Category: Uncategorized

It has been almost a year since Chief Warrant Officer Sharon Swartworth was killed in Iraq. Chief, as we called her, was a person of high rank, and I was one of thousands of lowly JAG captains, but her warmth, compassion, and easygoing humanity belied her importance as the Army’s top JAG warrant officer. I will never forget the reception where she told myself and one other JAG lawyer the story of how she sneaked out of tiny Camp Colburn,...

It has been almost a year since Chief Warrant Officer Sharon Swartworth was killed in Iraq. Chief, as we called her, was a person of high rank, and I was one of thousands of lowly JAG captains, but her warmth, compassion, and easygoing humanity belied her importance as the Army’s top JAG warrant officer. I will never forget the reception where she told myself and one other JAG lawyer the story of how she sneaked out of tiny Camp Colburn,...

Finally, some ink for the NKHRA in a major U.S. newspaper, even if it is buried inside a headline about Secretary Powell’s efforts to restart the futile six-way talks. All of this makes me speculate about how today’s Times crew would write the headline on the day the Soviet Union fell: Gorbachev Says Bush Stalling on Arms Control Summit . . . or the day the Russians took Berlin: No Progress in German Cease-Fire Talks As for the coverage itself,...

Suzanne Scholte at the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea wrote today with this announcement: NORTH KOREAN HOLOCAUST EXHIBIT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, SEOUL NOVEMBER 8, 9, and 10, 2004 [T]he Citizens Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, the Democracy Network Against the North Korean Gulag, and Helping Hands Korea, [will] sponsor and moderate panels as part of the North Korea Holocaust Exhibit. Other organizations will be contributing material for the exhibit as well as participating in these panels. In...

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ______________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release October 21, 2004 STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY President Signs the North Korea Human Rights Act On October 18, 2004, the President signed into law the North Korea Human Rights Act. The United States has long been committed to alleviating the suffering and repression of the North Korean people. This Act provides us with useful new tools to address the deplorable human rights situation in North Korea by...

The South Korean government has launched a new crusade against false information about Korea: The Korea Overseas Information Service has announced another contest in which Internet users who report erroneous information about Korea that appears on foreign Web sites are eligible to win prizes. The errors may be wide ranging, such as factual errors about the nation’s history and culture. The competition will kick off next month and continue through Dec. 10. Allow me to be the first to offer...

Suzanne Scholte at the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea wrote today with this announcement: NORTH KOREAN HOLOCAUST EXHIBIT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, SEOUL NOVEMBER 8, 9, and 10, 2004 [T]he Citizens Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, the Democracy Network Against the North Korean Gulag, and Helping Hands Korea, [will] sponsor and moderate panels as part of the North Korea Holocaust Exhibit. Other organizations will be contributing material for the exhibit as well as participating in these panels. In...

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ______________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release October 21, 2004 STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY President Signs the North Korea Human Rights Act On October 18, 2004, the President signed into law the North Korea Human Rights Act. The United States has long been committed to alleviating the suffering and repression of the North Korean people. This Act provides us with useful new tools to address the deplorable human rights situation in North Korea by...

The South Korean government has launched a new crusade against false information about Korea: The Korea Overseas Information Service has announced another contest in which Internet users who report erroneous information about Korea that appears on foreign Web sites are eligible to win prizes. The errors may be wide ranging, such as factual errors about the nation’s history and culture. The competition will kick off next month and continue through Dec. 10. Allow me to be the first to offer...

. . . and that’s just in Beijing. Of course, embassies can only hold so many people. When the North Koreans start using boats, whether they embark from North Korea or China, the mass exodus becomes a real possibility. You’d think that under those circumstances, Kim Jong-Il would be less intransigent. To what extent does reality penetrate the Dear Leader’s universe? UPDATE: On 10/24, another 18 tried to get into the South Korean international school; only 4 made it. UPDATE...

. . . and that’s just in Beijing. Of course, embassies can only hold so many people. When the North Koreans start using boats, whether they embark from North Korea or China, the mass exodus becomes a real possibility. You’d think that under those circumstances, Kim Jong-Il would be less intransigent. To what extent does reality penetrate the Dear Leader’s universe? UPDATE: On 10/24, another 18 tried to get into the South Korean international school; only 4 made it. UPDATE...

OK, I really tried to resist. I thought I was stronger than my temptation. I believed my values would always protect me. But today, I gave in to my purient side and blogged about Korea’s great prostitution crackdown. Now, I don’t claim to have any particular expertise on this subject, but having prosecuted and defended cases in courts-martial in Korea for four years, the impact on the Uniform Code of Military Justice does have some serious literary and artistic merit...

OK, I really tried to resist. I thought I was stronger than my temptation. I believed my values would always protect me. But today, I gave in to my purient side and blogged about Korea’s great prostitution crackdown. Now, I don’t claim to have any particular expertise on this subject, but having prosecuted and defended cases in courts-martial in Korea for four years, the impact on the Uniform Code of Military Justice does have some serious literary and artistic merit...

Statcounter! Greetings to my readers in New York, the San Francisco Bay area, Research Triangle Park, Queensland, the First Signal (where I used to be your damn prosecutor, back when Colonel R was in charge and Colonel G was his deputy), and of course, Seoul. I had absolutely no idea so many people actually read this site, and frankly, the sudden responsibility to post content is more pressure than I really need right now with two kids that scream all...

Statcounter! Greetings to my readers in New York, the San Francisco Bay area, Research Triangle Park, Queensland, the First Signal (where I used to be your damn prosecutor, back when Colonel R was in charge and Colonel G was his deputy), and of course, Seoul. I had absolutely no idea so many people actually read this site, and frankly, the sudden responsibility to post content is more pressure than I really need right now with two kids that scream all...

The NKHRA Makes Waves Korean press reaction to Bush’s signing of the NKHRA here, and the Unification Minister’s futile two cents’ worth of regret here. Now, the GNP (Grand National Party, South Korea’s “conservative” opposition) wants to get into the act. So they finally found their voice, now that the song is half over. And it’s a dirge. Meanwhile, the spigot on North Korean emigration has loosened another half-turn with only the second known successful defection by sea: Two North...

Posted here on the White House Web site. Hat tip: NKZone. The qualifying language is intended to preserve the President’s position in a longstanding dispute with the legislative branch over who gets to make foreign policy (expect that one to reach the Supreme Court some day). All in all, a great day.

The NKHRA Makes Waves Korean press reaction to Bush’s signing of the NKHRA here, and the Unification Minister’s futile two cents’ worth of regret here. Now, the GNP (Grand National Party, South Korea’s “conservative” opposition) wants to get into the act. So they finally found their voice, now that the song is half over. And it’s a dirge. Meanwhile, the spigot on North Korean emigration has loosened another half-turn with only the second known successful defection by sea: Two North...