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11 January 2010: Will Obama Open U.S. Embassies to N. Koreans at Last?

OBAMA TO OPEN EMBASSIES TO N. KOREAN REFUGEES? That would be huge, and I’ll have much more to say about that later. Also, Robert King says human rights will be on the six-party agenda.

NORTH KOREA’S H1NI OUTBREAK has reached Camp 16. Meanwhile, the South Korean government continues to provide aid to the North despite its doubts about the data the North is reporting.

TODAY’S “WE ARE ONE” MOMENT is brought to you by the Joongang Ilbo, and features North Korean defector “Ji Eun,” describing her warm welcome in South Korea:

“Why did you come to Korea, you beggar?” one person asked her. “Were you hungry?” “Go back to your country because there’s nothing we can give you,” said another.

Lovely. Foreigners who complain about South Korea’s nasty xenophobia might be more understanding if they only knew what assholes Koreans can be to other Koreans.

ROUNDING UP THE USUAL SUSPECTS: This time, it’s money changers.

WHAT KIM JONG-IL’S “MEAT SOUP” CONCESSION MEANS: The Daily NK speculates: “To speak so clearly about the situation, experts suggest Kim Jong Il must have judged that people’s complaints about his rule have grown almost uncontrollable.”

JUST DAYS AFTER BANNING AIR KORYO, the European Union sanctions top North Korean officials. These particular sanctions seem unlikely to have much of an effect, but they’re a step in the right direction.

AH, THE GENTLE WINDS OF CHANGE: Fascist China sentences Tibetan filmmaker to six years in prison.

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12 Responses

  1. This is fantastic news that the embassies “have been instructed to provide easy access to all North Korean defectors seeking asylum in the United States or elsewhere.” My question though is how did the other NK defectors get into the U.S.?

  2. What chu talking about Willis? Isn’t Chris Hill and Condie still around?

    ” Also, Robert King says human rights will be on the six-party agenda.”

  3. “Foreigners who complain about South Korea’s nasty xenophobia might be more understanding if they only knew what assholes Koreans can be to other Koreans.”

    Well said.

  4. RE: Embassies

    In theory, this has already been in place, but it’s up to the DCM or anyone else who’s in charge at the time to decide based on “security concerns” and other arbitrary factors whether or not to accommodate. The problem with US policy towards NK refugees is less about policies at the top and more about implementation down the line. There remain a great number of bureaucrats and desk officers who feel strongly against helping NK refugees at the potential expense of relations with the host country, or simply don’t really care too much and don’t feel like going out of their way to help out. That second characterization may seem callous and unfair, but I’m not sure how else to interpret some of these folks.

    But so far King is leaving me cautiously optimistic, for one.

  5. is less about policies at the top and more about implementation down the line.

    Which is where leadership at the top makes a big difference — I am giving an educated guess:

    If Bush had been serious about making Human Rights a key feature in North Korea policy – and in the gestures he made like inviting the author of Aquariums of Pyongyang to the White House — he’d have had Powell and then Rice kick the machinery around —– and done things within their power to make it clear that future advancement and job security and satisfaction depended on – a change in attitude toward NKHR and refugees.

    If we’ve evolved into a time where people at the very top can’t shift people around and call into question future career advancement and shake up even a big bureaucracy —- if we are living in a time where the bureaucracy has that much more power than the key figures in it —- we’re screwed….

  9. “Foreigners who complain about South Korea’s nasty xenophobia might be more understanding if they only knew what assholes Koreans can be to other Koreans.”

    That truth cannot be repeated often enough in the K-blogosphere.