- North Korea TimesMedia/news company
- Cycling in the DPRKTravel agent
- North Korean Review JournalMedia/news company
Another excellent article by friend and colleague John Feffer:
"The fever dream of regime change has persisted in Washington for decades like a bad case of pol...itical malaria that repeated doses of realism have never quite eradicated. The irony is that North Korea is indeed changing, just not in response to what the United States is doing. As with China in the 1970s, Washington could encourage those changes by giving up its aggressive ambitions, stepping away from the lukewarm option of 'strategic patience,' and actually sitting down to talk seriously with Pyongyang without preconditions."
Under the current policy, “the question becomes, can we stand to see as many North Koreans die as Kim Jong-un can stand to see North Koreans die? Who blinks first on watching the fringes of North Korean society starve?” said Carl Baker, a retired U.S. Air Force officer with experience in Korea who is now director of programs at the Center for Strategic & International Studies Pacific Forum.
New Red Cross chief plans to propose talks with N. Korea
SEOUL, Aug. 17 (Yonhap) -- The new chief of South Korea's Red Cross society is expected to propose talks with its North Korean counterpart to resume humanitarian projects across the border during his inauguration ceremony this week, the organization said Thursday.
Park Kyung-seo, a human rights expert, was elected as the organization's new head on Aug. 8 and got a final nod from President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday. His i...nauguration is scheduled for Friday.
"In his inauguration speech, he will emphasize the organization's mission of forging a humanitarian community between the two Koreas and ushering in an era of peaceful coexistence on the peninsula," an official said.
He plans to propose an early meeting with the North Korean side, according to the official.
The two Red Cross bodies have been the channel for arranging inter-Korean humanitarian events, including reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
The North has yet to answer to the South Korean government's offers in July to hold Red Cross and military talks.
Park, 78, served as South Korea's first human rights ambassador from 2001-2007 under the liberal governments of Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. He earned a Ph.D. in sociology in Germany and previously served as a chair professor at Dongguk University in Seoul.
Top diplomats of S. Korea, Canada discuss detainees in N. Korea
SEOUL, Aug. 17 (Yonhap) -- The top diplomats of South Korea and Canada discussed the recent release of a Canadian detainee in North Korea and their countries' joint efforts to achieve the peaceful resolution of North Korea's nuclear problems during a phone conversation on Thursday, the foreign ministry said.
Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland informed Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha of the de...tails of the Canadian national security adviser's trip to North Korea last week. The trip led to the freeing of Korean-Canadian pastor Lim Hyeon-soo from his captivity of more than two years in North Korea, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Kang welcomed the release while bringing up the issue of South Korean prisoners held by North Korea.
"The international community, including Canada, needs to issue calls on the North Korean regime to return all the detainees back to their families," Kang told her Canadian counterpart.
Freeland said Canada is always ready to do whatever it can to help with the issue, according to the ministry.
During their 20-minute conversation held at the request of the Canadian side, the ministers also shared their understanding that efforts should be doubled for a peaceful resolution of North Korea's illegal nuclear weapons development while international sanctions and pressure should be continued to deter the North's provocations.
The Canadian minister expressed unswerving support for South Korea's efforts on the issue, the ministry said.
pbr@yna.co.kr
