The crisis. The enigma. The controversy.
I have bee looking for this all over the place and here they are. Before you look at these videos, make sure to read One Free Korea where extensive analysis is made regarding the food and economic situation. This, in my opinion, is a must see.
Edit: I think there is a part missing, so I will watch for that.
Part 1:
Part 2:
I think Joshua said he attended this. I wonder where he is at…
While I have been on the subject of Romania, news of a dissident named Monica Lovinescu who risked her life and was almost killed during Nicolae’s rule died April 21, 2008 at the age of 85 (International Herald Tribune). The entire article is a very good read, so make sure to read the whole thing.
A commentary of Monica Lovinescu on Radio Free Europe.
I never heard of her until a few days ago, but her story is very gripping and how the voices of freedom are directly threatened by a repressive regime. She was not alone. According to the video posted a few moments ago, that tells tales of North Korean defectors and human rights advocates risking life getting information to North Koreans. It is almost a certainty other dissidents from other countries had the same fears or even died from speaking out inside and outside. Monica Lovinescu, despite the attempt on her life and being in a come got back on her feet and continued to pierce the iron curtain inside Nicolae Ceausescu’s state. According to International Herald Tribune:
Romanian philosopher Gabriel Liiceanu has said he was told by a senior intelligence officer that her broadcasts angered Ceausescu so much that in 1977 he told Romania’s secret service: “Let’s shut her up! Let’s break her into pieces! Let’s break her teeth, jaw and break her hands so she can never write or speak again.”
Later that year, Lovinescu was severely beaten in front of her home in Paris, leaving her in a coma with head injuries. Ion Pacepa, who served as deputy head of foreign intelligence under Ceausescu before defecting in 1978, has said the beating was carried out by two men acting on Ceausescu’s orders. Lovinescu later recovered and returned to broadcasting for Radio Free Europe.
Ceausescu was overthrown and executed in 1989, and Lovinescu continued her work with Radio Free Europe until 1992.
Emphasis mine. What does this have to do with North Korea? Much like old communist Romania, it was those who risked life for the sake of freedom for others who changed everything. Much like CNN’s documentary, they discuss those sending information in, and those sending information out. With the war of the words, telling people inside things can get better if they work together for a common good can bring even the most hard-line of dictators down. People like Monica Lovinescu were instrumental in that fight even if it takes a really long time for results to appear. Eventually, people got the courage to stand up and make real change. This led to the only violent end to a leader during the breakup of the communist rule in Eastern Europe.
Communist Romania’s end gives me great hope that it does not necessarily need outside intervention to finally bring an end to Kim Jong Il’s crumbling state. It is my belief with enough poverty, repression, starvation and abuse people will not take it anymore. When the army finally turned the guns on the dictator, it was all over. While nobody knows when and how North Korea will end, the end is inevitable. As I said before, the cracks are showing, and it is only a matter of time before it all comes crashing down.
As said before, I think a lot can be learned from the former regimes that are now long gone, and not just Romania. If we look to other uprisings and change (no, not Barack Obama style, thank you) maybe it can inspire those inside toiling under the iron grip of a repressive ruler with the help of strong voices that truly care for them. North Korea may be the biggest challenge yet, but with enough work, determination, love and perseverance, people can look forward to a better life away from Juche.
What will it take? People disagree on the methodology employed to make change whether it is forceful change, engagement, pressure, sanctions or whatever, one thing is certain. Normal people help bring that change. Even after the North Korean state is gone, it will take a long time and a lot of work to eventually bring reunification. We may well be in the beginnings of that, and perhaps the truth will come to light.
Update: I found the USCIRF report “Thank you, Father Kim Il Sung”: Eyewitness Accounts of Severe Violations of Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion in North Korea. But the link to the report is dead. If anybody has a copy of this, let me know
In the wake of the Free Tibet movement (which I am not against) in regards to the 2008 games in Beijing, the repatriation of North Koreans back into the lion’s den has been eclipsed. While not all have forgotten about it, is almost never covered in the mainstream press. In fact, time and time again when I talk to others about the crisis in North Korea, it is met with a collective “what” or “who cares”. As explosive and debated as the Tibet protests are, I sometimes wish the defectors from North Korea get the same attention. As they always say, I can wish in one hand and defecate in the other and see which gets filled first…
A report on the BBC pointed to a report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom regarding how China should refrain from send refugees back to North Korea:
[...]
The commission urged the international community to put pressure on Beijing not to send the refugees back.
“Such action should begin immediately as China prepares to host the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing,” it said.
Now if they listen is another thing, but I get the feeling all eyes will be on either the games or Tibet. I am not stifling the debate, and is a healthy one, but North Korea has been largely ignored. An interesting PDF covers the squelching of religious beliefs in North Korea called A Prison Without Bars: Refugee and Defector Testimonies of Severe Violations of Freedom of Religion or Belief in North Korea (PDF File). According to the commission’s web site:
WASHINGTON- The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom will release its updated report on religious freedom and related human rights in North Korea, entitled A Prison Without Bars: Refugee and Defector Testimonies of Severe Violations of Freedom of Religion or Belief in North Korea, at a press conference the day before South Korean President Lee Myung Bak is scheduled to arrive in Washington, D.C. for a summit with President Bush. The discussion of the report, with Commission Chair Michael Cromartie and Commissioners Nina Shea and Imam Talal Y. Eid, will be followed by a briefing, co-sponsored by the Congressional Korea Caucus.A Prison Without Bars offers fresh evidence regarding the grave situation of North Korean asylum seekers who have been forcibly repatriated from China back to North Korea. Contrary to claims made by the Chinese government, repatriated North Koreans face severe persecution, including harsh interrogations, long-term imprisonment, and torture if they are found to have converted to Christianity or had contact with South Korean Christians or churches while in China. The report provides evidence that the cult of personality surrounding Kim Jong Il and his family remains strong, and that Kim Jong Il’s regime perceives any new religious activity as a security threat to be combated at all costs. As a result, stringent security measures have been enacted to stop the spread of religion, mostly Protestantism, through cross-border contacts with China.A Prison Without Bars follows up the Commission’s 2005 study on North Korea’s brutal suppression of religious freedom, Thank You Father Kim Il Sung. The Commission’s new report again presents the opportunity to gain insight into human rights conditions in the “Hermit Kingdom” by providing a channel for North Korean nationals to present their experiences to the international community.[...]
Immediately following the press conference, the Commission will conduct a congressional briefing on human rights in North Korea, jointly sponsored with the Congressional Korea Caucus. The briefing will feature David Hawk, a Reagan-Fascell Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy; Peter Beck, Executive Director of the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea; and Jae Ku, Executive Director of the U.S.-Korea Institute at the School for Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. Several Members of Congress are also expected to participate in the briefing.
According to the New York Times, Raul Castro seems to be loosening hard-line state controls:
HAVANA (AP) — Thousands of Cubans will be able to get title to state-owned homes under regulations published Friday, a step that could lay the groundwork for broader housing reform.
The measure was the first legal decree formally published since Raúl Castro succeeded his brother Fidel as president in February. It came a day after state television said the government would also do away with wage limits, allowing state employees to earn as much they can as an incentive to productivity.
[...]
Emphasis and link removal mine. This, in my opinion, is the beginning of the end of the hard-line communist rule in Cuba. It does not mean it is the end of the regime or the state, but It could happen, and could take years. However, like anything else, it is hard to say how things will go, and when/how things could happen. However, I am an optimist, and I have a lot of hopes for the future of Cuba. I look forward to true free elections, speech, religion and free enterprise. If one looks back in history, it appears to be well on that path. To be sure, there are many possibilities on the ultimate fate of Cuba be in the regime, the state or both, but we can look a little closer to some possibilities in the fantastically written paper, Projecting Pyongyang:
Between “China’s” Soft Landing and “Romania’s” Crash Landing scenarios, one might also insert another scenario that possesses some aspects of each. This hybrid scenario would closely approximate the experience of Cuba. Like Pyongyang, Havana experienced tremendous economic difficulties in the final days of the Soviet Union and in the aftermath of its patron’s collapse. Like North Korea, Cuba\ confronted an economic crisis of monumental proportions as subsidies and credit from Soviet bloc countries evaporated. The Castro regime adopted ad hoc reforms in piecemeal fashion starting in the early 1990s. But Cuba and North Korea do seem to have much in common, including the fact that both regimes are in a holding pattern of sorts, ruled by dynasties wherein the current dictator’s days are clearly numbered. In each case, there appear to be clear limits to the change possible in the immediate future. In early 2008, Fidel Castro, who had been plagued by medical problems, handed over the reigns of power formally to his younger brother and designated successor, Raul. Fidel, who turned 81 years old in August 2007, remains the dominant political figure in Cuba, although Raul is in charge of the day-to-day affairs of state. Once Fidel Castro and Kim Jong Il pass completely from the scenes of their respective countries, there is likely to be far greater scope for change.
This appears to be pretty accurate, and I am pretty surprised to see such reforms in the fact Fidel Castro is still alive (barely), but I also have to say the reforms are not sweeping (yet). Some of these reforms remind me of the old Soviet Union and Gorby’s reforms of perestroika and glasnost just before the dissolution in 1991. To be sure, Raul Castro has recently allowed people cell phones, DVD players and the like, when before, was heavily censored [Reuters]:
[...] Cuban President Raul Castro has introduced a series of reforms to raise food output and end what he called “excessive prohibitions” in communist Cuba.
Yes, that seems pretty bold, but I am still skeptical despite the laxing of the rules, but I cannot help but to smile. I really believe I am seeing history in the making:
The following are some of the reforms undertaken so far:
* Decentralized agriculture to allow private farmers more leeway to decide how to use their land, what crops to plant and what supplies to buy. Farmers granted leases to unused land.
* Lifted ban on Cubans buying consumer goods such as computers, DVD players, microwave ovens and other electronic appliances previously prohibited due to energy crisis.
This sounds familiar. It seems the crisis was from the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but according to this report on Boston.com, Hugo Chavez has been supplying Cuba with energy and at the same time using alternate forms of energy because of necessity. In the case of North Korea, The Soviet Union also was a good teat for the regime to suck on, and now that it is gone, is in huge shortage. While they have been getting some help, the stalemate in the six-party talks and other mis-adventures of Kim Jong Il is preventing them from getting the goodies he needs. Kim Jong Il does not have many friends, and the only one he has left is an arm’s length ally with the length getting longer and longer. So there seems to be some big difference in that respect.
* Cubans can now stay at hotels at beach resorts previously reserved for foreigners only, ending a “tourism apartheid” that was a source of resentment.
This is also interesting. I guess this is like normal North Koreans getting to stay at the hotels in Pyongyang. As for the limits on movement in Cuba is unclear to me, but from the link, it seems the restrictions on movement are not as strict as North Korea, but I am going to have research this more. What is clear, is regular Cuban citizens were not allowed in these places, and now they are, which is pretty significant to me. The downside is, a lot of Cubans do not have two centavos to rub together, so even if they are allowed, it may be out of reach in the immediate short term.
* As of April 14, Cubans will be allowed to freely buy and use cellular telephones, a service that only government officials and foreign companies had access to until now.
The freedom of communication. That is another step in right direction. I am also wondering of this includes allowance of receiving foreign broadcasts (this link appears to not be the case at the time of that writing which was early February, but on April 2, Raul has expended that allowance, but is not sweeping). All the same, to be allowed to have cell phones seems significant despite the economic divide of normal citizens and the elite.
* Reduced bureaucracy for filling medical prescriptions and began revamping family doctor program in response to public complaints it was understaffed.
Hm, I guess Michael Moore was wrong in regards to Cuba’s health care system being second to none. If it was so great, then there would have been no reason to reform, right? In any case, there is more [Associated Press]:
HAVANA (AP) — It’s not the stuff of Lenin or Marx, or even of Fidel Castro, but it’s hardly free-market capitalism, either. In fact, steps to encourage a Cuban spending spree may help the communist system and its new president survive.
In rapid-fire decrees over the past week, Raul Castro’s government has done away with some despised restrictions, lifting bans on electric appliances, microwaves and computers, inviting average citizens to enter long-forbidden resorts and declaring they can even legally have their own cell phones.
More could be on the way. Rumors are rampant the government could ease travel restrictions and tolerate free enterprise that would let more people start their own small businesses. And hopes that it will tweak the dual-currency system that puts foreign products out of reach for most Cubans have sparked a run on the peso.
“We’re going to get out and buy more and more,” said retiree Roberto Avila. “That’s the future in Cuba, and it is a strong future.”
Cuba is still far from a buyers’ paradise. Nearly everyone holds government jobs, earning an average of $19.50 a month, though many get dollars from tourism jobs or relatives abroad. It would take the average Cuban five months to earn enough to buy a low-end DVD player that an American could buy with five hours of minimum-wage work.
I have to agree it is not capitalism yet, and I also agree the haves and have-nots are already apparent in the face of these reforms because as I said before, most Cubans are very poor, and cannot afford a cell phone, microwave or a stay at a foreign hotel. Perhaps once the wage cap has been removed, maybe it will be in reach later, but immediately, it does not seem that way. On the other hand, as with all change in places like Cuba and other former communist states, change does not happen overnight. Going back to the NYT article:
By law, Cubans still are not permitted to sell their homes to anyone but the government, though they may swap housing with government approval — a process that can take years.
Two officials at Cuba’s National Housing Institute, who insisted on not being named because they were not authorized to speak to the foreign news media, said the new law was probably the first in a series of housing reforms.
I cannot see that law lasting forever, but I am curious to see what else comes down the pike as far as the housing reforms go. As for the wages:
[...] Ariel Terrero, a commentator on state television, said a resolution approved in February but not yet published would remove salary caps intended to promote social and economic equality, allowing state employees to earn as much they can.
That also appears to be good news, but change of that magnitude can take take time to change over, but in all, could close the gap of the have and have-nots. In what time frame is unclear, but again, I cannot see it happening overnight. Also, what path Raul Castro wants to go with reforms are unclear as well, and I will have to wait and see what else is in store.
In conclusion, Cuba is far from a democracy and has a long way to go. On the other hand, it does seem to me the cracks are very clear in the once hard-line state. I am very interested in seeing what else happens. As things are going the way they are now, I cannot help but to think that Raul in the quest for stability may actually be bringing the inevitable path to collapse. Not a hard landing mind you, but a hybrid as Projecting Pyongyang suggested.
The question posed today: Is Raul Castro Cuba’s Gorbachev?
Maybe I am interested in the wrong country. Maybe I should simply give it up and not worry about it. There are so many issues facing my own country, perhaps I should worry what happens at home. However, I cannot help but to want to try and look through the dark looking glass and try to understand the silhouette of the gears turning in the feeble attempt to understand. As a person who never even stepped foot into Korea or any other part of Asia for that matter, why the interest?
Perhaps it is the human condition. Perhaps it is the taboo of trying to understand something I am not supposed to understand. Perhaps I am just weird and need to find a new hobby. Maybe I need to find an answer to these things before trying to understand something I have very little understanding of on the other side of the world. Something draws me to this mysterious place, and the succession and future possibilities are one of them:
The DailyNK has an interesting write-up about the possible succession by high level defector Hwang Jang Yop. He predicts there is no light at the end of the tunnel for the evaporation of the Kim Jong Il regime, he does predict people will not take another successor seriously. I am sure he is correct the regime will stick around for as long as possible. How long it can sustain itself is anybody’s guess, and there are many theories to suggest when the regime will topple. As for the state, that may take even longer as suggested by Projecting Pyongyang (h/t: DPRK Studies) and Marcus Noland’s Korea After Kim Jong Il (I will not go into these in detail now, since this is a subject I am still learning). There are many, many other publications, articles and other things discussing the possibilities as well as you may very well know. While it is fascinating to speculate how North Korea may go, nobody really knows how things will develop and finally be history. I am going to guess even Kim Jong Il does not really know the ultimate fate of his so-called paradise, but he may be the only one with all the variables known such as the inner workings of his government, the deals made with China (and others), the nature of his economy and what he plans to do next. I am going to venture a guess not even the closest of his inner circle of cronies may not have the entire picture. With this in mind, if close insiders may not have all the information (I am going to guess each department has information, but for the sake of keeping the people in line, not one person other than Kim know everything), if the inner circle, ordinary North Koreans and even the elite do not know everything that is going on, outsiders know even less. Not even less, almost nothing with 100% certainty.
Continue reading ‘The Path To Collapse: Hwang Jang Yop on succession’
Sphere: Related Content
Here is a rare look inside the great famine of North Korea filmed in 1997. This is right in the thick of this horrific famine, and this film is very heartbreaking. A Care International worker reports the conditions inside the secretive state, and you can see how he goes to great lengths to peel back the facade that North Korea is paradise as the official mouthpiece says.
Here, you will see ordinary North Koreans showing the reality, the negotiations with officials, minders and lot more. North Korea goes to great lengths to hide the very serious problems, and now with another famine in the horizon, I cannot imagine how many times it can happen without the state going into disarray. Maybe once the elite who get the lion’s share of the rations all of a sudden feel the pinch of shortage, maybe change will happen from the top down. I cannot foretell the future, but even after this very serious famine, North Korea kept on going. So the question is, how far can it go before it simply falls apart?
One cannot be certain, but it seems to me the path to collapse is in motion, and when it will finally crack and fall into a million pieces is unknown. All I can guess it will be a surprise to everybody once it does, and with the conditions the way they are right now, it will be one of the greatest humanitarian projects the world has ever seen once the the current regime has dissolved.
Also see CARE’s withdrawal from North Korea.
Two programs folks interested in the human rights issues of the DPRK may be interested in applying. Go and visit LiNK’s Project Real Sunshine today and see what you can do to make a difference.
From the site:
Two years ago, in the summer of 2006, nearly 40 activists from all over the world participated in LiNK’s Project: Sunshine initiative. Delegates arranged to take university finals early, quit their jobs, and rearranged summer plans to participate. For three weeks they held daily symposiums, lectures, debates and screenings, coupled with exciting and dramatic street activism, awareness efforts, dance exhibitions, concerts, and various stunts. The aim was to engage Korea’s student and academic communities on the issue, spark a grassroots movement for the forgotten North Korean people, and raise questions about the South Korean government’s Sunshine Policy. The effort was a success - gaining coverage in major South Korean newspapers, high-level meetings with South Korean government officials, National Assembly members, and even a former President.
Hundreds of thousands remain imprisoned in North Korea’s concentration camps. Thousands upon thousands of refugees remain without protection, hiding throughout China and Southeast Asia, vulnerable to trafficking or repatriation. The Chinese-born children of North Korean refugees starve on the streets and are unable to find work and receive medical care or education. Thousands of North Korean refugees resettled in South Korea are also unable to find or hold jobs and report feeling “hopeless” and “alone.”
APPLY:
http://www.linkamerica.org/realsunshine/downloads/TRS.application.doc
http://www.linkamerica.org/realsunshine/downloads/TRS.positions.pdf
If you cannot make it to these events, you can do a lot by learning about the atrocities in North Korea, contact your officials and see what they are doing about it, donate whatever you can to help with the rescue efforts for defectors and keep harping until the inevitable end of the Kim Jong Il regime.
To all of those that do make a difference, thank you.
Here is an interesting documentary about Adolf Hitler. I do not know who made the documentary, but that is not important. What this discussed was the psychological profile of Adolf Hitler. Apparently, this was never done before, but some shocking predictions were made based on his behavior and past. These were accurate from the documentary’s point of view.
One of the people discussing this profile is a man named Jerrold M. Post. Apparently, he never saw the analysis much later.
Now, what is interesting, and what I would like to know is, are there profiles of Kim Jong Il, Kim Il sung or the other cronies inside the regime? I am sure if there is such a thing, it is not for public consumption, but it would be very interesting to see something like that.
Sphere: Related ContentVideo 1:
Video 2:
For the first post after a break of blogging, I would like to post the U.S. State Department’s 2007 Human Rights Report. Without much surprise, North Korea ranks in the top ten of countries with human rights abuses, and I am sure this is not going to go away any time soon until the regime is finally gone. Even when the regime is gone, it will most likely take many years to get stable. The choices are few all around, but in all, while freedom can be suppressed, the human spirit cannot. With the hopes of freedoms so many take for granted, it is hard to imagine what it is like not to freely move from one place to another, worship or not worship, criticize government and have free elections.
North Korea has none of these freedoms, and as the report and the Chosun Ilbo suggests, freedom and human rights in Norh Korea is in the top ten. As it is well-known to Korea bloggers, human rights watchers, political junkies and others, North Korea deserves to be in the bottom of the human rights list and once it is in history, the regime will be alongside Nazi Germany, Stalin’s USSR, Saddam’s Iraq and Fidel’s Cuba. When will North Korea see human rights? When will the DPRK be a painful footnote in history? Nobody knows, but someday, it will be. Hopefully, peace will once again prevail in Korea, and people can freely cross that line in Panmunjom. To what ends it will be achieved is unknown. All I know is we all have hope, and North Koreans are beginning to understand the current form of government is not working and that hope can bring forth human rights and freedom.
Of course, there are critics to the report:
The report is said to reflect the stances of hardliners at the department’s human rights bureau. The Washington Post said on March 4 that the report sparked “internal tussling” at the department. According to the newspaper, diplomats at the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs disagreed with officials at the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) over the tone and nuance of the report. DRL officials tend to be hardliners, the newspaper said, while those at the regional bureau prefer a more diplomatic approach to smooth the way for the resumption of six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear problem.
Link and emphasis mine. According to the WaPo, an email was sent (WaPo):
So on Friday, Glyn Davies, the principal deputy assistant secretary in the East Asia bureau, sent an e-mail to Erica Barks-Ruggles, a deputy assistant secretary in the DRL bureau, regarding some changes in the introductory language of a report on North Korea.
“Erica,” he wrote, “I know you are under the NSC [National Security Council] gun,” apparently to get the report done so the NSC can review it, “but hope given the Secretary’s priority on the Six-Party Talks, we can sacrifice a few adjectives for the cause.
“Many thanks. Glyn.”
And the changes? Eliminated words are in brackets, and additions are in italics:
“The [repressive] North Korean government[regime] continued to control almost all aspects of citizens’ lives, denying freedom of speech, press, assembly, and association, and restricting freedom of movement and workers’ rights. Reports of extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and arbitrary detention, including of political prisoners, continue to emerge [from the isolated country]. Some forcibly repatriated refugees were said to have undergone severe punishment and possibly torture. Reports of public executions continued to surface[were on the rise].”
So, as you can see, I guess it was too hardline, and the wording had to be changed a bit. The final wording is found here:
The repressive North Koreanregime continued to control almost all aspects of citizens’ lives, denying freedom of speech, press, assembly, and association, and restricting freedom of movement and workers’ rights. Reports of extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and arbitrary detention, including of political prisoners, continued to emerge from the insular country. Some forcibly repatriated refugees were said to have undergone severe punishment and possibly torture. Reports of public executions also continued to emerge.
I left the typo in place. It seems some compromise was made. whichever is the case, North Korea is what it is no matter how it is worded. It will not change the fact North Korea is isolated, repressive, desperately poor and all under the grip of Kim Jong Il. What is not fully known is the extent of the human rights abuses, but reports are all over the place. Until the country does open up, there is no way to know until that time.
According to the Chosun Ilbo the countries in the list are:
The top 10 in the latest report are North Korea, Iran, Burma, Syria, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Eritrea and Sudan.
Edit: Darn it, I should have checked the other blogs before making this post. Check out One Free Korea for better analysis.
Sphere: Related ContentJust when I thought things could not be any sillier, Kim Jong Il is getting what he wants while Washington and Seoul wait for him to cooperate. It is the same story, and in my opinion, will not change any time soon. According to Herald Tribune, Seoul wants the DPRK to reverse denials of HEU. Good luck and “no-duh”:
It will take time to move the deadlocked North Korea nuclear talks forward because Pyongyang must reverse its previous denial that it sought to enrich uranium, South Korea’s top nuclear envoy said Wednesday.
[...]
The North agreed in October to disable its nuclear facilities and provide a declaration of its nuclear programs by the end of 2007. However, the process has come to a standstill because the U.S. says the North has yet to provide a complete list.
Did Kim Jong Il already claim the declaration got lost in the mail? I do not think he will send it again. Now it seems they are still waiting, and waiting they will continue to do so, because Kim is known to wait and wait until the cows come home. When will they get tough? I do not see that happening any time soon either because they are still using kid gloves. The Unification Ministry sticking around is a darn good indicator.
“The issue of declaration is a difficult one in its essence,” South Korean nuclear envoy Chun Yung-woo said at a news conference marking the first anniversary of the landmark deal.
For Pyongyang to account for its nuclear programs, “it would take time and efforts as (the North) has to change its previous claims,” he said.
Yawn. Again, good luck on that one.
The North has publicly denied the existence of a uranium enrichment program — a key sticking point in the declaration issue. The U.S. allegation of the uranium drive — in addition to the country’s known plutonium-based bomb program — sparked the latest nuclear row in late 2002.
But Chun said it is not impossible to resolve the declaration issue.
It is not impossible, but nearly impossible considering there is no way to know 100% where everything is, and cooperation from the regime is less than stellar.
The North has accused the U.S of failing to honor its promise to remove Pyongyang from U.S. terrorism and trade blacklists while complaining of delays in receiving aid.
See, Kim wants his way despite him giving nothing in return. No declaration, no oversight on the aid and continued BS.
North Korea has so far received about a quarter of promised aid due mainly to technical complications and a lack of sufficient facilities there to store oil.
Is that the International community’s problem Kim Jong Il’s infrastructure is collapsed? If he cannot store the oil, why complain? Should we send storage too? As usual, Kim Jong Il is playing the idiot. Problem is, Kim is far from an idiot, and is making everybody else look like one, and that is his goal. He seems to be succeeding.
“Though it is being delayed, energy aid will be provided to the North to ensure the North would not worry” about it, Chun said.
Oh, how sweet. He still gets goodies. What a surprise and another “no-duh” moment. Perhaps a plan B needs to be discussed since the current course is not working at all? Kim Jong Il is not going to change his ways. Doing the same thing to expect another result is pretty dumb.
I think I will go to sleep now.
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A bittersweet story of one of the most powerful underground railroad activists I have seen Yoo Sang-joon. ROK Drop has the documentary posted.
[...]
“Yoo Sang-joon is now safely in South Korea after spending the last four months in a prison located in northern China, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW),” said Vu. “He is said to have endured extreme cold during his imprisonment and was believed he would die while being confined in China.
[...]
“I am grateful from the depths of my heart to CSW and CSW supporters for all the deep concern, prayer and advocacy on my behalf while I was in prison,” said Yoo, according to CSW.
Vu went on to say, “Yoo, a North Korean survivor, was arrested near the Chinese-Mongolian border while trying to rescue other North Koreans from danger in China. He had lost his wife and youngest son in the North Korean famine. He realized the same fate awaited him and his remaining son if they remained in the country, and decided to flee to China.
“But unable to travel together, his 10-year-old son, Chul Min, attempted to cross the Mongolian border by himself. Unfamiliar with the inhospitable terrain, he wandered 26 hours and – suffering from dehydration and weakened from the famine – died before crossing the border.
“Yoo himself was able to reach South Korea and is a citizen, but he continues to be haunted by the loss of his family. As a result, he has dedicated his life to helping North Korean refugees in China, especially children, at the risk of his own safety.”
[...]
“North Korea is one of the most repressive regimes in the world and is ranked by the watchdog Open Doors as the world’s worst persecutor of Christians. Citizens of the communist state are forced to adhere to a personality cult that revolves around worshipping current dictator Kim Jong Il and his deceased father, Kim Il Sung,” said Vu in her story.
“In the face of these grave consequences, Yoo’s punishment is considered light.”
“The fact that Yoo Sang-joon was released after only four months, in contrast to other activists who have served up to and surpassing four years, is surely a testament to your prayers, network and fervent advocacy,” said a CSW contact on the ground in Asia (location cannot be identified for security reason). “We thank you all so very much !”
No words can express the work of somebody like this who endured such unspeakable tragedies in his own life and risked his life to help others in search of freedom from the iron grip of Kim Jong Il. For me personally, it is so much easier to sit in my comfortable house in the United States and want freedom for North Koreans, when in reality would be much harder to act on it, unlike like this man and other people who risk everything to help others. So I tip my hat, and I wish him all the luck, happiness and health. Not only to him, but to others who help in this regard.
I do not know if he will continue to do anymore underground railroad work, but even if he does not, he is a testament to ultimate bravery. Also, I would like to take the time to thank others in the cause for helping defectors, getting the word out about the real state of North Korea, and at least making the effort to let the world know even if a blind eye is cast aside.
Sphere: Related ContentUpdate: One Free Korea has a much better commentary on this story and is well worth the read.
There have been questions and charges raised regarding the so-called supernotes that supposedly came out of North Korea. I do not know the validity of these charges because I am not a currency expert. However, there are two articles today that may raise doubts. Apparently, according to one article by AZCentral.com:
WASHINGTON - Two years ago, as he was ratcheting up a campaign to isolate and cripple North Korea’s dictatorship financially, President Bush accused the communist regime there of printing phony U.S. currency.
“When someone is counterfeiting our money, we want them to stop doing that. We are aggressively saying to the North Koreans just that - don’t counterfeit our money,” Bush said on Jan. 26, 2006.
If I recall correctly, I think one of the reasons for the frozen cash ($25 million) was because of the counterfeiting and money laundering. That is understandable. In return to start disabling the Yongbyon reactor, North Korea wanted that money back. So the United States released the money with some minor complications, but the DPRK did get it. As usual, North Korea keeps moving the goal posts, but will throw a fit if others do it real or imagined. Several posts have covered this already, so that is not news.
However, a 10-month McClatchy Newspapers investigation on three continents has found that the evidence to support Bush’s charges against North Korea is uncertain at best and that the claims of the North Korean defectors cited in news accounts are dubious and perhaps bogus. One key law-enforcement agency, the Swiss federal criminal police, has publicly questioned whether North Korea is even capable of producing “supernotes,” counterfeit $100 bills that are nearly perfect except for some practically invisible additions.
Huh? How is that so? I did read an article a while back regarding the question regarding the supernote producing capability (based on their own currency being very low quality), but in my mind, that does not prove a lot. I cannot find the link, but I will post it once I do find it. But to see more information on it, you can see this link (PDF). Personally, I do not doubt supernotes exist, and I also do not doubt North Korea produced counterfeit notes because they are well known for producing other things like pharmaceuticals, cigarettes and other things for quick cash. After all, any way to make money is a good thing for a collapsed economy. However, there is a story suggesting a defector may have been telling stories:
Many of the administration’s public allegations about North Korean counterfeiting trace to North Korea “experts” in South Korea who arranged interviews with North Korean defectors for U.S. and foreign newspapers.
The defectors’ accounts, for example, were cited prominently in a lengthy July 23, 2006, New York Times magazine story that charged North Korea with producing the sophisticated supernotes.
The McClatchy investigation, however, found reason to question those sources. One major source for several stories, a self-described chemist named Kim Dong-shik, has gone into hiding, and a former roommate, Moon Kook-han, said Kim is a liar out for cash who knew so little about American currency that he didn’t know whose image is printed on the $100 bill. (It’s Benjamin Franklin.)
The Secret Service, the Federal Reserve Board and the Treasury Department all declined repeated requests for interviews for this story.
(Link mine) Hm, that is interesting, but that does not mean the entire story regarding the supernotes may be bogus:
Although banks around the world are still seizing supernotes, the Bush administration is no longer publicly accusing North Korea of producing them and has dropped the subject from talks on halting North Korea’s nuclear-weapons program, according to State Department officials.
This story seems a bit slanted, but reading in between the noise, it seems there may be more questions than answers regarding the supernotes. So the question I have for you readers is, if a defector claiming to make these notes is lying (he obviously was if he does not know the person on the bill), what is the real story behind the notes?
Sphere: Related ContentThe game continues with the new president of the ROK to entice the reclusive leader of the socialist paradise to come clean and get some goodies. So far, Pyongyang remains defiant. If the North will accept the deal or not is one thing, but if this is talking billions to help shore up the already crumbled economy, maybe it is time for Kim to realize his regime survival depends on such outside help. The downside to all of this is, it means the leader has to make a full declaration which most likely will never come. Does this mean the outside will succumb to a partial list? It is hard to say how the North will play the cards, but it is very clear the North will drag its heels for as long as it can. So far, not much has been done. According to this story:
[...]
He said that as part of President-elect Lee’s plan to persuade the North to abandon its nuclear weapons, the next administration will establish an international cooperation fund of up to $40 billion.
(Emphasis mine) That is a lot of money for the impoverished North, and the plan is the following:
Spokesman Lee says the funds would be raised with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to support the impoverished North’s economic growth. He did not name specific projects, but experts say the fund would first be used to rebuild tattered North Korean infrastructure such as railroads, highways, and shipping facilities.
The question is, with all that money, will there be oversight to see where this money really goes? That is pretty doubtful because it is so difficult if not impossible to have an account of what the Dear Leader does with the money once he does get it. Also, the process of getting the North in line with the South will be a very expensive and long process. I really doubt this is an attempt to get the North in line with the South as much as it may be to keep the regime afloat for a little while longer. It has been that way for decades anyway. On the other hand, until such action has taken place and the North responds to the incentives, it is very difficult to know how it will play out. I am going to guess that amount of cash is going to be very difficult to resist considering the serious quagmire of the collapsed Juche economic plans. At this stage, it is damage control and has been that way for a pretty long time. Both sides have to be aware of this,especially Kim.
Continue reading ‘Matching the South with the North and other news’
Sphere: Related ContentNorth Korea appears almost certain to miss a deadline in a nuclear deal, a development that is unlikely to scuttle the disarmament-for-aid pact it reached with regional powers but could hamper its implementation.
Pyongyang has met one part of the deal by starting to take apart its Soviet-era nuclear facility that produces arms-grade plutonium, but is unlikely to meet its obligation to fully account for its nuclear activities by the end of the year.
If the DPRK makes the deadline, you are free to sell me some oceanfront property in Kansas. It is the 30th already, and looks like nothing is going to be done because North Korea is balking at the details of the February deal. Kim Jong Il wants more aid in return for an almost likely incomplete detailing of its past and current programs including HEU. However, they have almost been certainly been caught otherwise, but apologists will say it could come from somewhere else. With anything dealing with North Korea, nothing is ever certain, and neither will this even if they do declare. How is the outside world to know 100%. They cannot, unless I am missing something.
If it lives up to the deal it reached with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States, the destitute state would receive 1 million tonnes of heavy fuel oil or equivalent aid and the U.S. would take it off its terrorism black list.
Now that North Korea will not make the deadline, how are the details of the carrot going to be? Time will tell on that one, but I am going to guess it is going to be the status quo.
The paranoid state also probably loathes the prospect of being forthcoming about one of its biggest secrets, its nuclear weapons program, analysts said.
No kidding, yet will still want what they demand. Will the parties involved deliver despite the bad behavior?
North Korea may delay the process, but analysts said it must come up with some sort of declaration.
I have to agree with this too, because Kim Jong Il is the type to do stuff when he is damn good and ready. His hallmark is to ruffle his feathers, balk and play games. It’s been that way for decades. This is just more of the same stuff, and if something different comes along, color me very surprised.
One Free Korea and ROK Drop has more.
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Beijing will soon allow more than 40 North Korean refugees sheltering at foreign missions in China to leave for South Korea and the United States, a report said Sunday.
China usually forcibly repatriates North Korean refugees, whom it regards as economic migrants, even though they often face harsh punishment on their return home.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, quoting unnamed sources in Beijing, said the Chinese government had decided to allow them to leave to prevent the issue overshadowing the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Ah, what a opportunistic time to all of a sudden care for North Koreans looking for freedom. As the article said, China regularly deports North Koreans and right back into the lion’s den. This is a good step forward, and will most likely save 40 lives. This is good news. The bad news is, will this last? Most likely not. I have to see this as a ploy of “See! We care for North Koreans. Do not boycott the Olympics now!” However, I have to also say even if China were to send the 40 North Koreans back, it would have not made much of a difference anyway, because most people will not even know or care about the defectors. There are games to watch.
China has been in talks over the fate of 20 North Korean defectors sheltering in the South Korean embassy compound and 23 others under the protection of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Beijing, according to Yonhap.
[...]
Despite its rare permission for the North Koreans to seek asylum, Beijing plans to beef up its crackdown on illegal North Koreans ahead of the Olympics, Yonhap said.
Hah, so it is business as usual. Nothing to see here folks, move along.
Sphere: Related ContentBefore the posting for today, I would like to extend a happy holiday and a happy new year if you happen to celebrate it. On this day, people are most likely celebrating with family, friends and whatever other traditions they may use. However, in North Korea, even if people do celebrate, they cannot because it is like any other day.
No, this posting is not promoting Christianity. This posting is about having basic human rights such as freedom of religion of whatever flavor one chooses. North Koreans do not have a choice. There is only one “religion”, and that is Juche. If somebody chooses Juche, that is fine, but when droves are forced to love only the leaders or else, that is not very good. Take the time and read this story even if you are not religious, because it is more than just religion. It is about basic human rights.
[...]
There are no fairy lights, no Christmas dinner, or, any kind of carol service for the followers of Jesus Christ in North Korea at Christmas. In fact, the scarcity of any kind of electrical light, food or joy leaves vast swathes of this country shrouded in darkness, hunger and gloom most days of the year. Christmas day in North Korea is like any other.
[...]
Brother Simon, who co-ordinates the work of Open Doors from a secret location in China says, “Of course Christians reflect on the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas but being a Christian in North Korea is a lonely business.”
I agree it must be a lonely business indeed, not just for religious, but political and ideology. Let us be thankful for what we have, because after all, it could be worse.
One could be living in North Korea.
Update: Also found this story from the DailyNK:
Yanji, China — According to a testimony from a source inside the North, some underground churches operating in the North are, in fact, fake churches which take orders from the National Security Agency and whose mission is to unmask underground Christians.
[...]
The source revealed a shocking reality, saying, “Some security agents disguise themselves as defectors and deliberately approach those Korean churches operating in China. From the churches, the agents receive money and bibles. Then, the agents establish a fake church.” The source added, “While taking money from the Korean churches in the name of financial support for missionary work, the agents devote themselves to hunting down domestic underground churches connected to the churches in China.”
[...]
The source said that the security agency runs the fake church not only to crack down Christians but also to make money. Many Christian organizations in the South provide financial support for pastors engaged in missionary work for North Koreans in the China-North Korea border areas. The source said that those security agents operating the fake underground church make a decent living thanks to the money they receive from the South’s Christian organizations.
“Unless the churches of the South tightly manage their supporting activities for underground churches and Christians of the North, their activities might end up enriching the security agents and causing harm to underground Christians,” the source said.
In the North, the act of missionary work is considered a felony, and individuals convicted of the felony are either sent to a political concentration camp or executed in public.
That also must be pretty scary, but as people may die for their beliefs, no government can break the human spirit.
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