Tag Archives: North Korea

North Korean Women, South Korean Men

Man, can Kyung Lah’s reports from Asia get any more ridiculous?  She must be the worst reporter on the payroll.  I wonder whether anyone at CNN does any proofreading or fact-checking when she submits her work.  In her latest report, she talks about how North Korean women and South Korean men are getting together and marrying.  See the video above where she focuses on a “matchmaker” who sets up female North Korean women who have defected with South Korean men.  Ms. Lah provides many reasons why these couplings work out:

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North Korean Artillery Attack


North Korea launched an artillery attack on a disputed South Korean island today.  They killed two soliders, and they injured 15 soldiers and three civilians.  CNN reports:

The incident — in which two South Korean marines died — is “the first direct artillery attack on South Korean territory since the Korean War ended in an armistice, not a formal peace treaty” in the 1950s, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.

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Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick (Review)

I just finished reading Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick, an oral history about six North Korean refugees that was published in December of last year.

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Laura and Lisa release book about North Korea ordeal

We’ve been following the Laura Ling/Euna Lee story here since day one.  We were here when they were first caught, when they were sentenced (hilarious conversation under this blog post!), and when they were freed (search “Euna” to see all eight of our blog posts).  And as many of us predicted early in the game, one of them has co-authored a book about their ordeal: Somewhere Inside: One Sister’s Captivity in North Korea and the Other’s Fight to Bring Her Home.

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Bill Clinton negotiating for Laura and Euna

artclintonafpIt has been confirmed: Bill Clinton has arrived in North Korea, ostensibly to negotiate the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee.

I think this is great news.  Bill Clinton is not officially part of the Obama cabinet (though he’s UN Special Envoy to Haiti), which should keep our non-official relationship with NK’s terrorist government, and Clinton still has the cachet as a former President of the United States, which should please the North Koreans.  Plus, he’s a great negotiator and master politician.  As David Brooks said of Clinton, “he was a member of every clique at once.”  There couldn’t be a better guy to send for this job.  Though I’ve seen Willie burn bridges, I sincerely believe right now that when he leaves NK, the Kims will be happy, the Obamas will be happy, and Laura and Lisa will be free.  I think this will be over within the next couple of weeks, if not the next few days.

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