South Korea-Japan, the new episode of the old story

An interesting evaluation of the latest evolutions in the South Korea-Japan bilateral relations, by the International Security Network. 

The North Korean boat

US announced increased sanctions against North Korea. By now, the result of this kind of policies, in terms of efficiency, remains highly unclear - it was the case for Eastern Europe during communism, for Middle Eastern dictatorships or other rogue states. As it is also unclear what chances for a new beginning as long as the idea of a possible leadership is non-existent.

The North Korea's Gulag

The Long Road Home. Testimony of a North Korean Camp Survivor, by Kim Jong is the account of life in a labor camp in North Korea. Although the existence of those camps on the North Korean territory is known, little information is available about their organisation and conduct, since prisoners rarely escape both camps and the country alive. This book shares the story of one such survival, a former lieutenant in the North Korean National Security Agency and a career military officer earning foreign currency. He was suddenly sent to a labor camp in 1993. Accused of treason, he was condemned to gulag no. 14 in Hamkyeong province. As a condemned prisoner - after a life enjoying priviledges, as driving an imported car and free travel across the country, and various contacts with corrupt party officials and business trade partners from overseas, mainly from Japan - he worked in a coal mine 2.400 feet underground and becoming intimately acquainted with political prisoners, subhuman camp guards and the famine that already killed millions. He succeeded to flee the camp and found refuge in China and since 2003 he came to the US.

N Korea talks

the emergency call.

North Korea Bans Border Crossing for 2nd Day

VOA News March 14

Gateways to North Korea are shut down at Inter-Korean Transit Office in Paju, South Korea, 14 Mar 2009

North Korea has barred border crossings with South Korea for a second straight day Saturday, stranding hundreds of people in the North.

Pyongyang banned border traffic on Friday, preventing more than 400 people who work at a joint industrial complex at Kaesong from returning South.

Seoul's Unification Ministry says five people were allowed to cross, including four foreigners and a bride-to-be.

Earlier this week, North Korea switched off military military phones to the South to protest annual military exercises being conducted jointly by the United States and South Korea.

North Korea routinely accuses the United States and South Korea of having aggressive intentions when they carry out the joint military drills.

The maneuvers include a U.S. aircraft carrier, 26,000 U.S. troops and more than 30,000 South Korean soldiers.

The drills are expected to conclude on March 20.

Frenetic Clinton hits Asia running

Matthew Lee

AP

February 20

Dashing through a kaleidoscopic tour of the far East in her first outing as U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton is back in full campaign mode.

But instead of selling herself as presidential candidate, Clinton is pitching the still-emerging foreign policy of her former rival, President Barack Obama.

While cautiously projecting Obama's careful diplomatic stances in her official meetings with diplomats and foreign leaders, Clinton has unleashed the ebullient public persona she showed in the final giddy stages of her unsuccessful 2008 campaign.

Clinton has appeared unabashedly delighted soaking up affectionate, sometimes gushing reactions that she evoked among foreign officials and onlookers.

At the Jakarta airport in Indonesia, she beamed as she was serenaded by rows of singing, swaying schoolchildren. Later, she visited the headquarters of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, waving and smiling broadly when hundreds of employees chanted "Hee-ler-ry," Hee-ler-ry" as she entered.

The bloc's secretary general, Surin Pitsuwan, appeared smitten and spoke in glowing terms about the former first lady, presenting her with an arrangement of 32 yellow flowers.

The tone of Clinton's diplomatic charm offensive was a significant departure from the traditional approach of some previous secretaries of state, who were on the road a great deal but tended to be more comfortable in private settings than out in public.

Her predecessor, Condoleezza Rice, an academic, was far more reserved and less effusive, while Colin Powell, a retired general and President George W. Bush's first secretary of state, was a portrait in stoic, genteel statesmanship.

But midway through her weeklong tour of Asia, it is clear Clinton has brought the urgent showmanship of an election season politician to the patient practice of diplomacy.

She has adopted a grueling public schedule with gusto.

In visits to Japan, Indonesia and South Korea — China is still to come — Clinton has kept busy late until night, seemingly unaffected by jet lag as she crams in official meetings, local media appearances and visits to cultural sites, such as the venerable Meiji shrine in Tokyo.

Some of her appearances have mirrored the countless town halls of her campaign days. But instead of gymnasiums crowded with American voters, Clinton showed up at college auditoriums in Tokyo and South Korea, plying audiences with anecdotes and fielding questions on topics from motherhood to politics.

"Wow, I feel more like an advice columnist than a secretary of state today," she said to loud laughter when asked about the subject of love by one of several thousand students who gathered to hear her speak at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.

"We could be here for hours!" she said in response to the next questioner who asked Clinton to describe her relationship with her daughter Chelsea.

She has waded into crowds despite nervous glances from her security detail, worked rope lines and happily taken time to pose for photos with pretty much anyone who has gotten close enough to ask for one.

And the enthusiastic responses, much like those she got at rallies on the campaign trail, seem to have energized her while the grueling pace has exhausted her traveling staff and local embassy employees, not to mention the reporters accompanying her on the trip.

There have been so many news conferences and interviews that the State Department's efficient team of transcribers has been overwhelmed and unable to produce transcripts of her appearances, sometimes for days.

Yet Clinton is clearly relishing the limelight, and not even natural disasters can stop her.

On her first morning abroad as America's top diplomat, Clinton was jolted awake by one of Japan's frequent minor earthquakes.

"It woke me up. It was like I was in one of those hotel vibrating beds and accidentally dropped in some quarters," she said, recalling the shaking in her 10th floor suite that roused her in Tokyo's pre-dawn hours on Tuesday after the long flight from Washington.

The early wake-up call did not, however, slow her down. That day, Clinton had at least 12 official events, beginning at the Shinto shrine at 8 a.m. and ending with a 9 p.m. post-dinner meeting with Japan's main opposition leader.

In between, she greeted staff at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, met the Japanese foreign and defense ministers, signed a military agreement, held a news conference, had tea with Empress Michiko, gave interviews to three television networks and several Japanese newspapers, spoke to university students at a town hall meeting and ate dinner with the prime minister.

Arriving in Jakarta the next afternoon after a seven-and-half hour flight, Clinton crammed in what might normally be an entire day's worth of meetings in the remaining daylight and evening. Then, she had dinner with a group of civic leaders.

Early the next morning, she was at it again, appearing on Indonesia's most popular youth television program, an MTV-style show, telling the audience about her surprise when Obama asked her to become secretary of state, opining about her favorite bands and joking about her inability to sing.

See also:

Korea Times - Clinton's warnings for North Korea and Hillary got her Korean name

Hillary Clinton's remarks on the Asia-US relations, February 13

South Korea on Alert as Clinton Prepares Trip to Region

Voice of America

South Korean anti-missile defense systems are on alert, bracing for a possible North Korean test of a long-range missile capable of hitting the western United States.

South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-soo told lawmakers Friday the country is closely monitoring North Korean movements and that it will be ready for any situation.

A South Korean newspaper reported Friday, Pyongyang is assembling the Taepodong-2 missile at a launch site along the North Korea's east coast.

The newspaper quotes sources saying the missile could be test-fired by the end of the month to coincide with the anniversary of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's inauguration.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

The rising tensions come as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepares to visit the region.

She is scheduled to give a major foreign policy address in New York Friday, before arriving in Asia Sunday for her first overseas trip as the top U.S. diplomat.

The tour will take Clinton to Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, and China and State Department officials say she will discuss North Korea's nuclear program.

Clinton has called North Korea's recent behavior unacceptable.

But U.S. officials say it is in North Korea's power to bring about a positive outcome by keeping its commitments to disable nuclear facilities and verify information about its nuclear activities.

Clinton will be traveling to the region with the chief U.S. negotiator to the six-party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear program, Christopher Hill, who has been nominated as the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

The State Department has not confirmed media reports that a former ambassador to South Korea, Stephen Bosworth, will be named as Hill's replacement. Bosworth just returned from a five-day visit to North Korea, where he says officials told him they are willing to talk to the Obama administration.

The Economist: In the Court of King Kim

Trying to decipher the North Korean dictatorship.

The economic crisis - opportunities for cooperation

The current economic crisis is opening the doors for cooperation and dialog, going beyond divisions at the political level. China, Japan and South Korea summit could be an example of how the international agenda will look like in the next year, at least. In the same time, by not discussing the problems with a tensioned potential doesn't mean these problems disappeared or will be solved by themselves.

Joint Statement of the Summit