Monthly Archive: January, 2010

FOR THE EIGHTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR, the Christian NGO Open Doors has ranked North Korea the world’s worst place to be a Christian. You can’t understand North Korea until you grasp that it’s a theocracy — a cult with nuclear weapons and a seat in the General Assembly. Open Doors, by the way, has actively supported human rights in North Korea for years. They’ve long been one of the most dedicated groups working on this issue, often making their impact felt...

Next time you read a KCNA report about G.I.’s behaving badly in Itaewon or Hongdae, ponder this: According to the source, soldiers under Brigade #2 in PyungSan District, North HwangHae Province took away coals from the town residents. The soldiers commited the theft during daylight. These soldiers drove a Chinese 5-ton truck, Dong-Bang, and took away 8 tons of coals from three houses. They did not stop at stealing coals. Within the last month, soldiers stole radish from tens of...

ANOTHER GOOD REVIEW FOR “NOTHING TO ENVY,” from NPR’s Frank Langfitt, who also relates this second-hand experience: American journalists are rarely granted visas and all visits are carefully monitored, so I had to rely on the accounts of Chinese truckers who drove into the country to trade food for scrap metal. One trucker had a gash on his forehead from his latest trip. He told me a teenage boy had hit him with a rock as a crowd leapt on...

THE BALLOON PEOPLE ARE BACK! Supporters of American Christian missionary Robert Park, who is believed to have been detained in North Korea, launched hundreds of balloons on New Year’s day with texts calling for freedom in the isolated nation. The yellow balloons containing leaflets condemning the North Korean leadership were released from South Korea near the border, confirmed activist Choi Woo-won. “Greeting the New Year, we are delivering our messages of freedom and hope to North Korea,” he told reporters....