More bad news for press freedom in South Korea. The woman slated to become the new presidential secretary for public information apparently thinks one of the ways the government should advance its agenda is to favor sychophantic newspapers and try to destroy the critical ones: “So long as the Chosun Ilbo remains the most influential newspaper, no reforms of the government can succeed,” she asserted. She also proposed a drive to double the readership of the Hankyoreh, attributing the daily’s...

Sensible comments from the former Tennessee senator and U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Howard Baker. The thing I worry most about with the North Koreans, to tell you the truth, is not that they’re going to bomb Tokyo, but rather that they have a demonstrated record of selling any military device they own. . . . A regime such as the North Koreans, with that record, selling nuclear material to all comers, is a very serious issue. . . . They...

“It is difficult to get an exact account on how much Beijing is providing North Korea as it has never made this public, but in actuality 70-80 percent of all foreign goods circulating in North Korea comes [sic] through China. . . . Imagine what would happen if China blocked just three of the roads at once for two months, citing maintenance work.” — Kim Ha-Joong, South Korea’s Ambassador to China, telling it like it is

Will the Talks Go On Anyway? The United States wants to keep up the six five-party talks even without North Korea. I don’t see this as an exercise in diplomatic circular group onanism. Instead, I think it it’s revealing about just who is really negotiating with who.

“Guardians of North Korea’s Right to Abuse” are protesting the Chosun Ilbo for sponsoring the North Korean Human Rights Conference. Stop now, click here, and read every word, but especially these: Organizations of this ilk are often deeply concerned about the human rights of people in faraway countries like Iraq and Burma. But on human rights abuses in North Korea they not only keep mum but attack efforts to improve human rights there as “acts threatening peace on the Korean...

Hmmm. Don’t put too much weight on the Joongang Ilbo story linked here (new Lantos-Wolf bill reported yesterday). They may have to retract or clarify the story. Details later when I have them. None of this does any violence to the merits of my own concept, however.

Sensible comments from the former Tennessee senator and U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Howard Baker. The thing I worry most about with the North Koreans, to tell you the truth, is not that they’re going to bomb Tokyo, but rather that they have a demonstrated record of selling any military device they own. . . . A regime such as the North Koreans, with that record, selling nuclear material to all comers, is a very serious issue. . . . They...

“It is difficult to get an exact account on how much Beijing is providing North Korea as it has never made this public, but in actuality 70-80 percent of all foreign goods circulating in North Korea comes [sic] through China. . . . Imagine what would happen if China blocked just three of the roads at once for two months, citing maintenance work.” — Kim Ha-Joong, South Korea’s Ambassador to China, telling it like it is

Will the Talks Go On Anyway? The United States wants to keep up the six five-party talks even without North Korea. I don’t see this as an exercise in diplomatic circular group onanism. Instead, I think it it’s revealing about just who is really negotiating with who.

“Guardians of North Korea’s Right to Abuse” are protesting the Chosun Ilbo for sponsoring the North Korean Human Rights Conference. Stop now, click here, and read every word, but especially these: Organizations of this ilk are often deeply concerned about the human rights of people in faraway countries like Iraq and Burma. But on human rights abuses in North Korea they not only keep mum but attack efforts to improve human rights there as “acts threatening peace on the Korean...

Hmmm. Don’t put too much weight on the Joongang Ilbo story linked here (new Lantos-Wolf bill reported yesterday). They may have to retract or clarify the story. Details later when I have them. None of this does any violence to the merits of my own concept, however.

South Korea’s government is feeling the pressure of reality. For now, says Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon, there will be no “large-scale” investments in North Korea, other than those for humanitarian purposes. The Korea Herald hisses: The government’s announcement is viewed by some analysts as a change in Seoul’s attitude, which was influenced by hard-liners in the U.S. administration. The piece claims that South Korea has not yet made a decision to send 500,000 tons of fertilizer to the North (given...

The North Korean Human Rights Conference appears to have blown through Seoul with barely a whisper in the Korean press. Count the Korean faces in this picture: The Korea Times printed this testimony from a former nurse at a North Korean gulag hospital: “I heard the cries of both mother and child through the curtain (at a hospital). And through the partially open curtain, I witnessed the nurse covering the infant’s face with a wet towel on a table, suffocating...

Chieu Hoi Taliban. Rejection at the ballot box, economic prosperity, and a widely held belief in a better future are death for insurgencies. When you start seeing signs like this a few months after an election, it suggests a movement in terminal decline. That’s particularly true in Afghanistan, where the “fighting season” generally begins in March and April when the snow in the passes melts. With springtime just a month away, fewer and fewer people are eagerly counting down the...

South Korea’s government is feeling the pressure of reality. For now, says Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon, there will be no “large-scale” investments in North Korea, other than those for humanitarian purposes. The Korea Herald hisses: The government’s announcement is viewed by some analysts as a change in Seoul’s attitude, which was influenced by hard-liners in the U.S. administration. The piece claims that South Korea has not yet made a decision to send 500,000 tons of fertilizer to the North (given...

Spot the Real Headine: a. Roh Urges Pyongyang to See Reason b. Carter Urges Zarkawi to Embrace Tolerance c. Chirac Urges Annan to ‘Come Clean and Name Names’ d. Roh Describes Sights, Smells from Rectal Self-Exam Answer here.

Someone was conspicuously absent from his own party, at least judging by press reports so far. Yes, for some time now, we’ve been wondering who would appear on the reviewing stand to wave stolidly at the missile trucks. So here’s one theory we can’t quite put to rest just yet. Oh, and in addition to spending millions on nuclear weapons, the world’s fifth-largest army, and a lavish celebration for a guy who might not even be in charge any more,...

After all this, where exactly has the Please Don’t Hurt Me, Just Take My Wallet Sunshine Policy gotten South Korea? As Dave at No Illusions has noticed, South Korea still can’t even claim to have a direct channel of communication with Pyongyang. It must be hard to get the lean, hungry barbarians to the North to take you seriously when you’re a decadent, soft-eyed milquetoast with ‘nads of Nerf and a loose wallet. What else has appeasement not accomplished? Disarmament....