Eyes on Korea: 2004-01-23

Winds of Change.NET Regional Briefings run on Tuesdays & Wednesdays, and sometimes Fridays too. Today's Regional Briefing focuses on Korea, courtesy of Robert Koehler in Kwangju.

TOP TOPICS

• Chris at Free North Korea tells us why this winter might be an especially brutal one in the Workers' Paradise north of the DMZ. Chris also suggests a rather novel approach to giving food aid to North Korea.

• Well, the Blue House finally decided on a plan to send 3,000 troops to Iraq - half of whom may be special forces personnel. Moreover, it looks like the Koreans will take over responsibility for At-Ta'min Province, with their headquarters in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

• An agreement -- sorta -- has been reached to move the sprawling Yongsan Garrison, headquarters of the U.S. 8th Army, out of Seoul and to the P'yeongt'aek-Osan area, well south of the Han River. South Koreans of both the leftist and rightist persuasions are not happy at all.

• Ralph Cossa of the Pacific Forum discusses the potentially bumpy road ahead for the US-ROK alliance.

ALSO ON TAP TODAY: Stamp wars, Internet Wars, and History Wars; 3,000 ROK troops to Kirkuk; North Korea makes "bold" concessions; a look into the Great North Korean famine; USFK to leave Seoul; ROK Foreign Minister resigns, with implications for future US-ROK ties; dumb South Korean TV show ideas (but some decent movie ideas), and much, MUCH MORE.

North Korea's Man-Made Famine

• The Big Hominid has a three part (so far) review of Andrew Natsios's book The Great North Korean Famine -- definitely worth the time going through.
  Part I
  Part II
  Part III

• In the Asia Times, Jim Lobe discusses starvation in North Korea, including the way in which the DPRK may be distributing food according to political loyalty.

• For the Lunar New Year holiday, meanwhile, South Korea's MBC TV is airing a special on North Korean cuisine during which they visit cooking schools in the [starving] nation and discuss some of the country's regional dishes [but probably not including grass and tree bark]. I only wish I could tell you I'm making this up.

North Korea's Nukes

• An unofficial delegation visited North Korea in order to peak around its reactor site at Yongbyon, and one of its members, former special envoy to North Korea, Jack Pritchard, writes about what he saw in the NYT. Pritchard feels that "time is not on the American side," but Barry Briggs disagrees. Kirk of It Makes a Difference to the Sheep offers his comments on this as well.

• The Flying Yangban gives us (and Fred Kaplan in particular) some advice on dealing with the North Koreans.

• North Korea may have offered a "bold concession" to freeze it's nuclear program (see here and here, too). I offer some brief comments on this over at the Marmot's Hole, as well.

• Also at Free North Korea, take a look at this critique of Richard Perle and the neocon's position on North Korea. BTW, it goes without saying that Free North Korea is an outstanding source of information on the DPRK -- you'd be wise to take advantage of it.

• North Korea's Most Wanted Playing Cards?

US-ROK issues

• Tom Rathbone, new to the English-language blogging world, tells us why the Yongsan move will not weaken South Korea's security.

• South Korea's Foreign Minister, Yun Yeong-gwan, turned in his resignation after a scandal involving "inappropriate statements" racked his ministry. President Noh's foreign policy adviser, Ban Gi-moon, was named as his replacement. The resignation sparked much concern, as it began to take on the overtones of an ideological struggle within the Noh Blue House for control of South Korean policy toward the United States. The Oranckay has some good stuff on this (look here, too), and the Yangban discusses the problem of "diplomats going native." The Rathbone press deals with the Yun resignation as well.

• David Scofield discusses Korea-centrism and the foreign 'threat' in the Asia Times -- makes for an interesting read.

Asian Affairs

• If you are at all interested in Asia and not reading Far Outliers, you're missing something. Your missing a lot, actually.

• STAMP WARS! Learn all about the Dokdo Islets, two rocks in the middle of the Sea of Japan that are claimed by both Korea and Japan, and how printing stamps can be hazardous to bilateral relations. The Oranckay tells us why we should avoid calling the islets "disputed territories."

• INTERNET WARS! This is what happens when stamp wars grow out of control.

• HISTORY WARS! Learn all about how Chinese attempts to make incorporate the history of the ancient Korean kingdom of Koguryo is causing quite a fuss in Northeast Asia. David Scofield discusses the MURAL WARS (in reality, only a front in the greater HISTORY WAR), and I discuss the South Korea's rather muted response to the Chinese historical claims at the Marmot's Hole. And check out some of those protest threads (and here), baby!

• Kirk of It Makes a Difference to the Sheep gives us an excellent (and expert!) history of the relations between Korea and Qing Dynasty China, and the Yangban offers some of his insight into this as well.

• Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro ushered in the New Year with a visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, drawing nasty responses from the South Korean government (and even nastier comments left on a number of blogs) -- check out my my post (more for the comments), Shuxie (excellent commentary and links on this issue), the Oriental Redneck (more great stuff), and Solomonia.

South Korea

• After spending 50 years as a POW in North Korea, Chon Yong-il finally made it home to South Korea. But Conrad of the Gweilo Diaries asks, "where's the outrage?"

• In a sign that the South Korean government is finally planning to get tough with North Korea (not), the Noh Administration is considering pardons for those involved in transferring tons of cash to Pyongyang right before Kim Dae-jung's summit meeting with Kim Jong-il in 2000. [sarcasm off]

• Between 1968 and 1971, the South Koreans were training a military unit with the purpose of sending it up North to assassinate then-North Korean leader Kim Il-sung, only to see the unit eventually revolt. A movie about the unit is now setting Box Office records in South Korea -- the KimchiGI gives us some background and his own thoughts on the film.

• The Flying Yangban takes a look at some of the, uh, security personnel that will be tagging along to Iraq.

• South Korean politics are as ugly as ever -- as the Oranckay writes, this says it all. Run through my South Korea archive at the Marmot's Hole for more stuff and links. Seeing Eye Blog also makes many an acerbic observation -- just visit his blog and start scrolling down.

• The Hankyoreh Shinmun -- the South Korean left-leaning daily -- now translates their editorials into English. For an excellent fisking of one of them, take a look at this Seeing Eye Blog offering.

• Kevin of Incestuous Amplifications, back from a long blogging break, steps back into the ring with a post that's literally all over the map.

• An American expat in China visits Korea (and blogs his tale), and an American expat in Korea visits China (and blogs his tale).

• As always, those wanting to get a look at everyday life in Korea (through some outstanding photographs) should stop by Korea Life Blog.