March 31, 2006

S. Korea’s Press Freedom Continues to Decline

That’s the conclusion of the International Press Institute, whose latest country report blames the Roh Administration for pursuing a political vendetta against unfriendly press: Towards this end, in 2005, the government used its authority to create legislation and use it as a weapon in its fight against the three big conservative dailies: the Chosun Ilbo, the Dong-a Ilbo and the Joong Ang Ilbo. At the beginning of January, the governing Uri Party pushed through the National Assembly two press reform...

Categories Censorship/Democracy/Korean Law/Korean Society/Media Criticism
March 30, 2006

White House Calls for China to Release NK Refugee

This is an encouraging development. Can anyone recall the White House getting involved on behalf of a North Korean refugee before this? STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY The United States is gravely concerned about China’s treatment of Kim Chun-Hee. Despite U.S., South Korean, and UNHCR attempts to raise this case with the Chinese, Ms. Kim, an asylum seeker in her thirties, was deported to North Korea after being arrested in December for seeking refuge at two Korean schools in China....

Categories China/China & Korea/Defectors/Human Rights/Refugees/Uncategorized
March 30, 2006

China’s Own Unit 731?

If true, this report removes China’s human rights issue to a whole new depth of depravity. There is a horrifying story going around the world: In the northeast of China, thousands of prisoners are being held, so that they can be killed for their organs. The prisoners are practitioners of Falun Gong, the meditation-and-exercise system. The facility at which they are being held — called a “concentration camp” or a “death camp” — is at Sujiatun. Chinese human-rights activists believe...

Categories China/Human Rights
March 30, 2006

Congress (Again) Considers Asylum for WMD Witnesses

The provision is similar to one that was a part of the failed North Korean Freedom Act, and was inserted into the Immigration Bill by Senator Sam Brownback, the greatest champion of the North Korean people in that body. Unless you’ve been in a secluded location, you may realize that the House and Senate have yet to bridge major difference in that bill. Still, this quote encouraged me: One Washington source said, “Last year, the North Korea policy was much...

Categories Defectors/Human Rights/Refugees/Washington Views/WMD
March 30, 2006

Jay Lefkowitz Interviewed in the Donga Ilbo

I’ll simply link this and recommend it in its entirety. The interviewer asks informed and sharp questions on refugees, regime change, and food aid. Lefkowitz’s answers were adequate but obviously scripted. He’s trying to give the impression that the U.S. will soon start accepting refugees without getting ahead of the Administration; I’m cautiously inclined to believe him, mainly based on other information I’ve heard.

Categories Famine & Food Aid/Human Rights/Refugees/Uncategorized/Washington Views
March 30, 2006

Someone Please Prosecute This Fool

Prosecution Exhibit A  should be this photograph of a South Korean leftist thug putting his hands on a United States Marine.  While there are numerous reasons why this is widely considered unwise, those reasons don’t include  any reason to  fear that the leftist-dominated Korean government will actually prosecute  people like this  for assault.  “Assault” is what you call it when one person puts his hands on another with hostile intent.  It’s a tribute to this Marine’s discipline that he didn’t...

Categories An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/Korean Law/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military/UCMJ & SOFA
March 30, 2006

Did the Chosun Ilbo Puff Up the “Yodok Story” Story?

A trusted reader in Seoul, Brendan Brown,  is casting doubt on the Chosun Ilbo’s story reporting that “Yodok Story” is a sold-out runway success (see this entry, and this one).  The reader says of the Chosun report: [I]t’s crap. I got my wife to call today and ask about the availability of seats for the performances before and a[f]ter April 17 and there are many seats available. A friend of mine who went before I did also said that most...

Categories Activism/Censorship/Korean Society/Media Criticism
March 28, 2006

First Act, Last Laugh

Update: New information (see comments) suggests that the Chosun Ilbo may have considerably exaggerated the success of “Yodok Story;” the government also looks to be backing away from denying that it put pressure on producers and investors. Update 2 (8/06): I withhold final judgment, but the preponderence of reports I’ve heard go like this: plenty of empty seats at the first curtain call, but the seats tended to fill up to nearly full with the late arrival of ticketholders. Original...

Categories Activism/Censorship/Defectors/Democracy/Human Rights/Korean Law/Korean Society/Media Criticism/Refugees
March 28, 2006

LiNK Learns Flash

The Jawa Report has a must-see flash movie from LiNK, whose sophistication at spreading a powerful message continues to grow. I spoke to Adrian Hong today, and I don’t believe he’d mind me saying that he sounds weary, like a man working himself to the point of sheer exhaustion. If you have even a small amount of extra time or money on your hands, they could use it for a good purpose. Please hit their PayPal button or volunteer some...

Categories Activism/Famine & Food Aid/Human Rights
March 28, 2006

N. Korean Trade Official Defects

This guy no doubt can tell us where a few bodies are buried (not literally, one hopes): A North Korean employee of a state-run company defected to the South with three family members recently, sources in the Foreign Ministry confirmed yesterday, correcting some media reports that the man was a diplomat. He worked at a trading company run by the government, the ministry sources said. They gave few other details of the matter, citing its sensitivity. Unfortunately, it’s almost a...

Categories An Alliance?/Appeasement/Censorship/Defectors/NK Economics/Refugees/U.S. & Korea/WMD
March 27, 2006

Brace Yourself for Labor Unrest (Unless You Own Slaves)

The strike season is starting. While still living in Korea, I had the inspiration for a new business model, “Demo Land.”  Your entrance fee of just W30,000 would cover equipment rental (signs, drums, headbands, riot shields, tear gas, fire bombs), bail, and E.R. treatment.  Great fun for those who mainly do it for the entertainment of it all, which seems to be most, with an occasional legitimate grievance to be found in there somewhere.  I’d put it somewhere near Yangjae,...

Categories Human Rights/Humor/Satire/Korean Society/NK Economics
March 26, 2006

WANTED

Two U.S. senior congressional researchers say Washington could bring criminal charges against North Korean leader Kim Jong-il over his country’s alleged counterfeiting of U.S. dollars. The two authors of a Congressional Research Service report say the U.S.’s increasing keenness to back up its allegations with legal evidence is fueling speculation that it is considering going after Kim. Well, that would certainly mark a decisive policy shift — one that it would extraordinarily difficult for future presidents to reverse.  “Earthquake” might...

Categories Counterfeiting/Diplomacy/North Korea/Six-Party Talks/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Law/Uncategorized
March 26, 2006

On Assimilation and the Rule of Law

If you read carefully enough, you will see this L.A. Times article telling you what the sheer numbers alone should  make clear:  the overwhelming majority of those who rallied in L.A. yesterday were not “immigrants’ rights advocates,” they were themselves illegal aliens.  When half a million people who have no legal right to even be in the country can essentially sieze control of one of your largest cities, you have a big problem.  Thankfully, the demonstrators didn’t riot and burn...

Categories Miscellaneous/Uncategorized