The Marmot's Hole

Wishing you all the very best in 2005.

Kevin has been posting a lot of links and commentary on the earthquake/tsunami disaster in South Asia, including ways to help. By all means, check them out.

According to the Ministry of Unification, 62 percent of South Koreans disapprove of efforts by civic groups to arrange North Koreans’ defection to the South:

A survey released by the government on Thursday showed 62 percent of South Koreans disapproved of efforts by civic groups to arrange North Koreans’ defection to the South.

Only 32 percent of the 1,500 respondents over 20 years of age agreed with the non-governmental groups’ attempts to help the refugees seeking asylum in South Korea, the Unification Ministry said.

A total of 1,890 North Koreans, including 468 people who were airlifted from Vietnam in July, have defected to the South this year, up nearly 50 percent from last year. More than 6,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War.

Neocons would be wise to check out some of the other findings of the ministry’s survey before they throw their lot in with the South Korean public.

OhMyNews (English) ran an interesting piece on one of the defectors who was airlifted to Seoul in July from Vietnam along with 468 other lucky North Koreans:

A 14-year-old female North Korean boxing hopeful, Choi Hyun Mi, came to Seoul along with her father and 468 other North Korean defectors in July – the biggest single arrival of North Korean defectors into South Korea. She has resumed her training in Seoul after an extended layoff while waiting for authorization to come to South Korea.

Choi is determined to represent the South at the Asian games in 2006 and then at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Great photos with the article. Of course, if South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young had it to do all over again, she’d still be in North Korea.

PS: This is not to say the assisted defection business is 100 percent clean, either, as Sejong at Dog Stew points out:

The economic trade in defectors is well known among those willing to seriously examine the complex reasons for the rise in North Korean refugees, but widely underreported in mainstream press. And of course, no one knows it better than the refugees who find themselves viewed as commodities.

Read the rest on your own.

Hyundai Motor Corp. reportedly failed to see the humor in a recent Top Gear episode on BBC2 in which the show’s irreverent hosts had at little fun at the expense of Korea’s flagship automaker. Jeff in Busan, in turn, had a little fun at Hyundai’s (and the Chosun Ilbo’s) expense, but while he was at it, he linked to some videos from previous episodes of the show that really are must watches. I mean, you wouldn’t want to miss an Apache gunship trying to get a radar lock on a Lotus, or an Aston DB9 racing a train from Surrey to Monte Carlo (let alone what they do to some poor Toyota truck), now would you?

Sakka over at Dog Stew (which I happened to find a mighty fine blog, even if I’ve never agreed with anything posted on it) complains about some “gratuitous propaganda” passing for news about North Korea in the U.S. media. A snippet:

On Christmas Day, the Associated Press reported that North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Il stated that North Korea has no intention of invading South Korea. As news, DUH! Neither General Secretary (is that the correct title?) Kim nor anyone else should have to say this (again) since it’s utterly obvious. It would be totally unstrategic for North Korea to invade anyone, and this is not to speculate on whether they would want to or not. What do you think would be the response of the largest nuclear power and weapons proliferator in the world, if NK were to invade SK?

On top of that, just give us the news, dudes! Either lay off on the gratuitous propaganda while pretending to be an objective source of news, or come right out and say where your ideological and political commitments lie–either way would be ok with me. BTW, this article is in no way an exceptionally ideologically biased specimen compared to what we usually get–it’s just par for the course in the U.S. media.

Like I said, I generally disagree with Dog Stew’s take on things. For example, in this case, the story was news not so much because North Korea was swearing off an invasion of South Korea, but because Pyongyang Radio made it a specific point to quote Kim Jong-il in doing so, something they knew would be picked up on by the South Korean, Japanese and Western press. The North Koreans aren’t stupid, after all. I mean, if Pyongyang Radio made it a point to get noticed in the foreign press, and the foreign press reciprocated by giving the story attention, is it really fair to turn around blame the foreign press for taking a “disingenuous dig” at the North for doing what Pyongyang intended it to do in the first place? I can’t help but feel that if AP had ignored the piece, the Western press would then have been blamed for ignoring Kim Jong-il’s expression of his peaceful intentions vis-a-vis his southern neighbor.

Anyway, read the rest of Sakka’s post on your own – he makes some interesting (albeit, in my view, problematic) points that are worth reading.

And here I was thinking radioactive materials only got smuggled OUT of Russia. Aparently not:

Russian police detained a South Korean citizen on suspicion of smuggling radioactive materials into the Russian Far East, news outlets reported.

Itar-Tass news agency cited prosecutors as saying the man, Kim Jong-hon, worked for a South Korean firm.

RIA Novosti news agency said Kim’s detention followed the seizure of 13 devices containing radioactive material this month in the port of Korsakov.

RIA said the devices contained low-enriched uranium-238, a highly toxic material used in ammunition and armor plating.

Maybe he was just using the stuff to keep warm. Wonder if the IAEA will find this curious as well.

The Kimchi GI is still around – his original blog is being rebuilt after a slight holiday season mishap.

The Flying Yangban discusses the popularity of former Prime Minister Goh Kun – the “Korean Cincinnatus” – and his chances in 2007. Definitely worth your time to read.

Over at the Asia Pages, Jodi talks about the way Hollywood portrays Asia and Asians. It’s an interesting read, so check it out and tell Jodi what you think.

I recently had the honor of answering a few questions from Andres Gentry as part of his ongoing blogger profiles project. Anyway, the interview is now up (ignore the spelling/grammar mistakes for now), so if you want to read my spiel on blogging, intra-Korean relations, the rise of China, U.S. East Asia policy and more, I encourage you to check it out.

Thanks go to Andres, of course, for allowing my drivel to pollute what is otherwise a fine Internet publication. I should also point out he’s still in the running for Best Essaying over at Asia Blog Awards 2004 – go give him your vote.

Andrei Lankov gave us a Christmas present in the Asia Times:

Back in the 1970s, when I was a teenager in the then Soviet Union in my native Leningrad, many barbershops stocked copies of Korea magazine, a lavishly illustrated North Korean propaganda monthly. What was such a publication doing in the barbershops? The answer, I suspect, would be quite embarrassing for its editors: it was subscribed to in order to amuse the patrons who were waiting for a haircut.

The magazine was heavily subsidized by Pyongyang, so its annual subscription rate was dirt-cheap while its content was both bizarre and funny. Thus the magazine, which was published to inspire worldwide love and admiration for the Great Leader and his son and successor, the Dear Leader, was often (I would say from my experience, in most cases) subscribed to by people who saw it as a laughingstock and opened its pages only to make fun of the Great Men. The North Korean propaganda appeared very weird to the Russians - not least because it looked like a grossly exaggerated version of their own official propaganda. The grotesquely bad Russian translation of the texts also provided unintended comical effects.

By all means, read the rest on your own – it’s a really good overview of Soviet/Russian attitudes toward North Korea from 1945 to 2004.

Dr. Lankov also linked to two Russian-language sites – Kimirsen and Hroniki Syevyernoi Korei – which are reportedly amusing, but I can’t read ‘em and the wife is asleep, so their entertainment value remains unconfirmed by this blogger.

And, in case you didn’t read it the first time I posted on the phenomenon, there are always the anti-Juche Stalinists.

(Hat tip to GI Korea)

A Frenchman in Phuket took about two pages worth of photographs of the aftermath of the tsunami that struck Phuket, Thailand on Sunday morning. Definitely worth checking out (Hat tip to dda).

One Korean, 33-year Lim Wu-jeong, was killed in Phuket along with his Malaysian wife. Their 6-year-old daughter is in critical condition. A 75-year-old grandmother has gone missing, 14 other Koreans have been injured, and contact has been lost with a number of other Korean tourists and expatriates in Thailand and Indonesia. I can only express my condolences to the families of those killed in this disaster and pray for the safety of those whose whereabouts are still unknown.

Anybody else read this piece and think, gee, we’ve got the makings of some good movie material right here:

Investigations by Korean prosecutors have revealed that crime syndicates like the Japanese yakuza and Hong Kong triads have begun directly smuggling drugs into Korea in order to make the country, which used to be regarded as a transit point for narcotics, a major drug market. It was also revealed that local crime organizations have begun full-scale involvement in the drug trade.

In relation to this, the Seoul District Public Prosecutors’ Office disclosed Monday that in the past year, it arrested 37 members of 14 local and Japanese organized crime syndicates for drug-related offenses, detaining 24 and booking five people without detention.

Read the rest on your own. I was kind of surprised that no mention was made of the Russian mafia. The Russians have been involved in smuggling drugs into Busan (among their other businesses here) for some time now, and then there was that hit they put on another Russian in Busan in April 2003 (although that might not have been about drugs).

To pick up on what the Nomad said, what this means is that the ESL teachers are going to have to get their asses organized now lest they get pushed out of the market.

Another interesting question this raises is how much of the methamphetamines being smuggled in to Korea by the yakuza (or the triads or Russians, for that matter) actually originated in North Korea. Something to ponder.

The Kyunghyang Shinmun had a women’s health piece on the problem of vaginismus that really was a useful story on a problem that can be quite debilitating for relationships. I liked the heartwarming way the piece started out, though:

Mrs. K, who met and married a Canadian hagwon English teacher. As she was raised in a Catholic home and received conservative sex education, before her marriage, she had never experienced sexual intercourse or masturbation. The first time she tried to have sex after marriage, due to involuntary spasms of the entrance to her vagina, penetration could not be achieved. To borrow Mrs. K’s words, she thought her husband’s penis was so big it was like a weapon. Yet for whatever reason, despite the failure of penetration, she became pregnant by way of extravaginal ejaculation. Mrs. K was very sensitive to pain and couldn’t deal with the labor pains, and the agony of her husband who was watching right next to her was even worse. In tears and unable to bear the torment of her husband who was imploring her to get an operation, she ultimately gave birth by cesarean section. After she gave birth and went through her lying-in period, she began treatment of her vaginal spasms. While performing vaginal expansion exercises – starting with exercises in which she placed watersoluble jelly on her little finger and inserting it in her vagina – she also performed Kegel exercises. Not long after she began these exercises, sex with her husband become possible, and she happily said she now sees her husband’s penis not as a weapon, but as love.

There you have it, a touching tale of weapons of love, courtesy the Kyunghyang Shinmun. The Korean-literate can read the rest on their own.

The Chosun Ilbo ran a book report Friday by Kang In-sun on Cato Institute scholar Ted Carpenter’s The Korean Conundrum: America’s Troubled Relations with North and South Korea. Co-written, actually, with the eminently sensible Doug Bandow, the book suggests that the solution to Washington’s North Korean nuclear woes would be to wean Seoul and Tokyo off their dependency on U.S. security guarantees and allow both nations to pursue their own nuclear programs:

In a recently published book entitled, “The Korean Conundrum: America’s Troubled Relations with North and South Korea,” Carpenter said that nuclear weapons development by South Korea and Japan could make North Korea reconsider its intention to develop nuclear weapons.

He claimed that North Korea might not abandon its nuclear development program even if his suggestion were followed, but at least a new nuclear balance would appear in Northeast Asia that could replace North Korea’s nuclear monopoly.

The Chosun further explains:

The scholar said that bribing North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons would likely result in Pyongyang continuing to try and pull the wool over the eyes of U.S. negotiators once more, while pre-emptive strikes were too risky as they might unleash a war on the Korean Peninsula. In his opinion, as tightened economic sanctions were unlikely to be effective, counter nuclear development was the best option given the current circumstances.

South Korean and Japanese nuclear weapons would mean that North Korea could no longer threaten Seoul and Tokyo without facing an equal and immediate threat, he said. Such moves would encourage North Korea to give up its nuclear programs by forcing it to deal with the burden of having to confront nuclear-armed neighbors.

My first impression here is that neither a nuclear-armed South Korea nor nuclear-armed Japan would encourage North Korea to rethink its nuclear program. After all, the one Pyongyang is currently working on is being developed, ostensibly, with the objective of confronting the United States, the world’s largest nuclear state. Nuclear parity is apparently NOT a consideration in North Korean strategic planning. What the threat of South Korean or Japanese nuclear development MIGHT do, however, is light a fire under Beijing’s ass to take Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions a bit more seriously. As Charles Krauthammer pointed out, “If our nightmare is a nuclear North Korea, China’s is a nuclear Japan. It’s time to share the nightmares.”

Carpenter (and buddy Bandow, of course) coupled their suggestion for a very nuclearized Northeast Asia with a call for drastic reductions in U.S. security commitments in the region:

He also said the United States must inform Seoul and Tokyo that they should no longer rely on Washington for security aid and urge them to decide independently whether or not to develop nuclear weapons.

Carpenter also said that if North Korea didn’t give up its nuclear program, U.S. forces in Korea could become “nuclear hostages,” and there was no need for the U.S. military to expose its soldiers to such a risk.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: U.S. security relationships with South Korea and Japan – as they are currently structured – are unnatural and ultimately unsustainable Cold War relics that keep potentially powerful allies in a perpetually underdeveloped state of dependency, allow potential U.S. adversaries monopolies on nuclear weapons and rational defense policies, and needlessly burden the U.S. military and economy with unnecessary commitments and expenses. The sooner those relationships are brought into the 21st century, the better it will be for all parties involved.

Hudson Institute senior fellow Michael Horowitz says the end is near for Kim Jong-il. How near? Within a year:

Hudson Institute senior fellow Michael Horowitz, a key conservative figure connected with North Korean issues, said Thursday that the regime would implode within a year.

In a lecture entitled “It Ain’t Christmas in Pyongyang: Will the Kim Jong-il Regime Last?” Horowitz said, “North Korea will implode before next Christmas and Kim Jong-il shall not enjoy Christmas next year.”

The scholar had recently visited South Korea, where he criticized Seoul policies toward North Korea and called for regime change in Pyongyang. He said the collapse of North Korea’s communist regime was historically inevitable, and that such a collapse would happen automatically and without much delay.

Just for the record, if I actually had a reputation, I would never stake it on such a claim. That’s not to say Horowitz is smoking crack – the Guardian reported today that European leaders policymakers are being told to prepare for a sudden change in North Korea – and I sure as hell hope that he’s right, but Nick Eberstadt is still catching flack for predicting the end of North Korea, and he didn’t even give it a deadline.

Horowitz also suggested we find ourselves a dissident general, especially because he’s convinced the Chinese have found theirs:

He also mentioned the possibility of a coup occurring in North Korea. He said that if the United States discovered generals it could trust to close North Korea’s “concentration camps” and shut down its nuclear program, Washington could send a message to them that it would support such moves.

He said he was certain that China has already chosen a general to succeed Kim Jong-il as the political costs of propping up the North Korean regime increase over time. He claimed the Chinese have reviewed a scenario in which their favored general seizes power in Pyongyang, declares a state of emergency and requests that Beijing dispatch 200,000 troops to North Korea to seal the deal.

I think both scenarios are worth considering, especially the later, although I’d really have to wonder how the Chinese would have “selected” their general, and how Horowitz could be so certain that China has a man in the KPA. A little Clancy-esque a scenario, but one I’ve been hearing enough of, and it does make sense in theory.

Like he did in Seoul, the scholar felt compelled to take a shot at President Roh:

He also said that South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun’s comments during his recent tour of Europe concerning how Kim would remain in power for a long time were perplexing for a “great nation” like South Korea, and stressed that Roh’s approval rating was no more than 19 percent in December.

Just to update this, Roh’s approval rating has clawed its way back to a lofty 38 percent – virtually the upper stratosphere as far as this president is concerned. Moreover, his unpopularity generally stems from things other than his North Korea policy, which does seem to enjoy a fair degree of support. Heck, even the Grand National Party has adopted a unification strategy that one blogger accurately described as “Sunshine Lite.” What this would suggest is that if the neocons are waiting for South Korea’s “silent majority” to speak up, I pray they aren’t holding their breath.

Yonhap (among others) is reporting that Seoul police have booked six people who were running an unlicensed employment agency that was illegally dispatching local and foreign English teachers to Seoul area elementary schools to teach enrichment English classes. According to police, the six recruited about 150 teachers, including about 70 foreigners, starting from January 2003 by use of an advertisement is what one news report referred to as an “Internet cafe popular with foreigners.” The group was able to get the 70 barbarians into the country by forging documents that made it seem they would be employed at a “phantom” English institute they had set up. Once in Korea, the group sent them to 58 elementary schools in the Seoul area to teach enrichment English classes, collecting W800 million of the nearly W1.9 billion in fees the teachers earned. One Australian teacher taught at two or three school between March and October, earning W35 million, W21 million of which was taken by the employment service as a commission, leaving him with only W13 million. This led, in the words of the police, to a viscous circle where the teachers were unhappy and class performance suffered.

An even worse problem was that the the teachers were, by and large, not particularly qualified to teach English in the Korean school system. Of the teachers recruited, only one was an English major. 60~70 percent were arts and physical education majors. Most apparently had no idea what they were doing, and the whole affair has revealed some serious flaws in the way in which schools hire their foreign staff. Under current laws, foreigners from English-speaking nations only need a degree – any degree – from a four year school to teach English in a Korean elementary school. Most of the responsibility for hiring seems to be left up to individual schools and regional education offices that are not very efficient when it comes managing the barbarian talent pool, which is how middle men like the ones above get involved and crappy teachers hired. Anyway, it seems a review of elementary school hiring practices is in order, and this latest scandal may hasten just such a review.

I was just surfing the net and was looking for a marmot in a Santa Claus suit or at least one in a hanbok and couldn’t find so this one will have to do. It is from www.peakguides.com and somehow it reminded me of our own Mr. Marmot (even the shell-shocked eyes are correct) who stays up late in the nights (what does your wife say about this?) faithfully translating and blogging.

Wishing you the best during this holiday season

Robert (not the Marmot)

December’s Winds of Change Korea briefing is up.

Added a horizontal menu underneath my header last night with the help of dda. Looks good on Firefox, but – and sit down for this – it messes up my side menu positioning on IE. IE wants to put my side menu all the way at the bottom of the blog, rather than right under the header where it belongs. If anyone has any suggestions as to how I might resolve this issue, I’d love to have them.

I’m cobbling together this month’s Winds of Change briefing, so I doubt I’ll be posting much tonight.

Let me second the Nomad, BTW, and state for the record that any Stalinist who’s a fan of Akira Fubuki (NOT work safe, but most certainly eye-pleasing) is OK in my book.

Are you a single expat in Korea having trouble getting laid? If so, Uncle Nomad has got what you need.

ETN TV reports that Gangnam Police Station has filed for an arrest warrant for entertainer and former Miss Korea Kim Ye-bun (31) on charges of adultery. That’s right, dear readers – adultery is a criminal offense in Korea.

The story began on July 30, when Korean-American Mrs. Choe (40) pressed charges again her husband Mr. Kim (40), a U.S. residency holder, and the former Miss Korea for adultery. Choe claimed, “Kim Ye-bum frequently met with my husband between April and July, with shameful things occurring, and my family was ruined.” According to the wife, her husband came back to Korea in July 2003 to begin local sales of the couple’s clothing brand (the couple run a clothing retailer in the U.S.). Anyway, he started attending a health club near his home in Gangnam, where an acquaintance introduced him to Ms. Kim.

Anyway, Mr. Kim brought Ms. Kim back to his home in Los Angeles in April of this year, where she lived with the couple for a week. At that time, the husband introduced Ms. Kim as a “business partner,” and she and Mrs. Choe reportedly grew close. Not as close as her husband and Ms. Kim, apparently.

Anyway, Choe learned something was up in early July when she got a strange vibe listening to a telephone conversation between her husband and the former Miss Korea, who was now back in Korea. She began pressing her husband on the issue, and while she was at it, she discovered a photo of Ms. Kim and her husband that was apparently none too pleasing.

Anyway, Choe had claimed the two began having sex in April at Mr. Kim place in Korea, and even before bringing her to LA, the two apparently took a trip together to Los Vegas. And after the two returned to Korea in May, they apparently started living together at Mr. Kim’s Gangnam pad. Very naughty, and in Korea, very illegal.

Anyway, Kim Ye-bun had been denying all this, but the fact that the police have now applied for an arrest warrant means prosecutors now believe they have an open and shut case.

Prostitutes getting Net-savvy to beat the crackdown?

Brothel owners and sex workers have taken advantage of more sophisticated methods to avoid the harsh crackdown on the sex trade since the government launched a war against prostitution on Sept. 23.

The crackdown has triggered strong protests from those involved in the sex industry with mounting calls for measures to protect their livelihood.

They also urged the government to scrap the new anti-prostitution law, which has dealt a serious blow to the sex industry, estimated to be worth 24 trillion won annually.

BTW, get a load of some of these numbers:

In terms of its economic impact, the law was expected to negatively affect the recovery of domestic demand, according to the report released by Samsung Securities in October.

The Bank of Korea also predicted that given an estimated 300,000 sex workers, the national GDP will decrease by 1.3 percent because of the law.

In line with declining profits of other industries such as the hotel industry, financial sectors coincidently suffer from the use of credit cards and loan repayments in arrears.

On the contrary, Hannuri Investment and Securities analyzed that its impact on the economy is not as serious as the original assessment of its negative impact on domestic demand and the unemployment rate.

Read the rest on your own.

From the U.S. Library of Congress Mongolia Area Study

Brings tears to your eyes, don’t it? The little Stalinists might might be responsible for one of the worse famines in modern history, but damn, they do dress well. Anyway, Mongolian President Natsagyn Bagabandi – a household name to you all, I’m sure – arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday for a three-day stay in the lovely North Korean capital. Nobody’s quite certain what the trip’s about – heck, Bagabandi might just have wanted to get out of UB for a couple of days – but there is some speculation that the Mongolian head of state is on a mission to patch up relations with its former brother in socialism. According to the Korea Times:

Mongolian President Natsagyn Bagabandi arrived in Pyongyang Tuesday on what appeared to be a mission to enhance bilateral relations, which may have been strained due to Mongolia’s stance to accept North Korean defectors.

Mongolia’s role as a “processing center” for defectors seeking to come to Seoul has apparently become a source of concern for the North since Mongolian Foreign Minister Tsend Munh-Orgil said in a November interview that his government would continue its policy of receiving North Korean refugees at border crossings.

The Mongolian president was greeted at the airport in Pyongyang by Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium of the North’s Supreme People’s Assembly, the North’s official mouthpiece Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

It remains unclear whether Bagabandi will meet North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-il.

Apparently on the agenda was a North Korean proposal to build in Mongolia a collective farm for defectors:

Major agenda for the high-level talks in Pyongyang are expected to include measures for building a collective farm in Mongolia for North Korean defectors.

In August, Pyongyang’s deputy foreign minister Kim Yong-il visited Mongolia and suggested building a joint collective farm to which North Koreans, including defectors, would provide the manpower, according to a report by Radio Free Asia.

I mentioned that Radio Free Asia report back on Nov. 29:

NK Chosun cites a report from Radio Free Asia (which I can’t seem to find) that claims that North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Yong-il, when he visited UB in August, suggested that Mongolia take North Korean citizens in the Land of the Great Blue Sky and put ‘em to work on collective farms or constructing social overhead capital. Quoting some northeast Asia specialist from American University, the report said Kim was referring to both North Koreans who entered Mongolia legally and those who entered not so legally, i.e., defectors. NK Chosun said if the report was true, it would seem to be a response to calls from South Korean and U.S. North Korean human rights groups to construct camps for North Korean defectors in Mongolia.

Mongolia, of course, has become a major third country by which North Korean defectors make their way to South Korea, especially now that it’s grown more difficult to bust into embassies in China. As for what the North Koreans might be up to, well, there is only so much leverage they have on Mongolia, while the South Koreans, U.S., and Japan have tons of it. Comradeship from the good old days goes only so far when the South Koreans own half of Ulaan Baator and 20,000 + Mongolians are only a Justice Ministry crackdown away from having their butts placed on the next plane back to the steppes. Of course, given Unification Ministry policy these days, one wonders if the South Koreans would actually use that leverage. Heck, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young might think the whole “collective farm” project is a good idea, for all I know.

Just a note to the Korea Times – I don’t like to get anal with mistakes like this, but still:

Mongolia, a close ally of China and North Korea, has underlined the importance of “silent diplomacy” in dealing with the defector issue as a crackdown by Chinese police on refugees attempting to storm embassies in Beijing has forced them to search for alternative routes to Seoul, including Mongolia.

Mongolia a “close ally of China?” Yeah, bosom buddies. Kinda like India and Pakistan.

Yonhap reported Sunday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s eldest son Kim Jong-nam, whom you may recall from the whole Tokyo Disneyland fiasco, was the target of an assassination plot during a trip to Austria last month. The plot, which “a source familiar with North Korean affairs” said was hatched by forces in Pyongyang close to Kim’s other two sons, was foiled by Austrian intelligence, which apparently didn’t want to see a North Korean gangland hit go down on its territory. Only thing is, Austria’s Interior Ministry denied today that there was any such plot, and claimed that Kim’s two-day visit to Vienna passed without incident.

Was there a plot against the Kim Jong-nam? Who the hell knows. Maybe the boys from the Yomiuri should shoot him an email and find out.

Antti – when he’s not linking porn to my blog, much to my everlasting gratitude – posts some of the most insightful material about Korea that you’ll find in the English language medium. Anyway, check out his latest installment of the Grandfather Kwon series. Outstanding stuff.

Jeff in Pusan linked to some of lists of things and places harmful to the youth of the Republic of Korea at the English-language website of the government’s Commission on Youth Protection. Anyway, check out Jeff’s post – it’s a hoot.

Actress Kim Yoon-jin of Swiri and Lost fame has become the first Korean actress to land a leading role in a Hollywood production:

Actress Kim Yoon-jin, who is currently starring in the popular ABC miniseries “Lost,” has broken into Hollywood with the leading female role in the movie “Georgia Heat” opposite Billy Bob Thornton.

Kim’s manager, Park Jeong-hyuk, said Monday his client has been selected to play the female lead in “Georgia Heat,” which would begin shooting from next June. Two years ago, actor Park Joong-hoon appeared in a supporting role in director Jonathan Demme’s film, “The Truth About Charlie,” but this is the first time a Korean actress has landed a leading role in a Hollywood production.

“Georgia Heat” depicts the turbulent life of a Korean woman who immigrates to 1960s Georgia. In the film, Kim will take on the role of a foreigner who faces discrimination as an immigrant and is caught up in the tensions between two American men.

I came across the motion picture business plan for Georgia Heat, which includes a synopsis of the film which, needless to say, is one big spoiler, but interesting if you feel like reading it anyway. The executive summary does include an outline of the film, however:

GEORGIA HEAT tells the dramatic and moving story of Bonnie, a Korean G.I. wife living in rural Georgia in 1968, who learns that the son she abandoned in Korea thirteen years earlier is coming to visit her. Determined to give him a proper home, Bonnie sets out to build a house before he arrives, only to find herself caught between the life she has chosen and the life she left behind.

Inspired by true events, Georgia Heat unfolds during the racially charged 1960s, at the crossroads of the civil rights movement, the fading Korean war, and the escalating situation in Vietnam. In the tradition of Monster’s Ball and The Deer Hunter, Georgia Heat is a human story about people scarred by violence, about loss and redemption, about clashing cultures and overcoming prejudice, and ultimately about family.

Of course, I’m wondering if Billy Bob is going to get down with Kim like he did with Halle Berry in Monster’s Ball, but then again, my mind is perpetually in the gutter.

The actress, of course, had previously turned down a role in the upcoming Speilberg production of Memoirs of a Geisha. As for her reasons behind the decision:

“Since it is a film by Steven Spielberg and Rob Marshall, I first thought maybe I should just close my eyes tight and just do it,” she said, but in the end decided not to do it. “Even if it is Hollywood, I don’t want to start by playing a Japanese geisha. It’s a matter of pride.”

The Chosun Ilbo reported Monday that the Ministry of Unification is apparently planning to crack down on “planned defections” from North Korea:

The Unification Ministry said in material on North Korea policy that was distributed to participants in a unification advisory council meeting Monday morning that the government was devising measures to remove vital links in the chain facilitating planned defections.

The ministry delved into specifics by mentioning plans to strengthen entry screenings for defectors who reside overseas, reducing re-settlement funds for defectors and cracking down on “defection brokers,” including slapping travel bans on them.

The government has been saying that it opposed planned defections and had absolutely no intention of undermining the North Korean system by encouraging them, but this is the first time it has revealed concrete measures aimed at blocking them.

The government is concerned about people using defections to make “political statements,” apparently:

Commenting on this, a government official said there had been no changes in the government’s principle of accepting defectors, but premeditated defections carried out with political objectives rather than because of human rights abuses were on the rise, and there was also concern that such defections would cause diplomatic friction.

Now, let me state right away that it could very well be argued that given China’s attitude toward defections, making defections high-profile affairs might very well provoke a hardline Chinese response – as the Chinese Embassy here in Seoul apparently tried to convey to one Korean lawmaker, much to the chagrin of the Foreign Ministry – and, accordingly, hurt the cause of defectors in the end. Like I said, it could be argued. Unfortunately, that’s not what the Unification Ministry is thinking in this case. Actually, the ministry would prefer that North Koreans rot in Hell, as Joshua put it. Or to quote Unification Minister Chung Dong-young:

To speak once again of the defector issue, the government clearly opposes organized defections. For the people in the North to live their lives in the North with their families is necessary both for individuals and for co-existence and co-prosperity. The policies of reconciliation and cooperation call for humanitarian aid to the North along with strengthening of economic cooperation, and continuous pursuit of North Korea’s participation in the international community.

This policy is clearly diametrically opposed to any intention to absorb the North or make it collapse. To stress this clearly one more time, we don’t want North Korea to collapse. With this in mind, it is not desirable for anyone to organize defections, intentionally bringing people out of North Korea. In particular, this runs counter to the government’s policy of co-existence and co-prosperity.

Well, there you have it. At least he’s honest about it.

UPDATE!!! Antti was kind enough to link to not only some stills from the film, but some sample video footage as well. NOT WORK SAFE by any stretch of the imagination.

You are the man, Antti.

ORIGINAL POST:

Newsis reported Sunday that Korea’ Netizens are apparently perturbed by a recently released Japanese porn video in which a Japanese guy (or guys) rides around Dongdaemun picking up comely young Korean ladies by flashing around sizable amounts of cash. Entitled “Winter Sonata: Hunting in Korea,” the description provided on the DVD case describes the producer’s little road trip to Korea – a land of “many beauties” and a “treasurehouse of undefiled virgins, the likes of which are extinct in Japan” – in which 13 tough-to-get amateurs trade their modesty for yen. In fact, according to Newsis, the video makes it seem as if Korean women will take it off and get down for money, and hence runs the danger of promoting a “mistaken understanding” of Korea and its womenfolk. Most Netizens are expressing their resentment, noting that the women on the video were not true amateurs, but ero actresses or prostitutes from the red-light districts. Other more “indiscreet” Netizens – or “Setizens” (Sex Netizens) – have praised the work and expressed anticipation.

Last night I noticed that there were Christmas lights at a couple of the historical sites in Seoul. I asked my taxi driver what he thought about it, and he had some very strong opinions about it - opinions that I share. I think that it is extremely in poor taste to decorate these historical sites with decorations - it shows a lack of sensitivity to the country and to those who do not celebrate Christmas. I think that these sites should not only avoid Christmas lights, but also commercialism which seems to slowly be creeping into these sacred sites. Korea has a long history and is blessed with many historical sites that somehow avoided beind destroyed by the countless wars and disasters that have plagued the country - they need to be protected and shown respect.

Somehow I can’t imagine the Statue of Liberty all decked out with Buddhist lanterns, nor the White House.

There are several good reasons to live in North Korea - there’s……..ah well, there’s …………, ah…., oh yeah…, there is this reason. According to Yonhap news which received their information from the North Korean English weekly “The DPRK is the sole country on the earth that has no AIDS-related patients so far.” I assume that this statement was made after they deported the 27 foreigners from the Land of Great Health.

However, the YouandAids organization/asia has the following to say on their site:

“Like for other sectors, the information available on HIV/AIDS [in North Korea] is too sparse. Some estimates show that by 2000, that there were fewer than 100 HIV infections in the country.”
For South Korea they estimated that in 2003 there were 8,300 cases of AIDS, this is a much larger number than the cases confirmed by the South Korean government.

In comparison to some of the other countries in Asia I have included the following data obtained from the YouandAids organization. The very isolated country of Bhutan had its first case in 1993; Mongolia had three confirmed cases as of July 2001; Afghanistan had eleven; Nepal had 2,392 reported cases of HIV and it was estimated that over 60,000 citizens were living with HIV; Maldives, a small island nation, had 135 cases of HIV but 123 of them were foreigners; China was estimated to have 840,000 with HIV as of the end of 2003; and finally India has 5,100,000 at the end of 2003.

I wonder, with the great need for cash that North Korea has - and the need for blood that China has, is it possible that North Korea has resorted to selling blood in the past?

What about blood donation in North Korea - how is it handled and how often does blood testing take place?

How often are foreigners tested in North Korea for diseases - and why wasn’t it done prior to the foreigner’s arrival?

In the event that a North Korean does become infected with HIV what would be his treatment - would he be shipped away to a camp or hospital?

Would NK acknowledge the case or would they try to hide it and deny it?

Seoul has just appointed a new ambassador to the United States – to find out who he is and what he’s about, visit Oranckay’s blog PRONTO!