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March 28, 2006

N. Korean Trade Official Defects

This guy no doubt can tell us where a few bodies are buried (not literally, one hopes): A North Korean employee of a state-run company defected to the South with three family members recently, sources in the Foreign Ministry confirmed yesterday, correcting some media reports that the man was a diplomat. He worked at a trading company run by the government, the ministry sources said. They gave few other details of the matter, citing its sensitivity. Unfortunately, it’s almost a...

Categories An Alliance?/Appeasement/Censorship/Defectors/NK Economics/Refugees/U.S. & Korea/WMD
March 25, 2006

Yongsan Fire Pics

Thanks to readers who responded to my request for more info on the Yongsan fire last week.  That fire destroyed three buildings on Yongsan or the adjacent Korean Service Corps compound.  Worse, it severely burned  three Korean workers.  One was  burned on 60% of his body and had to be put on a respirator.  Reader “Dan,” presumably a soldier, was living near the scene and ran out to take photographs.  He responded to my request for photos; you can see...

Categories An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/Korean Society/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military
March 25, 2006

The Death of an Alliance, Part 35

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld adds the second hint in about a week that more troops cuts are coming for South Korea.  U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on March 23 that South Korea and the United States have agreed on the transfer of wartime command of South Korean forces to South Korea, and that the two nations are discussing a timetable. Rumsfeld confirmed this in a Pentagon news briefing yesterday and commented on the timing of the turnover, saying, “The...

Categories An Alliance?/China/China & Korea/Diplomacy/ROK Military/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military/Uncategorized/Washington Views
March 1, 2006

The Death of an Alliance, Part 33

Exasperation with the recently  awful state of things in South Korea has been a bipartisan  concern for a while now.  First we had the unanimous passage of the NK Human Rights Act, over the opposition of, and despite  lobbying by, both Koreas.  Then came the failure of what should have been a voice-vote resolution affirming the  50th Anniversary of the US-Korea alliance.  More recently, Hillary Clinton accused South Koreans of “historical amnesia.”  Now a former Clinton Administration official is comparing...

Categories An Alliance?/Diplomacy/U.S. & Korea/Uncategorized
February 26, 2006

What Ban Would Bring to the U.N., and to His Party

The U.N.: No Values Necessary What could say more about what’s wrong with the United Nations when a candidate for its top post – an experienced diplomat – would say this publicly? “I don’t think a specific issue like North Korean human rights has a direct connection to the bid for the UN secretary-general’s seat,” Ban told reporters. Asked by a CBS reporter whether the way the South Korean government handles human rights conditions in North Korea could hurt his...

Categories An Alliance?/Appeasement/Asia/China/China & Korea/Diplomacy/Human Rights/Korean Politics/Uncategorized
February 18, 2006

Sec. Rice: Lefkowitz Will Be More Vocal

It’s the latest suggestion that the Administration is less worried than ever about upsetting Kim Jong Il: The United States will have its North Korea human rights envoy become more active in coming days to get more international attention on the issue, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday. “We are going to get him out more,” Rice said at a U.S. House of Representatives International Relations Committee hearing. “We need the rest of the international community to also...

Categories Activism/An Alliance?/Appeasement/Diplomacy/Human Rights/Korean Politics/Refugees/U.S. & Korea/Uncategorized/Washington Views
February 18, 2006

Comrade Chung Dong Young Wins Uri Leadership

Via Kyodo news, Comrade Chung has won an early test of his strength going into the 2007 presidential race. Chung, former unification minister, was elected by a vote at the party’s national convention in Seoul, defeating seven other candidates. He garnered 4,450 votes, beating his main rival and former Health and Welfare Minister Kim Geun Tae who obtained 3,847 votes in the eight-man race, according to Yonhap News Agency. “The Uri Party and I will fiercely compete with the (opposition)...

Categories An Alliance?/Appeasement/Korean Politics/Washington Views
February 14, 2006

Ban Makes U.N. Candidacy Official

Ban Ki-Moon, South Korea’s Foreign Minister, chief promoter of appeasement of the North, and occasional provider of adult supervision to Roh Moo-Hyun’s government, is making official what has been known for months: he wants to be U.N. Secretary General. He would succeed Kofi Annan, who presided over the Oil-for-Food scandal, a procurement scandal, sexual abuse scandals, and several partially successful genocides without being driven out of office in shame (as if). Expect the Bush Administration to work quietly, behind the...

Categories An Alliance?/Appeasement/Asia/Geopolitics/Human Rights/Korean Politics/Uncategorized
February 13, 2006

‘He Doth Protest Too Much’

Would a statement like this have been uttered by a Korean diplomat ten years ago? Responding to a question about giving greater “strategic flexibility” to the U.S. Forces Korea, Kim said, “Even though I am an ambassador to China, I would say that it is certain that Korea and the U.S. are allies, and as such the bilateral relationship is far stronger than other relationships, which allows us to agree on strategic flexibility. He said China has not so far...

Categories An Alliance?/China & Korea/Uncategorized
February 12, 2006

$140,000 in N. Korean ‘Supernotes’ Found in Namdaemun

So South Korea really isn’t sure North Korea is counterfeiting our currency? Have a look at this: The South Korean government concealed the fact that U.S. investigators told it US$140,000 in counterfeit dollars found in Seoul’s Namdaemun market last April was made in North Korea, it emerged Sunday. Police at the time arrested three people who tried to exchange 1,400 so-called supernotes at a local money changer. They allegedly bought the supernotes from a broker in Shenyang, China. How do...

Categories An Alliance?/Appeasement/Counterfeiting/Uncategorized
August 7, 2005

Signs of the Times: So This Is Why I Spent Four Years in Korea

Above: 1950. A Marine plays taps over the graves of just a few of the 33,629 Americans killed in action in Korea. Below: August 2005. South Korean demonstrators show their appreciation for their prosperity and freedom of speech by standing at the entrance to a soccer match holding signs that say, “American soldiers not admitted.” The U.S. team was not playing. Isolated incident? No. Barring American soldiers from Korean businesses is quite common, as I can attest from personal experience,...

Categories An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/Racism
June 21, 2005

THE UNFORTUNATE RESULT OF THE SUNSHINE POLICY

Since its inception with former President Kim Dae-jung, the Sunshine Policy has evolved to complicate U.S. Policy efforts in North Korea, but also to hurt the North Korean people. At first the unprecedented policy was acclaimed on all sides, since it had never actually been tried, and resulted in the historic June 2000 summit (which earned Kim Dae-jung his Nobel Peace Prize). But long after its uselessness has been demonstrated, South Korean politicians still pursue the Sunshine Policy, doing anything...

Categories An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/Korean Politics
May 31, 2005

ANTI-NORTH KOREA RALLY NEAR YONGSAN POST, 27 MAY

The protest path started near Itaewon, went by the main gates of Yongsan Post, and ended in front of the War Memorial across the road from the South Korean Department of Defense. There are 55 photos posted, these are most suggested; 1 (thumbs up!), 2, 5, 12, 21, 22, 23, 27 (torching a large Kim Jong-il doll head), 34, 45, & 53. Several protesters approached the photographer and described their hatred of Kim Jong-il, and the Noh Moo-hyun and Kim...

Categories An Alliance?/Korean Politics