If you are a history lover, news junkie, or student of political science, government, international studies, international relations, international law, diplomacy, public policy, etc. then this is a blog that will catch your eye!
President Barack Obama’s trip to Asia next week will be anchored by a stop in Hiroshima, where he will focus on its dark nuclear past.
But Obama’s visit comes at a moment when U.S. and Asian officials fear the region is entering a newly dangerous atomic future, threatening Obama’s vow to roll back the spread of nuclear arms and possibly touching off an Asian nuclear arms race.
North Korea is expanding its nuclear arsenal and upgrading its ballistic missiles. China is growing and modernizing its stockpile. Most strikingly, Pentagon planners worry that Japan and South Korea might explore developing nuclear arms of their own for the first time—promoted in part by the recent conclusion by U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies that North Korea’s bizarre regime can now mount a small nuclear warhead on missiles capable of striking Japan and South Korea.
On this day in 1960, dictator Syngman Rhee stepped down from leading South Korea after massive demonstrations against his leadership. He was flown out of the country by the CIA and later died in exile in Hawai’i.
You can learn more about the fall of Syngman Rhee, which was immortalized as a lyric in Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire,” at the link.
In 1987, Seoul was only a few months away from hosting the Summer Olympic Games when Korean Airlines flight 115 disappeared over the Andaman Sea. South Korea immediately suspected North Koreans of planting a bomb on that flight. They were right.
The plan was that the disappearance of flight 115 would destabilize the South Korean government and cause countries to pull out of the Seoul Olympics. It didn’t work.
You can read about the North Korean plot at the link.
On this day in 1968, North Korea captured the USS Pueblo, most likely in retaliation for the thwarting of a North Korean plot to assassinate the South Korean president.
Diplomatic efforts to free the crew lasted for 11 months. You can read about the thwarted plot, the capture of the Pueblo, and the efforts to free the prisoners at the link.
The spokesman for S. Korea’s ruling party argues that it’s okay to suppress demonstrations and free speech because the message of the demonstrations are “not just” and “impure.” But does the government get to decide what’s just and what’s pure?
On Monday, Japan and South Korea reached an official agreement that they say will close their years-long dispute over Japan’s guilt and responsibility for enslaving Koreans as “comfort women.” The terms of the agreement are still forthcoming, but it appears that Japan will officially admit wrongdoing and offer an $8 million compensation fund for victims, and in return South Korea will promise to stop raising the issue.
But this is about much more than just the comfort women issue. It’s about litigating what kind of country Japan is allowed to be, both in the history books and in the world today. It’s about shaping the 21st century order in Asia. And the story of why this is happening at all — and why only now, nearly a century later — goes back to some grave and long-lasting American mistakes in its wartime occupation of Japan.
“North Korean refugees use anything that will float to evacuate Hungnam. Here they jam the decks of a South Korean tank landing ship and many fishing boats.”, 12/19/1950
Before I moved to Korea, I gathered a few of the colleagues I admire most in a tiny conference room for a brainstorm about Korea — video projects, what this Tumblr would be, general story ideas. Danny DeBelius, a designer who’s now at The New York Times, made a memorable contribution:
Me: OK. Story ideas?
Danny: What’s up with PSY?
Well, Danny, it took me seven months, but here’s what’s up with PSY.
The question we are all thinking has been answered by NPR’s Elise Hu. -Emily
