There are more alarming signs that famine may again worsen in North Korea, reports the BBC. The report quotes writer Paul French, who blames Stalinist collectivization for destroying any incentive to increase production, given that the any surplus will be skimmed off. : Instead, they concentrate on their own private plots, which they use to feed themselves and to produce food for the markets. . . . The problem with this system is that market reforms, instituted in 2002, have...

According to this comment, I’m now blocked by some ISP’s in Korea. Readers, what say you? Those thumbdicks at the MIC are sure going to be pissed when they find out that DailyNK is going to start publishing my stuff . . . in Korean. UPDATE, 6/8: The evidence that I’ve been blocked isn’t conclusive, in my mind, until I get more verification. I’d like to have that while Roh is still in town. Meanwhile, I’m chewing on the irony...

Unrest in Iran. Regime Change Iran has some very interesting posts, including pictures. Keep scrolling.

According to this comment, I’m now blocked by some ISP’s in Korea. Readers, what say you? Those thumbdicks at the MIC are sure going to be pissed when they find out that DailyNK is going to start publishing my stuff . . . in Korean. UPDATE, 6/8: The evidence that I’ve been blocked isn’t conclusive, in my mind, until I get more verification. I’d like to have that while Roh is still in town. Meanwhile, I’m chewing on the irony...

Unrest in Iran. Regime Change Iran has some very interesting posts, including pictures. Keep scrolling.

Koreans’ Jim Crow treatment is rubbing them the wrong way in the Philippines, too. It’s bad enough to do it to Americans in Korea–including the soldiers who are protecting it–but doing it to people in their own country? Sheesh. HT: Cathartidae.

Koreans’ Jim Crow treatment is rubbing them the wrong way in the Philippines, too. It’s bad enough to do it to Americans in Korea–including the soldiers who are protecting it–but doing it to people in their own country? Sheesh. HT: Cathartidae.

Koreans’ Jim Crow treatment is rubbing them the wrong way in the Philippines, too. It’s bad enough to do it to Americans in Korea–including the soldiers who are protecting it–but doing it to people in their own country? Sheesh. HT: Cathartidae.

In its latest measure to tighten policing of the Internet, China has begun requiring bloggers and owners of personal Web sites to register with the government or be forced offline. (Link) I suspect that I get plenty of hits from China, based on the number of “anonymouse” visits I get. If this site has indeed been blocked in Korea, it would represent a new step in the Sinification of Outer Koguryo. Very depressing for the in-laws, who don’t seem to...

“Restart of Nuke Talks Is Only First Step” Listening to CSPAN last night, it came out the North Koreans haven’t even set a date–definite or otherwise–for their return. Preconditions? Why, it never came up. And that doesn’t even approach the question of substantive progress. Of all people you wouldn’t have expected to report the best call, the Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler did: [A] U.S. official familiar with the one-hour meeting [sounds like DiTrani, no?] and two Asian officials briefed by...

In its latest measure to tighten policing of the Internet, China has begun requiring bloggers and owners of personal Web sites to register with the government or be forced offline. (Link) I suspect that I get plenty of hits from China, based on the number of “anonymouse” visits I get. If this site has indeed been blocked in Korea, it would represent a new step in the Sinification of Outer Koguryo. Very depressing for the in-laws, who don’t seem to...

“Restart of Nuke Talks Is Only First Step” Listening to CSPAN last night, it came out the North Koreans haven’t even set a date–definite or otherwise–for their return. Preconditions? Why, it never came up. And that doesn’t even approach the question of substantive progress. Of all people you wouldn’t have expected to report the best call, the Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler did: [A] U.S. official familiar with the one-hour meeting [sounds like DiTrani, no?] and two Asian officials briefed by...

“Restart of Nuke Talks Is Only First Step” Listening to CSPAN last night, it came out the North Koreans haven’t even set a date–definite or otherwise–for their return. Preconditions? Why, it never came up. And that doesn’t even approach the question of substantive progress. Of all people you wouldn’t have expected to report the best call, the Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler did: [A] U.S. official familiar with the one-hour meeting [sounds like DiTrani, no?] and two Asian officials briefed by...

I admit it, I was wrong. I thought it would take a whole day. And the sanctions threat, you ask? That’s on again, too. Yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn.

Xenophobia, the last refuge of a despot: North Korea is aggressively asserting greater control over domestic and international communications, apparently out of fear the United States could launch a preemptive military strike on the country, two sources with close connections to North Korea have suggested. Starting in April, the sources said Pyongyang blocked 90 percent of its international phone lines to hinder leaks of information to the outside world. Before April, the North operated 970 international phone lines, but the...

An activist helping South Korean prisoners of war detained in North Korea return to the South said yesterday he does the work because the government does not. Choi Seong-yong, 53, head of an organization called the Abductee Family Assembly, was interviewed yesterday by the JoongAng Ilbo. Mr. Choi said he became involved in his work after his father, a fisherman, was kidnapped to North Korea in 1967. Read the rest on your own. If you missed my recent post on...

Another reason not to contribute to Amnesty International–the terrorist they asked us to help them free. If they don’t see an obligation to investigate the backgrounds of those whose causes they take up–and to be truthful with their supporters about what they learn–they’re certainly revealing much about themselves. After all, they were certainly uncritical in their acceptance of what captured terrorists and detainees said about the United States.

I admit it, I was wrong. I thought it would take a whole day. And the sanctions threat, you ask? That’s on again, too. Yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn.