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Thursday, June 18, 2009

The Only Way Out: Negotiate With North Korea

An Interview with Leon Sigal on Recent Events and U.S.-D.P.R.K. Relations
Interviewed by Paul Liem* on June 8, 2009 | published June 16, 2009

Leon V. Sigal is the Director of the Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project of the Social Science Research Council in New York. Mr. Sigal is the author of “Disarming Strangers: Nuclear Diplomacy with North Korea,” which was named the Book of Distinction in 1998 by the American Academy of Diplomacy. He was a member of the editorial board of The New York Times from 1989 to 1995 and served in the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, in 1979 as an International Affairs Fellow and in 1980 as Special Assistant to the Director. For a full bio, click here.

[Paul Liem]: Mr. Sigal, several weeks have passed since North Korea conducted its second nuclear test since 2006 and declared that it would consider sanctions by the United Nations to be an act of war. What do you think are the issues being discussed at the Security Council and what do you think we can expect?

[Leon Sigal]: Well, I think there are a number of sanctions that the U.S., Japan and South Korea are seeking and a number of provisions to make lawful, acts that otherwise would not be. A security council resolution creates new international law.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

SAVE THE DATE! DEEP FUNDRAISER SATURDAY, JUNE 20

2009 DEEP participants and Nodutdol will be hosting a fundraising event on Saturday, June 20th at the Nodutdol office to raise funds to bring medical suplies to maternity hospitals in North Korea. The door opens at 5:30pm. We are asking for $10 Admissions, plus tax deductible donations of any amount will be appreciated! There will be food, drinks (extra), and engaging and thought provoking entertainment- poetry and reflections from the north and south and from our own shores, with one thing in common- dreams of peace and an end to war on the Korean peninsula.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Who Killed Roh Moo Hyun?

by YC

Can a black person be the president of the United States of America?

Can America be really comfortable with a man who has “Hussein” as a middle name?

Though president Obama isn’t, can a descendent of slavery sitting in the highest office in the country sit well with the descendents of plantation owners?

And if the answer is yes, then what are the wages? What is the price that needs to be paid for this to happen?

All analogies are problematic, and this one is problematic as well because this story is not about the US at all. It’s a story about South Korea. Where it’s been, and where it was going and where it is now. 22 years after it gained democracy. 12 years after military government was removed from power.

It’s also a story about a man who didn’t get a chance to obtain higher education. It’s about a man who nonetheless passed the bar to become a lawyer, and that human rights lawyer’s rise through government. The star turn as he threw a name plaque at dictator Chun Doo Hwan, and the eventual come-from-nowhere victory in the 2002 elections. He was an Obama for South Korea before there was an Obama in the US. (as documented in Annie Koh’s essay “Smart Mobs for President”)

Thursday, June 4, 2009

TUESDAY, JUNE 23 - The Korea Policy Institute is pleased to present the following critical event:

“ENGAGING NORTH KOREA: HUMAN RIGHTS, NUCLEAR WEAPONS, AND A PLAN FOR PEACE IN THE OBAMA ERA”

DATE: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 6:30-8:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Chapel of Grace, Grace Cathedral 1100 California St. San Francisco, CA 94108
**For more information, please contact the Korea Policy Institute at .

THIS EVENT IS FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
Sponsored by the Korea Policy Institute & the Grace Cathedral of San Francisco.

Sunday, May 31, 2009

The Time is Now for Real Negotiations with North Korea, Not More Sanctions and War Danger

The recent nuclear test and launches by North Korea and the resulting international condemnation showed how quickly tensions in Northeast Asia can escalate.

Once again, the U.S. is seeking more sanctions, North Korea threatens to restart its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, and the United States and South Korea raised their military alert level Thursday after the North said it would abandon the 1953 Korean War truce.

The possibility of war, and a new arms race with Japan nuclearizing hovers in the air. It is ironic that this is happening just as South Koreans mourn the death of former President Roh, who was a supporter of increased relations with the North.

Nodutdol’s Statement at the Roh Moo Hyun Memorial Service, Thursday, May 28, 2009

We are here today to mourn the death of former South Korean president Roh Moo Hyun. His death is significant on both personal and political levels, both for his family and for a nation mourning the death of one of its former leaders. While I’m sure everyone here is familiar with his story, I want to speak briefly about his legacy. A human rights lawyer who distinguished himself during the 1988 Gwangju trials, Roh Moo Hyun’s administration marked a watershed moment in South Korea’s young democracy, elected on a wave of progressive politics with the support of a new generation of political youth too young to remember military rule. Despite this, or maybe because of this, RMH had a difficult presidency. For the conservatives he was an object of scorn and disdain, while for the progressives he was criticized as not living up to the expectations of those that elected him. But people began to reevaluate his achievements in light of the Lee administration’s systematic dismantlement of what Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo hyun had put in place, and he became a symbol once again.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Petition To Release Six Reunification and Peace Movement Activists

PLEASE GO TO THE LINK BELOW TO SEE THE FULL LETTER AND SIGN PETITION
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/releaseSKprisoners/

We, the undersigned, express deep concern over the arrest of six reunification and peace movement activists, who were members of Pan-Korean Alliance for Reunification (PKAR), on May 7, 2009. They were arrested by the National Intelligence Service of the South Korean government and charged with ‘communication with the enemy’ and ‘enemy-benefiting activities’, under the infamous and outdated National Security Law.

We understand that each arrested activist, namely, Choi Eun-A, Lee Kyu-Jae, Lee Kyeong-Won, Jang Yoon-Kyeong, Yoon Joo-Hyung, and Oh Soon-Wan, has been a part of the reunification movement in South Korea as member of PKAR and various other progressive organizations. PKAR was established in 1991 as part of efforts for reconciliation and solidarity among South Koreans, North Koreans and overseas Koreans. It has openly worked for reunification and has been transparent about its communications with North Korea.

An Embarrassed GNP & An Enraged DP Anticipate a Controversy of Political Retaliation

THE HANKYOREH
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/356610.html

GNP members express concern for possibilities of “public opinion turning against the current government,” while DP members say, “everyone knows what caused this tragedy”

» Police cordon off the incense burning place for the late former President Roh Moo-hyun from citizens at Duksu Palace, a center of Seoul on the night of May 23.

Political parties are in shock about the news of former President Roh Moo-hyun’s suicide on May 23. The ruling Grand National Party (GNP), the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), and other minor opposition parties, all convened meetings of high ranking members yesterday, but have been reserved in their public responses out of concern for political backlash.
The GNP has expressed both shock and embarrassment. Cho Yun-sun, the GNP spokesperson issued a statement, saying, “We feel so sad about the fact of the former President’s sudden death.” GNP Chairperson Park Hee-tae cut short his visit to Australia and returned to South Korea by dawn on May 24. Chairperson Park reportedly said, “The news is so sad and shocking.” The GNP convened a Supreme Council meeting to discuss how to handle the current situation, and asked the government to pay respects at Roh’s funeral. Some Supreme Council members, including lawmaker Jung Mong-jun, went to Busan University Hospital personally in order to attend the funeral service.

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