[Update 11/19/08] There is more on Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s plan here.

[Original Entry] Having grown up in South Korea and attended schools there and in the United States, I am in a position to be able to compare the educational systems of the two countries.

One of the arguments I often encounter in the United States is that more funding for public schools — leading to smaller classes (low student head count per teacher) — is the way improve the failure that is our public education system through the secondary school. That is certainly what the teachers’ unions advocate, which not so coincidentally benefits teachers and the unions (they also oppose merit pay for teachers, which says something).

In Korea, I often had classes with 80 students or more, the vast majority of who were highly motivated and hardworking. These classes often had (dirty) coal-fired heating in winter, obviously no air conditioning during summer and very spartan furnishings and supplies. In other words, resources were highly limited to say the least. Yet the students performed well, even superlatively.

I suppose one can discuss various cultural circumstances that differ in the two educational systems (in Korea, teachers are more respected, etc.). But the primary difference I saw was this: the level of parental involvement in education. Korean parents generally obsess about the education of their children. Many American parents do not. And it shows in the performance and behavior of their children. But what does this have anything to do with “Two Michelles”?

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If reporting over the past two months has been accurate, it seems that Kim Jong-il suffered a stroke (or perhaps a heart attack), in mid-August, was in the hospital for a time, but is now recovering. A French neurosurgeon, Francois-Xavier Roux, is thought to have treated Kim, which would point to a stroke, though Dr. Roux denies the reports. In May 2007 the German Heart Institute Berlin sent a team of doctors to Pyongyang, but also denied seeing Kim.

To stem rumors of Kim’s ill health, Pyongyang has engaged in a campaign to convince the world – and likely it’s own people – that he is health and inspecting Korean People’s Army (KPA) units as usual. However, research by BBC and the Times found irregularities in some of the photos, suggesting they could be fakes. The latest reports from South Korea claim that Kim’s brother-in-law, 62 year old Chang Song-taek, is running the country while Kim recovers.

In July 2007 and August 2008 I speculated on what would happen if Kim Jong-il died, coving dynastic succession by one of his sons, group leadership by elites, a strongman emerging, and foreign intervention. We still don’t know if North Korea has a succession plan, much less what it is. If South Korean reporting is correct or even on the right track, Chang Song-taek is a contender. The key for either collective leadership or a single leader is that the North Korean elite feel their positions are secure so they will support the new regime.

Could Succession Occur in late 2012-early 2013?

The Dear Leaders recent health trauma may have lit a fire under his arse to complete succession arrangements. While this is pure speculation on my part, if Kim were looking for a good time to hand over the reigns of power, he could do worse than December 2012 or January 2013 for a few reasons.

First, 2012 happens to be one of those years when U.S. and South Korean presidential election cycles overlap, being four and five year terms respectively. Administration changes are always at least slightly chaotic, and the new policy makers in Washington and Seoul likely would not be prepared. Second, Operational Control (OPCON) of wartime forces from the U.S. to the South Korean military is roughly scheduled for that timeframe and adds an addition element of chaos within both governments. Finally, if half the reporting on Kim’s various ailments is true, he’s living on borrowed time and four years could be pushing it. This would of course depend on who gets elected in 2012, what the progress of OPCON transfer is, and even if Kim is still alive, but it’s a possibility I thought I should bring up for discussion.

Update: For the apparently many who don’t know what an upside down American flag represents, here’s the answer; it’s a distress signal originally used by ships. That’s it. Distress signal. It is not disrespectful to the flag in any way. It is not anti-American.

This morning the lines were long, relative to 2004 when it took about 15 minutes to vote; I got to my polling place at 0700 and voted at 0820. My wife got there at about 1245 and waited only five minutes. My guess is that, fearing long lines throughout the day, many voted earlier, thus creating what they feared.

Both Republican and Democrat workers were handing out sample ballots with their party’s candidate checked. Ironically, for those that care about how many trees get pulped for such things, the Democrats were using a full piece of paper for this while the Republicans used a half sheet.

Despite the many reasons to not elect Obama – the racist Reverend Wright, his views on the U.S. Constitution and socialism, the bizarre “civilian national security force” idea to name only a few specifically – he likely will be elected today.

Many Republicans seem to be voting against Obama rather than for McCain, who comes off as the lesser of two evils, which isn’t enough. Some of that is no doubt due to the grossly unbalanced coverage he’s received while Obama has in relative terms had a free ride; it’s no surprise.

Looking to North Korea, where Obama is a complete novice, the probably-recovering-from-a-stroke Kim Jong-il will favor a Democrat over McCain, as it will ensure the better-than-free-ride he’s been enjoying will continue. With few notable exceptions, our enemies will welcome Obama.

It seems America is electing its own Roh Moo-hyun.

Update: This is an example of what we have to fear from those who are likely to be in power early next year. They know what we need far better than we do. How soon ‘we’ forget.

A coworker purchased these weird post cards at Insadong this summer. The URL on the other side is; blueninja.biz, which has a lot of other strange art available.

Today North Korea condemned the U.S. for allegedly conducting a raid into Syria that the Syrian government claims killed eight people, including a family with four children. The North described this as, “an unpardonable inhuman criminal act” and “terrorism.” Anonymous U.S. officials – aren’t they always, in cases like this – described the operation as targeting the leader of a Syrian group that smuggled arms and individuals into Iraq.

On Tuesday, however, North Korea engaged in a textbook case of terrorism – the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes – when a spokesman threatened to turn the South into “debris,” a variant of “sea of fire” or “ashes” threats.

The North Korean regime is stunningly hypocritical, as usual, but makes the U.S. government look even more foolish for delisting them.

[Update 11/19/08] Apparently, Korea is not the only “gun-free” society to experience knife killings. Some demented, resenful criminal in Japan is going around knifing people to death. Where is the anti-knife outrage?

[Original Post] Although Richardson and I do not speak for each other, we generally share similar views about many things, including Korea-related topics and, yes, guns (see my op-ed on guns and violence for a more in depth view on the topic).

Although murder, especially multiple killing sprees, are often blamed on guns by the mainstream media and their left-wing allies in the United States, news from countries that essentially ban private ownership of guns show that such events, however rare, do occur in absence of guns. This tragic news item from South Korea demonstrates this well (h/t VCDL newsletter):

A financially strapped South Korean man went on an arson and stabbing rampage in Seoul on Monday, leaving six people dead and seven others wounded, police said.The 31-year-old suspect, identified only by his surname, Jeong, first set fire to his room in a low-cost lodging facility in southern Seoul and then stabbed other residents with a sashimi knife while fleeing the fire, police said.

Five people were stabbed to death and another died after jumping out of a window to escape the blaze, police said.

Clearly no gun was necessary to commit these ghastly crimes.

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A CZ 75B.

According to CNN:

The United States on Saturday removed North Korea from its list of states that sponsor terrorism, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
[…]
McCormack said the United States and North Korea had reached agreement “on an number of important verification measures” of North Korea’s nuclear program.
[…]
“Every element of verification that we sought is included in this package,” McCormack said at a news conference.

A senior State Department official said earlier that President Bush made the decision Friday night to remove North Korea from the terrorism list.

What are the “element[s] of verification” the U.S. sought? Great question. Once upon a time it was CVID, or complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization was the goal. But that was given up a couple of years ago.

The kicker is this; North Korea already agreed to verification, but has consistently failed to allow it. Now they are, again, agreeing to verification, but getting delisted before coming through. They won’t.

RealClearPolitics has a McCain’s and Obama’s statements on North Korea’s delisting. Probably Obama will be elected, and ironically, he would be the one to continue Bush’s failed policy for North Korean denuclearization. I’m sure he won’t recognize that irony, or admit it if he did. I’ll say it again; Obama, if elected, will be America’s Roh Moo-hyun.

South Korea has a “unification observatory” (통일전망대) along the DMZ at either coast. Odusan Observatory is on the west coast, while Goseong Unification Observatory is on the east coast, 60-70 km north of Sokcho. I’ve been to both an Goseong is by far my favorite; I prefer the views as well as the relatively sparsely populated region.

Besides getting an up-close glimpse into North Korea, both observatories offer the chance to purchase North Korea booze, as do the DMZ tunnel tours. What’s shown below is only part of the wider selection available.

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