Every Korean knows the name Yi Sun Shin. It is a shame that few outside Korea have heard of him. Yi Sun Shin was an ancient Korean admiral who changed naval warfare in Asia and defended the independence of his nation from a Japanese invasion. Koreans revere him for thwarting Emperor Hideyoshi’s invasion of Korea in 1592, when his small navy sank 73 Japanese ships despite overwhelming advantages in numbers, manpower, and finances. Yi’s innovative genius is such that his...

Those of you who attended–or those who’ve attended other LiNK events–are encouraged to post comments on what you observed, and what signs you saw that those events (1) persuaded fence-sitters, and (2) encouraged the persuaded to get active.

After taking a low profile strategy for years, the U.S. Embassy in Seoul is now making an issue of China’s forced repatriation of North Korean defectors. For the last six months, there’s been a perceptable drip of coverage in the South Korean media. With time, it might sway enough people away from the discredited idea that not talking about human rights is the best way to improve them.

Those of you who attended–or those who’ve attended other LiNK events–are encouraged to post comments on what you observed, and what signs you saw that those events (1) persuaded fence-sitters, and (2) encouraged the persuaded to get active.

After taking a low profile strategy for years, the U.S. Embassy in Seoul is now making an issue of China’s forced repatriation of North Korean defectors. For the last six months, there’s been a perceptable drip of coverage in the South Korean media. With time, it might sway enough people away from the discredited idea that not talking about human rights is the best way to improve them.

On the one hand, South Korea dodged a bullet. On the other, the possibility would have been unthinkable just five years ago.

Norbert will also be at the symposium in Seoul on the 27th, and we already know he never goes anywhere quietly. Among the highlights from his message: The Chinese are apparently holding another South Korean activist for aiding North Korean refugees. He also claims that the South Koreans have issued an arrest warrant for an organizer of protests against Kim Jong-Il. Now, South Korean politics can be pretty rough, and I have no details whatsoever on this, so I’ll just...

Adrian Hong e-mailed this schedule of events for the symposium in Seoul on the 27th (Korean version here): HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTH KOREA: Why are they significant? How can we improve the situation in North Korea? International Symposium on Human Rights in North Korea Saturday Nov 27th 9:30–16:30 Yonsei University GSIS(main auditorium) Registration: LiNKSeoul@gmail.com / 02-732-6710 LiNK (Liberation in North Korea) and Korean Youth United present the International Symposium on Human Rights in North Korea: Engaging University Students and Civil...

On the one hand, South Korea dodged a bullet. On the other, the possibility would have been unthinkable just five years ago.

On the one hand, South Korea dodged a bullet. On the other, the possibility would have been unthinkable just five years ago.

Norbert will also be at the symposium in Seoul on the 27th, and we already know he never goes anywhere quietly. Among the highlights from his message: The Chinese are apparently holding another South Korean activist for aiding North Korean refugees. He also claims that the South Koreans have issued an arrest warrant for an organizer of protests against Kim Jong-Il. Now, South Korean politics can be pretty rough, and I have no details whatsoever on this, so I’ll just...

Adrian Hong e-mailed this schedule of events for the symposium in Seoul on the 27th (Korean version here): HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTH KOREA: Why are they significant? How can we improve the situation in North Korea? International Symposium on Human Rights in North Korea Saturday Nov 27th 9:30–16:30 Yonsei University GSIS(main auditorium) Registration: LiNKSeoul@gmail.com / 02-732-6710 LiNK (Liberation in North Korea) and Korean Youth United present the International Symposium on Human Rights in North Korea: Engaging University Students and Civil...

Hey, I was a big fan of Vaclav Havel long, long before that upstart Glenn Reynolds caught on! Of course, moral vision seems to be a disqualifier there. Imagine that–the United Nations run by someone who might not tolerate massive corruption, sexual abuse of refugees, sexual harassment and a coverup, chronic moral equivalence, or the easy tolerance of political cleansing through engineered famine. That’s probably too much to expect. Another option is to fund the U.N. just enough for it...

The Vice President of the Heritage Foundation has a message for Korea: In the American Congress, there is firm resolve that no payments or “inducements” go to North Korea without the ability to verify the end of North Korea’s nuclear program. This is reality in American politics, and it seems that all parties left Chile with this understanding.

Kremlinology alert–Kim Jong Il’s brother in law has apparently been purged. It’s consistent with the “gilded cage theory“–my speculation that Kim Jong Il has been quietly stripped of his power while a new group consolidates it’s control. This could well be a part of a backroom consolidation of power through the elimination of old loyalists.

The premise, of course, is to either preserve or prolong an unhealthy dependency that serves the interests of neither Korea nor America. But both the (leftist, incumbent) Uri and the (conservative, opposition) Grand National Party are proposing to join forces to that end. A joint delegation from both parties intends to travel to the United States to lobby Washington. Can they even agree on what they will lobby for? Not only does the South Korean view of the North Korean...

I made several calls to the Jane Goodall Institute last week to get their response and reaction to this post on her recent visit to Pyongyang, and Pyongyang’s use of her name for its propaganda. I contrasted Jane Goodall’s moral neutrality on North Korea, the world’s worst violator of human rights against her scathing criticism of the United States and its elected leader. I suggested that Jane’s foray into the occupation of “human rights activist” ought to be pursued with...

Hey, I was a big fan of Vaclav Havel long, long before that upstart Glenn Reynolds caught on! Of course, moral vision seems to be a disqualifier there. Imagine that–the United Nations run by someone who might not tolerate massive corruption, sexual abuse of refugees, sexual harassment and a coverup, chronic moral equivalence, or the easy tolerance of political cleansing through engineered famine. That’s probably too much to expect. Another option is to fund the U.N. just enough for it...