Ambassador Hong steps down.

Question: How can you effectively monitor the distribution of half a million tons of rice from two locations–particularly if the North Korean government is jointly responsible for the monitoring?

Fair and Balanced! The New York Times is hosting a Q&A with Jack Pritchard and Nick Kristoff. That should get them buzzing inside that particular cocoon.

Here’s just a cutting from a report on the first day of the six-nation talks: While Kim Gye-gwan, the North’s top envoy to the talks, paid close attention to the opening remarks of his counterparts, throughout the opening ceremony, he seemed purposely to ignore the Japanese delegation. Mr. Kim deliberately looked the other way when Mr. Sasae made his speech and closed his eyes. Apparently worried the talks might be derailed by the dispute, Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon of...

Professor Donna Hughes, who spoke at last week’s Freedom House conference, has an article in National Review online about the trafficking of North Korean women in China. Thanks to her for forwarding a copy. Women and children are increasingly the majority of refugees crossing the river into China. If they can locate a friend or relative’s house, they have a chance at finding a safe haven. But if the ethnic Korean Chinese traffickers find them first, they are abducted and...

I haven’t had time to read all five pages of what looks to be a very interesting report on the evidence for or against, but I’m not surprised that (1) people don’t trust the conclusions of the CIA, or (2) the evidence, overall, is inconclusive. In fact, I’d be very suspicious if any analyst made a conclusive judgment about what North Korea possesses or does not possess. The country is interlaced with literally thousands of tunnels and UGF’s, and is...

Nicholas Kristof is a man who knows the power of righteous indignation to save lives by hitting genocidal dictators where they’re most often vulnerable: their economies. Listen to the moral authority of Nick Kristof and the New York Times in full roar when millions face imminent mass murder: So what can stop this genocide? At one level the answer is technical: sanctions . . . , a no-fly zone, a freeze of . . . officials’ assets, prosecution of the...

The New York Times has it covered (via AP), although aside from South Korea’s now-characteristic and perfectly undiplomatic public demand for Japan not to discuss its abductees, nothing particularly interesting was reported. I’m always watching U.S. “security guarantee” language carefully. Christopher Hill is saying the U.S. has “no intention to invade or attack” North Korea. This, from the Chosun Ilbo, was more interesting, in the context of those bilateral pre-talks non-talks we’re in the habit of having these days: Hill...

The Dong-A Ilbo reports that Hong Seok-Hyun, the Korean Ambassador to the United States, will soon step down over his involvement in a campaign-finance scandal. He was already plagued by a previous tax conviction when he first started the job in February. That’s February of 2005. Update: The Korea Herald explains why the (left-wing) Uri-led government was so quick to throw Amb. Hong out of the lifeboat: Hong was attempting to help funnel money to the (right-wing) Grand National Party,...

The Chosun Ilbo reports that Washington is about to insist on a written commitment by North Korea to complete denuclearization, or else. The three countries will not be content with vague reference to “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” or a preliminary freeze, and Washington and Tokyo have threatened to stop the talks and impose sanctions if no written undertaking is forthcoming. A Korean official said Sunday the goal of the six-party talks was “the dismantling of the North Korean nuclear...

The Japanese NGO RENK, which has scored some incredibly brave video “gets” from inside North Korea, has done it again. They smuggled a videocamera onto a North Korean train and surreptitiously interviewed a North Korean soldier who was being send home to “recover” from malnutrition. Daily NK has the report, with pictures and a partial interview transcript. Rank of the soldier Kim Man Chul interviewed is the lowest one. The North Korean trains have separate cart for civilian passengers and...

While Robert Mugabe is uprooting millions of his people, most nations have become increasingly hesitant to back up his regime, with one notable exception: While the talk is of democracy sweeping the continent, some experts believe that China’s rising influence here may power its blend of free-market dictatorship, particularly among African leaders already reluctant to turn over power democratically. “We might see the Chinese political system appealing to a lot of states whose elites and regimes are more in line...

Perhaps Mao was right about one thing: the cradle of revolution is the peasant class. I have to think that if the crude old thug were still alive today, he’d probably see things the same way. The unrest is neither sporadic nor isolated: Such scenes of frustration are occurring with increasing frequency across rural China as villagers rise up against corruption, pollution and the seizure of land for real estate development. With little faith in local officials or the weak...

There may be dozens of reasons why Koreans and Americans view North Korea so differently, but if you leave the “root causes” argument to another day, the more immediate cause is how the South Korean press covers the issue. Having had a disillusioning view of how the media boloed their coverage of the ADVANCE Democracy Act, I didn’t have terribly high expectations for how the South Korean media would approach a press conference with Natan Sharansky. To some in the...

Aaron Robert Miller, a regular OFK reader and commenter with a very different perspective (much more pro-“engagement” with the N.K. government) than what you regularly read here, has a summary of the entire conference that’s much more comprehensive than my own. He’s posted it on the Korean Cultural Center’s Web site. The Cultural Center is affiliated with the ROK embassy, but Aaron’s views don’t represent those of the ROK government. Aaron has written a very honest and complete summary of...

Japan is making progress–both legal and technological–toward being able to defend itself from North Korean missiles.

I guess it all depends on how it’s said–by North Korea, or by the reporter. It’s not much of a story to me yet, because North Korea has made that demand before, and because the reports I’ve seen on the story don’t mention North Korea offering to sign a formal peace treaty with South Korea or recognize its sovereignty. And of course, what it offers in exchange is to do what it promised to do when it signed the NPT...

There are two other accounts of the Freedom House conference, aside from my own. While I’m stuck in the details of what everyone said (I’ll stay stuck there because that’s the niche I’ve opted to fill), the other reports pan out for the wide-angle view. I recommend both. I can’t figure out what the deal is with cell phones in North Korea these days, but this report suggests that aside from senior officials and those who possess them illegally near...