Search Results for: camps

We started a fascinating discussion today at freenorthkorea.net, in which I responded to arguments against firm action in North Korea because of Iraq. Just as North Korea had once been an excuse for inaction in Iraq, Iraq is now an excuse for inaction in North Korea. The true agenda is thus revealed as inaction in both. I edited my comments for coherence and organization and post them here, in the hope that they will provoke more thought. How Should We...

We started a fascinating discussion today at freenorthkorea.net, in which I responded to arguments against firm action in North Korea because of Iraq. Just as North Korea had once been an excuse for inaction in Iraq, Iraq is now an excuse for inaction in North Korea. The true agenda is thus revealed as inaction in both. I edited my comments for coherence and organization and post them here, in the hope that they will provoke more thought. How Should We...

Meanwhile, John Bolton needs no such transplants. When asked recently about how he would end the North Korean nuclear crisis, he held up a copy of “The End of North Korea.” You can hate Bolton’s directness, and you can even say that he’s out of his environment in Foggy Bottom (insert fogginess vs. clarity metaphor here). Bolton sees the North Korean situation for what it is and says so. His recent description of North Korea as “hell on earth” caused...

Meanwhile, John Bolton needs no such transplants. When asked recently about how he would end the North Korean nuclear crisis, he held up a copy of “The End of North Korea.” You can hate Bolton’s directness, and you can even say that he’s out of his environment in Foggy Bottom (insert fogginess vs. clarity metaphor here). Bolton sees the North Korean situation for what it is and says so. His recent description of North Korea as “hell on earth” caused...

Dear readers, Today this site, still in its infancy, had the highest one-day readership so far. Those are not Andrew Sullivan numbers, to be sure, but great things have small beginnings, particularly in the context of all of the fine sites out there talking about this issue (freenorthkorea.net and chosunjournal.com in particular).* Please feel free to purloin, modify, and make use of the following sample letter to Congress. Just make sure you send it! Time is of the essence. This...

Dear readers, Today this site, still in its infancy, had the highest one-day readership so far. Those are not Andrew Sullivan numbers, to be sure, but great things have small beginnings, particularly in the context of all of the fine sites out there talking about this issue (freenorthkorea.net and chosunjournal.com in particular).* Please feel free to purloin, modify, and make use of the following sample letter to Congress. Just make sure you send it! Time is of the essence. This...

Dear Sir or Madam, Permit me to be blunt. A growing majority of the people of my country, the United States of America, believes that the United Nations has no values, no standards, no decisiveness, and a soft, cowardly paralysis in the face of every crisis that rightfully demands action. Preventing another Holocaust was the reason the U.N. was created, but nearly sixty years later, the U.N. lacks the will to act against crimes of comparable horror and scale. As...

Dear Sir or Madam, Permit me to be blunt. A growing majority of the people of my country, the United States of America, believes that the United Nations has no values, no standards, no decisiveness, and a soft, cowardly paralysis in the face of every crisis that rightfully demands action. Preventing another Holocaust was the reason the U.N. was created, but nearly sixty years later, the U.N. lacks the will to act against crimes of comparable horror and scale. As...

Anne Appelbaum gets it exactly right in today’s WP. Whether the allegations are true or not, they are extremely serious, and are backed by enough credible evidence for them to be a major news story. If there are doubts about the truth of these reports, then let the North Koreans resolve them immediately by letting human rights organizations have full and open access to Camp 22. Barring that, the allegations gain additional credibility. Of course, it is not news that...

Anne Appelbaum gets it exactly right in today’s WP. Whether the allegations are true or not, they are extremely serious, and are backed by enough credible evidence for them to be a major news story. If there are doubts about the truth of these reports, then let the North Koreans resolve them immediately by letting human rights organizations have full and open access to Camp 22. Barring that, the allegations gain additional credibility. Of course, it is not news that...

A few days ago, I missed this editorial in the Korea Herald, a left-leaning rag from Seoul, written by former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea (Bush-41 era) Donald Gregg. The editorial mourns the demise of the U.S.-South Korean alliance. It is an astonishing admission from the same diplomatic quarter that had denied for so long that the alliance was even running a high temperature. Of course, the Kremlin is probably still insisting that Brezhnev and Stalin have nasty colds, but...

A few days ago, I missed this editorial in the Korea Herald, a left-leaning rag from Seoul, written by former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea (Bush-41 era) Donald Gregg. The editorial mourns the demise of the U.S.-South Korean alliance. It is an astonishing admission from the same diplomatic quarter that had denied for so long that the alliance was even running a high temperature. Of course, the Kremlin is probably still insisting that Brezhnev and Stalin have nasty colds, but...

The Chosun Ilbo, South Korea’s largest newspaper, has gone out of the business of printing angry letters from angry Americans–that much is apparent if you scroll through its “letters” page. In spite of the paper’s “conservative” reputation, it has not gone out of the business of printing columns taking unfair digs against the United States. This column by Kim Dae-Joong (similar name, different guy, no relation) blames the breakdown in the U.S.-Korea relationship on American “callousness.” I served three tours...

The Chosun Ilbo, South Korea’s largest newspaper, has gone out of the business of printing angry letters from angry Americans–that much is apparent if you scroll through its “letters” page. In spite of the paper’s “conservative” reputation, it has not gone out of the business of printing columns taking unfair digs against the United States. This column by Kim Dae-Joong (similar name, different guy, no relation) blames the breakdown in the U.S.-Korea relationship on American “callousness.” I served three tours...

The Chosun Ilbo, South Korea’s largest newspaper, has gone out of the business of printing angry letters from angry Americans–that much is apparent if you scroll through its “letters” page. In spite of the paper’s “conservative” reputation, it has not gone out of the business of printing columns taking unfair digs against the United States. This column by Kim Dae-Joong (similar name, different guy, no relation) blames the breakdown in the U.S.-Korea relationship on American “callousness.” I served three tours...

I’d like to thank my friend Suzanne Scholte for forwarding the full text of her keynote address at Freedom House’s North Korean Human Rights Conference in Seoul. Keynote Speech for Seoul Summit: Promoting Human Rights in North Korea Remarks by Suzanne Scholte . . . December 8, 2005 I am deeply honored to be a part of this Seoul Summit: Promoting Human Rights in North Korea and thank the Organizing Committee and Freedom House for asking me to be one...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – – On Monday, U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA-40) participated in a general meeting of the International Parliamentarians’ Coalition for the North Korea Refugees and Human Rights. The event was held in Tokyo and was attended by parliamentarians from the United States, South Korea, Japan and Mongolia. As a co-chairman of the group, Royce issued the following opening statement at the event: “I would like to thank our Japanese hosts, Representative Shu Watanabe, Representative Yoshihide Suga, Representative Akihisa...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – – On Monday, U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA-40) participated in a general meeting of the International Parliamentarians’ Coalition for the North Korea Refugees and Human Rights. The event was held in Tokyo and was attended by parliamentarians from the United States, South Korea, Japan and Mongolia. As a co-chairman of the group, Royce issued the following opening statement at the event: “I would like to thank our Japanese hosts, Representative Shu Watanabe, Representative Yoshihide Suga, Representative Akihisa...