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Monthly Archive: September, 2011

September 25, 2011

Al-Kibar Redux

There’s nothing more I really care to say about what we should have done about the North Korean-built nuclear reactor at Al-Kibar in Syria, which Israel destroyed in a September 2009 air strike. This was a matter of some temporary inconvenience to Chris Hill’s efforts (abetted by the President and Secretary of State) to sell us a shiny, pre-owned agreed framework, complete with rust-proofing and warranty. Recently, however, Dick Cheney’s memoir has revived that debate. Michael Anton, writing in The...

Categories Axis of Evil/Diplomacy/Missiles/Proliferation/U.S. Politics/WMD
September 18, 2011

North Korea’s New Terror Wave

You probably heard somewhere that President Bush removed North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism on October 11, 2008, to reward it for promising to completely, verifiably, and irreversibly give up its nuclear weapons. You probably also know that I did not favor this decision, to put it mildly. First, North Korea never acknowledged or apologized for its past and continuing acts of state-directed terrorism, such as the abduction and murder of Rev. Kim Dong Shik, its...

Categories Terrorism (NK)
September 13, 2011

It’s Kyl

Looks like my question has been answered: The U.S. State Department is trying to persuade a senior Republican senator to lift a hold on the confirmation of Sung Kim, the nominee to become a new ambassador to South Korea, congressional sources said Monday. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), assistant minority leader in the Senate, has been blocking the confirmation process for more than a month, according to the sources. He is known as a staunch conservative on foreign policy. [….] “Sen. Kyl...

Categories Diplomacy/U.S. Politics
September 6, 2011

Open Sources: International Protest Against China’s Repatriation of N. Korean Refugees, September 22nd

The North Korean Freedom Coalition is organizing a wave of international protests for September 22nd. The protests will occur in front of Chinese embassies and consulates in 12 different countries, including Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo, but also Sydney, Brussels, Prague, Tallinn, Helsinki, Mexico City, Warsaw, Busan, Bucharest, Kiev, London, Dublin, Chicago, Houston, New York, Chicago, L.A., and San Francisco. If your city isn’t listed there and happens to have a ChiCom consulate, it’s not too late to become an organizer....

Categories Anju Links