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1. This just in – more missionaries bringing the heat on the DPRK:

   Small S. Korean Church Strives to Expose North’s Secrets
   Sep 20, 2010
   A little-known South Korean Christian group is doing its best to expand what outsiders know about neighboring North Korea. The Caleb Mission has gained some recognition in recent months for releasing clandestine video of life inside the reclusive North. And now it has provided VOA with what it says is a secret North Korean military manual that regional security analysts consider authentic. One of South Korea’s smallest and most obscure religious communities is making a name for itself by providing rare glimpses of life inside North Korea, and revealing some of its secrets.
   Reverend Kim Sung-eun runs the Caleb Mission in Cheonan, about 80 kilometers south of the capital, Seoul. His wife, he says, is a former lieutenant in North Korea’s army. She is one of 30 or so defectors from the North who are frequently seen at the mission.

   The manual is creating a

   stir

   here in Korea:

   A military manual said to have been smuggled out of North Korea, reveals Pyongyang’s concern about electronic warfare technology used by the United States and South Korea. The document also indicates North Korea’s military uses radar-absorbing paint and other stealth tactics to conceal its weapons.
   Analysts studying the purported North Korean manual say Pyongyang has taken a variety of measures to redress the overwhelming military disadvantage it would face if war breaks out on the Korean peninsula.
   Though there is no way to be absolutely certain about the authenticity of the manual, South Korean and U.S. officials who have seen it consider the document to be genuine. A long-time analyst of North Korea and its military, Daniel Pinkston of the International Crisis Group in Seoul, examined the document at VOA’s request.

   Something’s gotta give.

2. Sorry – here’s the link for the VOA story on the manual.

3. President Obama today:

   “Tyranny is still with us, whether it manifests itself in the Taliban killing girls who try to go to school, a North Korean regime that enslaves its own people, or armed groups in Congo-Kinshasa that use rape as a weapon of war.”

4. An interesting story that seems to have been missed on sites such as yours:

   http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/16/north-korea-wants-nuclear-talks
   North Korea wants to revive nuclear talks, says Jimmy Carter

   Too bad the political reality is that any serious discussion with North Korea is made impossible by the right which wants to force North Korea into the corner. Even Obama’s modest efforts at diplomacy with Iran were lambasted by Republicans in the US, I can only imagine what would happen if he tried diplomacy with North Korea. It’s sad that the only person willing to even try one to one talks is Jimmy Carter.

   What exactly do you guys want in North Korea? Total collapse? You don’t have any idea the kind of chaos it would cause if the North Korean government fell apart.

5. Bruce Cumings Carson wrote:

   An interesting story that seems to have been missed on sites such as yours

   Nice try, but wrong. In this post, I did briefly discuss Carter and prospect of denuclearization talks, in the context of Carter possibly having been summoned to take Mr Gomes home in exchange for some quid pro quo:Reading between the lines, it seems quite likely that someone in the Pyongyang regime had Mr Carter come over to talk about returning to the denuclearization talks because they could extract a quid pro quo from him.With such selective reading of sources that don’t fit your world view, I suspect you really are Bruce Cumings. 😉

   Too bad the political reality is that any serious discussion with North Korea is made impossible by the right which wants to force North Korea into the corner. Even Obama’s modest efforts at diplomacy with Iran were lambasted by Republicans in the US, I can only imagine what would happen if he tried diplomacy with North Korea. It’s sad that the only person willing to even try one to one talks is Jimmy Carter.

   While I agree that some on the right can be an impediment to an effective dialogue, I think you fail to see that a fundamental problem underlying any dealings with the Pyongyang regime is that they are dishonest dealers.

   What exactly do you guys want in North Korea? Total collapse? You don’t have any idea the kind of chaos it would cause if the North Korean government fell apart.

   Nice purchase from Straw Men ‘R Us.

6. Bruce, you’re back! What do you think about anarcho-syndicalism as a system for North Korea?

7. I can’t believe Bruce is advocating engagement with a regime whose human rights abuses, belligerence, and racism are equaled only by Nazi Germany and Democratic Kampuchea; a regime that has a proven track record of not negotiating in good faith and backing out of agreements even with friendly countries. Forgive the rational world for being skeptical of North Korea’s overtures; history is on our side.

   I personally want to see North Koreans liberated from their slavery. To answer your question, I want to see the regime collapse and the Mafioso thugs who run the world’s largest slave labor camp brought to justice.

   You don’t have any idea the kind of chaos it would cause if the North Korean government fell apart.

   I didn’t know you had a working crystal ball and tarot cards over there. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that you, like everyone else who prognosticates the future of North Korea, have no idea what you are talking about.

8. Bruce writes: “What exactly do you guys want in North Korea? Total collapse? You don’t have any idea the kind of chaos it would cause if the North Korean government fell apart.”

   That is an empirical argument for maintaining the status quo at all costs. It has always been a weak one. It is the argument that all change is bad — which is a discredited ultra-conservative, paternalistic argument.

9. Glans I think a “autonomous collective” would work out better for the North. However a serious shortage of moistened bints might prevent this from coming about, and don’t call me old woman. But seriously of course the North wants talks and the 1 to 2 billion dolllars in aid the talks will bring every year. But if anyone still thinks the North has any plans to give up its nukes after the 16 year long charade we have been engaged in, you need to schedule a lobotomy in the hopes of improving your thinking. I’d rather have a beer in front of me than a frontal lobotomy— words to live by.

10. Bruce, here’s a snippet from nknews.org about hungry defectors:

    “North Korea is known as one of the worst violators of human rights in the world. Seeking a better life, each year, countless individuals attempt to flee the North Korean regime under the leadership of Kim Jong Il. North Korean defector-women, who escape to China, typically, face a horrific life.

    According to newspaper accounts and surveys, 90 percent of those who are able to elude Chinese border guards and police are sold and trafficked. And the refugees who are seized by Chinese authorities are forcibly returned to North Korea in violation of international law, where they face certain imprisonment, beatings, torture, and sometimes execution.

    The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC) held a hearing Sept. 23 to hear primarily North Korean defectors who eventually made it to the West and freedom.

    The primary motivation of the defectors arises from hunger. Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.) said at this hearing that this summer’s food shortages in North Korea were reportedly as bad as in the 1990s, when 1 million people starved to death. (Epoch Times)”

    http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/43452/