Score another one for Claudia Rosett: NEW YORK — Maurice Strong, a prominent Canadian businessman and envoy for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, acknowledged ties yesterday with a South Korean businessman accused of wrongdoing in the oil-for-food scandal. Mr. Strong, Mr. Annan’s special adviser for North Korea, said in a statement that Tongsun Park invested in an energy company with which he was associated in 1997, but denied any wrongdoing. “Ties,” being the key word. Does this mean that Strong was...

Lankov on the Great North Korean Soccer Riot: I’ve disagreed with Andrei at times, but you can’t ingore the views of someone with such an exceptional depth of experience in North Korea. Not given to alarmist conclusions, but limited as we all are to speculation, Lankov sees something very significant: Pyongyangites have demonstrated that they are able to fight with police over the outcome of a soccer match. But what will come next? Does this not mean that one day...

Another fisherman-goes-North story, this one involving an abductee. It’s apparent that the man is under some form of extreme duress not to return to the South. And yes, he has relatives in the North. Updated post. Thanks, Hmmm.

Enough With the Textbooks, Already: Not quite. This is the first article I’ve read on the subject that isn’t steeped in the nationalism of one of the protagonists. Interesting. The Chosun Ilbo seized on one bit of criticism, which I think the Chosun blows out of proportion by taking as a slam against Korea rather than as a simple statement of the fact that on the distortion of history, everyone’s full of it: In South Korea, which democratized in the...

A hearty “welcome to the ring” to China’s favorite on-line sycophant, f-bomb thrower, and anti-Semite, Jing. Because there’s not enough of that kind of speech out there.

Another fisherman-goes-North story, this one involving an abductee. It’s apparent that the man is under some form of extreme duress not to return to the South. And yes, he has relatives in the North. Updated post. Thanks, Hmmm.

Enough With the Textbooks, Already: Not quite. This is the first article I’ve read on the subject that isn’t steeped in the nationalism of one of the protagonists. Interesting. The Chosun Ilbo seized on one bit of criticism, which I think the Chosun blows out of proportion by taking as a slam against Korea rather than as a simple statement of the fact that on the distortion of history, everyone’s full of it: In South Korea, which democratized in the...

A hearty “welcome to the ring” to China’s favorite on-line sycophant, f-bomb thrower, and anti-Semite, Jing. Because there’s not enough of that kind of speech out there.

Claudia Rosett and I have had an intermittent e-mail correspondence now for about a year. For those of you not familiar with Claudia’s work, she’s a columnist at the Wall Street Journal and the one person more responsible than any other for investigative reporting of Oil-for-Food–a fact that guaranteed that she’d be ignored by the Pulitzer committee. Claudia reported from the scene of the Tienanmen Massacre in 1989 and has also been one of the most outspoken writers on the...

Claudia Rosett and I have had an intermittent e-mail correspondence now for about a year. For those of you not familiar with Claudia’s work, she’s a columnist at the Wall Street Journal and the one person more responsible than any other for investigative reporting of Oil-for-Food–a fact that guaranteed that she’d be ignored by the Pulitzer committee. Claudia reported from the scene of the Tienanmen Massacre in 1989 and has also been one of the most outspoken writers on the...

Oops–Correction: We’re Number Three! We’re Number Three! I had originally missed the most significant part of the story–that a significantly larger percentage of South Koreans now considers North Korea to be a threat than the United States. Well, hope does spring eternal. Many Joni Mitchell was right. This could actually cause my head to explode. Original Post: In a stunning public relations victory for Washington, a new survey released today reports that Japan has surpassed the United States as the...

“I’m not anti-American, but . . .” In a meeting with Korean residents in Istanbul, Turkey on Saturday, President Roh Moo-hyun said he found Koreans who are “more pro-American than the Americans” very hard to deal with. “They talk with not Korea but the United States at heart,” he said. “Koreans should think and judge like Koreans.” What, like this guy? Funny, I have yet to meet one of those Koreans Roh is talking about. For the most part, nearly...

Oops–Correction: We’re Number Three! We’re Number Three! I had originally missed the most significant part of the story–that a significantly larger percentage of South Koreans now considers North Korea to be a threat than the United States. Well, hope does spring eternal. Many Joni Mitchell was right. This could actually cause my head to explode. Original Post: In a stunning public relations victory for Washington, a new survey released today reports that Japan has surpassed the United States as the...

Oops–Correction: We’re Number Three! We’re Number Three! I had originally missed the most significant part of the story–that a significantly larger percentage of South Koreans now considers North Korea to be a threat than the United States. Well, hope does spring eternal. Many Joni Mitchell was right. This could actually cause my head to explode. Original Post: In a stunning public relations victory for Washington, a new survey released today reports that Japan has surpassed the United States as the...

“I’m not anti-American, but . . .” In a meeting with Korean residents in Istanbul, Turkey on Saturday, President Roh Moo-hyun said he found Koreans who are “more pro-American than the Americans” very hard to deal with. “They talk with not Korea but the United States at heart,” he said. “Koreans should think and judge like Koreans.” What, like this guy? Funny, I have yet to meet one of those Koreans Roh is talking about. For the most part, nearly...

Well, this is certainly interesting. As Munin informs us, Japanese leaders, including the Emperor, have repeatedly apologized, acknowledged, or expressed regret for Japan’s wartime atrocities. All of this certainly does undercut the stated reasons for all of the protests again Japan lately–other than the Machiavellian ones, that is. Philippe Roy has photographs of Chinese demonstrators acting like complete asses. Seriously, just what does it accomplish to smash the windows of Chinese-owned sushi restaurants? The Dignified Rant has more evidence to...

Well, this is certainly interesting. As Munin informs us, Japanese leaders, including the Emperor, have repeatedly apologized, acknowledged, or expressed regret for Japan’s wartime atrocities. All of this certainly does undercut the stated reasons for all of the protests again Japan lately–other than the Machiavellian ones, that is. Philippe Roy has photographs of Chinese demonstrators acting like complete asses. Seriously, just what does it accomplish to smash the windows of Chinese-owned sushi restaurants? The Dignified Rant has more evidence to...

Thirty years ago today, Khmer Rouge forces entered Phnom Phenh. And even now, with the mass graves opened, and the bones of the victims there for all to see, some continue to argue that Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge are not to blame: [T]o blame the death and destruction caused by foreign invasion and embargo during 1975-79 on Pol Pot’s controversial revolutionary policies is merely reactionary propaganda. —Henry C.K. Liu Does the logic sound familiar? After North Korea signed...