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February 2, 2007

Kim Geun Tae Tourette’s Watch

“Defection is an act of treason against democracy,” Mr. Kim said. He speaks  as an  authority on the subject, of course. This being an election year, I think this has the potential to become a regular feature.  The goal here is to provide a deep enough data pool to support  medical science’s first known  DSM-IV certifiable  diagnosis by a lawyer with no formal education in psychology. You, too, can be a part of medical history.  Submit your entries to onefreekorea@yahoo.com.
Categories Korean Politics
February 2, 2007

Jay Kim’s Irreconcilible Differences

With some Americans disturbing calm waters with the suggestion of an “alliance at risk,” Korea thinks it has found a man — a “former Korean congressman” — who can quietly bridge our widening differences: A former Korean-American congressman launched on Thursday a forum led by first-generation figures like himself to help advance Korea-U.S. relations. Chang-jun “Jay” Kim said the Washington Korea-U.S. Forum will start with 16 participants who are professionally active in political, economic, judicial and academic fields and have...
Categories America/An Alliance?/U.S. & Korea/Washington Views
January 31, 2007

Hey! Clarify This!

South Korea expressed concern over “undiplomatic” remarks made by the top U.S. military officer here regarding possible delays in the relocation of U.S. military bases, a Foreign Ministry official said yesterday.  [link] Background here.  The Foreign Ministry would also like you to know that this is not an “official” warning; it’s really just the diplomatic equivalent of a fix-it ticket.  No fine, no court appearance.  Guess that “I support the alliance” bumper sticker paid off after all.  “The comment (made...
Categories An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/China & Korea/Korean Society/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military
January 30, 2007

Almost Right

The Joongang Ilbo (among others)  writes about discontented foreigners, but disappoints by limiting itself to the financial issues faced by a limited cross-section of foreigners:  Let’s think about what it will be like if they return to their mother countries with mistrust and hate in their hearts. It will have a boomerang effect on Korean businessmen and students who are abroad. In this globalizing world, must we cut ourselves off through this exclusive attitude?  [link] Yes, and  this recognition is...
Categories Anti-Americanism/Korean Society/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military
January 29, 2007

KCTU Update: Moderation at Last!

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), one of Korea’s two umbrella labor unions, elected Lee Seok-haeng, its former general secretary, as the new president in a vote of representatives. Lee garnered 482 votes from 919 representatives, or 52 percent.  [link] With that overwhelming mandate, expect courageous and decisive reforms. “With all my strength, I will do what should be done and won’t do what shouldn’t. I will restore our organization by studying situations on the spot, and from that...
Categories Korean Politics/Korean Society/The Fifth Column
January 25, 2007

KTU Update

Korean Education takes another small step toward reform. The ministry said soon all bonuses will be performance-related. The seniority system will also disappear. With recognized capabilities, teachers in their early 40s can become vice principals, whereas long-serving teachers with low scores will miss out on promotion. Parents and pupils will now get to evaluate teachers, which is curious from a social perspective, because the status of teachers has traditionally been so high in Korean’s highly Confucian society that the idea...
Categories Korean Education
January 22, 2007

So I Guess Charlie Rangel Is Voting for the FTA, Then

United States Congressman Charles B. Rangel received the Distinguished Order of Diplomatic Service from the Korean government on Korean-American Day (January 13) at the Colden Center for the Performing Arts theater, Queens College, New York. Congressman Rangel said that he was honored to receive the award and that his achievement is the achievement of all his Korean friends. The medal was awarded to him by the consul general in New York, Moon Bong-ju. It is given to non-Koreans who have...
Categories U.S. & Korea/Washington Views
January 22, 2007

It’s All a Matter of Perspective

Does it sometimes seem to you like we are two ships that pass in the night?  The South Korean government should not disgrace itself by obeying foreign powers and imposing sanctions on its brethren….  South Korea’s political parties, groups and the public in all walks of life should be aware of the maneuvers of conservatives to take power ….   South Koreans should form a broad anti-conservative alliance to destroy pro-American and anti-unification politicians and their conspiracies. You say that like...
Categories Anti-Americanism/Appeasement/WTF?
January 22, 2007

KTU Update

Are you ready for your second story in just four days about Korean Teachers’ Union members being caught in possession  of pro-North Korean propaganda, with intent to distribute?  On closer examination, these appear to be the same suspects I blogged here.   Hat tip to The Nomad, who points out that there’s no evidence that the stuff was actually used in class, although we’ve advanced a step in that direction.  Unlike the case of the previous report, which was about mere...
Categories Korean Education/The Fifth Column
January 21, 2007

Somewhere in Hell, Josef Goebbels Is Smiling: Klaus Bender’s Big Lie

Update: In my visitors’ log today: Original Post: You may recall that a few weeks back, I noted that the Korean press had picked up a story from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, one that many of its readers will no doubt be eager to believe. The story reported that North Korean supernotes are actually made by the CIA at an undisclosed location near Washington, D.C. Not being much of a German linguist, I made myself a reminder to find an...
Categories Anti-Americanism/Counterfeiting/Europe/Media Criticism
January 21, 2007

Opposition Legislator Responds to Shenyang-Gate with Refugee-Protection Bill

SEOUL, Jan. 21 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s main opposition party plans to introduce a law revision aimed at helping North Koreans and South Korean abductees fleeing the communist country, a senior party official said Sunday. Rep. Hwang Woo-yea, secretary-general of the Grand National Party (GNP), said the bill will help prevent the forced repatriation of defectors from North Korea and expedite Seoul’s diplomatic efforts to bring them to South Korea. “The National Assembly passed a similar GNP-initiated bill in 2004...
Categories Appeasement/China & Korea/Korean Law/Korean Politics/Refugees
January 20, 2007

Court Order Extends Uri’s Life Support

It’s a setback for Comrade Chung and Kim Geun Tae* The Seoul district court yesterday dealt a crucial blow to the Uri Party leadership by ruling that its revision of party regulations is invalid, accepting arguments in a petition filed by party members associated with President Roh Moo-hyun. The ruling effectively invalidates the plans of the party leadership, who had been gearing up to launch a new party, whereas pro-Roh members want to stay under the Uri Party umbrella. Eleven...
Categories Korean Politics
January 19, 2007

The Death of an Alliance, Part 64: Thank You, Secretary Obvious!

The first Democratic-controlled hearing of the International Relations Foreign Affairs Committee has met.  No bold intiatives, brilliant proposals, or clear theme  emerged.  Instead, it was  a dizzying variety of views and  partisan mutual cancellation  that rendered the entire excercise inconclusive and confusing.  One could expect little else:  both parties are advocating more talks  backed by threats that North Korea does not fear.  Both sides fail to grasp,  or at  least to admit,  that North Korea will not disarm  for  any...
Categories An Alliance?/Diplomacy/Six-Party Talks/U.S. & Korea/Washington Views
January 18, 2007

Teachers Arrested for Posting N. Korean Propaganda On-Line

Two middle school teachers who allegedly posted pro-North Korean propaganda on Web sites have been arrested, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said yesterday, for violating the National Security Law. The teachers, whom police did not identify, allegedly posted North Korean photos and captions reading, for example, “Long Live the Great Victory of the Military-First Politics.   They are both members of the left-leaning Korean Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union [link to other OFK posts]. Both teachers have also served as...
Categories Korean Education/The Fifth Column
January 18, 2007

I’m Kim Jong Il, and I Approve This Message!

The message is, “if you elect  the Grand National Party, I’ll nuke you!”  “South Koreans are well aware that if the GNP takes power, it will destroy North-South relations and leave them only with the calamity of nuclear war,” wrote the Rodong Shinmun, the North Korean Workers’ Party daily. “The GNP and their puppets stand to be destroyed.” The daily again denied the GNP’s charge that the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, in similar remarks on Jan....
Categories Appeasement/Korean Politics/WMD/WTF?
January 17, 2007

Kumgang Update

Update:   More here.   Whenever you read about the Kumgang Tourism Project, which South Korea likes to tout as an initiative to reduce tensions,  consider those assertions in the context of  well-sourced suspicions that North Korea uses the proceeds for its WMD programs.  Thus, we should celebrate stories like this one from Yonhap, documenting its failure in extensive detail.  The best news is that enough people have a conscience to impede the project’s success.
Categories An Alliance?/Appeasement/NK Economics/U.S. & Korea
January 17, 2007

Wendy Cutler for President

At this point, I oppose the FTA  because Korea does not seem to be serious about opening its markets fundamentally.  Nor do  I  believe that  Korea should be rewarded for  doing so much to demagogue anti-Americanism, or to  undermine U.S. national security interests or  the humanitarian imperatives of the North Korean people.  Those are the reasons I don’t buy things made in Korea these days, and I know that the FTA would  instead reward Korea’s worst politicians and labor unions...
Categories An Alliance?/Diplomacy/Korean Politics/NK Economics/U.S. & Korea
January 16, 2007

Eum, Yang, and Korean Diplomatic Courtesy

A few days ago, Occidentalism  posted this absolutely priceless flowchart that is too telling by half about how some Koreans tend to scapegoat their way through real problems.  I suppose the temptation to pin blame on others  is human nature; that temptation  is at its greatest when a solution to the  underlying problem  seems beyond reach.  Witness  the  finger-pointing that followed last October’s nuke test (and the notable absence of constructive proposals accompanying it).  I shouldn’t miss this opportunity to...
Categories Anti-Americanism/China & Korea/Diplomacy/History/Japan & Korea/Korean Politics/Korean Society/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military