In what has to be the most disappointing story about Korean politics I’ve seen all year, a new group that calls itself The New Right National Alliance has formed in Seoul. As you may have noted from previous posts, I had been looking forward to a realignment of political forces in Korea that might offer the voters something better than the choices the voters have now: Old Right, with its authoritarian history, authoritarian instincts that continue to this very day,...

From the Joongang Ilbo: MOUNT KUMGANG, North Korea “• A South Korean fisherman abducted to North Korea was reunited with his mother after nearly two decades of life in the communist country. The tearful meeting was a part of the two Koreas’ separated family reunions at the mountain resort here. Kim Jong-sim, 74, told her first son of his father’s death five years ago as she burst into tears. Jeong Il-nam, 50, unsuccessfully tried to hold back his tears. His...

Get It Over With, Already. Six-nation talks have started again.

The Chosun Ilbo attended a press conference with GW Bush today (their reporter was originally planning to interview your correspondent–seriously) but under the circumstances I was understanding. Especially now that I hear this: On the eve of a fresh round of multilateral talks about North Korea’s nuclear program, U.S. President George W. Bush expressed strong concerns about the way the Stalinist country treats its people. “I have expressed my concerns about treatment of men, women and children in North Korea....

For Korean Politics Wonks: The Marmot is currently hibernating (and right after throwing me a nice fat link), but not to worry. The Flying Yangban is keeping us up-to-date on the fast-foward power plays in Korean politics as the next general election cycle approaches. Two of the smaller parties, the unfortunately named PCP and the ULD, have merged.

CNN Program Goes Undercover Inside N. Korea. The Korean Mediator informs us of what looks like required viewing: A rare look inside North Korea. Sunday, Nov. 13, 8 p.m. Only on CNN.KM: The advertisement for this showed many images of desparate North Koreans and seemed to be very critical of Kim Jong Il and the current North Korean regime. Please be sure to tune in. I know I’ll be watching. I’ve long since concluded that the way out of our...

Usinkorea just forwarded me links to the two APEC propaganda videos in question. These are produced by South Korea’s Korean Teachers Union, which has links to North Korea and some of its more obvious stooges in the South (home, then scroll down). You can see the one that’s caused all of the fracas here; more here. And what are the kids learning in South Korea? Repeated use of the “f” word is highly appropriate for children. Corporations are evil, greedy,...

The Chosun Ilbo reports today on an issue that I expect we’ll be hearing much more about–an upcoming strike by the Korean Teachers’ Union, a/k/a the Korean Teachers’ and Educational Workers’ Union, which is affiliated with one of the two major labor groups in Korea, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. One glance at the KTU’s Web site shows that education is clearly the last thing on its mind. It’s reasonable to ask whether these people are really qualified to...

“China Closes All Beijing Poultry Markets” General Tso was not available for comment.

The Chosun Ilbo gasps: U.S. President George W. Bush has once again called North Korean leader Kim Jong-il a “tyrant,” only days before a fresh round of six-party negotiations about the prickly country’s nuclear program is set to start. Bush was speaking to young business and civic leaders in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia on Sunday. In the remarks, he hailed Japan as a great friend in dealing with “a tyrant in North Korea,” Japan’s Asahi Shimbun and other dailies...

Several other sites have blogged this story since I first noticed it, so I’ll mostly recommend the entire article and post just a few choice grafs, plus an observation or two. Nongovernmental organizations from Mongolia are working quietly with North Korea’s totalitarians to help bring democracy to the Stalinist state, said Mongolian President Nambaryn Enkhbayar. . . . . On efforts to bring democracy to North Korea, Mr. Enkhbayar said the message that Mongolian organizations are sending Pyongyang is: “Please...

More bad reviews for the South Korean Human Rights Commission’s work–or lack thereof–on North Korea.

There are fresh signs that Seoul is feeling strong pressure not to abstain from the upcoming vote to condemn the North’s human rights record. Perhaps because of internal disagreements, the Foreign Ministry is backing away from previous reports that Seoul has decided to abstain. “The government position has not been decided,” said the minister, speaking to members of the National Assembly’s Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee. Mr. Ban said Seoul would base its decision on the current situation on...

Korean Teachers Fight Standards: When you look at what Korean teachers have been teaching recently, you might conclude that what the country needs is a better system for evaluating them and upholding some academic standards. But look at what the government has run into in the process of trying to do just that. This may take more willpower than the current government possesses.

Iraq Update: Insurgencies are not dispatched; they’re strangled. The process is long, slow, gradual, and agonizing. If Americans don’t lose their will first, we will deny al-Qaeda in Iraq a haven, make our own country safer, and leave Iraq infinitely better off than it was under Saddam. Behind the emoting of the anti-war media, there are signs that we’re making progress.

This Man: I wonder whether Korea still produces–much less appreciates–men like this man.

On June 10, 2005, 51 year-old Kim Myung-Ja was pulling a yogurt cart across a street in Tongduchon, near Camp Casey. Kim pulled her cart into an intersection, in front of a U.S. Army deuce-and-half truck that was sitting at a stoplight. When the signal changed from red to green, 19 year-old Private First Class Jeffrey Bryant, who could not see Kim over the engine, pressed the accelerator, striking and killing Kim Myung-Ja. That day, Roh Moo-Hyun happened to be...

This looks like excellent news: James Lilley, a former U.S. ambassador to Korea, said yesterday that it will be hard for the United States to import products made in the Kaesong Industrial Complex for “geographical” reasons. According to Mr. Lilley, one of the major trade issues that South Korea and the United States will face in the near future is U.S. imports of Kaesong-made products. “The United States cannot regard those goods as “˜made in South Korea’ because they were...