South Korea – Page 14

June 16, 2008

B.S. Stands for ‘Bovine Spongiform’

At this time a year ago, I thought by now that I’d be writing about the restoration of an alliance that Roh Moo Hyun had just about managed to destroy. Although I’ve long felt that a large U.S. military presence in South Korea was an anachronism no longer justifed by any North Korean threat, I saw benefits to having a healthy military, diplomatic, and economic alliance between South Korea and the United States. Also, I think it would be nice...

An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/Korean Politics/U.S. & Korea/Uncategorized

June 3, 2008

The Washington Times Reviews “Crossing”

Avoiding the melodrama of many South Korean films, “Crossing” is relentless in its detailed, docudrama approach. A cross-border trader and his family are seized by secret police in a midnight raid. Ragged orphans beg in destitute markets. Camp guards kick a pregnant woman in China in the stomach. Kim Tae-kyun, the film’s director, said he did not retain Mr. Yoo, a high-profile defector, as a consultant for fear of creating a political incident while filming in China. Last year, Mr....

Appeasement/Korean Society/Refugees

May 27, 2008

Guest Post: Dan Bielefeld Goes to a Screening of “Crossing” at the National Assembly

[Update: Apologies — I had Dan’s name misspelled before.] I met Dan Bielefeld at a LiNK event in Washington two years ago, and he has been living in Seoul since shortly thereafter. After Dan’s excellent photography of the Chinese riot in Seoul last month, I invited him to guest-post here. He was recently invited to a screening of “Crossing” at the Korean National Assembly, and here is review. Since this is Dan’s first post, I’ll introduce him this time. =============...

Korean Society/Refugees

May 6, 2008

Trailer for New South Korean Film, “Crossing”

Update: LiNK’s Joseph Hong sends: LiNK WILL ALSO HOST a private screening of “Crossing” in NYC on Thursday, May 8 at the ImaginAsian Theater, 239 E 59th St (Btwn 2nd & 3rd Ave.) New York, NY 10022. There are only a limited number of seats, but if you would like to attend, please RSVP to joseph@linkglobal. Shin Dong Hyuk will also be speaking in other locations, and I hope to get you more information on that soon. [End update] Over...

Korean Society/Refugees

April 30, 2008

Better Them Than Us: Korean Nationalism Turns on China

As I suspected, the China’s censorship-by-thug on the streets of Seoul is not proving popular among Koreans. The Chinese government seems to be coming to grips with the P.R. disaster it has made for itself. Its diplomats, though not quite in a full kowtow position, are offering either an apology or whatever it is that Asian diplomats offer when national pride prevents one: South Korea’s Foreign Ministry expressed regret Monday to China’s ambassador to Seoul, Ning Fukui, over the incident,...

Censorship/China & Korea/Democracy/Korean Law

April 23, 2008

State Will Tell Congress that N. Korea Was Helping Syria Build a Reactor

Reuters and the Wall Street Journal are both reporting that State is about to give Congress that briefing that it’s long been demanding about what exactly the Israelis bombed in Syria last September. A senior congressional aide and a former Bush administration North Korea specialist said they believed the briefings were designed to persuade members of Congress that removing those sanctions was justified. Latest word, by the way, is that when State publishes its new list of state sponsors of...

Appeasement/Six-Party Talks/U.S. & Korea

April 23, 2008

Yes, This Should Be Interesting

PAGING DON KIRK: Former South Korean spymaster Kim Ki-Sam, who must know where a lot of the bodies from the 2000 North Korea summit scandal are buried, has just been granted asylum in the United States, reports Yonhap. From the article, you have to infer that Kim was able to convince an immigration judge that he has something to be afraid of in South Korea, notwithstanding the recent changes in the presidency and the National Assembly. Kim is promising to...

Appeasement/Korean Politics

April 17, 2008

Must Read: Sung-Yoon Lee on the Bush-Lee Summit

If anyone ever asks what we should do about North Korea from this day forward, I think I’ll just refer them to this: Empower the office of the US special envoy for human rights in North Korea so that the special envoy can fulfill his mandate as per Section 107 of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 unfettered by Washington politics. Make full use of the $20 million appropriated for 2008 to provide assistance to North Koreans outside...

An Alliance?/Money Laundering/U.S. & Korea

April 16, 2008

The Death of an Alliance, Part 68

Here is a delicious pairing of cause and effect: The U.S. has notified the South Korean government it will withdraw one squadron of some 20 F-16 fighters by the end of this year. [….] The Defense Ministry is reportedly busy working out a response. They take the view that the abrupt notice of the withdrawal has something to do with the U.S.’s demand that Korea bear more upkeep cost for the USFK. [Chosun Ilbo] If you happen to believe...

An Alliance?/Diplomacy/Six-Party Talks/U.S. & Korea

April 13, 2008

Kim Won Ung: A Most Joyous Political Obituary

Imagine an America in which Cynthia McKinney chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and holds regular meetings with Osama Bin Laden, and you can be begin to grasp the national embarrassment of Kim Won Ung’s tenure as leader of the Korean National Assembly’s Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee. Perhaps this analogy will also illustrate the depth of my ambivalence at confirming that Kim has lost his bid for reelction. Kim Won Ung at Kim Il Sung’s Birthplace in North...

An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/Korean Politics

April 9, 2008

A Good Election for Korea

Well, what can I add to what Andy and Robert have done here? Let me start with this complete listing (in Korean) of the results and just add some notable points: * Defeated presidential candidate “Comrade” Chung Dong Young, originator of the die-in-place policy toward North Korean refugees, was trounced and failed in his bid to win a seat in the National Assembly. Chung was a superficial, anti-American demagogue. I despise him so deeply that I hope he tries...

Korean Politics

April 9, 2008

America: Now 16% Less Hated!

We have some more results for the OFK poll archive on South Korean anti-Americanism. Koreans’ attitudes toward the U.S. are improving, according to a poll by Britain’s broadcaster BBC late last year. A survey of 17,457 people in 34 countries on U.S. influence in the international community shows that the number of positive respondents outnumbered negativists only in South Korea and Portugal. Among 1,031 South Korean respondents, 49 percent showed a mainly positive attitude toward the U.S. The number of...

An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/Korean Society

April 7, 2008

Coreana Tries to Suppress Blogger Criticism of Nazi Ads

So instead of engaging in a moment of introspection about its tasteless Nazi-chic advertising, Coreana goes after Brian for putting the ads up on YouTube. And while they have removed Hitler’s name from the ad, the obvious Nazi symbols remain. Says CNN: A Korad official, Seo Sang-hee, confirmed the ad was meant to invoke a Nazi soldier and Hitler, which she said symbolize “revolution” in keeping with the lotion’s “revolutionary” dual functions. Seo said the commercial was not designed to...

Censorship/Korean Society/WTF?

April 5, 2008

Watching Porn in Pyongyang (Part 2)

Because man cannot live on diverted food aid and crystal meth alone: The demand for X-rated movies among North Korea’s high cadres is so great that a single VCD sells for 50 US dollars. The latest publication of Good Friends, a North Korea-related aid organization, tells the story of Mr. Park, a resident of Hyesan, Yangkang Province. Mr. Park was arrested for making copies of South Korean adult movies–called “colored movies”Â in North Korea–and selling them in Pyongyang. Despite the...

Deprogramming/Inside NK/Korean Society

April 3, 2008

Not Another Nazi Ad Campaign in Korea …

Yes, I’m afraid it is. Hurry and see the video on this Naver page before it’s taken down. [Update: Brian, praise be unto him, made YouTube videos, which you can see on a previous post at his blog. Oddly enough, I looked for something about this on YouTube and didn’t find them, but it’s good to record these things for posterity.] “Even Hitler didn’t unite the East and West.” Isn’t fascism erotic? I wonder how long she would have lasted...

Korean Society/Racism/WTF?

April 3, 2008

What Should the Senate Ask Kathleen Stephens?

A reader tells me that the nomination hearing for Kathleen Stephens, State’s pick to be our next Ambassador to Seoul, will take place on April 16th, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. So if you sat on that panel, what would you ask? Naturally, I presume that every single answer to that kind of question will be thoughtful and intelligent, and the most intelligent and thoughtful questions have some unquantifiable chance to be seen by the people who will write...

Appeasement/Diplomacy/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Politics/Washington Views

April 1, 2008

A North Korean Runs in a Real Election

The Daily NK introduces us to North Korean defector Lee Ae Ran, who represents another step forward in the development of a class of post-Kim Jong Il leaders for North Korea. “I know it is laughable that a North Korean defector is running for a seat in the South Korean National Assembly,” the candidate admitted during a phone interview with Daily NK on March 28. She added, “In North Korea, if you come from a bad family background, there is...

Defectors/Democracy/Korean Politics

March 31, 2008

Kathleen Stephens: The Wrong Person for the Job

A few months ago, the Korean press reported that State had submitted the name of Kathleen Stephens to be the next U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, to replace the competent and affable Alexander Vershbow. At the time, I did not have strong opinions about Ms. Stephens’s fitness for that position. Further research has convinced me that Ms. Stephens, though well qualified for the job and apparently a perfectly fine person, is the wrong person to be our next Ambassador to...

Appeasement/Diplomacy/Six-Party Talks/U.S. & Korea/Washington Views

Category: South Korea