentally. I am impressed with your work. I am not sure if you remember me. I met you a while ago in 1997 at Fort Irwin and in Riverside, CA. I moved to several places but now live in Riverside. I am still teaching but planning to start my own business. If you don’t mind I want to know where you are practicing law and what your area of specialization is. This email is actually just my saying “hi” to you, and if you don’t want to reply to my email, I’ll understand and just want to wish you the best of luck on everything you do. Linda.

  32. Joshua,
    I live in Seoul and have been active with several groups helping nK refugees. Really fearful that if CFC dissolves it will serve to lengthen Kim, Jong Il’s reign, much like the indiscrimnate way S. Korea delivers food aid. Any thoughts? Keep of the good work. When I started helping out in 1998 this situation looked really bleak. Many positive changes have resulted from yours and others efforts.

  33. Fifty-six years ago today I landed at Inchon as a rifle squad leader with the 1st Marine Division. Twelve days later I took a bullet in downtown Seoul (Mapo Blvd.) as we set her free. It was worth it!

    Any human being or nation is worthy of deliverance in behalf of the human Freedom of individual value and citizenry.

    South Korea has done marvelously well of fulfilling the natural laws of human nature and nature’s God.

    Koreans should never fall for the humanistic opinion that Freedom is the result of a ‘political’ system. NoKo proves otherwise. Food aid to the North may very likely feed the troops – not the people – especially, since their definition of ‘human’ is corrupted and inaccurate.

    “Human is earth’s Choicemaker. Psalm 25:12 He is by
    nature and nature’s God a creature of Choice – and of
    Criteria. Psalm 119:30,173 His unique and definitive
    characteristic is, and of Right ought to be, the natural
    foundation of his environments, institutions, and re-
    spectful relations to his fellow-man. Thus, he is orien-
    ted to a Freedom whose roots are in the Order of the
    universe.”

    – from The HUMAN PARADIGM

    Semper fidelis
    Jim Baxter
    Sgt. USMC
    WWII & Korean War

  34. Let us proclaim it. Behold!
    The Season of Generation-Choicemaker Joel 3:14 KJV

    CONTEMPORARY COMMENTS
    “I should think that if there is one thing that man has
    learned about himself it is that he is a creature of
    choice.” Richard M. Weaver

    “Man is a being capable of subduing his emotions and
    impulses; he can rationalize his behavior. He arranges
    his wishes into a scale, he chooses; in short, he acts.
    What distinguishes man from beasts is precisely that he
    adjusts his behavior deliberately.” Ludwig von Mises

    “To make any sense of the idea of morality, it must be
    presumed that the human being is responsible for his
    actions and responsibility cannot be understood apart
    from the presumption of freedom of choice.”
    John Chamberlain

    “The advocate of liberty believes that it is complementary
    of the orderly laws of cause and effect, of probability
    and of chance, of which man is not completely informed.
    It is complementary of them because it rests in part upon
    the faith that each individual is endowed by his Creator
    with the power of individual choice.”
    Wendell J. Brown

    “These examples demonstrate a basic truth — that human
    dignity is embodied in the free choice of individuals.”
    Condoleeza Rice

    “Our Founding Fathers believed that we live in an ordered
    universe. They believed themselves to be a part of the
    universal order of things. Stated another way, they
    believed in God. They believed that every man must find
    his own place in a world where a place has been made for
    him. They sought independence for their nation but, more
    importantly, they sought freedom for individuals to think
    and act for themselves. They established a republic
    dedicated to one purpose above all others – the preserva-
    tion of individual liberty…” Ralph W. Husted

    “We have the gift of an inner liberty so far-reaching
    that we can choose either to accept or reject the God
    who gave it to us, and it would seem to follow that the
    Author of a liberty so radical wills that we should be
    equally free in our relationships with other men.
    Spiritual liberty logically demands conditions of outer
    and social freedom for its completion.” Edmund A. Opitz

    “Above all I see an ability to choose the better from the
    worse that has made possible life’s progress.”
    Charles Lindbergh

    “Freedom is the Right to Choose, the Right to create for
    oneself the alternatives of Choice. Without the possibil-
    ity of Choice, and the exercise of Choice, a man is not
    a man but a member, an instrument, a thing.”
    Thomas Jefferson

    THE QUESTION AND THE ANSWER
    Q: “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son
    of man that You visit him?” Psalm 8:4
    A: “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against
    you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing
    and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and
    your descendants may live.” Deuteronomy 30:19

    Q: “Lord, what is man, that You take knowledge of him?
    Or the son of man, that you are mindful of him?” Psalm
    144:3
    A: “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose
    for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the
    gods which your fathers served that were on the other
    side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose
    land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will
    serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15

    Q: “What is man, that he could be pure? And he who is
    born of a woman, that he could be righteous?” Job 15:14
    A: “Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He
    teach in the way he chooses.” Psalm 25:12

    Q: “What is man, that You should magnify him, that You
    should set Your heart on him?” Job 7:17
    A: “Do not envy the oppressor and choose none of his
    ways.” Proverbs 3:31

    Q: “What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son
    of man that You take care of him?” Hebrews 2:6
    A: “I have chosen the way of truth; your judgments I have
    laid before me.” Psalm 119:30 “Let Your hand become my
    help, for I have chosen Your precepts.”Psalm 119:173

    References:
    Genesis 3:3,6 Deuteronomy 11:26-28; 30:19 Job 5:23
    Isaiah 7:14-15; 13:12; 61:1 Amos 7:8 Joel 3:14
    Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

    DEDICATION

    Sir Isaac Newton
    The greatest scientist in human history
    a Bible-Believing Christian
    an authority on the Bible’s Book of Daniel
    committed to individual value
    and individual liberty

    Daniel 9:25-26 Habakkuk 2:2-3 selah

  35. Joshua,
    I very much enjoy the blog.
    Something that seems interesting to me is the prospect of and likely succession of Kofi-Annan by Ban Ki-moon.
    I haven’t seen anything on the blog about this topic. Maybe I missed it. I haven’t researched him yet, but surely he would have great implications in that region in various aspects.
    Call this a request, I guess.

    Thanks.

    Kevin

  36. Joshua –
    I’m writing on behalf of a friend here in Seoul. He’s a recent arrival who managed to get from NK to China in ’98 and on to South Korea in ’03. He has basically educated himself from the limited base he acquired in North Korea and somehow managed to gain admission to H.U.F.S. where he is currently majoring in Chinese and Education. I write to ask whether you’re familiar with any organizations that are willing to provide financial aid to outstanding students in the defector community for overseas study in the U.S. I’ve rarely met a more dedicated student and never one in Korea who has succeeded without the ‘parental welfare’ network that delays most young Korean’s exposure to reality until well after graduate school. He’s a very impressive and serious young man. If you have any ideas about who I might contact to help this guy out, I’d appreciate it.

  37. ‘Must read’ over at Asia Times Online: Food politics in North Korea. Fascinating stuff, well worth a look and a comment. Very indepth.

  39. PostGlobal (blog.washingtonpost.com/postglobal ), is a new site moderated by David Ignatius and Fareed Zakaria, which hosts discussions on weekly topics between leading editors from around the world (Hu Shuli, Moises Naim, Bill Emmott, William Gumede, Olivier Roy, Ahmed Rashid, Christine Ockrent, and Nayan Chanda among others).

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    PostGlobal