Anju Links for 13 Feb 08

STALL ALERT: More dispatches from the hopelessly deadlocked Agreed Framework 2.0:

– South Korea’s nuclear negotiator says North Korea still needs more time to give us its nuclear declaration.

– “I suspect that North Korea will attempt to strike a deal with the new U.S. administration that will be inaugurated next year. In that case, it seems likely that there will be no progress in the North Korean nuclear issue until summer next year.” So says Roh’s former Foreign Minister, Yoon Young-Kwan, who also warns against “reckless” pressure against the North on human rights and urges a continuation of the defeated administration’s North Korea policies. Yes, I’ve noticed that patience with repression, famine, and mass murder are in great supply among those who don’t have to actually live in North Korea.

STAGE THREE WATCH: The North Korea Monitor reports on the continuing decline of North Korea’s food situation and the increasing openness of popular discontent. The reports are from the Daily NK, which are necessarily grounded in gossip and hearsay, but under these circumstances, anecdotal information is all we’re going to get.

THE VOICE OF AMERICA will expand broadcasting in Korean from 3.5 to 5 hours per day. It will also double its Burmese language broadcasting to 3 hours per day.

REMARKABLE COURAGE:

About two dozen members of the National League for Democracy gathered Tuesday outside their headquarters in Yangon with placards calling for the junta to release political prisoners and hold a genuine dialogue toward reconciliation with its opponents. [AP, via IHT]

MORE BAD NEWS FOR THE GENOCIDE OLYMPICS:

Oscar-winning film director Steven Spielberg withdrew on Tuesday as an artistic adviser to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing over China’s policy on the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region.

“I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue business as usual,” Spielberg said in a statement issued on a day when Nobel Peace laureates sent a letter to China’s president urging a change in policies toward its ally Sudan.

“At this point, my time and energy must be spent not on Olympic ceremonies, but on doing all I can to help bring an end to the unspeakable crimes against humanity that continue to be committed in Darfur,” he added. [Reuters, Bob Tourtellotte and Paul Eckert, via IHT]

Darfur is a good reason to boycott Beijing, but far from the only one.

FIRST KOREAN JURY SEATED: I never thought this would happen, but the first experimental jury has been seated in a trial taking place in Taegu. Given the almost uniformly poor quality of legal reasoning I’ve seen from Korean judges — and regular reports I heard from reliable officers and NCO’s that judges were sleeping through trials — I see this as a very positive development. Note that the jurors seemed enthusiastic as well. For now, however, the jury will have an advisory role only. [Update: Come for the verdict, stay for the adolescent slap-fight.]