Free Republic

Excerpt - (Kyodo) _ North Korea's ruling party has ordered children of North Korean diplomats and other representatives stationed overseas to return home, for reasons unknown, a South Korean daily reported Tuesday. "The Workers' Party of Korea recently issued a directive to overseas missions that children of diplomats and representatives send their children home," the Joongang Ilbo newspaper quoted a source well-versed in North Korean affairs as saying in Seoul. The reason remains unclear, but another Seoul-based expert on North Korea was quoted as saying it may be related to preventing defection of diplomats. ~ snip ~

For many years, those who consider themselves to be libertarians have been fairly reliable members of the Republican coalition. Although no libertarian would consider himself or herself to be entirely in agreement with either major party, they have historically sided with the GOP. But the relationship today seems more deeply strained than any time in the last 30 years, and a divorce may be forthcoming. Basically, libertarians are allied with the right on economic issues and the left on everything else. They believe in the free market and freedom of choice in areas such as drugs, and favor a noninterventionist...

/begin my translationTaiwan Defense Ministry, "We don't want N. Korean missiles"(Taipei, Yonhap News) correspondent Pil Soo-yon -- Taiwan's Defense Ministry, in response to an allegation that N. Korea attempted to sell its missiles to Taiwan, commented, "It is absurd to say that we would buy from N. Korea, already designated as a dangerous country, what we can already produce. We don't want N. Korean missiles." According to July 19th reports from Taiwanese media, all pertinent government institutions, Taiwan's Defense Ministry, State Security Bureau, and Foreign Ministry , responded, "We know nothing (on the matter,)" when asked about the latest report from Wolgan Chosun (note: from its August issue....

/begin my summary3 N. Koreans, presumed to be a family, defected at Baek-ryong island[Yonhap News, 2005/06/26] Around 9:55 am on June 26, 2.9 miles away to the North East of Baek-ryong Island, a N. Korean barge indicated the willingness to defect. It was towed to Yong-ki-po Harbor at Baek-ryong Island at 11:40 am, according to the (S. Korean) Joint Chief of Staffs. Inside the boat were Mr. Hong(male, age:42), Mr. Moon(female, age:39), a 15-year-old boy. They are presumed to be a family. They reportedly left Yong-hyun, Ku-mi-po District, N. Korea.around 5:30 am, June 25. The barge is an 1.7-ton boat...

Three North Koreans Flee to South Three apparent defectors from North Korea were found on Friday morning, two in the West Sea and one in Gangwon Province, a day after a show of inter-Korean unity marking the fifth anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration came to an end in Pyongyang. Police and military officials are investigating how the three crossed the DMZ and whether they intended to defect. Soldiers on Friday patrol the village of Daema in Choelwon County, Gangwon Province where a North Korean defector was discovered earlier that day. Early on Friday morning, a 65-year-old Cheolwon...

Chinese defector says U.S. turned him away By Raymond Bonner The New York Times TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 2005 SYDNEY The Chinese diplomat who defected here two weeks ago had sought political asylum at the United States Embassy, and was summarily turned away, the defector, Chen Yonglin, said in an interview on Monday. Chen, a career diplomat whose father was killed during the Cultural Revolution, said he called the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, the Australian capital, and followed up with a fax, after his asylum claim had been abruptly rebuffed by Australian officials, an action that has created a political storm...

Third Chinese defector turns up in Australia Thu Jun 9, 7:33 PM ET SYDNEY (AFP) - A third Chinese official has defected in Australia and already been granted refugee status after revealing he witnessed a dissident being tortured to death in China, his lawyer said. The unnamed official was a senior officer in a branch of the Chinese security service known as "610" and defected after witnessing repeated human rights abuses by other agents, lawyer Bernard Collaery said on ABC television late Thursday. Collaery, a prominent lawyer and former attorney-general of the Australian Capital Territory, said the official's assertions backed...

A SENIOR Chinese diplomat is on the run with his family after abandoning his post and seeking political asylum in Australia. Claiming he fears persecution if he returns to Beijing, Chen Yonglin, 37, the consul for political affairs at the Chinese consulate-general in Sydney, said last night consulate security staff were looking for him after he walked out of the mission seven days ago. "They are searching for me. I heard they are looking for me everywhere, especially in the Chinese community," Mr Chen told The Weekend Australian last night. "I feel very unsafe, so I seek protection." A Department...

Footage of Japanese TV from Beijing showing 7 North Koreans escaping LAST NIGHT over tall BARBED WIRE FENCES (some barefoot on the wire and all apparantly without gloves) to get into neutral territory in Beijing, in a Japanese children's school, to safety and the West. Shades of the East Germans getting out of Berlin through the wire or over The Wall. Video Stream Link above and here (brief, in Japanese):http://www.bcast.co.jp/cgi-bin/yahoo/news.asx?cid=20041217-00000051-nnn-int-movie-000&media=wm300kChinese Communists put up extra security afterward and are trying to prevent more escapes by North Koreans, currently underground in China, to Freedom.MUST SEE VIDEO.

Japanese Official Warns of Fissures in North Korea(130 generals defected?) Japanese Official Warns of Fissures in North Korea By JAMES BROOKE Published: November 22, 2004 OKYO, Nov. 21 - After weeks of reports from North Korea of defecting generals, antigovernment posters and the disappearance of portraits of the country's ruler, the leader of Japan's governing party warned Sunday of the prospects of "regime change" in North Korea. "As long as Chairman Kim Jong Il controls the government, we have to negotiate with him, but it is becoming more doubtful whether we will be able to achieve anything with this government,"...

LAS VEGAS - In what appears to be the largest mass defection of Cuban performers to date, 44 dancers, singers and musicians, here to stage a revue, plan to seek political asylum in the United States, members of the troupe said Sunday. Most of the artists intend to deliver their applications for asylum this morning at the federal building here, the performers said in interviews at the Stardust Resort and Casino, where their ''Havana Night Club'' revue is to have a three-month run. Seven other members of the ensemble have already sought asylum from United States officials in Berlin. Those...

LAS VEGAS, NEVADAIn what appears to be the largest mass defection of Cuban peerformers to date, 44 dancers, singers, and musicians, here to stage a revue, plan to seek political asylum in the United States, troupe members said on Sunday.

Bad news for despairing Democrats: Canada must wait. The Great White North, which allows Al-Jazeera but still bans Fox News, isn't as welcoming to Americans as you might have thought. After the drubbing Democrats took in yesterday's elections, many are probably feeling like Vietnam draft-dodgers of the 1960s — that Canada would be a better place to live. Well, for many Democrats that's probably true. If Canada is anything, it is a haven for left-wing, socialist-minded individuals who share a disdain for the freedom-minded, war-on-terror-fighting, tax-cutting Bush administration. But liberal Dems who are planning to "escape" the "tyranny" of President...

The conversion of Albany County Comptroller Michael Conners, whose family's Democratic roots in North Albany stretch back a century, into a Republican started Monday with a telephone call from a former aide to Rep. John Sweeney. In less than a week, it was done, with Conners sealing the deal Thursday to take the GOP endorsement against incumbent Democratic state Sen. Neil Breslin over a cellphone while watching a Red Sox game in Fenway Park. Gleeful Republicans welcomed Conners into the fold Friday, while stunned Democrats warned he is taking a gamble he cannot win in a county where Democrats outnumber...

Mystery Marine in Germany for DebriefingBy David ThibaultCNSNews.com Managing EditorJuly 09, 2004 (CNSNews.com) - Did Islamic terrorists kidnap Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, or was the videotape showing Hassoun blindfolded and a sword hanging over his head a hoax staged by a 24-year-old wanting out of the military? Following Hassoun's arrival Friday at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, American officials will debrief him and try to find out the truth. Hassoun came in on a C-17 transport plane from Beirut, Lebanon and was immediately taken in a green ambulance to the medical center. Hassoun was reported missing June...

N. Korean Missile Engineer in South Applies for Asylum in U.S. It was learned Saturday that a couple that came to South Korea as defectors from North Korea has applied for exile in the United States. A diplomatic source in Washington said 58-year-old Lee Bok-gu and his wife Lee Sun-hui (not their real names), who fled North Korea in 1997 and came to the South in 1999, have applied with U.S. authorities for exile. There have been cases in which defectors who have escaped from the North have applied for asylum in the U.S. through a third country, but this...

/begin my translation A Former S. Korean Intelligence Agent Filed for Political Asylum in U.S. (Who Exposed Scandals of Kim Dae-Jung Government) May 19, 2004 By Joo Yong-joong Kim Ki-sam(age:39), the former agent of NIS(S. Korean intelligence agency) who exposed (political) scandals of Kim Dae-jung government via Internet, and his family reportedly filed for a political asylum on 18th (of May, 2004) at the New Jersey Asylum Office of Dept. of Homeland Security. Such a request for the political asylum by a former intelligence agent is quire rare, which is expected to create a diplomatic row between S. Korea and...

Tales of torture Raed Ahmed, the Iraqi champion in the 99-kilogram weight category from 1984 to 1996, defected to the United States while competing at the Atlanta Olympic Games. He now lives in the U.S. with his wife, whom he later smuggled out of Iraq by paying for an Iraqi passport that allowed her to travel to Jordan using a different name. Ahmed is among several former Iraqi athletes who say they were tortured under orders by Iraqi National Olympic Committee chief Uday Hussein. Three, including Ahmed, agreed to tell their own tales of abuse for ESPN.com: Sharar Haydar:...

http://newsandnews.com/article/view.php?id=headline_1&no=120 /start my translation N. Korea developing lethal a race-sensitive bioweapon? Selectively kills white people Kim Sung-jin, a member of editorial committee (former Minister of Culture and Information) Researcher Lee Chae-woo disappears in China In addition to nuclear weapon and missile development, N. Korea, which has been already branded as "Axis-of-Evil" and raising the tension in N.E. Asia, could now further escalate the tension level of the world thanks to the new allegation that the state is working on "race-sensitive" (biological) weapon. Race-sensitive bioweapon means that it is designed to selectively attack people according to their genetic make-up and pigmentation...

Cuban ballet dancers have brought their fiery passion and Russian-based technique to American audiences for decades, despite political tensions between the two countries. That tradition continues this week when the Ballet Nacional de Cuba launches an American tour - its first since November 2001 - and Cuban superstar Jose Manuel Carreño debuts with the Boston Ballet in "Don Quixote." Prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso set the stage for Cubans dancing in the US in the late 1930s. She performed with Ballet Caravan, the predecessor of the New York City Ballet. Now she is general director and choreographer for the Ballet...