U.S. Politics – Page 4

September 25, 2011

Al-Kibar Redux

There’s nothing more I really care to say about what we should have done about the North Korean-built nuclear reactor at Al-Kibar in Syria, which Israel destroyed in a September 2009 air strike. This was a matter of some temporary inconvenience to Chris Hill’s efforts (abetted by the President and Secretary of State) to sell us a shiny, pre-owned agreed framework, complete with rust-proofing and warranty. Recently, however, Dick Cheney’s memoir has revived that debate. Michael Anton, writing in The...

Axis of Evil/Diplomacy/Missiles/Proliferation/U.S. Politics/WMD

September 13, 2011

It’s Kyl

Looks like my question has been answered: The U.S. State Department is trying to persuade a senior Republican senator to lift a hold on the confirmation of Sung Kim, the nominee to become a new ambassador to South Korea, congressional sources said Monday. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), assistant minority leader in the Senate, has been blocking the confirmation process for more than a month, according to the sources. He is known as a staunch conservative on foreign policy. [….] “Sen. Kyl...

Diplomacy/U.S. Politics

August 12, 2011

Who’s Borking Sung Kim?

So months after Chris Hill protege Sung Kim was nominated to be our Ambassador to South Korea, I’d assumed that he must have been confirmed in the dark of some night when I was too busy to read my news aggregators. Not so: The official confirmation for the next U.S. ambassador to South Korea designate, Sung Kim, is unexpectedly being delayed although it seemed a mere formality. Apparently some senators are stalling because they worry about the direction of the...

Diplomacy/U.S. Politics

July 6, 2011

Clinton Nominates Wendy Sherman

If Wendy Sherman is confirmed, I predict that she’ll screw up this administration’s North Korea policy — royally — but probably not until President Obama’s second term: Wendy Sherman, a former senior U.S. official on North Korea, was nominated to a lofty State Department post on Friday despite political controversy over her earlier handling of North Korea affairs. The White House announced that President Barack Obama picked her to serve as under secretary for political affairs, the No. 3 post...

Anju Links/Diplomacy/U.S. Politics

June 7, 2011

Will China Finally Pay a Price for Enabling North Korea?

A staffer for the new, improved, media-savvy Republican Staff for the House Foreign Affairs Committee forwards some interesting video clips of its senior members talking about U.S. policy toward China. First up is Committee Chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who calls President Obama’s treatment of the Dalai Lama “shameful.” Next, Dan Burton contrasts this with the effusive welcome given to the ChiCom emperor, who used the occasion to embarrass his hosts and score points with nationalist, anti-American netizens at home. Finally, Chris...

China/China & Korea/U.S. Politics

December 23, 2010

North Korea Awards Highest Civilian Honor to Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

You know how hard I’ve worked for the coveted Human Scum Award for the last seven years, and I’ve yet to receive so much as a nomination: Ros-Lehtinen, member of the U.S. House of Representatives, called for taking “strong counteraction” and relisting the DPRK as a “sponsor of terrorism,” while terming it a “rogue regime”. This is intolerable as it is malignant vituperation against the dignified DPRK and its system. Ros, man representing the U.S. conservative hard-liners, is human scum...

U.S. Politics/Unintended Humor

December 4, 2010

Stephen Solarz, Rest in Peace

I came to know the name of Stephen Solarz as a high school kid, observing a man I either agreed with (the Philippines) or disagreed with (Central America) strongly. After his electoral defeat in 1994, the next time I heard his name when I learned that he was one of the leading members of the board of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. I met Mr. Solarz once, after observing him making a rousing speech in front of...

Activism/Human Rights/U.S. Politics

November 12, 2010

Obama: Bush Wimped Out on Kim Jong Il

Just how weak does your diplomacy have to be for Barack Obama, recipient of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, to call you out for it? I do not mean to imply that the answer to this question is an obvious one. I ask it because of this statement by President Obama, at a joint news conference with President Lee Myung Bak, after this Veterans’ Day speech at my former duty station: After delivering his remarks, Obama met with South Korean...

Appeasement/Diplomacy/Six-Party Talks/U.S. Politics

May 13, 2010

Cheonan conclusions will mean tougher N. Korea policies … for a while, anyway

It certainly looks like every government official outside Beijing who has seen the evidence now believes that North Korea sank the Cheonan and killed 46 members of its crew. Among those who have drawn their conclusions are the South Korean government, the Obama Administration, and the Republicans in Congress. The multinational investigation is now sufficiently advanced that the official Yonhap News Agency says that the findings could be released as early as next week. One interesting leak references a stray...

Cheonan Incident/North-South/Sanctions/Terrorism (NK)/U.S. Politics/Washington Views

April 26, 2010

Statement from Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen on North Korea Freedom Week

Dear People of both South and North Korea, Members of the North Korea Freedom Coalition, Ms. Scholte of the Defense Forum Foundation, Members of the NGO Human Rights Community, Pastors, North Korean Defectors, Abductee Families, Members of the Korean-American Community and Friends of Korea: It is particularly fitting and proper that this year’s annual North Korea Freedom Week will be held for the first time on the Korean peninsula. This week of events also comes at a particularly critical time...

Activism/Human Rights/U.S. Politics/Washington Views

April 15, 2010

Obama Outflanks GOP on North Korea Policy

Here is President Obama, talking about North Korea, nukes, and sanctions yesterday: “I think it’s fair to say that North Korea has chosen a path of severe isolation that has been extraordinarily damaging to its people,” Obama told a news conference at the end of a summit on nuclear security. He said that as pressure builds, Pyongyang will want to break out of its isolation and “we’ll see a return to the six-party talks and … we will see a...

U.S. Politics/Washington Views

April 8, 2010

Tremble, Commies!

Forwarded by a friend: WASHINGTON, D.C. ““ Today, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) issued the following statement in response to the conviction of American Aijalon Gomes by a North Korean court. Senator Kerry called on the DPRK to release Mr. Gomes immediately on a humanitarian basis: “This is a mother’s worst nightmare and a horrific situation. This young man belongs in Massachusetts with his family, and I join with them in expressing my hope that North Korea...

Aijalon Gomes/U.S. Politics

April 1, 2010

How Republican Stall Tactics Could Capsize Guam!

I really wish I could say this was an April Fool’s hoax or a Mensa audition gone horribly awry. Actually, it’s a hearing in the House Armed Services Committee: Which seems like a good time to mention that Senator Carl Levin is filled with angst over all the wise on-the-spot guidance our general officers are missing out on because of a Republican parliamentary stall tactic somehow related to health care collectivization reform: “Lives are at stake here. American lives and...

U.S. Politics/WTF?

January 28, 2010

On North Korea, Obama Touts Sanctions, Not Talks

Change! Now, these diplomatic efforts have also strengthened our hand in dealing with those nations that insist on violating international agreements in pursuit of nuclear weapons. That’s why North Korea now faces increased isolation, and stronger sanctions ““- sanctions that are being vigorously enforced. That’s why the international community is more united, and the Islamic Republic of Iran is more isolated. And as Iran’s leaders continue to ignore their obligations, there should be no doubt: They, too, will face growing...

Sanctions/U.S. Politics/Washington Views

September 29, 2009

Obama Administration Says First Words About Human Rights in North Korea

Eight months, a missile test, and a nuclear test after President Obama’s inauguration, he has finally gotten around to nominating Bob King to be Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea, a move mandated by the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 and the North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2008. The United States said Friday it was “very concerned” about human rights violations in North Korea, as President Barack Obama named an envoy to focus on...

Activism/Diplomacy/Human Rights/U.S. Politics

September 27, 2009

Here in America, We Are Still Very Far from 150-Day Battles, But Close to Mid-Term Elections

KCJ’s comment here, on the fawning Songs of Obama sung in a New Jersey classroom, inspired me to write a response that may warrant its own post. Here is the video KCJ is talking about: This is creepy stuff, and I’d be livid if my kids ever come home singing something like this. Now, where is the evidence that this is the work of the Obama Administration, as opposed to that of one unintelligent Kool-Aid drinking teacher? WSJ blogger James...

U.S. Politics

August 19, 2009

What’s Going on with North Korea’s â€œConciliatory Movesâ€?

At times, reading about the life of Kim Dae-jung made me think I was reading the brief for a blockbuster movie in the making. His struggles and accomplishments read like the stuff films are made of and it’s true, no matter what you thought of him, DJ leaves behind a legacy in South Korea full of successes and failures. But during my readings, a statement about his death’s impact on the future of North-South relations caught my eye (see page...

Media Criticism/North-South/U.S. Politics

August 10, 2009

Kremlinology Watch, Washington Edition: Did the Clintons Just Screw Up Our North Korea Policy Again?

How far has Kim Jong Il’s skillful use of two American hostages set back our efforts to disarm him? Assuming, as we safely can, that President Obama made some concessions for their release, all now depends on whether the President is willing to let himself be upstaged by the Clintons, be cornered into making concessions under the duress of an implicit threat to the safety of two American hostages, and give needlessly fastidious honor to a deal between two men...

Appeasement/U.S. Politics/Washington Views

Category: U.S. Politics