According to the report, another must-read, natural curiosity and market forces are doing what a decade of the Sunshine Policy and government-controlled trade couldn’t do–open up North Korean society. . . . North Korea, long one of the world’s most isolated societies, has grown vulnerable to the flow of information from the outside world. North Koreans are watching Western movies on hidden video players and tuning in to Korean-language broadcasts from the South on illicit radios. In the border regions,...

According to the report, another must-read, natural curiosity and market forces are doing what a decade of the Sunshine Policy and government-controlled trade couldn’t do–open up North Korean society. . . . North Korea, long one of the world’s most isolated societies, has grown vulnerable to the flow of information from the outside world. North Koreans are watching Western movies on hidden video players and tuning in to Korean-language broadcasts from the South on illicit radios. In the border regions,...

The final Washington-area event of North Korea Freedom Week was a prayer vigil at a Maryland church last Saturday evening. I should have attended, but instead took pity on my neglected family, who had become a blogger’s widow and orphans over the course of the previous week. Dennis Halpin, who is a senior aide to Representative Henry Hyde, the retiring Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, spoke, and he was kind enough to send me the text of his...

The final Washington-area event of North Korea Freedom Week was a prayer vigil at a Maryland church last Saturday evening. I should have attended, but instead took pity on my neglected family, who had become a blogger’s widow and orphans over the course of the previous week. Dennis Halpin, who is a senior aide to Representative Henry Hyde, the retiring Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, spoke, and he was kind enough to send me the text of his...

I simply lack the time to completely respond to Nick Kristof, but having spent a few hours assembling some facts, I realize they speak more persuasively than most of the arguments I could offer. Here is the statement Kristof uses to open his argument: “How many nuclear weapons did North Korea produce in Bill Clinton’s eight years of office . . . ? The answer to the first question, by all accounts, is zero. Never mind that neither Kristof nor...

Korea won’t stop tormenting Sgt. Mark Walker, whom you will recall was one of two soldiers inexplicably put on trial for that tragic accident that killed two Korean schoolgirls in 2002. The MBC cameras are still following Walker around in his home town: Mark Walker, the former U.S. Forces in Korea sergeant who drove the vehicle told MBC’s current affairs program “W” broadcast Thursday he lost 25 kg in the three or four weeks after the accident and was still...

Putinization Update: South Korean journalists say press freedom continues to worsen. They hold Roh responsible.

I simply lack the time to completely respond to Nick Kristof, but having spent a few hours assembling some facts, I realize they speak more persuasively than most of the arguments I could offer. Here is the statement Kristof uses to open his argument: “How many nuclear weapons did North Korea produce in Bill Clinton’s eight years of office . . . ? The answer to the first question, by all accounts, is zero. Never mind that neither Kristof nor...

Korea won’t stop tormenting Sgt. Mark Walker, whom you will recall was one of two soldiers inexplicably put on trial for that tragic accident that killed two Korean schoolgirls in 2002. The MBC cameras are still following Walker around in his home town: Mark Walker, the former U.S. Forces in Korea sergeant who drove the vehicle told MBC’s current affairs program “W” broadcast Thursday he lost 25 kg in the three or four weeks after the accident and was still...

Putinization Update: South Korean journalists say press freedom continues to worsen. They hold Roh responsible.

The bi-election results are in, and it was a small massacre for the ruling Uri Party, which lost all six contested seats. Better yet, most of the seats had been Uri’s until the respective members left office or were removed by courts. The Flying Yangban is all over the story, here and here. Not only has the Uri lost its majority in the assembly, it appears to be in need of a funnel collar to prevent it from rending itself...

The bi-election results are in, and it was a small massacre for the ruling Uri Party, which lost all six contested seats. Better yet, most of the seats had been Uri’s until the respective members left office or were removed by courts. The Flying Yangban is all over the story, here and here. Not only has the Uri lost its majority in the assembly, it appears to be in need of a funnel collar to prevent it from rending itself...

The bi-election results are in, and it was a small massacre for the ruling Uri Party, which lost all six contested seats. Better yet, most of the seats had been Uri’s until the respective members left office or were removed by courts. The Flying Yangban is all over the story, here and here. Not only has the Uri lost its majority in the assembly, it appears to be in need of a funnel collar to prevent it from rending itself...

Here is a link to events in Washington–thanks to Suzanne Scholte. Events in Seoul–thanks to Dr. Norbert Vollertsen. And for those of you everywhere else, including the fellow red-staters out there, we need your help, too. UPDATE 1: Just got word that LiNK is protesting at the South Korean U.N. Mission tomorrow at 1 P.M. Details. I think Adrian’s smart to do this before the South Korean bi-elections. There’s a fine tactical mind behind that apparent Harold-or-Kumar ordinariness. Plus, South...

Here is a link to events in Washington–thanks to Suzanne Scholte. Events in Seoul–thanks to Dr. Norbert Vollertsen. And for those of you everywhere else, including the fellow red-staters out there, we need your help, too. UPDATE 1: Just got word that LiNK is protesting at the South Korean U.N. Mission tomorrow at 1 P.M. Details. I think Adrian’s smart to do this before the South Korean bi-elections. There’s a fine tactical mind behind that apparent Harold-or-Kumar ordinariness. Plus, South...

From the Yomiuri Shimbun: The Japanese government will demand that the issue of North Korea’s nuclear arms development be addressed at the U.N. Security Council if Pyongyang continues to refuse to participate in six-way talks on the topic, The Yomiuri Shimbun learned Thursday. It also was learned that Japan, the United States and South Korea will hold a meeting of high-level officials in May over the process to bring the case to the United Nations. In a meeting Wednesday night...

The trade pressure on China appears to be building.

This year’s listing appears to be based primarily on past events: Although North Korea, formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), is not known to have sponsored any terrorist acts since the bombing of a Korean Airlines flight in 1987, it did in 2002 admit to kidnapping Japanese citizens. And, even though the DPRK is a party to six international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism, “Pyongyang has not taken substantial steps to cooperate in efforts to...