Anju Links for 18 August 2008

THAT’S  STILL LEAVES 40% DARWIN CAN’T EXPLAIN: 

The number of tourists to North Korea plunged more than 60 percent last month following the shooting death of a South Korean tourist at Mt. Kumgang resort.  [Chosun Ilbo]

So if you want to attract tourists, it’s probably a good idea not to shoot them.  Got it.  The same report, sourced to Arirang News, says that inter-Korean trade fell by 1.5% since last year, and that non-commercial transactions, which includes aid, fell by more than 80%.  Commerce at Kaesong rose last year, but look for that pattern to change, too.

THIS SORT OF THING COULD SPOIL THE ATMOSPHERE FOR TALKS: 

“Candlelight Struggle Unabated in S. Korea”

“Member of Solidarity for Progress Arrested by S. Korean Puppet Police”

“Release of Prisoners of Conscience Demanded in S. Korea”  [KCNA]  

So if these are appropriate topics of discussion, why  isn’t Camp 22?

IF ANY MORE EVIDENCE IS NEEDED that Russia is moving in a disturbing direction, just look at how defensive Russia sounds when you lump Stalin in with Hitler (ht to a reader).  But as this response notes, “Communist terror was in the same league of infamy as the crimes of the Third Reich. It actually lasted longer, killing significantly more people than the Nazis did.”  Related:   the United States has no  real military options in Georgia, but we do have some diplomatic ones.  In the longer term, Russia’s behavior gives NATO  two things  it lacked when it was centered around the parasitic “Soft Reich” countries of Western Europe — a purpose, and new members who might actually share and contribute to  it.