North Korea on The Huffington Post

Currency Hike Targets Markets

2009-12-04T19:01:36Z

A steep increase in the value of North Korea's currency appears aimed at choking off one of the country's most reliable sources of goods.

Read more: North Korea, Home News

Sam Black: Waking the Sleepy Nuclear Watchdog

2009-12-04T09:20:19Z

This article was written by my friend Kelsey Hartigan.

Facing problems like a defiant Iran that is now resolving to construct an additional 10 enrichment plants, a nuclear North Korea, and an uncooperative Syria, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has a difficult path ahead of it. The former head of the international nuclear watchdog, Mohamed ElBaradei, has left his successor, Yukiya Amano of Japan, with an underfunded and politically charged agency. The IAEA Amano is inheriting today is a far cry from the agency that Hans Blix bequeathed to ElBaradei twelve years ago. How Amano will deal with the files ElBaradei left on his desk is unclear--but we should all wish him luck. He will need it.

An early supporter of ElBaradei, Washington "discreetly influenced" the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors selection process in 1997 and helped win its support for ElBaradei as Director General. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists [subscription required] has described ElBaradei's 12-year tenure as an evolution from a "shy, circumspect Assistant Deputy Director-General from Egypt" to a "highly visible" Nobel Laureate who clashed with the Bush administration on more than one occasion.

ElBaradei's "complex legacy" will largely be determined by the outcome of pending disputes. The turning point in ElBaradei's tenure was the US invasion of Iraq. In March 2003, a month after then Secretary of State Colin Powell briefed the UN Security Council on Iraq's alleged WMD program, ElBaradei went before the Council and said that the US claims were false; Iraq had no centrifuge manufacturing plans and the British documents stating Iraq had sought to obtain uranium oxide from Africa had been forged. From that point forward, ElBaradei's Iraq experience and disdain for unwarranted unilateral action infiltrated nearly every other case that came across his desk--particularly Iran.

Criticized as being "soft" on Iran, ElBaradei was reluctant to utilize the full force of the IAEA and access suspect nuclear sites. In the wake of North Korea's withdrawal from the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the Iraq debacle, ElBaradei likely saw swift action as being too rash--especially since Iran rounded out Bush's legendary "axis of evil." Nonetheless, the same criticisms were made with regard to Syria's nuclear program; too much time, not enough action.

How Amano will handle these same situations remains to be seen. As noted in the Time's brief bio of Amano, it seems that the Japanese diplomat will be less politically active than his predecessor. Former US Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, has applauded Amano's apolitical outlook, which, coming from Bolton, doesn't necessarily inspire much confidence. Amano himself has made it clear that he intends to take a less political approach:

The IAEA's basic function is not political negotiation but implementing already agreed safeguards. Remarks by the director have political implications which, if made without properly assessing these implications, can be very dangerous.

Even so, Amano's election was marred by a divisive debate that widened the gap between developed and developing nations. Most developed countries, including the United States, supported Amano's bid and his ideas about depoliticizing the agency. A majority of developing nations, however, supported Abdul Minty, a South African with an advocacy streak that mirrored ElBaradei's. Amano edged out Minty by just one vote; an unusually close outcome for the traditionally unified Board of Governors.

If Amano wants stay out of the political rigmarole and stick to monitoring nuclear activities--more power to him. But with the Additional Protocol, which grants the IAEA more comprehensive inspection authorities, in force in just 93 countries, and restricted access to Iranian, Syrian, and North Korea facilities, Amano won't be able to avoid becoming embroiled in the same political disputes that mired his predecessor's term.

In his final month as director, ElBaradei spoke at an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations. Venting anger built up over the years, ElBaradei balked at the disparity between the expectations of the IAEA and its severe lack of funding and authority: "In many cases, we are a sleepy watchdog because we don't have the authority."

As compliance with the IAEA's Additional Protocol is still voluntary, the agency can only inspect declared facilities through announced inspections. As a result, the IAEA is essentially relegated to knocking on doors and asking for permission to inspect these facilities. Moreover, with dilapidated labs and insufficient access to developed satellite monitoring areas, verification mechanisms like environmental sampling and satellite monitoring are typically supplied by outside parties, further stifling the agency's authority and independence. In ElBaradei's words: "I'm at the mercy of the suppliers." Such shortfalls seriously hamper the agency's ability to detect clandestine facilities, a dangerous loophole of the international nonproliferation regime.

Funding is another major issue. To put this in perspective: The New York State Police Department had a $672 million budget for the 2008/2009 fiscal year. That same year, the IAEA had a regular budget of approximately $415 million. The mere fact that the budget of a state police force is comparable--let alone more than 50% larger--than that of the international body which is responsible for ensuring that the nuclear work and materials in 150 countries is not used to build nuclear weapons should indicate the severity of the IAEA's financial situation.

Will Amano be forced to pick pocket the NY State Police?

Cash-strapped or not, Amano will have to deal with these same realities as he takes on the Iranian, North Korean, and Syrian programs--to name just the headline challenges. A recent editorial in the LA Times offers an interesting--though unrealistic--perspective on how Iran should be dealt with and argues that because of the negotiations' political nature, the IAEA should stay out of the talks.

Some observers say that Iran has the technical capacity to develop a bomb, and the world should accept that and focus on preventing Tehran from taking the next step. Others say we need stronger inspection regimes for the IAEA and stiffer penalties for those found to be in violation of the nonproliferation treaty. Still others say that disarmament by the nuclear powers would ease the appetites of nuclear have-nots.

Our position is that a nuclear-armed Iran would be destabilizing for the region and the world and must be avoided if at all possible. But as stated in "Iran: Where We Are Today," a staff report to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the answer to Iran's nuclear ambitions "is not technical but political." The nuclear dispute reflects distrust between Iran and the United States, and the solution must be negotiated by political leaders--not the IAEA.

There is no doubting the underlying political characteristics of the Iranian situation, but excluding the IAEA from negotiations will only serve to further weaken the watchdog, which already suffers from a lack of power and financial backing. The IAEA was set up as an "Atoms for Peace" agency in 1957 and then asked in 1970 to enforce the safeguards system set up by the NPT. Iran has breached those safeguards and abused its supposedly civilian program--if the IAEA is not allowed to help find a solution it will only undercut the IAEA's international status as the top nuclear authority. The IAEA can help ease political sensitivities and provide impartial information and suggestions. For that to happen, it must be given the authority and resources necessary for it to finally do its job. If Amano is serious about taking a less political approach, Iran is the perfect opportunity to implement his strategy.

NoKo Jeans: Sweden To Sell Jeans Made In North Korea (VIDEO)

2009-12-03T14:54:25Z

Three Swedish advertising executives are attempting international diplomacy...through denim. Their company, NoKo Jeans, has produced 1,100 pairs of jeans in the so-called Hermit Kingdom that will go on sale December 4th at Stockholm's PUB department store. Each pair will cost 1,500 Swedish kronor (about $220).

Founder Jakob Ohlsson told the BBC that the jeans will only be available in black denim because North Koreans "usually associate blue jeans with America. That's why it's a little taboo".

Ohlsson, fellow founder Jacob Astrom, and a third partner--all in their 20s--contacted North Korea via e-mail in 2007 and didn't expect a response. However, after a year, they were allowed into the country as official visitors and the jeans were produced over the summer.

Check out the jeans here, in a photo by NoKo Jeans:

NoKo posted this video describing their journey:

HELLO IT'S Noko Jeans! from Noko Jeans on Vimeo.

Ohlsson told the BBC: "It's a country that sometimes treats its citizens terribly, but we think our project is a way... to influence things."

Reuters reports that the partnership was involved and at times puzzling:

At one point they were asked to bring a zinc smelting oven into the country, and a trade representative once asked them to help him find a pirated version of the computer program Adobe Acrobat so he could read files they were sending him.

"Everyone is a manager. Even our chauffeur was some sort of manager," said founder Jakob Ohlsson, adding that North Korean titles were often confusing.

An excerpt from their production trip in the summer of 2009:

This is Our Factory from Noko Jeans on Vimeo.

The jeans cannot be worn in North Korea, which follows a strict Socialist dress code.

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Young North Korean defectors strive to assimilate in South

2009-12-01T18:00:04Z

Worldfocus is partnering with Pearl World Youth News, an initiative of Daniel Pearl Foundation and iEARN, to bring the voices of young reporters to our viewers.

Ji Eun Lee writes about the challenges of integrating young North Korean defectors into South Korean society.

On a quiet Friday night, several North Korean defectors gathered at the camping site near Seoul World Cup Stadium. Defectors are North Koreans who have fled their country for ideological, political, or economic reasons. Risking punishment and even death in case of capture, they cross the country's armed borders and come to South Korea.

Dressed in the latest fashions and checking text messages on their cell phones, they looked like typical young Koreans. But there was some hesitation in their eyes when they were asked about their lives in South Korea.

"It's not that we don't want to talk about our experience here. Most of us are hesitant because talking about the ways in which we don't fit in only seems to accentuate the fact that we're...different," said 26-year-old Young-Woo, and several heads nodded in agreement. "And we really aren't that different from South Koreans, besides the fact that we've escaped North Korea to come here."

An increasing number of North Koreans are crossing over to South Korea. According to the South Korean Ministry of Unification, more than 15,000 defectors live in the country, and in 2008 alone, 2,809 crossed the border.

Many South Koreans regard them as refugees and support programs aimed at helping the defectors. Ironically, it is this very help that places the defectors in an awkward position because they want to avoid standing out.

"We appreciate the help for its sake. As nice as it is to see that South Koreans are paying attention to the plight of North Koreans, the attitude behind such help is often very patronizing," said Chul-Min, a 23-year-old college student. "Most South Koreans don't seem to think of us as Koreans. They treat us as if we are exotic foreigners. Though we are aware of the intentions of the South Koreans who want to help us, they seem to have established a distinct mental dichotomy between the two Koreas."

When asked about the difficulties they face in South Korea, the defectors murmured that life here isn't as perfect as they'd imagined. Though originally one people sharing centuries of rich culture, decades of separation have widened the gap between the two Koreas.

"Even in terms of language, there is quite a lot of difference in regional dialects. We don't have trouble communicating. But our distinct accent, or the different words we use, immediately betrays where we come from, attracting curious, uneasy looks," added Chul-Min. "And speaking of language, proficiency in English seems to be extremely important here. Many defectors face difficulties with English as the level of English education offered in North Korea is very basic. It's frustrating because it directly affects our opportunities for job or education."

Many jobs applications in South Korea ask for scores from standardized English tests like TOEFL or TEPS. An estimated 100,000 institutions offer advanced English classes with one hour of lesson costing well over US $30. Expensive private education is often unaffordable for North Korean defectors. Many of them subsist on economic aid from the government. And public education does not give them an edge to compete with South Koreans in school or at the workplace.

English is only one of many difficulties faced by North Koreans in education. Most defectors pursue higher degrees after coming to South Korea, but they often have trouble adjusting to the curriculum.

"The curriculum is just so different from what we had in the North," said Hye-Young, the youngest of the group at 19. "For instance, Korean history in North Korea is very different from what's taught here as it's manipulated by the government to serve as ideological propaganda." Many defectors are forced to take classes with much younger students.

Difficulties come in many forms, but the group agreed on one thing: behind every difficulty they face is the South Koreans' thinking that defectors are fundamentally different. "Advocating for the rights of North Koreans is evidently a strong movement here. Grants, lectures, fundraisers, there seem to be so many programs designed to 'help us out'. Why not start by accepting us as Koreans?" said Hye-Young.

- Ji Eun Lee

(All names have been changed to avoid repercussions for family members still residing in North Korea.)

Worldfocus is partnering with Pearl World Youth News, an initiative of Daniel Pearl Foundation and iEARN, to bring the voices of young reporters to our viewers. Ji Eun Lee writes about the challenge of integrating young North Korean defectors into South Korean society.
http://worldfocus.org/files/2009/12/th_southkorea_defector.jpg

Read more: North Korea, South Korea, Home News

James Zogby: What Was He Thinking?

2009-11-30T15:31:26Z

I do not make a practice of using this space to express my disagreements with other columnists, but a piece last week by Abdul Rahman al Rashid was so off the mark that I cannot let it pass without comment.

Writing in al Sharq al Awsat, al Rashid takes US President Barack Obama to task for being indecisive and giving the impression of being weak. Where has Obama exhibited these traits? Al Rashid, not unlike former US Vice President Dick Cheney and other neo-conservative critics, identifies both the president's delay in deciding on future US troop levels in Afghanistan, and demonstrations of what he calls signs of weakness in the face of North Korean and Iranian intransigence. To be fair, unlike Cheney and company, al Rashid throws into his mix criticism of Obama's failure to stand up to Israel's settlement program.

But mention of Afghanistan and Israel appear to serve as mere punctuation marks designed to give emphasis to al Rashid's main concern and that is Obama's supposed failure to stand up to Iran's efforts to play games with demands regarding their nuclear program. Now, al Rashid is justified in finding Iran's behavior frustrating and irksome, and he can, as an expression of his irritation, criticize the US president's performance on this issue and others. That is fine by me.

What is unacceptable and wrong, and even bizarre, is for al Rashid to make the claim that Iran would not be getting away with this type of behavior if George Bush were still US president!

During the past month, we were all forced to endure a flood of press commentary claiming to evaluate Obama's performance at yet another supposed milestone -- this being the one year anniversary since his election. Words like "disappointing" and "fading star" were all too often used to describe the first 10 months of the new president's term. In commentaries of this type that appeared across the Arab World there was growing, and some justifiable concern, that the "change" Arabs had hoped for and that Obama's Cairo speech seemed to promise, might not be in the offing any time soon.

But with the exception of Dick Cheney and Co., and now Abdul Rahman al Rashid, no one with a straight face has dared make the comment that anything might be better if George Bush were still in office.

It is more than fair to offer criticisms of President Obama's handling of a range of foreign policy issues. But the criticism should, at least, make an effort to be sober and reality-based.

To begin with, it is important to acknowledge that when Obama won the election last November and took the oath of office 10 weeks later he was not handed a magic wand. Instead, he was handed the shovel his predecessor had used all too vigorously to dig deep holes in many parts of the world. George W. Bush's neglect of some critical issues and the reckless adventurism displayed in his approach to others, created the world Obama inherited.

What the new US president has to contend with is a world where precisely because of the rigid ideologically-based policies pursued by Bush in the Middle East and beyond we face:

-two ongoing wars that have taken thousands of lives and drained over one trillion dollars from the US treasury. And despite being unfinished, there a growing sense among analysts and the public, alike, that at least one of these wars (Afghanistan) may be unfinishable;

-an emboldened Iran whose tentacles now reach into Iraq and more deeply than before into Lebanon, Palestine and even, it appears, Yemen;

-an equally emboldened and increasingly hard-line Israel which feels entitled to obstruct US efforts at peace-making and feels confident that it had sufficient support in the US Congress to withstand the pressures of any US President;

-the bitter fruits of a reckless "victor/vanquished" approach to resolving rivalries between our allies and their foes, wherein our allies came out defeated and/or weakened; and

-a US more isolated in the world and facing a resentful Europe, an ascendant China, a resurgent Russia, and a veritable revolt across the Americas.

And so I think it is only too appropriate to ask what exactly is it that George Bush would do to confront the damage he has done, other than to dig a deeper hole?

Would he launch another war, in a region where we have our hands full with two, and the US military leadership is warning that they are hard pressed to find sufficient troops to fight the wars we are in? Would he attempt to mobilize the international community to support pressure leading, if necessary, to sanctions -- and would he be any more successful at this than Obama, who is working to earn the support needed to make this happen? Or would he merely talk tough, make threats, and then pursue policies that only embolden Iran's hardliners and inflame anti-American passions?

What Obama has done is to eschew hollow tough talk and chart, instead, a different course. But changing direction takes time: time to assess the damage done and plot a new strategy; time to rebuild trust and mend frayed relationships with needed allies; and time to break the back of adversaries' bad behavior.

When he became president, Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas didn't surrender their hard line views, nor did Benjamin Netanyahu. The Taliban didn't put down their arms nor did the US public fall in love with a war they want to end. The economic crisis continues to grow as do federal deficits, putting constraints on new spending.

The point, in other words, is that Obama inherited a mess that was largely the creation of George Bush. What on earth could possess anyone to suggest that they would want him back?

Medvedev to European Jewish Congress: Iran threat very real

2009-11-26T13:01:15Z

Russian President Dimitry Medvedev on Thursday told a visiting delegation from the European Jewish Congress that the Iranian threat is very real, as are the threats posed by North Korea and Pakistan, and should be treated seriously.
...

North Korean economy sandwiched by the dragon and tiger

2009-11-20T15:45:04Z

A banner promoting North Korea’s 150-day economic production campaign in August. Photo: Ben Piven

Part 6 of 6 in our Inside the Hermit Kingdom series on the people and culture of North Korea. Worldfocus multimedia producer Ben Piven writes about the contrast between the North Korean economy and the booming economies of South Korea and China.

“Why does South Korea produce Samsung, LG, and Hyundai?” I asked Jong, our 25-year-old North Korean tour guide.

She said that North Korea will manufacture sophisticated goods once the essentials — electrification and rice production — are covered. But the blank look on her face suggested that she better not discuss the issue.

Then, she perked up when someone asked about her own ideal job. She replied matter-of-factly, “I’d be a businesswoman.”

Jong’s 5,000 KPW (Korean People’s Won) monthly salary is equivalent to around $1.67. The official rate for the North Korean won is 142 per U.S. dollar, but due to severe inflation since the mid-1990’s, the black market rate is over 3000 KPW to $1.

Housing, health care and education are free in North Korea. But with her meager salary, Jong on her own could never afford the television or computer which her family of four (including her mother, father and grandmother) possess. Euros, dollars and Chinese yuan are needed for major purchases.

In North Korea, tourists are not permitted to enter non-tourist shops or purchase the local currency, since a negligible amount of foreign currency could buy out an entire store. Opening up shops and currency to the market would cause economic humiliation.

North Korea’s GDP is $1,700 per capita, 1/15 of South Korea’s, according to the CIA Factbook. Tied with Cote D’Ivoire and just a tad wealthier than Chad, North Korea is poorer than Laos and Cambodia. North Korea went from one of the most prosperous East Asian countries in the 1970s to the least prosperous today.

A Yalu River bridge once connected North Korea with China but was bombed out by the U.S. during the Korean War. Photo: Ben Piven

It wasn’t always this way. Having relied on the Soviets for economic inputs, North Korea developed faster than South Korea in the aftermath of the 1953 armistice that concluded the Korean War. The country’s infrastructure was mostly built from the late 50s to the early 70s, when the Soviet system was strong.

But by the 1980s rural South Korea had transformed into a tech-savvy urban tiger, and the stunted north turned more repressive after a number of aborted attempts to liberalize the economy.

The Juche state ideology — which emphasizes economic self-reliance — intensified around 1982, almost certainly in response to South Korea’s explosive economic growth. Today, the paradox is that North Korea may be isolated, but it’s not self-reliant. The authoritarian state relies heavily on food and fuel aid from abroad — as well as, some say, criminal activities.

David Rose explains in Vanity Fair how the Office 39 slush fund supplies Kim’s personal coffers, his inner circle and the missile defense program. Annual revenues from decidedly un-Juche activities, including crystal meth sales and human trafficking, may surpass $1 billion.

North Korea suffers economically from a strict economic embargo. Photo: Ben Piven

According to Rose, the D.P.R.K. is also the world’s top producer of “supernote” counterfeit $100 bills. Since the government cannot legally borrow cash, military sales and criminal rackets generate enough hard currency to keep the regime from collapse.

Since Kim Jong-il implemented songun (military-first budget policy) in 1994, the nuclear program has propped up the regime but stunted the people’s health and welfare. And economic sanctions have further impoverished ordinary Koreans.

On our officially-sanctioned tour, we gawked at workers burning rubber shoes to pave roadways and saw only one functioning crane in five days. Like the country’s infrastructure, corn and rice plots were orderly but dilapidated. Peasants worked in large groups, then napped individually in tiny wooden shacks.

Except for one rainy day, our bus was lonely on the roadways. Endless queues of people waited for antique Soviet trams and buses, while government officials drove fancy German cars. The only billboards advertised Pyonghwa Motors, co-owned by Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church and under license from Fiat.

Officially, 2012 (Kim Il-Sung’s 100th birthday, known as Juche 100) will mark the completion of several projects, including the pyramidal Ryugyong Hotel, begun in 1987 but halted in 1992 due to severe shortages. Though the country’s tallest structure, the 105-story building is absent from tourist maps.

A North Korean phone on the country’s only cellular network. Photo: Ben Piven

The top two floors are being renovated as an office for Egyptian telecom magnate Naguib Sawiris, whose Orascom employees are also installing the nation’s first cell service, KoryoLink. The company has already enlisted over 50,000 subscribers at $25 per month. Sawiris also recently launched Ora Bank, another joint venture with a North Korean government partner. (North Korea’s ties with Egypt date back to the 1973 Yom Kippur War. In return for air force squadrons, North Korea later received scud missiles).

Some Americans believe that more economic engagement is the best way to bring North Korea in from the cold. There are some signs that the Juche nation is slowly bending to Western commercial pressures - witness the Taedonggang beer ad, Pyongyang pizza craze, and a new Singaporean-owned fast food restaurant.

But for now, despite the rapid globalization on its borders, North Korea remains in an economic deep freeze.

- Ben Piven

Read more: North Korea, Home News

U.S. Losing Its Lead In Space, Experts Warn Congress

2009-11-19T22:30:39Z

America's once clear dominance in space is eroding as other nations, including China, Iran and North Korea, step up their activities, a panel of experts told the House subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics Thursday.

In Seoul, Obama takes on North Korea's nuclear challenge

2009-11-19T18:00:03Z

The Obama administration is trying tackle the thorny issue of North Korea and its nuclear program. To take a closer look at this issue, Leon Sigal of the Social Science Research Council in New York speaks with Daljit Dhaliwal.

Sigal discusses the significance of Obama’s announcement to send an envoy to North Korea next month. He also talks about his recent meeting with a North Korean delegation in New York and how willing they are to negotiate.

(View full post to see video)
The Obama administration is dealing with the thorny issue of North Korea’s nuclear program. To take a closer look, Leon Sigal of the Social Science Research Council in New York speaks with Daljit Dhaliwal. They discuss Sigal’s recent meeting with a North Korean delegation in New York — and how willing the North Koreans are to negotiate.
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http://worldfocus.org/files/2009/11/th_intv_seagul.jpg

Today: Obama in Korea and a World Cup controversy

2009-11-19T11:30:03Z

Stories compiled by Gizem Yarbil, Connie Kargbo, Channtal Fleischfresser, Christine Kiernan, Ivette Feliciano, and Mohammad al-Kassim, and edited by Rebecca Haggerty.

SOUTH KOREA: President Barack Obama delivered a stern message on Thursday to North Korea and Iran telling them to halt their nuclear ambitions to avoid facing further sanctions and isolation.

BANGLADESH: Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Thursday upheld death sentences on the five ex-army officers convicted of killing the country’s first president in a coup 34 years ago.

SOUTH AFRICA: South African leader Jacob Zuma vowed to make the fight against corruption a top priority for his government.

Runner Castor Semenaya, whose gender was questioned, will keep her World Championship medal.

GUINEA: An African Union human rights representative says he was denied entry into Guinea, where he planned to investigate alleged mass killings and rapes by the country’s military.

EU leaders are meeting today in Brussels to decide who will be the new EU President. France and Germany are likely to support the Belgian Prime Minister, Herman van Rompuy.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development doubled its 2010 growth forecast for developed economies, which is largely due to accelerated growth in Asian economies.

France beat Ireland in a contentious win in its World Cup Soccer qualifying match Wednesday night, on a play that many believe included an illegal “handball” from French player Thierry Henry.

RUSSIA and CIS:

Russia’s Constitutional Court has extended a moratorium on the death penalty, which was imposed after it joined the Council of Europe in 1996. The Court chairman said the ban has set in place an “irreversible process to abolish capital punishment” in Russia.

Speaking at the First Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, President Medvedev spoke out against the 3,500 deaths caused daily by accidents on the road. Russia is one of six countries that will receive part of a $125 million donation from NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg to promote road safety.

Kyrgyzstan has deported a human rights activist who was investigating abuses against Muslims. The activist, Bakhrom Khamroyev, who worked for the human rights group Memorial, was detained and deported to Russia. Actisits say political freedoms in Kyrgyzstan have been declining since Kurmanbek Bakiev came to power in 2005.

Opposition activists in Moscow have obtained a copy of of a high-level police memo ordering officers to disrupt a series of lawful protests.

The Russian Foreign Ministry is expressing concern about the declining status of the Russian language in former Soviet Republics, particularly in the Baltics and in Ukraine, where Russian has no official status and where there reportedly is pressure on Russian-language education. In Kyrgyzstan, the country’s main political party has adopted draft legislation making Kyrgyz the official language for diplomats and diplomatic record-keeping.

MEXICO: Mexico’s abortion debate is headed to the federal level after a 17th state in the country passed a law declaring life begins at conception.

CUBA: Experts in Cuba say 70 percent of the soil on the island is threatened by erosion.

YEMEN: The Yemeni army said that it has succeeded in pushing back an attack by Houthi rebels on the northern Yemeni city of Saada.

AFGHANISTAN: In a ceremony in the capital Kabul, Afghan President Hamid Karzai was sworn in for a second five-year term.

PAKISTAN:At least 19 people have been killed and dozens injured in a suicide bomb blast in Peshawar, Pakistan.

PALESTINE: Israeli jets bombed a weapons-manufacturing facility and two smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip today. The airstrikes came in response to recent rocket attacks on Israel. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in an interview with Egyptian television denied that Israel, or the US has asked him to remain in office.

IRAN: US President Barack Obama warned of "consequences" if Iran does not accept the IAEA-backed proposal on a nuclear fuel deal.

ISRAEL: China criticized the Israeli government’s decision to build 900 more units in the part of Jerusalem claimed by Palestinians, saying it poses new obstacles to the Middle East peace process.

A group was formed to restore Jewish presence to the Joseph’s tomb compound in Nablus nine years after the Israel Defense Forces withdrew from the area.

Today’s top stores as brought to you by the Worldfocus newsroom. President Obama has tough words for Iran and North Korea; Russia has over 3,500 people die in road accidents daily; and Irish sports officials protest the winning goal scored by France in the World Cup playoffs.
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David A. Love: Will Obama Help Change Asia's Racism?

2009-11-18T14:39:22Z

For the
nations that were a part of President Obama’s recent Asian tour, surely this
was a new experience for them. For the first time, they greeted and hosted the
most powerful person in the world, one of the most brilliant people they’ve
ever met. And for the first time, that
person is a man of African descent. It
has been a long journey since the 1955 Bandung Conference, that historic
meeting of African and Asian states striving for self-determination and against
colonialism. Meanwhile, black people today are often stereotyped in Asian
countries as dirty, violent, mentally deficient and otherwise inferior—not
unlike the ways in which the West has portrayed people of color for years.

Although
symbolism has its limits, surely, it means a lot for international relations to
have a fresh face on the scene in the form of Obama, a leader of the world who
has lived in the world. Obama was born
in Hawaii and lived in Indonesia. His
half sister is Asian American, and one of his half brothers is an African American
living in China. No other president has had such an international background,
or such potential to make a difference on the world stage.

But for
Asian nations, white skin was the traditional standard of beauty and
prosperity. In the old days, the poorer folks were darker because they had to
work in the fields, where they were exposed to the sun.

As China
welcomes Obama, the nation is forced to deal with its long-standing
prejudices toward black people. But the discrimination is
internal as well. The Chinese government
has been heavy-handed in its treatment of the country’s aggrieved Uighur Muslim
minority, and has waged cultural genocide against the people of Tibet.

In India,
the caste system, although officially banned, still lives on. Brown and black faces predominate in this
nation of over 1 billion people.
However, white skin is desirable, and skin
whitening creams are popular.

And Japan
has had a longstanding problem with racism and xenophobia. Even today, one can find signs that say “No
Foreigners Allowed” and “Japanese Only”, or a recent TV commercial depicting
President Obama as a monkey. In 2005, Doudou
Diene, special rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights, found that
discrimination in Japan is “deep and
profound.” He added
that “This xenophobic drive is expressed by associating minorities, certain
minorities, to crime, to violence, to dirt.”

These
Japanese sentiments do not apply solely to foreigners and foreign workers. Despite its self-portrayal as a homogeneous
society, Japan has its own minority groups that historically have been regarded
as inferior. For example, the Ainu, an
indigenous ethnic group, has suffered from displacement and cultural
assimilation, higher levels of poverty and unemployment, and lower levels of
health and education. Over 1 million Japanese
of Korean descent— products of Japanese wartime colonization and forced
labor—are treated as foreigners in the country of their birth. They face a “hidden apartheid”, in which they
face discrimination in housing and employment, and feel pressure to change
their Korean names and blend in society.
Further, the Burakumin are an
outcaste group similar to the untouchable caste in India. They face discrimination because their feudal
ancestors held occupations such as butchers, tanners and gravediggers—
death-related jobs that were considered tainted and unclean under Buddhist and
Shinto practices.

The topic
of racial attitudes in Asia has fascinated me for a long time. In
high school, I traveled to Japan as an exchange student and lived with a family
in Tokyo. I majored in East Asian
Studies in college, and wrote my thesis on Japanese perceptions of foreigners. After
college, I worked as one of a handful of gaijin
(foreigners) in a Japanese bank, and later for the Tokyo office of a major U.S.
advertising agency. Living in Japan was
a life-altering experience for me, and in a good way. Being a true foreigner in another culture
provided me with a broader world perspective, and helped me deal with
adversity.

Overall,
my Japan experience was positive. It took some time to get used to the stares,
or the occasional child who wanted to touch my skin or hair. Then there were
the people who assumed I was a hip-hop entertainer, or a baseball player, or
some other racial stereotype of a black man in Japan. Clearly, there was an
embrace of black culture in Japan. The music and swagger of black people
permeate international popular culture.
And as I went to work in my business suit on the Tokyo subway, I
couldn’t help but laugh to myself as I passed by Japanese teenagers sporting
their dreads, hip-hop gear and Afrocentric t-shirts. But at the same time, I
had to endure my fellow employees at the company dormitory. Some employees at the bank had the idea to
throw a party, in which everyone would come dressed in blackface. After I protested, they cancelled their
plans, but only after lecturing me about the need for foreigners to understand
Japanese culture.

I believe
that as time passes and the world shrinks, it becomes more difficult for
discrimination to find a safe harbor.
Modern technology serves to eliminate borders and expose our activities
before the light of day. The nations of
Asia, like the U.S., have a long way to go before they eradicate racism. And yet, despite its legacy of slavery and
institutionalized racism, America elected a man by the name of Barack Obama as
president. The leaders of Asia now must
deal with a man of African descent as the leader of the American empire. And he isn’t a racial stereotype, for
whatever that is worth. Certainly, that
alone must give them pause.

David A. Love is an Editorial Board member of BlackCommentator.com, and a contributor to the Progressive Media Project and theGrio. He is a writer and human rights advocate based in Philadelphia, and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. His blog is davidalove.com.

Video: Obama Visits South Korea

2009-11-18T13:00:06Z

President Obama arrived today in Seoul, South Korea, the last scheduled stop on his Asian tour. A big part of his agenda is North Korea, reports CNBC's John Harwood. (CNBC)

North Korea - South Korea - John Harwood - CNBC - Asia

Somali Pirates Hijack Ship With North Korean Crew

2009-11-17T09:00:43Z

(AP)NAIROBI, Kenya - Pirates off the coast of Somalia have attacked two vessels, and at least one of those has been captured.

The European Union's anti-piracy force says pirates hijacked a chemical tanker on Monday named the MV Theresa with 28 North Koreans on board.

In a second incident, pirates attacked a Ukrainian cargo ship. Cmdr. John Harbour, a spokesman for the EU force, says that private security guards on board fired on the pirates, wounding two. Harbour says the Ukrainian ship was not hijacked.

A Somali man who claims to be a spokesman for the pirates, Gedi Ali, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that pirates had captured the Ukrainian ship. Ali also says two pirates were wounded in the attack

North Korea's Underground Bunkers

2009-11-16T17:16:12Z

Hundreds of bunkers are decoys, a defector says, while hundreds more contain material for a possible invasion.

Read more: North Korea, Home News

Daily Life In North Korea (VIDEO)

2009-11-16T10:04:33Z

WorldFocus recently produced a series of videos from a five-day trip as fully legal US tourists to North Korea.

This video gives a glimpse into the daily life of North Korea.

Read more at GlobalFocus

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Obama speech on Asia well-received in region

2009-11-14T07:15:28Z

US President Barack Obama's first big speech on Asia had a little something for just about everyone. He was tough on North Korea and Myanmar, but offered a way back to the fold. He was big on Japan and on China, whose rise, he said, should be welcomed, not feared.

Read more: Japan, North Korea, Myanmar, China, Home News

Kim Jong-il's North Korea welcomes legal U.S. tourists

2009-11-13T17:45:04Z

Part 5 of 6 of our Inside the Hermit Kingdom series on the people and culture of North Korea. Multimedia producer Ben Piven’s video chronicles his five-day trip in August.

Air Koryo stewardesses with delicately coiffed hair and impeccable red suits directed us to our seats in the stuffy Tupolev aircraft. Flimsy seat backs folded completely forward onto the seat cushions. Pyongyang-bound tourists, businessmen, and North Koreans fanned themselves ferociously, as the temperature hit 80 degrees.

Forget Bill rescuing Laura and Euna in a private jet. Our Soviet-made plane first arrived in Pyongyang when Richard Nixon was conducting ping-pong diplomacy with China.

Banned in the E.U., Air Koryo is the only international carrier with the lowest 1-star Skytrax rating. Luckily, flight JS 156 from Shenyang was only 50 minutes.

We touched down, sweaty and relieved. The head stewardess announced, “Welcome to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea!” We blue-state Americans were ready to challenge the hermit kingdom’s concept of “imperialist dogs.”

(View full post to see video)

Fearlessly led by three 2009 Brown University graduates, our Five Passes group had 18 scholarly Americans — including a Berkeley sociologist and an assistant director at the Asia Society — and 1 Chinese citizen. The tricky visas for the five-day North Korea tour had been arranged through North Korea’s consulate in Shenyang by a Chinese travel agent of North Korean origin.

After landing, airport officials escorted one of our guides and me to a back room to take our temperature. (Back in New York, I had half-joked whether a senator would rescue me from ping-pong with the dictator). They said we were warm - probably false - but maybe the result of the steamy plane ride. Twenty minutes of detention were disconcerting.

We had left forbidden items in China - several iPhones, a Blackberry, Star of David necklace, and a large zoom lens. Our group was anxious that customs officials might find a New Yorker cartoon of Kim Jong-il.

After leaving the terminal, we boarded our old tour bus and saw five half-smiling North Korean hosts - our guide, guard, minder, driver — and cameraman. We instantly became the subjects of a government travel documentary. Our tailor-made Truman Show had begun — in a 1950’s dystopia behind the Korean curtain.

We stayed at the grand Yanggakdo Hotel, on an island in the middle of the sluggish Taedong River. While the rooms looked like those in a 1970’s Ramada, we delighted in the 9-hole golf course, revolving rooftop restaurant, and Chinese-owned casino.

We mingled with Westerners and local families at the outdoor bar on the island’s edge. Bar matrons tended tables until after midnight — and even remembered our Koreanized names when we stepped into the fluorescent light of the breakfast hall by 6:30 a.m.

On the third day of our 92-hour time warp to the world’s most secretive country, we drove to Mt. Myohyang, 90 miles north of Pyongyang. Bob, a University of Colorado professor and our most quintessential American, bowed awkwardly at a waxen Kim Jong-il inside the International Friendship Exhibition. We chuckled about Bob’s homage to the “dear leader.”

Walking past thousands of treasures received by the reclusive leader and his late father, our guard commented on the U.S.-D.P.R.K relationship. “When the general plays with that ball, it proves that he controls the whole world in his hands,” said Lee, glaring at the Michael Jordan-autographed basketball Madeline Albright gave to Kim Jong-il in 2000. We then nicknamed our guard “Serious-Lee.”

His diametric opposite was our baby-faced 33-year-old minder with Buddha ears - also Lee - whom we called “Happy-Lee.” Neither Lee told us his first name, enabling our good cop/bad cop monikers. “Naive-Lee” versus “Stern-Lee.” And “Nice-Lee” versus “Malevolent-Lee.”

Nice-Lee charmed us with awkward English, using “representative” and “condensed” to describe our experience. But Serious-Lee, who stars in the 2008 Vice Guide to North Korea, prevented us from causing real trouble.

Nice-Lee fondly recalled the American and North Korean flags displayed side-by-side at the February 2008 Pyongyang performance of the New York Philharmonic. He was also impressed by the orchestra’s many Asian-Americans.

Our guide was an pretty 25-year-old woman who cheerfully promoted government dogma but tired of our questions. Our postmodern sensibilities overwhelmed her, especially when we spoke candidly about diplomatic rapprochement. But we did our best to transcend ideology by discussing nonpolitical issues.

On our tightly managed tour, objectivity and authenticity were in short supply. Though culturally sensitive, we critiqued claims about the economy and the allegedly hostile U.S. government. Bearing our American soft power, we were lucky to visit in the footsteps of our ex-president. Although we feared becoming pawns of Pyongyang’s public relations campaign, we hoped that our educational tour benefited the broader diplomatic thaw.

On our last day in Pyongyang, we said goodbye to plentiful Kimjongilias and Kimilsungias, the country’s revered flowers. At the airport, we noticed only two flights listed that day.

The return flight was the most terrifying part of the entire trip. Taiwanese passengers twice shrieked when the plane dropped dramatically. The plane was a microcosm of the country: in complete disrepair, while most people inside remain mum about their plight.

We cursed that the embargo prevented Air Koryo from updating its ancient fleet. I’ll wait until new jets arrive for my next voyage to the perfectly preserved Cold War museum, our beloved Hermit Kingdom.

- Ben Piven

Part 5 of 6 in our Inside the Hermit Kingdom series on the people and culture of North Korea. Multimedia producer Ben Piven’s video chronicles his five-day trip in August. Watch original footage of the Pyongyang Metro, DMZ and everyday North Koreans.
http://worldfocus.org/files/2009/11/th_northkorea_dancingladies.jpg
http://worldfocus.org/files/2009/11/th_northkorea_dancingladies.jpg

Read more: North Korea, Home News

Eric C. Anderson: Succumbing to "Worst-Case" Analysis of North Korea

2009-11-13T11:57:51Z

Analysis of a potential adversary's intentions is hard -- particularly when that adversary chooses to behave like a belligerent hermit. Such is the case with North Korea. Having decided to eschew modernity by cleaving to a feudal version of socialism, Pyongyang has rendered assessment of North Korea's political intentions an art best likened to divining the truth through an examination of scattered chicken bones. Or so a reading of press reports concerning the 10 November 2009 North-South naval clash would have us believe. According to the Washington Post, New York Times, and National Public Radio, the naval skirmish was likely a North Korean attempt to set the agenda for President Obama's trip to Seoul. Worst-case analysis at its best.

I, for one, am not buying this line of reasoning. Having spent a good deal of my career focused on Northeast Asia, I can unequivocally state there is significantly more to this story...and much less justification for heaping aspersions on Pyongyang. How do I come to this conclusion? A cold evaluation of the facts as we know them.

Let's open with the location of this incident--and the participants in the gun battle. Located on a peninsula, North and South Korea share nautical borders on their east and west coasts. The armistice that suspended the Korean War in 1953 provided for a clear demarcation of territorial waters on the peninsula's east coast. The west coast was an entirely different problem. North Korea was unwilling to accept the proposed division of territorial waters on the west coast--so Washington drew up a boundary that would, in theory, serve to keep the two sides apart and minimize the potential for a resumption of hostilities. Remarkably, this "Northern Limit Line" actually accomplished its intended purpose. With very few exceptions Pyongyang's naval platforms stayed north of the line, and Seoul's fleet stayed south of the line.

That uneasy standoff started to fray in the 1990s. Waters surrounding the Northern Limit Line have proven a lucrative fishing ground--particularly during Blue Crab season. Knowing that fishermen are not exactly the most rule-compliant crowd, Seoul had attempted to avoid problems with the North by enforcing a buffer zone that kept the crabbers a good bit south of the disputed border. This buffer zone, plus a heavy presence of South Korean patrol craft, served to prevent most problems...but the fishermen were always seeking to push the limits. In June 1999, this drive for profit brought the two sides to blows. After several rounds of high-seas bump-and-run, the two navies engaged in an exchange of gun fire that turned out badly for the North.

This should not have come as a surprise to the North Korean fleet. Operating boats largely built in the 1960s and 70s, the North's crews lack computer-stabilized weapon systems and modern damage-control options. The South's crews have no such limitation. South Korean naval commanders who have to engage a target in rolling swells are going to score a bull's eye. A North Korean naval commander operating in similar conditions will be lucky to hit the broad side of a barn.

Fast-forward to June 2002. Following the unpleasant developments in 1999, the two sides had managed to avoid further bloodshed...and the South's fishermen were back to their old tactics. All this came to a head on 29 June 2002, when a South Korean patrol craft was sunk by a North Korean naval platform. There is significant debate over how this came to pass. Some argue the South Korean commander violated the rules of engagement and drew too close to the North Korean boat. Others contend the North Koreans managed to lure the South Korean patrol craft into a trap and then sank the boat with a lucky shot. In any case, cooler heads again prevailed, and the two sides resumed an uneasy truce in the disputed waters.

That lasted until last Tuesday. On 10 November patrol craft from North and South Korea engaged in an exchange of gunfire that reportedly left one North Korean sailor dead and three others wounded. The South Korean losses? Fifteen holes or dents in a still very functional naval combatant. As the battle supposedly took place between platforms separated by two miles of open water it appears the North continues to struggle with aiming problems...not so in the South. Given this situation, why would a rational North Korean commander fire on a South Korean boat? Patriotism, ego, and brash male assertiveness. Patrol craft from both North and South Korea are almost exclusively crewed by young men anxious to prove their mettle. This surplus of testosterone--not orders from higher headquarters, where the leadership is painfully aware of Pyongyang's naval shortcomings--helps explain why a North Korean commander would chose to fire on a vastly superior adversary.

What it does not explain is why the North's patrol craft were operating so close to demarcation line. That answer was provided in a story published by one of South Korea's more obscure news papers, The Hankyoreh. While the paper has a self-admitted progressive bias, it has proven a source of reliable information since first going to press in 1988. According to The Hankyoreh, the North Korean combatant had probably been dispatched in reaction to Chinese fishing boats that are known to illegally poach along the peninsula's entire western coastline. So what we have here is a case of overly aggressive law enforcement--not an effort to shape international relations. Which should cause one to wonder why the U.S. media seem to have opted for a more ominous interpretation of the events.

To answer that question we need to look at the "analysts" credited with determining the 10 November clash was Pyongyang's effort to engage in strategic agenda setting. As it turns out, the "spin" on this event primarily came from the South Korean presidential offices and an academic in Seoul who is famous for being an adamant critic of all things North Korea. The current South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak, has consistently vowed to take a tougher line on dealing with Pyongyang. Lee believes his predecessors were too soft on the North, and he is determined to push in the opposite direction. No surprise then, that his staff told reporters the 10 November incident was "an intentional, low-intensity provocation by North Korea."

Nor is it surprising to discover that Professor Nam Joo-hong was busy telling media representatives the incident was "a deliberately planned maneuver designed to look like an accident.' Nam is well known as a hardliner--some progressive groups in South Korea refer to him as a "neocon warmonger." And yet, his "analysis" and the South Korean administration's spin seem to have carried the day. What a shame.

Fortunately, the U.S. State Department did not fall victim to this worst case analysis. On 11 November Secretary of State Clinton told reporters in Singapore the clash "does not affect our decision" to send special envoy Stephen Bosworth to North Korea. Nor, it appears, did the clash appear to alter President Obama's agenda during his trip to Asia. So who was the victim here? Primarily the average North Korean, who can look forward to further hunger and deprivation as a result of Seoul's efforts to brow beat the elite in Pyongyang. This hard line approach certainly will not impact the North Korean leadership--who simply responded to the silliness by declaring the entire incident was a "brazen violation of our sacred territorial waters."

The bottom line, beware worst case analysis -- particularly when discussing events on the Korean peninsula. What initially appears a cautionary reading of events often proves a cursory evaluation intended to serve a political agenda. Pyongyang harbors little good will for any American administration, but is not so foolish as to hope a minor naval skirmish would serve to refocus this White House. Clearly our State Department was able to come to this conclusion...too bad the Washington Post, New York Times and National Public Radio could not have taken the time to do likewise.

North Korea Threatens South After Naval Clash

2009-11-12T14:25:38Z

SEOUL, South Korea (Associated Press) -- North Korea threatened to punish South Korea following their brief-but-bloody naval firefight, though analysts said Thursday that chances of retaliation appeared slim ahead of planned talks between the U.S. and Pyongyang.

Tuesday's battle near the disputed western sea border left one North Korean officer dead and three others wounded, according to a senior South Korean military officer. Both sides have accused the other of provoking the two-minute battle and Pyongyang has threatened consequences.

"Warmongers will be forced to pay a costly price," the North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said Thursday in a commentary carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. "We never utter empty words."

A North Korean navy patrol vessel is believed to have been towed by another North Korean ship to a nearby base after South Korean ships fired some 4,950 rounds, said an official with Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff. He asked not to be identified because of the issue's sensitivity.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at Seoul's University of North Korean Studies, downplayed the significance of the North's threats, saying they were carried in newspaper commentaries rather than in government or military statements - which carry more weight.

The North's military issued a statement Tuesday blaming the South for the clash but has not made any threat or mention of retaliation itself.

Analysts believe a planned trip to Pyongyang by a U.S. official would make it difficult for Pyongyang to take retaliatory steps against the South anytime soon.
Story continues below

President Barack Obama, due to arrive in Seoul on Nov. 18 amid a regional tour, plans to send special envoy Stephen Bosworth to Pyongyang by year's end for the first direct talks with the North during his administration.

Bosworth's trip is aimed at persuading communist North Korea to return to six-nation nuclear disarmament negotiations, which Pyongyang walked away from earlier this year.

The North has long demanded one-on-one talks with the United States before committing to the stalled talks on ending its nuclear programs. The talks also include South Korea, China, Russia and Japan, and were last held in Beijing in December.

Jeung Young-tae, a North Korea expert at the government-funded Korea Institute for National Unification, said that while some kind of retaliation is possible, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il would have little to gain from doing so.

"Any escalation of the situation would not be in the interest of the Kim Jong Il regime at a time when the North is focusing on dialogue with the U.S.," he said.

Paik Hak-soon, an analyst at the private Sejong Institute think tank near Seoul, said it is hard to believe that Pyongyang would retaliate when it is seeking to improve its relations with both South Korea and the U.S.

Officials in Seoul shrugged off the North's threats, saying they can deter any aggression and will defend the disputed sea border - known as the Northern Limit Line - where the clash took place.

The line is a de facto western sea border drawn up by the U.N. command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The North has long insisted it be redrawn farther south.

The Defense Ministry said Thursday that it plans to hold a meeting of top military commanders next month to review South Korea's defenses.

The battle, which South Korea's military has hailed as a victory, highlighted the wide gap in hardware between the two sides. The North Korean ship was built by China in the 1960s, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported.

Following the skirmish, the South's 680,000-member military went on high alert to cope with possible retaliation. South Korean media reported the country has deployed up to four destroyers and warships near the sea border - the scene of two bloody fights in 1999 and 2002.

South Korea's military said there has been no sign of suspicious military activity from North Korean troops, but news reports said the North has also placed its 1.2 million-strong army on high alert.

The two Koreas have remained technically at war since the Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. The U.S., which has never had diplomatic relations with North Korea, stations 28,500 troops in South Korea to deter potential North Korean aggression.

___

Associated Press Writer Hyung-jin Kim contributed to this report.

Devin Stewart: Hatoyama's U.S. Policy May Backfire

2009-11-12T10:42:56Z

During his Asia trip this Friday, President Obama's itinerary will include a much-anticipated visit with Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama -- a meeting that has been fraught with anxiety and speculation among Japan watchers. One Japan expert sees U.S.-Japan relations at their lowest point in years. With Japan's new government, will Obama find long-time U.S. ally Japan drifting away from the U.S.-Japan alliance, "the cornerstone of U.S. strategy toward Asia"?

Two overarching sticking points have entered into the U.S.-Japan discussion. The first is what precisely the new Japanese government means in recent statements by having a more "equal" relationship with the United States and what that means for Japan's relations with Asia. Japan specialists in the United States have hoped that a Japan on more equal footing with the United States would take more leadership on global issues and security, something that U.S. policymakers have encouraged Japan to do for years.

But others worry that Japan might "turn East" toward China and its regional proposals, such as an East Asian community, could exclude the United States. Never mind the fact that Japan has reiterated that the U.S. alliance will be the centerpiece of Japanese foreign policy; the Chinese received coolly the East Asian community idea; and that the Japanese have been talking about an East Asian economic bloc for years, which would essentially codify what Asian businesses already do. In any case, mixed signals from Tokyo have created an air of uncertainty about the direction of the U.S.-Japan relationship.

The second contentious point gets to the nitty-gritty of the U.S.-Japan alliance itself. For years, Okinawans have resented the fact that a majority of U.S. military presence, including noisy helicopters, in Japan is concentrated in Okinawa. In an effort to respond to local pressure and a nationwide desire for "change" in Japan, the Hatoyama administration has sought to reopen a pact that would have moved an airbase off a congested part of Okinawa.

All of this comes on top of Japan's decision to withdraw its refueling support of the U.S. Navy in the Indian Ocean and instead contribute to Afghanistan operations through aid funding to the tune of $5 billion over 5 years -- bringing back raw memories of Japan's "checkbook diplomacy" during the first Gulf war when Japan sent money but no troops. Moral leadership will require more.

If Hatoyama wishes to present a Japan that is more "independent" from the United States, these moves could backfire. To say the least, the newbie Democratic Party of Japan's riskiest forays will likely be in the areas of national security, and if the Japanese public perceives the DPJ as making Japan less safe, the party could easily get the boot. The Obama administration has been eager to resolve these issues, while Hatoyama has preferred to punt them down the road to gain more understanding from Okinawans. But consensus-building will be a two-level game, one that will include Japan's closest ally.

In an effort to cool U.S.-Japan tensions, Obama and Hatoyama have agreed to a yearlong review of the alliance. But, says Japanese defense expert Satoshi Morimoto in the Wall Street Journal, "the prime minister needs to feel a sense of urgency and understand that the safety of the Japanese people may be compromised if the relationship with the U.S. becomes shaky."

More broadly, however, the path toward a more "independent" foreign policy for Japan is not by weakening its alliance with the world's strongest military power. Ironically, if Japan wants to have more influence in world affairs, it should strengthen the U.S.-Japan alliance, not weaken it. Coincidentally, Hatoyama's moves arrive against a regional backdrop of a bellicose North Korea and an increasingly powerful China that rivals Japan.

With China's growing profile, there is a huge demand within Asia for a strong Japan tied to the U.S. alliance as a counter-balance. Given Japan's own budgetary constraints, the alliance also protects Japanese national interests without requiring the country to develop its own power projection. If Japan truly wants to serve as a "bridge" between the United States and Asia or the West and East, it will need good relations with both sides. As an Obama administration official put it: "Even the most spectacular bridge needs an entrance and an exit for anyone to traverse it." For Hatoyama's sake and political survival, let's hope his administration realizes this point.

South Korea Troops On High Alert After Navy Skirmish

2009-11-11T07:54:18Z

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea threatened South Korea on Thursday with possible punishment over a skirmish that left one of its warships badly damaged and a crew member dead.

The rival Koreas clashed at sea Tuesday for the first time in seven years, with each side accusing the other of violating the disputed western sea border and firing first.

North Korea And South Korea Navy Boats Exchange Fire

2009-11-10T00:59:48Z

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's troops went on high alert Wednesday for possible retaliation by North Korea after one of its navy ships was nearly destroyed and an officer reportedly killed in a skirmish with the South, ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama.

The clash Tuesday along the disputed western sea border was the first such engagement in seven years, sending tensions soaring about a week before Obama travels to Seoul as part of his Asian tour.

Kim Jong-il Has 19 Private Train Stations

2009-11-09T12:03:26Z

The trains are equipped with conference rooms, bedrooms and high-tech communication facilities, intelligence sources have said.

Christopher Herbert and Victoria Kataoka Rebuffet: Weekly Foreign Affairs Roundup

2009-11-06T16:11:48Z

This Week's Top Stories in Foreign Affairs:

Like Him or Not, Karzai's the Man in Afghanistan
SI Analysis: After opposition candidate Abdullah Abdullah withdrew from the election in protest that voting officials suspected of fraud during the first round would not be replaced, Hamid Karzai was officially attributed another term as President of Afghanistan. The decision to give the victory to Karzai without a runoff election was fraught with debate where some said that his tenure would be legally and effectively illegitimate to those that his victory was certain either way and it was better to get faster to the heart of the matter (e.g. running the country). The many challenges to improving conditions in Afghanistan remain the same and now unambiguously Karzai is the president and the world must now look to working with him to improve the governance, economy and security of Afghanistan. Sadly, Abdullah will not be part of the Karzai government, many analysts hoped he would serve as an effective opposition force. With election and its drama now over, all eyes are now on Obama to articulate what his strategy will be for Afghanistan. Some of the key questions, outside of the amount of troop increases and nature of the counter-insurgency strategy, are: How to reinforce the Afghan National Security Force by building up a central command or building on tribal and militia strengths? How to improve governance and reduce corruption? How to build up Afghanistan's economy and eliminate the opium trade? How to get Pakistan to crack down on militants taking refuge inside its borders? How to bolster the international political will -- especially of Muslim countries -- to continue supporting the Afghan effort?

Saudi Sorrows Over Yemen
SI Analysis: Worries -- that strife in Yemen will develop into a complex regional conflict -- grow as there are reports of cross-border skirmishes between government and two different hostile non-state actors. First, it is believed that Shia al-Houthis rebels launched an attack against Saudi and Yemeni border security forces in the Saada province and then claimed to have captured a mountaintop well within the Kingdom. Some believe this act was in retaliation of the Saudi governments support to Yemen against the Shia Zaydis, who make up the al-Houthis. Saudi Arabia and Yemen contend that Iran is supporting the rebels. Saudi Arabia reportedly retaliated with aerial bombing of rebel positions. Second, a government convoy was attacked by Sunni foreign militants -- likely Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula -- near the Saudi border in the Hadramawt region. This may be the unforseen consequences of Yemini President Ali Abdullah Saleh's laxist policy allowing foreign Sunni militants haven in Yemen (reportedly in exchange for their help in fighting the Shia Houthis). Tacit agreements have broken down as the Sunni-led independence movement in the south has grown and won support from some of the foreign militants, whose main target remains the government of Saudi Arabia. The massive influx of refugees and foreign militants from the Horn of Africa does nothing to help Yemen's fragile hold on security of its country. With a rebellion in the north, another in the south and a brewing terrorist threat growing throughout Yemen, it is likely that Saudi Arabia will take greater action within Yemen in an attempt to mitigate the security risk to the Kingdom.

War Reports:

AfPak
SI Analysis: Pakistan claims that its "Operation Rah-i-Nijat" (path to deliverance) in South Waziristan is going better than expected. Skeptics say that the Taliban will just return as soon as the government withdraws. Others say the government is not doing enough to thwart the positioning of foreign militants and certain Taliban. Meanwhile, the assymetrical terror response of the Taliban countinues: Two would-be suicide bombers accidentally detonated themselves outside of Kohat City in North-West Frontier Province; a massive car bomb explosion in Peshawar killed over 100 people; and a suicide bomber in Rawalpindi killed at least 30 people.

Iraq
SI Analysis: Some say that al-Malikis political manouvering is undermining security in Iraq. Efforts to remove potential rivals -- both Shia and Sunni -- from key areas have actually weakened the strength and comptencies of the overall force. Some point to the October 25 deadly blasts in Baghdad as proof that Maliki may have gone too far in his purges of over 12,000 officials in the Interior, Finance and Foreign Affairs Ministries as well as in the National Intelligence Service. Offical US and Iraqi officials contend that recent violence is due to the last vestiges of foreign militants and Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia; they cite a recent arrests in Kirkuk and Abu Ghraib of a key Al Qaeda operative as evidence that the risk is being addressed.

Under the Radar:

What Response to Iran?
SI Analysis: Western governments extend Iran a last bit of lenience -- to accept a recent deal to send its enriched uranium to Russia for its conversion to nuclear fuel. With the likelihood of an agreement being reached dwindling, severe energy sanctions are the next step provided that Russia will go along. The possibility of a unilateral Israeli action increases with diminishing hopes of an agreement. Meanwhile, Israel's Navy says it stopped a ship with significant amounts of Iranian weapons cargo bound for Syria and eventually Hezbollah militants.

Low-Level Tensions in Lebanon Persists
SI Analysis: Political, internal security and border tensions make Lebanon a tinder-box for conflict. Politically, Michel Aoun, leader of the opposition Free Patriotic Movement, dashed hopes that Saad Hariri, Lebanon's PM-elect, would be able to form a Cabinet by week's end. Aoun says Hariri's proposals of ministerial appointments were inadequate. Meanwhile, there are distrubing reports that Sunni extremists are infiltrating Lebanon in an effort to undermine peace with Israel and to counter the Shia and moderate Sunni presence in the country: an obscure group called the Battalions of Ziad Jarrah claim responsability for the 11 September rocket attack on Israel; meanwhile, Lebanese Security Services made a key arrest of Sunni foreign militant connected with Fatah al-Islam, the Sunni extremist group; and the security services also reportedly thwarted an assassination attempt on a key Sunni cleric. All of this adds to recent speculation of increased posturing and counter-espionage ongoings between Israel and Hezbollah (along with the Lebanese intelligence services) involving the destruction of telecommunications towers in Southern Lebanon and the break-up of an Isreali spy ring earlier this year.

Tempered Expectations for Myanmar
SI Analysis: US Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel visits Myanmar (Burma) and meets with the ruling military Junta as well as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Marciel says that hopes for any major democratic reform or advancement on the protection of human rights should be relatively low. Any progress will take place in small steps and on the junta's terms. However, analysts suggest that Burma's desire to lift banking and travel sanctions and to counter growing Chinese influence in the country could be motivation to allow some reform and perhaps allow Aung San Suu Kyi to participate in 2010 elections.

Analysis in Brief:

The Absence of a Middle East Peace Process: Peace seemed ever-more elusive after US Secretary of State Clinton appeared to concede to Israeli pressure to restrain rather than freeze settlement building. The Palestinian and Muslim world's response in general was very hostile. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he will not run for re-election in January elections citing Israeli settlements, dwindling American support and domestic division.

North Korea's Wager: In what is seen as a misguided effort to secure bi-lateral talks with the US, North Korea says that it had resumed its plutonium extraction activities.

Merkel's Charm Offensive: German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke before US Congress urging cooperation on Afghanistan, Iran's nuclear program and the international fight against Climate Change ahead of the December UN Conference Copenhagen.

This Roundup can be read on the Simple Intelligence Site and on the Huffington Post World Page.

John Feffer: North Korea: Journalists vs. Diplomats?

2009-11-06T09:36:09Z

At the recent off-the-record meeting between U.S. and North Korean representatives at a conference in California, journalists were eager for any crumb of information about what the two interlocutors said to each other. The dialogue was "useful," according to the North Korean representative. The U.S. side remarked that the mood was "better than we've seen in months."

Talk about ho-hum journalism.

But, in the interests of diplomacy, this is precisely the kind of media coverage that U.S.-North Korean relations needs at the moment. In fact, for real progress to be made in resolving the longest-standing adversarial relationship the United States has with any country in the world, journalists would be well-advised to sit on their hands and keep their mouths shut. At the very least, all those involved in the sensitive negotiations should agree to say absolutely nothing of interest to the press.

As a journalist, I don't feel very good about making this recommendation. Handcuff the reporters? Muzzle the broadcasters? That's what North Korea does. Surely I'm not advising that we take a page from their book.

But here's why I think that the only way the two sides can achieve any real compromise is through sustained and secret dialogue on a comprehensive agreement, outside of the media spotlight.

For the better part of 20 years, during those periods when they've been willing to talk with each other, the United States and North Korea have subscribed to the "step by step" approach to rapprochement. There is much talk at these moments of trust-building, of confidence-building, of finding one's way across the stream stone by slippery stone.

This cautious engagement approach, which has a veneer of common sense, has yielded two significant agreements -- the Agreed Framework of 1994 and the Six Party Talks agreement of 2007 -- and a few minor accords. Aside from some shipments of food and oil, these agreements have yielded nothing more than a half-built light-water nuclear reactor (by the United States and allies) and a half-destroyed nuclear complex (by North Korea).

What the agreements didn't accomplish far outweighs what they did accomplish. There is still no peace agreement to replace the armistice that ended the hostilities of the Korean War. There is no diplomatic relationship between Pyongyang and Washington. North Korea still has some kind of nuclear capability; the United States continues to contain the country with overwhelming force. Except for North Korea's nukes, the situation doesn't look a whole different from 20 years ago.

Contrast that picture with U.S.-Chinese relations. China has nuclear weapons. China is the only rising power that the Pentagon fears will compete seriously with the United States. China still has human rights problems. But Washington and Beijing have a very significant relationship.

What will it take for the United States and North Korea to move into a relationship comparable to the one that the United States enjoys with China? Step-by-step engagement won't do the trick. Each time the United States negotiates a partial agreement with North Korea, it comes under attack by conservatives in Congress and the media. Such opposition contributed to the deep-sixing of the Agreed Framework. Similar opposition forced the Bush administration to backtrack on concessions made near the end of its second term.

Step-by-step engagement, in other words, is just another form of death by a thousand cuts. If John Bolton in the Wall Street Journal and Sam Brownback (R-KS) in Congress can't stop the first engagement agreement, then they will rally their forces to block the next one or the one after that. While the diplomats are "building confidence" through partial agreements, they are losing confidence at home because of the attacks of their opponents.

So, what's the only way around this paradox? The obvious answer is a comprehensive agreement that covers all major obstacles in the relationship between the two countries. The less obvious answer is: this comprehensive agreement should be negotiated in secret. If journalists leak word of the agreement before it is hammered out and agreed upon by both sides, it will have the same effect as the partial agreements of the past. The opposition will have a chance to sharpen their knives and get ready for the kill.

The Nixon administration negotiated the opening to China in secret. The Dayton Agreement emerged from a tightly controlled three-week negotiation among Serb, Croat, and Bosnian representatives. The Oslo Accords came after 14 secret meetings between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators between December 1992 and August 1993 (though ultimately unsuccessful, these accords nearly brought off a peace agreement in the world's most conflict-ridden region).

With envoy Stephen Bosworth likely to visit North Korea this month, the U.S. team should bear in mind the lessons of Beijing, Dayton, and Oslo. Keep it comprehensive. Keep it secret. And remain at the negotiating table until the job is done.

The journalists will be disappointed at not getting their scoops. Too bad. Peace is, frankly, more important than a good news story.

Originally published in Asia Chronicle.