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Sunday, July 18, 2004
The Main Enemy is North Korea The Korea Herald is running an editorial about the Ministry of National Defense and the problem of producing a white paper that would single out North Korea as the biggest danger to the country's security. Now it seems to me that the country with which you at war with (technically), with which you regularly clash with militarily, and the one which threatens to turn your capital city into a 'sea of fire' with disconcerting frequency would meet the criteria to be awared the title of -- enemy numero uno. The editorial offers some lackluster arguments as to why the MND is in a quandary on this issue: Compatriots they may be and reunions are certainly important but that is nothing to do with defense. If you consider economic partners as meaning an economic black-hole and potential sweatshop, which is what it has so far proven to be then that is okay. But economic partnership, too, is nothing to do with defense. Indeed the Ministry of Unification needs to work on the former, and businesses, the MoU again and other government and non-government bodies can work on issues of economic and cultural exchanges. But this is nothing to do with defense and the line should be clear. The idea of the Sunshine Policy initiated by Kim Dae Jung shows that defense and engagement can occur contemporaneously. The policy (now called something like the Peace and Co-prosperity Initiative) has three pillars: no absorption, zero military tolerance, AND active engagement. The important point here being that the policy specifically clarifies a difference between defense and engagement and sees both goals as equally important. As such, the MND should keep its mind on its primary duty and leave matters of engagement to those arms of government and society that are responsible for that side of matters. As the MoU should not interfere into military defense of the country so too the MND should not interfere in the matter of economic engagement and family reunions. If the MND is not going to face the reality of South Korea's military situation the White Paper wouldn't be worth the paper its written on. Australian Politics There is still speculation about when the election is going to be called but already campaigning and the like are underway. This new website got particular attention in the media and is worth a gander. I also read that one Margo Kingston has reportedly written a book called "Not Happy! John, which reportedly argues that PM John Howard is undermining Australian democracy. I haven't read it but one book I have read that I would add to a list of books to read before the election would be Dark Victory by David Marr & Marian Wilkinson. The End of Blogging -- for now I am about to go on vacation for about three weeks to UK & Ireland which also means a vacation from blogging.
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Thursday, July 15, 2004
US Congress Passes US-Australia Unfair Trade Agreement US Congress voted 314-109 in favour of the Unfair Trade Agreement with Australia. It has yet to be approved in Australia though where the Senate is expected to put up some opposition to it. Sunday, July 11, 2004
Pictures from the Human Rights in North Korea Awareness Week - Stanford May 10-14, 2004 Okay, I have attempted to put some photos on-line. The photos are there so I guess I was successful but I'm sure I did it the hard way. These are a few shots of the Human Rights in North Korea awareness we had in May. Hope you like them. The display highlighting different human rights abuses occurring in North Korea. For example one line would highlight the food crisis, another, the prison camps, and so on
Volunteers went around collecting signatures and informing people about human rights in North Korea
Friday, July 09, 2004
Australian Anti-Americanism - GO HOME YANKEE
A deal has been signed between the US and Australian governments for US military to set up permanent military training camps over here in both Queensland and Northern Territory. The purpose of the bases is so that: tens of thousands of US and Australian troops can use it to practice combined air, land and sea operations. [And]where US and Australian troops will carry out operational training, including bombing runs with live munitionsApparently the QLD government even lobbied for this possessed with some fool idea that it will be 'good for the economy'. Hmmm like the US bases in Korea have been good for certain parts of the economy in Itaewon, Pyeongtaek, and the like, not to mention all the good experience the police might get dealing with US military crimes at overseas bases. We already had an alleged rape incident in Darwin earlier this year (of which further newspaper searches revealed no follow up to what happened so if anyone knows, please share the information. I think they had some kind of hearing in June). Despite bi-partisan support for this, Anti-base has launched a campaign to protest the move. And Peter Garrett who recently made a rather unspectacular entry into the Labour Party has stood up and said he opposes the move so we respect him for that. Australia also signed on to the missile defence project which promises to cost us a lot of money so that US can get a hi-tech defence system. And in case we didn't think we'd given up enough sovereignty, details of the Unfair Trade Act with US reveal that, after the Free Trade Agreement is ratified, they say, "The inclusion of US Trade Representatives in Australia's quarantine decision-making processes will now give foreign trade officials the power to intervene in policies of utmost national importance for economic security."Does Australia think it will honestly be able to uphold its quarantine standards with US bullies having a say in the decision-making process? Australia was unsuccessful in getting sugar in the FTA deal, which had presumably been a 'make or break' issue. It certainly doens't bode well for future negotiations. Extra - off topic I want to add a bit more to the on-line shopping issue that I mentioned in my previous blog entry. First, Kimchee GI also picked up the story and made the good point that the lackluster approach to opening up to foreigners was not becoming of a "Asia Hub" wannabe. I also had a further thought that when I was in Korea signing up on-line for marathons was an easy process even when the event was organised by smaller local clubs. The system simply required foreigners to put their birthday date for the first part and for the remaining numbers, girls would type 1000000 and boys would type 2000000. This was not only easy, gave all the information they needed to categorise us for the running divisions, it also had the advantage of not asking for too much information. The fact that even small clubs had this available would indicate that is not an expensive thing either. Wednesday, July 07, 2004
The Competition to be the Most Out-of-Touch First up, the on-going ban by the Ministry of Idiots and Censorship (MIC) continues. According to an article by Asia Media: With its emergency monitoring system running for 24 hours, the Ministry of Information and Communication said it would advise Web sites to get rid of the clips as soon as they discovered them. "The Web sites that fail to follow through the instructions will be subject to shut-down or police investigation," an official at the ministry said.Um, I don't think the Korean government has any right to do such a thing, especially regarding a website run outside their own country. Block sites they may technically be able to do, but prosecute the operator (presumably for the "crime" of providing access to the feared video)...well they can ... Second, on-line shopping and access to Korean sites that require the Korean Registration Number. I hate that Korean sites, notably the TV and music websites require the registration number even to enter. But now the government is trying half-heartedly to increase accessibility to such sites, but like Koreans Foreign residents are required to enter foreigner registration numbers or passport numbers when using the system. Now, maybe its just me, but I have a problem with that kind invasion of privacy and big brother type tracking system. Why should the Korean immigration office know what on-line shopping site I visit? I'm personally not one for on-line shopping but I suspect other sites don't require such registration requirement to enter/browse their sites. And they wonder why their sites aren't popular with foreigners; I don't think requiring passport numbers is going to bring any crowds. Third, Korean political parties. Now there is always much hype about the instability of political parties in Korea. Accordingly there are a few theories as to what is causing this. Some say the parties lack ideology, some say Korean society lacks western-style class identities that would allow parties to represent certain groups, others blame the focus on personalities, and some blame the perpetuation of regionalism. I say its because politicians in Korea are a bunch of clueless fools. For example, First, there was the controversy over the naming of a new prime minister to start what the ruling camp called the second phase of the Roh presidency, to succeed Goh Kun who acted as president during Roh's suspension. A recent turncoat from the GNP, former South Gyeongsang governor Kim Hyuk-kyu was chosen and naturally the opposition party took it as a deliberate political provocation. A good many Uri members also disliked the choice and Roh eventually canceled the nomination, smearing a new start.Who, I mean honestly, WHO could possibly think that this kind of move was going to do anything but outrage the public and make party members from both the ruling and opposition parties see red!!?? But there's more: disclosure of intra-party "donations" by a proportional representation candidate to ensure her selection, and a number of Uri members voting to deter the arrest of a GNP lawmaker accused of illegal electioneering all happened in quick succession, alienating many former supporters of the party and administration.Now if party politics, as it is often accused of being, is a tool for fulfilling political aspirations then you could at least expect politicians to be a little more savvy and possessing of a longer-term vision for their ambitions than this kind of blatant short-sighted jostling. Maybe the public will be less fickle in their voting (and approval) patterns when the politicians themselves gain some principles and start thinking long-term. Sunday, July 04, 2004
I started watching 대장금 (Dae Jung-Kum - spelling?) over the last week thanks to DVD's my friend sent over for me. This coincided, quite by accident, with my reading of "The True History of the Kelly Gang" by Peter Carey. Such a juxtaposition prompted some thinking on my part about the state of Australia's TV and the understanding and perception we have of our own history.
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