A Fond “Good Riddance” to Chris Hill: “The U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and former envoy to South Korea Christopher Hill will retire from public service and become dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver from September.”

If Hill had departed so soon after being nominated by a President the news media liked less, I have a feeling we’d hear a lot more media speculation — or even actual reporting — about why he’s leaving barely a year after a rather bitter confirmation battle. I’m pleased to have had a small role in making that confirmation even more bitter.

Sit Down For This: “UN Security Council No Closer to Decision Over Cheonan.” If only South Korea had the kind of connections at the U.N. that China has.

North Korea’s economy is expected to shrink again this year because of the reduction of trade with South Korea. You can’t make sense of a story like this if you’re one who believes Kim Jong Il really wants a bigger economy, good trade relations with his neighbors, or a better life for his subjects. You can easily make sense of it if you believe hge wants none of those things, and wants only enough foreign earnings to allow him to give out patronage to key constituencies he needs to preserve his power.

It Probably Isn’t Good, Whatever It Is: “Dozens of North Korean technicians have entered [Burma] in the last few months, and have been seen working at a military facility outside Mandalay. It’s unclear what this is for.”

In 1969, North Korea abducted 11 of the passengers and crew of a KAL flight. Open News looks at the prospects that any of them are still alive today.

Great Moments in North Korean Diplomacy: “During the ceremony, Ahn followed Kim to a toilet and grabbed his arm from behind, threatening in a stern voice that Pyongyang “will not just let it go” if Seoul continued to press the international community to condemn North Korea for the warship’s destruction.”

We often speak of “smart” and “intelligent” as synonyms, but the more I observe people, the more I think that much of what makes people “smart” isn’t related to the capacity to learn facts or articulate them coherently, it’s “emotional intelligence;” a combination of good impulse control and a willingness to set aside emotion long enough to analyze facts rationally. I don’t really have much to say about the ideas here, other than that they’re a fine example of how it is possible to achieve academically and still lack the capacity to apply reason or common sense to known facts about real-world problems.

U.S. government investigators have just about ruled out North Korea as a suspect in those cyber attacks last year.

LiNK’s Vice President, Justin Wheeler, tells us the story of “Mary,” a North Korean refugee trapped in China.

When I asked her what her dream was, she responded eagerly, “I want to finish my education of course. I had to drop out of school in the sixth grade. Hopefully, I will go on to university and then teach, but I don’t think this will be possible since I cannot go to school here in China. I’d have to try and escape to South Korea, but I can’t afford that journey right now.”

If the article relates the worst that’s happened to her, she’s actually one of the lucky ones.