The other big news is that the White House, as expected, waited for a “decent interval” between negotiating sessions with North Korea to appoint Jay Lefkowitz as its Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in North Korea. The Washington Post printed a Reuters piece, which benefits from actually taking the trouble to contact the people who were behind the NKHRA in the first place: But U.S. officials said the appointment, announced by the White House, had been in the works for...

I just recently finished Jasper Becker’s Rogue Regime, and consider it the best North Korea book I’ve read yet. I haven’t read Bradley Martin’s book with the very long title yet, so I’m not in a position to compare the two, but the New Yorker is. They’ve published a superb side-by-side review of both books. You can tell Nick Kristof didn’t write this one. I echo The Marmot–it’s a must-read, and a good introduction to the kind of information you’ll...

When I interviewed Nick Eberstadt last week, I asked him how patient the United States was willing to be. Now, Chris Hill has told us. North Korea may well interpret this as obviating any compelling need to make progress before then. In the same article, Hill refused to comment on Chung Dong-Young’s latest diplomatic masterstroke, while repeating his insistence that the U.S. won’t accept any “peaceful” North Korean nuclear programs.

The GNP seems to have a fairly definite position on Roh Moo-Hyun’s invitation to form a coalition government. It might be difficult, however, to find a compromise point over the presidential suggestion, as GNP Chairwoman Park Geun-hye had dismissed the idea, saying, “[Discussion of a coalition government] is over. There is no reason for further negotiations as the GNP has already clarified its position. Any questions? I’d like a Korean perspective on this. I suspect that to Americans in particular,...

The UNHCR has a new representative in Seoul. Given that I didn’t even know the previous one even existed, she need not worry about the stress of meeting high expectations.

Have a look at this cryptic little graf: Following a meeting of its directors yesterday, Hyundai Asan Corp., a Hyundai Group subsidiary that handles business projects in North Korea, announced that Kim Yoon-kyu had been removed from his post as its chief executive amid allegations that he had engaged in unspecified questionable activities. “As a business manager, Mr. Kim behaved in a way that he shouldn’t have,” said a Hyundai Group official. “In doing so, he has put into question...

Six nations are currently in talks over the nuclear weapons possessed by one of them. North Korea, whose recent acquisition of nuclear weapons has raised such a ruckus probably acquired them during the 1990s. The acquistion was years in the making. It began with the procurement of a small amount of plutonium from the Soviet Union, with the North assuring the latter of its exclusively peaceful intentions. Later, after it had built a reactor in which to use and enrich...

Sometimes, I suspect that the South Korean press would declare a “watershed” if Kim Jong Il flushed a urinal: A poll conducted on Thursday by the JoongAng Ilbo found that South Korean politicians and the public have a more favorable perception of North Korea following this week’s joint inter-Korean Liberation Day celebrations, which took place in Seoul. The paper conducted a nationwide telephone survey of 811 men and women over 20 years of age. The margin of error was plus...

A REMINDER.

If you’re intested, here’s the last Korea Society Kremlinology. Ambassador Donald Gregg, whose tenure ought to be remembered for the collapse of pro-American sentiment, may resign.

Next time you curse high gas prices, think of what the Chinese are putting up with these days.

Next time you curse high gas prices, think of what the Chinese are putting up with these days.

OK, NOW what’s the deal with Blogspot access in Korea? Again, my Korea traffic is down to a trickle . . . not completely gone, mind you, but low enough to be a major aberration. Readers?

Kifaya. The Washington Post has an interesting video report on the Egyptian opposition. It’s not entirely encouraging; the Muslim Brotherhood is the largest opposition group, and their stated aim is the establishment of sharia.

While I would agree that the current South Korean government has tried to intimidate and weaken opposition newspapers, I nonconcur with the implication that disputing the accuracy of articles is a subterfuge for censorship. I’m not comfortable with ajumma-state arbitration/oversight boards that are vulnerable to political packing–fair enough. I have the same concerns about our own FCC and the Fairness Doctrine. But if the Chosun Ilbo wants free-speech martyr status, it will first need to persuade me that there’s a...

The Chosun Ilbo has an interesting piece on the subject. I’m not among those who would try to minimize the cost, although the estimates I’ve read are so diverse that it’s impossible to come up with a statistically significant average. Some have estimated that it would cost a trillion dollars. Others have suggested that the Korean “peace dividend” would pay for it, which I think is simply wrong. Reuinification will mean a dramatic deterioration in security over the short-term, as...

They will never rest in peace. Christopher Hitchens recently grabbed me when he spoke of those who would “ventriloquize” the dead for their own purposes. Do you suppose these two girls ever imagined, or wanted, to become icons for emotional manipulation in the service of repression? It’s always tragic, of course, when a life lasts for so many fewer years than it should; sadder still when that loss was both preventable and mostly unmourned. It isn’t my intent to ventriloquize...