Mourning liberalism. I have too much nostalgia for the contribution that liberalism once made to our society not to wince when I hear Sean Hannity speak of it as if it were a skin infection or an unnatural sex act. There was a time, after all, when liberalism stood for freedom and tolerance instead of hostility to everything America supports, simply because America supports it. The torch once held by Ken Kesey and Alan Ginsburg has been passed to Ward...

Condi to the North Koreans: Our offer is on the table, and you’d better give it serious thought now. FWIW, it’s a terrible offer from our perspective. And naturally, it didn’t meet its actual objective of mollifying South Korea’s inexhaustable compulsion to appease. Thankfully, the North will never accept it, particularly if we insist on rigorous verification.

Demonstration Forecasts. For our soldiers in Korea, they’re as much a fact of life as weather forecasts and exchange rates. Don’t think they’d be announced this way if they were all necessarily peaceful.

Link here. The substance of the question and Rumsfeld’s answer are reproduced in full without edits, but the boldface portions are my own emphasis. Staff Sergeant Sharp, U.S. Army: In regards to United States Forces Korea, we already have a brigade in Iraq, and I recently read in the Army Times that General LaPorte was recommending relocating an additional 3,000 troops. How do you feel about the readiness of United States Forces Korea in regards to the North Korean regime?...

Link here. The substance of the question and Rumsfeld’s answer are reproduced in full without edits, but the boldface portions are my own emphasis. Staff Sergeant Sharp, U.S. Army: In regards to United States Forces Korea, we already have a brigade in Iraq, and I recently read in the Army Times that General LaPorte was recommending relocating an additional 3,000 troops. How do you feel about the readiness of United States Forces Korea in regards to the North Korean regime?...

We’ve recently seen the reports that North Korea’s first poultry export shipment to South Korea was halted by a suspected bird flu outbreak. No word on whether the strain is the same one responsible for several deaths in Viet Nam. But if the idea of North Korea exporting food isn’t already insane enough for you, here’s some dramatic irony to emphasize the point: Yonhap said North Korean authorities had buried the dead chickens but that some residents had dug up...

The Washington Times reports that North Korea has announced that it will expel U.N. aid workers, claiming that their help is no longer needed: The United Nations has triggered a flurry of diplomatic activity in Geneva, New York and Pyongyang to persuade the reportedly destitute Asian nation not to proceed with the move to close the Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), U.N. and Western diplomatic sources said. “We have been informed by North Korean authorities that they do...

We’ve recently seen the reports that North Korea’s first poultry export shipment to South Korea was halted by a suspected bird flu outbreak. No word on whether the strain is the same one responsible for several deaths in Viet Nam. But if the idea of North Korea exporting food isn’t already insane enough for you, here’s some dramatic irony to emphasize the point: Yonhap said North Korean authorities had buried the dead chickens but that some residents had dug up...

The Washington Times reports that North Korea has announced that it will expel U.N. aid workers, claiming that their help is no longer needed: The United Nations has triggered a flurry of diplomatic activity in Geneva, New York and Pyongyang to persuade the reportedly destitute Asian nation not to proceed with the move to close the Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), U.N. and Western diplomatic sources said. “We have been informed by North Korean authorities that they do...

Friends Don’t Let Friends Talk to the Chinese State Media. Check out how they garbled this Washington Post editor’s responses in an interview. Doesn’t look like an accident, either. Lying pieces of shit.

Daily NK has images, captured from a video to be played on Japanese TV, that it claims show political prisoners being brought before a firing squad in Hoeryong, which is emerging as a focal point of resistance. The pictures are very blurry and the usual cautions about authenticity apply, but Daily NK quotes defectors as confirming the location and suggesting that the tape is authentic. The video allegedly shows the “trials,” judgement, and of course, execution. The entire town was...

Yesterday, I posted on NKZone about the Bush Administration’s emerging strategy–which I believe to be the correct one–of choosing to economically (and hopefully, politically) undermine North Korea rather than resorting to an attack, as President Clinton nearly did, or more interminably pointless diplomacy with a regime that won’t negotiate in good faith or keep its agreements. Rick Vaughn disagrees; he posted this comment: How on earth can the DPRK get any more economically isolated??? I’m not sure that anyone in...

Friends Don’t Let Friends Talk to the Chinese State Media. Check out how they garbled this Washington Post editor’s responses in an interview. Doesn’t look like an accident, either. Lying pieces of shit.

Daily NK has images, captured from a video to be played on Japanese TV, that it claims show political prisoners being brought before a firing squad in Hoeryong, which is emerging as a focal point of resistance. The pictures are very blurry and the usual cautions about authenticity apply, but Daily NK quotes defectors as confirming the location and suggesting that the tape is authentic. The video allegedly shows the “trials,” judgement, and of course, execution. The entire town was...

Yesterday, I posted on NKZone about the Bush Administration’s emerging strategy–which I believe to be the correct one–of choosing to economically (and hopefully, politically) undermine North Korea rather than resorting to an attack, as President Clinton nearly did, or more interminably pointless diplomacy with a regime that won’t negotiate in good faith or keep its agreements. Rick Vaughn disagrees; he posted this comment: How on earth can the DPRK get any more economically isolated??? I’m not sure that anyone in...

U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Christopher Hill, in a hearing for his confirmation to the post of Assistant Secretary of State for Asian and Pacific Affairs, has given the most explicit signal yet that the Bush Administration will not tolerate the continued lack of progress in the six-party talks. Reuters reports: “[W]e need to see some progress here. If we don’t, we need to look at other ways to deal with this,” said Christopher Hill, U.S. ambassador to South Korea....

U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Christopher Hill, in a hearing for his confirmation to the post of Assistant Secretary of State for Asian and Pacific Affairs, has given the most explicit signal yet that the Bush Administration will not tolerate the continued lack of progress in the six-party talks. Reuters reports: “[W]e need to see some progress here. If we don’t, we need to look at other ways to deal with this,” said Christopher Hill, U.S. ambassador to South Korea....

U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Christopher Hill, in a hearing for his confirmation to the post of Assistant Secretary of State for Asian and Pacific Affairs, has given the most explicit signal yet that the Bush Administration will not tolerate the continued lack of progress in the six-party talks. Reuters reports: “[W]e need to see some progress here. If we don’t, we need to look at other ways to deal with this,” said Christopher Hill, U.S. ambassador to South Korea....