Archive for April, 2005
Posted by joshua on April 30, 2005 at 9:51 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Here is a link to events in Washington–thanks to Suzanne Scholte. Events in Seoul–thanks to Dr. Norbert Vollertsen. And for those of you everywhere else, including the fellow red-staters out there, we need your help, too.
UPDATE 1: Just got word that LiNK is protesting at the South Korean U.N. Mission tomorrow at 1 P.M. Details. I think Adrian’s smart to do this before the South Korean bi-elections. There’s a fine tactical mind behind that apparent Harold-or-Kumar ordinariness. Plus, South Korea has a lower threshhold for shame than China.
UPDATE 2: I’m off to listen to escaped South Korean POWs describe 50-odds years of captivity in the North. I’ll have a post this afternoon.
UPDATE 3: My observations from hearing the two escaped South Korean POWs here. The former POWs were captured in 1951 and 1953, and escaped in 1995 and 2000, respectively. They were brought here to speak to congressional aides, diplomats, and other guests by the Defense Forum Foundation. The event took place at the Rayburn House Office Building on April 22nd.
Update-Within-an-Update: In a completely different context, the Chosun Ilbo wonders, “Can We Ask Soldiers to Die for Such a Country?” The question is brought on by the emigration of the widow of one of six South Korean sailors killed in a naval battle with the North in 2002. Her plaintive departing comment: “If the indifference and inhospitality shown to those soldiers who were killed or wounded protecting the nation continue, what soldier will lay down his life in the battlefield?” In today’s South Korea, those who die defending the country from the North can expect a quick pro-forma remembrance attended by low-level officials. The USFK Commander sent condolences; meanwhile, the South Korean government actually asked the families to please mourn quietly. Sheesh.
UPDATE 4: Well, it looks like great minds do think alike. Photos of LiNK’s protests at the South Korean U.N. Mission here. I especially love the one that says “22 million people > Tokdo.”
UPDATE 5: Wow! The BBC reports that 6,000 Japanese have protested against North Korea. While I’m trying to confirm that this is NKFW-related, I strongly suspect it is. The main Japanese NGO pushing NK issues is Life Funds for North Korean Refugees, which is well-connected to other NGOs in the United States and South Korea that have closely coordinated their protest efforts. The father of one abductee actually spoke at last year’s NK Freedom Day rally at the Capitol Building.
UPDATE 6 (4/27): Just–and I mean, just–got this message from Norbert Vollertsen in Seoul. I realize there’s not much advance notice here, given the time difference . . . .
On April 28, 2005, at 12:00, there will be 2nd worldwide protests in front of Chinese embassies and consulates all over the world. Please contact us so that we can connect you to other organizations that are planning to protest. We also welcome one-man demonstrations, as each voice is a valuable one in this important effort [!]. Please let us know your name, your organization, city, and country to protest (both in Korean and/or English)
Contact info: Tel: 82-505-255-2332. Fax: 82-505-211-5119
Email: nkcampaign@yahoo.com, site here
Bracketed exclamation mine.
Update 7 (4/27): Rabbi Cooper joins us. HT: Barry Brigs of NKZone.
Update 8 (4/29): My reports on the demonstration at the Chinese Embassy, here.
Update 9 (4/29): Some news coverage:
- Kyodo News, on the April 28th demonstration.
- The Chosun Ilbo and the Voice of America, on this week’s House hearings on the North Korean Human Rights Act. Thanks to Doug Anderson of the House International Relations Committee for the link to the prepared statements preceding the testimony. I hope to have more detailed comments later.
- The Associated Press, on the North Korean exile organization’s press conference. The story received fairly wide circulation in major papers, including Reuters, the Boston Globe and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
- Kyodo again, this time on a resolution by Rep. Tom Tancredo (R, Colo.) opposing holding the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and which includes some strong language:
Congress calls on the committee to change the venue of the Olympics in Beijing to other countries “unless China makes significant progress in ending human rights abuses,” according to the resolution.
Six human rights violations that China is required to halt are identified, including “violent” persecution of North Korean refugees, its one-child policy which results in forced abortions and sterilizations, and intimidation of Taiwan’s citizens. China is also called on to release humanitarian workers that it has jailed.
If the Beijing Olympics are held, the resolution says, the IOC will have made the same “horrible miscalculation” as it did over the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which “the Nazi propaganda machine proudly and arrogantly flaunted” as an example of the leadership of Hitler and the Nazis. The resolution also said it would be “the same mistake” as was made over the 1980 Moscow Olympics, which was held after the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan and led Japan, the United States and many other nations to boycott the games.
Update 10 (4/30): Comments on the Washington debut of the Exile Committee for North Korean Democracy here.
Coming Soon: A progress report on the one-year anniversary of the North Korean Human Rights Act. Congress held hearings, and I’m still wading through the testimony, which was extensive.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on April 30, 2005 at 5:20 am · Filed under Uncategorized
From the Yomiuri Shimbun:
The Japanese government will demand that the issue of North Korea’s nuclear arms development be addressed at the U.N. Security Council if Pyongyang continues to refuse to participate in six-way talks on the topic, The Yomiuri Shimbun learned Thursday.
It also was learned that Japan, the United States and South Korea will hold a meeting of high-level officials in May over the process to bring the case to the United Nations.
In a meeting Wednesday night in Tokyo, Kenichiro Sasae, director general of the Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Bureau, and his U.S. counterpart, Christopher Hill, agreed on the need to consider an “alternative” to the six-way talks if Pyongyang does not return to the negotiating table in the near future.
So far, however, Japan isn’t saying it backs sanctions.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on April 30, 2005 at 5:09 am · Filed under Uncategorized
The trade pressure on China appears to be building.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on April 30, 2005 at 4:59 am · Filed under Uncategorized
This year’s listing appears to be based primarily on past events:
Although North Korea, formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), is not known to have sponsored any terrorist acts since the bombing of a Korean Airlines flight in 1987, it did in 2002 admit to kidnapping Japanese citizens.
And, even though the DPRK is a party to six international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism, “Pyongyang has not taken substantial steps to cooperate in efforts to combat international terrorism,” the report says.
I wonder if anyone in our State Department read this report, or this one.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on April 30, 2005 at 4:56 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Maurice Strong Update: Kofi Annan’s resigned-and-disgraced Special Envoy for North Korea hired his own stepdaughter, in violation of U.N. rules.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on April 30, 2005 at 3:52 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Coincidence? Having remained fairly silent on the North Korea Human Rights issue, President Bush had some direct words for the North, on this of all weeks:
U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday poured oil on the flames by again calling North Korean leader Kim Jong-il a “tyrant”. He also said Kim was a “dangerous person” with “huge concentration camps” who “starves his people” and “threatens and brags.”
Saying that George W. Bush “poured oil on the flames” is a lot like saying that Ken Starr disgraced the presidency. No doubt the North’s intransigence on disarmament talks cleared the way for these comments. It’s another sign that Bush appears to have had it with North Korea.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on April 30, 2005 at 2:44 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Soccer Riot Update: To no one’s astonishment, the North Korea-Japan game won’t take place in Pyongyang after all. It will be held in a third country with no fans present. The North Koreans were fined 20,000 Swiss francs, which is probably enough to buy you nice, hot cup of cocoa or a shiny new cowbell. Here’s a first-hand report.
The Iranians got written up, too:
FIFA also fined the Iranian football federation 30,000 francs ($31,665 Cdn) for crowd disturbances after its March 26 match against Japan. Five people were crushed to death and 40 others injured in a stampede.
Those Iranian soccer riots, by the way, are the subject of intense interest outside Iran. Some reports from inside Iran suggest that they weren’t just an apolitical episode of sports violence. Regime Change Iran has more.
Maybe FIFA should join forces with the IAEA and fine them each one reactor.
Update: Heh. Blame those “wicked” referees.
Posted by joshua on April 30, 2005 at 12:20 am · Filed under Uncategorized
From the Yomiuri Shimbun:
The Japanese government will demand that the issue of North Korea’s nuclear arms development be addressed at the U.N. Security Council if Pyongyang continues to refuse to participate in six-way talks on the topic, The Yomiuri Shimbun learned Thursday.
It also was learned that Japan, the United States and South Korea will hold a meeting of high-level officials in May over the process to bring the case to the United Nations.
In a meeting Wednesday night in Tokyo, Kenichiro Sasae, director general of the Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Bureau, and his U.S. counterpart, Christopher Hill, agreed on the need to consider an “alternative” to the six-way talks if Pyongyang does not return to the negotiating table in the near future.
So far, however, Japan isn’t saying it backs sanctions.
Posted by joshua on April 30, 2005 at 12:09 am · Filed under Uncategorized
The trade pressure on China appears to be building.
Posted by joshua on April 29, 2005 at 11:59 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
This year’s listing appears to be based primarily on past events:
Although North Korea, formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), is not known to have sponsored any terrorist acts since the bombing of a Korean Airlines flight in 1987, it did in 2002 admit to kidnapping Japanese citizens.
And, even though the DPRK is a party to six international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism, “Pyongyang has not taken substantial steps to cooperate in efforts to combat international terrorism,” the report says.
I wonder if anyone in our State Department read this report, or this one.
Posted by joshua on April 29, 2005 at 11:56 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Maurice Strong Update: Kofi Annan’s resigned-and-disgraced Special Envoy for North Korea hired his own stepdaughter, in violation of U.N. rules.
Posted by joshua on April 29, 2005 at 10:52 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Coincidence? Having remained fairly silent on the North Korea Human Rights issue, President Bush had some direct words for the North, on this of all weeks:
U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday poured oil on the flames by again calling North Korean leader Kim Jong-il a “tyrant”. He also said Kim was a “dangerous person” with “huge concentration camps” who “starves his people” and “threatens and brags.”
Saying that George W. Bush “poured oil on the flames” is a lot like saying that Ken Starr disgraced the presidency. No doubt the North’s intransigence on disarmament talks cleared the way for these comments. It’s another sign that Bush appears to have had it with North Korea.
Posted by joshua on April 29, 2005 at 10:52 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Coincidence? Having remained fairly silent on the North Korea Human Rights issue, President Bush had some direct words for the North, on this of all weeks:
U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday poured oil on the flames by again calling North Korean leader Kim Jong-il a “tyrant”. He also said Kim was a “dangerous person” with “huge concentration camps” who “starves his people” and “threatens and brags.”
Saying that George W. Bush “poured oil on the flames” is a lot like saying that Ken Starr disgraced the presidency. No doubt the North’s intransigence on disarmament talks cleared the way for these comments. It’s another sign that Bush appears to have had it with North Korea.
Posted by joshua on April 29, 2005 at 9:44 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Soccer Riot Update: To no one’s astonishment, the North Korea-Japan game won’t take place in Pyongyang after all. It will be held in a third country with no fans present. The North Koreans were fined 20,000 Swiss francs, which is probably enough to buy you nice, hot cup of cocoa or a shiny new cowbell. Here’s a first-hand report.
The Iranians got written up, too:
FIFA also fined the Iranian football federation 30,000 francs ($31,665 Cdn) for crowd disturbances after its March 26 match against Japan. Five people were crushed to death and 40 others injured in a stampede.
Those Iranian soccer riots, by the way, are the subject of intense interest outside Iran. Some reports from inside Iran suggest that they weren’t just an apolitical episode of sports violence. Regime Change Iran has more.
Maybe FIFA should join forces with the IAEA and fine them each one reactor.
Update: Heh. Blame those “wicked” referees.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on April 28, 2005 at 3:50 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Kristof: You’re e-mailing me and wondering where the fisking is. The answer is, “it’s on the way.” I’m fighting above my weight, and the man reads and links NKZone (and I can thank him for that without agreeing with a thing he says).
Thanks for the comments, and please keep them coming. I will make use of them and give due credit. There’s very little time this week.
Update: I’m not sure how much work I need to do now that James Chen’s devastation is wrought. This, you must read. Now, you must read it.
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