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July 17, 2006

I Can See My House from Here!

I guess it’s been raining a bit in Korea. Oddly enough, my first year in Korea, 1998, was another of those wet years. The flooding in Samgakji knocked down several buildings, killed a few people, and did major damage to the No. 6 Subway line construction. The flooding that year was about the same as what you see here. Afterward, I strolled down to the riverside walkway — since landscaped at great cost — and found a dead dog rotting...

Categories Miscellaneous
July 8, 2006

Photos of Korea, Circa 1906

Many thanks to my wife for finding and saving these (she’s standing over my shoulder). Unfortunately, she didn’t think to save the link, so I’d appreciate it if anyone could tell me where these were originally published. The photographer was … some German guy. Some of the pictures seem so real, you almost expect the subjects to shoo you away. Scroll over them for captions, and look for them in a book soon to be published. Pick up an extra...

Categories Korean History/Korean Society/Miscellaneous
July 6, 2006

Get Rid of the Dane

In many ways, Rudyard Kipling was a product of the backward times in which he lived, but what a timeless thing North Korea’s idea of diplomacy is: Dane Geld It is always a temptation to an armed and agile nation To call upon a neighbour and to say: — “We invaded you last night–we are quite prepared to fight, Unless you pay us cash to go away.” And that is called asking for Dane-geld, And the people who ask it...

Categories Diplomacy/Miscellaneous/Uncategorized
May 16, 2006

Korea Diary, 17 May 06

If you need an even better illustration of the idiocy of the Tokdo distraction, read this moving story about the families of two hostages, one Japanese and one South Korean, who married during their captivity in North Korea. Yokota expressed gratitude that his son-in-law was a South Korean. “I am so lucky to have a South Korean son-in-law, not a North Korean. I am so happy that I can hope that our families may meet one another again. He said...

Categories Abductions/Activism/An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/Appeasement/Counterfeiting/Diplomacy/Drugs & N Korea/Europe/Famine & Food Aid/Human Rights/Inside NK/Islam/Japan/Japan & Korea/Korean Politics/News Links/NK Economics/Proliferation/Refugees/Terrorism/Iraq/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military/Uncategorized/WMD
May 14, 2006

Links of Interest

Richardson has already linked it, but I want to add is that this one could be very, very important to what happens in North Korea. The United States is considering economic sanctions on Chinese banks which have business transactions with North Korean companies allegedly implicated in the development or proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), a news report said Sunday. ================= Rep. Henry Hyde, Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, has a message for President Junichiro Koizumi. Hyde,...

Categories Activism/An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/Censorship/China/China & Korea/Defectors/Democracy/Diplomacy/History/Human Rights/Korean History/Korean Law/Korean Politics/News Links/NK Economics/North Korea/Refugees/U.S. & Korea/Uncategorized/Washington Views/WMD
May 7, 2006

Links of Note

The Political Pendulum: The Chosun Ilbo thinks that the Korean blogosphere is turning right. Although the report depends on readers’ ideological self-identification, I do see modest signs that in South Korea, the pendulum is swinging away from the far left. The problem for the Korea right continues to be that it has articulated no vision that has appeal for younger voters. In a word, it’s reactionary. ====================== Engaging the People: American cartoonist Ranan Lurie wants to bring “uniting artwork” to...

Categories Appeasement/Blogs & Blogging/Korean Law/Korean Politics/News Links
April 10, 2006

Links of Interest

Kamerad! It was all too predictable: France has surrendered to the mobs in the streets. The good news is the decline of Chirac and De Villepin; the bad news is that France’s own economic decline is now increasingly assured. Mary Robinson Wouldn’t Approve. I have three words to say about Zacharias Moussaoui’s date with Hell: Pay-Per-View. Bring beer; Cheetos are on me. The Skirt Defense. This is without question both the strangest and most contemptable rape defense I’ve ever seen:...

Categories News Links
March 26, 2006

On Assimilation and the Rule of Law

If you read carefully enough, you will see this L.A. Times article telling you what the sheer numbers alone should  make clear:  the overwhelming majority of those who rallied in L.A. yesterday were not “immigrants’ rights advocates,” they were themselves illegal aliens.  When half a million people who have no legal right to even be in the country can essentially sieze control of one of your largest cities, you have a big problem.  Thankfully, the demonstrators didn’t riot and burn...

Categories Miscellaneous/Uncategorized
January 30, 2006

North Korea news roundup (Monday)

Yahoo: Two Koreas agree to resume stalled military talks Yahoo: Kin express joy after film on abductee wins prize Daily Iowan: Leach seeks to ease N. Korean tensions (opinion) Epoch Times: Book Review: Gordon Chang’s New Book on North Korea Dong-a Ilbo: Corruption Rapidly Spreading in North Korea YONHAP: N. Korea says U.S. poses threat to world peace, security DailyNK: Elvis Kim Jong Il? Netizen, Open Kim Jong Il Parody Dong-a Ilbo: North produces 2 billion counterfeit cigarette packs Dong-a...

Categories News Links