Korea Report

U.S. Special Envoy to Visit North Korea

2009-11-10T13:11:00.005-05:00

After ten months in the office, it looks like Stephen Bosworth (photo), the U.S. special envoy for North Korea, will be actually going to North Korea for diret talks there. This comes after ten months of what seemed like a circumvention of the problem -- holding consultations with all the parties involved with the Six Party Talks with the exception of North Korea, which did not bring a breakthrough in the stalled process towards nuclear disarmament and security guarantees. It is hoped that the Bosworth trip to North Korea, and President Obama's Asia trip, will bring some tangible progress on these issues.

On a related matter, columnist John Feffer argues for a secret negotiations for a comprehensive agreement between the U.S. and North Korea, sans media coverage that may derail the process.

World Church Leaders Reaffirm Support of Korean Reunification

2009-10-30T11:00:00.005-04:00

Korean Christians in south and north Korea have been early pioneers in civilian, inter-Korea reconciliation efforts as they made initial contacts that paved a way for comprehensive interactions between Koreans separated by division, war memories, ideological confrontations, and geopolitics. Their meetings, held initally in third countries in Europe, Japan and North America, led to the reaffirmation of the desire of Koreans towards reconciliation and reunification.

International ecumenical organizations such as the World Council of Churches (WCC) have been supportive of these efforts. The WCC and the Christian Conference of Asia hosted the "International Consultation on the Peace, Reconciliation and Reunification on the Korean Peninsula," October 21-23, 2009 in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong (see above photo). At the Tsuen Wan Consultation, 135 people attended from churches and ecumenical bodies all over the world including church representatives from both North and South Korea, and proclaimed the Tsuen Wan Communique.

Doing Business in North Korea

2009-10-28T10:19:00.006-04:00

[Korea Report's 300th posting.]
In a respite from preoccupation with the North Korean nuclear/security issue, U.S. media is beginning to take notice of other issues, such as joint ventures and business interactions in North Korea, that shed some light on changes occuring within North Korea.

The CNN carried an interview with Hyun Jeong-eun, the chairwoman of South Korea's Hyundai Asan, which has pioneered inter-Korea joint ventures with investment of $272 million in North Korea, in projects like the Kaesong Industrial Park and tours to Mount Kumgang.

The Fortune magazine recently featured "The capitalist who loves North Korea," about Korean-American entrepreneur James Kim (photo, in front of his university in North Korea) who is fulfilling his dream of opening a Western-style university in North Korea that will offer classes similar to a MBA program.

Amnesty International Report: "Migrant workers treated as 'disposable labour' in South Korea"

2009-10-20T13:40:00.004-04:00

After a long lull, South Korea is again appearing in the reports of the Amnesty International, recently on the reemergence of political repression under the Lee Myong-bak administration, and now another report has shed light on abuses of migrant workers in South Korea. The Lee administration is busy signing free trade agreements and touts globalization, yet it is not dealing seriously with this critical issue at home, especially in light of South Korea's hard-earned gains in Korean worker's rights. (The photo shows a demonstration by migrant workers in Korea demanding their rights.)

"Tiger Spirit" -- A Documentary Film on Korean Reunification

2009-10-17T13:15:00.005-04:00

Films on Korean reunification issues are scarce, as the news media is mainly preoccupied with the security issue and bypasses the underlying issues of the division and its impact on average Koreans. This new documentary film by a Korean-Canadian filmmaker Min Sook Lee, supported by the National Film Board of Canada, sheds some light on the latter. The following is a description of the film from the film site:

The psychic scar shared by millions of people, separated from their families during the Korean War in the 1950s, is symbolized by the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing communist North from capitalist South. Here, along this infamous border, award-winning filmmaker Min Sook Lee sets out on a revelatory, emotion-charged journey into Korea’s broken heart, exploring the rhetoric and realism of reunification through the extraordinary stories of ordinary people.

Tiger Spirit begins in the Korean foothills, where the filmmaker joins former TV videographer Lim Sun Nam in his obsessive quest to prove tigers still live in the DMZ’s swath of wilderness. A powerful symbol of resilience in Korean mythology, the tiger once roamed the peninsula but is thought extinct in the region. Lim believes finding the tiger will reconnect Koreans to their spirit and fuel the reunification train.

But a tiger’s stripes extend beyond its fur. Inspired by her desire to understand the country she left as a child when her family moved to Canada, Lee takes us deeper than symbols, asking the crucial question—how will the two Koreas be put back together?

We meet stoic elderly Koreans holding out for news of long lost relatives in the North. We encounter the fractured lives of younger defectors, including a woman who relives her harrowing escape story every day working as a tour guide at a war memorial site.

Crossing the DMZ into North Korea, we visit an inter-Korean economic project in Kaesong, the ancient capital. And we gain unprecedented access to state-sanctioned family reunions held at a high security “resort,” where we witness the Kim family’s heart-wrenching meeting with a relative they haven’t seen for 50 years.

An eloquent tale of longing and hope, Tiger Spirit is unforgettable portrait of Korea at a crossroads.

Women's Call for Peace in Northeast Asia

2009-10-08T10:03:00.005-04:00

The 2009 Northeast Asian Women´s Peace Conference ("Negotiating Regional Peace, Reconciliation and Cooperation") took place on October 6, at the George Washington University campus in Washington, DC. The organizers stated that women's voices are important but have often gone unheard during the Six Party Talks and other deliberations on the future of the Korean Peninsula. This conference, in contrast, brought together a diverse group of Asian, Russian and American women speakers from civil society and government to address peace and security issues in Northeast Asia.

The conference provided a valuable and much-needed space for discussion of steps to reduce military tension and build peace in Northeast Asia and ways to realize UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which recognized "the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building and stressing the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security."

A key speaker of the South Korean delegation was former prime minister Han Myung-sook (photo above, from Yeonhap News), who stressed the need for the revival of the six party talks as well as bilateral negotiations aimed at peaceful settlement in Korea. The delegates also held meetings at the U.S. Congress and with women's organizations in the DC area (photo below).

Cooking for Korean Reunification

2009-10-01T10:31:00.004-04:00

To celebrate the second anniversary of the "October 4th Declaration" of the second inter-Korea summit, college students in South Korea came up with a unique idea of holding a cooking contest for innovative dishes that embody the aspirations for Korean reunification. Some created dishes in the shape of the Korean peninsula, others combined food materials or local dishes normally found in the north and the south. See more photos in this article from The Voice of the People.

Brief Reunions of Separated Families

2009-09-30T13:54:00.003-04:00

As a part of a recent, slight thaw in the inter-Korea relations, selected few separated family members (since the Korean War, due to the continuing division of Korea) were able to see their loved ones for few days at Mt. Keumkang resort area in North Korea. Noticeable on this reunion event was family reunions of a South Korean POW (Korean War) and a detained South Korean fisherman who ventured into the north. Apparently these two have chosen to settle down in North Korea -- with new jobs and families there -- making the dynamics and human stories of family separations and reunions more complex.

Both Korean governments should work towards increasing reunions of separated families, as any delay in reunions cause more and more elder separated members to pass away without ever seeing their loved ones again.

Korea Report Selected Again as One of the Top Korea Blogs

2009-09-30T10:28:00.003-04:00

Top south korea Blogs

Korea Report has been selected again as one of the top blogs on South Korea: The Daily Reviewer selected it as its Top 100 South Korea Blogs.

Goldman Sachs Study Sees Economic Gains in Korean Unification

2009-09-25T13:31:00.002-04:00

An argument for Korean reunification, that economic gains can be achieved, comes from an unexpected source: the Goldman Sachs Group -- the famous and influential investment banking service group. Skeptics say that the cost of Korean reunification will be prohibitively high, but this study suggests that "a united South and North Korea could boast an economy larger than France, Germany and possibly Japan by the middle of the century."

Joint Ventures in North Korea

2009-09-23T12:34:00.004-04:00

While the world is primarily preoccupied with the nuclear issue with North Korea and thinks that North Korea is sealed off from the outside world, there are those who argue that North Korea presents good investment and joint venture opportunities (coming from mostly Europeans, reflecting their inroads into North Korea with joint ventures and diplomatic presence, while the US and Japan lag behind). A British businessman residing in Pyongyang and operating joint ventures has this to say:

The DPRK (North Korea) represents one of the last “green field” economies in the world with exceptional investment opportunities. As such it provides an unparalleled opportunity for business professionals who know and understand the risks, the people and the country. As estate agents are fond of saying it is a case of “location, location, location.”
[See more. The photo shows a groundbreaking ceremony of a joint venture in North Korea.]

South Korean Civil Society Leaders Participate in Forum at the US Congress

2009-09-21T12:04:00.005-04:00

Leading representatives of South Korea´s civil society organizations participated in the Korea Peninsula Peace Forum at the U.S. Congress on Sept. 14, 2009, along with key U.S. politicians and scholars to share viewpoints on promoting a peaceful settlement in the Korean Peninsula. The Korea delegation was composed of Prof. Nak-chung Paik, "most influential" intellectual in South Korea and Co-Chair of Korea Peace Forum; Mr. Won-soon Park, a pioneer in Korea's civil society movement and Executive Director of the Hope Institute; Rev. Moon-Sook Lee, former General Secretary, Korea Church Women United and Mr. Jae Shik Oh, Executive Director, Asia Institute -- both of whom with extensive experiences with humanitarian aid programs with North Korea.

They were joined by the host Senator John Kerry (in writing), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Congressman Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, Chairman of the House Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment Subcommittee; Frank Jannuzi, Senior East Asia Specialist (Majority), Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Keith Luse, Senior Professional Staff Member (Minority), Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Joel Witt, former Agreed Framework Coordinator at the U.S. State Department; John Feffer, Co-Director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies; Scott Snyder, Director of the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy, the Asia Foundation; Karin Lee, Executive Director of the National Committee on North Korea, in panel discussions on U.S.-North Korea confidence-building prospects and the status of inter-Korea rapproachement.

The Korea delegation also participated in a seminar on North Korea policy at the Brookings Institution and held meetings in New York City and Los Angeles.

Korea Report Chosen as One of Top Blogs on Korea

2009-09-18T10:39:00.007-04:00

Korea Report has been honored with a selection to the world's largest hand-picked blog site on the web, trakkrz.com, for the topic of South Korea (south-korea.trakkrz.com).

To be selected by trakkrz.com (according to the site):
* blog has a consistent, regular stream of articles;
* blogger writes primarily about the topic for which trackkrz has chosen;
* blogger writes original, relevant articles that provide a unique view -and is not a news aggregator, not an automated blog scraping website- rather a live blogger with excellent content;
* blogger is an individual or a small group writing together.

Images of Korea, Summer 2009

2009-09-08T10:13:00.006-04:00

"Japan’s Democratic Party foreign policy platform prioritizes Korean peninsula"

2009-08-31T13:34:00.004-04:00

[From the commentary in The Hankyoreh following the Japanese election that brought the opposition Democratic Party in power, with the leader Yukio Hatoyama (photo).]

Korea policy takes up a much larger portion of the foreign policy platform of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) than of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Since its formation in 1955, the LDP had based its foreign policy upon exclusively dealing with U.S. affairs, but the DPJ’s position has placed a priority on foreign policy in Asia in order to denuclearize Northeast Asia, and the Korean peninsula in particular.

The DPJ’s platform calls for the creation of an East Asian community with the creation of a regional cooperative system in the Asia-Pacific predicated on establishing equal diplomacy with the U.S. As an East Asian community fundamentally involves a push for South Korea, China, North Korea and Japan to promote the denuclearization of East Asia, trust with surrounding nations is of utmost importance. In the long term, the DPJ also dreams of issuing a regional currency similar to the Euro.

The DPJ platform goes beyond opposing visits to the Yasukuni Shrine by the prime minister and other ministers, and calls for the creation of a new public memorial facility. This expresses the will to eliminate the source of friction between Japan and its neighbors during the administration of Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro. Moreover, in the policy booklet that forms the basis of its manifesto, the party has revealed its position to establish a research bureau in the National Diet Library to study peace issues in order to put to rest post-war issues, including the issue of comfort women. This is something that was inconceivable during the former LDP administration.

When acting DPJ President Ozawa Ichiro was head of the LDP, he visited South Korea in 1999 and became the first minister-level Japanese figure to pray at the graves of independence activists such as Kim Ku, much to people’s great surprise. Ozawa’s image had been that of a rightist and a hawk who advocated that Japan become a “normal country,” but he is surprisingly becoming known as a “liberal” on issues of history.

Korean Americans' Eventful Summer Visit to Korea

2009-08-31T12:19:00.004-04:00

For a group of Korean Americans from the Washington, DC area visiting homeland Korea this summer, it was an eventful trip.The group participated, along with a Korean Australian, in the "Wednesday Demonstration" in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, where former "comfort women" and supporters have been demonstrating evey Wednesday, rain or shine, for the past 18 years to demand an apology from the Japanese government for the WW II military sex slave system. For all the 18 years however, not a single Japanese embassy official has come out and acknowledged the protesters. Simultaneous demonstrations took place in Washington DC, Sidney, and other cities.

At Bongha, hometown and resting place of the late president Roh Moo Hyun in the South Kyungsang Province, the group presented a handmade memorial mural from the DC area group that was formed in the wake of Roh's death.

Another former president and the key promoter of inter-Korea exchanges and reconciliation, Kim Dae Jung, passed away while the group was in Korea. The group paid respects at the memorial place set up in Seoul.

'Dynamic' Korea: Trends and Observations

2009-08-28T13:28:00.003-04:00

South Korea is likened as "dynamic" as changes and developments come rapidly, propelling it from a poor, agarian country to the highly-industrialized nation that boasts 13th largest economy in the world. Remarkable developments came with price though: labor strife, widening income gap, unbalanced regional development, etc. Here are some identified key trends in South Korea and observations on these trends from a recent trip to Korea.

Urban Development
High-rise apartments are constantly rising throughout the country (with new, taller apartment complexes replacing older apartment units), satisfying increasing housing demands but are adding to congestion and problems related to re-developments (speculations, unwanted evictions, etc.).

Infrastructure
Roads and bridges are well built and maintained, but “bridge to nowhere” projects (due to ambitious local procurements) exist. Some newly-built regional airports are said to be operating well below capacity.

Income Gap
The gap between haves and have-nots is ostentatiously visible and felt -- in apartment sizes, neighborhoods, cars, attire, etc.

Consumerism
Koreans are said to be reversing the trend and are saving less and spending more. This is visible as consumer marketing, brand name products, expensive imported cars abound.

Weak economy?
Economy seems to be doing OK judging from all the folks eating out en masse (though eating out in Korea is relatively cheaper than in Western countries). Restaurants and convenience stores are never few steps away in any part of Korea.

High Tech
Subway is equipped with latest digital displays, stations are automated, with passengers watching video on their cell phones. Korea is said to be one of the most wired (with broadband) country, but in the countryside, wi-fi seems to be lacking.

Regionalism
Traveling from Cholla Province to Kyungsang Province, one can see the difference in developmental preferences (Cholla is less developed as the central governments have favored Kyungsang).

Regional initiatives
Regional/local identity is strived through unique cultural festivals, marketing of unique cultural/historical assets and products.

Graying of Korea
Can’t tell this trend on the streets or on public transportation systems, as young folks abound. Older folks must be staying home or going to the mountains for hikes.

Multiethnic society
You can see more foreign residents in the streets (teaching English or working as migrant workers), mingling with the crowd and Koreans not taking much notice. In the countryside, one can see signs of marriage centers that provide information on foreign brides from Vietnam, China, etc.

A Thaw in Inter-Korea Relations?

2009-08-27T11:55:00.003-04:00

Are these signs of a new thaw in inter-Korea relations? Following the release of two American journalists, the South Korean worker from the Kaesung industrial park detained in North Korea (on charge of defaming North Korea and urging North Korean colleague to defect) was released. North Korea sent high-level representatives to Seoul upon the death of former president Kim Dae Jung, who held the first summit with North Korea. The emissaries met President Lee Myung-bak and suggested willingness of North Korea on the idea of another summit. The Red Cross representatives (photo above) met and agreed to hold another round of reunion of separated family members (due to the division of Korea).

Korea Report Found in Korean Democracy Archives in Seoul

2009-08-25T16:38:00.003-04:00

Found: Old print version of Korea Report (published in the 1980s to 1990s in Washington, DC) in the archives of Korea Democracy Foundation in Seoul that houses and chronicles resources from South Korea's democratization period. The inclusion of materials from outside Korea in the archives is a recognition of efforts by overseas Koreans who strongly supported and promoted South Korea's democratization efforts.

Former President Kim Dae Jung Dies

2009-08-18T21:39:00.002-04:00

87 days after the passing of former President Roh Moo-hyun, the former President Kim Dae Jung has passed away. Kim Dae Jung was the symbol of South Korea's democracy and human rights movements. His persistent stance against authoritarianism of South Korea's military dictatorships has paved a way for South Korea's transition to democratic governance and civil society. Once elected to the presidency, Kim implemented the Sunshine Policy that made a breakthrough in inter-Korea relations by fostering extensive exchanges, cooperation and mutual understandings.

Bill Clinton in Pyongyang

2009-08-04T10:17:00.002-04:00

So Bill did make it to Pyongyang after all -- nine years later. In 2000, after the unprecedented trip by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to North Korea, there was a talk of then President Bill Clinton's visit to Pyongyang, which didn't materialize due to the end of his term and the election. Bill joins Jimmy Carter (in 1994) as former US Presidents making visits to North Korea.

Bill Clinton is in Pyongyang to negotiate the release of the two detained US jounalists, but his stature and the fact that he is the husband of the sitting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, suggest that he is likely to engage in discussions on wide range of contentious issues between Washington and Pyongyang. His direct flight from the US to North Korea (when no official relations between the two countries exist) and a prompt meeting with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il further suggest this. It is hoped that his visit will pave a way to a breakthrough in the deadlocked situation on nuclear disarmament/security guarantees/normalization of relations.

Former "Comfort Women" Demand Japan's Apology

2009-08-03T11:00:00.003-04:00

Kil Won-ok (age 81) is former "comfort woman"-turned-activist calling for the Japanese government's formal apology for the sexual enslavement of girls and women (taken mostly from colonial Korea) during the World War II. She was only 13 years old when she was forcefully taken to the war fronts to "serve" Japanese soldiers. Battered and ashamed, she could not return to her home in northern Korea when the war ended and lived alone and poor in the south, keeping her silence until she joined a group advocating for the rights of former "comfort women."

She and representatives of the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan came to the U.S. recently on the occasion of the second anniversary of the passing of the US House Resolution 121 that called for Japan's formal apology. Even with this passage and others in Canada and European assemblies, Japanese government is not coming forward with an apology -- in a stark contrast to postwar Germany's handling of the holocaust. The photo shows Ms. Kil during the "Wednesday Demonstration" in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, Korea. The women have staged the weekly demonstrations every Wednesday continuously for the past 17 years, yet not a single Japanese official has come out and acknowledged the women's presence.

Worsening Labor Situation in South Korea

2009-07-29T10:37:00.004-04:00

In addition to the Lee Myung-bak administration's suppression of citizens' political rights, crackdowns on labor unions have intensified, in a return to the days of authoritarianism. The following statement in support of South Korea's labor movement was initiated by the U.S.-based Transport Workers Solidarity Committee (endorsed by San Francisco Labor Council) in calling for a solidarity picket at the Korean Consulate in S.F.

The Korean labor movement is under a brutal attack. Hundreds of police and hired thugs are attacking the Ssangyong Motor sit-in strike by auto workers. These workers are demanding negotiations over their layoffs. The company has refused to negotiate, instead, with the support of the state the management illegally hired thugs to beat up the workers using baseball bats, steel pipes and martial arts weapons (nunchaku). They came on July 21, 2009 to the plant to seriously injure the striking workers which they did. They beat up workers who had no possibility of resisting arrest or defending themselves. [The photo above shows Ssangyong management blocking the passage of water and supplies to the striking workers.]

This vicious attack on the Ssangyong Motor workers has been condemned by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions KCTU. They have called for a General Strike and also for solidarity actions at all Korean Embassies and Consulates around the world. The use of organized privatized thugs to attack workers must be protested throughout the world.

These attacks are not only against the striking auto workers but also against the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU, Jeon Gyo Jo) for criticizing the Lee Myung-bak administration. The government has announced plans to discipline all 17,000 members of the union such as firing 88 individuals who led or contributed to the statement. The union has charged that the government is seeking to exterminate the public school teachers.

At the same time, 13 thousand Korean National Union of Media Workers (KNUM) is striking to protest a new law that would increase censorship under the Broadcasting Law and hurt workers rights under the Irregular Worker Law. Both these anti-labor laws were pushed through without debate by the ruling Grand National Party to suffocate democracy and freedom of the press.

Please join with us in the solidarity action to let the Korean government that this union busting and attack on Korean labor rights has no support from the working people of the United States.

From Korean War Armistice to Permanent Peace

2009-07-27T15:04:00.002-04:00

Today, July 27, is the 56th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War Armistice. Though the all-out fighting came to an end on this day in 1953, technically the war is not officially over since the promised peace treaty between the belligerents (North Korea and China on one side and the U.S. on the other side, representing the U.N. forces that fought in the conflict) has not materialized to this date. The continued presence of U.S. troops in South Korea, holding onto the title of the commander of U.N. forces in Korea, testifies to this unfinished business.

This is odd and anachronistic since political dynamics and international relations have changed drastically since the war: 1) China and the U.S. have fully normalized relations, 2) both South and North Korea have joined the United Nations (which makes the U.N. Command in Korea in essense defunct), 3) the two sides of Korea have signed a non-agression agreement. The only relations that has not shown change is the U.S.-North Korea relations, which continues to operate from the Korean War mentality. Of course the path towards permanent peace in the Korean Peninsula is complicated and uneasy, yet the U.S. is in a position and responsibility to move the momentum -- along with North Korea -- beyond the Korean War Armistice status and towards firmer peace/security guarantees for all parties concerned in the region.

In the U.S., a national grassroots campaign (National Campaign to End the Korean War) is sponsoring candlelight vigils across U.S. cities (Honolulu, SF, LA, NYC, DC) to call for the replacement of the Korean War Armistice to a peace treaty. The above photo is from the DC event.

So Close, Yet So Far Apart ...

2009-07-23T11:33:00.002-04:00

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton walks past North Korea's chief delegate Pak Kun-gwang before a group photo session at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum in Phuket, Thailand on Thursday. On the surface, this appears to be a close encounter between representatives of the two countries (no words were exchanged though) with acrimonious relations, but in reality, the schism between the two countries has widened recently with exchange of name-calling, whereas serious attempts to find a breakthrough in the current stalemate are not forthcoming from either sides.