Yonhap, South Korea’s government news agency, is reporting that Pyongyang is giving its bureacracy a transfusion of new blood: North Korea is expected to hire more young loyal “technocrats” to fill key party and government posts in 2005 as part of its efforts to strengthen the power of leader Kim Jong-il, a South Korean government report said Sunday. There are no clear signs of Kim’s grip on power weakening but outsiders are closely watching whether the 62-year-old leader may be...

The drumbeat of Japanese threats to impose sanctions on North Korea is starting to sound like a North Korean “sea of fire” threat; as empty as it is noisy. If Japan isn’t quite sure what it will do, North Korea is certainly shaping the debate against its own favor by refusing to even discuss the issue. Meanwhile, Japan is also developing a new spy satellite to keep an eye on North Korea.

Kim Jong Il–or possibly an unknown person manipulating the strings attached to his wrists–has said that North Korea has no intention of invading the South. The bizarre context of this statement is an editorial criticizing South Korea’s new “independent” defense, which is the result of North Korea getting at least part of something it’s demanded for years–the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Anyway, now that we have it from such an impeccable source that there is absolutely no danger, the USFK...

What’s behind the mystery of China’s disappearing North Korean restaurants? They seemed to have been quite successful until recently, when large numbers of their staff, down to the waitresses, were suddenly called back to Pyongyang. Once again, a pillar of the Sunshine policy wobbles; the North Korean regime always seems to sever the hand that reaches out too far.

This from the Korea Times: A U.S. senator has accused China of violating international law by continuing to repatriate North Korean refugees caught on its territory, expressing concern over the recent “warning” given by a Chinese diplomat in Seoul to a lawmaker engaged in an international campaign to help North Korean refugees in China, an aide to the legislator said Sunday. In a letter of protest sent to Yang Jiechi, Chinese ambassador to the U.S., Sen. Sam Brownback, Republican of...

Yonhap, South Korea’s government news agency, is reporting that Pyongyang is giving its bureacracy a transfusion of new blood: North Korea is expected to hire more young loyal “technocrats” to fill key party and government posts in 2005 as part of its efforts to strengthen the power of leader Kim Jong-il, a South Korean government report said Sunday. There are no clear signs of Kim’s grip on power weakening but outsiders are closely watching whether the 62-year-old leader may be...

The drumbeat of Japanese threats to impose sanctions on North Korea is starting to sound like a North Korean “sea of fire” threat; as empty as it is noisy. If Japan isn’t quite sure what it will do, North Korea is certainly shaping the debate against its own favor by refusing to even discuss the issue. Meanwhile, Japan is also developing a new spy satellite to keep an eye on North Korea.

This from the Korea Times: A U.S. senator has accused China of violating international law by continuing to repatriate North Korean refugees caught on its territory, expressing concern over the recent “warning” given by a Chinese diplomat in Seoul to a lawmaker engaged in an international campaign to help North Korean refugees in China, an aide to the legislator said Sunday. In a letter of protest sent to Yang Jiechi, Chinese ambassador to the U.S., Sen. Sam Brownback, Republican of...

The New York Times needs to dig James Brooke out of the Hamptons and drop him in front of a computer. The Times picked up this A.P. story on South Korea’s new plan to defer defections but accepted the South Korean government’s version so uncritically, it missed the whole point of the new policy. First, the story fails to cover the real and admitted reason for the new policy–deterring everyone from defecting so that Kim Jong Il stays in power....

Don’t take that next sip of coffee yet. A last-minute entry appears to have locked up OneFreeKorea’s first annual Baghdad Bob award, awarded to the year’s most brazen, gut-bustingly laughable lump of state-sponsored b.s. The winner is . . . (sound of drums rolling) . . . South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon! Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday in an exclusive interview with the JoongAng Ilbo that the current South Korea-U.S. alliance is stronger than ever.

Better late than never, but the Joongang Ilbo printed a small story about last Wednesday’s protests in front of the Chinese embassies.

The Yomiuri Shimbun has your sanctions juggernaut update right here.

Having had my share of clients who told horror stories about the Korean police, it’s nice to see the Korean press catching on and promoting serious reforms. The SOFA issue might not be so controversial if it weren’t currently an near impossibility to get a fair trial in a Korean court–which goes double for American soldiers.

The Winds of Change Korea briefing is up. Thanks to the Marmot for six–count em’–six frigging links to this blog. Wow.

The New York Times needs to dig James Brooke out of the Hamptons and drop him in front of a computer. The Times picked up this A.P. story on South Korea’s new plan to defer defections but accepted the South Korean government’s version so uncritically, it missed the whole point of the new policy. First, the story fails to cover the real and admitted reason for the new policy–deterring everyone from defecting so that Kim Jong Il stays in power....

Don’t take that next sip of coffee yet. A last-minute entry appears to have locked up OneFreeKorea’s first annual Baghdad Bob award, awarded to the year’s most brazen, gut-bustingly laughable lump of state-sponsored b.s. The winner is . . . (sound of drums rolling) . . . South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon! Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday in an exclusive interview with the JoongAng Ilbo that the current South Korea-U.S. alliance is stronger than ever.

Better late than never, but the Joongang Ilbo printed a small story about last Wednesday’s protests in front of the Chinese embassies.

The Yomiuri Shimbun has your sanctions juggernaut update right here.