Tag Archives: North Korea

blog, news, politics

Wake of the week: Kim Jong-il still dead

Kim Jong-il is still dead.  Let’s all have a meal?

There are just three ways North Korea can go after the death of the despot. .

It can get worse. Much worse. Or it can get better. But not that  much better. Or it can stay the same. That’s probably the best of the three options. No heavy lifting required by the U.S., China. The U.S. doesn’t know what to do. And China likes to keep an ideal vision of repression around as it develops its hybrid capitalistic communism.

So it doesn’t look great for North Korea. But we can always hope for a little bit more.

http://aaldef.org/blog/yearning-for-a-north-korean-spring.html

Unlikely that Kim Jong-un is the “Un-Kim Jong-il.

Although, he seems to have a similar hair-thing going on.

What I find strange is that food has become a bargaining chip as governments try to assess the future.

People are starving over there.  The warnings have been out for sometime by UNICEF about the gravity of the situation.

Putting any plans for food aid on hold while the U.S. comes up with a political strategy, isn’t very humane.  Get the people something to eat.  Food first, then politics. 

www.aaldef.org/blog

Happy Holidays to all. I like Christmas, maybe even more than Tim Tebow. But I respect your holiday too.

New things coming up in 2012 on the amok.blog

Thanks for checking in.

blog, journalism, news, politics

Ling and Lee are free: All it took was a former president

If you were wondering where Al Gore has been in the  diplomatic effort to free his two employees jailed in North Korea, Bill Clinton provided you the answer.

Gore wasn’t big enough.

It takes a former president with with enormous global charisma to do what was needed to produced  Laura Ling and Euna Lee. the two journalists with Gore’s Current TV found guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time in North Korea.

Jimmy Carter wasn’t big enough. Bush I and II? Are you kidding?

The North Koreans wanted Bill Clinton over for dinner.  And they got him.

Once I heard Clinton was heading to see Kim Jong Il, I knew it would be just a matter of days that the pawns in question  would be produced, safely in all  his high drama.

Now the question is what does the U.S. give up in exchange. Clinton is a start, but it’s just the beginning to a real transition to…..?

It’s unclear. Currently, there are no official diplomatic ties between the U.S. and North Korea. So Clinton going as an unofficial offical keeps the status quo both in check, but potentially in flux.  Obama and Clinton can maintain their hardline. But Kim Jong Il gets to show all his people that he still has standing, with or without nukes. He’s got Bill Clinton over for kimchee  and a photo op.

Americans are supposed to be puzzled as to what’s next.

But if you’re in North or South Korea, you’ve got to be in awe.

If you’re starving in North Korea, you have hope today.  U.S. recognition brings the possibility of change.  If you’re in Seoul, you have to worry.  If you’re in either country and you  doubted the power of his hairness in North Korea, you are simply starstruck. The guy who looks like he’s on his death bed still has some juice. He got Bubba to stop b,  and all the players got a little something.

Clinton got to ride into the sunset the hero. You think Clinton hesitated to be in that role, one-upping both his wife and the current president (both of whom were admittedly hamstrung).  Clinton’s stock rises.

It certainly was worth it to Kim Jong Il.

And Laura Ling and Euna Lee ?

They now come home safely, with the story of their lives.