Thus I rely on translation from a certain flagship paper for my region (sigh).
I can't describe to you the joy and elation I felt after my last post when a series of articles in my Boston Globe seemed to be indicating peace talks were heating up. I was so looking forward to putting up a post in celebration (however brief), and then it was all ruined by by War Press:
"North Korea cracks down on defectors" by Chris Brummitt | Associated Press, June 13, 2013
SEOUL — North Korea’s prison population has swelled with those caught fleeing the country under a crackdown on defections by young leader Kim Jong Un, according to defectors in South Korea and researchers who study Pyongyang’s notorious network of labor camps and detention centers.
Oh, they have their own Gitmos and black site prisons, too?
Soon after he succeeded his father as North Korea’s leader, Kim is believed to have tightened security on the borders and pressured Pyongyang’s neighbor and main ally, China, to repatriate anyone caught on its side. In interviews and accounts collected by human rights groups, North Koreans able to leave the country say those who are caught are sent to brutal facilities where they number in the thousands.
“They are tightening the noose,” said Insung Kim, at the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights. He interviews most defectors soon after they arrive in South Korea. “This is to set an example to the North Korean people.”
The plight of those caught fleeing the North was highlighted last month when nine young North Koreans were detained in Laos, a key stop along a clandestine escape route through Southeast Asia that had previously been thought safe. Instead, the Lao government turned them over to Pyongyang. While the high-profile nature of their repatriation might offer some protection, human rights group fear for them.
“Forced repatriation from China is a pathway to pain, suffering, and violence,” according to “Hidden Gulags,” an exhaustive 2012 study on the prison camps by veteran human rights researcher and author David Hawk. “Arbitrary detention, torture, and forced labor are inflicted upon many repatriated North Koreans.”
Who am I -- as an AmeriKan citizen -- to criticize?
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Of course, it's the North Koreans that have to be pressured and urged to talk as Kerry gasses up the greenhouse in a show of military force.
‘‘North Korea may not be testing long-range missiles or nuclear weapons right now but its WMD program is moving ahead,’’ said former State Department official Joel Wit, editor of the institute’s website, 38 North. The abbreviation WMD stands for weapons of mass destruction."
Even if they do it isn't worth another f***ing war -- especially when the EUSraeli empire is using them all the time.
Btw, have you so quickly forgotten the run-up to the Iraq invasion?
And yet the Koreans are still trying to communicate their point with us?
"North Korea seeks talks with US" by Jean H. Lee | Associated Press, June 17, 2013
PYONGYANG, North Korea — After months of threatening to wage a nuclear war, North Korea did an about-face Sunday and issued a surprise proposal to the United States, its top enemy: Let’s talk.
But the invitation from North Korea’s National Defense Commission, the powerful governing body led by leader Kim Jong Un, comes with caveats: No preconditions and no demands that Pyongyang give up its prized nuclear assets unless Washington is willing to do the same — ground rules that make it hard for the Americans to accept.
Who do they think they are, Israel?
Washington responded by saying that it is open to talks, but only if North Korea shows it will comply with UN Security Council resolutions and live up to its international obligations....
Tell it to Israel first and foremost, then get back to the rest of us.
Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the National Security Council, said, ‘‘We will judge North Korea by its actions, and not its words.’’
They haven't done anything.
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"China and North Korea to hold talks this week" Associated Press, June 18, 2013
BEIJING — On Monday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States has seen no evidence that Pyongyang’s offer of talks is different from numerous others it has made over the years that have yielded little....
The North Korean proposal is expected to be discussed in meetings this week in Washington involving US, Japanese and South Korean officials....
China has backed United Nations sanctions against the North, but would be unwilling to come down more harshly on its ally, Zhang Yunling, director of international studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told a forum in Beijing on Monday.
Yeah, they want to TALK instead!
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"S. Korea, China urge N. Korea to talk" by William Wan | Washington Post, June 28, 2013
BEIJING — Underscoring her hope of strengthening and leveraging economic ties with China, South Korea’s new president, Park Geun-hye, was accompanied by executives from South Korea’s biggest companies, including Samsung, LG, and Hyundai Motors.
No wonder the U.S. press is trying to kick around North Korea.
The unusually large 71-member business contingent highlights the enormous volume of trade between the two countries — worth $215 billion last year — and South Korea’s status as one of the few countries to post a trade surplus with China.
As for China, analysts say it is using the meetings with Park to signal displeasure with North Korea and increase pressure on its government. Many note that Park is meeting with China’s president Xi Jinping before North Korea’s young new leader, Kim Jong Un, has had an opportunity to do so.
He already sent other representatives.
A visit by Kim to Beijing has not been possible given the recent chill in relations between China and the North, said Zhang Liangui, a specialist on North Korea at the Central Party School, which is run by the ruling Communist Party....
Chinese officials are considered unlikely to abandon North Korea soon, fearful of the instability, the swarms of refugees, and the unified, US-friendly Korean government that might ensue on its doorstep.
Still....
Looking like no wants war but US.
“Chinese residents had some sympathy toward North Korea, more or less, but right now, Chinese are very disappointed and feel North Korea is almost laughable,” said Jin Canrong, an international relations professor at Renmin University.
Everyone feels that way about people who are bullied.
In the past, Jin added, China was reluctant to publicly discuss North Korean issues with the South or the United States, out of consideration for its ally’s feelings.
“But now, China doesn’t care what North Korea thinks at all and discusses these agendas openly in public,” he said.
That's what North Korea appears to want, too.
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"Koreas start factory talks; Delegates discuss joint operation shut amid tensions" Associated Press, July 06, 2013
SEOUL — The talks started just before noon, and were still going Saturday evening....
That makes me so happy!
As the park remained shuttered, South Korean businesses that operated in Kaesong sought rescue funds from the government.
A bailout?
Some South Korean businesspeople who were forced to leave their Kaesong factories behind sent a message to government officials as they headed to the talks Saturday, holding placards that read ‘‘We want to work.’’
The closure meant a loss of salary for tens of thousands of North Korean workers employed in factories run by 123 South Korean companies, and a loss of goods and orders for business managers who relied on Kaesong to churn out everything from shoes and watches to cables and electrical components.
At slave wages which are confiscated by the government, but it's a job.
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NEXT DAY UPDATE: Koreas to continue talks on factory complex
I'm in tears I'm so happy!
But there is still sparring with a testy silence, and I could not care less about the spy Bae.
Speaking of spies:
"Cyber-spying ring targeted South Korean, US military; Culprits infiltrate firms for secrets" by Youkyung Lee | Associated Press, July 09, 2013
SEOUL — The hackers who knocked out tens of thousands of South Korean computers simultaneously this year are out to do far more than erase hard drives, cybersecurity firms say, they also are trying to steal South Korean and US military secrets with a malicious set of codes they have been sending through the Internet for years.
The hackers’ identities and the value of any information they have acquired are not known to US and South Korean researchers who have studied line after line of computer code. But they do not dispute South Korean claims that North Korea is responsible, and other experts say the links to military spying add fuel to Seoul’s allegations....
This appears just as good talk was getting under way!
Ryan Sherstobitoff, a senior threat researcher at McAfee who gave the Associated Press a report the company is releasing later this week and analyzed code samples shared by US government partners and private customers, began his investigation after the March 20 cyberattack known as the Dark Seoul Incident....
Sherstobitoff said those responsible for the spying had infected computers by ‘‘spear phishing’’ — targeted attacks that trick users into giving up sensitive information by posing as a trusted entity.
Related:
Hacking Past and Present
Sunday Globe Specials: Chinese Chat
Maybe the U.S. should just listen for once.
The hackers hijacked about a dozen obscure Korean-language religious, social, and shopping websites in an ongoing attack it calls Operation Troy....
Is that the name they have given the latest U.S. hacking operation?
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Related:
"Asiana crash wounds South Korea’s psyche" by Foster Klug and Youkyung Lee | Associated Press, July 10, 2013
SEOUL — South Koreans take great interest in the global profile of local companies and of ethnic Koreans on the world stage. Many feel pride, for instance, seeing Samsung billboards in New York’s Times Square. And when a company’s stumbles draw international attention, there’s a collective sense of national shame, even for South Koreans who have no connection to the company beyond nationality.
‘‘In the West, the separation between governments and society and businesses is more distinct,’’ said Robert Kelly, a political science professor at Pusan National University in South Korea. ‘‘The large organizations in Korean life are not standing independently of each other; they’re working together, in unity, pursuing a grand vision of Korea Inc.’’
The attitude may stem from recent economic developments and the cozy link between autocratic political leaders and businesses in the 1960s and 1970s. After the devastation of the 1950-53 Korean War, Seoul provided easy money to big companies and controlled the imports of certain goods to protect those firms. These government-driven economic plans provided crucial early support for companies that have since become globally recognized brands, including Samsung, Hyundai, and LG.
The dizzying economic rise from poverty — sometimes dubbed the Miracle on the Han, after the river that runs through Seoul — has made South Korea the fourth-largest economy in Asia....
The successes and failures of big South Korean firms are intimately linked to this small, proud, recently developed country’s psyche....
That I don't understand.
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"Calif. crash investigators review cockpit decisions; Veteran pilot was unfamiliar with newer jet" by Martha Mendoza and Joan Lowy | Associated Press, July 09, 2013
SAN FRANCISCO — Information gleaned from the Boeing 777’s flight-data recorders revealed that the jet appeared to be descending normally until the last half-minute before impact. The autopilot was switched off at about 1,600 feet as the plane began its final descent, according to an account of the last 82 seconds of flight provided by Deborah Hersman, National Transportation Safety Board chairwoman.
Over the next 42 seconds, the plane appeared to descend normally, reaching about 500 feet and slowing to 154 miles per hour, a 777 pilot for a major airline familiar with Hersman’s description said. The pilot spoke on the condition of anonymity because his company had not approved his speaking publicly.
But something went wrong during the following 18 seconds. The plane continued slowing to 136 miles per hour, well below its target speed of 157 miles per hour that is typical for crossing the runway threshold. By that time, the plane had descended to just 200 feet.
Eight seconds later, with the speed still falling, Hersman said, the throttles were moved forward, an apparent attempt by the pilot to increase speed. But it was too late. Five seconds later, at 50 percent power, speed began to increase.
A key question raised by the NTSB’s account is why two experienced pilots — the pilot flying the plane and another supervising pilot in the other seat — apparently didn’t notice the plane’s airspeed problem.
Part of the answer to that question may lie in whether the pilot flying, after switching off the autopilot, still had the plane’s autothrottle engaged during the descent....
They aren't going to try and blame this on the pilot, are they?
Hersman said investigators watched airport surveillance video to determine whether an emergency vehicle ran over one of students. But they have not reached any firm conclusions. Final autopsy reports are pending....
Related:
"Both were part of a trend among affluent Chinese families willing to spend thousands of dollars to send their children to the United States for a few weeks in the summer to practice English and hopefully boost their chances of attending a US college — considered better than China’s alternatives by many Chinese families. Authorities in San Francisco are trying to determine whether an emergency vehicle ran over one of two girls. When visited by a state media reporter, Wang Linjia’s mother sat on a bed, crying silently and her father sat in a chair with a blank expression, said the Youth Times, an official newspaper in the girls’ home province of Zhejiang in eastern China."
I can't speak Chinese, either, but grief knows no language.
Also see: Sunday Globe Special: House Hunting in Boston
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"Mechanical failure may have factored in Calif. crash; 1 pilot knew plane was going too slowly, NTSB says" by Matthew L. Wald | New York Times, July 10, 2013
SAN FRANCISCO — As the investigation continued, others — including lawyers, passenger advocates, and a pilots union — began jockeying for position....
The Asiana crew was attempting a manual landing on Saturday because an instrument landing system was out of service. And though there were four pilots on the Asiana plane, three of them very experienced in the 777, pilots in some cultures are reluctant to contradict a pilot at the controls, said a retired 777 captain, Robert Maurer, who flew for American Airlines and later Air India.
C'mon! Life and death would override that! I can not believe the AmeriKan authorities and their mouthpiece are putting this out.
In fact, the safety board has investigated previous accidents in which cultural factors have reduced the effectiveness of the crew, and that is one of the areas of inquiry here, investigators said.
On Tuesday, a pilots union, the US Airline Pilots Association, issued a statement critical of the safety board, asserting that the board’s quick release of “incomplete, out-of-context information” had “fueled rampant speculation about the cause of the accident” and created the impression that it was pilot error.
It's called finding a scapegoat right quick.
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Related: Safety advances in planes boost odds of survival in crashes
Yup, nothing to worry about out at Logan.
Sunday Globe Special: Come Fly With Me....
Nothing back from Alaska yet.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Investigators look into pairing of Asiana pilots" by Martha Mendoza | Associated Press, July 11, 2013
SAN FRANCISCO — As Flight 214 descended over San Francisco Bay, both Asiana Airlines pilots were trying something new.
In the left seat of the cockpit sat Lee Gang-kuk, a 46-year-old pilot with just 35 hours of experience flying a Boeing 777, who was landing the big jet for his first time at San Francisco International Airport. At his right was Lee Jeong-Min, a trainer making his first trip as an instructor pilot.
While the two men had years of aviation experience, this mission involved unfamiliar duties, and it was the first time they had flown together. The flight came to a tragic end when the airliner crash-landed Saturday, killing two passengers and injuring many others.
National Transportation Safety Board chairman Deborah Hersman said Wednesday the pilot told investigators he was blinded by a light at about 500 feet, which would have been 34 seconds before impact and the point at which the airliner began to slow and drop precipitously. She said lasers have not been ruled out, though it was unclear if the flash may have played a role in the crash....
I can't believe they are not trying to say a laser from terrorists on the ground did this.
Experts say investigators trying to piece together what went wrong will consider the report about the light and many other factors including the pairing of the pilots, who were assigned to work together through a tightly regulated system developed after several deadly crashes in the 1980s that were blamed in part on inexperience in the cockpit.
Pilots are typically paired by management and are not allowed to choose their partners in the cockpit.
Meanwhile, airline pilots will need to have more experience and pass more rigorous tests under the most significant increase in commercial flight-crew standards in decades, the US government announced Wednesday.
Once again, after the fact and not preventing a damn thing!
The biggest changes will come for copilots, who will need to have at least 1,500 hours of flight time to be hired, up from the current minimum requirement of 250 hours, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration.
The regulation, required by Congress in 2010, would grant some exceptions to the 1,500-hour standard. A military pilot would need 750 hours of total time and someone holding a bachelor’s degree with an aviation major could qualify with 1,250 hours of flight time.
Congress passed the law requiring the regulation in response to the Feb. 12, 2009, crash of a regional turboprop plane operated by Pinnacle Airlines’ former Colgan unit that killed all 49 aboard and that was blamed on pilot errors. It was the last fatal airline accident in the United States before the July 6 Asiana Airlines crash.
Details emerging from pilot interviews, cockpit recorders, and control-tower communications indicate that Lee Gang-kuk, who was halfway through his certification training for the Boeing 777, and his copilot and instructor, Lee Jeong-Min, thought the airliner’s speed was being controlled by an autothrottle.
Related: Exclusive: San Francisco jetliner crash caused by airlines turning pilots into 'computer geeks who can't fly' says commercial pilot
Inspectors found the autothrottle had been ‘‘armed,’’ or made ready for activation, Hersman said. But investigators are still determining whether it had been engaged.
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So they are going to blame the pilots. That will take the liability off the airline or the government, and who benefits?
