South Korea is putting its foot down:
South Korea’s leaders told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday that they will continue cross-border economic cooperation that provides millions of dollars to North Korea, despite its underground nuclear test 10 days ago.
South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said he told Rice that there are “positive aspects” to a huge, South Korean-sponsored industrial zone just across the demilitarized zone in North Korea. A second major project, a tourist resort in North Korea’s Kumgang Mountains, “is a very symbolic project for Korea,” Ban said.
Kumgangsan is about to become a very symbolic project for the United States, too, especially with even mild-mannered Chris Hill openly bitching about it.
32 Comments
Will somebody on inside please explain why the Uri party is holding fast to the project. Robert, Brandon or Lost Nomad; one of you guys knows the inside scoop or can at least guess. Please tell the rest of us gerbils!
Umm, is that still true for Kumgang?
http://english.yonhapnews.co.k.....218E7.html
Wouldn’t it have been politic of Mr. Ban to step away from this kind of thing now? I know that his job is still foreign minister and not UNSG and that he’s only doing what he’s required to do as part of his remit, but still…. Couldn’t he tell his boss(es) in the Blue House, “Due to the sensitive nature of balancing the interests of one country in my current job against those of all countries in my future job, I think it best that I step down from my current position.” The government could then spin it that in light of his upcoming responsibilities, he needs time to spend alone with his family.
“a very symbolic project for Korea”? Why don’t they cut the bullshit and admit that they are trying to delay the impending collapse of the North Korean regime?
People always say it’s about protecting the economy, but there are other reasons to do so. For one, there are tons of diehard Kimilsungists in North Korea. It’s probably safer for everyone if we keep the crazy cult members as far away from South Koreans as possible. And don’t kid yourself, the end of the North Korean regime won’t change the minds of all these fanatics. Just look at the widows of SS officers. Some of them still adhere to the ideology of the Völkisch movement (read up on that subject if you feel like having a good laugh at the expense of the Nazis) after all those years.
That’s the best way to proceed Kumgangsan projects.
Oh! Let Hyundai Asan pays up with of gift certificates just like the one used at “Sea Story” gambling parlors. Let NK cash-in at any Western Union stores with 10% deduction. 90% of dedudction automatically donate to WFP (World Food Programme) to rescue starving NK people. This approach could also give the US to have a pure control on the money flow into NK. ..Win-win program No?
Meh..Roh-NK won’t ever changes the sunshine “cash only” policy.
Doesn’t Kumgangsan distill the essence of the gulf between the United States and South Korea? Direct cash subsidies to the North Korean regime to prevent collapse, even at the cost of subsidizing nuclear weapons development versus the overwhelming American interest in keeping wmds from the hands of jihadis?
South Korea and China are legitimately worried about the immediate consequences of the cornered rat symdrome with respect to North Korea, and in the the final analysis, America’s longer-run jihadi/wmd problem seems of little weight for them in the current crisis.
The North Korean regime seems to be banking on the somewhat paradoxical but not altogether crazy idea that China and South
Korea will be MORE reluctant to see the North Koream regime dissolve if the regime has nuclear weapons…
ahh…syndrome, not symdrome.
Symdrome does sound like it ought to be a useful word, though….
Bolton was surprisingly quiet with Ban’s election to UNSG…. could this be the Bush Admin. (Cheney’s) plan to undermind the UN… once again… Without a strong SG what future does the UN have?
A scene from Schwindler’s List.
apparently you ignorant neanderthals don’t understand the “unique situation” on the korean peninsula and the “special circumstances” under which the south koreans operate.
once you are privy to that understanding, it will become crystal clear why the south koreans continue offering handfuls of food to their brothers up north, despite the fact that they’ve had 9 of their fingers bitten off in the process and are barely hanging on to their bloody stub of a 10th.
until you reach the state of nirvana that comes with being in the rarified-special-unique-standout-exceptional club, i would suggest you keep your goddamn very-common-and-not-unique western traps shut.
There are three reasons that Uri is holding on to Kaesong and Kumgang
1. They are scared of the NKs
2. If Kaesong and Kumkang gets stopped, Hyundai Asan which
depends on the two projects for its revenues will go deeper
into the red, which will more or less sink the wobbly Hyundai
Group. So in the name of national economic interests, Uri is
preventing the sinking of Hyundai. On the other hand, Hyundai
Asan might have paid off Uri party members to keep the two
projects going, no matter what. And considering that Uri
party members were former party members of Kim Dae Jung,
that’s not surprising.
3. Uri just wants to show the US that South Korea is perfectly
capable of managing things in the peninsula, thank you.(not)
The important thing is that the Uridang is on the way out — for good. They have been bad for business, bad for security, in short — bad.
Frankly, these crazied evangelical Christian (alleged) groups that send people into North Korea have been more effective and useful in formenting change in North Korea than all that passes for good policy in South Korea.
minso0306: At this point, I’m betting it’s mainly issue #2. So much private capital (and government money, too? I don’t know) has been invested in Kaesŏng and Kŭmgangsan, that even if the Uri Party did have a philosophical change of heart (which I doubt anyhow), they might be reluctant to pull the plug for purely financial reasons alone.
Is it just my browser, or did Robert change the default text font style from serif to sans serif?
…Not to mention that there’s been so much intra-Korean pride nonsense that’s been marketed around these two projects, so it could be embarrassing to the SK government and corporations tied up in this to just close up shop and abandon the whole thing.
(Nothing wrong with being proud of one’s language, culture, and history. Korea’s a fascinating place, but the whole intra-Korean cooperation thing just seems to be such a blatant sham, with a wink and a nod from both sides.)
“The North Korean regime seems to be banking on the somewhat paradoxical but not altogether crazy idea that China and South
Korea will be MORE reluctant to see the North Korean regime dissolve if the regime has nuclear weapons…”
I think you’re on to something. That’s certainly been a big fear with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and its stockpiles are far from secure. The norks might be tempted to go out with a bang, or some faction could smuggle a nuke out and sell it (not that S.K. gives a rat’s ass about that).
mins0306, I’m fairly certain Hyundai Group doesn’t get anything from the Asan subsidiary except headaches, since it was the group founder’s baby pushed along by Kim Dae-jung and loses tons of money. It’s the Roh gov’t that wants to maintain it.
or the nightmare scenario where the norks rush into seoul with a live nuclear weapon and hold everyone hostage.
It’s especially troubling to read the defectors’ memories of the food shortage of the 1990s. They said a common sentiment at the time was a general yearning for war, since they thought it had a good chance of improving their lives and little chance of making them any worse.
“the nightmare scenario where the norks rush into seoul with a live nuclear weapon and hold everyone hostage”
Die Hard IV, starring Harisu instead of Bruce Willis, leading a team of Korean racing girls to free Seoul. KJI played by Mike Myers, Bush played by Stephen Colbert.
Anyone read this article from the NY Times?
It’s about an American living as a North Korean in Pyongyang.
His name is James Dresnok, who defected to North Korea in 1962.
Charles Jenkins after his redefection to America, once described Dresnok as a big bully.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10.....9cros.html
Yep, I changed it to sans serif. Just to see how it is.
“Please tell the rest of us gerbils!”
If we are gerbils, I hope Richard Gere isn’t around.
(Yes, yes, sorry to perpetuate an urban myth.)
Interesting is how many of my Korean students have actually been to Kimgang-san. Quite a few.
This will be a fantastic vantage point to view the nuclear bombs detonation over Seoul. Make sure to get your tickets as soon as possible for the fireworks.
–Remort
we of the Royal Asiatic Society - Korea Branch have canceled our tour to the Diamond Mountains for expats that was scheduled for the end of this month, on which i might have been the guide — things have just become too troubled, politically morally militarily and so on…
do outsiders know that majority of average joe koreans are on same page as us gov. when it comes to korean political leader(see pinheads) squandering tax payers hardearned money on these projects which in turn feeds that fruit cake? korean politicians are bunch of corrupt, selfish, know-nothing airheads completely detached from everyday realities of their own people. sad sad sad!!
Robert (#21): I was about to claim that serif fonts are more readable and ask you to switch back, but according to this article, that’s only true in print, and the ideal font for onscreen use is a sans serif one…by the looks of it, Verdana 10 point.
Anyhow, assuming the font I’m seeing on my browser is defined by your template (and is not my own browser settings), the text is quite hard to read as it is right now…the letters are too narrow and/or small.
Yeah, the font’s being defined on your side… Helvetica, is it?
Sorry, forgot to add the link in comment # 27 (not that I’m asking anyone to spend time reading it): http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt6/html-email-fonts.htm
There’s a lot of stuff about fonts and readability on the Web: just search in Google for . I suppose each article says something different, but this one acknowledges that whereas in print, serif fonts (like Times New Roman) are easier to read, sans serif (like Arial, etc.) is more readable on computers because of screen resolution issues. Anyhow, it includes side-by-side comparisons of different fonts in various sizes so one can see for oneself.
So stick with the sans serif, but make it bigger! (Please)
I think the US would accept the Kaesong project if North and South Korea could agree to expand it up to Wonsan and across to Pyongyang.
Better yet, up to Najin and Sinŭiju!
“…Not to mention that there’s been so much intra-Korean pride nonsense that’s been marketed around these two projects, so it could be embarrassing to the SK government and corporations tied up in this to just close up shop and abandon the whole thing”
That’s especially true if they’re abandoning these intra-Korean projects because it’s the Meeguks that are forcing them to.
If they came to the frame of mind that the projects had to stop all on their own, it might happen. But this South Korean government is unlikely to be seen to be taking orders from the Bush administration. You know, kowtowing and all that.