I’m a bit late to this editorial, but it raises a discussion-worthy point (h/t North Korea Zone):
It has been five months now, and there are rumors in the border city of Dandong that China is planning to integrate North Korea’s economy by linking it to the development of the three northeastern Chinese provinces of Liaoning, [...]

Recently I wrote of “Russia’s Foolish Alliance with China,” in which I mentioned Ilan Berman.
Berman has written an article, which explains — much more eruditely than I can — of what I call Russia’s foolish alliance with Iran. I share many of its analyses and points. Some choice bits follow.
The background:
For more than a decade, [...]

Some folks may not be aware of this, but the United States State Department has a dedicated office called “Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.”
It is the U.S. government’s primary inter-agency coordinating authority on human trafficking. The Office is headed by Ambassador John R. Miller, a former congressman from Washington State (full disclosure, [...]

Israel held elections in the aftermath of Ariel Sharon’s continued comatose state and Ehud Olmert’s assumption of leadership of the new center party, Kadima.
*Read the experience of one Israeli poll worker, the writer Judy Balint, here.
With the ballot counting mostly done, it seems that Kadima has won, and will have the first right to form [...]

The South Korean government is angry again at Japan for the latest text book blues:
The South Korean government on Thursday sharply denounced Japan for “whitewashing, distorting and glorifying” its militarist past after Japanese officials ordered a series of controversial new changes to high school textbooks.
The unusually harsh protest centered on the disclosure this week that [...]

Joshua wrote this earlier in the aftermath of the recent illegal immigrant protests.
I share much of his sentiment regarding this controversial topic. A few weeks back, I wrote the following (People Against Illegal Immigration Aren’t “Xenophobes”), which I think is worth repeating lin light of the protests and the backlash:
I am also a naturalized American. [...]

Anyone see the irony in this?
At least 35 people, most of them teenagers, were injured in a stampede when tens of thousands scrambled to enter the Lotte World amusement park in Seoul on Sunday, the first of six intended days of free admissions. The event was meant as a way of apologizing for a recent [...]

Digital Chosun reports:
The Navy is being equipped with domestically produced ship-to-ship missiles and torpedoes produced with homegrown technology.
“Domestically produced,” yes, “homegrown technology,” NOT!
Anyway, the stats:
W100 billion (US$100 million) has been poured into development of the Haesung cruise missile between 1996 and 2003. Its effective radius is around 150 km. Launched off a warship, submarine or [...]

These days, the U.S. and Japan enjoy an excellent relationship, in part due to the close personal relationship between President Bush and Prime Minister Koizumi.
Likely there will continue to be deep cooperation between the U.S. and Japan, particularly on security issues, as the rise of China and the North Korean nuclear blackmail occupy minds of [...]

I do a good bit of travel in for business and I always look for Koreans in the area – earlier I wrote bout Koreans in Mongolia and the Philippines, and in East Africa.
In Tripoli, Libya you see the mark of Korean business before you leave the airport. There are several large “your company name [...]