Open Sources

In an effort to put an empirical measurement on the immeasurable, The Washington Post reports that South Korea is creating a North Korea Situation Index. If this is what I think it is, it’s a series of survey questions the South Korean Embassy has sent out to people it considers “experts” on the subject (and through some grievous error, I was also asked to fill this out). The survey consists of a series of questions about North Korea’s economy, its food situation, its control over its population, and its control over its military. Participants are asked to compare the situation last year to the year before.

What this means, then, is that the ROK government is making an empirical measurement of the guesswork of a mob of people who may not have access to the same information — almost none of it actually empirical — and who will certainly hold conflicting biases. That’s all fine if they recognize the limitations (and I think they do) but this is, at best, a measurement of consensus, largely among people who are too far away from the subject matter to measure these shifts. I appreciate being asked to participate, and I suppose the survey could have some value in the context of other, better informed views. I’d respectfully suggest, however, that it would be more useful to compile the same data from recent arrivals from North Korea, grouped by songbun, region, and date they left North Korea.

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Kim Jong Bill Said What?

“I am very encouraged by the news that North Korea will not react militarily to South Korea’s drills,” he said. “During my meetings in Pyongyang, I repeatedly pressed North Korea not to retaliate. The result is that South Korea was able to flex its muscles, and North Korea reacted in a statesmanlike manner. I hope this will signal a new chapter and a round of dialogue to lessen tension on the Korean peninsula.”

“Statesmanlike?” You mean for not shelling another peaceful fishing village over the weekend? You mean to tell me it’s possible to run a string of death camps and violate every other norm of man or God and still be called “statesmanlike?” This goes a bit beyond your garden-variety soft bigotry of low expectations, to say nothing of the value Richardson puts on the lives of South Korean sailors, marines, and civilians. For the love of God, please put a shock collar on this man, set it to zap if he goes beyond a hundred-mile radius of Santa Fe, and turn the voltage up to “11.” This man is a national disgrace.

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China is fretting about an Asian arms race, which is like Paris Hilton fretting about the coarsening of our culture. _____________________________
The State Department is greeting North Korea’s offer to accept IAEA inspectors with justifiable skepticism:

“North Korea talks a great game. They always do. The real isssue is what will they do,” Crowley said. “If they are agreeable to returning IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) inspectors to their country, they have to tell the IAEA that,” he said.

“If they’re willing to participate in mechanisms that reduce tensions with South Korea, we would certainly favor any step that reduces tension and improves communication in the region,” he said. “We will be guided by what North Korea does, not by what North Korea says it might do,” he said. “The key is following through and implementing that decision and meeting its international obligations.”

A North Korean promise to accept IAEA inspectors is like a marriage proposal from Mickey Rooney. It seems as if they do it every year. See also Reuters for some good, and unexpectedly skeptical, analysis. So it looks like Obama will have plenty of cover to say “no” to this. I wonder if McCain would have.

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Security Council fail. _____________________________
A majority of Americans would support sending U.S. troops to defend South Korea. Haven’t these people seen “The Princess Bride?” _____________________________
Kaesong Updates: The Joongang Ilbo calls for it to be closed, and the Daily NK’s Chris Green updates us on how the project has somehow managed to eke out inexplicable growth. _____________________________

Here’s a photo gallery from North Korea, with mandatory anecdote about controlling minders.