http://www.freekorea.us One Free Korea analyzes North Korea, South Korea, and the region, including human rights, diplomacy, politics, military affairs, and satellite imagery analysis of sites including North Korea's prison camps. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:29:13 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Things sure aren't looking too good in Egypt these days. I can't say I'm terribly surprised by this. For decades, the true character of its society lay latent behind the veil of a dictator friendly to our interests, who mouthed words we like to hear about moving toward ... http://www.freekorea.us/2012/02/03/why-we-should-support-the-syrian-opposition-in-spite-of-everything-we-know/ This is a little old now, but I haven't seen anyone else talking about it, so I will. The U.N. has launched an investigation into an attempted shipment of chemical weapons reagents and protective suits to Syria, a close ally of Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah, and whose government gave ... http://www.freekorea.us/2012/01/30/north-korea-shipped-chemical-reagents-to-syria-possibly-via-china/ Maybe the Associated Press's new vocation as a propaganda outlet for North Korea has a brighter side than I'd originally realized. Today, the AP brings us what must be the worst photo op ever, a barracks inspection by Kim Jong Eun. Where to begin? The unwittingly (I think) subversive ... http://www.freekorea.us/2012/01/27/jabba-the-kim-among-the-ewoks-or-worst-photo-op-ever/ Rather than spoon-feed you the parts that interest me, I'll just link to this, this, and this and let you read and judge for yourself. You may also find this related article by Scott Snyder interesting. My reaction on reading these excerpts? Disappointment, mostly. Few of Jong Nam's ... http://www.freekorea.us/2012/01/26/grafs-from-the-new-kim-jong-nam-book/ So says the Daily NK of recent events in the northeastern city of Chongjin, a frequent venue for reports of anti-government sentiment: A source in North Hamgyung Province told Daily NK on January 19, “During the mourning period, one official from the provincial NSA, one from the prosecutor’s office and two ... http://www.freekorea.us/2012/01/25/north-koreans-killing-secret-police/ The Daily NK writes about "The High Price of Idolatry:" We should perhaps remember with great concern the time when Kim Jong Il used $900 million to both permanently preserve Kim Il Sung’s body and then create Keumsusan Memorial Palace to keep it in. It is no simple task to ... http://www.freekorea.us/2012/01/21/anju-january-21-2012/ The dalliance between the Associated Press and the Korean Central News Agency, the world's most mendacious news agency, has already fathered the global distribution of doctored photographs and some awfully dubious journalism by its correspondent, Jean H. Lee -- and transmitted all of it to hundreds of millions of news ... http://www.freekorea.us/2012/01/20/global-news-agency-being-held-hostage-in-north-korea/ There isn't much to say about this that I haven't already said so many times that I'm tired of saying it: North Korea on Wednesday signaled a willingness to freeze its uranium enrichment program in exchange for “confidence-building” incentives from the United States such as a suspension of sanctions and a ... http://www.freekorea.us/2012/01/19/agreed-framework-iii-watch/ This video ostensibly depicts North Koreans hysterically mourning a monster who terrorized, starved, and murdered millions of his subjects. This particular clip has accumulated more than seven million YouTube views. Videos like it have produced reels of bemused speculation in America. The near-universal reaction found this in ... http://www.freekorea.us/2012/01/13/why-they-weep/ NORTH KOREA PERESTROIKA WATCH: State media claims that Kim Jong Eun could drive at age three, which is simply precious. Once, when my own son was three, he made a very spirited argument that I should let him drive us all home from Old Town Alexandria to Maryland. ... http://www.freekorea.us/2012/01/12/january-12-2012/ The Donga Ilbo publishes a very interesting study finding that North Korea's economy has contracted recent years, mostly due to the loss of South Korean aid and the effect of sanctions: South Korean assistance to the North surged to raise the indicator to a high of 236.9 in ... http://www.freekorea.us/2012/01/11/north-koreas-economy-contracts-despite-chinese-sanctions-busting/ Here's something else the consumers of Selig Harrison's next op-ed should try not to remember: North Korea on Wednesday upped its rhetoric against South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, branding him as a "pro-U.S. fascist maniac" and "chieftain of evils without an equal in the world" in view of ... http://www.freekorea.us/2012/01/09/north-korea-perestroika-watch/ So those North Korean coup rumors probably aren't true, but when it comes to North Korea, it can be weeks before we know what small grain of truth led to the rumors.  Chico Harlan of the Washington Post must feel at least a little sheepish having to pass along those ... http://www.freekorea.us/2012/01/06/january-6-2012/ The death of Kim Jong Il, while a joyous occasion on a metaphysical level, has generated little enthusiasm to curb (though I can't fail to mention that Ban Ki Moon saw fit to lower the U.N. flag to half-staff for a mass murderer who flagrantly defied so many U.N. resolutions). Recognizing ... http://www.freekorea.us/2012/01/03/consistency-or-worse/ Yet again, KCNA, the world's least reputable news agency, has been caught providing a foreign news agency with a doctored photo, and said foreign news agency went to print with it and had to kill it. The alteration is not dramatic; instead, it is so casual as to suggest that ... http://www.freekorea.us/2011/12/30/kcna-caught-doctoring-photos-again/