Comments on: Roh’s ‘Great Game’ Adventure

By: Winds of Change.NET

Winds of Change.NET — Wed, 29 Sep 2004 18:18:37 +0000

Eyes on Korea: 2004-09-29
NK Options; ROK in Iraq; S. Koreans helping N. Koreans produce nerve gas, S. Korean intellectual criticizes biased and unobjective U.S. understanding of N. Korea, S. Korean spooks for Kerry, N. Korean pressure cookers, the Great S. Korean prostitution …

By: The Marmot

The Marmot — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 08:11:02 +0000

It doesn’t really surprise me, makhno, that Korean corporations would do something like that. First off, that’s hardly a Korean phenomenon, and moreover, I don’t think it’s necessarily an evil thing to do — they are providing investment and jobs in countries whose major competitive advantage is the cost of labor. What I have trouble understanding, however, is the lack of discussion — especially in the ruling party — concerning human rights and foreign policy (in the opposition party, of course, it’s different, as they seem at times hardly concerned about human rights in Korea, let alone other countries). What irks me in particular is that many in the ruling party will enthusiastically criticize U.S. support for past South Korean dictators, but fail to criticize their own support of autocratic regimes, in this case, in Central Asia. Most Uri Party lawmakers, after all, let it be known early on that they thought China, rather than the United States, should be Korea’s key diplomatic and economic partner. Realistically speaking, this might make sense, especially in the long-term, but nowhere did I here it mentioned that by cozying up to China, the Uri Party was getting in bed with precisely the same kind of authoritarian “development dictatorship” that they slammed the U.S. for backing in S. Korea during the 60s, 70s and 80s. To put it more starkly, what we saw was the “inheritors of the Gwangju spirit” cozying up with the descendents of those who butchered fellow pro-democracy activists in Tiananmen Square. Since then, there has been a falling out with China, but this has been a result of emotional historical issues and Chinese diplomatic clumsiness, not the result of either President Roh or the Uri Party making a conscious decision to hold themselves to the same lofty ethical standards to which they apparently hold the United States. Again, I’m not saying that particular foreign policy decisions in China, Central Asia, or anywhere else for that matter have been wrong, necessarily. What I find vexing is that there is plenty of discussion about the ethical flaws — both past and present — of U.S. foreign policy, but little discussion of the ethical impact of Korean foreign policy, almost as if being a mid-ranked power frees Korean policy makers from having to ask questions. Again, this is not necessarily a Korean thing — recently, I guess it was the German foreign minister who was bitching about U.S. inaction in the Sudan. Regardless of whether his criticism was justified or not, it did beg the rather uncomfortable question of what exactly Germany was doing in the Sudan, the answer to which was, of course, a whole lot of nothing.

By: makhno

makhno — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 07:20:20 +0000

That the Korean government wouldn’t worry too much about making economic deals with dictatorships (or other less-than-democratic governments) doesn’t surprise me. As far as the expansion of Korean corporations go, Korea has basically exported its labour situation (from the 1970s-80s) overseas. Many of the well-known Nike sweatshops in Indonesia and China are actually run by Korean contractors. Union busting and abysmal treatment of workers is as common in factories there, as well as in Guatemala, Honduras, or Vietnam, as it was in Korea 30 years ago. You have to wonder how their Northern ‘brothers’ are going to be treated in Kaesong; will they make them bust their asses for that $65 a month?

By: ladymckim

ladymckim — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 05:19:09 +0000

it’s kinda scary how similar they look…they might’ve been separated at birth, except one dyes his hair black. haha.

By: non korean

non korean — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 21:12:38 +0000

Don’t forget the trade agreements Korea made with Suddan last week. Not exactly the right country at the right time to do any international agrements with.

By: Winds of Change.NET

Winds of Change.NET — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 18:59:59 +0000

Nathan’s Central Asia “-Stans” Summary:2004-09-21
MONTH 09/04 TOPICS INCLUDE: NATO Scraps Exercises in Azerbaijan; Kazakhstan Votes; Secret Mission Removes Uzbek Uranium; “Borat” Give Kazakhstan a Bad Name; It’s Cotton Time; Japan and Korea Pursue Central Asia Partnerships; Kazakhstan Tightens Bor…

By: WJK

WJK — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 18:30:51 +0000

Wow, Roh actually doing something useful for South Korea. Something like this should be applauded.

By: Nathan Hamm

Nathan Hamm — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 15:06:24 +0000

Wasn’t sure if you caught this story about Kazakhstan’s Koreans. It appears that Koreans are about the only ethnic minority not fleeing the country. That shouldn’t surprise me, I guess. Uzbekistan’s Koreans seemed pretty happy to stay put.

By: CG

CG — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 14:35:37 +0000

Kazakhstan is actually a pretty nice and open place for Central Asia, and you could do a lot worse than Nazarbayev. Speaking of which, Turkmenistan is far more Soviet than even Uzbekistan. Indeed, Kazakhstan’s neighbors (on all sides) make the place look liberal.
http://cgunson.com/sb2004

By: Nathan Hamm

Nathan Hamm — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 07:03:39 +0000

Here’s another story about Central Asian Koreans. Now, I didn’t roll with too many “Koreiski” there, but I didn’t get the impression that they have it nearly as bad as the article would have me believe. Actually, the tone of the whole thing kind of seemed like a mellowed-out Vladimir Zhirinovsky freaking out about the way Russians get treated in the Near Abroad. But, that’s just me.