Category: North Korea

In a little break from writing about mundane Korean legal topic, here is an article from the Washington Post that sheds a little light on the North Korean economy.  Well worth a read. The economy in North Korea is growing, mainly, because of the contributions of Korean workers working outside North Korea in Chinese owned textile mills, mines, restaurants and other industries shunned by the, increasingly, wealthy Chinese workers.  The Washington Post has a great article on this situation.  The

A hat tip to a non-Korean artist friend who also has lived much or most of his life in Asia for forwarding this piece to me. Given the cost of tobacco and the ease of cultivating marijuana, I had heard from a foreign friend who had lived in North Korea that workers often resort to marijuana as a cheap substitute for tobacco.  Perhaps only in the DPRK may one find that to be the case.  On the other hand, if

Chang-Shin Park a Jeonju diocese senior priest is being investigated by the Joenju District Prosecutors Office.  The priest made peculiar remarks defending the 2010 shelling by North Korea of a South Korean occupied island on the West Coast of Korea. The shelling led to the death of two Korean civilians and a Korean Marine.  The argument justified the shelling by noting that North Korea, inter alia, is just protecting its territory as South Korea is doing on Dokdo Island.  A

This Week’s Korean Legal News Reported by Media Two Koreas agree to hold talks to normalize ties Most listed Korean companies’ profits dwindle Collecting Fines from Ex-Pres. US, China, Japan Hail Koreas’ Moves to Hold Gov’t-level Talks Korea’s May trade surplus biggest in 32 months 1,000 women file complaint against Park’s ex-spokesman Korea to collect and recall U.S. wheat, flour imports from Oregon South Korea prepares contingency plan amid swings in bond market S.Korea, China pledge to expand military cooperation

This Week’s Legal News Reported by Media Korea’s President seeks to shore up U.S. support Bank of China closes account of key North Korean bank  Samsung C&T wins $483 mln order to build Mongolian coal railway  Korea dept, discount store sales both fall in April  GM plans no pullout from South Korea but workforce a worry: CEO quoted  Samsung wind turbine test site plans backed by ministers LG takes No. 3 spot in smartphone market  Korea May Jump on Rate

This Week’s Legal News Reported by Media South Korea withdraws citizens from joint factory after North snubs talks North Korea’s trade with EU halves in 2012 Private equity firm to buy stake in Korea’s STX Energy LS Power completes part of Arizona Arlington Valley solar farm Korea, China agree on basic guidelines for FTA Korea-Turkey FTA to boost industrial exports Multinational firms flocking to Korea National Assembly OKs retirement age change Anti-corruption body to toughen law on bribery Korea BOK

North Korea has ratcheted up its propaganda.  The situation is the most tense, since I first came to Korea in the mid 1990s.  However, most of my friends and colleagues, that have lived in Korea far longer than I, are not concerned. For these old Korean hats, North Korea is simply rattling its little saber, since the tension between the North and the South allows the North Korean population to have an increased sense of nationalism and loyalty to Kim

This week South Korea has a new beginning, with a new president who promises change – she is the nation’s first female head of government – while providing continuity as a member of the same party of the outgoing president. But as the old saying goes, “The more things change, the more things remain the same.” That is to say, in spite of contemporary events’ cosmetics, the fundamentals remain remarkably constant. I was reminded of this fact during my monitoring

President Lee Myung-bak’s recent demand that the Japanese emperor formally apologize prior to a future visit has been considered belligerent by vocal Japanese commentators. And yet the emperor needs to stand up and do the right thing, if only for the overall welfare of the Japanese. While Japanese right-wing extremists often attract media attention, most Japanese are eager to put Japan’s differences with its neighbors behind them. In fact, most Japanese are shocked when they realize the latent antipathy the

As an American who has spent half my life in Northeast Asia, it has taken me some time to get my head around why we see so many more graying radicals on the left and the right in this part of the world than we see in the West. Last week, I was reminded about this widespread political phenomenon while reading an article about Kim Young-hwan in this paper’s companion, the International Herald Tribune. Kim Young-hwan was an iconic student