I’m feeling optimistic today because the hardest-line of two hard-line candidates (the one wanted for murder in more countries than the other) prevailed in the patent sham that the Iranian mullahs call an “election.” Having said that, I suppose I should explain myself. Does anyone really still believe that any candidate the Guardian Council would have allowed onto the Iranian ballot was amenable to real reform? That should have been the lesson of the Khatami presidency, which proved itself both...

The United States has pledged more food aid to North Korea, and for the record, that was the right thing for us to do. Let’s hope that those keeping this regime alive with unconditional aid and investment will at least have the conscience to make firm demands that the aid be equally distributed to all classes and regions. Perhaps that is too much to ask.

The United States has pledged more food aid to North Korea, and for the record, that was the right thing for us to do. Let’s hope that those keeping this regime alive with unconditional aid and investment will at least have the conscience to make firm demands that the aid be equally distributed to all classes and regions. Perhaps that is too much to ask.

I’ve posted the first installment of grafs from TAE’s North Korea issue here. Today’s excerpts are from Daniel Kennelly, Gordon Cucullu, and Victor Davis Hanson. Check back later for Nicholas Eberstadt and Ambassador James Lilley. I strongly recommend that you just buy the whole thing. Hey, it’s only seven bucks.

Law and order, Chinese style. Video, too. Hat tip: The Kommentariat.

Recently, Freedom House selected Professor Jae Ku as its North Korea Program Director. I met Professor Ku at a meeting of the North Korean Freedom Coalition in Arlington, Virginia, and he agreed to be interviewed for this blog. Thanks to Prof. Ku for being so generous with his time. Continue to interview.

The news reports that described pictures of Kim Jong Il “tied up” appear to have given an incomplete description. Needless to say, I like this way much better. Photo: MSNBC.

Law and order, Chinese style. Video, too. Hat tip: The Kommentariat.

Recently, Freedom House selected Professor Jae Ku as its North Korea Program Director. I met Professor Ku at a meeting of the North Korean Freedom Coalition in Arlington, Virginia, and he agreed to be interviewed for this blog. Thanks to Prof. Ku for being so generous with his time. Continue to interview.

The news reports that described pictures of Kim Jong Il “tied up” appear to have given an incomplete description. Needless to say, I like this way much better. Photo: MSNBC.

OFK: Please tell us about your background–where you grew up, and what people, ideas, and philosophies influenced the shaping of your character. Jae Ku: I lived in Korea during my first eight years. I have two older brothers and a sister, so there were six of us. I grew up in Midwest, but mostly in Kansas. I spent most of my childhood in the town of Salina. I voted for the first time in 1988, for Mike Michael Dukakis. My...

UPDATE: I’ve posted grafs from TAE’s North Korea issue here. All authors are excerpted, including Daniel Kennelly, Gordon Cucullu, Victor Davis Hanson, Nicholas Eberstadt, and Ambassador James Lilley. I strongly recommend that you just buy the whole thing. Hey, it’s only seven bucks. Original Post: The American Enterprise’s June issue focuses on North Korea, and has rounded up the thoughts of some of Washington’s strongest thinkers on the subject, including Victor Davis Hanson, Gordon Cucullu, Nicholas Eberstadt, and Ambassador James...

It has passed a House committee, and is now headed for its Senate counterpart. My first-hand report on the press conference by Senators McCain and Lieberman and Reps. Wolf and Lantos here. My pissy whining about how the media blew the story here. The advance section-by-section summary, here. Current House version here; current Senate version here. The bill makes the spread of democracy a statutory part of U.S. foreign policy and appropriates funds to cultivate it.

The Appeasement Dividend: Bupkes on nukes, bupkes on South Korean POWs. “Its official position has been that there are no South Korean POWs alive in the North.” Send more rice.

Heh: The North Korean delegation’s visit got off to a rocky start Tuesday when protesters displayed banners condemning the communist country’s leader. As the North Korean delegates were being driven from the airport to the hotel where the talks were scheduled, vehicles adorned with posters calling for Kim to be punished and displaying him tied in ropes drove close to their motorcade, one of the protesters said at a police station where he was taken for questioning along with two...