Anju Links for 23 May 2007

*   Can we really separate nukes from human rights?  North Korean defectors say that the regime used political prisoners to help prepare its nuclear test.  The report is given plausibility by the proximity of the nuclear test site to Camp 16.  You will recall that this site may have been the first to publish pictures of that camp on the Web, though it was no more than a matter of finding the place on Google Earth.

*   This UPI report by Lee Jong Heon would suggest that the Kaesong Industrial Park is a raging success, but the Daily NK has taken a much closer look at how the various companies’ plans are working out, and finds those plans falling far short of the original expectations.

*   This report on life in Hamheung makes it seem just about as hard as the cities of the Northeast, like Chongjin and Hoeryong.

*   North Korea is struggling to maintain its isolation:  China is cracking down on the underground railroad, and North Korea is increasing its jamming of foreign broadcasts.

*   South Koreans are getting tired of sending their hard-earned money to Kim Jong Il, only to hear that people are still starving and tensions aren’t declining.

*   More good news from the war:  the Taliban appears to have met with disaster in its Spring offensive after serious losses among its commanders.  Commanders can be replaced, but it will take years for the new commanders to reach the same level of skill and experience.  It would seem official that the situation in Anbar is dramatically improved when war critic Joe Klein admits it.   Ironically, the “surge” was  concentrated mainly in Baghdad,  and while things in Baghdad have improved, the improvement has been less striking there than in Anbar.   Both of these developments, though good news, won’t mean a thing in the longer term unless  each government behaves responsibly and effectively to retake and hold the territory from which the terrorists are driven.  Every insurgency is won or lost by a government’s ability to establish its authority and serve the people.   They’ll need us there for a while to help — and pressure — them to make the right decisions and extend their authority.