Sorry I missed the anniversary, but better late than never: yesterday was the 48th anniversary of the 4.19 Revolution of 1960, which brought down Syngman Rhee (이승만) government.
The background to this “revolution” is complex, but it can be simply summarized as the final act of revulsion toward the increasingly autocratic rule of Syngman Rhee’s government. [...]

Update: Ok, the U.S. side has not gone completely insane:
Top U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill said on Tuesday that North Korea must do more to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme before it can be removed from Washington’s list of states that sponsor terrorism.

The question now is whether or not North Korea will claim the U.S. is [...]

If the requirement to fully disclose all nuclear programs, including highly enriched uranium (HEU), doesn’t cause North Korea to balk during the remainder of the 60 day deadline to the 13 February agreement, then this might:
The U.S. envoy to the North Korea nuclear talks said Monday that Pyongyang needs to meet international standards, especially in [...]

North Korea has a place of prominence in Ian Bremmer’s book, “The J Curve: A New Way to Understand Why Nations Rise and Fall” (H/T Ian). I agree with North Korea’s dependence on isolation for survival (strategic disengagement), but not the characterization of North Korea as “stable”:
. . . the Bush administration insists that [...]

Yikes!
China’s controversial one-child policy continues to widen the gender disparity in newborn babies, according to a new report.
In 2004, 121 boys were born in China for every 100 girls, according to the government-affiliated Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). That is up from 2000, when the ratio was 117 boys to 100 girls. [Snip]
In 1982, [...]

WaPo says:
The Communist Party chief of Shanghai was fired Monday in the highest-level purge of a Chinese official in more than a decade. Analysts called the dismissal an effort by President Hu Jintao to make a bold statement against corruption and consolidate his power in advance of an important party congress.
Chen Liangyu, who presided over [...]

Thaiku is a restaurant in Seattle (where I lived previously). But that’s not what’s in the news:
Thai army leaders deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a longtime ally of President Bush, using tanks and soldiers to seize the capital Tuesday night without firing a shot. The coup was the first in 15 years in a country [...]

The Roh administration’s mishandling of the U.S.-ROK alliance has resulted in a U.S. proposal for the ROK to receive wartime operational control of military forces much sooner than expected, by 2010 as opposed to the 2012 ROK proposal. This in turn has resulted in strong protests from 13 former South Korean Defense Ministers – [...]

Earlier I conducted an interview with Gordon Chang.
Mr. Chang was gracious enough to answer some follow-up questions from us and our readers.
From Joshua: Behind the headlines, there is another debate raging on China’s economic intentions inside North Korea. Some of us were alarmed recently when the Chinese acquired a 50-year lease on port at Rajin [...]

Gordon G. Chang is the author of The Coming Collapse of China, which generated much controversy about the state and direction of the Chinese government, economy and society. When the “China Rising” theme was in vogue among Asia watchers and the mainstream media five years ago, his was one of few public voices expressing dissent [...]