Archive for May, 2005
Posted by Joshua Stanton on May 31, 2005 at 4:12 am · Filed under Anti-Americanism
Following the anti-North Korean rally on Friday, where the older generation called for a stronger ROK-U.S. alliance, South Korean students protested the presence of the U.S. military on the peninsula:
Thousands of South Korean students rallying Sunday against the U.S. military’s five-decade presence clashed with police after trying to enter the American base, and at least 12 people were injured and more than 20 were arrested. Demonstrators marched through Seoul before attempting to enter the main Yongsan U.S. military base in the city center. They called for the withdrawal of the 32,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. Demonstrators also gathered near the U.S. Embassy in downtown Seoul demanding talks with the ambassador.
If South Korean students mellow with age - like the anti-establishment American students of the 1960s have done - the longterm stability of the Korean Peninsula has a chance. If not, incompetent administrations (like the current one) will continue to allow a wedge to be driven between South Korea and the U.S.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on May 31, 2005 at 3:19 am · Filed under An Alliance?, Korean Politics
The protest path started near Itaewon, went by the main gates of Yongsan Post, and ended in front of the War Memorial across the road from the South Korean Department of Defense. There are 55 photos posted, these are most suggested; 1 (thumbs up!), 2, 5, 12, 21, 22, 23, 27 (torching a large Kim Jong-il doll head), 34, 45, & 53. Several protesters approached the photographer and described their hatred of Kim Jong-il, and the Noh Moo-hyun and Kim Dae-jung administrations. The also expressed their desire for North Korea to fall, and for the U.S. and South Korea to have stronger ties.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on May 30, 2005 at 3:13 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
This Memorial Day, I’m remembering two irreplaceable people we lost in Iraq, and the reasons for their sacrifice. May events there continue to validate their sacrifice; may we never come to believe that war is easy; may we never take our free and prosperous lives for granted.
Posted by joshua on May 30, 2005 at 10:13 am · Filed under Uncategorized
This Memorial Day, I’m remembering two irreplaceable people we lost in Iraq, and the reasons for their sacrifice. May events there continue to validate their sacrifice; may we never come to believe that war is easy; may we never take our free and prosperous lives for granted.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on May 28, 2005 at 4:48 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
The BBC reports that North Korea is again in danger of mass starvation:
The World Food Programme (WFP) has repeated its warning of a food crisis in North Korea and says the situation is getting worse by the day. The WFP regional director, Anthony Banbury, said contributions from overseas had all but dried up.
He said the organisation was having to cut handouts to some of those most in need. North Korea has depended on food aid from overseas for the last decade. But major donors have made no new contributions this year and the WFP is warning of disaster if they do not resume shipments. Mr Banbury said governments had expressed great frustration with North Korea’s actions, and the hostile atmosphere was making them reluctant to send more aid.
I certainly don’t favor cutting off donations to the very people the North Korean government is trying to exterminate as a way of pressuring their government. As Refugees International told us in this new report, the government continues to deprive the “hostile” class and those living in “closed” areas of even basis sustenance, all of which is distributed through the government’s distribution system. We should be aiding those people directly–with food, medicine, and if necessary, with guns. How unilateralist of me to say that. So if you still have faith that the U.N. and its multilateral approach can save these people, read on (and if you’re willing to engage in a token wringing of your hands but not a lift a finger to help these people, your place is here).
Can the U.N. and the WFP save these people? We’ve never had much confidence that the food was going to those who needed it. And as Marcus Noland recently pointed out, North Korea reacted to past increases of outside food aid by spending less of its own money on food aid and more on “commercial” imports.
Any guesses what those commercial imports might be?
Short of declaring a U.N. safe area in those closed areas and a no-fly zone to allow for humanitarian food drops, I’m not sure what to say. I realize that my argument for exactly that convinced almost no one, but at least consider it as a “nuclear option” to use against neighboring countries. If Kofi Annan were to visit the border region of China near North Korea as he finally did in Darfur today, it would be a major step toward increasing pressure on everyone. Yes, my faith in the U.N., limited as it is, runs right through the bottom of a leaky, rotten vessel. But a real possibility of a safe area on its soil might cause North Korea to even out food distribution among its classes and open up some closed areas. It might pressure China into opening some actual refugee camps. It might even shame South Korea into letting in a few more refugees.
Posted by joshua on May 28, 2005 at 11:48 am · Filed under Uncategorized
The BBC reports that North Korea is again in danger of mass starvation:
The World Food Programme (WFP) has repeated its warning of a food crisis in North Korea and says the situation is getting worse by the day. The WFP regional director, Anthony Banbury, said contributions from overseas had all but dried up.
He said the organisation was having to cut handouts to some of those most in need. North Korea has depended on food aid from overseas for the last decade. But major donors have made no new contributions this year and the WFP is warning of disaster if they do not resume shipments. Mr Banbury said governments had expressed great frustration with North Korea’s actions, and the hostile atmosphere was making them reluctant to send more aid.
I certainly don’t favor cutting off donations to the very people the North Korean government is trying to exterminate as a way of pressuring their government. As Refugees International told us in this new report, the government continues to deprive the “hostile” class and those living in “closed” areas of even basis sustenance, all of which is distributed through the government’s distribution system. We should be aiding those people directly–with food, medicine, and if necessary, with guns. How unilateralist of me to say that. So if you still have faith that the U.N. and its multilateral approach can save these people, read on (and if you’re willing to engage in a token wringing of your hands but not a lift a finger to help these people, your place is here).
Can the U.N. and the WFP save these people? We’ve never had much confidence that the food was going to those who needed it. And as Marcus Noland recently pointed out, North Korea reacted to past increases of outside food aid by spending less of its own money on food aid and more on “commercial” imports.
Any guesses what those commercial imports might be?
Short of declaring a U.N. safe area in those closed areas and a no-fly zone to allow for humanitarian food drops, I’m not sure what to say. I realize that my argument for exactly that convinced almost no one, but at least consider it as a “nuclear option” to use against neighboring countries. If Kofi Annan were to visit the border region of China near North Korea as he finally did in Darfur today, it would be a major step toward increasing pressure on everyone. Yes, my faith in the U.N., limited as it is, runs right through the bottom of a leaky, rotten vessel. But a real possibility of a safe area on its soil might cause North Korea to even out food distribution among its classes and open up some closed areas. It might pressure China into opening some actual refugee camps. It might even shame South Korea into letting in a few more refugees.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on May 27, 2005 at 6:37 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Europaische Gotterdammerung: Last week, it was Gerhard Schroeder. This week, it looks like Jacques Chirac’s turn to meet with a fateful disaster at the polls.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on May 27, 2005 at 6:25 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Japanese diplomats are in the Philippines investigating whether loggers found two World War II soldiers hiding out in the jungle.
Japan’s Kyodo News agency said the two may be Yoshio Yamakawa, 87, and Tsuzuki Nakauchi, 83. But the health ministry declined to confirm the report, saying they could not disclose any information until officials have identified them.
There are rumors of 40 more of them who are still hiding. You wonder how many years ago the people who loved them gave up on a scenario like this one. Before you tell me how misplaced my sympathy is, I realize the kind of things they may well have done during the war. These are old men; as with Charles Jenkins, I’m inclined to think that the circumstances of their survival ought to have been punishment enough.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on May 27, 2005 at 5:44 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
From today’s New York Times, via the AP:
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea dismissed reports it is preparing for a nuclear test as a U.S. ‘’fabrication,'’ raising hopes that the reclusive communist nation may be ready to return to the nuclear bargaining table.
With the statement late Thursday on Korean Central Television Station, the North’s only nationwide network, Pyongyang appeared to be inching back from the stalemate over its nuclear program that has taken on increasingly ominous tones.
So we dreamed all of this, apparently. Since it’s all a transparent “fabrication,” naturally the North wouldn’t mind letting a team of inspectors, including a competent mine geologist, tour the place and confirm that. And of course, it doesn’t exactly reassure us on the broader issue of the North’s nuclear ambitions, given this very recent statement:
“It is very natural for us to strengthen self-defensive nuclear deterrence to protect our people’s dignity and security.”
I’d actually been hoping they’d set the damned thing off. Still, I think the NYT’s gratuitous speculation that this foreshadows a return to the talks, much less any real progress there, is unjustified. It seems just as likely that the regime decided that continued intransigence was a much better idea than doing anything as hazardous as poking G.W. Bush with a sharp stick.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on May 27, 2005 at 5:38 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Nicholas Eberstadt has told South Korea exactly what it needs to hear, except the date on which the removal of our ground forces will be complete. A selection of the most interesting quotations and my thoughts here, on NKZone.
Posted by joshua on May 27, 2005 at 1:37 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Europaische Gotterdammerung: Last week, it was Gerhard Schroeder. This week, it looks like Jacques Chirac’s turn to meet with a fateful disaster at the polls.
Posted by joshua on May 27, 2005 at 1:25 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Japanese diplomats are in the Philippines investigating whether loggers found two World War II soldiers hiding out in the jungle.
Japan’s Kyodo News agency said the two may be Yoshio Yamakawa, 87, and Tsuzuki Nakauchi, 83. But the health ministry declined to confirm the report, saying they could not disclose any information until officials have identified them.
There are rumors of 40 more of them who are still hiding. You wonder how many years ago the people who loved them gave up on a scenario like this one. Before you tell me how misplaced my sympathy is, I realize the kind of things they may well have done during the war. These are old men; as with Charles Jenkins, I’m inclined to think that the circumstances of their survival ought to have been punishment enough.
Posted by joshua on May 27, 2005 at 1:25 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Japanese diplomats are in the Philippines investigating whether loggers found two World War II soldiers hiding out in the jungle.
Japan’s Kyodo News agency said the two may be Yoshio Yamakawa, 87, and Tsuzuki Nakauchi, 83. But the health ministry declined to confirm the report, saying they could not disclose any information until officials have identified them.
There are rumors of 40 more of them who are still hiding. You wonder how many years ago the people who loved them gave up on a scenario like this one. Before you tell me how misplaced my sympathy is, I realize the kind of things they may well have done during the war. These are old men; as with Charles Jenkins, I’m inclined to think that the circumstances of their survival ought to have been punishment enough.
Posted by joshua on May 27, 2005 at 12:44 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
From today’s New York Times, via the AP:
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea dismissed reports it is preparing for a nuclear test as a U.S. ‘’fabrication,'’ raising hopes that the reclusive communist nation may be ready to return to the nuclear bargaining table.
With the statement late Thursday on Korean Central Television Station, the North’s only nationwide network, Pyongyang appeared to be inching back from the stalemate over its nuclear program that has taken on increasingly ominous tones.
So we dreamed all of this, apparently. Since it’s all a transparent “fabrication,” naturally the North wouldn’t mind letting a team of inspectors, including a competent mine geologist, tour the place and confirm that. And of course, it doesn’t exactly reassure us on the broader issue of the North’s nuclear ambitions, given this very recent statement:
“It is very natural for us to strengthen self-defensive nuclear deterrence to protect our people’s dignity and security.”
I’d actually been hoping they’d set the damned thing off. Still, I think the NYT’s gratuitous speculation that this foreshadows a return to the talks, much less any real progress there, is unjustified. It seems just as likely that the regime decided that continued intransigence was a much better idea than doing anything as hazardous as poking G.W. Bush with a sharp stick.
Posted by joshua on May 27, 2005 at 12:38 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Nicholas Eberstadt has told South Korea exactly what it needs to hear, except the date on which the removal of our ground forces will be complete. A selection of the most interesting quotations and my thoughts here, on NKZone.
·
Next entries »
