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....

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...

Last week, sitting barely more than arm’s length from Deputy Undersecretary of Richard Lawless, I detected a veiled threat to reduce the U.S. military presence in Korea if Korea doesn’t increase its contribution to cost sharing. The veil is now off. Richard Lawless, the deputy undersecretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, told reporters that the administration may have to make cuts in Korea — in personnel or in other areas — if the 38 percent share of...

To me, this one is simple: any member of Congress who knew that Rep. Mark Foley was molesting underage boys, and who did not report what he knew to law enforcement, must resign. These statements look pretty incriminating to me, although they don’t exclude the possibility of reporting to the police. An issue I have yet to see anyone raise: that would also apply to any Democrats who knew the same facts, but decided to wait until late September to...

More here at the Wall Street Journal. Thanks to a reader for the tip.

Details. More details. They don’t say when, but my bet is they go for it before, say, early November.

Unfortunately, it looks like he has the Secretary General position all locked up. Sadly, he seems to have bought a significant amount of the support the made the difference. One wonders whether the U.N.’s next scandal will be the story of Ban’s accession. Sadder still, he did it with the support of our own State Department, which smells (my raw suspicion; no evidence asserted) like a behind-the-back handshake between the “pro-engagement” faction and the U.N. This means that when it...