The book by Charles Jenkins detailing his time as a U.S. defector in North Korea, “Kokuhaku” (To Tell the Truth, in Japanese), will be released in English, 3 March 2008 under the title, “The Reluctant Communist: My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea.” (h/t Sam) The 238 page book is going for […]

From the Japan Times: “The Sea of Japan will remain the term of reference for the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan despite efforts by North and South Korea to have the name changed. . . the ninth conference on the standardization of geographical names [decided] Monday.” [h/t Occidentalism]

According to the article, “Kim Is Squeezed as North Koreans in Japan Switch Citizenship,” about 1,200 North Korean citizens living in Japan change their citizenship to South Korea each year, and the rate is increasing:
Kim Jong Il no longer supports the government of North Korea.
Kim is a 66-year-old businessman who owns a shoe factory […]

There is probably no better way to muddy Japanese accusations that North Korea kidnapped numerous Japanese citizens than to produce a counter accusation that can’t be proved, which is far more proactive than mere denial.
The sad truth here is that a woman defected to Japan but was almost certainly faced with the prospect of […]

Update: Also see Joshua’s post on this.
Original post: Japan continues to keep pressure on North Korea in yet another move that will stifle the flow of currency and goods from Japan to North Korea. The Chosun Soren clearly brought this upon themselves:
The de facto embassy of North Korea in Japan may lose its headquarters […]

In an update to this post, several stories offer various bits of information that begin to create a more solid picture of the family’s motivations and the circumstances of their trip. Probably the relatives they left behind, if any, will be easily identities and may pay the price. From the Yomiuri Shimbun:
Four North Korean […]

[Note: this post was authored by Darin, and is being hosted at DPRK Studies. This is post two of two - the first post is here]
All totaled there are 16 pages of pictures in Kokuhaku. Some pages have multiple pictures bringing the total number of pictures to 39. In my first post, […]

[Note: this post was authored by Darin, and is being hosted at DPRK Studies. This is post one of two - the second post is here]
Jenkins was born in Rich Square, North Carolina. He joined the National Guard in 1955, well below the minimum enlistment age. He joined the army in 1958 and was […]

Today Japan installed and deployed a ballistic missile defense system, which is separate from the U.S. PAC-3 system deployed on Okinawa last year and ship-based Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) missile interceptors at Yokosuka:
“We had initially planned to complete the deployment by March next year, but we accelerated the plan following North Korea’s missile launch,” the […]

A reader notes that, “Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story” will be available (or for pre-order) on DVD in April.
This is the remarkable story of a 13-year-old Japanese girl abducted [in 1977] on her way home from school by North Korean spies. For 20 years, her parents had no idea what had happened to her […]