Seasons in the Kingdom
Monday, December 31, 2012
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Juicy Bars & Human Trafficking: South Korea
Connect to an article from Stars & Stripes for an interesting piece on the current state of prostitution and bar life in Korea. A life that depends in great measure on trafficking women into South Korea from central Asia and also from the Phillipines. HERE
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Friday, November 23, 2012
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
Polypragmonic
Polypragmonic
Read this...very fun play on the word and also on the responders after the initial essay...
Read this...very fun play on the word and also on the responders after the initial essay...
Friday, October 26, 2012
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Purges in North Korea
Purges
N. Korean leader dismissed, purged 31 ranking officials after appointment as heir: lawmaker
SEOUL, Oct. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has dismissed or purged 31 senior officials including the former chief of the military's general staff since being anointed heir to his father and longtime leader Kim Jong-il in 2010, a South Korean lawmaker claimed Tuesday.
The younger Kim, who took power after his father's death last December, dismissed four members of the Central Military Commission of the North's ruling Workers' Party in September 2010, and purged 27 other ranking officials between 2011 and 2012, according to Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the South's ruling Saenuri Party.
"Kim Jong-un is purging senior officials who are becoming an obstacle to his grip on power, performing poorly or expressing their dissatisfaction, according to his needs," Yoon said in a news release.
Among those purged were Vice Marshal Ri Yong-ho, the former chief of the military's general staff who was abruptly relieved of all of his posts in July; Ryu Kyong, a senior intelligence official; and Kim Chol, a senior defense official, the lawmaker said.
Ryu was executed in January 2011 on charges of espionage, while Kim, the defense official, was executed in January of this year on charges of drinking and engaging in other entertainment during the country's mourning period for the late leader, he added.
"It appears that Kim Jong-un will continue to purge and dismiss ranking officials for some time as he consolidates his grip on power," Yoon said.
hague@yna.co.kr
North Korea Threats against South Korean Activists
S. Korean military on high alert after N.K. threats to strike border area
By Kim Eun-jungSEOUL/PAJU, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's military is on high alert Monday after North Korea threatened to strike a border area if anti-Pyongyang activists fly propaganda leaflets from there into the communist nation later in the day.
The Fighters for Free North Korea, a civic group composed of North Korean defectors, plan to send 200,000 leaflets by balloons from Imjingak near the Demilitarized Zone at 11 a.m despite drizzling rain, according to the event organizer, Park Sang-hak.
It is not clear whether the activists will be able to hold the event as planned, as the military and police have banned civilian entry into Imjingak since 8:40 a.m., including tourists, residents and journalists.
They will lift the restriction after the situation is deemed over, according to officials.
On Friday, North Korea said its army will launch a "merciless military strike" if any move to drop leaflets is detected. South Korea's defense minister reacted swiftly, saying his military is prepared to "completely destroy" the origin of a North Korean attack if it occurs.
"Our military units near Imjingak are maintaining readiness to immediately return artillery fire," a senior military official said, asking for anonymity, as he is not allowed to talk about military information. "We are closely watching the North Korean military's movements."
The South Korean military has stepped up combat readiness by deploying artillery and tank brigades and combat air patrols by F-15K and KF-16, according to the official.
The North Korean threat came a day after South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak made a surprise visit to the front-line island of Yeonpyeong in the tensely guarded Yellow Sea, which was shelled nearly two years ago by the long-time rival.
Civic groups in the South have sent anti-Pyongyang leaflets in the past, but the communist state's unusually strong threat of an attack is the first since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un succeeded his father Kim Jong-il last December.
Pyongyang has condemned the leaflet drop as psychological warfare and an attempt to topple its communist regime, warning it could ignite a war on the Korean Peninsula, though it did not actually launch an attack.
The two Koreas still remain technically at war, as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
Monday, October 22, 2012
Looking for Work in Kabul
Afghan police say man killed wife for wanting job
By | Associated Press – 4 hrs ago
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A man in a western Afghan city has confessed to stabbing his wife to death to prevent her from taking a job outside the home, police said Monday.
Mohammad Anwar, who was arrested in the provincial capital for the murder, said he killed his wife during an argument over whether she should work at private company in the city, Herat province police spokesman Noor Khan Nekzad said.
The woman's relatives disputed the account, saying her husband was a drug addict who killed his wife because she refused to give him money.
The killing comes less than two weeks after a woman was beheaded in the same city for refusing alleged demands by her in-laws to engage in prostitution.
Human rights activists say they are worried such incidents will become more common as Western forces who helped women gain rights in the conservative country draw down. Under Taliban rule, women were banned from leaving the home unless they had a male relative as an escort and wore a burqa robe that covered their faces and bodies.
Despite guaranteed rights and progressive new laws, the U.N. still ranks Afghanistan as one of the world's worst countries when it comes to women's rights.
The Taliban's treatment of women has been thrust back into the headlines this month with the shooting of a 15-year-old schoolgirl in neighboring Pakistan. The militants said they targeted the girl because she was an outspoken opponent of the group and promoted "Western thinking," such as girls' education.
Girls' schools have flourished in Afghanistan in particular in the years since the 2001 ouster of the Taliban, primarily funded by the U.S. and other Western donors.
There were conflicting accounts of what led to the fight between Mohammad Anwar and his wife Gulsom.
Gulsom's brother, Ghulam Sarwar, said his sister's husband had just returned from Iran and was pressing her to hand over money that she had earned weaving carpets and which she needed to support their two children. Sarwar said the two got into an argument and she fled the house. He followed her to her parents' house and then went after her with a knife.
The couple's two children — an 11-year-old daughter and a 7-year-old boy — have been taken in by Gulsom's parents, Sarwar said.
The victim's mother was shown on Afghan television crying and accusing her son-in-law of trying to sell her daughter's children for drug money. She witnessed the murder but said she had no way of stopping it.
"My daughter was killed in front of my eyes," said the sobbing Zahra, who family members said only went by one name.
Women's rights activists have already been up in arms in Herat after the Oct. 9 killing of a young woman named Mah Gul who was allegedly being forced into prostitution.
Police arrested Mah Gul's mother-in-law Pari Gul and her 18-year old cousin Najib, after the murder. Mabuba Jamshidi, head of the provincial women's affairs department, said that Najib had confessed to beheading the victim after she refused to perform "immoral acts."
____
Associated Press Writer Heidi Vogt contributed to this report in Kabul.
Rocky Road Ahead
The Coming Collapse: Authoritarians in China and Russia Face an Endgame
Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, China and Russia have been constants in the world. They have been autocratic, resistant to the spread of freedom, occasionally belligerent toward their neighbors, and increasingly prosperous. They have consistently joined together in order to block Western initiatives in the UN Security Council and to defend dictatorships like Iran, North Korea, and Syria.
The two countries have created the illusion of durability. Vladimir Putin has just begun a six-year presidential term, with an option for another. Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao are planning to hand over power in October to a new tandem, Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, who are expected to serve for ten years. Yet the evidence is growing that the apparent stability in Russia and China is untenable. For similar reasons, the two states have exhausted their current political and economic systems. Their rulers have grown rigid and are mired in corruption. Both their political elites and their average citizens are growing visibly restless. In the next decade, it is likely that one or both of these global powers will undergo an economic crisis and a dramatic political transformation. When and how it will happen is the most important “known unknown” that Barack Obama or Mitt Romney will face during the next US presidential term.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
The Libya Lie - VDH (Hansen)
Go here for full article.
In a recent note at this blog, I commented about my feeling that our government was lying to the country about the recent debacle in Libya. Here is a more comprehensive look at the past two years by an important American historian, Victor David Hansen.
In a recent note at this blog, I commented about my feeling that our government was lying to the country about the recent debacle in Libya. Here is a more comprehensive look at the past two years by an important American historian, Victor David Hansen.
Almost everything we have been told about Libya over the last two years is untrue.
A free Libya was supposed to be proof of President Obama’s
enlightened “reset” Middle East policy. When insurgency broke out there,
the United States joined France and Great Britain in bombing Moammar
Qaddafi out of power — and supposedly empowering a democratic Arab
Spring regime. Not a single American life was lost.Libyans, like most in the Arab world, were supposed to appreciate the new, enlightened American foreign policy. Obama’s June 2009 Cairo speech had praised Islam and apologized for the West. A new “lead from behind” multilateralism was said to have superseded George W. Bush’s neo-imperialist interventions of the past. To keep that shining message viable until the November election, the Obama administration and the media had been willing to overlook or mischaracterize all sorts of disturbing events. We had asked for a United Nations resolution for humanitarian aid and a no-fly zone to intervene in Libya, but then deliberately exceeded it by bombing Qaddafi’s forces — after bypassing the U.S. Congress in favor of a go-ahead from the Arab League. Libya was not so much liberated as descending into the chaos of tribal payback. Former Qaddafi supporters and African mercenaries were executed by those we helped. Islamists began consolidating power, desecrating a British military cemetery and driving out Westerners. On the eleventh anniversary of 9/11, a radical Islamist hit team with heavy weapons stormed the American consulate in Benghazi, killing Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. In response, White House press secretary Jay Carney, National Intelligence Director James Clapper, and U.N. ambassador Susan Rice desperately insisted that the murders were a one-time, ad hoc demonstration gone awry, without much larger significance. Supposedly, a few Muslim outliers — inflamed over one American’s anti-Islamic Internet video — had overreacted and stormed the consulate. Such anger was “natural,” assured the president. But why would furor over an obscure, months-old Internet video just happen to coincide with the 9/11 anniversary attack? Do demonstrators customarily bring along rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, and heavy machine guns? Why did the Libyan government attribute the killings to an al-Qaeda affiliate when the Obama administration would not? Forget those questions: For most of September, desperate administration officials still clung to the myth that the Libyan catastrophe was a result of a single obnoxious video. At the United Nations, the president castigated the uncouth film. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lamented the senseless spontaneous violence that grew out of one American’s excesses, as she spoke beside the returning coffins of the slain Americans. Nonetheless, more disturbing facts kept emerging: Ambassador Stevens repeatedly had warned his State Department superiors in vain of impending Islamist violence. Security personnel — to no avail — had also urged beefing up the protection of the consulate, prompting former regional security officer Eric Nordstrom to say in exasperation that “the Taliban is on the inside of the building.” Video of the attack revealed that there had been no demonstration at all, but rather a full-fledged terrorist assault. Even as the fantasy of a spur-of-the-moment demonstration dissipated, administration officials tried to salvage it — and with it their idealistic policy in the Middle East. Vice President Joe Biden told a flat-out whopper in last week’s debate, saying the administration hadn’t been informed that Americans in Libya had ever requested more security. He scapegoated the intelligence agencies for supposedly failing to warn the administration of the threat. The new administration narrative faulted not one video, but the intelligence community for misleading them about the threat of an al-Qaeda hit on an American consulate — and the Romney campaign for demanding answers about a slain ambassador and his associates. Meanwhile, the State Department, the Obama reelection team, and the intelligence community were all pointing fingers at each other. What the Obama administration could not concede was the truth: The lead-from-behind intervention in Libya had proved a blueprint for nothing. Libya had descended into chaos. Radical Islam had either subverted or hijacked the Arab Spring. Al-Qaeda was not dismantled by the death of bin Laden or by the stepped-up drone assassination missions in Pakistan. Egypt was becoming Islamist. Syria was a bloody mess. Iran was on the way to becoming nuclear. Obama had won America no more good will in the Middle East than had prior presidents. In other words, the administration’s entire experience in Libya — and in most of the Middle East in general — has been a bright and shining lie. — Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and the author, most recently, of The End of Sparta. You can reach him by e-mailing author@victorhanson.com. © 2012 Tribune Media Services, Inc. |
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
HumanTrafficking.org
South Korea - Human Trafficking
The Situation
The Republic of Korea (ROK or South Korea) is a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking of men and women subjected to forced prostitution and forced labor.
Source South Korean women and girls are trafficked for forced prostitution abroad in destinations including the United States, Canada, Japan, and Australia. Many of these victims are coerced by traffickers to whom they owe debts.1
Destination
Some men and women from Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Colombia, Mongolia, China, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, North Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and other Southeast Asian countries are recruited for employment or marriage in the ROK, and subsequently subjected to forced prostitution or forced labor. Some victims are recruited by false promises of employment in the entertainment industry and are later coerced into exploitative conditions. Some women from less developed countries are recruited for marriage to South Korean men through international marriage brokers, but are then subjected to forced prostitution or forced labor upon arrival in South Korea.2
Migrant workers who travel to the ROK for employment may incur thousands of dollars in debts, contributing to their vulnerability to debt bondage and commonly face conditions indicative of forced labor. There are approximately 500,000 low-skilled migrant workers in the ROK from elsewhere in Asia, many of whom are working under the Employment Permit System (EPS). While protections are implemented for EPS workers, observers claim the EPS assigns excessive power to employers over workers’ mobility and legal status, making them vulnerable to trafficking.3
Read complete article by clicking on South Korea above.
Holiday Sale 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
One Free Korea - Updates
 |
| Go here to view interesting recent articles on the Northk Korean political prison system and other articles of interest. |
HOLIDAY SALE 2012
Unlikely Dissidents in N. Korea? Lankov
Unlikely Dissidents in N. Korea?
By Andrei Lankov
Over the last decade or so, we have been sometimes told stories about the North Korean underground, its resistance groups and the samizdat that they publish inside the reclusive nation.
These stories appear to be relatively plausible ― after all, we know North Korea is a brutal dictatorship, and many such dictatorships in the past met some internal resistance (or such is what history textbooks usually say).
The present author, though, is rather skeptical about such claims. While some small resistance groups are likely to exist, the North Korean state is yet to face anything reminiscent of the anti-communist, pro-democracy movement which developed in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, in the 1960s and ‘70s.
This docility is easy to explain, a fashionable French intellectual once said, “where there is power, there is resistance.” For him, power’s repressive qualities were probably expressed through denying him the right to participate in a talk show on a government TV channel. But when we are talking about real repressive power, it can easily stifle all resistance ― not forever, to be sure, but perhaps for decades.
The history of Stalinism provides us with very valuable examples of what truly repressive regimes can do. During the 20 years of High Stalinism (roughly 1933-53) in the Soviet Union, a few million people were slaughtered by the regime, but there were precious little signs of organized resistance of any sort.
In recent decades, Russian historians spent much time going through archives, but they have managed to discover but a handful of tiny resistance groups, all of which were politically inconsequential. There was no underground publishing either.
The resistance to Stalin’s regime existed only on the margins, in areas which (like the Baltic states, and the Lvov region in modern-day Ukraine) had recently been absorbed and where the government bureaucracy was still weak and popular fear did not have deep roots.
This docility can easily be explained: the Soviet people believed correctly that any attempt to challenge the government would be discovered almost immediately and all participants, as well as a number of their family members and friends would be killed, or dispatched to prison camps for a long period of time. However much the regime was disliked, resistance was seen as hopeless, futile and foolhardy.
A famous Russian poetess once told a story about her parents. Her mother was a committed Communist Party activist happily married to a military officer. The woman was shocked when her husband of many years, upon hearing about the death of Stalin in 1953, drank himself drunk in celebration and then proceeded to thank God (who he had hitherto denied the existence of) for Stalin’s death. She asked her husband why he had never expressed such sentiments in front of her before, to which he replied, “How could I have known that I could trust you?” Such is life under truly highly repressive regimes like Stalin’s Soviet Union.
Dissidents and dissenters appeared in the Soviet Union only after the regime underwent a dramatic liberalization in the mid-1950s. It is not widely understood in the West, but in the years 1953-64, the number of political prisoners decreased a thousand times, while the chances of being executed for non-violent anti-government activity dropped to virtually zero. In this new situation, protest remained risky but ceased to be suicidal, so first dissenters appeared and uncensored samizdat publications began to be copied in small but growing numbers.
North Korea still remains a highly repressive society. The ratio of political prisoners to the overall population is roughly the same as that of the Soviet Union at the time of Stalin’s death in 1953. One has to admit that the North Korean government has become markedly less repressive in the last couple of decades but it still remains the world’s most oppressive state. Therefore, one should not expect the existence of a significant political underground in such a country, and samizdat still remains a thing of the future.
Of course some caveats are necessary. For example, it seems that there are a number of small religious groups clandestinely operating within North Korea ― a catacomb church, if you like. A number of North Koreans use mobile phones to maintain contact with foreign and South Korean mass media, briefing journalists on the situation inside the country. There are known cases when politically subversive materials have been deliberately smuggled into and then copied in North Korea ― the advent of the digital era has helped a lot in this regard.
But the existence of such activities should not be overstated. Things will change sooner or later, especially if the North Korean elite shows itself to be unable or unwilling to control the situation with sufficient force. However, it seems that the time is not yet ripe for North Korean dissidents and underground publishers.
Professor Andrei Lankov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and now teaches at Kookmin University in Seoul. You can reach him at anlankov@yahoo.com.
 |
Over the last decade or so, we have been sometimes told stories about the North Korean underground, its resistance groups and the samizdat that they publish inside the reclusive nation.
These stories appear to be relatively plausible ― after all, we know North Korea is a brutal dictatorship, and many such dictatorships in the past met some internal resistance (or such is what history textbooks usually say).
The present author, though, is rather skeptical about such claims. While some small resistance groups are likely to exist, the North Korean state is yet to face anything reminiscent of the anti-communist, pro-democracy movement which developed in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, in the 1960s and ‘70s.
This docility is easy to explain, a fashionable French intellectual once said, “where there is power, there is resistance.” For him, power’s repressive qualities were probably expressed through denying him the right to participate in a talk show on a government TV channel. But when we are talking about real repressive power, it can easily stifle all resistance ― not forever, to be sure, but perhaps for decades.
The history of Stalinism provides us with very valuable examples of what truly repressive regimes can do. During the 20 years of High Stalinism (roughly 1933-53) in the Soviet Union, a few million people were slaughtered by the regime, but there were precious little signs of organized resistance of any sort.
In recent decades, Russian historians spent much time going through archives, but they have managed to discover but a handful of tiny resistance groups, all of which were politically inconsequential. There was no underground publishing either.
The resistance to Stalin’s regime existed only on the margins, in areas which (like the Baltic states, and the Lvov region in modern-day Ukraine) had recently been absorbed and where the government bureaucracy was still weak and popular fear did not have deep roots.
This docility can easily be explained: the Soviet people believed correctly that any attempt to challenge the government would be discovered almost immediately and all participants, as well as a number of their family members and friends would be killed, or dispatched to prison camps for a long period of time. However much the regime was disliked, resistance was seen as hopeless, futile and foolhardy.
A famous Russian poetess once told a story about her parents. Her mother was a committed Communist Party activist happily married to a military officer. The woman was shocked when her husband of many years, upon hearing about the death of Stalin in 1953, drank himself drunk in celebration and then proceeded to thank God (who he had hitherto denied the existence of) for Stalin’s death. She asked her husband why he had never expressed such sentiments in front of her before, to which he replied, “How could I have known that I could trust you?” Such is life under truly highly repressive regimes like Stalin’s Soviet Union.
Dissidents and dissenters appeared in the Soviet Union only after the regime underwent a dramatic liberalization in the mid-1950s. It is not widely understood in the West, but in the years 1953-64, the number of political prisoners decreased a thousand times, while the chances of being executed for non-violent anti-government activity dropped to virtually zero. In this new situation, protest remained risky but ceased to be suicidal, so first dissenters appeared and uncensored samizdat publications began to be copied in small but growing numbers.
North Korea still remains a highly repressive society. The ratio of political prisoners to the overall population is roughly the same as that of the Soviet Union at the time of Stalin’s death in 1953. One has to admit that the North Korean government has become markedly less repressive in the last couple of decades but it still remains the world’s most oppressive state. Therefore, one should not expect the existence of a significant political underground in such a country, and samizdat still remains a thing of the future.
Of course some caveats are necessary. For example, it seems that there are a number of small religious groups clandestinely operating within North Korea ― a catacomb church, if you like. A number of North Koreans use mobile phones to maintain contact with foreign and South Korean mass media, briefing journalists on the situation inside the country. There are known cases when politically subversive materials have been deliberately smuggled into and then copied in North Korea ― the advent of the digital era has helped a lot in this regard.
But the existence of such activities should not be overstated. Things will change sooner or later, especially if the North Korean elite shows itself to be unable or unwilling to control the situation with sufficient force. However, it seems that the time is not yet ripe for North Korean dissidents and underground publishers.
Professor Andrei Lankov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and now teaches at Kookmin University in Seoul. You can reach him at anlankov@yahoo.com.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Holiday Sale for Fall 2012
Saudi Columnist: Is Israel Really the Enemy?
Greetings, found this article in Commentary. My interest in reposting here is that the underlying premise has always been my argument when discussing the Middle East.
Saudi Columnist: Is Israel Really the Enemy?: pThe indefatigable Tom Gross flagged my attention to this column in Saudi Arabia’s English-language newspaper, the Arab News: On the anniversary of the 1973 War between the Arab and the Israelis, many people in the Arab world are beginning to ask many questions about the past, present and the future with regard to the Arab-Israeli [...]/p
Saudi Columnist: Is Israel Really the Enemy?: pThe indefatigable Tom Gross flagged my attention to this column in Saudi Arabia’s English-language newspaper, the Arab News: On the anniversary of the 1973 War between the Arab and the Israelis, many people in the Arab world are beginning to ask many questions about the past, present and the future with regard to the Arab-Israeli [...]/p
Great Leap Backward.
China's Leadership, Gordon Chang
As April passed into May this year, one electrifying story replaced another in the consciousness of the Chinese public. The first involved a ruthless official struggling for control of the ruling Communist Party and the second a solitary activist who, without this being his stated intention, challenged the one-party state from below. Soon, the two narratives began to merge, posing a threat of the first order to China’s increasingly fragile political system. (read full article by clicking link above.)
As April passed into May this year, one electrifying story replaced another in the consciousness of the Chinese public. The first involved a ruthless official struggling for control of the ruling Communist Party and the second a solitary activist who, without this being his stated intention, challenged the one-party state from below. Soon, the two narratives began to merge, posing a threat of the first order to China’s increasingly fragile political system. (read full article by clicking link above.)
Monday, October 1, 2012
Agent Orange Veteran Needs Information
Greetings.
I am posting a recent email from a Korean Service Veteran who needs your help. After the post you will find an email address to contact the KSV who has writen looking for information.
I am posting a recent email from a Korean Service Veteran who needs your help. After the post you will find an email address to contact the KSV who has writen looking for information.
Dear Tim,
Hope this finds you and your family well? I have been called by the VA to have my medical for my claims in the middle of October, The pictures I have show I was in the DMZ mountain range, I'm trying to get more info on the first invasion tunnel on November.15th 1974, when we were put on alert. As I was on duty those days. I was trying to explain to the military, that at that time we only had 2 shot gun shells for the shot gun , and 9 rounds in the clip for the M-16, when on guard , that had we been invaded. Our ass would be grass. Any information you could add would be helpful in my claim, as you were working with headquarters and had more inside information.
Thanks Greg
Contact at - gregoryonorato@aol.com
Saturday, September 29, 2012
NEWS WATCH - a few thoughts...
LINK
Greetings to those of you on my mailing list. Just a few thoughts about the ongoing bizarre machinations that the administration is going through to dodge the responsibility for the Benghazi fiasco and their overal failure of policies abroad. During this same period an air base in Afghanistan was hit pretty hard with loss of life and many aircraft destroyed.
Question: why has the media not covered this event? Is it the same reason that they continue to be spoon fed by the talking point wizard in the White House? We have all lived long enough to have experienced and to understand that the political powers, Right or Left, running the country will lie to protect their own political futures. See also for example the continuing struggle of many Korean Service Veterans trying to get approved for Agent Orange claims from the DOD and the hobbled response by our government to fulfill a basic obligation for them, Right or Left.
My gut tells me that we are living through another one of those times when the political and news outlets in support of the President and his party dodge and spread confusion and mis-information that does not let the public become well enough informed to see that we are being, essentially, lied to for their political gain. Obviously a benchmark has been reached that surpasses the everyday political speech that manipulates information for political gain. But, now, well, people are dying and our country has lost its footing in the world. I wonder why that doesn't seem to be an impulse against which the powers that be would respond.
In my lifetime presidents Johnson, Reagan, Clinton, and now Obama have stepped up to this dubious honor to protect or to push their misguided agendas. Johnson in Vietnam and the passing of social programs we could not afford. Reagan - Iran-Contra - enough said. Clinton - Lewinsky, again, enough said.
Obama's handling of international affairs has appeared challenged from the beginning, but the recent North African mess, the assassination of a US Embassador, and sundry riots and abuse of the US is heightened for me by the continuing bizzare talking points that dodge back and forth between an obscure film and the facts, leaving someone watching this political dialogue confused. It's clear, and was clear, that the events were a terrorist event, but somehow that clarity has not reached our highest office or those that read the talking points like our Sec. of State, Embassador to the UN, the Press Sec. or the President himself. And, in the strange twist of the evolution toward an Orwellian world made in the likeness of President Hope and Change, the presscorps doesn't challenge or investigate the truth that lay behind these events. Where's ABC, CBS, CNN, or well, NBC?
Go to the link noted above and read how during this same period, our forces suffered a severe defeat with the loss of several aircraft and ask yourself why you haven't heard or read about this information from US media? Because it points again to an administration and its Pravada like national media that is challenged by a world that will not roll over to have its belly rubbed. Distrubing, as it always is when our government for we many of us served to protect, lies to us. Google Camp Bastian and try to find a major US media outlet that shares a link that reports about thise incident. Slim pickings, and that's not the actor.
PS...I didn't include Bush above for the Iraq War because the Left and Right were both responsible for dragging us into a war for which they had no exit strategy and let us languish for 3 years or so before they finally came up with a manner by which we could pull out our forces. The story there, or in the Middle East, is a story that is not yet finished, nor our part in it, either as a bumbling foreign policy, or as we may be dragged into a conflict that our current President is unable to lead us through.
My best to all, Tim
Greetings to those of you on my mailing list. Just a few thoughts about the ongoing bizarre machinations that the administration is going through to dodge the responsibility for the Benghazi fiasco and their overal failure of policies abroad. During this same period an air base in Afghanistan was hit pretty hard with loss of life and many aircraft destroyed.
Question: why has the media not covered this event? Is it the same reason that they continue to be spoon fed by the talking point wizard in the White House? We have all lived long enough to have experienced and to understand that the political powers, Right or Left, running the country will lie to protect their own political futures. See also for example the continuing struggle of many Korean Service Veterans trying to get approved for Agent Orange claims from the DOD and the hobbled response by our government to fulfill a basic obligation for them, Right or Left.
My gut tells me that we are living through another one of those times when the political and news outlets in support of the President and his party dodge and spread confusion and mis-information that does not let the public become well enough informed to see that we are being, essentially, lied to for their political gain. Obviously a benchmark has been reached that surpasses the everyday political speech that manipulates information for political gain. But, now, well, people are dying and our country has lost its footing in the world. I wonder why that doesn't seem to be an impulse against which the powers that be would respond.
In my lifetime presidents Johnson, Reagan, Clinton, and now Obama have stepped up to this dubious honor to protect or to push their misguided agendas. Johnson in Vietnam and the passing of social programs we could not afford. Reagan - Iran-Contra - enough said. Clinton - Lewinsky, again, enough said.
Obama's handling of international affairs has appeared challenged from the beginning, but the recent North African mess, the assassination of a US Embassador, and sundry riots and abuse of the US is heightened for me by the continuing bizzare talking points that dodge back and forth between an obscure film and the facts, leaving someone watching this political dialogue confused. It's clear, and was clear, that the events were a terrorist event, but somehow that clarity has not reached our highest office or those that read the talking points like our Sec. of State, Embassador to the UN, the Press Sec. or the President himself. And, in the strange twist of the evolution toward an Orwellian world made in the likeness of President Hope and Change, the presscorps doesn't challenge or investigate the truth that lay behind these events. Where's ABC, CBS, CNN, or well, NBC?
Go to the link noted above and read how during this same period, our forces suffered a severe defeat with the loss of several aircraft and ask yourself why you haven't heard or read about this information from US media? Because it points again to an administration and its Pravada like national media that is challenged by a world that will not roll over to have its belly rubbed. Distrubing, as it always is when our government for we many of us served to protect, lies to us. Google Camp Bastian and try to find a major US media outlet that shares a link that reports about thise incident. Slim pickings, and that's not the actor.
PS...I didn't include Bush above for the Iraq War because the Left and Right were both responsible for dragging us into a war for which they had no exit strategy and let us languish for 3 years or so before they finally came up with a manner by which we could pull out our forces. The story there, or in the Middle East, is a story that is not yet finished, nor our part in it, either as a bumbling foreign policy, or as we may be dragged into a conflict that our current President is unable to lead us through.
My best to all, Tim
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
New Book by Tatjana Soli, author of the Lotus Eaters
Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli.
Greetings.
If you haven't read this book, The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli, about photographers during the Vietnam War, I recommend it highly. Tatjana Soli also has a new book coming out, and if her work in the Lotus Eaters is any indication, it too, will be a great read. I have included a recent newsletter here for you to get an idea of the novel and links to purchase it.
Best, Tim
This is the second newsletter I've sent out — the last was Dec. 21,
2010 so don't worry about me flooding your inbox. I'd like to give you a
quick update on what has happened to The Lotus Eaters. The
paperback made the New York Times Bestseller list!
A huge thrill. It was also named an American Library Association (ALA)
Notable book, and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award.
Last August it won the James Tait Black Prize, which is the oldest
literary award in the UK. In the past it has been
won by heroes of mine such as Graham Greene, and more recently by J M
Coetzee, Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan, Jonathan Franzen, and Cormac
McCarthy.
It was an unimaginable honor, and I got to go with my mom to the
ceremony in Edinburgh. If you'd like to see video of the award from the
BBC, plus a segment of me reading in front of Edinburgh castle (it was
cold in August!) go here: http://www.tatjanasoli.com/
Greetings.
If you haven't read this book, The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli, about photographers during the Vietnam War, I recommend it highly. Tatjana Soli also has a new book coming out, and if her work in the Lotus Eaters is any indication, it too, will be a great read. I have included a recent newsletter here for you to get an idea of the novel and links to purchase it.
Best, Tim
Hello Everyone,
My second novel, The Forgetting Tree, will be out Sept. 4, 2012.
I'm very excited and have included some of the prepub below for you. You
can also go to my new website to read more. The two pages that will
give you the best feel for the book are the excerpt
page, and the Behind the Scenes essay I wrote about what inspired
parts of it.
Thank you so much for your support in the past, and please feel
free to get in touch with me. Let me know what you think of the new
book.
Best,
"This novel has it all--mystery, psychological insight, emotional truth,
and--most important--characters whose lives matter. You'll fall in love
with these families. Soli writes with such passion it is inescapable,
lyrical, and profoundly moving. The
Forgetting Tree goes on my top ten list."
--Jonis Agee, author of The River Wife
"Will
captivate readers... with this twisting, intriguing tale of a grieving California woman. Beautiful prose and striking detail."
--Publishers Weekly
"Soli
has again created characters readers will love and care about. She does
so with deceptively simple grace: Their yearnings breeze right into
your life. And while the book is more cerebral than visceral, Claire’s
future and Minna’s past are questions that keep
the pages turning. The Forgetting Tree is a journey worth taking."
--BookPage
"A
lush, haunting novel for readers who appreciate ambiguity, this work
should establish Soli as a novelist with depth and broad scope."
--Library
Journal
"Like her protagonist Claire who
literally tastes the earth to predict the season’s crops, Tatjana Soli
delves deep into the soil of two magnetic and powerful female psyches to
produce a novel that is lush, evocative, and hypnotic.
An incredible book, richly imagined and beautifully written."
--Nancy Zafris, series editor, The Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction
"Tatjana Soli's elegant and sensuous prose will keep you
spellbound. THE FORGETTING TREE is an earthy book, full of beautiful
surprises."
--Maria Semple, author of WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE
"The Forgetting Tree is a captivating, dreamlike story about
the power of family ties... A lushly poetic, deeply authentic novel
that surprises at every turn."
--Kat Bailey, Bookshop Santa Cruz
Synopsis
When Claire Nagy marries Forster Baumsarg, the only son of prominent
California citrus ranchers, she knows she's consenting to a life of hard
work, long days, and worry-fraught nights. But her love for Forster is
so strong, she turns away from her literary
education and embraces the life of the ranch, succumbing to its
intoxicating rhythms and bounty until her love of the land becomes a
part of her. Not even the tragic, senseless death of her son Joshua at
kidnappers' hands, her alienation from her two daughters,
or the dissolution of her once-devoted marriage can pull her from the
ranch she's devoted her life to preserving.
But despite having survived the most terrible of tragedies, Claire is about to face her greatest struggle: An illness that threatens not only to rip her from her land but take her very life. And she's chosen a caregiver, the enigmatic Caribbean-born Minna, who may just be the darkest force of all.
Haunting, tough, triumphant, and profound, The Forgetting Treeexplores the intimate ties we have to one another, the deepest fears we keep to ourselves, and the calling of the land that ties every one of us together.
But despite having survived the most terrible of tragedies, Claire is about to face her greatest struggle: An illness that threatens not only to rip her from her land but take her very life. And she's chosen a caregiver, the enigmatic Caribbean-born Minna, who may just be the darkest force of all.
Haunting, tough, triumphant, and profound, The Forgetting Treeexplores the intimate ties we have to one another, the deepest fears we keep to ourselves, and the calling of the land that ties every one of us together.
Tatjana Soli, author of The Lotus Eaters, New York Times
Bestseller, and The Forgetting Tree. "Quietly mesmerizing... tough and
lyrical." — Janet Maslin
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Egypt, Libya, and the debacle of our Mid-East Policy
The attacks on the
U.S. embassy yesterday in Cairo and the storming of the American
consulate in Libya, where the U.S. ambassador was murdered along with
three staff members — and the initial official American reaction to the
mayhem — are all reprehensible, each in their own way. Let us sort out
this terrible chain of events.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Ration System in North Korea
Rationing system in N. Korea
By Andrei Lankov
It was reported recently, that ― obviously, following a reformist drive, the North Korean leaders decided to scale down the rationing system. In order to understand the significance of this change, we must keep in mind that for a few decades North Korea was a society where rationing was taken to a logical extreme.
From 1957, it became illegal to buy grain privately. As a result, rice and corn ― major sources of calories in the North Korean diet ― could be obtained only by those with ration coupons.
By the late 1960s, free trade in North Korea had all but disappeared. Pretty much anything of value was distributed by the state from then on. In this society, money had little meaning since even a shed-load of cash would not buy much without the requite ration coupons.
The distribution of grain, cooking oil, soya sauce and other basic food stuffs has been dealt with extensively. But what of other things, how could a North Korean living under the wise and energetic guidance of “The Great Leader” obtain a suit, a TV set or a bra ― yes, North Korean women wear them.
To simplify things a bit, there were two channels for the distribution of consumption goods. First, they could be given as ``presents of The Great Leader,” or second, they could be distributed through the local level distribution system that dealt with their supply. Third, they could be bought freely.
Let’s start with the last option, the list of items available freely in North Korea of the 1970s and 1980s was short, or though it varied according to region and year/season. Normally coupons were not required for stationary, toys, books or some basic snacks. In some parts of the country, one could buy freely, locally produced food, especially these particular varieties of fruits or vegetables were locally abundant. But, as a rule, pretty much everything edible had to be given by the state.
The most prestigious items were presented to North Koreans as gifts from Kim ill-sung. This might sound pompous, but most of these gifts were quite simple, soldiers in a military unit were given oranges for example, and on his birthday, children would be given cookies and sweets. The most prestigious items though, were also distributed in the same way, officials and high level military were given watches, TV sets, fridges and record players, among other things, as gifts of The Great Leader.
It was implied that Generalissimo (from 1992) Kim Il Sung, in his magnanimousness, was taking care of a particular North Korean, providing her with something as a token of his love. It was not only rationing, but also a shrewd propaganda move.
But the majority of consumption goods were not distributed as presents, nor were they freely available. They were instead sold to those who could produce the required ration coupons. For such things as socks or glass jars though, there was no nationwide rationing, rather the distribution norms were decided upon by the local authorities on an ad hoc basis.
Imagine a particular town in North Korea in the 1980s received 125 TV sets, the department of trade in the city administration would first put aside some of them for sale to those who have special standing or who happen to be relatives of the powerful and influential. Let’s assume that after such backdoor distribution, 95 TV sets are left over. The administration would then issue ration coupons which would then be distributed to the population.
In some cases, coupons were given at the place of one’s employment, but most of them to the so-called ``People’s groups.” The People’s groups include 20-40 families living in one neighborhood. Each People’s group had (and still usually has) a middle-aged woman with reasonably good political background who is the lowest cog in North Korea’s surveillance and administration system. In our hypothetical case, assuming that the town is not too large, more or less every people’s group would be issued one ticket for a TV set.
Then it was up to the leader of the ‘People’s group’ and in some cases other members as well, to decide who this ticket should be given to. If we are talking about items which appeared regularly ― like socks, kimchi jars or radio sets, the People’s group might have a waiting list. The distribution of rarer items could be a rather more troublesome business though.
Last, but not least, those lucky few who had access to foreign currency, could buy pretty much everything they wanted at specialized hard currency shops, where buyers had to pay for what they wanted in U.S. dollars or Japanese yen (Chinese Yuan was taken for serious money until around 1990). But such people were quite uncommon.
But nowadays this has all but disappeared. By the mid-1990s, this elaborate distribution system ceased to function, though it was never formally abolished. Today, North Koreans shop freely and buy what they want ― as long as they have the money to pay.
Professor Andrei Lankov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and now teaches at Kookmin University in Seoul. You can reach him at anlankov@yahoo.com.
 |
It was reported recently, that ― obviously, following a reformist drive, the North Korean leaders decided to scale down the rationing system. In order to understand the significance of this change, we must keep in mind that for a few decades North Korea was a society where rationing was taken to a logical extreme.
From 1957, it became illegal to buy grain privately. As a result, rice and corn ― major sources of calories in the North Korean diet ― could be obtained only by those with ration coupons.
By the late 1960s, free trade in North Korea had all but disappeared. Pretty much anything of value was distributed by the state from then on. In this society, money had little meaning since even a shed-load of cash would not buy much without the requite ration coupons.
The distribution of grain, cooking oil, soya sauce and other basic food stuffs has been dealt with extensively. But what of other things, how could a North Korean living under the wise and energetic guidance of “The Great Leader” obtain a suit, a TV set or a bra ― yes, North Korean women wear them.
To simplify things a bit, there were two channels for the distribution of consumption goods. First, they could be given as ``presents of The Great Leader,” or second, they could be distributed through the local level distribution system that dealt with their supply. Third, they could be bought freely.
Let’s start with the last option, the list of items available freely in North Korea of the 1970s and 1980s was short, or though it varied according to region and year/season. Normally coupons were not required for stationary, toys, books or some basic snacks. In some parts of the country, one could buy freely, locally produced food, especially these particular varieties of fruits or vegetables were locally abundant. But, as a rule, pretty much everything edible had to be given by the state.
The most prestigious items were presented to North Koreans as gifts from Kim ill-sung. This might sound pompous, but most of these gifts were quite simple, soldiers in a military unit were given oranges for example, and on his birthday, children would be given cookies and sweets. The most prestigious items though, were also distributed in the same way, officials and high level military were given watches, TV sets, fridges and record players, among other things, as gifts of The Great Leader.
It was implied that Generalissimo (from 1992) Kim Il Sung, in his magnanimousness, was taking care of a particular North Korean, providing her with something as a token of his love. It was not only rationing, but also a shrewd propaganda move.
But the majority of consumption goods were not distributed as presents, nor were they freely available. They were instead sold to those who could produce the required ration coupons. For such things as socks or glass jars though, there was no nationwide rationing, rather the distribution norms were decided upon by the local authorities on an ad hoc basis.
Imagine a particular town in North Korea in the 1980s received 125 TV sets, the department of trade in the city administration would first put aside some of them for sale to those who have special standing or who happen to be relatives of the powerful and influential. Let’s assume that after such backdoor distribution, 95 TV sets are left over. The administration would then issue ration coupons which would then be distributed to the population.
In some cases, coupons were given at the place of one’s employment, but most of them to the so-called ``People’s groups.” The People’s groups include 20-40 families living in one neighborhood. Each People’s group had (and still usually has) a middle-aged woman with reasonably good political background who is the lowest cog in North Korea’s surveillance and administration system. In our hypothetical case, assuming that the town is not too large, more or less every people’s group would be issued one ticket for a TV set.
Then it was up to the leader of the ‘People’s group’ and in some cases other members as well, to decide who this ticket should be given to. If we are talking about items which appeared regularly ― like socks, kimchi jars or radio sets, the People’s group might have a waiting list. The distribution of rarer items could be a rather more troublesome business though.
Last, but not least, those lucky few who had access to foreign currency, could buy pretty much everything they wanted at specialized hard currency shops, where buyers had to pay for what they wanted in U.S. dollars or Japanese yen (Chinese Yuan was taken for serious money until around 1990). But such people were quite uncommon.
But nowadays this has all but disappeared. By the mid-1990s, this elaborate distribution system ceased to function, though it was never formally abolished. Today, North Koreans shop freely and buy what they want ― as long as they have the money to pay.
Professor Andrei Lankov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and now teaches at Kookmin University in Seoul. You can reach him at anlankov@yahoo.com.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Agent Orange Information & Link
Greetings. I know many of you who are receiving these posts also have interest in the Agent Orange deployment and usage in Korea. The link I am posting here has some very good information focused primarily on storage locations at Ascom City.
Agent Orange Ascom City.
Agent Orange Ascom City.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
World Policy Blog - North Korea's Future?
North Korea and the Exit from Totalitarianism
By Mark P. Barry
Will Kim Jong Un’s North Korea be reminiscent of the Soviet Union’s early perestroika of 1986? Is there impending economic restructuring in the North that is comparable to what China undertook in 1979? It’s possible that a process may have recently begun whereby North Korea could eventually shift from totalitarianism (or total control of public and private life) to authoritarianism (with minimal pluralism and autonomy in private life), drawing from the recent experiences of China. But in North Korea, structural reforms will not be the only requisite of change. Behind the scenes, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) will also need to negotiate its exit from totalitarianism and seek the support of its neighbors, especially South Korea, Japan, and the United States.
Many Asian affairs analysts are taking the measures adopted by North Korea under its new leader in the past two months seriously. One of the most significant appraisals has been from Andrei Lankov, a noted Russian-born Korea specialist teaching in Seoul. Lankov is a long-time skeptic that North Korea would ever be capable of lasting reforms. However, earlier this month, he surprised his readers by admitting that “[r]ecent news from Pyongyang seemingly indicates that for the first time the start of a reform process is a real possibility.” He outlines minor changes that seem trivial at first but really reveal substantive reforms.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Eating Our Future
A disturbing evaluation of where we are as a nation, and one to be heeded no matter which political party you support.
As
gas prices climb back toward $4 a gallon, the Obama administration —
facing a tough reelection campaign and rising Middle East tensions — is
once again considering tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. For
years, administrations have bought and stored oil for emergencies, in
fear of a cutoff of imported oil, as happened during the Arab embargo of
1973–74.
But since 2009, the U.S. government has declared most federal lands off-limits to new oil and gas exploration — despite vast recent finds of energy and radically new means to tap it. President Obama also canceled the most vital sections of the Keystone pipeline, a proposed conduit from the Canadian oil fields into the heart of the oil-consuming U.S., while preventing production on existing oil and gas reserves in northern Alaska and offshore. In the midst of a crop-killing drought, we are diverting about 40 percent of our shrinking corn crop to produce high-cost ethanol fuels.
Apparently, Americans are not willing to produce enough new available oil to meet our always growing gasoline appetites. Yet to keep gas prices manageable in an election year, we will surely tap what our predecessors banked for us.
Read full article by click on the title.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Typhoon to hit South Korea
SEOUL, Aug. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has been put on maximum alert and issued school closure and evacuation orders Monday, as Typhoon Bolaven, expected to be the strongest storm to hit the nation in a decade, rapidly approaches the peninsula.
The typhoon, named after a plateau in Laos, was moving north-northwest at a speed of 34 kilometers per hour from waters some 460 kilometers off South Korea's southern island of Jeju as of noon, according to the Korea Meteorological Agency (KMA).
The typhoon is forecast to make landfall on the Korean Peninsula starting with Jeju Island at 3 a.m. on Tuesday, and will move northward along the west coast until it hits Seoul at 2 p.m. later the same day, the KMA said.
The storm has somewhat weakened compared to earlier Monday morning but maintained a central pressure of 940 hectopascals and a maximum wind speed of 50 meters per second, the KMA said. A typhoon with a maximum wind speed of 44 meters per second is classified as "super strong" and powerful enough to move large rocks. (Click title for link to full Yonhap article)
China hits a Slump
by Gordon G. Chang
Beijing reported that China produced a
record amount of steel in July, but prices are plunging and steelmakers
have been defaulting on agreements to purchase iron ore. (Image credit:
AFP/Getty Images via @daylife)
The HSBC Flash Purchasing Managers’ Index for August crashed, falling to 47.8, well under the final July reading of 49.3. The dismal result, the first indication of China’s economy for this month, was far below 50, which divides expansion from contraction. The final PMI will be released September 3, but it is now clear that August will be the 10th-straight month of decline for the vitally important manufacturing sector in China.
Thursday’s release of the Flash PMI stunned analysts. Earlier, most of them had confidently predicted China would show signs of growth in July because of Premier Wen Jiabao’s late-spring stimulus program. There was, however, no uptick last month. In fact, July’s indicators were extremely disappointing. China watchers then thought August would be a time of recovery. The Flash PMI, however, suggests this month will be even worse. (Read full Forbes article by clicking title link)
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Women In North Korea
Women in North Korea
By Andrei Lankov
In most post-socialist nations, the collapse of the state socialist system had a rather ambiguous impact on the social and economic position of women.
Clearly the advent of the market economy brought with it some advantages, especially in those countries where its introduction brought an economic boom. Women often have far more choice, freed from the necessity of queuing for hours to get what they and their families need and they can enjoy the new delights of political and cultural freedom.
However, there is also a pretty unsavory downside. Whatever you think of the socialist system, it took gender equality quite seriously and enforced numerous laws and regulations which meant that the special needs of women in the workplace were taken into account. Most of these regulations unfortunately disappeared together with monthly indoctrination sessions, labor mobilizations and other less attractive features of the same system.
In all of this though, North Korea is an exception. In spite of all the official rhetoric, North Korea can be seen nowadays as a post-socialist country where most of the population makes a living in the growing private sector. In the countries of post-socialist Europe, the new economy is dominated exclusively by men, but this is not the case in the North. Somewhat surprisingly, North Korean grassroots capitalism has a female face. (Click title above for full article or wait for headline to appear in the banner.)
 |
| Korean women circa 1900 pressing the laundry |
In most post-socialist nations, the collapse of the state socialist system had a rather ambiguous impact on the social and economic position of women.
Clearly the advent of the market economy brought with it some advantages, especially in those countries where its introduction brought an economic boom. Women often have far more choice, freed from the necessity of queuing for hours to get what they and their families need and they can enjoy the new delights of political and cultural freedom.
However, there is also a pretty unsavory downside. Whatever you think of the socialist system, it took gender equality quite seriously and enforced numerous laws and regulations which meant that the special needs of women in the workplace were taken into account. Most of these regulations unfortunately disappeared together with monthly indoctrination sessions, labor mobilizations and other less attractive features of the same system.
In all of this though, North Korea is an exception. In spite of all the official rhetoric, North Korea can be seen nowadays as a post-socialist country where most of the population makes a living in the growing private sector. In the countries of post-socialist Europe, the new economy is dominated exclusively by men, but this is not the case in the North. Somewhat surprisingly, North Korean grassroots capitalism has a female face. (Click title above for full article or wait for headline to appear in the banner.)
Thursday, August 23, 2012
FYI for nandupress readers
For those of you that follow nandupress, I have just created a feed that lists the recent articles by Andrei Lankov. Lankov is without a doubt one of the key commentators for issues related to the Two Koreas. He currently writes for the Korea Times and his latest articles will automatically be linked to nandupress. Other links and blogs remain as they are listed and I will follow with individual articles as I find their importance relevant to nandupress's interest in human rights in Asia. The Links I have listed her are key to understanding current social and political events in Korea, as well, in the case of ROKDrop, issues that also include US military subjects in Korean news and in US news outlets. I hope these links add to your awareness of current events in Northeast Asia. Other news feds will be at the bottom of the page.
Islands in the Stream...
SEOUL/TOKYO, Aug. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will send back a protest letter on Thursday from Japan's prime minister to President Lee Myung-bak over his visit to the easternmost South Korean islets of Dokdo, citing "incorrect and unjust" claims regarding Dokdo in the letter, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young also lodged a "strong protest" against Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba's Wednesday remarks that described South Korea's control of the islets as an "illegal occupation," calling on Tokyo to immediately stop laying an "unjustified claim" to Dokdo.
"Our embassy in Tokyo will meet with the Japanese side today to return the letter of Prime Minister Noda to Japan's foreign ministry," Cho told reporters. (read full article here)
Korea & China News
Korea, China Hold 3rd Round of FTA Talks
The third round of free trade negotiations between Korea and
China kicked off in the city of Weihai, China, on Wednesday. During the
three-day meeting, trade officials are expected to discuss the terms for
trade in goods, services and other areas.
China is Korea's largest trade partner, and the two-way trade volume between them has risen for three consecutive years. Economists say the FTA, once implemented, will not only expand exports, but may also lead to greater market integration.
The possible trade deal comes as welcome news for some 23,000 Korean companies operating in China. However, the trade pact faces heavy opposition from Korean farmers and fishermen, as it is expected to boost Korean imports of farm produce from China by nearly US$11 billion, while reducing the country's output by 15 percent over 10 years.
China is Korea's largest trade partner, and the two-way trade volume between them has risen for three consecutive years. Economists say the FTA, once implemented, will not only expand exports, but may also lead to greater market integration.
The possible trade deal comes as welcome news for some 23,000 Korean companies operating in China. However, the trade pact faces heavy opposition from Korean farmers and fishermen, as it is expected to boost Korean imports of farm produce from China by nearly US$11 billion, while reducing the country's output by 15 percent over 10 years.
Arirang News / Aug. 23, 2012 10:04 KST
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
World Affairs - Gordon Chang
How Anti-Japan Protests in China Spell Trouble for Communist Party
21 August 2012
Over the weekend, anti-Japanese protests erupted
in major cities across China. The noisy demonstrations followed the
return of 14 activists who had sailed to Uotsurishima, one of the
islands of the Senkaku chain in the East China Sea. Seven of them landed
and planted a Chinese flag on August 15th, the 67thanniversary of
Japan’s surrender in the Second World War. Tokyo deported the intruders
two days later, after Beijing demanded their release.
The Senkakus, called the Diaoyus by China, have been at the center of
a series of incidents between the two nations in the last several
years. The US returned the islands to Japan in 1972, a year after China
laid a claim to them. Previously, Beijing had, in effect, acknowledged
Japanese sovereignty.
Japan’s release of the Chinese activists had seemed to end the latest controversy, which threatened to turn ugly after state media had stoked tensions. When the activists were on their way to the islands last week, the Global Times, controlled by the Communist Party’s People’s Daily, ran an editorial stating China would have to send warships if Japan stopped the Chinese. Soon after, People’s Daily itself entered the fray with an inflammatory commentary advocating China’s use of force.
Many Chinese, wherever they may live, vividly recall Japanese crimes against China in the first half of the last century, and these attitudes have been passed down from parents to children. In the People’s Republic of China, however, the Communist Party has institutionalized this process. Especially since the early 1990s, authorities have encouraged hatred of Japan with unrelenting indoctrination in the schools and incessant propaganda in society.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the demonstrations this weekend reflected an ugly nationalism. Symbols of Japan, like Japanese cars, were damaged along with Japanese-themed stores. One protest banner screamed, “Even if China is covered with graves, we must kill all Japanese.”
The Japanese, however, are not the only ones who have to be worried about the volatility in Chinese society. In China’s past, anti-Japan demonstrations have turned anti-government. The reason is simple: the government does not allow protests against its rule, so the Chinese take to the streets against the only permitted target: foreigners. Anger, however, is hard to direct indefinitely.
The Chinese government is a master of containing popular discontent. The authorities this weekend largely let the street protests run their course, and many China watchers believe anger will quickly cool as people finish venting emotions. The weekend expression of anti-Japan sentiment, most predict, will soon be forgotten.
The party, however, is creating the conditions for further disturbances. For one thing, it is doing little to relieve pressure in society, shunning both fundamental restructuring and even cosmetic change. Chinese leaders, in particular, are allowing corruption to run out of control.
At the same time, Beijing continues to provoke Japan. It’s not clear whether China’s officials were behind the sailing of the activists, who had left from Hong Kong, but Beijing is ensuring continuing instability by increasing its own probing of the Senkakus. As Major General Luo Yuan said last week, as he expressed sentiments prevalent in government circles, “Next time we should send 100 boats to the Diaoyu Islands.”
We are bound, therefore, to see more Chinese provocations against Japan and more anti-Japan street protests in China. And in the future, during one of those disturbances, that rage in society could be directed against the Communist Party itself.
Photo Credit: HongQiGong
Japan’s release of the Chinese activists had seemed to end the latest controversy, which threatened to turn ugly after state media had stoked tensions. When the activists were on their way to the islands last week, the Global Times, controlled by the Communist Party’s People’s Daily, ran an editorial stating China would have to send warships if Japan stopped the Chinese. Soon after, People’s Daily itself entered the fray with an inflammatory commentary advocating China’s use of force.
Many Chinese, wherever they may live, vividly recall Japanese crimes against China in the first half of the last century, and these attitudes have been passed down from parents to children. In the People’s Republic of China, however, the Communist Party has institutionalized this process. Especially since the early 1990s, authorities have encouraged hatred of Japan with unrelenting indoctrination in the schools and incessant propaganda in society.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the demonstrations this weekend reflected an ugly nationalism. Symbols of Japan, like Japanese cars, were damaged along with Japanese-themed stores. One protest banner screamed, “Even if China is covered with graves, we must kill all Japanese.”
The Japanese, however, are not the only ones who have to be worried about the volatility in Chinese society. In China’s past, anti-Japan demonstrations have turned anti-government. The reason is simple: the government does not allow protests against its rule, so the Chinese take to the streets against the only permitted target: foreigners. Anger, however, is hard to direct indefinitely.
The Chinese government is a master of containing popular discontent. The authorities this weekend largely let the street protests run their course, and many China watchers believe anger will quickly cool as people finish venting emotions. The weekend expression of anti-Japan sentiment, most predict, will soon be forgotten.
The party, however, is creating the conditions for further disturbances. For one thing, it is doing little to relieve pressure in society, shunning both fundamental restructuring and even cosmetic change. Chinese leaders, in particular, are allowing corruption to run out of control.
At the same time, Beijing continues to provoke Japan. It’s not clear whether China’s officials were behind the sailing of the activists, who had left from Hong Kong, but Beijing is ensuring continuing instability by increasing its own probing of the Senkakus. As Major General Luo Yuan said last week, as he expressed sentiments prevalent in government circles, “Next time we should send 100 boats to the Diaoyu Islands.”
We are bound, therefore, to see more Chinese provocations against Japan and more anti-Japan street protests in China. And in the future, during one of those disturbances, that rage in society could be directed against the Communist Party itself.
Photo Credit: HongQiGong
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Yonhap News Reporting
(Yonhap Interview) China expects N.K. economic ties to help stability on peninsula
SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's deepening economic reliance on China is expected to help maintain stability on the Korean Peninsula and Beijing hopes to continue to play a constructive role for Seoul and Pyongyang in improving relations through reconciliation, Beijing's ambassador to Seoul said Monday.
In a written interview with Yonhap News Agency marking the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Seoul and Beijing, Ambassador Zhang Xinsen also called for both South Korea and China to make efforts to build a relationship of mutual respect, mindful of oft-strained ties over North Korea, history issues and illegal fishing near the Yellow Sea.
"The economic cooperation between North Korea and China not only helps develop North Korea's economy but also helps with peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," Zhang said.
"It is China's long-standing stance that dialogue and negotiation are the only and right way to resolve relevant issues on the Korean Peninsula and achieve lasting peace."
Zhang made the remarks days after Chinese President Hu Jintao met the powerful uncle of North Korea's new leader Kim Jong-un last week in Beijing, in a display of support for the North's new leadership.
and then one day later...
N. Korea repeats threats against South-U.S. military drills
SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Yonhap) -- North
Korea threatened use of force on Tuesday as the country ramped up its
vitriolic campaign against the ongoing joint military exercise by the
South and the U.S.
The North has long denounced the annual military drills, which kicked off in South Korea on Monday for a 12-day run.
The annual war game mobilized some 56,000 South Korean troops and about 30,000 U.S. soldiers this year. The Combined Forces Command here said it informed the North the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise is "defensive in nature," but Pyongyang has insisted it is "drills for a war" against the North.
"The war drills ... prove that the U.S. is the harasser of peace and provoker of a war in the new century that upsets the stability on the Korean Peninsula," said a statement by the Panmunjom Mission of the Korean People's Army, carried by the (North) Korean Central News Agency.
"As it has become clearer that the nation's sovereignty and peace which are more valuable than one's own life can be guaranteed only by arms, the army and people of the DPRK will take physical counteraction any moment, unhindered, to safeguard its sovereignty and peace," the English-language statement reads.
"The DPRK can not but take the resolve to use force," the North noted, referring the military drills as "an actual war scenario." DPRK is the initials of the North's official name Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Seoul vowed earlier in the day that it will take much stronger actions than usual in the event of North Korea launching an artillery attack during the war exercise. The two Koreas have often fired artillery shells near the sea border a few days prior to the start of the annual military event.
pbr@yna.co.kr
(END)
The North has long denounced the annual military drills, which kicked off in South Korea on Monday for a 12-day run.
The annual war game mobilized some 56,000 South Korean troops and about 30,000 U.S. soldiers this year. The Combined Forces Command here said it informed the North the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise is "defensive in nature," but Pyongyang has insisted it is "drills for a war" against the North.
"The war drills ... prove that the U.S. is the harasser of peace and provoker of a war in the new century that upsets the stability on the Korean Peninsula," said a statement by the Panmunjom Mission of the Korean People's Army, carried by the (North) Korean Central News Agency.
"As it has become clearer that the nation's sovereignty and peace which are more valuable than one's own life can be guaranteed only by arms, the army and people of the DPRK will take physical counteraction any moment, unhindered, to safeguard its sovereignty and peace," the English-language statement reads.
"The DPRK can not but take the resolve to use force," the North noted, referring the military drills as "an actual war scenario." DPRK is the initials of the North's official name Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Seoul vowed earlier in the day that it will take much stronger actions than usual in the event of North Korea launching an artillery attack during the war exercise. The two Koreas have often fired artillery shells near the sea border a few days prior to the start of the annual military event.
pbr@yna.co.kr
(END)
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