On the one hand, South Korea dodged a bullet. On the other, the possibility would have been unthinkable just five years ago.

On the one hand, South Korea dodged a bullet. On the other, the possibility would have been unthinkable just five years ago.

Norbert will also be at the symposium in Seoul on the 27th, and we already know he never goes anywhere quietly. Among the highlights from his message: The Chinese are apparently holding another South Korean activist for aiding North Korean refugees. He also claims that the South Koreans have issued an arrest warrant for an organizer of protests against Kim Jong-Il. Now, South Korean politics can be pretty rough, and I have no details whatsoever on this, so I’ll just...

Adrian Hong e-mailed this schedule of events for the symposium in Seoul on the 27th (Korean version here): HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTH KOREA: Why are they significant? How can we improve the situation in North Korea? International Symposium on Human Rights in North Korea Saturday Nov 27th 9:30–16:30 Yonsei University GSIS(main auditorium) Registration: LiNKSeoul@gmail.com / 02-732-6710 LiNK (Liberation in North Korea) and Korean Youth United present the International Symposium on Human Rights in North Korea: Engaging University Students and Civil...

Hey, I was a big fan of Vaclav Havel long, long before that upstart Glenn Reynolds caught on! Of course, moral vision seems to be a disqualifier there. Imagine that–the United Nations run by someone who might not tolerate massive corruption, sexual abuse of refugees, sexual harassment and a coverup, chronic moral equivalence, or the easy tolerance of political cleansing through engineered famine. That’s probably too much to expect. Another option is to fund the U.N. just enough for it...

The Vice President of the Heritage Foundation has a message for Korea: In the American Congress, there is firm resolve that no payments or “inducements” go to North Korea without the ability to verify the end of North Korea’s nuclear program. This is reality in American politics, and it seems that all parties left Chile with this understanding.

Kremlinology alert–Kim Jong Il’s brother in law has apparently been purged. It’s consistent with the “gilded cage theory“–my speculation that Kim Jong Il has been quietly stripped of his power while a new group consolidates it’s control. This could well be a part of a backroom consolidation of power through the elimination of old loyalists.

The premise, of course, is to either preserve or prolong an unhealthy dependency that serves the interests of neither Korea nor America. But both the (leftist, incumbent) Uri and the (conservative, opposition) Grand National Party are proposing to join forces to that end. A joint delegation from both parties intends to travel to the United States to lobby Washington. Can they even agree on what they will lobby for? Not only does the South Korean view of the North Korean...

I made several calls to the Jane Goodall Institute last week to get their response and reaction to this post on her recent visit to Pyongyang, and Pyongyang’s use of her name for its propaganda. I contrasted Jane Goodall’s moral neutrality on North Korea, the world’s worst violator of human rights against her scathing criticism of the United States and its elected leader. I suggested that Jane’s foray into the occupation of “human rights activist” ought to be pursued with...

Hey, I was a big fan of Vaclav Havel long, long before that upstart Glenn Reynolds caught on! Of course, moral vision seems to be a disqualifier there. Imagine that–the United Nations run by someone who might not tolerate massive corruption, sexual abuse of refugees, sexual harassment and a coverup, chronic moral equivalence, or the easy tolerance of political cleansing through engineered famine. That’s probably too much to expect. Another option is to fund the U.N. just enough for it...

The Vice President of the Heritage Foundation has a message for Korea: In the American Congress, there is firm resolve that no payments or “inducements” go to North Korea without the ability to verify the end of North Korea’s nuclear program. This is reality in American politics, and it seems that all parties left Chile with this understanding.

Kremlinology alert–Kim Jong Il’s brother in law has apparently been purged. It’s consistent with the “gilded cage theory“–my speculation that Kim Jong Il has been quietly stripped of his power while a new group consolidates it’s control. This could well be a part of a backroom consolidation of power through the elimination of old loyalists.

The premise, of course, is to either preserve or prolong an unhealthy dependency that serves the interests of neither Korea nor America. But both the (leftist, incumbent) Uri and the (conservative, opposition) Grand National Party are proposing to join forces to that end. A joint delegation from both parties intends to travel to the United States to lobby Washington. Can they even agree on what they will lobby for? Not only does the South Korean view of the North Korean...

I made several calls to the Jane Goodall Institute last week to get their response and reaction to this post on her recent visit to Pyongyang, and Pyongyang’s use of her name for its propaganda. I contrasted Jane Goodall’s moral neutrality on North Korea, the world’s worst violator of human rights against her scathing criticism of the United States and its elected leader. I suggested that Jane’s foray into the occupation of “human rights activist” ought to be pursued with...

On one hand, you could call it a smattering. On the other hand, it’s a marked improvement from what we’ve seen before. The Washington Times put it on the front page. Nothing in the NY Times or the WaPo. There was scattered coverage in nations like New Zealand. The Chosun printed it prominently, but in fairly reserved tones, and with the expected accent on the leftist South Korean government’s knowledge and soft cover-up of the reports. The Korea Herald didn’t...

. . . but if any movement is discernable in Seoul these days, it’s away from Japan and the United States. That’s their right, but then again, they’re our troops. As both Japan and the U.S. move toward giving the talks one last chance, then moving toward sanctions (and more?), South Korea is doing a pretty good job of marginalizing itself from two of the nations it needs most. Not the best time for Roh to need diplomatic cover from...

Now, it’s the Kim Jong Il pins that are coming off.

I fight the temptation to do tabloid stuff on this blog, I really do. You will see no cheesecakey pics here as cheap hit-counter sellout (sorry to disappoint all of you out there in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, and the UAE, and yes, I can see the google searches that got you here). Sometimes, however, the tawdry intersects with either (1) the relevant, or (2) the completely asinine. South Korea’s Uri Party brain trust, fresh from its brilliant successes at...