Anju Links for 23 Jan 08
WHAT HE SAID: Richardson has a must-read commentary on State’s persistent clinging to the assinine idea of removing non-complaint, non-performing, unreformed North Korea from the terror-sponsor list. He does a terrific job on tracking how State airbrushes its justification for listing North Korea year-by-year. I could only add that the idea of rewarding people who do absolutely everything we want them not to do has to be the dumbest idea since Windows Vista. I have to wonder if Congress would approve, with so many influential members — mostly in this President’s own party — lining up to oppose it. How much of his remaining capital does President Bush want to expend on giving terrorism a free pass and alienating Japan? How much does he relish the prospect of a skeptical John McCain opposing this flawed and failing deal on the campaign trail?
MAYBE THEY CAN TAKE UP A COLLECTION at the six-party talks, suggests a reader on hearing that North Korea will close its embassy in Australia for financial reasons. (Shh. You’ll give them ideas.) More at GI Korea’s blog.
WHAT? THEY’RE STILL THERE? Yes, the Uri United New Democratic Party still exists, and at 6.2% support, it’s never been less popular. That not only makes them less popular than the Nazis, but also less likely to have bars or coffee shops named after them. It’s certainly not looking good for the UNDP for April’s parliamentary elections; they could plunge from a plurality to the fringe overnight. Of course, by next year, “they” will probably be re-divided and reorganized into several new parties.
WE’RE NUMBER ONE! North Korea led the world in natural disaster deaths in the last decade. Of course, that all depends on how you define “natural.”
NOW THAT I KNOW to believe exactly the opposite of everything North Korean media say, I can recognize an acknowledgement of famine for what it is:
The people of North Korea must pull together their efforts to overcome a food shortage this year, the country’s state-run broadcaster said Friday, hinting at the ongoing food scarcity in the country. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that the North’s crop yields decreased 7 percent in 2007 from a year ago to some 3.8 million tons. [Yonhap]
No wonder they’re more open to the possibility of accepting food aid. Hey, starvation is for expendable people.
THE DAILY NK has another report on the mine that produced 80% of North Korea’s copper until its newest hydroelectric project flooded it. It also describes how thousands of people in Hyesan have been ordered from their homes, mobilized in subzero weather, and forced to build a road for Kim Jong Il. In Hoeryong, they’re sending people out into the hills for military maneuvers. Do you suppose mind-screws like this (in which actual people probably freeze to death) are designed to keep people busy, or could this be some sort of collective punishment?
KAESONG IS FAILING to meet its great export expectations because of high tariffs, reports Yonhap.
DO I HEAR A DRUM CIRCLE?
The 8th International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees on Wednesday will deal with the North Korean issue from an open, engaging perspective, fresh from other typical North Korea forums that have been rather critical of the country, said John Swenson-Wright, a professor of the University of Cambridge and associate fellow at the host, Chatham House, a non-governmental academic research organization in London. [Yonhap]
I always start with very low expectations when anyone professes the capacity to appeal to Kim Jong Il’s sense of fair play, compassion, or statesmanship. Of course, if we made this a life-or-death proposition for him, I don’t doubt that we could pry off Kim Jong Il’s armor, one plate at a time. Reading the Chosun Ilbo’s very different spin on this conference, you get the idea that that’s a bit closer to what they have in mind. First, the Chosun Ilbo reports that Kjell Magne Bondevik will be one of the particpants (award twenty expectation points) and that the conference will examine a Helsinki approach to North Korea (not for the first time, but award ten more). If nothing else, it’s an interesting case study in media spin.