Posted 4 weeks ago: I’m out of things to say. I think I’ve said everything that needs to be said about about this issue. So unless someone wants to take over the blog, I’m shuttering it. But that is not the end of the story. For years, I’ve urged people to take action on one of the most pressing human rights issue in the ... [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: Now that the Ling and Lee stories are behind us, let us not forget that journalism inside North Korea is still active. These North Korean journalists are risking more than abduction Reporting from Seoul – Editor Jiro Ishimaru dimmed the lights and started the shaky video clip before a roomful of North Korea experts. The footage, taken surreptitiously from a ... [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: We’ve heard of these North Korea logging camps, this is the first substantial documentary about them To the West, North Korea is a pariah state, best known for its secrecy, famines, belligerent politics and its leader’s brutality. At home, North Koreans live under total government control and the watchful eye of the Dear Leader, Kim Jong-il. But in the Amur ... [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: I better write up my review for a Long Road Home, before these two publish theirs Laura Ling, one of the women journalists captured by the North Koreans in March and then freed earlier this month following a visit by former President Bill Clinton, is shopping a book proposal–with her sister. According to a publisher who has seen the proposal ... [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: Rarely does one find a politician in America that is Pro-North Korean, but OFK might have found one in John Choe, who is running for the NYC Council in Queens. You should read his take. I don’t live in New York so I have no stake in this and Choe’s foreign policy views aren’t applicable in city council. If he ... [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: Good news, but at what price? North Korean President Kim Jong Il has pardoned and released two U.S. journalists, state-run news agency KCNA said Wednesday. President Clinton met Tuesday with North Korea leader Kim Jong Il. The announcement came after former U.S. President Clinton met with top North Korean officials in Pyongyang to appeal for their release. “Clinton expressed words ... [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: This story on the public execution of a North Korean woman for distributing Bibles is currently 2nd overall on Digg. The last time it was this high was OFK’s post of Google Earth images of North Korean concentration camps. OFK found this bizarre story on Michael Jackson’s willingness to negotiate the release of Laura Ling and Euna Kim. In addition ... [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: North Korea’s human rights abuses are well documented and at this point I am no longer shocked by their actions. Until I read this (Via. Hot Air) SEOUL, South Korea — When Im Chun-yong made his daring escape from North Korea, with a handful of his special forces men, there were many reasons why the North Korean government was intent ... [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: I will have a review of Long Road Home shortly. Until then, the Washington Post has a major expose on North Korean concentration camps. The most unfortunate part of this tragedy, outside of direct intervention, there is little one can do for prisoners inside North Korea. However, those who do get out, it is our duty to help them anyway ... [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: A copy of Long Road Home Testimony of a North Korean Camp Survivor arrived today. The author, Kim Yong, was a former military officer in the DPRK who was accused of treason and thrown North Korea’s infamous gulags. This is his account of his time spent in the gulags and his escape. I’ll be sure to discuss when I finish ... [
Link]
Posted 4 days ago: Jonas Parello-Plesner (East Asia Forum, March 14th, 2010) There are rumours that Kim Jong-il will visit China late-March. If the visit takes place, it must be after the 18 March when the joint US-ROK military training ends, which is regarded by North Korea as a prelude to war. The supreme commander can’t be seen to leave [...] [
Link]
Posted 6 days ago: By Scott A. Snyder (Council on Foreign Relations, March 11, 2010) I’ve been watching North Korea ramp up efforts to attract foreign investment since Jack Pritchard and I heard last November in Pyongyang from the chairman of Pyongyang’s Foreign Investment Advisory Board a presentation of new laws that provide for repatriation of investments, tax benefits, and [...] [
Link]
Posted 7 days ago: SEOUL (Yonhap) — North Korea on March 11 claimed that the Seoul government is effectively blocking South Koreans from visiting its tourist attractions and warned it could revoke all deals covering inter-Korean tours. The North’s Asia-Pacific Peace Committee statement carried by the (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) follows a fresh round of talks held in [...] [
Link]
Posted 10 days ago: By Sim Sim Wissgott (AFP) VIENNA — Kim Jong Ryul spent 20 years doing business for North Korea’s dictators with European firms, before he defected to Austria in 1994. Now he fears for his life after emerging from hiding this week. “I’ve come up to the light. But how long the sun will shine for me, I [...] [
Link]
Posted 13 days ago: by Aidan Foster-Carter (Policy Forum Online 10-015A: March 4th, 2009) Korean names can set traps for the unwary. Amid a multitude of Kims, almost all unrelated, North Korea adds an extra twist. German speakers, and some others, tend to mispronounce the J in Kim Jong-il as a Y. Not only is this incorrect, but currently it [...] [
Link]
Posted 3 weeks ago: by Ruediger Frank, “Money in Socialist Economies: The Case of North Korea,” The Asia-Pacific Journal, 8-2-10, Dated January 29, 2010, the Foreign Trade Bank of the DPRK (North Korea) issued document No. DC033 10-004 to diplomatic missions and international organizations present in North Korea. They were informed that the use of foreign currency was to be [...] [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: By John M. Glionna, LA Times (December 11, 2009) Five painters had been commissioned to produce works for the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art show in Queensland. Their paintings will be there, but they won’t. Reporting from Seoul – Nick Bonner has a cautionary tale about propaganda, censorship and North Korea. But it’s not what you [...] [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: by MARK DAVIS (Sydney Morning Herald, December 15, 2009) He is in danger of becoming known as the Member for Pyongyang. Following a taxpayer-funded visit to the North Korean capital, the Queensland federal Liberal MP Michael Johnson wants Australia to engage with Pyongyang’s regime just as Richard Nixon opened relations with communist China in the 1970s. He concedes [...] [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: South of the Border (Kukgyongui Namjjok) (2006, 109 min) Directed by Ahn Pan-seok, the film is the first to deal with the lives of North Korean defectors in Seoul. The film revolves around Kim Sun-ho (played by Cha Seung-won), who defected to the South with his family, while leaving his girlfriend Yon-hwa behind after promising to [...] [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: Prof. Gavan McCormack, “Re-Constructing Asia” (Kyunghyang Shinmun, 07 Dec. 2009) Much has changed in the Northeast Asian region in that space of two years. The US-centred, US-dominated world – the time of overwhelming US economic, cultural, and military weight on and in the world – fades before our eyes. Its moral credibility in particular has been [...] [
Link]
Posted 7 hours ago: Pak Nam Gi executed – This news should have not come as a surprise to me, but somehow it did. I do not know why. At any rate, it seems Kim Jong Il is executing the very people he gave orders to. Of course Kim is never wrong in his ideas, just the cronies who fail to carry them out ... [
Link]
Posted 15 hours ago: According to the DailyNK and posted on NKLeadershipWatch, Pak Nam Gi has been arrested according to anecdotes. Related posts:Kim Jong Nam interview and other news BBC reports a non-confirmation confirmation on his brother’s succession.... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. [
Link]
Posted 33 hours ago: In one of the most infamous acts of terrorism that ended the lives of 115 people, the bombing of Korean Air flight 858 would put North Korea front and center of the news. Not that North Korea was not used to such acts. Throughout its history, they were (and still) known to send agents (and others) to the ROK, Japan ... [
Link]
Posted 44 hours ago: Along similar lines of yesterday’s posting, International Crisis Group released a briefing on the growing economic problems in North Korea. It seems almost every post I have made so far has something to do with succession, collapse, or the economic issue, and I apologize for that. I want to make it very, very clear all of this could mean nothing, ... [
Link]
Posted 2 days ago: I have been working on the “Imagining a post-divided Korea” series, and it is probably one of the hardest things to imagine. Maybe that is why it is such a futile venture when Korea has so many variables. Not only with Korea itself, but the major players involved. The politics are complex, the costs are enormous, and the challenges even ... [
Link]
Posted 3 days ago: Seoul says it continues to watch the deteriorating food situation in North Korea, and plans to send emergency corn to the imploding North: People were dying of starvation in some parts of North Korea, according to members of private organizations who recently visited the North, but situations may be different in other regions, Lee said. Seoul estimates the North’s food ... [
Link]
Posted 4 days ago: Finally found a plug in for navigating older posts. I was wondering why this theme did not have it, but it is now installed. What a pain… Related posts:Rounded corners, colors and more colors I am really digging this theme from ColorLabs Project. The... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. [
Link]
Posted 4 days ago: On my daily reading of One Free Korea, Joshua linked a page linked by Marmot’s Hole. On the Boston posting, a commenter named Cornel (comment 132) linked some photos of Nicolae Ceausescu’s own on the spot guidance. I am not sure if this is a general commie thing where an entourage followed the leader jotting every “precious word”, but I ... [
Link]
Posted 4 days ago: Posters courtesy of On my Way to Korea (Post of all the posters here). Flag: Three revolutions (3대혁명) - See explanation at the top of this post Let’s successfully complete the undertaking of the Juche revolution 주체혁명위업을 대를 이어 계승완성하자! Little Flags: Great march of stallions (천리마대진군) Strong, great country (강성대국) Defend with a do-or-die spirit (결사오위) United as one ... [
Link]
Posted 4 days ago: The new logo you see on this blog is courtesy of Rodrigo who took the time to make it really stand out. I really like the look, and have been trying for years to get a decent logo. I think this is it. So I would like to extend my gratitude and thanks. I am surprised at the readership of ... [
Link]
Posted 7 hours ago: According to Yonhap: Inter-Korean trade soared 52.1 percent from a year ago to US$153.49 million in February, according to the report by the Korea Customs Service. South Korea’s outbound shipments came to $77.14 million while its imports from the communist country amounted to $76.35 million for the South’s trade surplus with the North reaching $792,000, the report said. The surge ... [
Link]
Posted 7 hours ago: According to Yonahp: North Korea executed a former top finance official last week, holding him responsible for the country’s currency reform fiasco that has caused massive inflation, worsened food shortages and dented leader Kim Jong-il’s efforts to transfer power to a son, sources said Thursday. Pak Nam-gi, who was reportedly sacked in January as chief of the planning and finance ... [
Link]
Posted 7 hours ago: According to NTI: In the last two years, North Korea has increased the size of its estimated missile arsenal by 25 percent to 1,000 weapons, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young asserted today The North’s cache of missiles includes intermediate-range ballistic missiles, Rodongs and Scuds, said a ministry spokeswoman to Agence France-Presse. In 2008, the agency believed that Pyongyang had ... [
Link]
Posted 7 hours ago: Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES) NK Brief No. 10-03-17-1 2010-03-17 Following North Korea’s decision to raise the status of the Rajin-Sonbong region to the ‘Rason Special City’, it has revised the ‘Law on the Rajin-Sonbong Trade Zone’, considerably boosting the likelihood that the region will attract the foreign investment necessary to develop the free trade zone, as the revised ... [
Link]
Posted 8 hours ago: According to the AFP: North Korea should first open dialogue with the world if it wants foreign investment to revive its troubled economy, a senior World Bank official said Monday. Jim Adams, World Bank vice president for East Asia and Pacific, said it had yet to be approached by Pyongyang in connection with its reported plan to raise foreign funds ... [
Link]
Posted 30 hours ago: According to Itar-Tass: The Altai Territory will supply a test batch of flour to North Korea weighing 2,000 tons. The concern Altaiskiye Melnitsy (Altai Mills) signed a corresponding contract with the foreign trade state amalgamation of North Korea, ITAR-TASS learnt at the enterprise on Tuesday. “Further increasing of volumes of supplies will mainly depend on the export price of flour,” ... [
Link]
Posted 31 hours ago: UPDATE: Well I am very surprised. Someone (probably a Singaporean) paid the ransom for the North Korean crew. According to the AFP: Somali pirates on Tuesday freed a chemical tanker with 28 North Korean sailors on board after receiving 3.5 million dollars in ransom, a maritime official said. The Virgin Islands-owned, Singapore-operated MV Theresa VIII was hijacked on November 16 ... [
Link]
Posted 31 hours ago: Joong Ang Daily Eldo Kim 3/17/2010 Walking through the busy streets of metropolitan Seoul, Lee (an alias) seems no different than the hundreds of Koreans around her. Stopping by a cafe, she purchases a cup of coffee and hurries out to the subway station. Following the everyday actions of millions of fellow urbanites, there is nothing unusual about her. But ... [
Link]
Posted 31 hours ago: According to the Daily Telegraph (UK): Kim Jong-il, the Supreme Leader of North Korea, has a $4 billion (£2.6 billion) “emergency fund” hidden in secret accounts in European banks that he will use to continue his lavish way of life if he is forced to flee the country. South Korean intelligence officials told The Daily Telegraph that much of the ... [
Link]
Posted 31 hours ago: UPDATE 3: The Swedish Embassy has been gratned to the unnamed second American. According to Reuters: North Korea has allowed Swedish diplomats to visit a U.S. citizen detained nearly two months ago after allegedly entering the country from China, the U.S. State Department said on Monday. “We can confirm that on March 14 the DPRK (Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea) ... [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: The resumption of family reunions is welcome news for the many people who were separated from their loved ones. However, against the background of this promising news there is a sense of growing detachment amongst young people from the issue of unification. [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: The recent passing of Kim Dae Jung and the coverage surrounding the event has once again sparked an interest in discussion on unification policy. [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: …a lot of these exchanges are beginning to incorporate more and more North Koreans into the experience. For instance, these twenty-one thousand workers at Kaesong who are North Koreans, eventually are going to go home and tell their families and friends what they experienced. At this point what we’re seeing is very initial steps on [...] [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: The International Crisis Group has a decent briefing on what they expect LMB will do for the Korean peninsula. Pretty much the same old stuff, including: Lee is expected to continue South Korea’s efforts at rapprochement with North Korea but to press more firmly for reciprocity than his predecessor. He has outlined a plan to narrow [...] [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: A guest post by a reader and now once again blogger… —————~ Dear Fellow Bloggers and Blog Readers, Greetings. I have enjoyed reading this and other blogs on Korea policy issues. Inspired by the second inter-Korea summit in October and other fast-paced changes that have brought renewed promises for peaceful settlement and further reconciliation in Korean peninsula, the [...] [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: Many suspected that differences in North Korea policy between a Lee Myung-Bak administration and the Roh Moo-Hyun administration were going to be largely cosmetic. Most thought it as an open secret that North Korea policy would largely remain the same… Stability is after all, much more valuable to most South Koreans than any chance of a North Korean [...] [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: Kenneth Quinones, former US State Department North Korea specialist, has a very interesting piece comparing the ‘freeze’ on North Korean nuclear facilities that the Clinton administration sought and the ‘disablement’ on North Korean nuclear facilities that the Bush administration is seeking. Here is a taste: In November 1994, I accompanied the first U.S. delegation to visit the [...] [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: The draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup preliminary competition was held in Durban over the weekend. And in an announcement that drew gasps from the crowd, both North and South Korea were drawn to compete against each other in Asia’s Group 3, with Jordan and Turkmenistan. Watching how this plays out could be extremely [...] [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: OK… Away from the serious stuff for a while. I once heard that Kim Jong Il was once heard to say that he thought another dynastic succession would make the DPRK the laughing stock of the world… well… it’s too late to stop that now… Share This [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: Before I go into all of my Japanese tabloid theories on the successor to Kim Jong-Il, I’ll let you guys read it yourself. From Reuters: TOKYO (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has named his second eldest son to a major post, making him the top candidate to eventually take over as head of the [...] [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: Today I attended the funeral for Kevin Kim’s mother, in Alexandria, Virginia. I’ve been to many funerals and, as they go, this one went extremely well. Sad at her loss, but celebrating her spectacular ability to help family and friends, this was one to remember. Rest in peace. [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: Joseph Bermudez, author of several books on North Korea’s military and intelligence services, has launched a new journal focusing on the Korea People’s Army (KPA), KPA Journal. It will be online later this year, but the first iteration can be found at NK Econ Watch. [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: First of all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Richardson and to the readers of the blog. My wife and I recently received a Christmas gift of sorts from my wife’s, shall we say, less than mature brother. He travels frequently to Asia and lived in Japan for many years (he is one of these Midwesterners who saw the ... [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: The Firearms Blog reports that the ROK Army unit being deployed to Afghanistan will be armed with the K11 airburst assault rifle (follow the link for more information including picture and video of the rifle). This rifle is derived from an American experimental project that was abandoned for good reasons. While I applaud South Korea’s effort to modernize its armed ... [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: The last time the North and South Korean navies clashed seriously in 2002, the latter came off badly. The ROK Navy seems to have been better prepared this time: According to South Korean officials, fighting erupted when a 215-ton North Korean vessel ventured across the so-called Northern Limit Line, a sea border drawn by the United Nations at the end ... [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: The lack of recent posts will continue for an unknown period of time as I’ve been busy at work, and engaged in other projects at home. I do plan on resuming daily posting at some unknown point in the future. I also still monitor all things North Korea daily and likely will post something related to more significant developments. I’ll ... [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: My apologies to Richardson and the readers of this blog for months of silence (I will write an explanation at some point). But here is some good news from South Korea if you are a gun nut like I am: South Korea’s defence ministry has announced plans to sell up to 86,000 M1 Garand rifles to gun enthusiasts and collectors ... [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: After missile and nuclear tests and uranium enrichment, the U.S. sanctions North Korean firms while Pyongyang reverses, making overtures. It’s not an accident, it’s a pattern of strategic disengagement. [
Link]
Posted 4 weeks ago: The Clan Records: Five Stories of Korea. Kajiyama Toshiyuki. University of Hawaii Press, 1995 (translated). The Clan Records is a collection of five short stories by a Japanese author who was born in Seoul (then called Keijo) in 1930, where his father was a civil engineer, and grew up there until he was repatriated to Japan in 1945. Kajiyama’s stories ... [
Link]
Posted 5 weeks ago: That’s some snow, eh? Nearly 3 feet as of last weekend and more arriving tonight and tomorrow. DC and Northern Virginia are pretty much shut down. I don’t think I will be using my deck anytime soon. [
Link]
