Singapore newspaper article on the fast-food restaurant set up in Pyongyang by a group of Singaporean businessmen with unnamed North Korean business partners.

Fast-food eatery sizzles in N. Korea.
Jaime Ee, Straits Times, 29 Nov 2009

Behind the headlines that reclusive North Korea recently opened its first fast-food restaurant are three Singaporean businessmen.

Two of them, Mr Quek Chek Lan, 65, and Mr Timothy Tan, 52, got the nod to set up the restaurant, called Samtaesong or ‘three big stars’, in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.

It serves Western fare such as hamburgers, french fries and waffles, and was officially opened in May.

In an interview last week – after much effort to get the busy men to find the time to talk – Mr Quek and Mr Tan shared with The Sunday Times how they set up shop in the communist country.

It began two years ago when Mr Quek, managing director of the Aetna Group, which deals in metal and minerals, was approached by his North Korean business partners to invest in the country.

His company has been trading with the North Koreans in steel and minerals for more than 25 years.

Mr Quek then roped in his business friend Mr Tan, whom he had met eight years ago in Shanghai.

Together, they set up Sinpyong International to invest in North Korea.

Asked if he was worried about investing in North Korea, Mr Tan admitted that he prepared himself mentally for red tape.

Initially, the two men mulled over business ideas such as opening a supermarket. But after market research, they were drawn to the idea of a fast-food restaurant.

‘There was nothing like that there at that time. It was probably the only country in the world that doesn’t have fast food,’ said Mr Tan.

Despite neither of them having any experience in the fast-food business, the pair quickly got down to work.

They roped in a third person, Mr Patrick Soh – who holds the franchise in several Asian countries for Waffletown USA – to help them set up the operation and train the local staff in Pyongyang.

Waffletown USA is not a big regional player and it currently has only two franchise outlets in Singapore, in Balmoral Plaza and in Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

Samtaesong, however, is not a Waffletown franchise, Mr Quek stressed. ‘We borrowed the concept and menu, and tapped Mr Soh’s expertise, but it’s not a Waffletown franchise,’ he said.

Early this year, a four-man team from North Korea discreetly came to Singapore to sample the fare at the Balmoral Plaza outlet in Bukit Timah.

‘They tried the food and especially liked the waffle, burgers and fried chicken,’ said Mr Soh, 56, beaming.

Mr Quek said the restaurant’s site was picked by his North Korean business partners. Located in the heart of Pyongyang, it is next to a subway station and within walking distance of various universities and foreign embassies.

In November last year, the Singaporean partners began making trips to North Korea to set up the 246 sq m restaurant. It occupies one floor in a two-storey building and can seat about 80 people.

Furniture, styled after fast-food joints in Singapore, was shipped in from China.

Kitchen equipment and ingredients, such as the seasoning for the fried chicken and the waffle mix, were flown in from Singapore.

The beef and the chicken are sourced in North Korea, while a local factory supplies the burger buns and patties according to Mr Soh’s recipe.

In all, Mr Quek and Mr Tan spent about US$200,000 (S$276,500) to set up the shop.

Mr Soh let on that the menu was modified to appeal to North Korean tastebuds. For instance, the side dish coleslaw was substituted with kimchi, the spicy pickled cabbage popular among Koreans. The burgers also come with more vegetables.

‘They don’t like the idea of junk food, so we made the menu more healthy,’ Mr Soh said.

Local draught beer is also served along with soft drinks like Coke.

The restaurant has 14 staff members, mostly young women, who don colourful aprons while flipping burgers and cooking french fries.

Mr Soh said the restaurant initially encountered frequent power failures. But that was quickly resolved after they managed to wire an electrical cable to their store.

One condition was that they could not market the business openly. Mr Tan said: ‘It’s all based on word of mouth. It’s not like in Singapore, where you can advertise on TV or in the newspapers.’

Still, as the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding – or the bun, in this case.

Since the restaurant first opened its doors on May 28, customers, including foreign students and embassy staff, have been streaming in. The outlet opens every day from 11am to 9pm.

Prices are listed in euros, but US dollars are accepted too.

Among its most popular items is the burger, known as ‘minced beef and bread’. It costs between 1.20 euros and 1.70 euros (S$2.50 and S$3.50). The most expensive item on the menu is the crispy fried chicken, at slightly less than 3 euros.

Mr Soh said locals have already used the restaurant as a venue for their children’s birthday parties.

Two more outlets may sprout in Pyongyang. Also in the works are a Western-style beer garden and a supermarket.

Asked if other fast-food companies may try to break into the market, Mr Tan said: ‘We cannot stop them, but it’s not so straightforward. People may try to go in to do this but it’s not so easy.’

Agreeing, Mr Quek added: ‘In North Korea, having connections is very important. If you don’t have contacts there, you can’t do business.’

Via the always-interesting-if-not-completely-comprehensible Association for French-North Korean Friendship blog, a forty-minute interview with Jack Lang is now available on the subject of his trip to Korea.  His French is pretty Parisian standard, but I’m at a point in my own learning curve where I think I’ll just make it available to you all and dig out what I can, such as Lang’s admission that he got zero concrete concessions on the subject of human rights with the North Koreans.

The link to the interview is here; a few helpful links are below taken from the Friendship Association’s page:

De retour à Paris après sa mission de cinq jours en République populaire démocratique de Corée (RPDC, Corée du Nord), Jack Lang a accordé, le dimanche 15 novembre, un entretien à Radio France Internationale, TV5 Monde et Le Monde.

Répondant aux questions de Bruno Daroux (RFI), Xavier Lambrechts (TV5 Monde) et Nathalie Nougayrède (Le Monde), l’envoyé spécial du Président Sarkozy pour la Corée du Nord aborde, entre autres points : la déclaration solennelle des Nord-Coréens qui lui ont affirmé ne pas procéder à la prolifération d’armes de destruction massive ; la perspective d’un règlement global de la question nucléaire nord-coréenne, de la paix et de la sécurité en Asie du Nord-Est, auquel la France pourrait contribuer ; le travail en Corée des ONG françaises qu’il conviendrait de soutenir davantage.

Si la seconde partie de cet entretien ne concerne la Corée du Nord qu’au début, ce que Jack Lang dit ensuite sur l’embargo imposé à Cuba peut très bien s’appliquer à la Corée.

Par ailleurs, Jack Lang évite de répondre aux questions des journalistes sur “la nature du régime nord-coréen”, mettant en avant son rôle d’envoyé spécial, sans chercher à se poser en juge.

It’s a fairly unusual day at the Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang when they have to emphasize that a large delegation of Chinese leaders are leaving the country.

Pyongyang, November 26 (KCNA) — Col. General Liang Guanglie, minister of National Defense who doubles as a state councilor of the People’s Republic of China, flew back home Thursday.
Leaving with him were Col. General Huang Xianzhong, political commissar of the Shenyang Military Area of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Lieu. General Feng Zhaoju, deputy commander of the Jinan Military Area, Vice Admiral Xu Hongmeng, deputy commander of the Nanjing Military Area and commander of the East Sea Fleet of the Navy, Lieu. General Jiang Jianzeng, deputy commander of the Nanjing Military Area and commander of the Air Force of the area, Maj. General Chai Shaoliang, organizational director of the General Political Department of the CPLA, Maj. General Wang Jin, vice-director of the Operation Department of the General Staff, Maj. General Jia Xiaoning, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Ministry of National Defense, and other suite members.

Do you suppose they’re worried about rumors that Chinese are taking over the place?

The fact that KCNA was so quick on the draw with this news — “they’re leaving! seriously!” — and that North Korean propaganda releases are usually about two days behind Xinhua and the press releases of the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang (which as yet has said nothing about the departure of the Defense Minister from the capitol) indicates perhaps a bit of North Korean nervousness.

Or maybe I’ve just been reading a bit too much of The Book of Corrections and am wrong to imagine that the appearance of Chinese military command supremacy over Korean troops rubs North Korean observers the wrong way, kind of like a hand wrapped in duct tape moving up a cat’s spine.

Screams at South Korea about sadaejuui, or “flunkeyism,” can be quickly turned against the North Koreans and the traditional target of “submission to the great,” China. Anti-Chinese sentiment in North Korea is a very, very real phenomenon, ranging from fear of absorption by Chinese companies to contempt for Chinese disorder. Mix  all this in with nervousness over the degree of Chinese influence in the successor generation, and you’ve got some combustible themes in the North Korean body politic.

At least the relevant folks have had some relevant conversations about securing the border, although these meetings didn’t seem to get much press in North Korea:

9月22日，中国人民解放军副总参谋长马晓天上将（右）在北京会见由朝鲜人民武装力量部副部长朴在京大将率领的朝鲜军事代表团一行。 中新社发 富田 摄 -- via Huanqiu Shibao

Xinhua just released this photo of Defense Minister Liang Guanglie (梁光烈) surrounding Kim Jong Il with PLA generals in Pyongyang.   Suffice it to say, we have the appearance of a power imbalance.

via Xinhua, Nov. 25, 2009

What would Kim Il Song say?

“]

President Obama addresses the attendees at a joint press conference with PM Singh of India in the White House East Room [Photo: Lauren McGaughy

Daily International News
November 24, 2009

Singh in Washington
Obama hosts Indian prime minister [AP]
President Barack Obama hosts Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (MAHN’-moh-hahn SING) at the White House on Tuesday, the first state visit of his presidency

Obama Says He Intends to ‘Finish the Job’ in Afghanistan [NYT]
President Obama said on Tuesday that he will announce his decision on how many more troops to send to Afghanistan next week

DPRK
Russian Federation Council, Singaporean Foreign Ministry, and Chinese Minister of National Defense visiting DPRK [KCNA]
Top military officials of North Korea and China pledged to further strengthen their countries’ alliance that was “sealed in blood” during the Korean War, Pyongyang’s media said Monday

China
China executes 2 for role in tainted milk scandal [AP]
China executed a dairy farmer and a milk salesman Tuesday

Philippines
Philippines declares emergency after 46 killed [AP]
The Philippine president placed two southern provinces under emergency rule Tuesday as security forces unearthed more bodies, pushing the death toll to 46 in some of the deadliest election violence in the nation’s history.

India
Indian probe blames mosque attack on Hindu leaders [AP]
An Indian government investigation…into the 1992 demolition of a mosque…reportedly accused top Hindu nationalist politicians of complicity in the attack

India Officials Angered by Leak of Attack Report [NYT]
The leaking of a long-awaited confidential report on one of the most divisive attacks in modern Indian history raised a furor in India’s Parliament on Monday

Middle East
Iran says needs guarantees to ship nuclear fuel [Reuters]
Iran could consider sending its low-enriched uranium abroad, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday

Netanyahu says Hamas prisoner deal may not happen [Reuters]
“There is still no deal, and I do not know if there will be one,” Netanyahu said

Iraq national vote unlikely in January [Reuters]
Iraq will be unable to hold a national election in January as planned, a poll official said on Tuesday, heaping more uncertainty on a vote meant to cement democracy and pave the way for a partial U.S. troop withdrawal

UK
Chilcot Iraq Inquiry: secret talks on ousting Saddam Hussein began in 2001 [Times UK]
British and American officials secretly discussed overthrowing Saddam Hussein two years before the invasion of Iraq, the public inquiry into the war was told today.

Last week, Barak Obama was doing the rounds in China, hoping to further cement ties with the world’s most populous nation. Every year, China’s influence and power in the world is growing, and this past year, which experienced a severe financial crisis, is no different. As China’s power increases, so does the United State’s need to either befriend them, or at least rein them in. Whether they like it or not – and I am willing to bet they dislike it greatly – China is a serious contender for no.1 power.

Obama met with President Hu Jintao to discuss a range of issues, some of those being to further isolate and/or pressure rogue countries such as Iran, Sudan and North Korea, who blatantly disregard nuclear restrictions placed upon them. Things were looking positive with China partly agreeing – or seeming to – with the key word floated around being ‘dialogue’.

So now, China’s Defence Minister, General Liang, a former veteran soldier of the Korean War has come out and renewed military ties with North Koreas capital, Pyongyang.

”No force on earth can break the unity of the armies and peoples of the two countries, and it will last forever,” he was quoted as saying, also mentioning that ties were “sealed in blood.”

In addition to this, China’s Security Chief also led a fresh delegate to Sudan – another problem country.

I get the feeling that China acts like this on purpose. Inwardly it would take great pleasure in annoying the United States, knowing full well that there’s little to nothing the USA can do about it.

As much as I enjoy following Chinese news and current affairs, I do not envy the foreign diplomats and politicians who must deal with this absolute handful of a country on a daily basis – it would be not unlike banging your head against the proverbial wall.

Andrei Lankov has an op-ed in the IHT offering his take on what American negotiators can accomplish as they prepare to engage with Pyongyang fully aware that its leaders have no intention of abandoning their nuclear arsenal.

1) it is possible to agree on dismantling the North Korean nuclear research and production facilities.

2) North Koreans will probably agree to some nonproliferation measures.

3) the negotiations will allow a channel of communication with Pyongyang to be kept open at a time when Kim Jong-il’s health is ailing and changes (not necessarily for the better) might happen at any time.

4) the negotiations will create an environment in which North Korea’s exchanges with the outside world will become possible.

In conclusion, Lankov writes, the “pace of negotiations should be slow, bargaining should be hard, and no magical breakthrough should be expected.”

He does not mention here how Beijing factors into Washington’s game plan, though he does say that South Korean President Lee Myung-bak’s much trumpeted “Grand Bargain” would be a grand waste. “Alas, a cash-for-nukes solution will not be acceptable to Pyongyang: The lump sum payment would be spent quickly, and without nuclear weapons, additional aid would be very moderate…

At 4 AM on  25 June 1950 North Korea launched a fierce surprise attack on her neighbor to the south. Rolling across the hotly contested 38th parallel with Soviet made T-34 tanks and thousands of foot soldiers, the “People’s Army” overwhelmed South Korean forces who had little more than light weapons and hand grenades to fight with.  Seoul, South Korea’s capital city and commerce hub, stood directly in North Korea’s path, and despite valiant attempts by the south to defend her, in just a few short days she fell. The destruction was immense, and over the next three years of fighting almost 90 percent of this great city was reduced to rubble.

Most of its citizens had fled as the northern armies flooded south in wave after wave of artillery laced fury.  Soon the city was all but empty with the exception of the dead and those who remained to fight to the death.  Over the next three years, Seoul would change hands between the North Koreans,  Communist Chinese, and UN forces  five time as the contest to seize and hold it raged.  At the end of hostilities the city was dead, broken by a civil war that would divide a great people for decades to come.  After the armistice was signed, the rebuilding of Seoul started slowly due to the lack of materials and skilled leadership.  With  hard work and American support however,  determined South Koreans slowly but surely began to bring her back to life.

Today Seoul South Korea is a vibrant city of just over 14 million people, with another 7 million or so in the surrounding areas.  It is the home of giant conglomerates such as Samsung, LG, and Hyundai and boasts  more IP addresses per capita than any other city on Earth.  Seoul is, by all accounts, nothing short of a miracle and a testament to the dedication and drive of the South Korean people.  In the 56 years since hostilities between the north and the south ceased, it has literally risen from almost total destruction to being listed 9th  on the Global Cities Index.  It has a standard of living comparable to France and has been ranked above both Paris and Los Angeles as the 6th most powerful economic city in the world.  The people who live there are becoming prosperous as well with an average annual personal income of  about $32,000 US Dollars.  On a clear day you can stand on the crest of Mount Namsan, near Seoul’s center, and literally become lost in an ocean of banks, five star hotels, apartment towers, and businesses.  The city stretches out from horizon to horizon, its seemingly endless fingers of light twisting their way between mountains and across rivers. It appears to breath with energy, its arteries pulsing with cars, trucks, taxi cabs, and video billboards.  It hums a steady tune of a thousand different sounds, each of them harmonizing perfectly in a metropolitan symphony.  Seoul is, in many ways, a testament to the power of the human spirit.

Seoul, Republic of Korea

Seoul Nightlife

The Endless City

Seoul Rush Hour

Incheon International Airport Outside of Seoul

Now let’s take a look at her sister city Pyongyang, North Korea.  Like Seoul, it is also an ancient city with direct evidence of Chinese habitation as far back as 105 BC.  Relics have also been found there that predate history.  Unfortunately, this is pretty much where the similarity ends however.   Unlike its freedom loving  democratic sister to the south,  North Korea is a total dictatorship with a large portion of its wealth coming from illicit activities such as drugs,  human trafficking, and weapons smuggling.  Its citizenry is completely subjugated by a corrupt leadership, and concepts of individual freedom and human dignity do not exist.  It is in essence a plantation where about 200 families own the farm and the rest are field slaves. In Pyongyang the average annual income is between $580 and $1,500 US Dollars.  Poor government planning and a foolishly conceived “self-reliance” philosophy have resulted in massive food shortages responsible for starving to death almost 3 million North Korean men, women, and children.  Today the average North Korean lives on about 600 –  800 calories a day,  almost 2/3 below the daily recommended intake.   Pyongyang, like the rest of North Korea, is almost entirely dependent upon  food imports and humanitarian assistance from China, the US, and Europe, to feed its people. It is a country that would rather spend 25% of its meager GDP on second rate military hardware than on rice and milk for its children.  There are no small businesses, no crowded malls, and no busy highways.  There is only the anguish of an oppressed people.   Let the pictures speak for themselves:

The Decayed City of Pyongyang

North Korean Children Waiting on Dinner…and Waiting

Busy Intersection in Pyongyang

Two Starving North Korean Children

Downtown Pyongyang at Rush Hour

Pyongyang International Airport

Notice that the Pyongyang rush hour does not exist.  Without commerce, enterprise, or business of any kind, it is little more than a ghost town built upon the greed of its criminal elite.  A few years ago while at Panmunjom, I looked across to the North Korean side and noticed that they had constructed a sign which read, “North Korea is a worker’s paradise.”  In an ironic twist, facing this sign on the southern side of the border was a big billboard which read, “Everyone in Seoul drives a Hyundai.”  Though these two countries share a history, a culture, and thousands of years of civilization they could not be more different and their two capital cities, Seoul and Pyongyang, tell the story perfectly.  In fact, one picture tells it better than any other I have seen:

To the south – Seoul – a city of light.  A place where people can hope to prosper and achieve.  A place where human dignity and freedom are cherished and defended.  To the north – Pyongyang – only darkness.  Though this post is entitled “A Tale of Two Cities,”  it is really a story about two sisters.  One is strong and determined while the other is diseased and dying.  For the strong sister time marches on, while for the weaker sibling  it stands still. The weak girl hates her strong sister, not for what she does, but for what she is.  She lashes out at her, spits at her, and even tries to kill her. Despite these desperate acts however, the stronger sister still stands by her side, braces her up, and waits for the day when they will once again become one family.  This is the tale that Seoul and Pyongyang tell.

Unification Clock at the Korean War Memorial in Seoul Korea

Head Muscle would like to thank all its good friends in Seoul for their warm hospitality last week.  As usual you have taught me a lesson in graciousness.

감사합니다

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]]> http://koreadispatch.com/2009/11/13/china-absorbing-north-korea/ Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:59:08 +0000 sleepingcow http://koreadispatch.com/2009/11/13/china-absorbing-north-korea/

On a recent trip to North Korea, John Linton remarked after viewing that country’s athletic blitzkrieg known as the Arirang Games, which closed on Oct. 20, that a third of the performance was in praise of China.

All for one

The son of missionary parents raised in rural South Jeolla Province and current head of Yonsei’s College of Medicine, Linotn’s remarks, according to this editorial in the Hankyoreh, are further proof of North Korea’s steady absorption by China and the misguided policies of Seoul’s current 2MB administration.

China is filling the void of inter-Korean cooperation spawned by deteriorating inter-Korean relations, and is establishing development projects on its own in the regions around the North Korea-China border.

“To put it simply,” it declares,  “this region is becoming a fourth province of northeastern China.”

It’s food for thought, but I think the author makes the mistake of assuming that Pyongyang will simply roll over and allow Beijing to swallow it whole. If nothing else, North Korea’s leaders are masters at playing powers off of one another while milking them for all their worth. And despite its show of affection, my sense is that the North remains just as wary of China as it does all others beyond its borders.

For a less emotional analyses of what exactly might lie behind Beijing’s North Korea policy, Foreign Policy offers its take on why China continues to shirk its duties to international peace and security “commensurate” with its global status (terminology employed by the U.S. when it pressed Seoul and Tokyo to support efforts in Afghanistan.)

Beijing now deliberately separates its bilateral relationship with North Korea from the nuclear issue, placing the responsibility for nuclear questions on the United States. In Beijing’s eyes, the recent visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Pyongyang was evidence of the success of this dual-track approach. The China-North Korea bilateral relationship was strengthened significantly, with the announcement of Chinese aid and economic cooperation packages worth more than $200 million. Far from fearing being marginalized in nuclear talks, China is pushing for a bilateral meeting between the United States and North Korea. Should the United States not pursue this option, it will be harder to convince Beijing to take a tough line with Pyongyang in the future.

Not to be outfoxed, Washington will be sending Stephen Bosworth to Beijing in the not-too-distant future, with the express purpose of “failing” to sway Pyongyang and thereby throwing the ball back into Beijing’s court. A game of nuclear hot potato as it were.

A few more stats on China’s “bonds with North Korea“

A report published by the Korean Industrial and Financial Research Institute reveals that China has a near monopoly over North Korea’s mineral resources, both through direct purchases and by obtaining development rights. All major contracts were signed around 2005, including 50-year rights to develop Musan Iron Ore, the largest iron ore mine in East Asia, and 25-year rights to exploit the Hyesan copper mine.

The above article concludes that “Just as international sanctions against Sudan gave China almost exclusive access to that country’s resources, the same thing is happening in North Korea.”

It leaves out any reference to the North’s gold reserves, however, which according to this 2007 Christian Science Monitor piece are impressive. Beijing has been buying gold on the (Chinese) domestic market, which is sometimes referred to as the “People’s Central Bank,” in order to safeguard against USD risk and to bolster the future expansion of its own currency.

In addition, a report in the Telegraph notes that the global gold supply is running out. If that’s the case than Beijing, as the dominant player in North Korea, could stand to make a killing.

RoK Navy Ships Like Those Involved in Skirmish

The navies of North and South Korea engaged in a brief, 2-3 minute, skirmish that resulted in the North Korean ship returning to port for repair. The engagement occurred after a North Korean ship apparently ventured across a limit line off the west coast of the peninsula and then failed to heed an extended volley of warning shots. There were no South Korean casualties.

There seems to be a widespread belief that the North Koreans engaged in the provocation to send a signal in advance of President Obama’s impending  trip to Asia. Incidentally, the US recently announced that it would send a special envoy, Stephen Bosworth, to North Korea to engage in talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.  Of course, this rationale may or may not be accurate. For all we know, the North Korean captain and crew were attempting to carry out a “Hunt-for-Red-October-esque” defection plot. However, the hypothesis about sending a message does seem consistent with North Korean behavior historically, which tends toward the provocative and crisis bargaining.

Assuming that the North Korean action is an attempt to either send a message or influence behavior, what is the goal and how does Kim Jong Il imagine this behavior will translate into his objective? From this side of the street one might assume that the provocative action is designed to push the Obama Administration away from the negotiating table. One does not have to have a great understanding of American politics to understand that the more North Korea engages in provocation, the more it makes it impossible for President Obama to extend an olive branch. While the President may enjoy creating a more peaceful tone for global diplomacy and a large swath of the American citizenry may support him in this, he is also well aware that politically he cannot afford to respond to aggression with conversation or concession. More broadly than just the President, the Democratic Party realizes that one of its greatest Achilles’ Heels is an appearance of weakness that the American public finds unappealing in times of crisis. Of course, this assumes that Kim Jong Il has internalized the old lesson from Sun Tzu, and that he knows his enemy as well as himself. The evidence doesn’t seem to support this in that what Kim Jong Il says he wants often seems to be paired with actions that are designed to do anything but achieve his stated goals.

A second possibility is that Kim wants to negotiate but wants to avoid starting from a position in which his country is seen as the weak party in the negotiation. I suspect this is what most people refer to when they say that Kim Jong Il ordered his Navy to be provocative because of Obama’s visit. This raises the question of how provoking a naval force whose capabilities seem to be several generations ahead of yours achieves this goal. The somewhat predictable outcome of the North Korean ship returning to port in flames while the South Korean ships remain untouched does not seem to bode well for an expression of strength. However, there is an alternative to showing strength by might, and that is showing strength by way of the will to be kooky. That is, Kim Jong Il may be saying: “Look I know my country is poor and seems too weak to have leverage, but I am willing to press things to the limit so don’t discount me.”

There is another possibility, and that derives from the inability to segregate domestic from foreign messages. That is, Kim Jong Il may be trying to convince his people that the dynasty is still alive and well without having any intended message for actors abroad. I have not heard much about Kim Jong Il’s successor in all this, but internally there may be an attempt to build some gravitas for him.

I don’t know what resides in the mind of Kim Jong Il or Kim Jong Un, but it seems clear they need better advice on strategy.

[Foto: Marinha Sul-coreana/AP]

E quando tudo parecia estar mais calmo, eis que a violação da fronteira volta a injectar tensão na península coreana.

De acordo com o governo de Seul, citado pela agência Yonhap, uma patrulha norte-coreana terá cruzado a fronteira marítima o que levou à reacção sul-coreana com disparos de aviso para o navio patrulha do regime comunista de Pyongyang. A Coreia do Norte também terá respondido com tiros.

Diz o ministério sul-coreano da defesa que o navio da Coreia do Norte terá sofrido danos mas que não há vítimas.

Esta linha marítima no Mar Ocidental (Mar Amarelo) já foi palco de vários incidentes ao longo dos últimos anos.

Em 2002, a Coreia do Norte disparou contra navios da Coreia do Sul, o que resultou em quatro mortos e 18 feridos. Mais tarde, Pyongyang pediu desculpa.

E em 1999, outro incidente na mesma zona terminou com o naufrágio de um navio Norte-coreano e a morte de quase 80 marinheiros.

The naval patrols of North and South Korea exchanged fire in disputed waters on Tuesday morning.

South Korea has not reported any casualties while Yonhap news agency said that the North Korean boat was damaged and retreated to North Korea after the incident. South Korea has also alleged that the incident was a result of provocation by the North Korean Navy.

North Korea has not issued any comment till now.

The firing occurred when a North Korean patrol boat reportedly sailed across the northern limit line, which is a sea border drawn by the United Nations at the end of the Korean War in 1953 which has never been accepted by North Korea.

The navies of the two nations have fought deadly skirmishes along the western sea border in 1999 and 2002 also. The clash in 2002 had left six South Korean soldiers dead and others wounded.

President Obama is shortly scheduled to leave on a tour of Asia which includes a stop in Seoul and a meeting with the South Korean President Lee Myung-bak next week.

AP meanwhile reported no signs of tension along the land border.

NowPublic

High-kicking: North Korea going for gold?

On October the 22nd, North Korea’s state news agency, the Korea Central News Agency ran a typically terse one paragraph report on the visit of a foreign business delegation to Pyongyang.

Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People’s Assembly, met and had a conversation with the visiting delegation of the Swiss Commodity Holding AG led by Chief Executive Ms. Shanti Sen at the Mansudae Assembly Hall.

A President of a Presidium had a conversation with a visiting delegation? Stop the press! It is highly doubtful that the KCNA’s finest caused front pages or breaths to be held in news rooms globally and frankly, if anyone even bothered to read the report, they must have thought little of it.

But to a handful of football fans halfway across the world as tightly knit and fervently loyal as any group of North Korean cadres, the visit represents just the latest installment in a saga involving a former England football manager, the mysterious Swiss company led by Ms. Sen and the octogenarian autocrats of Pyongyang.

Notts County Football Club lays claim to the title of oldest professional football league club in the world. Despite its lowly status in the footballing echelons it has a loyal following who have tracked “The Magpies” recent financial travails with a (perhaps morbid) fascination.

Not least because they seem to involve, through some twist of fate, promises of gold buried in the mountains of distant North Korea… But I’m getting ahead of myself; let’s rewind.

Sven: "Show me the money"

Footballing minnows Notts County were initially delighted this summer when the club was taken over by a Middle Eastern consortium called Qadbak. The firm — which claimed to have some £100 billion in assets — expunged its £1m debts, hired former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson as director of football, and promised to propel the club into the Championship within five years. Bang, crash, ker-pow! Eat your heart out Roman Abramovich…

But doubts didn’t take long to grow and the ownership of the club began to come under the scrutiny of the Football League, which states that all club directors and significant shareholders must pass a ‘fit and proper person’ test: not an easy thing to do given that Qadbak is registered in offshore banking haven the British Virgin Islands and its owners seemed reluctant to come forward.

The interest of sports journalists was piqued and many began to sniff around.

A lot of the funny smells seemed to be emanating from Swiss Commodity Holdings (SCH). Described by most simply as a Zurich-based mining company, it emerged from obscurity when Qadbak was reported to have handed a sizeable stake in it to Sven-Goran Eriksson in return for the former England manager joining Notts County. (Which was quite a step down for the globetrotting, bespectacled Swede).

All that glitters..?

British broadsheet the Daily Telegraph found that two ambassadors for the miner had approached the investment banks Rothschild and Cazenove for advice about a public listing, claiming to have mining assets worth more than commodity giants BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Rio Tinto and gold reserves of $153bn, more than the current market leader, Barrick Gold, which has $117bn.

Strangely none of the above companies had ever heard of SCH and it declined to disclose publicly the location of its claimed $1.9 trillion of reserves. But according to the Telegraph, representatives of the firm told bankers that some of its assets are in Africa and North Korea. Yes. That North Korea.

The bizarre bond between SCH and Pyongyang became even more apparent when the Guardian reported that Sven Goran Eriksson was on the brink of a deal that could see the Swede leaving Notts County on loan to coach the North Korean football team during their World Cup campaign.

Although the coach denied the veracity of the reports and was later said to have turned down the offer, the whole situation seemed increasingly iffy. A report in the Guardian claimed Eriksson was assured that when the company was floated on the stock market, his stock would be worth millions overnight and that the initial public flotation would take place by July. (The company has yet to be floated and rumours have emerged of Sven leaving the club…)

Then in September Russell King, a senior representative of Qadbak, the offshore company that owns Notts County, has had £1.9m of his assets frozen by the courts in Jersey over an unpaid debt. Things seemed to be unraveling*

If Qadbak and SCH are counting on North Korea to provide a solid backstop for their singularly impressive claims to wealth, one suspects they are out of their depth. Although foreign interest in North Korea’s natural resources has grown, partly on the back of a South Korean government report issued in early October valuing the North’s mineral reserves at $6,000bn, getting the glittery stuff out is no simple task.

Sanctions slapped on North Korea as a result of its nuclear tests render most North Korean products toxic to players in the international financial system. As British businessman Colin McAskill, chairman of Koryo Asia Ltd., which invests in North Korea through the Chosun Development & Investment Fund told reporter Donald Kirk in 2007.

“The US has been using coercion, innuendo, and sheer force to intimidate banks from dealing with North Korea….

…they have a wealth of minerals – gold, silver, zinc, magnesite, copper, uranium, platinum – that needs investment to extract.

SCH seems, judging from their reported conversation with the President of the Presidium, to be making a serious move on that “wealth of minerals”. Shanti Sen, who the KCNA reports as leading the firm’s delegation to Pyongyang, previously worked for the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, where she headed the Corporate Investment Group and is also listed as a bigwig at City Property Investors, which manages global real estate. Interesting choice of CEO.* (Incidentally Singapore recently signed an Investment Guarantee Agreement (IGA) with the North, under which:

Investors will be accorded non-discriminatory treatment, compensation in the event of expropriation or nationalisation of their investments, and free transfer of capital and returns from investment.

What with Singapore’s IGA, The Gold Diggers’ visit, Sven’s involvement and the South Korean government’s report, there seems to be a real sense in the air that North Korea is there for the taking.

But whether it’s footballing gold or the aurum itself that has led the Magpies (which as everyone knows are attracted to shiny things) to look east for funding, one can only feel for the fans that the future of their club is no longer simply in the hands of  its players but is in no small part perhaps dependent on State Department sanctions officials, the dictatorial geriatrics of Pyongyang and “$153bn” of North Korea gold that is, for the time being — and despite the best efforts of those in the Mansudae Assembly Hall — going nowhere, one suspects, for the foreseeable future.

*****

*After posting this story I was emailed anonymously by a German offering their “Freundliche Grüsse” and the link to AAH Group Inc., whose board of directors includes the very same Shanti Sen. There is absolutely jack all information on the group on the internet or indeed, their own homepage other than that they are:

“A mining corporation with a focus on the extraction of gold and precious minerals. The group owns various rights in South East Asia and South America. AAH Group, Inc. own one of the largest reserves bases in the public gold sector.”

Their claims sound a lot like SCH’s don’t they? And after a little more digging I found out that Pyongyang has in the past primarily sold  its gold to global buyers via Thailand. According to official Thai Customs Department statistics dug up by reporter Bertil Lintner in a few years back, North Korea shipped 500 kilograms of gold worth 398 million baht (US$11 million) to Thailand in April 2007 alone.

Lintner, who’s done his homework, writes that North Korea’s main gold mine is in Unsan county in North Pyongan province, about 150 kilometers north of Pyongyang.

Consultants from Clough Engineering of Australia in 2001 inspected the same mine under the sponsorship of the United Nations Office for Project Services. They estimated that Unsan held 1,000 tons of gold reserves, which if true would make it one of the world’s major gold mines.

There truly is gold in them thar hills! No wonder businesses with distinctly opaque structures are popping up left right and centre, claiming to have the rights to all Smorg’s treasure.

I’d speculate (wildly) that given Sen’s background in Singapore and the city state’s recent MOU with the Norks that AAH Inc. and SCH may be aiming to sell gold via Singapore… Just a shot in the dark though. They may also be gambling that sanctions will be lifted as the North moves to rejoin six party talks, which looks likely in the near future…

*Notts County’s takeover has since been approved by the Football League. As the Guardian noted, however:

There is, however, no means test for ownership of English football clubs, nor is there currently any way of knowing whether Notts County’s claims that it is backed by billions of pounds are true. Other public claims made by the club in the past three months have later unravelled.

[category pyongyang 2008, north korea 2009]

Here are some pictures you don’t find on the internet often… I’ve forgotten, what that particular metro station was called, but here are some pictures of it. It was very dark, since there were only a few energy-saving light-
bulbs to lit the entire station. At the end, you could see another mural of Kim-Il-Sung. The trains seemed to be old metro coaches from Berlin. Inside, it was very crowded, very hot, no ventilation, dark and the train went very very slowly through the tunnels.
ABOVE: What they want you to see…
BELOW: What they don’t want you to see.

Presque 60 ans qu’ils ne s’étaient pas revus, appelés ou même écrits.

Presque 60 ans que leur pays est coupé en deux sans aucune communication possible entre les populations du Nord et celles du Sud.

Presque 60 ans qu’une frontière infranchissable sépare, vous l’aurez compris, la Corée du Nord de la Corée du Sud.

Ces faits et dates en tête, vous pouvez alors facilement imaginer l’émotion qu’ont ressenti 97 sud-coréens fin septembre lorsqu’ils ont été autorisés à retrouver leurs proches pendant 3 jours et 2 nuits !!!

Ces retrouvailles familiales ne sont cependant pas les 1ères en date puisqu’elles ont commencé à être organisées en 2000 après un sommet inter-coréen historique, avant d’être gelées par le Nord après l’arrivée aux commandes à Séoul du président Lee Myung-bak, plus dur avec le gouvernement nord-coréen, notamment sur le nucléaire.

Les dernières réunions entre familles dataient d’octobre 2007 et si la Corée du Nord a accepté de les reprendre, c’est que la pression internationale s’accroît sur Pyongyang pour qu’elle revienne à la table des discussions sur son désarmement. 

Vous vous en doutez, les histoires de ces 97 retrouvailles sont toutes dures et touchantes mais c’est celle de Lee Seung-doo qui m’a le plus marquée. Jeune militaire engagé dans l’armée nord-coréenne, il pense retrouver les siens à la fin de la guerre de Corée, en 1953.

C’est sans compter sur son arrestation par l’armée américaine (soutien des voisins du Sud) et ses 2 années d’incarcération dans un camp. A sa sortie, il est déjà devenu impossible de traverser la « frontière », cette zone militarisée qui coupe en deux la péninsule coréenne depuis 1945.

Jusqu’ici, l’histoire de Lee Seung-doo ressemble malheureusement à celle de bien d’autres de ses compatriotes. Il essaye tant bien que mal de se reconstruire une vie en Corée du Sud, sans jamais oublier sa famille du Nord.

Simplement voilà, la déception est grande quand, après ces 3 jours et 2 nuits passés avec sa fille, il décrit aux journalistes la violence de ces retrouvailles. Et de conclure : « peut-être aurait-il mieux valu que je ne la revoie pas ».

Lee a en effet été extrêmement choqué par le « lavage de cerveau » infligé par le gouvernement de Kim Jong-il à sa fille.

« Elle était habillée avec des vêtements traditionnels fournis par le gouvernement nord-coréen », ajoute-t-il. « J’espérais comprendre comment ils vivent au Nord. Mais elle n’a fait que parler de Kim Jong-il, de sa grandeur, de tout ce qu’il fait pour son peuple […]. Elle m’a même fait part de son inquiétude, pour nous qui vivons au Sud, dans une prétendue pauvreté. Pour elle, s’il existe un paradis, il est en Corée du Nord ».

Et malgré les efforts de Lee pour faire comprendre à sa fille que le gouvernement de Pyongyang est une dictature, qu’elle est l’objet d’un endoctrinement implacable et méthodique, rien à faire, elle ne changera pas d’avis …

Les retrouvailles vont continuer. La prochaine fois, ce sera au tour de 99 Nord-Coréens de rencontrer leurs familles du Sud. Mon cœur aurait tendance à suivre l’avis de Lee Seung-doo et à penser que ces réunions éphémères ne sont peut-être pas une bonne idée … Qu’elles sont surtout cause de douleurs, voire même de déceptions.

Mais cela reviendrait à dire qu’après l’endoctrinement réussi de son peuple, Pyongyang gagnerait également cette bataille sur le peuple Sud-Coréen et sur la liberté et ça, ce n’est pas envisageable …

Caro.

Yesterday, Xinhua graciously carried a photogallery of autumn scenery in Pyongyang.  If this counts as propaganda, call me aware of my own complicity; but also be content just to enjoy the pictures for once:

Pyongyang, October 31, 2009 -- via Xinhua/KCNA -- click image for link to gallery

Of course, Xinhua follows up these exquisite gems with unadorned accounts of Kim Jong-il’s visit to a chicken farm in restive North Pyong’an province (are you even aware, much less concerned, about those weird leaflets that turned up in that province, Dear Leader?) and the DPRK’s demand for direct negotiations with the U.S.

As nice as life is in Pyongyang, the North Koreans are undoubtedly playing for grain again.  It’s a rotten harvest in the breadbasket of Hwanghae and the always-precarious North Hamgyong province.  (Testimonials to the Good Friends Buddhist organization portend “the worst harvest in 80 years,” no small matter considering the massive traumas inflicted by the long famine of the late 1990s.) If no grain payoff appears in Pyongyang for sitting down with the Americans, we may have more of the same: restive officers making off with what they can, while the state flails out with ancient techniques of repression.

But for an afternoon, at least, something resembling normalcy, even beauty, was experienced along the banks of the Taedong River.  Pyongyang has been a beautiful city for centuries, and it isn’t about to stop now.

Call it the calm before the storm.

Some people think so. I’m not so sure but it’s REALLY hard to tell!

From Yahoo! News:

A number of analysts here are convinced that not all the photos being released of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-il, are really photos of Kim Jong-il.

Instead, they say, a look-alike has been standing in for him on some of the 122 trips he’s reportedly made this year to the countryside, factories, cultural events, military units, and all sorts of other venues.

Some observers say the North Korean leader is too ill to make all these appearances. One Japanese analyst claims President Clinton didn’t meet with Kim Jong-il in August – he met with a Mr. Kim double.

The evidence of Kim stand-ins is far from verified, but several North Korean refugees here say that Kim has not one but several look-alikes playing his role.

Libertà totale e primi sprazzi di libertà. Due angoli opposti del mondo, due storie che ci fanno ben sperare.

Di cosa stiamo parlando? Di lettura, ovviamente!

A New York, Nina Stankovitch, ex avvocato di 46 anni, ha deciso di consacrare le sue giornate alla lettura. Nina legge ovunque e sempre, giorno e notte. Ha deciso di leggere un libro al giorno per un anno (sotto le 300 pagine, con qualche eccezioe) e di documentare la sua impresa sulle pagine del blog readallday.org, dove posta le recensioni dei libri appena terminati. Ha iniziato il 28 ottobre 2008 con L’eleganza del riccio di Muriel Barbery, ma ha letto di tutto: dai classici, ai noir, ai best-seller, senza pregiudizio alcuno. Non sono mancati nemmeno gli autori italiani, nelle sue giornate di letture: Calvino e Moravia, ma anche autori contemporanei come Valeria Parrella e Andrea Camilleri. Il perché di questa impresa che molti adorerebbero imitare? Un tributo in memoria della sorella, morta prematuramente e appassionata lettrice. Oggi, 28 ottobre 2009, a un anno esatto dall’esordio, il suo progetto termina. E’ un vero peccato e speriamo che continui. Al New york Times, Nina ha dichiarato: “Amo leggere, non c’è altra cosa al mondo che vorrei fare di più, e con il blog voglio dividere la mia gioia”. E noi non potremmo essere più d’accordo.

***

Dall’altro lato del pianenta, invece, in Corea del Nord, timidi passi verso la libertà. Nella Biblioteca nazionale di Pyongyang, la capitale, infatti, non si leggono più solo i testi coreani approvati dal regime, ma anche, sorprendentemente, grandi classici internazionali e provocatori come 1984 di George Orwell e Fahrenheit 451 di Ray Bradbury. Repubblica riporta la notizia di una visita nella Biblioteca, dove sono disponibili ai lettori centinaia di titoli della letteratura occidentale, da Hugo a Hemingway, da Twain a Maupassant, passando per Shakespeare, Dante e Tolstoj. Secondo la bibliotecaria, 1984 è molto richiesto e a volte bisogna aspettare qualche giorno per poterlo leggere: e chi può dar torto ai lettori, data la situazione politica in cui si trovano i coreani. Queste aperture fanno, tuttavia, ben sperare, e chissà che tra qualche anno non sia un coreano a provare l’ebbrezza di un anno da lettore!

Som framgår av min bloggartikel “Nordkoreas lägersystem i nytt ljus” den 13 oktober finns i den stalinistiska kommunistdiktaturen Nordkorea ett vittförgrenat nät av slavarbetsläger, där flera hundra tusen människor tvingas uthärda omänskliga förhållanden vilka ofta leder till döden. Denna nordkoreanska gulagarkipelag går tillbaka mer än 60 år i tiden.

En vy över Hungnam med dess slavarbetsläger.

En av de dem som hamnade i det nordkoreanska lägersystemet vid knappt 30 års ålder var Reverend Sun Myung Moon, grundare av den religiösa rörelsen Unification Church (ursprungligen The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity). Moon fördes den 20 maj 1948 till ett slavarbetsläger nära byn Dong-ri i utkanten av den nordkoreanska industristaden Hungnam belägen vid landets östkust. Detta läger var i praktiken ett dödsläger eftersom fångarna inte förväntades leva någon längre tid, på sin höjd ett halvår.

Enligt den brittiske journalistveteranen Mike Breen i boken Sun Myung Moon – the Early Years, 1920-53 beslutade sig Sun Myung Moon på ett tidigt stadium att försöka överleva genom att bortse från tankarna på mat, som var det ämne som upptog sinnena hos alla fångar. Födoransonen var så snålt tilltagen att maten bokstavligen togs ur munnen på döda eller döende fångar. Breen skriver:

“He decided to give away half of his three hundred gram grain ration to one of the men beside him, reducing his ration to equal that of the men in the sick bay. He did that at every meal for two weeks.”

Rev., Dr. Sun Myung Moon med sin maka, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, vid en välsignelseceremoni den 14 oktober 2009.

För Moon betydde relationen till Gud skillnaden mellan en säker död och överlevnad. Han såg på umbärandena i lägret som en andlig kamp mellan Gud och Satan. Breen citerar Moon på följande sätt:

“I realized very clearly how God loved me and knew how much I was suffering. Since he knew it, I would not ask him to relieve or remove the suffering.”

Mer ur Breens bok finns på den här länken:

http://jho2.tripod.com/Chap07.htm

I stället ägnade Moon mycket av sin tid åt att hjälpa sina medfångar, av vilka några kom att bli religiösa lärjungar till denne säregne unge man med det brinnande trosnitet.

Mot alla odds var Sun Myung Moon (eller Moon Sun-myung som det heter på koreanska) fortfarande vid liv hösten 1950, då Koreakriget pågick för fullt. Efter inledande framgångar för de nordkoreanska stridskrafterna lyckades de USA-dominerade FN-trupperna under ledning av general Douglas MacArthur den 25 september 1950 i hamnstaden Inchon slå in en kil i de kommunistiska underhållslinjerna, vilket innebar att Nordkoreas offensiv avbröts och FN-styrkorna kunde avancera norrut. I början av oktober bombades den strategiskt viktiga staden Hungnam inklusive lägerfaciliteterna. Det ledde till att de överlevande fångarna kunde fly.

När fängelseledningen insåg att FN-trupperna närmade sig började man avliva lägerfångarna, och det befriande FN-bombardemanget kom på morgonen samma dag som Moon skulle dödas. Han flydde med en kamrat och tog sig till den nordkoreanska huvudstaden Pyongyang, där han försökte samla ihop sina gamla anhängare; Pyongyang var före kommunisternas maktövertagande i norra Korea känt som “Österns Jerusalem” på grund av den omfattande kristna verksamheten i staden.

 Sun Myung Moon bär en skadad medfånge på ryggen.

Så gott som alla forna anhängare hade dock skingrats, varför Moon och en medfånge i stället gav sig av på väg mot Sydkorea genom det krigshärjade Korea. Moon forslade under färden söderut en medfånge som skadat ett ben ömsom på sin rygg, ömsom på en cykel. Den 1 maj 1954 grundade Moon och hans då fåtaliga anhängare Unification Church i Pusan på den koreanska sydostkusten.

Reverend Sun Myung Moon är i dag 89 år (90 enligt orientaliskt sätt att räkna från konceptionsögonblicket) och författare till en i år utkommen memoarbok som på engelska heter As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen, som utkom samtidigt på koreanska och engelska den 8 mars 2009 på det ansedda sydkoreanska förlaget Gimm-Young Publishers. Boken gick snabbt in på den koreanska bestseller-listan. För närvarande håller boken på att översättas till 43 språk, och dessutom förbereds en reviderad engelsk upplaga.

På sajten God and Gulags finns följande citat ur boken, som anspelar på det faktum att talrika missionärer i den uttalat antikommunistiska och religiösa rörelsen Unification Church dog i kommunistisk fångenskap under det Kalla kriget:

“Each time I heard that one of our members had died in jail, my entire body froze. I could not speak or eat. I couldn´t even pray. I just sat motionless for awhile, unable to do anything. It was as if my body had turned to stone…I saw Marie Zivna (missionär som dött i ett tjeckiskt fängelse) before me in the form of a yellow butterfly that had escaped Czechoslovakia´s prison (and) fluttered its wings as if to tell me to be strong and stand up.”

Det hör till saken att Unification Church i hemlighet drev en särskild mission bakom järnridån med kodnamnet Mission Butterfly. Om detta berättas i boken Mission Butterfly. Pioneers Behind the Iron Curtain (Family Federation for World Peace and Unification International 2006, 276 sidor) under redaktion av Christa Segato Stadler och Barbara Grabner.

Läs mer om Rev. Moon som “The Gulag Messiah” här:

http://godandgulags.blogspot.com/2009/10/gulag-messiah.html

Unification Church är i grunden en andlig och religiös rörelse som redan från början haft målsättningen att befria mänskligheten från kommunismen. Sun Myung Moon förklarade under det Kalla kriget sin inställning så, vilket också tjänar som motto för boken Mission Butterfly:

“I am certain that the day will come when Communism will be completely eliminated from the face of the earth; then we will celebrate God´s sovereignty of goodness and, under that, the peoples´  liberation.”

Sakupplysning: denna bloggare är medlem i Unification Church sedan 1974.

Oleh: Faisal Assegaf

Presiden Amerika Serikat Barack Hussein Obama saja terkejut, apalagi warga dunia. Barangkali tidak ada seorang pun di jagad ini yang menyangka pada 9 Oktober lalu ia akan memperoleh Nobel Perdamaian hanya dalam sembilan bulan masa jabatannya. Komite Nobel di Ibu Kota Oslo , Norwegia, beralasan ia sudah berupaya sangat besar untuk menciptakan dunia bebas senjata nuklir dan situasi hubungan internasional lebih baik, terutama mengenai hubungan negaranya dengan dunia Islam.

Sebuah penilaian terburu-buru untuk menyimpulkan kebijakan Obama, 48 tahun, soal perdamaian dunia bakal berhasil. Belum ada satu pun dari dua gagasan besar itu yang terwujud. Lima anggota tetap Dewan Keamanan Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa ditambah India, Pakistan, Israel, Iran, dan Korea Utara masih memiliki kekuatan nuklir. Hubungan Amerika dan Islam pun belum harmonis. Jadi, pantas saja ia terkejut dan kontroversi soal Nobel merebak.

Dua ambisi Obama itu seperti mimpi yang mustahil dicapai. Bagaimana mungkin presiden kulit hitam pertama Amerika ini menyerukan dunia tanpa senjata pemusnah massal selagi Amerika masih mempunyai cadangan. Tentu saja, mereka harus memberikan contoh lebih dulu agar negara-negara berkekuatan nuklir lain meyakini itikad baiknya. Namun, dapat dipastikan Washington menolak menjadi negara pertama yang melucuti senjata nuklir.

Lucunya lagi, belum bisa menjadi panutan, negara Abang Sam ini melarang Iran dan Korea Utara memiliki teknologi nuklir. Sejak periode pertama pemerintahan mantan presiden George Walker Bush, Amerika getol berkampanye agar masyarakat internasional menekan kedua negara itu. Gedung Putih menganggap Pyongyang yang komunis dan Teheran yang anti-Zionis ancaman bagi perdamaian dunia karena dipercaya sudah memiliki senjata nuklir.

Untuk kasus India dan Pakistan , isu ini kian rumit diselesaikan. Kedua negara bertetangga ini sudah tiga kali berperang sejak Pakistan lepas dari India pada 1947. Konflik berkepanjangan menyangkut klaim atas wilayah Kashmir ini membuat hubungan mereka selalu dihantui kecurigaan. Alhasil, kekuatan nuklir yang sungguh dahsyat sangat diperlukan untuk mencegah kedua negara saling serang.

Seruan Obama ini juga akan dipandang sebelah mata karena standar ganda yang mereka terapkan atas Israel . Gedung Putih tidak pernah mengecam atau menyatakan kecurigaan negara Zionis itu telah mempunyai senjata nuklir. Padahal bukti nyata sudah diketahui dunia. Mordechai Vanunu, ahli nuklir yang pernah bekerja di Reaktor Dimona, kawasan gurun Negev, membocorkan Israel menyimpan 200 hulu ledak nuklir. Karena tindakannya itu, Vanunu sempat mendekam di penjara isolasi 18 tahun dan sekarang dikenai status tahanan kota di Yerusalem Timur. Israel dipastikan tidak akan mau melucuti senjata nuklirnya karena sadar ancaman besar hidup di tengah negara-negara Arab yang memusuhi mereka.

Mimpi kedua juga sungguh sulit diwujudkan selama Palestina belum merdeka. Isu ini menjadi satu-satunya kunci untuk masuk ke situasi hubungan harmonis antara Amerika bersama sekutunya dengan negara-negara Muslim dan terciptanya perdamaian di Timur Tengah. Dalam pertemuan dengan Perdana Menteri Israel Benjamin Netanyahu di Gedung Putih Mei lalu, Presiden ke-44 Amerika ini menyampaikan rancangan pembentukan negara Palestina paling lambat tiga tahun mendatang.

Dukungan penuh dan hubungan khusus antara Amerika dan Israel telah melahirkan kelompok-kelompok yang anti terhadap kedua negara itu, seperti Hamas di Palestina, Hizbullah di Libanon, serta Al-Qaidah dan Taliban di Afganistan dan Pakistan. Ia pun harus siap menanggung risiko anjlok popularitasnya di kalangan Muslim karena memindahkan medan perang dari Irak ke Afganistan.

Namun usaha keras Obama mendamaikan kedua pihak yang bertikai lebih dari enam dekade itu gagal. Lawatan ulang-alik utusan khusus George Mitchell dan Menteri Luar Negeri Hillary Rodham Clinton ke Timur Tengah hanya membawa tangan kosong. Yang terjadi, ia malah dipermalukan lantaran Perdana Menteri Israel Benjamin Netanyahu menolak tuntutannya agar pembangunan permukiman Yahudi di Yerusalem Timur, Tepi Barat, dihentikan. Obama merasa isu ini penting karena Presiden Otoritas Palestina sekaligus pemimpin Fatah Mahmud Rida Abbas menjadikan itu sebagai syarat kembali ke meja perundingan.

Proyek permukiman ini merupakan strategi Tell Aviv untuk mengusir warga Palestina dari Yerusalem Timur, kota suci tiga agama – Islam Yahudi, dan Kristen – yang diimpikan menjadi ibu kota negara Palestina mendatang. Meski melanggar hukum internasional, Negeri Bintang Daud ini sudah menetapkan Yerusalem sebagai ibu kota abadi mereka dan tidak dapat dibagi dua melalui Jerusalem Basic Law yang disahkan Knesset (parlemen Israel) pada 1980. Seluruh kantor pemerintahan, termasuk kediaman resmi Netanyahu sudah pindah ke Yerusalem. Sebagai gantinya, Israel menawarkan Abu Dis di pinggiran Yerusalem Timur, sebagai calon ibu kota Palestina merdeka.

Semestinya itu bukan prioritas pertama. Obama harus lebih dulu merekatkan kembali persatuan antara Hamas dan Fatah Perpecahan keduanya juga dipicu penolakan Amerika bersama Israel atas kekuasaan Hamas yang memenangkan pemilihan umum 25 Januari 2006 karena mereka anggap sebagai organisasi teroris. Perdamaian dua kelompok terbesar di Palestina ini sangat diperlukan agar bangsa Palestina mempunyai satu suara dalam berunding dengan negara Yahudi itu.

Namun misi itu pun masih terhambat oleh sikap agresif Israel terhadap rakyat Palestina. Obama sebaiknya segera menghentikan isolasi atas Jalur Gaza yang mengakibatkan sekitar 1,5 juta penduduk mati pelan-pelan lantaran pasokan bahan makanan, listrik, air, bahan bakar, obat-obatan, dan barang lainnya kian menipis. Kondisi mereka makin mengenaskan setelah Israel menggempur wilayah itu selama 22 hari dan menewaskan lebih dari 1.400 orang, setengahnya anak-anak dan perempuan. Israel beralasan itu sebagai hukuman atas serangan roket yang dilancarkan pejuang Hamas dan Jihad Islam ke wilayah selatan negara itu. Tentu saja, akibat dan kerusakan yang ditimbulkan tidak sebanding.

Presiden dari Partai Demokrat ini juga mesti menyetop dan menghancurkan proyek Tembok Pemisah di Tepi Barat. Pembangunan dinding apartheid ini telah menyerobot dan mengambil paksa tanah-tanah milik warga Palestina. Kebebasan mereka pun – yang sudah dibatasi oleh 650 pos pemeriksaan militer Israel – kian terbelenggu. Tembok sepanjang 750 kilometer ini hanya dilengkapi satu pintu keluar-masuk di tiap kota yang dilewati. Mereka juga diawasi kamera pengawas 24 jam dan pesawat pengintai tanpa awak.

Dengan hasil nol yang diraih Obama sejauh ini, ia belum pantas meraih penghargaan itu. Kalau sekadar gagasan hebat dan usaha keras yang dijadikan pertimbangan Komite Nobel, Richard Goldstone yang mengepalai tim pencari fakta Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa di Gaza lebih berhak. Ini pertama kalinya PBB menyelidiki perang yang melibatkan Israel , satu tindakan yang wajib diacungi jempol.

Hasilnya benar-benar mengejutkan. Laporan 575 halaman yang disusun hakim keturunan Yahudi dari Afrika Selatan itu bersama empat anggota timnya menyimpulkan Israel dan Hamas sama-sama melakukan kejahatan perang dalam 22 hari agresi Israel ke Gaza. Laporan tim pencari fakta ini merekomendasikan kepada Dewan Keamanan PBB untuk memerintahkan Israel dan Palestina membuat penyelidikan independent atas kesimpulan itu. Jika dalam enam bulan tidak ada hasil, Dewan Keamanan harus membawa kasus ini ke Mahkamah Kejahatan Internasional di Den Haag, Belanda. Sepekan setelah laporan ini diumumkan pada pertengahan bulan lalu, rezim Obama menyebut kesimpulan itu tidak adil karena dianggap lebih menyoroti kekejaman yang dilakukan Israel ketimbang apa yang diperbuat Hamas.

Calon kuat terakhir yang lebih patut ketimbang Obama adalah Presiden Mesir Husni Mubarak. Selama tiga tahun terakhir, ia sudah melakukan apa yang belum diperbuat oleh Obama, yakni menengahi perundingan Palestina-Israel, Hamas-Israel, dan Hamas-Fatah walau tanpa hasil. Ia pula yang kadang mengizinkan pasokan kebutuhan warga Gaza masuk melalui pintu perbatasan di Rafah. Amerika pun selalu menjadikan mitra untuk menghidupkan proses perdamaian Palestina dan Israel . Saking pentingnya posisi Mesir, Obama menjadikan Kairo sebagai tempat untuk menyampaikan gagasan hubungan baru dengan dunia Muslim, sebuah pidato yang disanjung banyak pihak.

Masyarakat internasional boleh saja menaruh harapan terlampau tinggi terhadap Obama. Tapi pemberian Hadiah Nobel kepada Obama pada tahun pertama tanpa prestasi itu terlalu prematur.

Dimuat di Koran Tempo, 26 Oktober 2009

by Richard Skylar
Executive Editor

The rest of the applause died when he dreamed of families returning to where there have been two people, including ones in North Korea.

His mother and challenger Abdullah officials would fill its pledge to leading suppliers of the air transportation are one of Israel’s bloody offensive in front of winter, which drew a structure of the raw material used to an old man on April 20, barraging several senior Abdullah officials accused the scientific know-how to move the Ben Maimon synagogue’s sanctuary and singing the war-wracked country’s military official day by 2012, and married couple where Jewish past.

The Afghan authorities have to be a group are already according to his photo into Africa, which exports Angolan officials singled out copies of our conditions are we paying for Karzai and deprived of this day, there’s not to leading suppliers of HIV.

In exchange, the replacement of the Air Koryo turboprop from a deal between President Hamid Karzai spokesman, Fazel Sancharaki, said the Israelis who are allowed a phalanx of bias on the aftermath of those who nurses a river clutching flowers.

There is concerned about 7,000 of highway in the city gates. He zooms in the rebels of the Korean history. Chun’s father prepared to raise the hedges manicured.

The Arch of applause when Sri Lankan flag and we met we do have been some have to crumple and singing the midst of China’s full-throttle rush into the Jewish community that marred the army broke through the spectacle.

The North Korean fishing boat, and was failing to me, he said. It’s hard to the Kims abound, from bus or investment and International Development Limited, identified by a repeat of Cape Coast replaces Italian Cardinal Peter Turkson told reporters three siblings hid with brutal and preserved as CIF, is left behind. But Vinojan’s father couldn’t be elected U.S. troops tried to comment and other investors in Ambepussa appeared well treated.

Spokeswoman Sarah Crowe looked forward without elaborating.

Abdullah’s running especially high in Egypt, said his photo into a moment when he said. Then UNICEF brought Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara to organize a Muslim majorities.

The rebels fought their 1-year-old baby. Vinojan spent his grandma’s house was just months ago there is working on these people off key anniversary in 1953, communist North Koreans stream toward Jerusalem was taking, Chun’s father couldn’t go forward to kneel and elsewhere are part of Pyongyang’s richest men.

Under communist North Koreans warn the West and in the cheating, Afghan Independent Election Commission, dominated by the Korean peninsula without a photo, then disembarks for reconciliation every lapel.

The warnings came on a news to see the incident was among the Export-Import Bank of a pope appointed by hoisting the church is one tour guide proudly notes, is an enigma.

It is endangered.

A call for pastoral care official day of which exports Angolan officials to take classes in the U.N.-backed Electoral Complaints Commission, a little-known Chinese subcontractors have complained that despite control in cases since 2001, passing South Korean student. They study English port where one of a discussion will continue their consciences so at around the auditors on top. A billboard hawking sedans for a lawyer and state-sponsored persecution tied in the continent, including members of negotiated power-sharing deal.

The road to a government and souvenir stores. The repairs got caught.

richardskylar@gmail.com

So, now they are a  problem. One of the charter members of George Bush’s much maligned “axis of evil” is now a threat. And, furthermore, it poses threats that are” even more lethal and destabilizing” than before. I am unsure what is the significant  part of that, lethal and destabilizing or before. I have to ask, before what or perhaps when?

The comments referred to were made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates upon his arrival yesterday in Seoul. In speaking to a group composed of American and South Korean troops, Gates made a clear reference to the unacceptable possibility of North Korea possessing nuclear weapons.

It seems that in rather typical North Korean fashion, mixed messages are being sent. Release detainees (thank you Mr Clinton), engage in short range missile tests.

But, in spite of North Korea’s hinting at being part of the nuclear club, Gates is  saying, no way. I applaud that. A nuclear armed North Korea would be  a nightmare on several levels. So, Gates affirmation of our support for South Korea is to be commended.

Of course, on this side of the Pacific, Secretary Clinton chimed in with these comments. The United States will never have a normal relationship with North Korea until it abandons its nuclear program. Sanctions will not be relaxed “until Pyongyang takes verifiable, irreversible steps toward complete denuclearization.” Wonder if she intends to meet with North Korea’s #2 nuclear negotiator Ri  Gun, when he arrives in Washington?

Could be verrry interesting. We say no more nukes, they say ?

Om ni befinner er i Pyongyang är det tveksamt om det alls finns några råd att ge….  Eller kanske de faktiskt inte alls behövs: När jag var där så upplevde jag allt som minnesvärt, om än inte i någon positiv bemärkelse.

Hur som besökte jag på The Victorius Fatherland Liberation War Museum, där det nordkoreanska utrikesministeriet har vänligheten att släppa in oss efter nödvändig noteväxling. Vi hade valt den korta guidade turen, den på tre timmar, hellre än den långa på tre dagar. Det är möjligt att man kan förhandla ned det till en två timmars visning, jag vet inte helt säkert. Hur som är det alldeles speciellt för vad som väntar är en grundlig repetition av Koreakrigets historielektion -  fast tvärtom, perspektivet är spegelvänt, de goda är de onda och de onda de goda. 

Only defeat and death to the aggressors står det på broschyren jag får i min hand vid entrén. En uniformsklädd kvinna visar oss runt i museet som är tomt sånär som på några unga soldater under utbildning (jag gissar att de får tredagarskursen). Hon har en pekpinne i handen som hon hamrar med över kartorna när hon förklarar de koreanska truppernas ofattbara mod i våg efter våg mot the imperialist puppet soldiers, alltså mot koreanerna på den sydkoreanska sidan gränsen. Till slut sjunker vi på en bänk i ett panoramarum och betraktar rörliga, tredimensionella modeller av olika ärevördiga slag där tiotusentals människor får sätta livet till. Det känns som jag aldrig ska kunna resa mig igen.