The Cleanest Race (Review)
Review of B. R. Myers, The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves – And Why It Matters (Brooklyn, NY: Melville House, 2010), 200 pages Brian Myers has a peculiar literary fetish. He spends an enormous amount of his time reading literature that he intensely dislikes. A specialist in North Korean literature, Myers wrote his… Continue reading The Cleanest Race (Review)
Crude World (Review)
Review: Peter Maass, Crude World, (Knopf, 2009), 276 pages It has become a staple of newspaper articles about lottery winners that, more often than not, their huge windfalls cause more grief than glamour. The lucky few frequently overspend themselves into bankruptcy, watch their families descend into nasty conflicts, and endure endless requests for money and… Continue reading Crude World (Review)
South Korea: Seeking Reunification by Live Fire
If you look closely at the AP photograph of the South Korean marines conducting a drill on Yeonpyoeong island, you can see that their yellow headbands read tongil. That’s the Korean word for reunification. With the South Korean government conducting another round of live-fire artillery drills in contested waters near North Korea, the message of… Continue reading South Korea: Seeking Reunification by Live Fire
It’s Ground Hog Day All Over Again in Pyongyang
It’s 1994 all over again in North Korea, and that’s not good news for the country. The nuclear crisis continues to burn. There are food shortages and flooding. Jimmy Carter has gone to Pyongyang. Relations between North and South have sunk to new lows. And the country is preparing to pass the reins of power… Continue reading It’s Ground Hog Day All Over Again in Pyongyang
Japan’s Three Elections
Washington may well be rejoicing at the result of today’s election inside the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). Prime Minister Naoto Kan defeated rival Ichiro Ozawa by a large margin in a battle for the party’s top spot. Ozawa, with his calls for a more equal partnership with the United States and a renegotiation of… Continue reading Japan’s Three Elections