A reader in Glasgow, Scotland sends in the following questions:
What do you think the feeling is of the younger generation within South Korea to North Korea?
What do you think the general feeling amongst younger South Koreans towards reunification?
The short answer is that young South Koreans appear to regard the North Korean regime as […]
Update: Some timely comments on the problem of Roh and the effect on the U.S.-ROK alliance.
Original post: The Brookings Institution North Korea page has a new paper (h/t Kevin) on U.S.-ROK relations, “Looking Back and Looking Forward: North Korea, Northeast Asia and the ROK-U.S. Alliance,” (full paper-PDF) by Dr. Park Hyeong-jung, a Senior Fellow […]
The latest edition of the Military Review, a publication of the US Army’s Combined Arms Center located at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, has an excellent paper on, “Finding America’s Role in a Collapsed North Korean State.” (PDF) An excerpt:
American military and political thinkers today are focused on creating policies to govern stability operations, but this […]
I don’t see this as hurting much, but as usual the Kim regime is the short-to-mid term winner, which mean most North Koreans are the losers:
Reunification IT Forum (South), Chosun People’s Science Technology Association (North) and Chinese Information Society co-hosted ICMIP 2007 in Yenji, China on November 27 to 28.
At the conference, IT experts […]
Dr. Andrei Lankov’s latest article on reunification is out and is as usual a must read. Some of the points he covers are:
While both Koreas say they want reunification, in reality neither is prepared for the costs to their side; loss of power for the elites in North Korea, and severe financial hardship in […]
Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland have an article in the latest Newsweek International (h/t OneFreeKorea) concerning the apparent change in North Korea’s attitude towards negotiations to denuclearize. While I don’t agree with all they suggest, this is what to take away from this article:
We think we know why North Korea is softening, or at […]
It’s not surprising, or shouldn’t be, that defectors and refugees from North Korea might have high instances of mental health issues. However, the story of Shin Dong Hyok, a North Korea defector who escaped from a “total control” concentration camp and eventually made his way to South Korea, highlights an additional area to consider. […]
Update 2: via NightWatch:
Today, however, Japan Today and the South Korean daily Yonhap reported that Kim Jong-nam still lives in China, but made one of his periodic visits to Pyongyang in June.
Update: “Kim Jong-il’s Eldest Son ‘Back in Pyongyang”
The eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-nam (36) has returned to Pyongyang […]
While there is less gushing about hope for reunification than after the June 2000 summit between Kim Jong-il and Kim Dae-jung – which was purchased for the price of at least $500 million – there is still a good bit over the newly opened railway link, which reportedly has only cost South Korea $80 […]
Reality shines into the lives of some young North Korean elites. What will they have to say about South Korea when they return to Pyongyang? Via East Asia Intel:
One North Korean player fell during the match and was taken to a nearby hospital. Doctors were astonished to find the boy’s hamstring was about to […]
Via the Times: "The exhibition features 400 hand-painted posters dating from the peak of the Dear Leader Kim Sung Il's power in the 1950s to the present regime led by his son, Kim Jong Il." The article has only one image, but has several interesting propaganda quotes.
- #Young Korean Herrenvolk engaging in their version of Agoge, at least according to the New York Times. The two Korean schools mentioned in the article are similar to Exeter or Andover in the United States in someways (they are private academies that serve children of affluent parents). But my guess is that the studious atmosphere and intense regimen compare more to the likes of Stuyvesant (my alma mater) in NYC or T.J. in Virginia (both highly selective, but publicly-funded high schools).
- #North Korea claims that on 25 April 1932 the Korean People’s Army (KPA, 조선인민군/ Chosŏn inmin'gun) was formed. However, the more likely accurate date is 08 February 1948. It is celebrated as “Military Foundation Day” in Kimland.
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