September 12, 2006

Human Wrongs Lawyer

Nice to know that Roh’s previous life experiences are still useful to him on occasion. Before he left for the United States, Mr. Roh reiterated his position on human rights abuses in North Korea. Calling such rights a universal value, he added, “Still, I don’t think there is an agreed universal principle yet in international society as to whether a country can take certain measures against another country because of the details of human rights.” He added, “South Korea has...

Categories History/Human Rights/NK Economics/U.S. & Korea
September 12, 2006

No Balance, No Net: Anything Could Happen During the Roh-Bush Meeting

If you have any questions about the state of U.S.-South Korean relations today, you need only read this. Seoul and Washington have decided not to adopt a joint statement or declaration at the Roh-Bush summit. Contrast that to the scripted appearances and affirmations of unity we saw last time. No longer. This visit was hurriedly scheduled after North Korea’s missile launches, which showed everyone just how little security seven billion dollars could purchase, and after which the United States broke...

Categories An Alliance?/Money Laundering/U.S. & Korea
September 11, 2006

A 9/11 Demurrer

Every year, I have the same debate with myself: whether the ferocity of my thoughts about this day renders them unfit for public consumption. This year, absent the time or desire to write, save, and then delete my true thoughts, there is just one original thought I will add to so many others today — that for me, 9/11 is at least half the reason I began blogging about this topic. Since then, my greatest fear has been that Kim...

Categories Democracy/North Korea/Terrorism (NK)/Uncategorized
September 10, 2006

For My Next Act, I Shall Balance Four Whales on One Shrimp!

Roh Moo Hyun thinks his neighborhood needs a regional “multilateral security framework:” Roh […] emphasized that the European experience can be useful in coping with pending issues surrounding the Korean Peninsula. He said challenges confronting Northeast Asia include lingering Cold War-like tensions, concerns over the spread of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and environmental protection. He also said there are uncertainties on the possible realignment of power among Northeast Asian actors. “The European system that laid the foundation for the...

Categories China & Korea/Geopolitics/Russia & Korea/U.S. & Korea/Unintended Humor
September 8, 2006

Kim Jong Il Unplugged, Part 9

The Treasury Department is not through with Kim Jong Il. Undersecretary Stuart Levey has set his sights on two of North Korea’s last two lifelines, South Korea and now, Russia: The United States is not yet satisfied with the results of sanctions aimed at changing North Korea despite the impact the sanctions have had, a senior Treasury official said Friday. The U.S. will watch how the situation develops with Russia, which reportedly has become one of the very few havens...

Categories Money Laundering/NK Economics
September 8, 2006

I Propose an Exchange

I love irony. The fellows on the left are in Korea. They’re angry that their President is trashing their country’s alliance with America, and they want him prosecuted for treason. The fellows on the right are in Seattle. They’re angry with America, of course, but also with their President. They think he’s plotting to sell their country to top-hatted Yankee capitalists. They want him brought before a People’s Revolutionary Court for bourgeois splittism, but they’ll probably vote for him until...

Categories An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/Korean Politics/Korean Society/NK Economics/U.S. & Korea
September 8, 2006

Why, What Excellent Questions!

At a public forum sponsored in part by the Joongang Ilbo, USFK Commanding General B.B. Bell asks existential questions about the alliance: “In exercising independent operational command and in developing future alliance war plans, what will be the ROK government’s strategic war aims, military objectives and desired war-end state?” he asked. They have no idea, of course. They’re making this up as they go.

Categories An Alliance?/ROK Military/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military
September 8, 2006

The Seven Billion Dollar Man

[Update: The actual figure turns out to be over $7 billion, if you include all aid since 1995 and add in Kim Dae Jung’s $500M bribes. It still excludes money from South Korean corporations, and of course, aid from the U.N. or other countries. South Korea now provides 46% of North Korea’s support. h/t The Nomad.] Let’s briefly review where we’ve been with North Korea over the last year — missile tests, nuclear scares, crude insults, food aid stolen from...

Categories Appeasement/Money Laundering
September 8, 2006

Dastardly Hegemonistic Brilliance

How to get South Korea ready to accept its president’s demand for wartime control of its forces? Why, an aggressive schedule of military exercises, of course! An official with the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday Washington proposed a series of combined military training drills before Korea obtains independent wartime operational control. “The training would be tiered and occur over three years, including the actual transfer period,” he said. In other words, two years before the handover, whether that is...

Categories An Alliance?/NK Military/ROK Military/U.S. Military
September 8, 2006

The Death of an Alliance, Part 50: Alternative Realities and Real Alternatives

I suppose everyone is entitled a theory on why Kim Jong Il decided to launch a round of missiles on July 4th, thereby drawing the wrong kind of attention from the U.N. Security Council, Japan, China, and the U.S. Treasury Department. This blog has been lukewarm on the conventional “extortion” theory, and has recently hosted discussions of the Strategic Disengagement Theory, the “Barrel of a Gun” Theory, The Loyalty Test Theory, and most recently, the Robert Kaplan Theory. All of...

Categories An Alliance?/Appeasement/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military/WMD
September 8, 2006

Six More North Korean Refugees Caught at the Laos-Thailand Border

The refugees, including one child, were arrested on September 2nd at the village of Sri Chiangmai in the Nong Khai region of Northeastern Thailand, along with Kim Hee Tae, a South Korean humanitarian aid worker. Mr. Kim was able to make bail by paying a large amount of money to the authorities; the refugees remain jailed in Nong Khai. Norbert Vollertsen is with them, and provided the details for this post. The timing is fortuitous, with the new E.U. Resolution...

Categories Refugees/Southeast Asia
September 7, 2006

‘Barrel of a Gun’ Redux

North Korean Army propaganda adds fuel to my pet theory: According to the article, North Korea developed nuclear weapon for the purpose of self-defense because “˜the vicious American gang leader Bush labeled us one of the axis of evil and rogue states, and declared not to have conversation with us unless his sinister conditions were met.’ The document says the United States bewildered after the North’s declaration of possession of nuclear weapon and then started to yield to Pyongyang. Therefore...

Categories Kremlinology/WMD
September 7, 2006

European Parliament Passes Resolution on N. Korean Refugees in Thailand

Let no one dispute the effectiveness of groups like Freedom House and Human Rights Without Frontiers. Their influence in Europe is growing, and that influence may preempt a source of cash, trade, and diplomatic support that has proven so useful to Iran. I agree with Nick Eberstadt and Jae Ku that Europe’s support for the North Korean people could shame South Koreans into action. Maybe there’s hope for Europe yet. Full text follows: ======================================== The Resolution was tabled by Hubert...

Categories Europe/Human Rights/Refugees
September 7, 2006

Kaplan Identifies the Problem. So How Do We Solve It?

[Updated; Updated again 9/6 regarding South Korea’s withdrawal from OPLAN 5029 planning last year.] First, I want to thank “a fellow blogger” for forwarding me this article. The Marmot has posted the entire text. Richardson and GI Korea have already preempted many of my comments on this piece. As with everything Kaplan writes, the article shows the author’s research; it’s approached with both depth and perspective. Inevitably for a piece that printed out to 12 pages, there were parts with...

Categories Reconstruction