October 13, 2006

Was It a Dud? Or a Fake?

[Update: Another vote for “dud.”] More and more reports are suggesting that it was. From the beginning, the small size of the blast — smaller than any other first nuclear test — raised that question. Yesterday, Richardson posted about a report that the French had also declared the test to be either a dud or a fake. This report is more persuasive: Four days after North Korea tried to set off its first nuclear bomb, U.S. intelligence agencies think the...

Categories WMD
October 13, 2006

The Kaesong ‘Collision Course’

Whatever the U.N. is  about to do about North Korea  won’t matter to South Korea’s government:  South Korea and the U.S. look set for a clash over the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex and tourism to Mt. Kumgang in the North. President Roh Moo-hyun and the government have stressed the importance of joining hands with the international community in addressing Pyongyang’s nuclear test claim, but they add the industrial park in the North and the package tours have nothing to do...

Categories "United" Nations/Appeasement/WMD
October 12, 2006

The Death of an Alliance, Part 55: South Korea’s Ruling Party Blames America for North Korea’s Nukes

Update 10/15:   Correction — according to a newer poll, 43% of South Koreans are retarded. – If you also watched the new “South Park” episode last night, you may still be laughing about it. I still am. It dealt with 9-11 conspiracy theories, and naturally, Eric Cartman acted as the surrogate for all that is irrational, prejudiced, and nasty (Kyle was the scapegoat, of course). I won’t spoil any of the plot twists, but there’s a scene in the...

Categories An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/Korean Politics/WMD/WTF?
October 12, 2006

MUST-READ: Key U.S. Policy-Maker Calls China Out for Double-Dealing

David Asher, who recently led the Illicit Activities Initiative, is probably the architect of our tough new financial strategy against North Korea’s counterfeiting, smuggling, and money laundering. He is also one of Washington’s clearest thinkers on North Korea. Asher didn’t know that North Korea would actually test a nuke when he delivered this address to the Heritage Foundation in September, and really, it deserved more media and blog attention than it got. Asher, to say the least, doesn’t think China...

Categories China/China & Korea/Money Laundering/Washington Views/WMD
October 11, 2006

The Sunshine Policy Is Dead, Part 3

Like the captain of a sinking ship herding rats back into the hold, Kim Dae Jung is desperately trying to preserve a policy that was his dubious legacy.  Without Sunshine, there is only bribery and a tarnished hunk of metal.  Kim, predictably, apportions blame equally between North Korea and the United States.  Honestly, there is just no pleasing some people.  We’ve offered the North Koreans far too much for far too long.  If DJ really thinks the North Koreans have...

Categories An Alliance?/Appeasement/Counterfeiting/Money Laundering/U.S. & Korea/WMD
October 11, 2006

MUST READ: Deterring the Arsenal of Terror

Writing in the Washington Post, David Ignatius squarely confronts what may be the greatest challenge to the security of the United States:  finding a way to deter a mass attack.  Ignatius concludes, correctly, that one must deter the sponsors and suppliers: Allison believes that the world must focus on what he calls “the principle of nuclear accountability.” The biggest danger posed by North Korea isn’t that it would launch a nuclear missile but that this desperately poor country would sell...

Categories Terrorism (NK)/U.S. Military/WMD
October 11, 2006

If Only They Had Listened to Us: Fact-Checking the Dems on North Korea

Update:   I was just wondering when we would hear from America’s worst ex-president.  Scroll down. “I concur with most [of] the president’s policy on North Korea.” — Howard Dean, January 5, 2003 (ht).   “Under the President’s watch, North Korea has become more dangerous and Iran continues to threaten its neighbors and America. Democrats remain committed to a foreign policy that is both tough and smart. — Howard Dean, October 9, 2006. If you’re looking for a defense of...

Categories Uncategorized/WMD
October 11, 2006

Marcus Noland on Containing North Korea

Wouldn’t it be great if we actually could?  Noland comes within a whisker of answering the question he begs: History suggests that abandonment of nuclear weapons or an advanced nuclear weapons program is usually preceded by political regime change: In three of the four cases where states gave up nuclear weapons (Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan), newly installed governments seeking to assert democratic credentials and gain international acceptance voluntarily surrendered weapons left over from the Soviet Union…. The prospect of subjecting...

Categories Geopolitics/WMD
October 11, 2006

TV Ad Satirizes Albright and Kim Jong Il

I’d seen it on TV this morning and tried to post something about  it, but it took Richardson to actually find the ad  (link to video), which the Republicans decided not to use for fear of giving offense.    Not exactly Bush=Hitler stuff, really, but very funny.  I hope it gets good circulation on the net, and let’s especially hope that Albright issues some terse and snippy statement, which will really give this thing  legs.  

Categories Diplomacy/Humor/Satire/Kim Jong Il
October 11, 2006

Kim Jong Il Unplugged, Part 12

“If the U.S. keeps pestering us and increases pressure, we will regard it as a declaration of war and will take a series of physical corresponding measures,” the North’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. Well, what on earth did they expect?  Applause?  Mind you, they still have the chutzpah to say they want to disarm, but the last time they said that was just hours before their alleged nuke test.  Meanwhile,...

Categories China & Korea/Japan & Korea/NK Economics/WMD
October 10, 2006

U.S. to Propose Arms Embargo on North Korea

I’d proposed it two days before July’s missile tests, because of the rising danger of another preventable famine, but  it now looks as if John Bolton is circulating  this concept  as part of what he’d tried to get from the U.N. after the July missile tests: The United States circulated a draft U.N. resolution late Monday that would condemn North Korea’s nuclear test and impose tough sanctions on the reclusive communist nation for Pyongyang’s “flagrant disregard” of the Security Council’s...

Categories "United" Nations/China/China & Korea/Famine & Food Aid/Money Laundering/NK Economics/WMD
October 9, 2006

N. Korea Claims ‘Successful’ Nuclear Test

Update 3: Welcome, Michelle Malkin readers! —– From the Washington Post: SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Monday it has performed its first-ever nuclear weapons test. The country’s official Korean Central News Agency said the test was performed successfully and there was no radioactive leakage from the site. “The nuclear test is a historic event that brought happiness to the [sic] our military and people,” KCNA said. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the test was conducted at...

Categories Diplomacy/NK Economics/NK Military/WMD
October 6, 2006

Brace Yourself for Another Clarifying Moment

In Seoul, the latest North Korean nuke scare is quaintly described as a cat among the pigeons, or more gravely, is said to “endanger[] us all.” For some of us, who’ve long considered North Korean nukes to be a grave problem that would continue to defy conventional solutions, the emotions are more mixed. Nobody would enjoy the prospect of a fallout cloud drifing over Seoul, Tokyo, or Beijing, but our last clarifying moment didn’t clarify things for long, it seems....

Categories Uncategorized
October 6, 2006

Marcus Noland on the Economic Implications of Nuke Test

[Update:   link fixed, thanks!]   Last night, just before “Yoduk Story” (my not-a-review  post here), I met several of the people often quoted and cited in these pages, including Ambassadors Vershbow and Lefkowitz, but also the scholar and economist Marcus Noland, someone whose work I’ve long admired for its rigor, research, and objectivity.  This morning, Mr. Noland kindly forwarded two of his recent articles:  “The Economic Implications of a North Korean Nuclear Test,” and “The Economic Implications of a...

Categories NK Economics/WMD
October 5, 2006

Yoduk Story: A Roundup, Not a Review

I expected to hate it, because until last night, I’ve never not hated a musical. Actually, it held my interest and entertained me for three entire hours, and this from a man who is officially diagnosed with ADD. At times, I was quite moved, and I saw plenty of people in the audience crying. I didn’t “enjoy” it, any more than I “enjoyed” Schindler’s List. This wasn’t “Schindler’s List,” but it looked like good art to me, and a credible,...

Categories The Camps
October 4, 2006

I Am Not a Theater Critic

Just want to clarify a point: I will attend Yoduk Story tonight, but I will do so entirely for political reasons. I’ve never been to a musical in my life, never even watched one end-to-end on TV (unless you count The Blues Brothers, or Monty Python and the Holy Grail). I am not qualified to review the play, so I won’t. I’ll just report anything unusual or interesting from a political perspective, which is possible, since the guest list is...

Categories Uncategorized