Anju Links for 22 Feb 08

MY, WHAT BIG BRASS COCONUTS YOU HAVE: North Korea fires missiles toward and over Japan, Japan builds a missile shield, and then North Korea has the chutzpah to say —

Their extreme hostile policy toward the DPRK is heightening the hatred of the army and the people of the DPRK toward Japan. Should the Japanese reactionaries persist in their moves for reinvasion, accelerating the building of missile shields targeted against the DPRK, this will entail catastrophic consequences. The Japanese reactionaries would be well advised to bear this in mind and stop their rash actions. [KCNA]

So are we ready to remove these people from the list of state sponsors of terrorism yet?

A LONG RECONSTRUCTION. If you want some idea of just how difficult reconstructing North Korea will be after seven decades of massive atrocities, consider how painful it’s been to reconstruct South Korea, six decades after a spasm of atrocities on a much smaller scale.

BOYCOTTING LONELY PLANET? I’m conflicted about this one. I certainly won’t go to Burma until a better regime is in power, and I hold dim views of people who do travel there, but to say that a book shouldn’t even be published is a step further than I’m prepared to go. The BBC, which owns Lonely Planet, is obviously conflicted, too, citing arguments for and against travel there. Here are the four “for” arguments:

– Tourism one of few areas to which locals have access
– Carefully targeted spending reaches individuals in need
– Locals have told travel guide authors they are in favour
– Abuses less likely in areas frequented by foreigners [BBC]

Maybe you consider those factors persuasive in Burma’s case; I don’t. But not one of those factors applies to North Korea.

CHOOSY BEGGARS, aren’t they?