In his New Year’s press conference, President Roh issued a strong warning to U.S. conservatives seeking the overthrow of Kim Jong-il’s kingdom in the North (in Korean, NoCut News; in English, Korea Herald, Chosun Ilbo):
“There is no difference in views between Korea and the United States… but the Korean government does not agree to the opinions of some in Washington who wish for a collapse of the North Korean regime or their attempts to pressure it,” Roh said in his New Year news conference at Cheong Wa Dae.
“If the U.S. government tries to solve a problem through such a method, there will be differences in views between Korea and the United States.”
Got it, Mr. President. Meanwhile, the U.S. embassy is refusing to back down in yesterday’s tiff with the Korean Foreign Ministry:
“The U.S. Embassy stands by its press release issued on Jan. 24 and has nothing further to add,” Robert W. Ogburn, the embassy spokesman, told The Korea Times.
Asked about the possible diplomatic conflict that could arise from the exchange of harsh statements, Ogburn said, “It was by no means our intention to do that.”
It would seem the embassy has acquired a nastier edge under its new management.
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“It would seem the embassy has acquired a nastier edge under its new management.”
Change nastier to more dignified, and you have my agreement.I imagine it’s too tiring to keep up with all of Seoul’s political games. ad chosing conflict avoidance over damage control is a refreshing change.
Nastier edge? How about simply telling the truth? Regime collapse in the North has been a U.S. policy since at least 1950, whether stated or unstated. It’s not a minority opinion. It’s the best thing that could happen to this region and the world. By doing its utmost to keep Little Elvis alive the current administration has proved it’s no longer an ally. It’s long past the time to bring our troops home.
The conflict has nothing to do with regime change or preservation. It is merely an issue of Korean pride. Kim Jeong Il is one of us and therefore can’t be held responsible when there is a white face to conveniently scapegoat instead. It’s simply a conspiracy of the White Man against our Tribe.
“Regime collapse in the North has been a U.S. policy since at least 1950, whether stated or unstated.”
Kind of like the fight against cancer, that one.
Roh is possibly the biggest buffoon ever to sit in the Blue House. He is the only leader in the free world who embraces Kim Jong-il–a man who incarcerates small children, tortures people for growing their own food, and is actually starving his people to death.
Someone please explain to me how Roh operates from day to day without actually possessing a spine, balls or a brain.
big business also continues to push for regime change as noted in today’s WSJ. it’s estimated that dprk receives $80-160 million annually in payoffs from counterfeit tobacco smugglers. when phiip morris ran their own sting operation for counterfeit smokes coming out of a dprk factory and were offered counterfeit money as well, things were turned over to the secret service.
oh, and if anyone’s worrying about the counterfeit cyalis, lilly posted $700 million net income this quarter…
If Sunshine Policy were to end tomorrow, the incarcerated children would be released, no DPRK citizen would be tortured, and all starvation up there would end. Does anybody remember the good ole days before Sunshine Policy when all DPRK citizens had all the food they wanted and never lived in fear? Damn those Sunshiners for bringing all the misery to the North.
The United States should just give up on doing anything with North Korea. It’s already got its own economic partner’s torturing, locking people up, using basic human needs to keep people in line, etc., to worry about.
testing.
well, if china (and other infamous counterfeiting countries) were to move their counterfeiting to dprk (interesting use of outsourcing)they could follow WTO protocol and continue generating revenue. seems like a pretty good scenario. lots of potential. with dprk’s new business model, south korea can slowly ween them from the sunshine policy subsidies until everything’s up and running. with international crime syndicates ramping up their production facilities, supply chain management and distribution methods, the dprk can focus on developing higher profit margin products. some that come to mind would be weapons, counterfeit pharmaceuticals and money, drugs, etc. the next step could then be building the financial infrastructure to manage the money. the rok can then step back in and sell their financial service knowledge to dprk. contract it out. all the folks responsible for the current cash and rice going into the country having first dibs on future contracts, of course.
Well, I do have to wonder why Roh is actually going out of his way to actively impede US efforts to stop DPRK counterfeiting. It makes me think that ROK may be complicit in money-laundering on behalf of Kim Jong-il. A lot of fake American currency has been mysteriously popping up in Las Vegas….. Do you think it was a North Korean or a South Korean who was using it? Is this the Roh’s plan for financial prosperity? Fake Rolexes, fake Prada, fake stem cell research, fake financial statements….Is it really such a leap to think Roh’s administration would have their hand in this?