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...

On one hand, you could call it a smattering. On the other hand, it’s a marked improvement from what we’ve seen before. The Washington Times put it on the front page. Nothing in the NY Times or the WaPo. There was scattered coverage in nations like New Zealand. The Chosun printed it prominently, but in fairly reserved tones, and with the expected accent on the leftist South Korean government’s knowledge and soft cover-up of the reports. The Korea Herald didn’t...

. . . but if any movement is discernable in Seoul these days, it’s away from Japan and the United States. That’s their right, but then again, they’re our troops. As both Japan and the U.S. move toward giving the talks one last chance, then moving toward sanctions (and more?), South Korea is doing a pretty good job of marginalizing itself from two of the nations it needs most. Not the best time for Roh to need diplomatic cover from...

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...

On one hand, you could call it a smattering. On the other hand, it’s a marked improvement from what we’ve seen before. The Washington Times put it on the front page. Nothing in the NY Times or the WaPo. There was scattered coverage in nations like New Zealand. The Chosun printed it prominently, but in fairly reserved tones, and with the expected accent on the leftist South Korean government’s knowledge and soft cover-up of the reports. The Korea Herald didn’t...

On one hand, you could call it a smattering. On the other hand, it’s a marked improvement from what we’ve seen before. The Washington Times put it on the front page. Nothing in the NY Times or the WaPo. There was scattered coverage in nations like New Zealand. The Chosun printed it prominently, but in fairly reserved tones, and with the expected accent on the leftist South Korean government’s knowledge and soft cover-up of the reports. The Korea Herald didn’t...

. . . but if any movement is discernable in Seoul these days, it’s away from Japan and the United States. That’s their right, but then again, they’re our troops. As both Japan and the U.S. move toward giving the talks one last chance, then moving toward sanctions (and more?), South Korea is doing a pretty good job of marginalizing itself from two of the nations it needs most. Not the best time for Roh to need diplomatic cover from...

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...