Now, it’s the Kim Jong Il pins that are coming off.

I fight the temptation to do tabloid stuff on this blog, I really do. You will see no cheesecakey pics here as cheap hit-counter sellout (sorry to disappoint all of you out there in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, and the UAE, and yes, I can see the google searches that got you here). Sometimes, however, the tawdry intersects with either (1) the relevant, or (2) the completely asinine. South Korea’s Uri Party brain trust, fresh from its brilliant successes at...

Well, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, given that it’s not actually inside North Korea, but it’s interesting: South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo newspaper today cited unidentified Washington officials as saying about 10,000 Chinese troops were preparing for a prolonged stay along the North Korean border. China, for its part, is furiously denying everything: ‘Such a report is completely groundless and unreasonable,’ Wu Dawei, vice minister of foreign affairs, said at a briefing in Beijing today. ‘After reading this...

Just what exactly did Jane Goodall say on her recent visit to Pyongyang? Her foundation, after repeated requests for comment, won’t say. According to this story, however, Goodall recently visited Pyongyang as the leader of a delegation from the Television Trust for the Environment, which calls itself “an independent, non-profit organisation, which promotes global awareness of the environment, development, human rights and health issues through the platforms of broadcast television and other audio-visual media.” Here’s KCNA’s report: A friendly meeting...

Just what exactly did Jane Goodall say on her recent visit to Pyongyang? Her foundation, after repeated requests for comment, won’t say. According to this story, however, Goodall recently visited Pyongyang as the leader of a delegation from the Television Trust for the Environment, which calls itself “an independent, non-profit organisation, which promotes global awareness of the environment, development, human rights and health issues through the platforms of broadcast television and other audio-visual media.” Here’s KCNA’s report: A friendly meeting...

You know how bad the WaPo’s North Korea coverage is when the Reuters feeds outshine the stuff that Anthony Faiola and Glenn Kessler are writing these days. This story indicates that although the park proceeds toward production, U.S. opposition is putting a major crimp in its prospects (predictably, Europe has no moral qualms about buying from the Axis of Evil). One of the biggest issues–as it should be–is how to label products made mostly with North Korean labor and then...

In an interesting piece entitled, “Tear Down This Tyranny,” Nicholas Eberstadt does a good job of explaining how Bush’s first-term North Korea policy failed, and bluntly identifies many of those (China, South Korea, the State Department) that contributed to its failure. Ultimately, however, reading the article is like foreplay without consummation–deeply unsatisfying. Eberstadt talks about adopting a policy of regime change without specifying just how we would do it, opening him up to the same all-policy-no-options criticism with which he...

You know how bad the WaPo’s North Korea coverage is when the Reuters feeds outshine the stuff that Anthony Faiola and Glenn Kessler are writing these days. This story indicates that although the park proceeds toward production, U.S. opposition is putting a major crimp in its prospects (predictably, Europe has no moral qualms about buying from the Axis of Evil). One of the biggest issues–as it should be–is how to label products made mostly with North Korean labor and then...

In an interesting piece entitled, “Tear Down This Tyranny,” Nicholas Eberstadt does a good job of explaining how Bush’s first-term North Korea policy failed, and bluntly identifies many of those (China, South Korea, the State Department) that contributed to its failure. Ultimately, however, reading the article is like foreplay without consummation–deeply unsatisfying. Eberstadt talks about adopting a policy of regime change without specifying just how we would do it, opening him up to the same all-policy-no-options criticism with which he...

Today, we saw the first hard evidence that Kim Jong Il’s picture has indeed been taken down at one important public venue. I don’t believe this picture would have been taken if Kim’s picture was “out for cleaning.” Nor do I think that Kim himself would have ordered a down-scaling of the personality cult, since that seems inconsistent with the man’s personality and the historical patterns of absolute tyrannies. I doubt that “softening the brand image” of the North Korean...

James Brooke has the goods. Japan sees stress cracks in the regime’s control. Add this drop to the steady trickle of not-so-trustworthy reports (although this does seem pretty conclusive). Not sure where Brooke had been recently, but his coverage of North Korea puts The Washington Post to shame. Rebecca has more. I like her new, bloggier writing style. She writes persuasively that all the talk of a newfound unity among the five nations dealing with North Korea is just that,...

Today, we saw the first hard evidence that Kim Jong Il’s picture has indeed been taken down at one important public venue. I don’t believe this picture would have been taken if Kim’s picture was “out for cleaning.” Nor do I think that Kim himself would have ordered a down-scaling of the personality cult, since that seems inconsistent with the man’s personality and the historical patterns of absolute tyrannies. I doubt that “softening the brand image” of the North Korean...

James Brooke has the goods. Japan sees stress cracks in the regime’s control. Add this drop to the steady trickle of not-so-trustworthy reports (although this does seem pretty conclusive). Not sure where Brooke had been recently, but his coverage of North Korea puts The Washington Post to shame. Rebecca has more. I like her new, bloggier writing style. She writes persuasively that all the talk of a newfound unity among the five nations dealing with North Korea is just that,...

James Brooke has the goods. Japan sees stress cracks in the regime’s control. Add this drop to the steady trickle of not-so-trustworthy reports (although this does seem pretty conclusive). Not sure where Brooke had been recently, but his coverage of North Korea puts The Washington Post to shame. Rebecca has more. I like her new, bloggier writing style. She writes persuasively that all the talk of a newfound unity among the five nations dealing with North Korea is just that,...

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, is flying to Seoul for a fact-finding mission on North Korean human rights issues on November 22nd and 23rd. In Seoul, he will meet with human rights activists and defectors, and will conclude his visit with a press conference at the Seoul Foreign Correspondent’s Club, Korea Press Center Building (Taepyongno-1Ga, Jung-Gu), 18th Floor, at noon on the 23rd. This is a point of some personal pride for me; I first...

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, is flying to Seoul for a fact-finding mission on North Korean human rights issues on November 22nd and 23rd. In Seoul, he will meet with human rights activists and defectors, and will conclude his visit with a press conference at the Seoul Foreign Correspondent’s Club, Korea Press Center Building (Taepyongno-1Ga, Jung-Gu), 18th Floor, at noon on the 23rd. This is a point of some personal pride for me; I first...

A new Korea blogger who calls himself Yi Sun Shin is keeping this running tally of Kim Jong-Il’s public appearances. I’m eventually going to get around to posting a link to this page, but for anyone who wonders whether the army brass has locked Kim Jong Il in his room, this might be a good place to keep checking. He has a pretty good blog, too.

A new Korea blogger who calls himself Yi Sun Shin is keeping this running tally of Kim Jong-Il’s public appearances. I’m eventually going to get around to posting a link to this page, but for anyone who wonders whether the army brass has locked Kim Jong Il in his room, this might be a good place to keep checking. He has a pretty good blog, too.