Free Republic

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has fallen into a coma, a former South Korean official is claiming on the heels of reports that the northern leader has ceded over some of his power to his younger sister. Chang Song-min, a former aide to late-South Korean president Kim Dae-jung, has alleged that the Hermit Kindom’s honcho has become seriously ill amid speculation about his limited public appearances this year, the Mirror reported. “I assess him to be in a coma, but his life has not ended,” he told South Korean media. The former aide added that the leader’s younger sister,...

Little Rock, Arkansas (CNN) -- A cache of new -- largely unvarnished -- interviews with former members of the Bill Clinton White House were released on Friday and offer a glimpse into both the triumphs and tribulations of the Clinton White House. Everyone from former aides like Leon Panetta and Bruce Reed to world leaders like Vaclav Havel, the former President of the Czech Republic, and Kim Dae-jung, the former president of South Korea, were interviewed for the project. Released by the University of Virginia's Miller Center and conducted after President Bill Clinton left office, the transcripts will be a...

S. Korean ex-spy's asylum confirmed in U.S. WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 (Yonhap) -- A U.S. court has upheld a 2008 ruling to grant political asylum to a former South Korean intelligence agent who claims to face threats from both South and North Korea, sources here said Tuesday. Kim Ki-sam, who left South Korea's state spy agency in 2000, applied for asylum in the U.S. in 2003, saying he would face persecution and prosecution if he was forced to return to South Korea because he had revealed information about secret operations to help then-President Kim Dae-jung win the Nobel Peace Prize. One...

Ain't No Sunshine Kim Dae-jung may have been a democrat, but the late South Korean president was no saint. His true legacy will be one of utter failure in dealing with his northern neighbor. BY SUNG-YOON LEE | AUGUST 24, 2009 Since his death on Aug. 18, Kim Dae-jung has been celebrated as a "great leader." Delivering his eulogy at Kim's state funeral on Aug. 23, South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-soo called the former president "a great leader of modern history," one whose "sacrifices, dedication, and devotion allowed freedom, human rights, and democracy to fully blossom in Korea." North...

The sunset of South Korea's 'sunshine policy' Two leaders reached out to the North and got nothing but disappointment and lies. By Donald Kirk August 20, 2009 No South Korean leader generated such dreams as did Kim Dae-jung, who died on Tuesday. His five-year presidency, and his "sunshine policy" of reconciliation with North Korea reached its spectacular height in June 2000, when he flew to Pyongyang for the first-ever inter-Korean summit. North Korean "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il hosted him in an atmosphere of confidence that the half-century of war and confrontation between the two Koreas was nearing an end....

(Kim Death) (LEAD) Former President Kim dies at 85 SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Yonhap) -- Former President Kim Dae-jung died at Seoul's Severance Hospital at 1:42 p.m. Tuesday after a long battle with pneumonia and related complications, hospital officials said. He was 85. Kim, who served as president from 1998-2003, was admitted to Severance Hospital in western Seoul on July 13 with pneumonia and put on a respirator three days later. He underwent surgery on his bronchial tubes in late July as part of procedures to facilitate his breathing. Beginning late Monday night, Kim's health condition suddenly deteriorated, with his heart...

Former South Korean President and Nobel laureate Kim Dae-jung has been placed on a life support system at a Seoul hospital, Yonhap News Agency reported Thursday. Officials at Seoul's Severance Hospital said the life support system was installed around 3 a.m. as he had difficulty in breathing. ``But the former president's condition got better and his illness is not life-threatening,'' a hospital official was quoted as saying. Kim has been hospitalized after exhibiting symptoms for pneumonia since Monday.

Farewell, comrade Hussein... I will join you soon along with comrade (Kim) Dae-jung, and (Roh) Moo-hyun....

Bush Election 'Stopped Kim Jong-il Visiting Seoul' North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told China's then president Jiang Zemin in September 2001 he hesitated to return a historic visit from South Korean president Kim Dae-jung because he expected little gain from such a trip after George W. Bush became U.S president. Jiang quotes the remarks in a quasi-autobiography titled “For a Better World: Jiang Zemin's Overseas Visits.” “I’m weighing whether to make a return visit to South Korea. My visit to the South would show the world that Koreans can settle issues related to the Korean Peninsula by themselves,” it quotes...

Updated Jun.27,2005 22:00 KST Korea Stops Funding for Neocon Think TankThe Korea Foundation has ended its support for the American Enterprise Institute, a rightwing U.S. think tank credited with being the brains behind the war on Iraq, Foreign Minster Ban Ki-moon told the National Assembly's Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee on Monday. It reportedly did so at the ruling party’s request. The AEI is the leading neoconservative think tank with close links to the Bush administration. Its brain children include the invasion of Iraq, tax cuts and planned redeployments of U.S. forces around the world. Vice President Dick Cheney,...

NEW YORK: Recent satellite photographs and intelligence data on North Korea show the nation was making rapid and extensive preparations for its first-ever underground nuclear weapons test, US officials have claimed. North Koreans are constructing a reviewing stand and filling in a tunnel, both signs that an underground nuclear test was imminent, White House and Pentagon officials were quoted as saying by a media report. Since October last year, US officials have periodically seen activity suggesting preparations for a nuclear test, chiefly at the site in the northeast part of the country, near an area variously called Kilchu or Kilju....

/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...

<p>As North Koreans die, South Koreans look the other way.</p> <p>Tuesday, October 28, 2003 12:01 a.m.</p> <p>SEOUL--North Korea's highest-ranking defector arrived safely in Washington yesterday despite North Korea's threat to "shoot his plane out of the sky" if he dared to visit the U.S.</p>

Top Defector Lays Out U.S. Agenda by Kim In-gu (ginko@chosun.com) “When I go to the United States I will speak about North Korea’s attempts to drive a wedge between South Korea and the U.S., and I will reveal plans for North Korea’s democratization.” The highest-ranking North Korean to ever defect, Hwang Jang-yeop, talked to the Chosun Ilbo on Saturday, about his long-awaited plans to visit the United States. “I have never been to the U.S. so I am going to look at their circumstances and understand." Asked about the Kim Dae-jung administration's efforts to prevent him accepting invitations to go...

/begin my translation Clinton invited Kim Jong-Il, but Kim refused The former president Kim Dae-Jung disclosed that the former American president Bill Clinton invited chairman Kim Jong-Il for U.S. visit. But N. Korea refused. In his interview on KBS (TV program) "Sunday Special," the former president Kim recollected the time toward the end of Clinton presidency when U.S.-N. Korean dialogue was at its peak. He revealed, "President Clinton sent me a letter. In it he invited chairman Kim to visit U.S.. But he refused to go." He went on to say, "Why did he not go? He should have. He...

South Korean [fmr. Pres. Kim Dae Jung] Cash Transfer to North Korea Designed to Dodge American CIA by Choi Jae-hyeok (jhchoi@chosun.com) The (S. Korean) National Intelligence Service worked to make sure its transfer of $200 million to North Korea would go undetected by U.S. intelligence authorities according to statements by the S. Korean NIS and banking officials obtained by the special prosecutor team investigating the cash-for-summit scandal. Because of the detail involved, this conflicts with the Pres. Kim Dae-jung government's claim in February that the cash was sent as part of the Hyundai Group's economic cooperation projects in North...

Is the former spy-chief of S. Korea a N. Korean spy ? My Comment: This is my selective summary of the long article in Korean posted on a few conservative sites in S. Korea yesterday and today, including independent.co.kr and cppc.or.kr. It makes an explosive allegation, on a par with the cash-for-summit scandal. Even if we are not certain at this time that his allegation is really true, it nevertheless reveals the quite troubling conduct of people who are at the center of political power in S. Korea. Kim Ki-Sam, a whistle-blower and a former intelligence officer at the National...

SEOUL, Feb 14 (AFP) - South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung on Friday apologized for the controversial secret transfer of 200 million dollars to North Korea, but denied the money had served as a bribe to secure the Pyongyang summit three years ago. "The recent controversy over Hyundai Merchant Marine sending money to the North has caused great concern among the people," Kim said in a speech televised live across the country. "I feel very sorry about this. I will take all responsiblity for this situation. But I humbly ask you to understand that this was done in the interest...

Feburary 10, 2003 / Vol. 161 No. 5 The Cost of Sunshine Allegations of paying for rapprochement between North and South Korea taint President Kim's greatest achievement BY BRYAN WALSH South Korea's leaders insist that the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula can be defused by maintaining peaceful dialogue with North Korea's erratic dictator Kim Jong Il. But black clouds fell across the South's "Sunshine Policy" last week. First, a special envoy sent by Seoul to Pyongyang was rebuffed—the Dear Leader, it seems, was too busy touring the nation's fallow farms. Then North Korea, responding to U.S. President George W....

National Intelligence Agency Wired Money to N. Korean account in Macao 223.5 billion won(my note: 200 million dollars) sent one day before the Kim Dae-Jung's visit to N. Korea The Result of Audit Agency's investigation... Korea Exchange Bank --> Chinese Bank in Hong Kong --> Macao --> Pyongyang It is confirmed that 223.5 billion won(my note: 200 million dollars), which was previously reported to be sent secretly by Hyundai Merchant Marine, was wired from the main office of Korea Exchange Bank's operations department by National Intelligence Agency on June 12, 2000, one day before the president Kim Dae-Jung's visit to...