[Editorial] Japan’s wartime flag

[Editorial] Japan’s wartime flag

Koreans want to keep Japan at arm’s length

 

 

 The Japanese government under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is reportedly moving to permit the use of the wartime rising-sun flag ― a symbol of horror to Asian victims of Japanese colonial aggression. If a recent report by the Sankei Shimbun, a conservative Japanese daily, is true, it shows the true colors of the right-wing, revisionist Abe government again.

Abe implied he was denying Japan’s imperialist aggression against its Asian neighbors when he impudently claimed that there was no established definition of invasion, either academically or internationally, earlier in the year. His government’s insensitivity culminated in Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso’s recent proposal to surreptitiously revise Japan’s postwar pacifist constitution by following the example of the Nazis, focusing on war-banning Article 9.

A conflict over the use of the wartime flag came to the fore when the Korean Football Association lodged a complaint against Japanese soccer fans for unfurling the flag during an East Asian Cup match last month. South Korean soccer fans countered the Japanese with a banner that read: “There is no future for a people that have forgotten their past.”

The Sankei Shimbun claimed that the wartime flag, along with the official flag featuring only a red sun on a white background, was internationally accepted as symbolizing Japan. Korea, China and some other Asian countries, if not the entire world, would beg to differ.

To the victims of Japan’s militarism in those countries, the wartime flag evokes the horror of being mobilized to the frontlines of war, military brothels or mining pits. How could the daily say it was rude of Koreans to liken the flag to Nazi Germany’s swastika armband?

Koreans like to compare Japan with Germany, more for their postwar differences than for their wartime similarities. To Koreans, Germany appears to have made a clean break from its wartime past. In addition to making atonement to Jewish holocaust victims, it has banned the use of the swastika, the “Heil Hitler” Nazi greeting and Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.” German children are brought to concentration camps to learn of their country’s wartime past.

When the image of German children on their field trips to concentration camps is juxtaposed against that of Japanese cabinet members paying homage to Class A war criminals at the Yasukuni Shrine, it should not be too difficult to understand why Koreans are so strong in what the Japanese daily called their “anti-Japanese nationalism” in its report on the use of the wartime flag. It warned the Korean antipathy against Japan could hurt bilateral military cooperation.

So be it. Apparently, the Japanese daily is unaware that few Koreans want their country to be closely linked to Japan militarily. Instead, Koreans, who do not want to be victimized again by a wild right-wing Japanese desire to dominate Asia, would like to see their country keep Japan at arm’s length, be it militarily or not.

 

- The Korea Herald, 2013-8-8

 

 

Japan Must Stop Using Risingsun Flag

 

According to Sankei newspaper, the Japanese government plans to allow the use of the rising sun flag symbolizing imperial Japan. The plan is the latest lurch to the far right by the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

 

During World War II, lots of sexslaves of Japan and people in Korea, China and South-east Asia shivered horrendously with extreme fear under the waving rising sun flag. It is just the exact equivalent of the Nazi swastika in Europe and moves to allow the use of the rising sun flag are expected to poison already strained relations with Korea and China.

 

 

We have to know that in Germany and Austria, not only hakenkreuz but also Celtic Cross are banned because Celtic Cross may give people the indication of Germanic people's superiority. Also, if you use hakenkreuz mark, you are punished in Hungary, Polland, Lituania and even in Brazil.

 

In addition, Sickle and hammer mark is not allowed in Eastern Europe because people in Eastern Europe were the victims of Soviet Union in the history. It is obvious that sickle and hammer mark provokes the fury of Eastern Europeans.

 

In the same way, rising sun flag is the symble of Japan's expanding militarism and atrocity during world war II. Japanese politicions should be more aware of its historic backgrounds, stop planing to allow the use of rising sun flag.

He is a citizen of Republic of Korea!!

AMnesty International is helping a citizen of Republic of Korea, Kim Kwang-ho. 

DOCUMENT - CHINA: FAMILY FACE FORCIBLE RETURN TO NORTH KOREA

UA: 185/13 Index: ASA 17/025/2013 China Date: 19 July 2013

URGENT ACTION

FAMILY FACE FORCIBLE RETURN TO NORTH KOREA

A family of five are at risk of forcible return to North Korea after being arrested by Chinese authorities. If returned to North Korea they are at serious risk of torture and other ill-treatment, forced labour and death.

The Chinese authorities are holding five North Koreans, Kim Kwang-ho, his wife Kim Ok-shil, their daughter, and two other relatives Kim Song-il and Kim Son-hye in a detention facility in the city of Yanji, Jilin province, north-eastern China. If returned to North Korea, illegal border-crossers typically face arbitrary detention, torture, and other ill-treatment, including forced labour. They would also be at risk of enforced disappearance in North Korea.

Kim Kwang-ho, Kim Ok-shil, and their daughter previously fled North Korea and settled in South Korea in August 2009. However, they left South Korea for China in December 2012. Kim Kwang-ho then returned to North Korea followed later by his wife and daughter. In January North Korean media interviewed Kim Kwang-ho, his wife and another North Korean who had returned from South Korea. In the interview they said that they had been lured to South Korea.

In their latest attempt to flee North Korea, Kim Kwang-ho and his family are reported to have left North Korea on 24 June. They were in China seeking means to return to South Korea when the shelter they were staying in was raided on 14 July by the Chinese police.

The circumstances behind their return to North Korea between December 2012 and early January remain unclear. There are concerns that their return may not have been voluntary, and that the media interview was used primarily as propaganda to deter others from trying to go to South Korea. This means that they are at heightened risk of punishment and risk to their lives including the death penalty if returned to North Korea.

Although China is a state party to the UN Refugee Convention it has prevented the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, from having access to North Koreans in China. Amnesty International believes that all North Koreans in China are entitled to refugee status because of the risk of serious human rights violations if they are returned.

Please write immediately in English, Chinese or your own language:

Call on the authorities not to forcibly repatriate Kim Kwang-ho, Kim Ok-shil, their daughter and their relatives, Kim Song-il and Kim Son-hye;

Urge them to let Kim and his family travel to South Korea, or seek asylum in China and other countries,

Call on them to provide Kim and his family access to the UNHCR

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 30 AUGUST 2013 TO:

�

President

XI Jinping Guojia Zhuxi

The State Council General Office

2 Fuyoujie

Xichengqu, Beijingshi 100017

People's Republic of China

Fax: +86 10 6238 1025

Email: gov@govonline.cn

Salutation: Your Excellency

Premier

LI Keqiang Guojia Zongli

The State Council General Office

2 Fuyoujie

Xichengqu, Beijingshi 100017

People's Republic of China

Fax: +86 10 65961109 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Salutation: Your Excellency

And copies to:

Minister of Foreign Affairs

WANG Yi Buzhang, Waijiaobu

2 Chaoyangmen Nandajie

Chaoyang District, Beijingshi 100701

People's Republic of China

Fax: +86 10 65591516 or 65961109 or 65962660

Email: webmaster@mfa.gov.cn�

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.

�

URGENT ACTION

FAMILY FACE FORCIBLE RETURN TO NORTH KOREA

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

North Koreans are not allowed to travel abroad without state permission however, facing significant risks, many do cross the border into China every year without permission. China considers all undocumented North Koreans to be economic migrants, rather than asylum-seekers, and returns them to North Korea if they are caught. However, international law prohibits the forcible return either directly or indirectly of any individuals to a country where they are at risk of persecution, torture or other ill-treatment, or death.

Kim Jong-un who came to power after his father’s death in December 2011 has increased border controls, condemned border crossers and threatened them with severe punishment, including death. On 19 June North Korean state news published a statement by the Ministry of People’s Security vowing to “take substantial measures to physically remove despicable human scum” who leave the country without permission – an act the North Korean government views as treason. According to South Korean government figures, there has been a significant drop in the number of North Koreans reaching South Korea in 2012: 1,509 compared to 2,706 in 2011.

In March 2013, the UN Human Rights Council voted to establish a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into human rights violations in North Korea. The CoI is tasked to investigate alleged violations of the right to food, freedom of expression, right to life and freedom of movement, and abuses in political prison camps, torture and other ill-treatment, arbitrary detention, discrimination, and enforced disappearances.

The North Korean government refuses to recognize or grant access to international human rights monitors, including Amnesty International and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea. Ongoing restrictions on access for independent monitors, intergovernmental organizations and humanitarian organizations impede efforts to assess the human rights situation in the country.

Name: Kim Kwang-ho (male); Kim Ok-shil (female); their daughter (female); Kim Song-il (male); Kim Son-hye (female)

Gender m/f: both

�

UA: 185/13 Index: ASA 17/025/2013 Issue Date: 19 July 2013

Brother of Kim Kwang-ho: Please save my brother

Brother of Kim Kwang-ho: Please save my brother

2013.07.19 00:11:43 

Kim Joo-cheol, a North Korean resident in the U.K., has appealed to the international society to save his brother and his family. His brother Kwang-ho and his family, who miraculously succeeded in escaping North Korea once again after being lured and abducted by the North Korean spies, were arrested by the Chinese police in Yanji.

Kwang-ho and Ko Kyung-hee were seen in a press conference held at the People’s Palace in Pyongyang on Jan. 24 this year, after being forced to testify that they returned to the homeland after having sickening experience in South Korea.

However, in stark contrast to the seemingly heroic welcome they received by the generous leader Kim Jong-un presented in the press conference, Kwang-ho and Ko were removed from Pyongyang and lived in a provincial town under constant monitoring. When they talked about pork belly slices and Korean ginseng chicken soup they had in South Korea, they were detained by the state security authority and subsequently released.   

Kwang-ho, his wife, and their one-year daughter, who could not bear living in stifling North Korean society, successfully escaped North Korea again. They took the wife’s younger sister and her husband, who had never escaped before. However, while they were hiding in China, they were arrested by the Chinese police on July 14. According to Ha Tae-kyung, a lawmaker for the ruling Saenuri Party, and Kim Yong-hwa, head of the North Korea Refugees Human Rights Association of Korea, on July 16, they are currently being jailed in China.

When this news spread across South Korea and the world, Kwang-ho’s younger brother Joo-cheol living in the U.K. started campaigning for saving his brother and his family.

Joo-cheol, who settled in the U.K. in 2007, had heard of his brother’s escape from North Korea, but has never seen him since his own escape. He said he heard about his brother through news occasionally.  

Joo-cheol confessed that when he first saw his brother in the press conference televised by the North Korean Central News Agency, he was nervous about what other people would think of himself. “But I was relieved after it was revealed that my brother’s re-defection to North Korea was involuntary and was a result of North Korean authority’s abduction, and that he was forced to glorify the regime during the press conference,” said Joo-cheol.

He urged the international community to save his brother as only death will await him upon repatriation, especially since he was used as a means of propaganda for the Kim Jong-un regime on TV.  

Yong-hwa, who was the first to deliver the news of Kwang-ho’s arrest in China through a press conference, said that he had several telephone calls with Kwang-ho when he successfully left North Korea for second time and was hiding in China. Yong-hwa said, “Kwang-ho told me over the telephone that appearing in the televised press conference early this year was the only way he could save his family in North Korea, and he was forced to memorize everything he said on TV for two months by the state security department.”

A South Korean government official said that the South Korean government has requested the Chinese government to have an interview with Kwang-ho and his family in order to protect North Korean escapees, who are legally South Korean citizens. After finding out accurate information on how Kwang-ho’s family went to North Korea, escaped again, and got arrested, the South Korean government will try to offer them protection more proactively.  

In fact, during the summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping last month, South Korean President Park Geun-hye requested that China takes more interest in human rights of North Korean escapees. It remains to see whether the summit would have positive impact in releasing Kwang-ho.

The North Korean Residents Society in Europe, which is based in the U.K., said they will launch a worldwide campaign for their safe journey to South Korea as Kwang-ho and his family will undoubtedly face the most atrocious kind of punishment if they are sent back to North Korea.

FreeNK Newpaper – News Team

ifreenk@gmail.com

[Editorial] Truce 60 years on

Can we believe North Korea's assertion for Peace Treaty?

I don't think so...

U.S. troops killed by the North Korean soldiers during Korean War

Editorial from The Korea Herald(2013.7.26)

Saturday marks the 60th anniversary of the armistice that put an end to the three-year Korean War. But the cease-fire has been a precarious one, with armed conflict intermittently flaring up across the border between South and North Korea. With the armistice agreement not replaced with a peace treaty yet, the two sides still remain deadly adversaries.

This has to change. Peace must be made permanent on the Korean Peninsula. With the Oriental calendar coming full circle every 60 years, the anniversary is an auspicious occasion for South and North Korea to make a fresh start to free the Korean people from the fear of another fratricidal war. To Koreans, whether in the South or in the North, the 60th anniversary means the completion of one life cycle and the start of another.

A most plausible scenario for peace on the Korean Peninsula is for North Korea to abandon its desire to arm itself with nuclear weapons in exchange for economic aid from abroad, mostly from South Korea. The next step would be to replace the armistice agreement with a peace treaty.

North Korea agreed to pursue the proposed peace process when it decided to participate in the six-party talks on its nuclear program in 2003. But the North, which deserted the multilateral nuclear talks within several years, has since conducted nuclear tests on three occasions.

The offer of massive aid is still on the table, with President Park Geun-hye committing herself to keeping a promise to reward the North if it decides to dismantle its nuclear program. She says South Korea is ready to promote coprosperity with the North and pursue a peaceful reunification.

The armistice anniversary is also a proper occasion to renew its thanks to the United States and 15 other nations that contributed to the U.S.-led U.N. forces, which helped South Korea fight back the invading North Korean and Chinese troops. Had it not been for their help, it would not have been possible for South Korea to rise from the ashes of war. After the war, it continued to receive aid from the United States and other countries.

Thanks to their support, South Korea, once one of the poorest aid recipients in the world, has turned itself into a well-to-do industrialized nation over the past 60 years. Its volume of external trade ranks eighth in the world, and its gross domestic product 15th ― no small achievement for a natural resources-poor country.

North Korea is no match for South Korea. It is listed by the United Nations as the poorest country among the 57 Asian-Pacific countries. Feeding the starving people, not the development of nuclear weapons, should be the priority issue of concern to the North Korean leadership.

For South Korea, it is now time to pay back. The South, which spent $1.55 billion in official development aid last year, an amount equal to 0.14 percent of its gross national income, will have to strive to meet the U.N.-set goal of 0.7 percent of GNI before long. It also needs to help promote world peace by contributing troops to U.N. peacekeeping forces.

This is the documentary "one last cry" and it's about Asian comfort women during World War II made by Arirang TV. Korean comfort women hold 'Wednesday demonstration' on every Wednesday at noon in front of Japanese Embassy in Seoul, demanding Japanese government resolve the sex slaves problems established under the Japanese Imperialism.

However, Abe Shinzo, the PM of Japan provokes fury by saying that so-called wartime 'comfort women' were NOT FORCED. It is so heartbreaking to hear and I firmly believe that Japanese government and people should have rational, frank perspective on history that suits its/their dignity.


"The value of history is, indeed, not scientific but moral, by liberalizing the mind, by deepening the sympathies by fortifying the will. "
                                                                                 -Carl Becker

Japanese War Crime

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OMG!! Isn't this video disgusting? I felt so sick while watching it.
Japanese war crime occurred in many Asian countries during World War II.
Despite of all these evidences of Japan's atrocities, Japanese government denies or justifies Japan's invasion of Korea and China. This kind of rightward shift or nationalism is shameless and irrational.

Japanese government must stop the history distortion and face the true history.


"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it"
                                                                            - George Santayana

The North's conciliatory gestures are all bullshit!!

Bastards!!!! Warmonger Kim Jong un!! He deceived our government by conciliatory gestures but it turned out to be bullshit!!

An article from The Korea Herald

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130717000211

Panama finds suspected weapons on N. Korean ship

Published : 2013-07-17 09:47
Updated : 2013-07-17 09:47

A North Korean ship carrying weapons system parts buried under sacks of sugar was seized as it tried to cross the Panama Canal on its way from Cuba to its home country, which is barred by United Nations sanctions from importing sophisticated weapons or missiles, Panamanian officials said Tuesday.

The ship appeared to be transporting a radar-control system for a Soviet-era surface-to-air missile system, according to a private defense analysis firm that examined a photograph of the find.

Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli said the ship identified as the 14,000-ton Chong Chon Gang was carrying missiles and other arms ``hidden in containers underneath the cargo of sugar.''

Martinelli tweeted a photo showing a green tube that appears to be a horizontal antenna for the SNR-75 ``Fan Song'' radar, which used to guide missiles fired by the SA-2 air-defense system found in former Warsaw Pact and Soviet-allied nations, said Neil Ashdown, an analyst for IHS Jane's Intelligence.

``It is possible that this could be being sent to North Korea to update its high-altitude air-defense capabilities,'' Ashdown said.

One container buried under sugar sacks contained radar equipment that appears to be designed for use with air-to-air or surface-to-air missiles, said Belsio Gonzalez, director of Panama's National Aeronautics and Ocean Administration. He said Panamanian authorities expected to find the missiles themselves in containers that must still be searched. An Associated Press journalist who gained access to the rusting ship saw green shipping containers that had been covered by hundreds, perhaps thousands, of white sacks marked ``Cuban Raw Sugar.''

The U.N. Security Council has imposed four rounds of increasingly tougher sanctions against North Korea since its first nuclear test on Oct. 9, 2006.

Under current sanctions, all U.N. member states are prohibited from directly or indirectly supplying, selling or transferring all arms, missiles or missile systems and the equipment and technology to make them to North Korea, with the exception of small arms and light weapons.

The most recent resolution, approved in March after Pyongyang's latest nuclear test, authorizes all countries to inspect cargo in or transiting through their territory that originated in North Korea, or is destined to North Korea if a state has credible information the cargo could violate Security Council resolutions.

``Panama obviously has an important responsibility to ensure that the Panama Canal is utilized for safe and legal commerce,'' said Acting U.S. Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo, who is the current Security Council president. ``Shipments of arms or related material to or from Korea would violate Security Council resolutions, three of them as a matter of fact.''

Panamanian authorities believe the ship was returning from Havana on its way to North Korea, Panamanian Public Security Minister Jose Raul Mulino told The Associated Press. Based on unspecified intelligence, authorities suspected it could be carrying contraband and tried to communicate with the crew, who didn't respond. Martinelli said Panama originally suspected drugs could be aboard.

The 35 North Koreans on the boat were arrested after resisting police efforts to intercept the ship in Panamanian waters on Thursday as it moved toward the canal and take it to the Caribbean port of Manzanillo, Martinelli told private RPC radio station. The captain had a heart attack and also tried to commit suicide during the operation, Martinelli said.

Panamanian officials were finally able to board the ship to begin searching it Monday, pulling out hundreds of sacks of sugar.

The illicit cargo ``seems to be a type of missile, of rocket. Next to them there's another container that appears to have a type of control system,'' said Luis Eduardo Camacho, a spokesman for Martinelli. He said authorities had only searched one of the ship's five container sections, and the inspection of all the cargo will take at least a week. Panama has requested help from United Nations inspectors, along with Colombia and the UK, said Javier Carballo, the country's top narcotics prosecutor.

``Panama being a neutral country, a country in peace, that doesn't like war, we feel very worried about this military material,'' Martinelli said.

The governments of North Korea and Cuba made no public comment on the case.

In early July, a top North Korean general, Kim Kyok Sik, visited Cuba and met with his island counterparts. Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma said he was also received by President Raul Castro, and the two had an ``exchange about the historical ties that unite the two nations and the common will to continue strengthening them.''

The meetings were held behind closed doors, and there has been no detailed account of their discussions.

``After this incident there should be renewed focus on North Korean-Cuban links,'' said Hugh Griffiths, an arms trafficking expert at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Griffiths said his institute told the U.N. this year that it had uncovered evidence of a flight from Cuba to North Korea that travelled via central Africa.

``Given the history of North Korea, Cuban military cooperation and now this latest seizure, we find this flight more interesting,'' he said. ``

The Chong Chon Gang has a history of being detained on suspicion of trafficking drugs and ammunition, Griffiths said. Lloyd's List Intelligence said the 34-year-old ship, which is registered to the Pyongyang-based Chongchongang Shipping Company, ``has a long history of detentions for safety deficiencies and other undeclared reasons.''

Satellite tracking records show it left the Pacific Coast of Russia on April 12 with a stated destination of Havana, then crossed the Pacific and the Panama Canal on its way to the Caribbean. It disappeared from satellite tracking until it showed up again on the Caribbean side of the canal, on July 10, Lloyd's said.

The disappearance from satellite tracking indicates that the crew may have switched off a device that automatically transmits the ship's location after it moved into the Caribbean, Lloyd's said.

Mulino, the Panamanian public security minister, said the ship crossed the Panama Canal from the Pacific to the Caribbean last month carrying a cargo of sheet metal that was inspected by Panamanian authorities.

Griffiths said the Chong Chon Gang was stopped in 2010 in the Ukraine and was attacked by pirates 400 miles off the coast of Somalia in 2009.

Griffiths' institute has also been interested in the ship because of a 2009 stop it made in Tartus _ a Syrian port city hosting a Russian naval base. (AP)

Talks about Kaesong Industrial Complex

This is an article from NKnews.
I really love this page because I can learn more about North Korea in English, and that means I learn about what I like in the way I like! :-)


http://www.nknews.org/2013/07/s-koreans-not-100-satisfied-with-kaesong-talks-outcome/


North not showing enough remorse for closing Kaesong Industrial Complex, analysts in South say

BY HYOWON SHIN AND SUSAN AHN , JULY 8, 2013

SEOUL – North Korea agreed to help South Korean businessmen retrieve completed products from the closed inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Zone after holding 16-hour talks in Panmunjom on Saturday.

Korea’s monsoon season––which normally starts in mid-July––arrived early this year, causing South Korean businessmen to put pressure on the government in Seoul to work with the North in the securing of products and materials left behind in the inter-Korean complex after its closure in April.

The two sides were unable to reach an agreement for any long-term solution to permanently reopen the economic zone, however, instead opting to tackle ‘normalization’ during a second round of talks this Wednesday.

“The North and the South will make sure that businesses in the Kaesong Industrial Complex restart operations, depending on their preparations, and decided to hold the next round of talks in the Zone on July 10 for the normalization of the Kaesong Industrial Complex and the prevention of another occurance of suspended operation,” a radio broadcast on the Pyongyang-basd Korean Central Broadcasting Station said on Sunday.

‘NO REMORSE’

Both Koreas were unable to agree on what types of “raw materials” could be retrieved from the North, and whether or not a guarantee of safety for South Korean workers in the North could be included within the agreement.

“We are not 100% satisfied, but [the talks] were significant since they confirm the North’s enthusiasm towards the reopening of the Kaesong Industrial Complex,” Yoo Ho-yeol, a professor at Korea University, told the conservative daily Choson Ilbo.

North Korea did not demonstrate enough remorse for their decision to close the Kaesong complex in April, although it has taken an active role in solving some of the core problems, head of the Kaesong Industrial Complex Project Support Directorate Suh Ho also told the Choson Ilbo.

“If the North promises to actively prevent recurrences [of a closure], we will work to restart industry there –– even get a loan, whatever it takes,” the paper quoted a South Korean businessman with assets in the Zone as saying.

Other South Korean companies, however, have demonstrated an unwillingness to continue work in the Kaesong Industrial Zone as a significant number of customers have looked elsewhere for business following the closure of the complex.

CALL FOR COMPROMISE

During the talks, the North did not mention the cause of closure and was reluctant to bear full responsibility for suspension of operations. Talks were instead focused on the operational and technological aspects needed to combat against potential damage caused by heavy rains, the progressive Hankyoreh newspaper said in Seoul.

“In order to solve the root cause of the problem, institutional measures based on international norms must be put in place so that Kaesong Industrial Zone operations are not unilaterally suspended by North Korea,” Seoul’s Ministry of Unification said on May 28.

The South Korean government entered negotiations demanding reassurance for measures against a future closure of the Zone. Liberal media in Seoul, however, called for more balance in negotiations:

“The normalization of the complex will depend on whether the two sides are willing to compromise and accommodate each other’s position in a second-round meeting to be held on Wednesday,” the Hankyoreh argued on Monday morning.

The two sides will conduct follow-up talks regarding the reopening of the complex and the prevention of another shutdown in the future, Saturday’s joint agreement said. The South Korean government is pushing for a documented “guarantee” protecting the zone –– one that can be accepted by “international standards.”

“Most of our domestic and international buyers have already left us because of our failure to meet the supply schedules,” Kim Hak-gwon, co-chair of a task force of South Korean businesses with premises in the zone, told DongA news. “No buyers will place orders with the companies until there is some kind of guarantee that the Kaesong Industrial Zone will not be affected by political or military conflicts,” he said.

HAPPY DAYS

Inter Korean trade was at a height in 2007 under the Roh Moo-hyun administration with almost $1.8 billion worth of business changing hands in one year alone.

At the time, over 850 items were being traded between the two Koreas, from garlic to soap, lipstick and coal.

According to publicly available Ministry of Unification data, the North’s major exports consisted of “agricultural and marine products” (37.7%), and “mineral products” (32.8%). North Korea has some of the world’s largest natural mineral reserves that, thanks largely to a lack of developed infrastructure, have yet to be fully exploited.

In June, the a North Korean National Defence Commission (NDC) spokesman announced that there would be “a way towards normalizing operations” in the zone and open the Kaesong Industrial Complex if the South stopped its “hostile actions.”

The zone was shut down in April 2013 in response to annual South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises that Pyongyang regularly sees as a dress rehearsal for the invasion and occupation of the DPRK.

The closure of the complex left more than 53,000 North Korean workers jobless, and 123 South Korean businesses idle.

Headline image: futurecode1. Additional reporting by James Pearson in Seoul....

Awesome Guy Kershaw

We exist to encourage people to use whatever God-given passion, purpose or talent they have been given to make a difference and give back to others in need.

Kershaw’s Challenge is a Christ-centered, others-focused organization. The essence of Kershaw’s Challenge is that the better you do, the more you give, making whatever you do about something more. We exist to encourage people to use whatever God-given passion, purpose or talent they have been given to make a difference and give back to others in need. Our Challenge is to use a sphere of influence to positively impact communities in need and to expand God’s Kingdom. We believe in the transformation of at-risk children and communities through the benevolence and impact of others.

Kershaw’s Challenge began with a little girl named Hope, a very evident need in her life, and the realization of a platform to do great things.

Hope is now 13 years old. She was born in Lusaka, Zambia, and has battled the HIV epidemic her entire life. Ellen Kershaw met her when Hope was 9 years old. At the time, Hope was a vulnerable orphan, sick and malnourished, and had already learned to survive on her own for years. She was timid and distant from a lifetime of building up walls towards anyone who might hurt her.

Ellen & Hope instantly connected. By the end of Ellen’s time in Zambia, they were inseparable. Ellen saw her walls slowly come down, and a vulnerable and scared child hiding behind her clouded, brown eyes. Ellen & Clayton committed that summer in 2010 to make life better for this child. They sponsored her so that she would have school fees paid for, a nutritional meal provided daily, and a discipleship program that would mentor her in her walk with Christ.

In December of 2010, only a few months after Ellen met Hope, Clayton traveled to Zambia for the first time to experience Ellen’s passion for these children. Together, Ellen and Clayton walked through the compounds of Lusaka, looking for familiar faces, and praying they would be able to find Hope. After years of seeing pictures and hearing stories from Ellen’s trip, Clayton was in disbelief seeing the depth of poverty that these people live in. They turned the corner, and heard a squeal. All the sudden, a flying little girl leaped into the arms of Ellen—they were finally reunited. Hope met Clayton and it was if they had known each other for a lifetime. They spent the afternoon with Hope, hearing about her past few months. No doubt, Hope looked healthier. She had been fed; therefore, her HIV medication was starting to work.

Hope still needed a safe place to call home. She was living with her aunt who was already feeding and caring for many other children in a tiny, dirt-floor shack. Hope was neglected and just trying to survive. Clayton & Ellen realized that until she had a safe place to call home, and parents who would care for her, Hope would never be able to have the upbringing she deserved. This is how Kershaw’s Challenge began.

Hope has a story similar to millions of children in Africa. She is a strong, smart, and funny girl who deserves to be loved, cared for, and empowered. Coming home, Clayton & Ellen had the vision of building a home for Hope and children just like her. Clayton came up with the idea of “Striking Out to Serve.” He knows his ability to throw a baseball is God-given, and the platform he has been blessed with needs to be used to glorify the Lord. Kershaw’s Challenge began in 2011.

The “Challenge” is to use whatever you have been blessed with—talent, passion, or purpose—to give back to others. In 2012, Kershaw’s Challenge expanded to serve children’s charities in Los Angeles and Dallas. The Kershaws are adamant about serving hands-on throughout the year, and being invested in the non-profits we partner with.

In December of 2012, the first 8 kids, including Hope, moved into Arise Home. For the first time, they have beds to sleep in, a loving family of brothers and sisters, nurturing house mothers who tuck them in at night, full bellies everyday, and a private school education.

Kershaw’s Challenge is committed to transforming the lives of children, in America and Africa, through Jesus Christ. Our goal is to partner with organizations that are committed to this as well, and work alongside them on specific projects to make life better for kids.

© 2012 KERSHAW'S CHALLENGE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SITE BY PTD. CONTACT US.

Jackie Robinson Day

I don't know much about baseball but these days, I get interested in MLB. Since baseball in America has a long history - in 1869, the first professional baseball team Cincinnati Red Stockings was established -, there are many different kinds of interesting (hi)stories in MLB world. 


In Major League Baseball, 4.15 is called Jackie Robinson Day, the first African American major leaguer in MLB history. He started his career in Brooklyn Dodgers in April 15, 1947. He had not only a racial impact but also exceptional career and was inducted into the baseball hall of fame in 1962. In 1997, MLB decided to retired his uniform number 42 and since 2004, Jackie Robinson Day was adopted as a new tradition in MLB to celebrate him. (Mariano Rivera in NY Yankees is the only player left with number 42 on his back.)


On the day, all players wear uniforms with back number 42.

ⓒ MLB.com

This is Jackie Robinson. 

ⓒ wikipedia.com

Google logo on Jackie Robinson Day.

ⓒ mlb.com

One of my worries

Am I too anxious? The article below is about Mt. Baekdu's eruptions and my ominous worry is that the North Korea's nuclear test might impinge on its explosion.

Read this article below and it's from Korea times, posted on 2012.5.3. Isn't it scary? The eruption of Mt. Baekdu must be a horrendous environmental disaster in this century.

Mt. Baekdu eruption's impact on NE Asia (25) Citing the rise of the surface temperature of Mt. Baekdu, geologists predict its eruption in a couple of years. / Korea Times file Mt. Baekdu has been carefully observed since 1999 when a volcanic observatory was built in China, and since 2002, there have been some symptoms of an eruption. By Park Chang-seok Yes, one! There’s only one thing about which they think in a same way – a concern about possible eruption of Mt. Baekdu. The two Koreas remain at odds in everything. But they are one in voicing how to counter the possible volcanic explosion of the highest mountain in the Korean Peninsula Inter-Korean anxiety is mounting, with growing apocalyptic predictions on the dormant volcano. A South Korean geological expert has warned that the volcano could erupt sometime around 2014 and 2015. Former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il reportedly said people in some regions of Yanggang and North Hamgyeong Provinces were feeling anxiety over a volcanic eruption of Mt. Baekdu. Kim called for quick countermeasures by the North Korean authorities. If a volcano, located on the border between North Korea and China erupts, damage could be 10 to 100 times greater than that caused by the April 2010 eruptions in Iceland. Experts predict that the ashes would not only hit the neighboring area but damage agriculture and cause serious disruptions in industrial activities and air flights. The Korean Peninsula, China, Japan and Russia would be severely damaged. A volcanic eruption begins when pressure on a magma chamber forces magma up through the conduit and out the volcano’s vents. When the magma chamber is completely filled, the type of eruption partly depends on the amount of gas and silica in the magma. The amount of silica determines how sticky (level of viscosity) the magma is and water provides the explosive potential of steam. The 2010 Iceland eruption caused enormous disruption to air travel across Western and Northern Europe, although relatively small in size for volcanic eruptions. About 20 countries closed their airspace and it affected hundreds of thousands of travelers. A very high proportion of flights within, to, and from Europe were cancelled, creating the highest level of air travel disruption since the World War II. Geological studies Fears of a Mt. Baekdu eruption loom large with ensuing warnings based on a series of geological studies from experts. A growing number of scholars have not ruled out the possibility of another eruption, linking the collapse of Korea’s ancient kingdom, Balhae, with the previous one. One theory comes from professor Hiroshi Machida of Tokyo Metropolitan University. Machida first presented a view in 1992 that the eruption of Mt. Baekdu (Mt. Changbai in Chinese) led to the fall of Balhae, which had expanded its sovereignty to the vast Manchuria territory. His theory was based on volcanic ash found in Tomakomai, a port city in southern Hokkaido, in 1981. The ash was named “Baekdu-Tomakomai volcanic ash” (B-Tm) after Mt. Baekdu and Tomakakomi city where it was found, according to So Won-ju who wrote the book “Secret of Mt. Baekdu’s Great Eruption.” Machida’s theory has gained momentum as an increasing number of geologists and climate change researchers have presented views that the ash was produced in the eruption of the highest mountain in the Korean Peninsula in the 10th century. The eruption of the 2,744 meter-high mountain was billed as the largest in the history of mankind and was about 50 times stronger than that of Mt. Vesuvius of Italy in 79 A.D. which led to the burying and destruction of the Roman city Pompeii. Balhae (Bohai in Chinese) was established by Dae Jo-yeong, a former Goguryeo general, in 698 after the fall of Goguryeo. Dae Jo-yeong took the helm of Jin (Zhen in Chinese), founded by his father Dae Jung-sang in 696, and renamed the country Balhae, declaring it as the successor state of Goguryeo (37 B.C. - 668 A.D.). Balhae’s ruin  Balhae occupied the southern parts of Manchuria and Primorsky Krai (now Russia’s Far East), and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. It was defeated by the Khitans in 926, and most of its northern territories were absorbed into the Liao Dynasty, also known as the Khitan Empire, founded in 907 while the southern parts were absorbed into Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392). A dominant view related to Balhae’s decline had been Khitans’ 926 invasion. Some conventional historians believed that the rampancy of ethnic conflicts between the ruling Koreans and underclass Mohe (Malgal) caused its fall. But some refute these allegations, giving more weight on the catastrophic explosion of Mt. Baekdu as a primary cause for Balhae’s ruin rather than Khitans’ attack. Balhae had been engaged in a war with the Khitans for about two weeks and then collapsed immediately. How could Balhae with a long 200-year history fall so easily in such a short period of battle? Some historians raised doubts about the early collapse, pointing to Mt. Baekdu erupting as a cause for Balhae’s ruin. The massive explosion was believed to have created a tremendous amount of volcanic ash, damaging agriculture and even societal integrity. The Khitans were believed to have taken advantage of this natural disaster in putting the volcano-stricken Balhae under their complete control. The eruption might have prevented Balhae survivors from rebuilding their nation in consideration of the catastrophe. A variety of indicators, suggested by geologists and Balhae dynasty researchers who have monitored the change of Baekdu’s geographical features, are backing a scenario of the recurrence of the Mt. Baekdu eruption. Some experts say that an eruption is imminent. Geologist Yoon Sung-hyo at Pusan National University strongly believes Mt. Baekdu could erupt anytime soon.” According to historical records, major activity on the mountain in the 940s created a caldera on its peak, whose circumference is nearly 14 kilometers with an average depth of 213 meters and a maximum of 384 meters. Atop the mountain is Cheonji, literally meaning “heavenly lake,” the largest caldera in the world. Volcanic ash Volcanic ash from Mt. Baekdu eruption has been found as far away as the southern part of Hokkaido, Japan. Geologists predict the occurrence of great Mt. Baekdu eruptions every 1,000 years and that of minor ones every 200 to 300 years. Minor eruptions were recorded in 1413, 1597, 1668 and 1702 with the last activity being recorded in 1903. Among other indicators backing the scenario of a future eruption is the height of Mt. Baekdu, which has grown nearly 10 centimeters since 2002. Experts say an expanding magma pool, a precondition for an eruption, is gradually pushing up the height of the mountain as well as the temperature on the surface. On Oct. 1, 2006, a Russian satellite found the surface temperature of the mountain notably higher than before. The finding came just days after North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test in its northern territory, which could have been a catalyst reactivating magma flows, according to analysts. Mt. Baekdu has been carefully observed since 1999 when a volcanic observatory was built in China, and since 2002, there have been some symptoms of an eruption. Seismic activity near the mountain has increased dramatically, and the concentration of hydrogen and helium emissions, both of which are volcanic gases have risen 10-fold. And there’s ample possibility that Mt. Baekdu may erupt in the near future. If Mt. Baekdu erupts, it would no doubt bring about grave consequences for the two Koreas as well as the surrounding states, including China, Japan and Russia. The biggest immediate threat is the 2 billion tons of water in the lake on top of the crater. An eruption would likely cause severe flood damage, engulfing roads and homes within a 30-kilometer radius in just 3 hours and 20 minutes, a geological report found recently. Mt. Baekdu’s caldera The greatest victim of a Mt. Baekdu explosion may be North Korea, especially Yanggang and Hamgyeong Provinces. The two regions, located on the tip of the Korean Peninsula, may be covered with ash in just two hours. In about eight hours, ash may reach Ulleungdo and Dokdo, two far eastern islands of South Korea, and in 12 hours, land on Tottori Prefecture, Japan. After 18 hours, volcanic ash would likely spread beyond Japan. The National Institute for Disaster Prevention conducted a simulation in 2010 to test how far volcanic ash can spread if Mt. Baekdu erupts. According to the results, the effects can be different depending on the timing. If it happens in winter, Japan is expected to be more affected due to the northwest monsoon. On the other hand, a summer eruption would affect South Korea more. Mt. Baekdu’s caldera has nearly two billion tons of water. If volcanic heat evaporates the water and is mixed suddenly with volcanic ashes, it would be strong enough to engulf even Vladivostok in Russia and Hokkaido in northern Japan, according to experts. The construction of nuclear power plants by North Korea and China in the neighborhood may certainly pose a grave threat to all Northeast Asians, with the view that Mt. Baekdu’s explosion would for sure cause subsequent nuclear catastrophes, as seen in Japan’s 2011 tsunami disaster. A volcanic explosion is the most terrible natural disaster which cannot be easily avoided by human wisdom and knowledge. With unrelenting outbreaks of record-breaking natural disasters around the world and especially in the wake of Japan’s massive earthquake that is now estimated to have killed nearly 10,000, the world’s eyes are drawn to Mt. Baekdu. Multinational and regional cooperative monitoring systems are needed beyond ideological barriers to take preemptive measures against a possible eruption. By all indications, Mt. Baekdu is a real danger and it’s not clear how long it will stay inactive. A Mt. Baekdu eruption, if it takes place, will not be a matter for a certain country but a global concern to determine the future of Northeast Asian civilization. Environment Info Volcanic eruptions An important measure of eruptive strength is the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI), a magnitudic scale ranging from 0 to 8 that often correlates to eruptive types. During a volcanic eruption, lava, tephra (ash, lapilli tuff, volcanic bombs and blocks), and various gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure. Several types of volcanic eruptions have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior has been observed. Some volcanoes may exhibit only one characteristic type of eruption during a period of activity, while others may display an entire sequence of types all in one eruptive series. Park Chang-seok is currently a resident research fellow of the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA). Park, a former Korea Times managing editor and a Kyung Hee University media professor, is the author of “The History of Korean English Newspaper” and “News English.” He is the editor of KIPA’s two English books “Korea: From Rags to Riches” and “Discover Korea in Public Administration.”

Korean War should be remembered.

I read an article about a survey. It shows students' distorted perception of the start of the Korean War that had broke out 25th of june 1950~1953.In the poll conducted by a newspaper, 506 high school students were asked whether the war was triggered by 'buk-chim"(invasion by the South) or "nam-chim"(invasion by the North.Of them, 349 students or 69 percent picked "buk-chim", running counter to what they learn in school text books. Such misunderstanding weakens fundamental values and national pride that growing children need to have, and distorts sacrifices of patriots who risked their lives for the country.

 The Department of Defense Korean War 60th Anniversary Committee has opened an online forum for Korean War Veterans and those affected by the war to submit their stories at http://www.koreanwar60.com/webform/share-your-story.It  is such a meaningful try to accumulate all the important, valuable memories and documents about Korean War. 

US Photo Contest to Honor Korean War Veterans

I found a piece of information of photo contest about Korea war. It's hosted by Korea Health Industry Development Institute.(KHIDI, USA) 


Below is the information about the contest from Korean War Veterans Association(kwva.org). 

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New York, N.Y.– The first US nation-wide photo contest entitled “Remembered Moments in Korean War” will be hosted by Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI USA), a Korean government agency in New York, to pay tributes to Korean War veterans. The contest, a part of the 2013 Body & Seoul - Korean War Veterans & Families Health Appreciation Event, is held in partnership with the Korean War Veterans Association (KWVA).

July 7 submission deadline; Winners to receive All-Expenses-Paid VIP Trip to Korea

Open to all US Korean War veterans and their families, the commemorative photo contest marks the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, of which date July 27 was proclaimed by President Barak Obama in 2010 as the National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day.

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If you want to learn more, visit http://kwva.org right now. :-)