Presented at Institute for Corean-American Studies (ICAS) 2005 Spring Symposium 2255 Rayburn House Office Build by Dennis P. Halpin Professional Staff East Asian Affairs International Relations Committee U.S. House of Representatives Presented at Institute for Corean-American Studies (ICAS) 2005 Spring Symposium 2255 Rayburn House Office Building May 19, 2005 ________________ This statement reflects my own views and not necessarily those of the International Relations Committee nor its Chairman Henry J. Hyde. _______________ Sang Joo, Members of ICAS, Distinguished Ladies and...

Presented at Institute for Corean-American Studies (ICAS) 2005 Spring Symposium 2255 Rayburn House Office Build by Dennis P. Halpin Professional Staff East Asian Affairs International Relations Committee U.S. House of Representatives Presented at Institute for Corean-American Studies (ICAS) 2005 Spring Symposium 2255 Rayburn House Office Building May 19, 2005 ________________ This statement reflects my own views and not necessarily those of the International Relations Committee nor its Chairman Henry J. Hyde. _______________ Sang Joo, Members of ICAS, Distinguished Ladies and...

by Dennis P. Halpin, Professional Staff, East Asian Affairs International Relations Committee, U.S. House of Representatives ______________________ Presented at North Korea Freedom Week North Korea Human Rights Conference Sponsored by the Korean Association of Maryland Metropolitan Area and Jubilee Campaign _________________ New Covenant Fellowship Church Germantown, Maryland April 30, 2005 This statement reflects my own views and not necessarily those of the International Relations Committee nor its Chairman Henry J. Hyde. The recent death of John Paul II is a...

The demonstration at the Chinese Embassy was a numerical disappointment. Only 100 people, plus or minus a dozen, attended. We were vocal, but not sufficiently numerous to to budge Hu Jintao. About 1/3 were under 40, and about an equal percentage were non-Koreans. The families of the Japanese abductees were much in evidence again. Another Korean-American woman, about whom I’ll write more at some future date, was awaiting the release of her husband from a Chinese jail. He was caught...

If you think establishing a government in exile is a simple matter of renting an office and designing a flag, just pause to consider the history of past efforts that had backing in Washington. The Iraqi National Congress may have loosely united many of the Iraqi emigres in Washington, but it appears to have had little support in Iraq or among most of Washington’s own feuding factions. Angola’s UNITA lived up to its name by uniting the country’s only effective...

The demonstration at the Chinese Embassy was a numerical disappointment. Only 100 people, plus or minus a dozen, attended. We were vocal, but not sufficiently numerous to to budge Hu Jintao. About 1/3 were under 40, and about an equal percentage were non-Koreans. The families of the Japanese abductees were much in evidence again. Another Korean-American woman, about whom I’ll write more at some future date, was awaiting the release of her husband from a Chinese jail. He was caught...

If you think establishing a government in exile is a simple matter of renting an office and designing a flag, just pause to consider the history of past efforts that had backing in Washington. The Iraqi National Congress may have loosely united many of the Iraqi emigres in Washington, but it appears to have had little support in Iraq or among most of Washington’s own feuding factions. Angola’s UNITA lived up to its name by uniting the country’s only effective...

This is a story that should start with a description of how it ended. Other than a few well-connected activists, most of those in the room had been a select group–congressional staffers, think-tankers, diplomats, attaches from embassies . . . even Nelson Mandela’s nephew, a pleasant enough man, now wearing the uniform of a general. Before the event had even begun, one bored staffer had whined to another, “I’m sooooooo ready for the weekend. When the two men we had...

This is a story that should start with a description of how it ended. Other than a few well-connected activists, most of those in the room had been a select group–congressional staffers, think-tankers, diplomats, attaches from embassies . . . even Nelson Mandela’s nephew, a pleasant enough man, now wearing the uniform of a general. Before the event had even begun, one bored staffer had whined to another, “I’m sooooooo ready for the weekend. When the two men we had...

Thursday, April 21, 2:00 PM, Myongdong Catholic Cathedrale, downtown Seoul; Speeches about North Korean human rights; March around the church, urging the new pope to try to go to North Korea Friday, April 22, 12:00, noon, UNHCR-Office, downtown Seoul, Demo against the inactivity of the UN regarding North Korean refugees Thursday, April 28, 12:00, noon, Across the Chinese Consulate, downtown Seoul in front of the Dongwa Duty Free Shop, Part of the 2. worldwide protest against China`s repatriation of NK...

NORTH KOREA FREEDOM WEEK CONFIRMED PUBLIC EVENTS FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 2005: —————————————————————————————————– CAPITOL HILL FORUM HONORING ROK POWS 12 noon: Half a Century in the Hellish Nightmare: South Korean POWs Tell Their StoryChang-Ho Cho, the first South Korean POW to escape from North Korea in 1995, and Chang-Seok Kim, who escaped in 2000, will tell their stories for the first time in the United States. (There are an estimated 500 South Korean POWs still being held in North Korea!) Hosted...

Thursday, April 21, 2:00 PM, Myongdong Catholic Cathedrale, downtown Seoul; Speeches about North Korean human rights; March around the church, urging the new pope to try to go to North Korea Friday, April 22, 12:00, noon, UNHCR-Office, downtown Seoul, Demo against the inactivity of the UN regarding North Korean refugees Thursday, April 28, 12:00, noon, Across the Chinese Consulate, downtown Seoul in front of the Dongwa Duty Free Shop, Part of the 2. worldwide protest against China`s repatriation of NK...

The infamous commenter Jing of Marmot’s Hole fame has started his own blog. Not being one who subscribes to the theory that decorum requires us to conceal the abhorrent beneath a blanket of smiley equivalency, I’d like to welcome Jing to this tough room we call the blogosphere by engaging in a little Maoist criticism of what I like to call Jing’s Rules of Discourse: 1. If someone criticizes your position, go for the anti-Semitic angle: Ahh the covetous shylock...

The infamous commenter Jing of Marmot’s Hole fame has started his own blog. Not being one who subscribes to the theory that decorum requires us to conceal the abhorrent beneath a blanket of smiley equivalency, I’d like to welcome Jing to this tough room we call the blogosphere by engaging in a little Maoist criticism of what I like to call Jing’s Rules of Discourse: 1. If someone criticizes your position, go for the anti-Semitic angle: Ahh the covetous shylock...

ADVANCE DEMOCRACY ACT SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS The ADVANCE Democracy Act reaffirms that the promotion of democracy, freedom, and fundamental rights constitutes an essential element of U.S. foreign policy; strengthens the ability of the Department of State to promote of democracy, particularly with respect to non-democratic countries; and requires a study of U.S. democracy assistance in order to ensure its efficiency and effectiveness. In particular, the Act includes the following key provisions: Declares that it is the policy of the United States...

The four co-sponsors present, as follows: Sen. John McCain, R, Arizona Sen. Joe Lieberman, D, Connecticut Rep. Frank Wolf, R, Virginia Rep. Tom Lantos, D, California I walked in during their introductory statements, maybe five minutes late. Rep. Wolf was speaking when I walked in. Of the four congressmen, he’s the one you’re least likely to have heard of, which is a shame. Rep. Wolf seemed to belong in the presence of giants and spoke cogently about the importance of...