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Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Human Rights in North Korea - An Update on the Campaign Since sending the letter outlining my concern over human rights abuses in North Korea to all Queensland Parliamentarians I have been eagerly awaiting the responses and good news about what Australia is doing and some promised action. I can only assume that everyone I wrote to has, thus far, been too busy working on my concerns to have replied. That is except for Senator Trood and Senator Santoro who have both responded to my letter. Kudos to both of them for doing so. Senator Trood responded very promptly to my letter via email saying that it was received and that he also shared my concerns on North Korea's human rights situation. The email also said that he would be in touch again soon with more information on the issue. I am still keenly waiting for that information. Senator Santoro sent a letter (received today) which enclosed a copy of a letter he received from the Hon Alexander Downer, Minister for Foreign Affairs in response to my letter, which the Senator kindly shared with the Minister. I'll take the liberty to quote the body of the letter from the Minister: The Australian Government views human rights as an inseparable part of Australia's overall foreign policy approach, both because the treatment of individuals is in itself a matter of concern to Australians and because protecting human rights underpins Australia's broader security and economic interests.It is certainly good news to get a response and to find out new information about what Australia is doing. This is a positive step in the campaign and hopefully more responses from other recipients of the original letter will come in the near future. English Passengers by Matthew Kneale: A Book Review Winner of the Whitbread Book of the Year Award in 2000 this book is fantastic. The summary on the back read as follows: It is 1857 and the Reverend Geoffrey Wilson has set out for Tasmania, hoping to find the true site of the Garden of Eden. But the journey is turning out to be less than straightforward - dissent is growing between him and sinister racial-theorist Dr. Potter, and unknown to both, the ship they have hurriedly chartered is in fact a Manx smuggling vessel, fleeing British Customs. In Tasmania the aboriginal people have been fighting a desperate battle against British invaders, and, as the passengers will discover, the island is now far from being an earthly paradise...That gives an idea of the setting at least. The strength of the book, as I saw it, lay in the author's ability to balance great humor with the very unfortunate and regrettable conditions of Tasmania in the years surrounding the extinction of Tasmanian aborigines. Of course this is fiction and not an accurate history on that horrible spot of British/White Australian history. And it is through the racist Dr. Potter that the book weaves in some clever ironies regarding theories of race superiority which were popular at the time. But that aside the book, on the whole, was very funny, very witty and the Manx smuggling boat and its crew were the true highlight of the book. Sky Diving On Sunday, after a couple days of rain, the sun rose into the clear blue sky announcing the perfect day for sky diving. This was my second time to plunge 10,000 feet from the sky, the last time being some 8 years prior. Second time round was WAY better than the first time and I think this is because, once you know what to expect, you can relax a little and concentrate more on enjoying yourself. This time I also got to pull the parachute chord myself and we did some spins and turns on the way down which was absolutely fantastic.
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Tuesday, October 18, 2005
The role of Jimmy Carter will be played by Bill Richardson in the upcoming sequel, "Agreed Framework II" In the much anticipated "Agreed Framework II" Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson will play the part of intermediary to North Korea. In the first episode, you may recall, former President Jimmy Carter headed over to Pyongyang at the critical moment and got a breakthrough agreement that allowed for negotiations to proceed in creating the original Agreed Framework. In the sequel Mr. Richardson will head to Pyongyang at a similarly crucial stage in the negotiations (ie: the stage when they come to a crushing halt). Like the original trip the negotiator is not altogether a welcome feature on the scene, the guy being a Democrat and having been US Ambassador to the UN under Clinton, but since there is little alternative and the North Koreans seem to like him the US administration is supporting his trip. Or at least, not stopping it. To prevent any confusion over the roles, Carter made clear before he left for Pyonyang in 1994 that he was not an official of the administration and was acting as a concerned US citizen and low and behold, The Democratic governor said Friday he won't represent the United States as an official negotiator. He said the trip is intended "to move the diplomatic process forward" after an agreement last month in which North Korea said it would give up the arms program in return for economic aid and security assurances."I want to be helpful as an American citizen," he said.Of course, it is always disappointing when sequels play out too close to the original. Especially when the original Agreed Framework had such a dismal and predictable ending. Sadly, it seems that Washington has all the imagination of Hollywood as this political sequel continues to follow down the same predictable bad-plot path as last time. Although predicting that Kim Jong Il might die before year's end like his Father did may be going too far. Monday, October 17, 2005
Economic Reforms in North Korea A second conference between EU and North Korea was held in Pyongyang last week.The main topics included the role of the state in economic management, foreign direct investment, management of state-owned enterprises, and agriculture. While hailed as a positive sign - as any interaction between North Koreans and the outside world should be - it was not certain whether the conference would yield any actual results. As the FT piece reported: Separately, a western diplomat ... recounted a conversation with a senior North Korean economist in which he said the 2002 reforms were a temporary measure aimed at buying time until the economy gain some strength after the famine of the late 1990s and the collapse of socialism in eastern Europe. "He said the North would reimpose some central planning," the diplomat said.It is also interesting to note that North Korea presents yet another arena where the EU is proceeding along its own path in international relations. Notably, one that is quite divergent to the path the US is travelling down. So far, as I understand, the US is not close to sending or even supporting any delegations to North Korea that are looking into assisting North Korea witeconomicmc reforms or engaging in FDI. There have been some US Congressional trips but that is usually political, not economic. If things come to a head between US and North Korea (moreso than they already have) then we could see a similar relationship to that of the US-Iran-EU triangle which possibly wouldn't be a developmenconduciveve to solving the nuclear issue anymore than it is in the Iran situation. Friday, October 14, 2005
Gangsters and Thugs* Looks like the Irish of Asia is a more apt description of North Korea than South Korea these days. Seems that certain shady political elements from Ireland and North Korea have joined forces to engage in the lucrative business of counterfeiting. Manufacturers in the DPRK and distribution channels in Ireland and UK. Although something struck me as a little odd: "highy deceptive notes - which began to appear in worldwide circulation in or about 1989 - were manufactured in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea [North Korea] and under auspices of the government and transported worldwide by North Korean individuals acting as ostensible government officials". 1989!!! Um, why is this charge coming over 15 years after the bills were allegedly first circulated? It is possible that it has taken this long to get the evidence needed? In favour of this notion is the point that the indictment cites efforts made in 1997 and 2000 to get more fake bills on the part of the dodgy Irishman. This might indicate that this is a long-term and on going investigation. But still, 1989! Maybe, this is just a convenient time in terms of the dynamics in the relations between certain nations and what they are trying to achieve vis-a-vis each other. Also likely is that the so-called "formal accustation" made by the US is a standard measure taken addressing a variety of North Korean failings at various times and something that will be little heeded. Gangsters and thugs, gangsters and thugs, some of my friends sell records, some of my friends sell drugs
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
An Uneven Match: Corporation V Unemployed Guy
The Howard Government is now trying impose unfair legislature concerning industrial relations. The proposal aims to centralise industrial relations matters away from states and put workers at a huge disadvantage by having them bargain individually for their work contract. Among things up for negotiation apparently are public holidays including Christmas and ANZAC Day and meals! The absurdity and meanness of even suggesting that some high-school educated person with the same qualifications as countless others has anything remotely resembling a bargaining chip against a company in such negotiations in distressing. Not to mention the insult that the Prime Minister of Australia is suggesting that our nations memorial day to those who and fight and died for our country could be better spent working with no overtime in some crappy video store, production plant or labouring job! The Senate is hoping to get an inquiry into the matter started but this will apparently require one of the Senators from the government to support it. Hopefully this can happen since IR has traditionally been a highly sensitive political issue and in this case, the Labour Party is getting record support. This issue, at the very least requires more in-depth scrutiny and surely there is one among the Liberal Party fray who can see that responsibility to constituents should be more important than being loyal to a by pushing through an unpopular bill. Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Pictures from the Coldplay Concert  This is a picture from our seats. We were row H behind the mosh pit and behind us was the hill where people just sat or danced on the grass. This is a typical shot of the concert wherein they had a huge screen behind them to better illuminate their own silhouette. It showed a variety of scenes and graphics including close ups of the band.War Games The movie I opted to see at the Amnesty International Film Festival that was held in DC recently was "War Games". It was a one hour documentary about the 2003 Twic Olympics held in South Sudan region as a means of bringing understanding and peace to the region. We were told that the Olympics were held in 2002, 2003, not in 2004 but they are hoping to stage them again in 2005. Following the movie there was a Q&A discussion led by some lady from Foreign Policy in Focus. And lastly, today was the Colombus Day long weekend and was spent practicing tennis, which my friend and I have recently attempted to take up and shopping for a winter dooner, or "comforter" as folks in the US appear to call them. Although there was very little that was comforting about the prices which ranged from 'expensive' to 'absurd'. I bought an expensive comforter. Monday, October 10, 2005
Kang Chol Hwan Reception The Korea focused bloggers, notably The Flying Yangban and also via the Marmot and Cathartidae had comments on the recent Kang Chol Hwan Reception. And according to accounts it went smoothly and rallied quite a crowd. Great! Except....a google search in English (Kang Chol Hwan October) only reveals websites of the bloggers and in Korean (강철환 10월) only reveals stuff about his book. That is to say, it appears that no papers reported the event in either English or Korean. Assuming that my search results have led me to the right conclusion, I may humbly offer my opinion: next time the organisers might be well served to do up a press release of the event and distribute to the papers. Possibly even specifically invite the media if that was not already done. Afterall, while its good to draw a crowd to these events, it is equally important that such events be reported to the broader public. On a side, Cathartidae noted that he opted not to take his book for signing. When Mr. Kang was in DC I was most upset that I had lent my copy of his book to a friend and couldn't get it back in time to take it for signing. It did cross my mind that it was not exactly classy to ask a former gulag resident for his autograph but I did feel it would be a good chance to meet him, however briefly, and show support for what he is doing...And to get his autograph for me book. Rocking Out in the Capital of the Free World Its been a busy time for concerts in DC. The absolutely incredibleJohn Butler Trio from Australia has been touring in US and I managed to catch them in DC at the 9:30 Club. The following night my friend and I hired a car and headed to The Nissan Pavilion to see Coldplay. Although the band was great the venue was the most ridiculously located venue in the history of venues. We were stuck in horrendous traffic for HOURS because the only way to get to this middle-of-nowhere place was by car (no public transport, shuttles, nothing) and for a great part of it, the road was only one lane! To all the deities from and any and all religions who care to be my witness I will never go back to that venue from hell again. I think I was nearly kicked out of the car several times for kicking, screaming and generally complaining the whole way. We could not stand to be stuck in traffic on the way home and followed other similar traffic-jam hating souls and took our chances by cutting into the Virginia forests to get home. This proved much quicker. And then, this week I ventured back to the 9:30 Club (I seem to spend a lot of time there) to catch The Cat Empire who were in US from Australia on tour. As with the John Butler Trio I am enormously impressed with the bands and music coming from Australia these days. Saturday, October 08, 2005
Public Relations The Washington Post, and I'm sure every other newspaper in the country and more, have been keeping daily articles on Karen Hughes during her recent maiden voyage to the Middle East as Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. I'm not sure if it was on purpose, but these articles were a welcome laugh over morning coffee. And I'm not the only one who thinks her trip was a joke. Although it was touted as a listening tour we mostly only read about what Ms. Hughes said so it is not easy to say what information she actually took in. However, judging from what she did say, lets hope she said as little as possible. An essential challenge Ms. Hughes and indeed the American image in general is facing, in my opinion, is that the international world knows so much about America but America knows so little about the international world. And yet, it has so much influence and power in the global arena. As the article notes, it is the height of insult to send over someone who knows virtually nothing about the region, speaks none of the languages and has never spent time there and then to criticise them for not understanding America, its culture and its motives. In one Wapo piece it quoted Hughes explaining that the reason the word "God" was used by the President so much was that, among other reasons, that the constitution states, "One nation under God" and thus it is an integral part of the national identity. And my question is, why should other nations be expected to know the wording of the US Constitution as a way of becoming more accepting of the US when I'm pretty sure Ms. Hughes and anyone else in the US is incapable of quoting any words from any other country's constitution on earth. In sum, improving the US image will come through US actions, not by telling the world to study the US culture more. But I still hope that Ms. Hughes sticks around and goes on more trips, the laughs are welcome. Political Writings in the US: How one reader is sick of bias I recently made a pact with myself to not buy any books with the "how" in the title. Such as "How the right wing is cheating you in this way" or "How the left wing is destroying this, that and the other behind your back." Based on my experience these types of books are nothing more than inaccurate, bias diatribes written by people looking for publicity, money and/or popularity. And I am not alone in thinking this. Cathartidae noted in an earlier blog the ridiculous titles coming out recently by the "right-wing" and now the Economist has also written about the lamentable state of political writings in the US. It is appropriate for me to step back from any political writings until such time as someone decides to return to quality over a quick buck and flashy title. Bank of Korea In my last blog, I mentioned the speech given by the Governor of the Bank of Korea. I found, quite by chance, a transcript of the speech. So now my readers can decide for themselves if my criticism was too harsh. World Day Against the Death Penalty My informant at Amnesty International (aka: my sister)has told me that Monday, October 10 is World Day Against the Death Penalty. Coincidently, this weekend is the last weekend of the Amnesty USA film festival being held here in Washington D.C. Monday, October 03, 2005
Comments As Big Hominid has noted, when spammers overtake the comments section, it is time to get rid of the comments section. While it was not often that I got comments, I did find that the few I got were often worthwhile enough to keep the option there for people to say something if they felt so inclined. But I'm so sick of spam and can't see why I would continue to keep the comments function so that spammers can annoy me with their stupid ads.
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