http://www.freekorea.us One Free Korea analyzes North Korea, South Korea, and the region, including human rights, diplomacy, politics, military affairs, and publishes ground-breaking Google Earth imagery of North Korea's concentration camps, famine grave sites, and military sites. It is read by lawmakers, journalists, activists, and scholars worldwide. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:45:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Kang Chol Hwan thinks that Kim Jong Il's address to a mass rally in Hamhung -- that is, if you're convinced he really did address that rally --means that His Withering Majesty is determined to resist any reform of the system. That part of what Kang says is obvious ... http://www.freekorea.us/2010/03/11/kang-chol-hwan-on-hamhung-2/ The defection of those two loggers at the South Korean consulate in Vladivostok inspires further thought from Claudia Rosett: I've seen those North Korean lumberjacks--or at least their predecessors. In 1994 I was working as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal in Moscow when a story turned up in the ... http://www.freekorea.us/2010/03/11/claudia-rosett-on-north-korean-loggers-in-russia/ Something tells me the Putinjugend Nashi web site isn't going to feature, by popular demand, this newly released 1945 report by a Soviet Lieutenant Colonel who drove through Hwanghae and North and South Pyongyan provinces just after the war's end. The officer's detailed, 13-page report on the behavior of ... http://www.freekorea.us/2010/03/10/newly-released-soviet-report-details-atrocities-in-north-korea/ This week's papers have several disturbing indicators suggesting that a sudden deterioration of the food situation is in the works. First was this report that even shops and hotels for foreigners in Pyongyang had run out of food; then, Robert linked to a report that kids can now seen ... http://www.freekorea.us/2010/03/10/bleak-signs-for-north-koreas-food-situation/ Thirty American victims of Hezbollah terror attacks have filed civil action in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., against the government of North Korea. The plaintiffs, injured by Hezbollah rockets fired into northern Israel during the Second Lebanon War in 2006, allege that North Korea aided the militant ... http://www.freekorea.us/2010/03/10/yet-another-lawsuit-against-north-korea-in-a-us-court/ Have you voted for LiNK today? ________________________ Not for the first time, China has announced that it has leased part of the North Korean port at Rajin, a move that would give China's rust belt access to the Pacific. I'm just not going to find the time to write ... http://www.freekorea.us/2010/03/09/10-march-2010/ I'm going to add just one small bit to the fracas between the Korean Finance Ministry and two reporters with whose work I'm familiar -- Don Kirk and Evan Ramstad. As to the questions themselves, sometimes, the function of a good reporter is to challenge official groupthink and corruption, ... http://www.freekorea.us/2010/03/09/blasphemy-in-the-temple-thoughts-on-ramstad-kirk-and-the-finance-ministry/ Surely even the most determined opponent of the Iraq War would agree that this is a far better way for a war to end than this, or this. It's not quite over, of course, but there's no reason for it to go on. No one in Iraq wants ... http://www.freekorea.us/2010/03/08/all-wars-should-end-like-this/ The fact that Japan has its own Roh Moo Hyun now is both more and less troubling than Roh's own presidency. On the one hand, Hatoyama wasn't elected on a wave of anti-Americanism, but because voters were understandably tired of one-party rule. If Hatoyama doesn't improve conditions in ... http://www.freekorea.us/2010/03/08/9737/ I'm not sure of what the story is, or why Pepsi's site used to say, "Voting ends on February 28th," and now says, "Voting ends on March 31st," but LiNK confirms they're still in the running for $250K. I suppose that means I'll have to fix that button and ... http://www.freekorea.us/2010/03/08/the-link-pepsi-contest-isnt-over-after-all/ So Operations Key Resolve and Foal Eagle have started again. I boldly predict that this year, as has been the case for each year for the many decades we've had troops stationed in South Korea, the exercise will not end with an American invasion of North Korea. Just ... http://www.freekorea.us/2010/03/08/north-korea-re-re-declares-war-threatens-mercilless-physical-force-and-wants-a-peace-treaty/ The AP is reporting that Pakistani security forces have captured Scummy Hippie Traitor Number One, Adam Gadahn, in Karachi. Grain of salt: this, from Pakistani sources, which don't have a terribly good record for reliability. And in related news, there's some sweet red-on-red fighting reported in eastern Afghanistan, with the forces ... http://www.freekorea.us/2010/03/07/waterboard-him-on-pay-per-view/ Starting yesterday, several news outlets had reported that North Korea had released recent video of Kim Jong Il appearing in Hamhung to mark the re-opening of a textile factory in Hamhung, but to my intense aggravation, none provided a link to the actual video. YouTube, however, does not disappoint: The ... http://www.freekorea.us/2010/03/07/purported-video-of-kim-jong-il-commemorating-reopening-of-suspected-chemical-weapons-plant-2/ North Koreans, it seems, didn't really feel much like celebrating on February 16th: One person was killed by armed guards on Feb. 16 when a group of people attempted to rob a food train at Komusan Railway Station in Puryong-gun, North Hamgyong Province, defector group North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity said. The ... http://www.freekorea.us/2010/03/06/food-riot-reported-near-camp-12-north-korea/ Update: The Incredible HUK drops a link to this English language piece in the Chosun Ilbo. __________________________________ For now, there's only this Korean language link. There isn't much detail to add. The report didn't go into detail, stating only that it was too horrible to describe in detail, ... http://www.freekorea.us/2010/03/06/report-robert-park-sexually-tortured-in-north-korea/