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Monthly Archive: August, 2008

August 5, 2008

The End of Sunshine

North Korea is now threatening to expel South Korean  staff from Kumgang.  A spokesman for the North Korean military unit in charge of the region around Kumgang said it would kick out all South Koreans “we deemed unnecessary” from the resort. Although South Korea suspended tourism after the shooting, more than 260 South Korean businesspeople remain there, most of them affiliated with Hyundai-Asan, a Seoul-based company that operates the resort together with the North Korean  government. The unidentified spokesman said...

Categories Appeasement/NK Economics
August 4, 2008

Anju Links for 4 August 2008

WHAT BETTER SYMBOL could there be of the complete intellectual and moral collapse of Bush’s North Korea policy  than this? (Hat tip to a friend.) THE KOREAN CHURCH COALITION, which I think has to be the single most dynamic activist organization promoting human rights in North Korea today, has amassed a very impressive list of supportive letters from politicians of both parties.  I’ve posted some quotes below the fold.  The obvious  question is whether those are more than mere words. ...

Categories Anju Links
August 3, 2008

State Dep’t: De-Listing N. Korea as a Terror Sponsor Depends on Verification

I take some comfort in the fact that while I can’t believe a damned thing they say, neither can the North Koreans: Nuclear-armed North Korea cannot be removed from a list of state sponsors of terrorism unless it agrees to a comprehensive protocol verifying its atomic program, US officials say. There appeared to be a perception that Pyongyang would be automatically de-listed on August 11 after President George W. Bush announced on June 26 that he had notified Congress of...

Categories Appeasement/Diplomacy/Six-Party Talks/Terrorism (NK)/U.S. Politics
August 2, 2008

Senate Confirms Kathleen Stephens as Ambassador to Korea

[Updates below and in the text.] A couple of days ago, while traveling on business, I was informed that Sen. Brownback would lift his hold on the nomination of Kathleen Stephens to become Ambassador to the Republic of Korea. She was confirmed in a voice vote later that day. This is the first time I’ve had a chance to post about it. The Senate confirmed a new American ambassador to South Korea on Friday, after a senator dropped his objections...

Categories Appeasement/Diplomacy/Six-Party Talks/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Politics/Washington Views