Last Thursday, while addressing at the American Enterprise Institute, Jay Lefkowitz, President Bush’s Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea, stated that, “North Korea is not serious about disarming in a timely manner,” and “It is increasingly likely that North Korea will have the same nuclear status one year from now that it […]
The Bush Administration’s engagement of North Korea – which I described earlier and giving Kim Jong-il enough rope to hang himself (IMO the final test of this will be what the administration accepts as North Korea’s uranium declaration) – has been drawing criticism from the likes of John Bolton from the beginning.
Now Republican opposition […]
I had a chance to appear on The O’Reilly Factor this evening to discuss the reaction to the South Korean hostage issue. First of all, I would like to thank Michelle Malkin (who subbed O’Reilly) for the opportunity.
If I looked and sounded ghastly, please forgive me, as I was on the tail […]
Update: Bolton has his say:
Congressmen, human rights activists, and a former ambassador are challenging the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s plan to transfer $25 million in frozen funds to North Korea… “These are tainted funds and it would be bad enough to have a private bank handle them, let alone the Fed,” a […]
The 13 February deal (DOC) brought much criticism from both the center and the right for giving North Korea another chance. Many in fact took the agreement out of the proper context and criticized it for things not even in it but reserved for deals to be struck in later stages of negotiations.
For the […]
As soon as I go on a vacation, things go badly! Market crash in Asia, Bush 43 folds on Iran…
But first, here is a strange coincidence. I crossed paths with Ambassador John Bolton at the men’s room (!) of the United Airlines Red Carpet Lounge at Dulles on my way out of […]
I wrote earlier of “Goodbye Vulcans, Hello 41 Liegemen.” Even before that (mid-September) I was sniffing the coming wind of the latter.
MSNBC-Newsweek has more on the return of the 41 loyalists, including this tidbit:
Did 41 help bring Gates [who is replacing the outgoing SecDef Rumsfeld] to the Pentagon? The White House denies it, but, […]
Another excellent read at the Asia Times:
The most extraordinary aspect of the US mid-term elections and their immediate aftermath from the viewpoint of anyone with an interest in the North Korean nuclear standoff was that the entire topic was overlooked, if not forgotten.
[. . .]
The reason for the upheaval in the Pentagon was Iraq, […]
SecDef Rumsfeld is out, leaving only VP Cheney as the last “Vulcan.” Baker, Gates and other “loyal liegemen of Bush 41″ are back in (h/t RCP).
What will this mean for our East Asia policy? My predictions follow:
1. Less Japan, more China. Bush 41 and his liegemen are advocates of engaging (read appeasing) China, and […]
Not much available on this yet, but according to the GOP, via the AP:
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, architect of an unpopular war in Iraq, intends to resign after six stormy years at the Pentagon, Republican officials said Wednesday. Officials said Robert Gates, former head of the CIA, would replace Rumsfeld.
Although it’s too […]
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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