Free Republic

/begin my translation N. Korea: Three Pillars of Regime, Personality Cult, Military, and Food Distribution, Collapsed three pillars, personality cult, military, and food distribution, collapsedN. Korean leader Kim Jong-il surrounded by soldiers(top);S. Korean President Roh Moo-hyun(bottom) Japanese "Diamond Weekly" (01/29/05): N. Korea sliding into a collapse - by Sakurai Yoshiko I am presenting the result of my investigation, done this month(January) in S. Korea, into how Roh Moo-hyun government would deal with N. Korea to solve problems of kidnapping, nukes, and missiles. What impressed me after a series of investigations is the contrast between N. Korea, which is on the...

Tear Down This Tyranny From the November 29, 2004 issue: A Korea strategy for Bush's second term. by Nicholas Eberstadt 11/29/2004, Volume 010, Issue 11 THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION is not famous for patience with its critics. But for the sake of national security, the new Bush team should listen to constructive criticism of its policies--in particular, its policy for the North Korean nuclear crisis. The current U.S. approach to the North Korea problem is demonstrably flawed; arguably, even dangerously flawed. Just what is wrong? After nearly four years in office, the curious fact remains that the Bush administration plainly lacks...

WASHINGTON (AP)--A South Korean man who met with John Kerry's fund-raisers to discuss creating a new political group for Korean-Americans was an intelligence agent for his country, raising concerns among some U.S. officials that either he or his government may have tried to influence this fall's election. South Korean officials and U.S. officials told The Associated Press that Chung Byung-Man, a consular officer in Los Angeles, actually worked for South Korea's National Intelligence Service. A spokesman for the South Korean consulate office said Chung was sent home in May amid "speculation" he became involved with the Kerry campaign and...

Perils of Good Intentions Roh's idealism has turned South Korea into a debtor state By B. J. Lee Newsweek International Sept. 6-13 issue - South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun came to power last year as a populist outsider, and in recent months has spelled out spending plans that deliver on his promises in a big way—some say too big. The total amounts to as much as $300 billion over 10 years, a vast sum for a $600 billion economy with an annual government budget of $150 billion. There's $100 billion to support financially troubled farmers and fishermen, $52 billion...

South Korea: Drifting Economy, Boiling Society Andy Xie (Hong Kong) at Morgan Stanley Korean society appears to be focusing on democratization and empowering people, demystifying government power, as well as decreasing the scope and social tolerance of corruption. Because of this, economic liberalization may take a backseat. Indeed, Korean society appears to be focusing on reducing the income inequality that economic liberalization may exacerbate. Korea’s economic establishment is deeply bearish about the present state of affairs, fearing that the lack of direction will depress the economy in the short term and may damage Korea’s longer-term economic competitiveness. The economic establishment...

N. Korea Proposed Inter-Korean Summit in March, 2003 /begin my summary In late March, 2003, N. Korean leader Kim Jong-il proposed to S. Korean government via an official channel to have the inter-Korean summit(as a sequel to June 15 summit of 2002.) N. Korean proposal stated that S. Korea may choose the time and the location of the summit. S. Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, after careful deliberation with his staffs, decided to put it off indefinitely, saying, "N. Korean nuclear crisis is heating up. The nuclear issue has to be resolved first. Having this summit at this time could distract...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea's Constitutional Court reinstated impeached President Roh Moo-hyun in a historic ruling Friday, rejecting a parliamentary move to oust the embattled leader. The ruling, broadcast live on national television, took 30 minutes and covered three main charges against Roh - illegal campaigning, incompetence and economic mismanagement. The high court cleared the leader of the charge of economic mismanagement and incompetence for failing to rein in corruption among several former aides. The court found Roh had violated election laws but said the infraction was not serious enough to warrant impeachment. "The court found the...

WSJ Editorial Cautions Korea Not To Ignore NK Threat A column in the Tuesday issue of the Wall Street Journal that analyzed growing anti-American sentiment in Korea said that if the South Korean government continues to instill pro-North Korean sentiment in the minds of its citizens, there will be a time when South Korea must take sole responsibility for its national security. In this editorial column, Asian Wall Street Journal deputy editor Danny Gittings said that after the Korean Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union was established under the sunshine policy five years ago, anti-American sentiment has worsened in schools. According...

Seoul — North Korea condemned South Korea's presidential impeachment as a U.S.-masterminded coup, while 35,000 frustrated protesters gathered Sunday night in downtown Seoul rallying against the push to remove their leader. "Nullify Impeachment!" chanted the crowd, which was down in size from the 50,000 people who sang songs the previous day. Organizers pledged to hold candlelight vigils every night. North Korea shuddered at Friday's vote in the National Assembly to impeach President Roh Moo-hyun on charges of illegal campaigning and incompetence. It was the first such move in South Korean history. Inter-Korean economic talks scheduled for Monday were scuttled by...

SEOUL, March 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's two main opposition parties submitted a motion to impeach President Roh Moo-hyun Tuesday as the country braces for upcoming parliamentary elections in April. The move came after a struggle between the embattled president and opposition-controlled legislature over Roh's remarks last month in support of candidates for the pro-government party. A total of 159 opposition lawmakers supported the motion.

SEOUL (AFP) - US special envoy James Baker has called off his planned visit to South Korea for talks on Iraq's debt restructuring, a top aide to President Roh Moo-Hyun said. South Korea's relatively "small amount of public debt" owed by Iraq may have led Baker to cancel the visit originally set for next week, said Ra Jong-Yil, national security advisor for Roh, over Seoul-based radio CBS. Baker, who returned home last week from a European tour aimed at easing Iraq's 120 billion dollar debt burden, was originally set to visit Japan and South Korea on December 29, and then...

<p>SEOUL — The United States is committed to defending South Korea from an attack by the North and would use nuclear forces if needed, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told the government here yesterday.</p> <p>Mr. Rumsfeld, who finishes his first official visit to Asia today, said the U.S. commitment to South Korea includes "the continued provision of a nuclear umbrella" for South Korea, according to a statement issued after joint security talks.</p>

<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>

SEOUL, South Korea, Oct 12, 2003 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- President Roh Moo-hyun plans to hold a national referendum to determine whether he has the public's trust around Dec. 15, and intends to step down if the vote goes against him, a television news station reported Monday. The presidential Blue House said it could not confirm the report by YTN, an all-news cable channel. YTN did not cite a source. It is unclear whether a referendum is legal. On Saturday, Roh rejected an offer from his Cabinet and presidential aides to resign amid a crisis over his leadership....

BALI, Indonesia - President Roh Moo-hyun said Tuesday that he doesn’t want to see North Korea collapse and that is one of key principles of his administration in dealing with Pyongyang. “We aim to co-exist with North Korea rather than absorbing it or pushing it to collapse and the primary means of inter-Korean co-existence is dialogue,” Roh said in a speech at the morning session of the ASEAN Plus Three summit on corporate investment. He said it is true that some South Koreans believe that Pyongyang is untrustworthy and that the best way of dealing with it is confrontation that...

Is South Korea Socialist? It looked that way, until Roh cracked down on the unions By B. J. Lee NEWSWEEK INTERNATIONAL July 14 issue — It was shaping up as a good spring for the vocal minority in South Korea. Actors shaved their heads and marched against a plan to allow more Hollywood movies into the country. Bank employees in red headbands and sky-blue shirts banged sticks in unison outside the nation’s oldest bank, Chohung, to protest its “fraudulent” sale to private owners. FARMERS BLOCKED SEOUL traffic with tractors to stop a free-trade deal with Chile. Truckers, teachers, railroad employees...

North, South Koreans Squabble, Pyongyang Slaps Roh 2 hours, 1 minute ago Add World - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Paul Eckert SEOUL (Reuters) - The two Koreas extended their most contentious talks in years into an extra day on Friday as bickering about the North Korea (news - web sites)'s nuclear ambitions held up an agreement on rice aid for the communist North. While delegates squabbled on in Pyongyang, North Korea took a rare swipe at South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, accusing him of making a "pro-U.S. and flunkeyist" trip to the United States. A South Korean pool report...

South Korea's anti-US protesters block Roh's path Sun May 18, 3:05 AM ET SEOUL (AFP) - South Korean riot police scuffled with about 1,000 anti-US student protesters who blocked President Roh Moo-Hyun from attending a public event in the southern city of Gwangju, reports said. Television showed the students preventing a motorcade carrying Roh from traveling along a road leading to a national cemetery, where a ceremony marking the anniversary of a pro-democracy civic uprising in 1980 was underway. Some 2,000 riot police formed a human barricade at the main gate of the cemetery in a stand-off that left several...

Activists Accuse S. Korea of Covering Up N. Korean Atrocities Christine Elliott Washington 16 May 2003, 20:31 UTC Listen to Christine Elliot's report (RealAudio) Elliott report - Download 457k (RealAudio) After meeting with President Bush on Wednesday, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said the two would work closely to solve the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula. But some activists are upset about what the leaders did not say. They are threatening legal action against the South for preventing defectors from exposing human rights violations in the North. One activist who spent time as a doctor in North Korea says...

Roh's Faithful Slam Summit Accord by Ahn Yong-keum (agon@chosun.com) President Roh Moo-hyun's core group of supporters are harshly criticizing his performance at this week's summit, in contrast to the opposition Grand National Party's commendations, calling it "humbling, low-profile diplomacy." A Catholic priest and strong supporter of the president, Song Ki-in, said Roh was acting only to please the public and instead should have pushed forward based on his principles. A ruling Millennium Democratic Party lawmaker, Kim Seong-ho, called the accord reached at the summit a betrayal to the nation. "To permit the intervention of the United States in the internal...