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...

Update: My initial estimate appears to have been a bit on the low side: Inter-Korean talks are pricey, with the current four-day session costing South Korea 400 million won ($395,804). Seoul would like to do it cheaper, officials say. That comes to $68.72 per minute, not including any bribes or fertilizer shipments. _____________________ Original Post: I was invited to go to hear Paula Dobriansky, the Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs, speak at the Hudson Institute on Monday, but I...

Another act by a lone nut? Not quite, if the report is to be believed. The man who torched the office of this newspaper appears to have had plenty of encouragement after-the-fact, if not before.

The contagion of morally and historically moronic “concentration camp” analogies has spread to Korea. This time, shouts the Chosun Ilbo, Army barracks are concentration camps. Consider the trajectory of this discussion: from the tragic actions of a lone nut, we have arrived directly at this bewildering hyperbole. I’d be the last to dispute that the treatment of Korean soldiers deserves some sober inquiry and intelligent public debate. Comparing conditions there to places that were specifically designed to kill millions (rather...

Update: My initial estimate appears to have been a bit on the low side: Inter-Korean talks are pricey, with the current four-day session costing South Korea 400 million won ($395,804). Seoul would like to do it cheaper, officials say. That comes to $68.72 per minute, not including any bribes or fertilizer shipments. _____________________ Original Post: I was invited to go to hear Paula Dobriansky, the Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs, speak at the Hudson Institute on Monday, but I...

Another act by a lone nut? Not quite, if the report is to be believed. The man who torched the office of this newspaper appears to have had plenty of encouragement after-the-fact, if not before.

The contagion of morally and historically moronic “concentration camp” analogies has spread to Korea. This time, shouts the Chosun Ilbo, Army barracks are concentration camps. Consider the trajectory of this discussion: from the tragic actions of a lone nut, we have arrived directly at this bewildering hyperbole. I’d be the last to dispute that the treatment of Korean soldiers deserves some sober inquiry and intelligent public debate. Comparing conditions there to places that were specifically designed to kill millions (rather...

The contagion of morally and historically moronic “concentration camp” analogies has spread to Korea. This time, shouts the Chosun Ilbo, Army barracks are concentration camps. Consider the trajectory of this discussion: from the tragic actions of a lone nut, we have arrived directly at this bewildering hyperbole. I’d be the last to dispute that the treatment of Korean soldiers deserves some sober inquiry and intelligent public debate. Comparing conditions there to places that were specifically designed to kill millions (rather...

I’m rooting for the Iraqi terrorists . . . as long as they’re killing each other.

Why is Kofi Annan, of all people, publishing an editorial in the Washington Post praising the “progress” toward a new constitution and reconstruction in Iraq? 1. To persuade us that his organization’s competence extends beyond the field of embezzlement; 2. To ingratiate himself with U.S. officials, who are deciding whether to ask for his resignation in the wake of the Wilson memos; 3. They’re secretly optimistic, and want to be on the ground in time to claim some credit; 4....

I’m shocked, shocked. DailyNK, which has just published another of my pieces, claims that there is video of Japanese food aid for sale in the markets. It’s not the first time we’ve heard reports of this kind, accompanied by video. Update: No link to the video yet, but here’s a still: It certainly must have taken some cojones to spend a month inside North Korea with a camera, acting as an agent of a dissent or anti-regime group. Photo credit...

I’m rooting for the Iraqi terrorists . . . as long as they’re killing each other.

Why is Kofi Annan, of all people, publishing an editorial in the Washington Post praising the “progress” toward a new constitution and reconstruction in Iraq? 1. To persuade us that his organization’s competence extends beyond the field of embezzlement; 2. To ingratiate himself with U.S. officials, who are deciding whether to ask for his resignation in the wake of the Wilson memos; 3. They’re secretly optimistic, and want to be on the ground in time to claim some credit; 4....