Open Sources, June 25, 2014

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NORTH KOREA, WHICH PRESIDENT BUSH REMOVED from the list of state sponsors of terrorism on October 11, 2008, has threatened to “resolutely punish” Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop for “dar[ing]” to “slander the dignity of its supreme leadership.” Discuss among yourselves. Also, I think that should be “punish resolutely.”

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HMMM:

Shops are springing up in Chinese cities bordering North Korea which specialize in cheap cell phones that operate on the restricted telecommunications network of the impoverished hermit kingdom, where handset costs are well beyond the reach of average citizens.

There are moments when I convince myself that people actually read this site. For now, however, the cost of bribing border guards into letting the phones pass is more than most North Koreans can afford. The solution is the block the funds that the regime uses to pay the border guards. That will depress the cost of bribing them.

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THE NUMBER OF NORTH KOREANS being granted refugee status in countries other than South Korea is declining, in part because many of those North Koreans are actually coming from South Korea. While I yield to no one in my sympathy for North Korean refugees, there is a longstanding legal principle that refugees are expected to seek asylum in the first place of refuge, rather than claim asylum in third countries.

I would have been more sympathetic to this argument during the Roh Moo Hyun administration, when refugees were made to feel as unwelcome as possible in the South. But unless the refugees can argue that the Park Geun-Hye administration can’t (or won’t) protect them, governments have a legal basis to deport the North Koreans to South Korea.

The real lesson of the story may be what an awful job South Korea’s society and government are doing helping North Koreans adjust to their new lives. That’s unfortunate, because South Korea is going to find itself in desperate need of those refugees’ help when the time comes to reintegrate the two Koreas.

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I’M REALLY GOING TO MISS FRANK WOLF. Congressman Wolf — may Zeus shower His blessings upon him — is going to leave some big shoes to fill when he retires from Congress next January. In one of his final acts of humanitarian mischief, Wolf has recruited an understrength platoon of senators and congressmen, along with the Chairman of the D.C. City Council, to support renaming the section of International Place that runs in front of the Chinese Embassy after Chinese dissident and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. Brilliant, Congressman Wolf. I doff my cap to you, sir.

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NK NEWS HAS CREATED a new KCNA Watch tool. You can get a two-month trial for free, too, although I fear that it would addict me, so I may have to stick with my old friend, S.T.A.L.I.N. (same name, but unrelated to the newer NK News). While you’re there, don’t miss Chad O’Carroll’s interview with John Bolton.

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THE EUROPEAN ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS in North Korea has set up a petition for the BBC to establish a Korean-language service at Change.org.

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IF YOU’RE WILLING TO TEACH ENGLISH to North Korean refugees this summer, there’s still time. Here’s how to apply.

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NORTH KOREA TECH reports that South Korea has quietly stepped up its broadcasting to North Korea, but that North Korean jamming has blocked most of the signals from reaching North Korean listeners.

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PSCORE (People for the Successful Reunification of Corea) will hold a benefit concert on July 19th, at 8 p.m., in Hongdae, Seoul. The proceeds will support programs to provide food, clothing, textbooks, and education to North Korean refugees in the South.