North Korea

Apparently, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade has commissioned a 160-ft high bronze statue commemorating the “African Renaissance.” The statue, “shows a muscular man in a heroic posture, outstretched arms wrapped around his wife and child, who is balanced on one of his biceps,” reports the Associated Press. Plus, the entire group is coming out of a volcano. (Last I checked there weren’t any volcanos anywhere close to Senegal.) Senegalese media reports that the statue will be dedicated in a grandiose ceremony…

Just in case North Korea wasn’t in the news enough for its recent capture of two American journalists and its new threat of a missile launch, the country has just sent its soccer team to Seoul to take on South Korea in a qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup. After nearly a half hour of play the score remains tied at 0-0. AFP reports: “The North, who last made the World Cup finals in 1966, have 10 points from…

Last night I watched Crossing the Line, an amazing documentary about Joe Dresnok, the last American defector to North Korea. After putzing around the Internet, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that one of Dresnok’s fellow defectors, Charles Robert Jenkins, who has since left North Korea for Japan, is about to come out with a book. His book previous had only been published in Japanese and Korean, and is finally scheduled for release early next month in English, published…

Dear Friends, I’ve been informed that my radio piece on North Korea’s new cell phone network, will be airing today. It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams): New York – 3 pm Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org Washington, DC – 8 pm Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org Los Angeles – 12 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg Boston – 4 pm Eastern – WGBH –…

The New York Times: The Philharmonic, led by its music director, Lorin Maazel, has been considering the visit since an invitation arrived by fax in August. It was a typed letter from the North Korean culture ministry, in English, accompanied by a cover letter from a private individual in California who said he was acting as an intermediary. The orchestra had the invitation authenticated by the State Department, which has provided advice and help in negotiating the terms of the…

Both Vanity Fair and The New Yorker have astonishing profiles of Bobby Egan, a “freelance diplomat” to the DPRK who otherwise runs a BBQ joint in Hackensack, NJ. The New Yorker: Egan, who has run Cubby’s for twenty-five years, is well known in Hackensack, though not solely for the quality of his ribs. For nearly fifteen years, he has served as a kind of unofficial ambassador—a go-between and a gofer—for the government of North Korea. He is, as he puts…

I’d heard some people talk about train links between North and South Korea when I was there last month, and now, it’s finally happened. For the first time since the Korean War that a train has crossed the DMZ. Yes, it’s historic and emotional and all that, but really, as Reuters points out, this deal is all about the money: To entice the North to allow the historic rail crossing, Seoul has offered $80 million in aid for its light…

Aaron‘s wife, Soo Jin, first showed me this commercial in Busan last weekend. IHT, February 9 2006: SAN FRANCISCO – The Bush administration is drawing up plans to further tighten the noose around North Korea by barring financial firms investing in Pyongyang from conducting business in the United States. Washington is moving fast to capitalize on Pyongyang’s alleged counterfeit dealings, but so fast that it is omitting a major factor: Korea is reunifying. At Incheon International Airport in South Korea,…

After having visited the DMZ, I’ve been reading up on some of the weirder aspects and effects of a divided Korea. Here’s one (Korean-speaking) American’s account of visiting North Korea as a tourist in 2002. Here’s his writings on visiting the same spot on the DMZ that I visited, only from the northern side. Also these are a few films about North Korea, all of which have now been added to my Netflix queue. Joint Security Area (2000, South Korea):…