Flying Yangban

The election train roles through central Asia

Fresh from stops in the Ukraine, Iraq and Palestine; the Democracy Express rolled through central Asia today. 

The Argus (with a new name?)  is all over the latest election news in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (Country name links are for the respective archives).  Nathan is doing yeoman's work on this one so be sure to give him a holler.

BTW, check out Nathan's post in which he does was bloggers do best: fact checking.

Che Guevara as a Korean beer whore

I was walking to the bus stop from work the other day, when I came across a group of posters featuring the famous image of former commie hack, Ernesto Che Guevara.  Guevara's famous picture had long ago become iconic (much like some pictures of Marilyn Monroe).  But I was still surprised to find it in Korea, which for long had been the most anti of anti-communists countries.

As first I thought it was some advertisement for a leftist student group like hanchongnyeon.  But on closer inspection, they turn out to be beer ads.

I'm sure Guevara would be spinning in his grave to know that he was been used to peddle beer for some capitalist brewery. 

Good. 

I hope someone gets a Kim Il-sung ad for laxatives out soon.

The aborted overthrow of Kim Il-sung (report on Dr. Andrei Lankov's lecture)

(UPDATE 2:  Bump.  Really, this is good stuff.  Read it.)

(UPDATE:  Lankov's book sold out last night before I could buy a copy.  doesn't anyone know where I can buy a copy in Seoul?)

I posted yesterday that I was going to try to go to a lecture by Dr. Andrei Lankov on an attempt by some in the North Korean communist party to replace Kim Il-sung during a party conference in the summer of 1956.  It was some fascinating stuff. 

I think that summer was crucial for future developments in North Korea and the region.  It was the last chance to replace Kim's more Stalinist than Stalin regime with a more normal communist government.  Such a government might have been able to later reform like China or even develop genuine rapprochement with the South rather than the parasitic relationship we see today.

The bulk of the lecture is similar to the content of a web page I came across while doing some background research (the site used another Lankov book as its source).  So, rather than reinvent the wheel and give myself CTS by typing all my notes, I'll just cut 'n paste.  It's a little long for a blog entry but well worth the read, so read on brave seeker of truth! 

Get ready for the next round of Dokdo chest thumping

(UPDATE:  Since I am getting some search engine hits on this post, I thought I should give you some links to more information:

-Dokdo (Takeshima) in Japanese textbooks (NOTE: includes a link to a detailed account of the Dokdo dispute, or you can go to that link here.  It is really a must read, even if it is Korean centered.)

-Koreans turning back a Japanese plane approaching Dokdo

-A 1965 USA proposal for joint Korean-Japanese administration of Dokdo

-If you are looking for the latest Dokdo news, check out The Marmot's Hole and scroll around some.  I'm sure he will have something. 

Happy hunting.  Now for the original post:)

I assume that most folks who read this blog already know about the countering claims of sovereignty between Korea and Japan over the Dokdo (Takeshima) islets.

Now  Shimane Prefecture in Japan is planning to ask the Japanese government to proclaim February 22 as 'Takeshima Day' (starting next year): 

The proposal, made in the local assembly in Shimane Prefecture in southwestern Japan, would make Feb. 22 "Takeshima Day," for the Sea of Japan outcroppings known in Korean as "Dokdo..."

The lawmakers in Shimane, which claims jurisdiction over the territory, said the move was designed "to promote an early establishment of territorial rights over Takeshima and to raise public awareness," said assembly spokeswoman Miho Fukushiro.

The measure, backed by 35 of the assembly's 38 members, is scheduled to go to a vote by the full chamber on March 16, Fukushiro said.

The government of the Korean province which administrates the islets is not amused:

The TV commercials prompted South Korea's North Gyeongsang Provincial council, which has local jurisdiction over the disputed islets, to last week officially request Shimane prefecture to withdraw the ad and its claims to the islets.

As would be expected, the respective foreign ministries got into the act and engaged in a not-so-friendly round of name calling.  To ad even more fun to the mix Shimane Prefecture plans to hold a rally in March.  It is save to assume that their will be a bigger rally in North Gyeongsang.

UPDATE:  Someone in the Japanese government is now asking for calm.

Stories from the dark side (of the DMZ)

I have a class this evening so no time for an original post for you.  Instead, go over to the News from North Korea section at NK Gulag and check out some of their selections. 

The English can be a little choppy at times and those reporting on life in North can use a bit of hyperbole from time to time, but they can still be valuable sources of information. 

Is Roh still out of his element or has he gotten too soft?

Korean President Roh Moo-hyun is just hard to figure out sometimes.  On foreign affairs he can be pretty decisive and almost rigid.  If you don't believe me, just witness his unchanging stands on Korean troops in Iraq and engagement with North Korea (Son of Sunshine).

But on domestic issues he is often soft and wiggly like some bit of goo squishing between your toes. 

Just check this out from a recent editorial in the Joongang Ilbo: 

The Blue House has announced multiple candidates for the secretary-general of the prosecution and the head of the National Tax Service, saying it wants the public to evaluate its choice of candidates. We wonder why the same process was not done for the secretary-general of the audit board, a position as important as the other two.

Despite the side effects of internal conflict, the Blue House decided to announce multiple candidates to prevent recurrence of disgraces such as the appointment of Lee Ki-jun as education minister last month. (YANGBAN NOTE: Lee lasted only 4 days at the post before he had to resign do to a corruption scandal.)

The Joongang is wondering why Roh didn't present multiple candidates for secretary-general of the audit board?  I'm wondering why he presented multiple candidates for the other posts.

Roh, buddy, I know that you have been burned before on your appointments but this can not be the answer.  Aside from making you look week, it also makes you look like you don't know how you want to run the government (the person makes the post).

Granted, politics in Korea is a full-contact sport but Roh wouldn't have this problem if he had a professional staff.  He has people in his staff who should be vetting the candidates before they are presented to the public.  They may be a bunch of hacks but doing that job is the minimum level of competence which should be expected of them.

I'm not saying that Roh will never get burned on his appointments.  Sometimes candidates will have irredeemable problems and sometimes they will just get borked.  But that is no excuse not to go to bat for the person that he wants for the job.

So Roh, find your mojo and pick the nominees that you want.

My little report from LiNK-Korea's last meeting

(House keeping note:  Since I'm doing so much posting on LiNK, I've decided to make a separate category for it.  All Previous LiNK-related posts were in the Human rights (or lack thereof) in NK category.)

Hooking up with LiNK (I bet you thought I was going to say "linking with LiNK.")

After talking about LiNK for almost a year, I finally made it to a meeting of the local chapter.  Unfortunately, it was a pretty small meeting.  LiNK-Seoul usually has their meetings on Thursday evenings but moved it back to last Saturday because of a scheduling conflict with another NK human rights organization.  Note to organizers; having a student-based organization meet on a Saturday night during winter break might not be the best of ideas.

While turnout was not great but those who came were pretty heavy hitters, including someone from The Daily NK and the Democracy Network against North Korean Gulag (AKA: NK Gulag).  I felt a little guilty because the presence of my language deficient self made them hold the meeting mostly in English but it was good to be in on the conversation.

Was is LiNK's deal?

One thing that I picked up on pretty quickly was that LiNK-Korea is still trying to find a role for itself.  In the rest of the world (which I take is primarily the US, Canada and Poland) LiNK is a student-based education network which holds seminars, debates and protests in order to raise awareness of the deplorable human rights situation in North Korea.

While LiNK-Korea has that mission, it also (based on what I observed at Saturday's meeting) is a bit of an umbrella group for several NK human rights organizations.  I suspect that this role might have come about because of LiNK's sponsorship of a symposium last November and the resulting relationships established with those other organizations.

One potential problem with that is that the 'grown ups' in those organizations might dominate the kids at the LiNK-Korea meetings and drive the agenda to something that, while worthwhile, might not be in keeping with LiNK's mission.  I would certainly be interested in seeing the dynamics of the next meeting when the students are back.

Perhaps I will just sit quietly in the corner and let them do their business in Korean.

I'm back (and LiNK meeting notice)

I'm back from the States (I hope to have a trip report by Sunday or Monday).

For anyone interested, Liberation in North Korea will have its next meeting tomorrow:

This week, because Citizen's Alliance's Young Human Rights Activist's
Workshop coincides with our meeting day, we've pushed our meeting to
Saturday.

Topics of discussion will include:
- Latest developments in the NK human rights situation
- Debriefing of Citizen's Alliance conference and workshop
- Planning for a LiNK benefit concert and NK human rights awareness
event

As always, we welcome all levels of interest and commitment and invite
you to join us in our initiative to raise awareness amongst ourselves
and in our community.

Date and time: Feb. 19, 2005, Saturday, 7pm
Location:  Laurus Education Center (in Apkujung)
7th Floor,  Gusan Bld. 93 Nonhyun-dong Kangnam-gu Seoul Korea
(across the street from Cine City movie theater)

For questions, contact:
Eileen Choi  0130-270-5258
or
Diana Sur 010-6361-2284

For a map and location in Korean, click here.

I plan to be there.

Its official, the Uri party is a bunch of commies

Those who have been following Korean politics have known for a while that the Uri party, or a least one faction of it, was a collection of dirty, no-good, godless, backstabbing (insert other negative adjectives here) commies. 

Now they've gone ahead and made it official:

"We made the decision to sign a memorandum of cooperation with the Communist Party of China," said (Uri party) spokeswoman Kim Hyun-mi after a party meeting.

I guess it is only a matter of time before they follow this up with some kind of agreement with the North Korean Communist party.

Thanks to Lawrence Peck for the link.

The latest Nork bluster deserves a Totoro yawn

I am here in DC right now.

As everyone knows the Norks have announced yet again that they have nukes and that they are pulling out of the 6 party talks. Well, the other shoe has fallen. It seems that their latest provocations were simply an attempt to bypass the 6-party process and deal only with the USA.

Nations all over the world have rightly condemend the North Korean actions and Kim Jeong-il and his boys might have finally isolated themselves from everyone (although I wouldn't hold my breath on that one - some of our European friends' patience sometimes seems inexhaustible when it comes to other nations' security).

I just happend to have a beer last night with a reporter who has been covering Asia for years. One issue he had to deal with on a regular basis was the need to explain the basics of the situation (Korean division, Nork brinkmanship tactics, etc.) over and over again every time he does a report on North Korea.

I get the same feeling sometimes. As someone living about 70k from the DMZ, I would go insane if I panicked evertime the Norks got squirrelly. The fact is that all this mess they do is just positioning. They know that they would be destroyed in a war and they are not nearly as crazy as they like to put on.

So I'm giving this latest Nork provocation a Totoro yawn and would suggest that folks back in the States do the same. Let's just let the South Koreans play good cop and do the begging and cajoling of the Norks that they have become accustomed to doing during the past two administrations. The Norks will come around eventually.

On the other hand, if the Norks get caught selling nukes, I will be on the next plane to Saipan.