I have posted a detailed argument against the theory that diplomatic recognition and free trade can dissuade North Korea from its evil ways while Kim Jong-Il continues to be in charge there. It’s lots of rich, linky goodness, but I didn’t want it to crowd the new human rights stories off the page, so I posted it here for your reading pleasure.
I have posted a detailed argument against the theory that diplomatic recognition and free trade can dissuade North Korea from its evil ways while Kim Jong-Il continues to be in charge there. It’s lots of rich, linky goodness, but I didn’t want it to crowd the new human rights stories off the page, so I posted it here for your reading pleasure.
. . . from your webmaster, just an angry ex-soldier and bleeding-heart conservative waging war by other means. Stop to look at this brand-new BBC video clip first. Then get yourself a stiff drink. I’ll wait.
Back already? Then you now know the level of Treblinka depravity we’re talking about. Now, take a look at this, edit as liberally as you like, cut and paste it into the Web form here, and do something about it.
Our efforts may have already saved nearly 500 lives. Please help us keep up the momentum. The best way to prevent war and shut down the concentration camps in North Korea is to hit the regime where it can’t take the hit–in its finances (more on that here) and among the hearts of its people, who secretly loathe it. Why else, after all, would 300,000 of them risk their lives to flee Kim Jong-Il’s “paradise on earth”?
UPDATE:
Kim Jong Il needs a new publicist. The U.S. media had paid no attention at all to the NKHRA (and not much attention to the defections themselves) until the Rodong Shinmun said the 468 defectors were all “kidnapped.”
After you scan these photographs and note the curious absence of cuffs, shackes, hoods, and fearful scowls, check out this blistering editorial in the Chosun Ilbo (the largest daily in S. Korea) and these stories on the front page of the NYT and the main page of CNN.com. CNN closed with this nice little backgrounder:
North Korea, one of the world’s most centrally planned and isolated economies, faces desperate economic conditions. At least a million people are believed to have died of starvation in North Korea while Pyongyang diverted resources to develop weapons of mass destruction.
CNN has also reported 2 million dead, but nobody can really verify anything. Either way, nice PR work, boys. You’re certainly more persuasive than I could ever be.
. . . from your webmaster, just an angry ex-soldier and bleeding-heart conservative waging war by other means. Stop to look at this brand-new BBC video clip first. Then get yourself a stiff drink. I’ll wait.
Back already? Then you now know the level of Treblinka depravity we’re talking about. Now, take a look at this, edit as liberally as you like, cut and paste it into the Web form here, and do something about it.
Our efforts may have already saved nearly 500 lives. Please help us keep up the momentum. The best way to prevent war and shut down the concentration camps in North Korea is to hit the regime where it can’t take the hit–in its finances (more on that here) and among the hearts of its people, who secretly loathe it. Why else, after all, would 300,000 of them risk their lives to flee Kim Jong-Il’s “paradise on earth”?
UPDATE:
Kim Jong Il needs a new publicist. The U.S. media had paid no attention at all to the NKHRA (and not much attention to the defections themselves) until the Rodong Shinmun said the 468 defectors were all “kidnapped.”
After you scan these photographs and note the curious absence of cuffs, shackes, hoods, and fearful scowls, check out this blistering editorial in the Chosun Ilbo (the largest daily in S. Korea) and these stories on the front page of the NYT and the main page of CNN.com. CNN closed with this nice little backgrounder:
North Korea, one of the world’s most centrally planned and isolated economies, faces desperate economic conditions. At least a million people are believed to have died of starvation in North Korea while Pyongyang diverted resources to develop weapons of mass destruction.
CNN has also reported 2 million dead, but nobody can really verify anything. Either way, nice PR work, boys. You’re certainly more persuasive than I could ever be.
Another North Korean defector, this one a chemical weapons “scientist,” is telling the BBC how he killed people in gas chambers. Link and video clip here:
“The purpose of this experiment was to determine how long it takes for a human being to die - we wanted to determine how much gas was necessary to annihilate the whole city of Seoul.”
The South Koreans apparently tried to stop him from talking to the media, and of course, they say it’s not reliable. So what is Seoul doing to actually find out whether their hottest new ally and trading partner is laying plans to “annihilate the whole city of Seoul?”
Hat tip: Antti, who runs this blog.
UPDATE: A minister in the British Foreign Office has called for North Korea to admit U.N. human rights monitors. I predict that the U.N. will not forcefully demand the right to send them. The North Koreans would never admit them. Nothing will come of this. Yet, it’s still an important and positive development because nothing happens today until the U.N. flunks it first.
NK Gulag’s founders, both of them refugees from North Korea themselves, send this message:
On behalf of the 23 million North Korean people, we wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to the Congressmen and Congresswomen and to the American people who helped pass this landmark legislation. Later, when set free from Kim Jong Il’s dictatorship, the North Korean people will surely remember July 21, 2004.
You could search for a long time to find words more persuasive than this picture, but the words of the North Korean woman in this BBC story come close:
I left because there was no food, but also because I wanted freedom. I wanted to be able to live how I wanted to live.
The North Koreans are neither robots nor zombies nor programmed automatons. They are human beings just like us, but with a much keener understanding of what it takes to sustain humanity.
UPDATE:
The second group of 220 has arrived. According to the BBC, that’s a total of 450. The Chosun says 468; either way, wow. If you wrote to Congress last week, consider them your personal Schindler’s List. And you can still help.
Meanwhile, the Korean papers are starting to wonder–what if tens of thousands start to arrive? Can anyone think of a more reliable of a dictatorship’s collapse than a sudden mass emigration from the country?
UPDATE II:
The GNP is about to introduce a bill in the National Assembly that would make it easier for North Koreans in third countries to get into South Korea. I have noticed of late that the GNP seems to be finding its voice and articulating some actual principles. This is a great sign for the quality of the debate in Korea. In no small part, the NKHRA may shame South Korea into this.
TYPE OF INCIDENT: Aggravated Assault
LOCATION: Peace Maker Center, Songtan Entertainment District, South Korea
DATE/TIME OF INCIDENT: 241616 JUL 04
PERSONNEL INVOLVED:
a. SUBJECT(S):
(1) YANG, XX; Rank: CIV; MOS: None; KID: Unknown; Sex: Male; Race: Asian; Age: Unknown; Address: Unknown; Security Clearance: None; Duty Position: Unknown; Duty Status: Unknown
(2) YANG, XX; Rank: CIV; MOS: None; KID: Unknown; Sex: Male; Race: Asian; Age: Unknown; Address: Unknown; Security Clearance: Unknown; Duty Position: Unknown; Duty Status: Off Duty
(3) YANG, XX; Rank: CIV; MOS: None; KID: Unknown; Sex: Male; Race: Asian; Age: Unknown; Address: Unknown; Security Clearance: Unknown; Duty Position: Unknown; Duty Status: Off Dutyb. VICTIM: (1) (SOLDIER), XX; Rank: SRA; MOS: Unknown; SSN: XX; Sex: Male
ALCOHOL/DRUGS: None
SUMMARY: Initial investigation revealed that at the above date, time and location (SOLDIER) had returned a broken microphone that he had purchased earlier. YANG, C and YANG, S became irate and blamed (SOLDIER) for the broken microphone. (SOLDIER) then tossed the microphone on the counter and turned around to leave the store. YANG, C then charged (SOLDIER) and tried to hit him with a stool. (SOLDIER) blocked the stool and YANG, C grabbed him by the throat. YANG, C and (SOLDIER) then fell on the ground and YANG, S began kicking (SOLDIER). YANG, T grabbed (SOLDIER)� legs to hold him down and that�s when CATALDO (Witness #1, NFI) and SANTA-ANNA (Witness #2, NFI) were walking past and noticed the altercation. CATALDO reported the incident to the PMO. YANG, C was pinning (SOLDIER) to the floor by placing his knee into his neck area. GALATIA (Witness #3, NFI) noticed YANG, C having a metal box cutter in his hand.KNP responded to the incident and reported that there were no injuries.
Thank God he’s apparently OK. Meanwhile, this is what the people are reading in both Koreas.
Another North Korean defector, this one a chemical weapons “scientist,” is telling the BBC how he killed people in gas chambers. Link and video clip here:
“The purpose of this experiment was to determine how long it takes for a human being to die - we wanted to determine how much gas was necessary to annihilate the whole city of Seoul.”
The South Koreans apparently tried to stop him from talking to the media, and of course, they say it’s not reliable. So what is Seoul doing to actually find out whether their hottest new ally and trading partner is laying plans to “annihilate the whole city of Seoul?”
Hat tip: Antti, who runs this blog.
UPDATE: A minister in the British Foreign Office has called for North Korea to admit U.N. human rights monitors. I predict that the U.N. will not forcefully demand the right to send them. The North Koreans would never admit them. Nothing will come of this. Yet, it’s still an important and positive development because nothing happens today until the U.N. flunks it first.
NK Gulag’s founders, both of them refugees from North Korea themselves, send this message:
On behalf of the 23 million North Korean people, we wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to the Congressmen and Congresswomen and to the American people who helped pass this landmark legislation. Later, when set free from Kim Jong Il’s dictatorship, the North Korean people will surely remember July 21, 2004.
You could search for a long time to find words more persuasive than this picture, but the words of the North Korean woman in this BBC story come close:
I left because there was no food, but also because I wanted freedom. I wanted to be able to live how I wanted to live.
The North Koreans are neither robots nor zombies nor programmed automatons. They are human beings just like us, but with a much keener understanding of what it takes to sustain humanity.
UPDATE:
The second group of 220 has arrived. According to the BBC, that’s a total of 450. The Chosun says 468; either way, wow. If you wrote to Congress last week, consider them your personal Schindler’s List. And you can still help.
Meanwhile, the Korean papers are starting to wonder–what if tens of thousands start to arrive? Can anyone think of a more reliable of a dictatorship’s collapse than a sudden mass emigration from the country?
UPDATE II:
The GNP is about to introduce a bill in the National Assembly that would make it easier for North Koreans in third countries to get into South Korea. I have noticed of late that the GNP seems to be finding its voice and articulating some actual principles. This is a great sign for the quality of the debate in Korea. In no small part, the NKHRA may shame South Korea into this.
TYPE OF INCIDENT: Aggravated Assault
LOCATION: Peace Maker Center, Songtan Entertainment District, South Korea
DATE/TIME OF INCIDENT: 241616 JUL 04
PERSONNEL INVOLVED:
a. SUBJECT(S):
(1) YANG, XX; Rank: CIV; MOS: None; KID: Unknown; Sex: Male; Race: Asian; Age: Unknown; Address: Unknown; Security Clearance: None; Duty Position: Unknown; Duty Status: Unknown
(2) YANG, XX; Rank: CIV; MOS: None; KID: Unknown; Sex: Male; Race: Asian; Age: Unknown; Address: Unknown; Security Clearance: Unknown; Duty Position: Unknown; Duty Status: Off Duty
(3) YANG, XX; Rank: CIV; MOS: None; KID: Unknown; Sex: Male; Race: Asian; Age: Unknown; Address: Unknown; Security Clearance: Unknown; Duty Position: Unknown; Duty Status: Off Dutyb. VICTIM: (1) (SOLDIER), XX; Rank: SRA; MOS: Unknown; SSN: XX; Sex: Male
ALCOHOL/DRUGS: None
SUMMARY: Initial investigation revealed that at the above date, time and location (SOLDIER) had returned a broken microphone that he had purchased earlier. YANG, C and YANG, S became irate and blamed (SOLDIER) for the broken microphone. (SOLDIER) then tossed the microphone on the counter and turned around to leave the store. YANG, C then charged (SOLDIER) and tried to hit him with a stool. (SOLDIER) blocked the stool and YANG, C grabbed him by the throat. YANG, C and (SOLDIER) then fell on the ground and YANG, S began kicking (SOLDIER). YANG, T grabbed (SOLDIER)� legs to hold him down and that�s when CATALDO (Witness #1, NFI) and SANTA-ANNA (Witness #2, NFI) were walking past and noticed the altercation. CATALDO reported the incident to the PMO. YANG, C was pinning (SOLDIER) to the floor by placing his knee into his neck area. GALATIA (Witness #3, NFI) noticed YANG, C having a metal box cutter in his hand.KNP responded to the incident and reported that there were no injuries.
Thank God he’s apparently OK. Meanwhile, this is what the people are reading in both Koreas.
It’s as if the South Park guys are custom making this movie just for me. Don’t expect to see this one on the marquis at Pyongyang. Hat tip: Budaechigae. More here.
Joe Katzman at Winds of Change put up a terrific post about this blog, if you’re interested. Thanks! My head is so swollen . . . .
It’s as if the South Park guys are custom making this movie just for me. Don’t expect to see this one on the marquis at Pyongyang. Hat tip: Budaechigae. More here.