Japanese activists have joined South Korean activists and North Korean defectors in that wonderfully quixotic leaflet campaign against Kim Jong Il: “We’d like to punish the Kim Jong Il government by spreading the truth written on these leaflets,” said Seo Jung-gab, president of the National Action Campaign, one of the participating groups. Also among groups participating was the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea, a group supporting the families of Japanese abducted by Pyongyang’s agents...

AFP is reporting that two Chinese traders, suspected of espionage, were beaten to death in North Korea. According to South Korea’s Yonhap new agency, which quoted unnamed sources in Beijing, the two traders from the northeastern province of Jilin were allegedly killed during a trip to the North’s border city of Manpo. “We have noted the report. We are seeking to confirm it,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters without further comment. The report said North Korea was...

The Chinese are blocking U.N. action against their North Korean clients for sinking the Cheonan, and the Russians are playing dumb and stalling, but I’m sure that President Lee takes comfort that he has the full moral backing of the European Parliament and Central America. The Europarl resolution also “expressed disappointment with China and Russia for failing to take a clear position on the issue.” ___________________ South Korea will expand its role in the Proliferation Security Initiative: “We have decided...