Two cheers for the Human Rights Commission! I’m absolutely stunned to see this post by on The Marmot’s site. The HRC is actually talking to the South Korean people about racial discrimination against mixed-race Koreas. It is a subject that demands introspection, change, and the questioning of long-held prejudices. After all of the lost oxygen over diaries, Iraq, and haircuts–in short, everything except serious human rights deficiencies–I’m stunned to see signs of the HRC’s relevance, much less a flirtation with...

South Korean anti-Americanism appears to be more than a passing fad, although I note that much of the reaction here is not unlike public anger we’ve seen in the United States recently. Nobody likes eminent domain. But being that this is South Korea, those with other motives decided to join the festivities. Judging by the photographs, the violence does not appear to have been the work of a small fringe element, either. I will long remember my seven months at...

South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun, who recently lost his parliamentary majority, has some very novel ideas about power-sharing. The idea that this is meant to forestall the gridlock that sometimes comes from divided government is about as plausible as any that comes to mind, which means “not very.” He’s now revealing the specifics of his plan for “coalition government,” but I can’t make a whit of sense of this: Bringing specifics to President Roh Moo-hyun’s recent talk of “coalition government,”...

Nicholas Kristof’s sympathetic writings about North Korea have won him a ticket to Pyongyang. I’m not optimistic about what he’ll say when he gets back, either. He will assuredly see no evil.

The member of our missing Special Forces team has been found. Reports of his capture and beheading appear to be untrue; he went down fighting.

During the last five years of utterly ineffectual talks and not-talks, the North Korean regime (to the best of our knowledge) built four of five more nukes, sold uranium to the A.Q. Khan network, transferred nuclear technology to Iran, and bought itself some Tomohawkskis. While I can’t excuse the duration of this delay, I’ve still considered the Bush policy marginally better than the Clinton policy because I presumed we were going to insist on a deal that was in fact,...

Diplomacy and Rhetoric. Meanwhile, more proof of how easily Pyongyang’s rhetorical demands fall by the wayside: The report also said, “The U.S. side clarified its official stand to recognize the DPRK as a sovereign state, not to invade it and hold bilateral talks within the framework of the six-party talks. The DPRK side interpreted the U.S. side’s expression of its stand as a retraction of its remarks designating the former as an “˜outpost of tyranny’ and decided to return to...

Won Joon Choe kindly forwarded the following essay, which was published in The Wall Street Journal just before the Roh-Bush meeting at the White House. Because it mainly deals with long-term trends in the alliance, I don’t consider it dated. Obviously, I don’t agree with everything Won Joon says, but he makes his case thoughtfully and cogently. The Wall Street Journal June 10, 2005 COMMENTARY The Decay of the U.S.- South Korean Alliance By WON JOON CHOE June 10, 2005...

First, I’d like to start by saying that the penultimate paragraph is so dead-on right that it redeems any flaws that I subjectively see in the rest of the piece: All that can be countered by engaging the Roh government in a struggle for the hearts of the South Korean people. The Bush administration can seek to speak directly to ordinary South Koreans about the horrors of Kim Jong Il’s gulag state, explain why the world cannot allow it to...

Won Joon Choe kindly forwarded the following essay, which was published in The Wall Street Journal just before the Roh-Bush meeting at the White House. Because it mainly deals with long-term trends in the alliance, I don’t consider it dated. Obviously, I don’t agree with everything Won Joon says, but he makes his case thoughtfully and cogently. The Wall Street Journal June 10, 2005 COMMENTARY The Decay of the U.S.- South Korean Alliance By WON JOON CHOE June 10, 2005...

First, I’d like to start by saying that the penultimate paragraph is so dead-on right that it redeems any flaws that I subjectively see in the rest of the piece: All that can be countered by engaging the Roh government in a struggle for the hearts of the South Korean people. The Bush administration can seek to speak directly to ordinary South Koreans about the horrors of Kim Jong Il’s gulag state, explain why the world cannot allow it to...

I haven’t written anything substantial about the terror attacks in London because I just don’t know what I could say that hasn’t already gone through every sane mind in the civilized world. I don’t ask, “Why do they hate us?” I ask, “What the f*uck is wrong with them?” Predictably, OhMyNews brings fevered minds out of their padded cells and onto the Internet, where their stupidity pretty much disproves the silly idea that talking to one another is the key...

This time, a U.S. soldier is involved in an alleged sexual assault. Strangely, the Korean media reaction appears to be uncommonly subdued. Quite uncharacteristically, no one in Korea is prepared to presume guilt before we know all the facts. Some Koreans even appear to be quite understanding about it. Can anyone explain why the Korean media have all suddenly embraced journalistic sobriety and restraint? I mean, Korea sure is quiet without the sound of the lynch mobs. HT: GI Korea.

The North Koreans have reportedly agreed to return this month. If you’re looking for misty expressions of hope, there’s always Dog Stew. To me, the question is whether there will be progress at those talks, and whether North Korea will ever agree to anything verifiable. Again, that means that North Korea will have to compromise substantially on transparency, something I doubt they’re prepared to do. What seems more likely is that recent hints and Bush’s executive order freezing the assets...

We may have our answer. About a week ago, I linked to this report showing a Japanese NGO’s pictures of what appeared to be international food aid for sale in markets in North Korea. I suggested that this was evidence of diversion of food aid, most likely by heartless and corrupt officials. James pointed out that North Koreans sometimes recycle the sacks, which are made of strong fiber. It was a plausible possibility. Today, I finally got around to watching...

The South Korean Human Rights Commission may be focused on haircuts (a wierd photonegative image of another government gone mad with its own intrusive state power), but the Korean government has come to the conclusion that it can no longer ignore the rights of the North Korean people. It was confirmed on July 8 that Cheong Wa Dae formed a special task force team under the Presidential secretarial office for civic and social agendas to precisely grasp the human rights...

Thanks to all of those who e-mailed me links to interesting stories recently. I’ll have to do a carnival-type group posting to discuss all of them. Your contributions, comments, and yes, corrections make this site infintely better than it would be without you. Adrian Hong in The Korea Times Adrian Hong of LiNK forwarded this letter he wrote to the Korea Times. I’m printing every word: I refer to a July 6 article on Page 19 of The Korea Herald...

Kang Chol-Hwan and (tentatively) Dr. Norbert Vollertsen will also speak. The event will take place at Washington’s Mayflower Hotel on July 19th. Full details at Freedom House’s press release. An interview with FH’s North Korea Program Director, Prof. Jae Ku, is here.