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| Apologies to my loyal readers (all 2 of you, at best) for the big blip in posts...
It's been just over a year now with a few months to go and I'm convinced that the things I came here for were provided. There's still so much left to learn about the ironies, philosophies, dichotomies, and tragedies, and still so much to I want to do before I leave but for now, I'm content with the vat that grew, that is continuoulsy being filled by the Goodness and Grace.
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shout to a boy named Soo..who's always teaching me to see things...well, differently.
How Kimchi was invented
...A long long long duk dong time ago there were two feuding families in Korea, the Kims and the Chis. Their feud had gone on so long that no one even rememebered when or how it started. All they knew was that from the moment they were born they were taught that the Kim's were dirty cabbage eaters and the Chis were spice mongrels. This is because the Kims owned the largest cabbage field in the region while the Chis operated the only red pepper operation for miles. One day there was an argument over disputed border territory that contained a rock, a bush and one very confused cow. The argument escalated into an all out food fight when a errant head of cabbage found its way through the air and onto Mr. Chi's head. What followed was the largest cabbage/pepper battle in history (until of course the great Kimchi wars). Once the flakes had cleared all that was left were cabbages covered in chili flakes. Both sides started bemoaning the fact that their inventory was ruined until one small girl ate a piece and declared it to be quite delicious. The elder folks, who make all the decisions also concluded that it was delicious and would go quite well with rice and thus the feud was over and Kimchi was born!
Next Episode: Kimchi's first day at School
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I gave in to official fob status
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| ¡ã Symposium panelists debate the North Korean Human Rights Act 2004 during Saturday's afternoon session held at the Yonsei University Graduate School for International Studies, in Seoul. |
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| ¨Ï2004 R. Joe |
| When Adrian Hong, a Yale University senior and founder of LiNK (Liberation of North Korea), approached an American politician with 35-years experience in international affairs about gathering support for his organization, he was told, "Well, if it's against red China I'll help you."
"This is the kind of situation we're facing," said Hong with a perplexed grin. "People just have no idea."
Park Il Hwan, a North Korean refugee, has fought a different battle. He escaped in 1999, spending time maneuvering through China and Mongolia before finally arriving in South Korea in 2001.
Now a law student at Korea University, Park works with Korean Youth United (KYU) to tell people the stories of the friends and family he left behind, and what they face back at home.
Both LiNK and KYU joined forces last Saturday to hold an open symposium on North Korean human rights -- all in the hope of educating the public.
The day-long event, held at the Yonsei University Graduate School for International Studies, was sponsored by students from North and South Korea, Mexico, China and the United States. It featured speakers from numerous NGO's and humanitarian organizations both local and international. Some 200 Koreans and foreigners attended the event run along with 20 volunteers.
The panel of experts included Lee Seung Yong, from the aid group Good Friends, Lee Yeong Hwan, from the Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, Park Jeong Eun, from the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, Tarik Radwan, an immigration lawyer and adjunct faculty member of Handong International Law School, along with the LiNK and KYU members. Most of the seminars involved panel discussions and Q&A sessions with the audience.
Some of the sobering statistics that emerged from the symposium included an estimated 2 to 3 million people that have starved to death due to famine. An additional 1.5 million people are thought to have been killed as political prisoners. North Korea executes not just those they find guilty, but also generations of family members related to the condemned.
The panel went on to discuss the North Korean Human Rights Act 2004, signed into law by President George W. Bush on Oct. 18, 2004. The act condemns North Korea for various human rights violations, calls for more transparency if aid is to continue, and provides funding for NGOs and other organizations with similar goals.
Critics say the law is an imperialist maneuver designed to promote regime change under the guise of human rights reform. Many say that at best the law is saber-rattling; at worst, preparation for war.
"We must not be militant in our criticism of North Korea," warned Park Jeong Eun, adding that the U.S. has no viable solutions on offer.
But others look at the legislation differently.
"This is not a U.S. issue," insisted Radwan when asked whether the U.S. had ulterior motives. "I really wish people would get away from that." He pointed out that the EU had expressed similar views in their annual UN reports on human rights.
Hong understands why some regard the legislation as a predecessor for regime change, but he and LiNK want to focus on what can be accomplished with the law.
"The law is made, there's nothing we can do about it. But we can make sure it's applied a certain way, as humanely as possible," he said. Highlighting the knee-jerk reactions some parties have to American influence, Park Il Hwan said, "There are problems with the act but you can't just ignore it because it comes from the U.S."
These reactions and polarization makes useful discourse about the subject difficult. Most separate themselves into two camps: those who support the Sunshine policy and reunification above all else versus those who want to push for human rights now.
Diana Sur, one of the event organizers who is also starting a Seoul chapter of LiNK, mentioned the frustration of trying to bring the two sides together. "One group would find out another was attending and refuse to appear," she said.
Some of the panelists stressed that the two sides are not necessarily mutually exclusive and that engagement and the pursuit of reunification can happen while stressing human rights. Radwan says that reunification is impractical without establishing human rights equality first. "Will you be prepared for the flood of refugees coming South?" he asked.
Another subject of the discussion was North Korean refugees in China. Contrary to international laws concerning refugees, China has been systematically tracking down North Korean refugees, sending them back to be jailed, tortured and possibly killed.
The screening of the documentary "Seoul Train" brought personal insight into the subject of the underground railroad that helps North Koreans get to third countries. The directors, two Americans, have a close relationship with LiNK, offering a pre-release screening copy fresh from the editing bay.
Some of the more shocking images were caught by a refugee who returned to rural North Korea armed with a video camera at the risk of death. A tiny boy's black eye seems to swell nonstop into the camera. Another child bears his arms, so purple with bruises it looks like ink was spilled all over them.
Later, several of the refugees are interviewed before they attempt to cross the border and others who prepare for a public rush into the embassy. A girl stands, head bowed, holding a sign that reads "Freedom or Death."
Though reminiscent of the history book rhetoric of Patrick Henry's famous lines "Give me liberty or give me death," the image of her holding her sign -- and quietly accepting almost certain death by her action -- juxtaposed with later images of her being brutally tackled and pushed around by Chinese guards before she can even unfurl her sign, bring the reality of her conviction to light.
After the screening, Moon Guk Hwan, one of the people who assisted the refugees in China, took to the podium to address arguments that peaceful reunification must come before discussions of human rights.
"If 20 million die before we achieve peace, is that really peace?" Moon asked. Holding back tears, he expressed his heartbreak that Americans and not Koreans would pass the North Korean Human Rights Act, and showed his frustration at the futility of the heated political discussions of the seminar.
"My people are starving and we're talking about nonsense," he pleaded.
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more:
Korea Times
Korea Herald
joongang ilbo
CHOSUN ILBO (korean)
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| cute cousins i miss
jess- thanks for the pic and the clock. its hanging up in my fatty pad and matches perfectly! how'd u know?
and i'm comin home the 18th but for only a busy 2 weeks. anyone need anything from korea? duty free?
sigh.. can't wait to drive again 
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| past weekend: mini cornell gathering. puhaha. gotta luv those ithaca bred men  and jenn looking quite stunning with her new haircut. if u can't tell don't worry.  
my lil cuz came n she's just one big heart.
she makes it worth stayin for now but i NEED to move out. apparently my uncle don't believe in AC and its getting dayam hot up in this peece.
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"...My mind is of the sort that can often be soothed with large generalities of that nature. The silence of the spaces between the stars does not affright me, as it did Pascal, because I am unable to imagine it except poetically; and my awe is not for the silence and space of the endless universe but for the inspired and imagination of man, who can think and feel so, and turn a phrase like that to communicate to use....And as for the future, I was once reading the first writings of a young girl, an apprentice author, who was quite impatient to get on with the business and find her way into print. There is very little one can say of use in such matters, but I advised her against haste-- she could so easily regret it. "Give yourself time," I said, "the future will take care of itself." This opinionated young person looked down her little nose at me and said, "The future is now." She may have heard the phrase somewhere and liked it, or she may just have naturally belonged to that school of metaphysics; I am sure she was too young to have investigated the thought deeply. But maybe she was right and the future does arrive every day and it is all we have, from one second to the next."
- Katherine Anne Porter
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and a dedication to my little tough guy who endured, at such a young age, so much trauma and pain . you dumb dog you.
turns out lucky ate some rat poisoning and had to get some surgery. meanwhile, my entire extended family decides it best not to tell me and i only find out cuz my brother couldn't contain himself, wanting to hear my reaction over the phone so he could laugh and take joy in my pain. hence TUB. gotta love him. thanx bro.
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