Famine Facade: South Korea is again making motions to show that it cares about alleviating the lack of food and medical care in North Korea. Plans are urgently needed; the government could fall, or outside pressure could finally cause North Korea to relent and let in aid without restrictions. The problem here is that the South Koreans are not interested in pressuring the North Koreans to allow the aid to go where it is most needed. What do they propose...

Japan Sanctions Update: A Japanese civic group that claimed to have photographs of Japanese hostages alive has retracted the claim. The group had claimed that the photos showed the hostages alive after the time Pyongyang claimed they had died.

The post on the North Korean dissent video is here. The link to the clip has been fixed, so you can watch it again.

The Chosun Ilbo has discovered Natan Scharansky, whose book obviously had a profound influence on the contents of President Bush’s second augural speech yesterday. Gratuitious editoralizing aside, it’s an interesting read. Meanwhile, I think I’ve discovered another influence. Here’s another president, from a few years back: We must not break faith with those who are risking their lives…on every continent, from Afghanistan to Nicaragua … to defy Soviet aggression and secure rights which have been ours from birth. Support for...

The post on the North Korean dissent video is here. The link to the clip has been fixed, so you can watch it again.

The Chosun Ilbo has discovered Natan Scharansky, whose book obviously had a profound influence on the contents of President Bush’s second augural speech yesterday. Gratuitious editoralizing aside, it’s an interesting read. Meanwhile, I think I’ve discovered another influence. Here’s another president, from a few years back: We must not break faith with those who are risking their lives…on every continent, from Afghanistan to Nicaragua … to defy Soviet aggression and secure rights which have been ours from birth. Support for...

Some newer readers may not be familiar with LiNK, a global organization dedicated to assisting North Koreans both inside and outside their own country, primarily by creating political pressure for North Korea to stop repressing its people. You can read about some of LiNK’s activities here, here, and here. Its founder, Adrian Hong, has a modest, easygoing way that defies his deep convictions; in fact, his mannerisms might remind you of Harold from “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.”...

The Yomiuri Shimbun reports that 80% of the Japanese people want sanctions against North Korea.

Yonhap reports that North Korea has shut down its casino along the Chinese border, as I predicted here two days ago. It’s simply amazing how reasonable Kim Jong Il can be when China starts fiddling with the valve on the fuel pipeline.

Cost-sharing negotiations between the U.S. and South Korea continue. Yes, that would be the sharing of the costs of defending South Korea with U.S. troops. Although the Pentagon will withdraw a third of its troops over the next few years, it’s not at all interested in continuing to bear the same burden of the cost for its wealthy host. South Korea is balking, and the negotiations have stalled. What this Korea Herald article does not mention is that although the...

Limited Reassurance: CNN reports that the Pentagon claims a “limited capability” to defend against North Korean missiles with its new interceptors.

Some newer readers may not be familiar with LiNK, a global organization dedicated to assisting North Koreans both inside and outside their own country, primarily by creating political pressure for North Korea to stop repressing its people. You can read about some of LiNK’s activities here, here, and here. Its founder, Adrian Hong, has a modest, easygoing way that defies his deep convictions; in fact, his mannerisms might remind you of Harold from “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.”...

The Yomiuri Shimbun reports that 80% of the Japanese people want sanctions against North Korea.

Yonhap reports that North Korea has shut down its casino along the Chinese border, as I predicted here two days ago. It’s simply amazing how reasonable Kim Jong Il can be when China starts fiddling with the valve on the fuel pipeline.

Cost-sharing negotiations between the U.S. and South Korea continue. Yes, that would be the sharing of the costs of defending South Korea with U.S. troops. Although the Pentagon will withdraw a third of its troops over the next few years, it’s not at all interested in continuing to bear the same burden of the cost for its wealthy host. South Korea is balking, and the negotiations have stalled. What this Korea Herald article does not mention is that although the...

Limited Reassurance: CNN reports that the Pentagon claims a “limited capability” to defend against North Korean missiles with its new interceptors.

Note: Video link fixed! Scroll down for updates. And a big welcome to all the readers from the Command Post and MSNBC! From the North Korean exile newspaper DailyNK, via Kommentariat, comes this remarkable video. The tape, which is the third to emerge from North Korea in two weeks, appears to be the first ever of an anti-government organization in North Korea. Those who made the tape would almost certainly have faced a firing squad had they been caught. Because...

Inauguration Sledding Day: My Election Day foray into politics was enough for me. Driven not so much by an affection for George Bush as my abject terror of a Kerry presidency (pretty well encapsulated in this image), I did it as one might crawl into a sewer to save a trapped child. Much showering followed later, until I used it my poll-watching stint as a way to con my way into one of the best seats in the Ronald Reagan...