Chinese President Visits Pyongyang, Pushes for Change

From the Washington Post October 28 2005
By Joe McDonald, AP

BEIJING -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Il promised Friday to take part in the next round of nuclear talks in November, Chinese state TV reported, as China's president made a rare personal visit to Pyongyang to lobby for progress in disarmament efforts.

Kim reportedly told Chinese President Hu Jintao that the North was committed to a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.It was the Stalinist dictatorship's highest-level commitment yet to push ahead with talks aimed at stripping North Korea of its nuclear programs."

The North Korean side will participate as scheduled in the fifth round of six-nation talks," the state TV news quoted Kim as saying. "North Korea is committed to the denuclearization of the (Korean) peninsula."

North Korean media did not immediately report on Kim's remarks.

Hu flew to Pyongyang on Friday in an apparent effort to push for progress in the Chinese-organized nuclear talks, which also involve the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia.
China didn't disclose his Hu's agenda in advance, but analysts said he was certain to push Kim on the nuclear issue, possibly offering aid in exchange.

Hu told Kim that Beijing wants to see a nuclear-free Korean peninsula, Chinese state television said. Despite the polite tone, China's status as the isolated North's last major ally and aid donor gave Hu's plea special weight.China is under pressure from Washington and other governments to do more to push Pyongyang for concessions. Beijing has refrained from publicly confronting the North and says it has less influence than outsiders believe.North Korea promised at the end of the last round of talks in Beijing in September -the fourth since 2003 - to give up its nuclear programs in exchange for aid and a security guarantee.

But Pyongyang immediately raised doubts about its willingness to carry out that pledge, saying it wanted a civilian nuclear reactor for power generation before it dismantles its program _ a condition that Washington has challenged as possibly unworkable.

Hu is the first Chinese leader to visit North Korea since 2001. Kim, who rarely travels abroad, last visited Beijing in 2004, when he studied Chinese economic reforms. Hu was greeted by thousands of cheering North Koreans in Pyongyang. Kim met him at the airport, and Chinese TV showed the Chinese leader being driven into the capital past throngs of people who waved flowers and small flags. Many of the women wore traditional Korean gowns and some appeared to have tears of joy in their eyes.Chinese TV and China's official Xinhua News Agency put the size of the crowd at 100,000.Meeting later at a government facility, Hu praised Kim's leadership and assured him of China's friendship and support."Pushing forward friendly, cooperative Chinese-North Korea relations and continuously deepening development is our common responsibility," he said, according to Xinhua.

Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, who accompanied Hu to Pyongyang, spoke by phone Thursday night with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Foreign Ministry said. It said they discussed international affairs but did not give details.The nuclear dispute erupted in late 2002 after U.S. officials said North Korea admitted violating a 1994 deal by embarking on a secret uranium enrichment program. Hu, whose visit lasts through Sunday, is also expected to lobby Kim to pursue Chinese-style reforms more aggressively in hopes of reviving its decrepit, government-controlled economy.

Beijing is eager to see a more robust North, both to reduce its reliance on Chinese food and fuel aid and to reduce the risk of a political collapse and chaos on its border.Thousands of North Koreans fleeing famine and repression live in hiding in China's northeast. Beijing has been frustrated by asylum bids by North Koreans at embassies and other foreign offices.

Life as a North Korean

Informative and easily digestible article on North Korean Refugees, Overview about North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-Il.

http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=810

Adventure in the Library and an encounter with The Great Leader

I was wandering around the library today looking for books about humanitarian intervention...alas, there are several hundred other people looking for these same books, so Saving Strangers by Nicholas Wheeler was nowhere to be found...however, in my moment of tragedy a rather serendipitious moment occured. I peeked over at the carts with the books that were to be reshelved, and in the corner of my eye I found a old red covered book, entitled The Brief History of the Revolutionary Activities of the Great Leader Comerade Kim Il-Sung. This book, published in Pyongyang in English, documented Kim Il-Sung's life from his early years as a Korean patriot to his later years as leader of North Korea.

Unfortunately (perhaps?) graffiti covered many portraits of the supposed "great leader", with pig noses and the occasional "Kim Il-Sung does not care about Korean people" (except in much more vulgar terms). Obviously the work of passionate yet over-ardent scholars, it nevertheless brought up an interesting question in my mind: did Kim Il-Sung care about Korean people?

His track record would say so. He spent the early years of his life resisting Japanese colonialism in northern Korea and Manchuria. Kim was even jailed as a young man for resisting Japanese authorities and encouraging Korean nationalism. His hatred of fascism and tyrrany is the stuff of legends: there is legend among Communist countries that Kim Il-Sung volunteered for service in the Soviet Red Army and led Russian soldiers against Nazi German invaders at Stalingrad, the largest battle in human history. This legend can be supported by the Soviet's decision to implement Kim as leader of North Korea following the Japanese surrender in 1945.

Kim's policy has always been geared around helping the Korean people. Under him, industrial development skyrocketed and agricultural booms allowed for an increased population. Kim was known to love children and worked to establish facilities for learning and education for North Korean kids. Even my father fondly remembers Kim Il-Sung as a child growing up in Pyongyang, as the Great Leader personally retrieved his soccer ball from a gutter near his presidential headquarters. Seems pretty convincing...

But then the American in me came through in the latter part of the book, describing the Korean War (or as North Koreans put it "The Great Liberation War of the Fatherland from US Imperialism"). In it, the North Korean historian described the South Korean regime invading North Korea with the help of US "imperialists". North Korean soldiers thus made it their crusade to rid the peninsula of America's presence, their "sworn enemy".

Although history can have multiple lenses and views, facts are universal. Fact: a transcript between Kim Il-Sung and Joseph Stalin exists that documents Kim's request to invade the South. Fact: Seoul was captured in three days by North Korean soldiers equipped with Soviet weapons. Fact: South Korean soldiers and civilians suffered immensely in the earlier part of the war, and if not for a galant stand at the Naktong River (the famous Pusan Perimeter), there would be no Republic of Korea today. Fact: close to 600,000 South Korean soldiers died and close to a million civilians were killed under North Korean rule. But the same can be said about South Korea and the United States. In war, everyone's hands are covered in blood.

It is a bold statement to say that Kim Il-Sung did not care about Korean people. Kim was a patriot and a pioneer in modern Korean politics, no doubt. But he was blinded by political dogma, as most leaders usually are. Kim unfortunately drew the distinction between Northern Communist Koreans and the "puppets" of US imperialism in the South. This is a mistake that still exists today, as North Koreans believe that South Koreans are victims of US control and need to be saved. If healing is to begin in the Korean peninsula, it must start by eliminating such arbitrary distinctions.

Today's humanitarian crisis is partly but not completely Kim Il-Sung's responsibility. However, we cannot view Kim as a simple blood thirsty war monger. To understand Kim Il-Sung is to understand North Korea. If you are still interested, I suggest you check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Il_Sung. He is to North Koreans what Jesus is to Chirstians, Muhammad is to Muslims, and Siddartha Gautama (Buddha) is to Buddhists.

General Meeting

Questions should be forwarded to callink@gmail.com

Richardson to Push N. Koreans on Nuke Deal

From Yahoo News, October 17 2005

TOKYO -North Korea's pledge to give up its nuclear weapons program was a giant step forward in multilateral talks with the reclusive country, but now comes the time to implement the agreement, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Monday before arriving in North Korea for three days of negotiations.

Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said he would push the North Koreans for specifics on how they plan to dismantle their weapons program and a commitment to allow outside verification of the process.

"It was a major step forward in the last six-party talks, and now is the follow-through," Richardson told The Associated Press in an interview during a refueling stop at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo. "Where I think I can help is in the implementation — I'm not there to negotiate anything new."

Richardson said he also would urge North Korean officials to cooperate with humanitarian aid organizations and allow them to operate more freely in the country.

North Korea's state-run news agency reported Monday evening that Richardson had arrived in Pyongyang.

The Democratic governor has been to North Korea several times before and has kept up ties with Pyongyang officials over the years. He was visiting Pyongyang at the request of North Korea.

Richardson, however, denied he was "an interloper," saying he was fully supportive of the Bush administration's policy of working with North Korea through the so-called six-party talks on its nuclear program.

"I'm trying to be helpful," Richardson said. "I've kept up my dialogue with them at their request, I've had a long relationship with them and I want to take advantage of that relationship to help my country."

Richardson was invited by the North Koreans in May but postponed his trip when Washington asked him to wait until the recent round of nuclear talks in Beijing was completed. The United States provided him and his entourage with an Air Force plane for the trip.

The Beijing talks ended last month with a commitment by North Korea to abandon its nuclear program, which Pyongyang claims has already yielded a weapon. The next round of talks, which also involves China, Japan, South Korea and Russia, was scheduled for November but no date has been set.

The governor was accompanied by public health, energy and other officials from his state. Richardson said he hoped their presence would show the North Koreans what kind of assistance they could expect in return for giving up nuclear weapons.

"The idea behind the experts is to say, look ... there will be advantages" to abandoning atomic bombs, he said.

Richardson said he did not expect to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, but he hopes to meet with Foreign Ministry and defense officials. The entourage was scheduled to stay in North Korea from Monday evening until Thursday, then travel to Japan and South Korea to brief officials. The group is scheduled to be back in New Mexico on Oct. 22.

Richardson developed a reputation as a roving diplomat when he served in Congress, traveling to Iraq, North Korea, Cuba and Sudan to win the freedom of captive Americans. Richardson left Congress to join the administration of former President Clinton as ambassador to the United Nations. He also was Energy Secretary.

For Richardson, considered a likely presidential contender in 2008, the trip offers a potential chance to display his foreign policy know-how. The governor, who is up for re-election next year, denied seeking advantage from the trip and said foreign policy should be beyond partisan politics.

Since his election as governor, Richardson has remained active in foreign affairs, appearing frequently on national television hosting international visitors, including officials from China, the two Koreas and Japan.

North Korea...the new Hollywood?

From Yahoo News, October 11 2005

Pusan, South Korea--North Korea is commonly portrayed as the world's bad guy in Hollywood, but the country's movie-buff leader Kim Jong-Il is striking back by opening up Pyongyang's film industry to foreign participation.

The policy is aimed at reviving the fortunes of the Stalinist state's once thriving movie business and will also enable North Korean films to reach overseas, according to Chinese filmmaker Piao Zun Xi, the director of the first foreign feature made in the reclusive country.

North Korea is willing to participate actively in co-production activities," Piao told a meeting at the Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea's southern Pusan city.

"Kim Jong-Il is well known to be an avid film lover. (North Korea) wants to learn from other countries what is going on in the film sector," he said.

"If such co-operation takes place there will a lot of interest worldwide and in Asia," he told the gathering of film industry professionals.

Piao, an ethnic Korean, has just finished making "The Secret of Rikidozan" about one of North Korea's most worshipped national heroes, champion professional wrestler Rikidozan.

"This is the first film co-operation between China and North Korea," said Piao, who shot the film entirely in North Korea with Chinese and North Korean stars.

Kim Hyung-Joon, president of the Korean Motion Picture Producers Association, said he was excited about the possibilities raised for joint Korean productions.

"It's like a dream come true. If there is that level of commitment it will be easier to go ahead with projects," he said.

Kim Hyung-Joon said he had also heard North Korea's Dear Leader was gathering 200 foreign films for screening to audiences there who are usually denied access to overseas culture.
Piao told the meeting Monday that the Stalinist nation approached him in May last year with a scenario for the film and asked him to direct, with the aid of Chinese financing. When he agreed, red tape was quickly cut away and filming began within months.

Editing finished last week and two versions will be released -- one for Chinese audiences and another in North Korea -- although their content would be substantially the same, he said.
The film also had a North Korean director of equal rank and Piao said the pair had "quarrels" but that such disagreements were inevitable in any international collaboration.

"There are bound to be differences of opinion. Because we were at the same level it was difficult to really agree," he said, adding that a compromise was found after negotiations.

Piao said overseas countries would need to understand North Korea before any co-production deals could be signed, but stressed that "understanding can only come through
acknowledgement and recognition".

North Korean cinema was very strong in the 1970s, churning out movies that were lapped up by entertainment-starved Chinese audiences during the Cultural Revolution, Piao said.

But famine and poverty led to the neglect of the industry which no longer had enough equipment to make international standard movies on its own, he said.

"But the locations are very pleasant," said Piao, who also praised the standard of North Korean actors as better than their Chinese counterparts.

North Korea has long been off the radar as a location for Western film-makers, although it has a digital animation industry that has worked on projects with South Korea.

North Korean propaganda proclaims Rikidozan as the world's greatest ever wrestler and his death in 1963 was surrounded by claims that he was murdered because he brought shame on America and Japan by beating their wrestlers.

The wrestler had become a hero in Japan, where he lived and fought, in the late 1950s and built up a business empire on the back of his fame.

He was stabbed in Tokyo one night in 1963, but despite his injuries not appearing life threatening he died a week later in hospital, inspiring theories he had been murdered by Japanese gangsters or US spies.

Countless books and documentaries have been made about Rikidozan in his native North Korea.

North Korea Calls for Stronger Military

From the Washington Post, October 9 2005

PYONGYANG, North Korea -- North Korea promised to pursue a stronger military as it marked a major anniversary, but made no mention of its long-running nuclear standoff with the outside world.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il was present as the communist state held a large-scale convention Sunday on the eve of the 60th anniversary of its ruling Workers' Party of Korea, the North's official media reported Monday.

Kim Yong Nam, president of North Korea's parliament, said the country should "direct primary efforts to the strengthening" of the Korean People's Army, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency.

North Korea has the world's fifth-largest military with a total of more than 1.1 million troops, the backbone of leader Kim Jong Il's totalitarian rule. Besides conventional and chemical weapons, the communist state has claimed to have nuclear weapons as a "deterrent" against a U.S. attack.
Pyongyang has engaged the United States and four other regional powers in talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to forgo its nuclear ambitions in exchange for economic and political rewards.

Last month's session of the negotiations produced a breakthrough accord in which the North pledged to abandon its nuclear programs in return for aid and security assurances. The prospect of its implementation, however, was thrown into doubt after Pyongyang demanded a nuclear reactor for power before it disarms.

International delegations at the anniversary included one from China, the North's only major ally. It was not known what the two sides discussed, but the delegation includes Beijing's main nuclear negotiator, Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei.

Kang Chol Hwan Event and the birth of Cal LiNK

Mr. Kang's words were harrowing and haunting, yet his enthusiasm did not go unnoticed. He described his predilection for mice, the brutal executions at Yodok, and the desperation of prison camp life. But then Mr. Kang expressed his excitement for the future, looking into the eyes of close to two hundred students in the Valley Life Science Building of the Berkeley campus. His message: the future will be bright if we do something about it.

I was especially struck by Mr. Kang's wish that North Korean students could someday come to America to study alongside us. It seems like a great idea; academia is something we share with everyone, despite their political or cultural background. If a North Korean student is a great chemist, he should be able to learn from the best professors in the world so that he can someday benefit not only his own country but the world. Maybe there is something we can learn from them as well. Perhaps this is Mr. Kang's way of stating that, ultimately, North Koreans are not that different than you and me. Empathy and understanding is the first step towards healing and consolation.

The Aquariums of Pyongyang describes Mr. Kang's experience in a North Korean gulag. His memoir became a best seller worldwide, and garned much attention and support towards the North Korean cause. Even President George W. Bush invited Mr. Kang to Washington DC after reading the book to discuss what could be done to help the North Korean people.

This was LiNK's kick off event. Uncertainty was soon replaced by hope and optimism and it was clear that there were students at Cal who were concerned with human rights violations in North Korea and who wanted to learn more.

Where will this journey take us? What can we accomplish, the powerless and uninteresting college student? How much of a difference can we make? Who will listen to us?


Your strengths are your minds and your passion. Your tools are the information and resources out there. Read a newspaper or a book. Attend a lecture. Have a discussion with friends or family. This is not ancient history: this is the present, and something must be done. Through information and understand we will be able to better understand the tragedy and fragility of the situation in North Korea.

This is not a Korean issue, but rather a human issue. The stories you read might shock you or create anger or disgust. Be critical of the issues but do not allow your emotions to overwhelm your judgement. If you have strong feelings towards this issue, then express them so others can perhaps learn from you. However be eloquent, informed, and open to suggestion, because stubborness and ignorance cannot possibly produce anything but more struggle in an already drawn out struggle.

That being said, I am very excited for the future for LiNK at the UC Berkeley campus. It was about half a year ago on a rainy freeway in Seattle where we began discussing the possibility for a LiNK chapter at Cal. Phone calls were made, flyers were created, and hours of planning were put into this organization. This is the manifestation of what we had discussed in those early days. I am happy that we have come this far, but our journey is just getting started. I am glad to know that there are so many interested students out there who share my concern and my drive. We work to speak and and lend a hand for those without a voice or those whose arms are tied behind their backs.