DPRK BlogWatch
As the name suggests, a collection of DPRK-related RSS feeds.
Posted 11 hours ago: In the last several months the Daily NK has reported on North Korea’s anti-corruption campaigns, particularly in Sinuiju and Hyesan, major DPRK/China trade hubs. Additionally, we have seen stories of how the Chinese are making life harder for resident North Koreans in the run up to the Olympics. These measures, both of which should have an adverse impact on trade ... [
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Posted 29 hours ago: North Korean Posters is a colorful and engaging book for those interested in North Korean, communist, or socialist-realism art. Portraying over 250 North Korean posters from the past fifty years, along with English and German translations, the book is the most comprehensive collection of North Korean political art of which I am aware. Each page offers vivid images of the ... [
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Posted 2 days ago: Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES) (NK Brief No. 08-8-5-1) 8/5/2008 The latest edition (2008, no. 2) of North Korea’s quarterly economic publication “Economic Research” urged for further regulation of public finance in order to ensure that the public finances necessary for the construction of an ‘Economically Powerful State’ are available. The journal, which was brought into South Korea on ... [
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Posted 2 days ago: UPDATE: Herald Tribune/Joong Ang have update and photo of reunion. In February 2007 the Joong Ang Daily reported the sad story of Renate Hong, and East German citizen who married a North Korean student at Jena University named Hong Ok-geun. Shortly after their marriage, Mr. Hong was called back to the DPRK in 1961, and the couple eventually lost touch. ... [
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Posted 2 days ago: The most authoritative map of North Korea on Google Earth Download it here This map covers North Korea’s agriculture, aviation, cultural locations, markets, manufacturing facilities, railroad, energy infrastructure, politics, sports venues, military establishments, religious facilities, leisure destinations, and national parks. It is continually expanding and undergoing revisions. This is the eleventh version. Additions include: Mt. Paegun’s Ryonghung Temple and resort ... [
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Posted 4 days ago: NKeconWatch blogged earlier about the US-based organizations permitted to enter the DPRK and distribute US humanitarian relief. A list of those organizations can be found here. Number three on the list, Samaritan’s Purse, is headed by “US religionist” Franklin Graham, son of Rev. Billy Graham, who just arrived in Pyongyang for a 4-day humanitarian relief tour. Franklin visited the DPRK ... [
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Posted 6 days ago: I had never heard of fellow American Zang Gi Hong, the first US citizen naturalized from the DPRK, until a few days ago when a colleague relayed his story to me. I have been unable to find much information on him via the Internet, except from one article (here) and the Google archive version (here). Excerpts from the article: It ... [
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Posted 7 days ago: As reported earlier this year by the Daily NK, Kim Jong il’s brother in law, Jang Song Taek, was leading an anti-corruption campaign in North Korea’s northern provinces along the Chinese border. Aside from controlling financial leakages, these efforts could be interpreted as attempts by Kim to gain control over military-owned trade companies. According to a past report: The inspection ... [
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Posted 7 days ago: I received a Koryo Tours email update this morning about the status of future Mass Games performances: We have just been told by our partners in the DPRK that there is a chance there will be no mass games next year – possibly not even until 2012 which is the next big anniversary (Juche 100 – the 100th birthday of ... [
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Posted 8 days ago: Update 3: The second shipment of US food aid has arrived in North Korea. Also, DPRK has suffered terrible rains in August. Story here and here. UPDATE 2: The Daily NK reports some good news on the DPRKs food production: With the stabilization of food prices in North Korea, which had skyrocketed during the first half of the year, the ... [
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Posted 4 months ago: The blog has been moved to http://areyounkay.com. Be sure to update your bookmarks or feeds. [
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Posted 4 months ago: Having seen the footage of protestors trying to extinguish the flame, I have come to the conclusion that North Korean activists should avoid using the tactics employed by the Pro-Tibet protesters, which is the opposite from OFK’s conclusion. While the overall strategy of embarrassing China is sound, I cannot imagine any sympathy from Chinese people from these pics. I have ... [
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Posted 4 months ago: In case you are wondering once again where I’ve been, it’s actually going to be a pretty good week for this site. For one thing, it will be moved to its own domain (name to be determined as I battle the squatters) and incorporate it under this new online brand I am working on. Plus, I can upgrade to Wordpress ... [
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Posted 4 months ago: South Korea, with its power and wealth, decides to challenge North Korea’s human rights record like a web designing blogger from Jersey South Korea is reported to be planning to challenge North Korea on its human rights record, indicating a harder line from Seoul’s new government. Reports quoting unnamed officials say the South is set to vote for a draft ... [
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Posted 4 months ago: Disrupting the lighting of the flame Two protesters from media rights group Reporters Without Borders broke through the cordon of 1,000 police officers in Olympia as China’s envoy spoke. Activists had vowed to protest over the violence in and around Tibet. The torch will now be carried around Greece before being sent to China to start a journey through 20 ... [
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Posted 5 months ago: The vbs videos shows how to get a guided tour of Pyongyang. However, for around $50 a head, there is an unofficial tour of Ujeok island Dandong is a Chinese border city situated at the mouth of the Apnok (or Yalu) River. When the night comes, Shinuiju, the North Korean city opposite Dandong, is shrouded in darkness while Dandong twinkles ... [
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Posted 5 weeks ago: The story is on CNN. The issue of the abductions were discussed as well: More at the New York Times as well. There is no need for much commentary other than both plan to attend the opening ceremony despite the glaring defector issue. As the Olympics go forward, North Koreans are sent back. [
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Posted 5 weeks ago: Read this excellent article on North Korea’s market possible reforms by Lankov. it is kind of long, but I enjoyed it. ShareThis [
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Posted 5 weeks ago: Time for some Google Earthing today. Thanks to NKEconWatch’s excellent North Korea Uncovered place marks, I can spend many, many hours looking around in amazement. Looking around, I ran into a city I have not heard of or found a lot of information about: Kanggye. One of the place marks is called Inphung Pavilion. Now how NKEconWatch found this place ... [
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Posted 5 weeks ago: This is a very good read by Bruce Klingner. Again, there is not much for me to comment on, because this explains everything just fine. In a nutshell, it outlines the problems and the possible solutions. ShareThis [
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Posted 5 weeks ago: A bittersweet story of one of the most powerful underground railroad activists I have seen Yoo Sang-joon. ROK Drop has the documentary posted. [...] “Yoo Sang-joon is now safely in South Korea after spending the last four months in a prison located in northern China, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW),” said Vu. “He is said to have endured extreme ... [
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Posted 5 weeks ago: Here is an interesting video with what I consider some pretty rare footage (If there is more, please let me know). When the footage was taken is not known to me, but it looks like after the Korean War and what seems to be when they started rebuilding. Anyway, it is still worth the watch: [
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Posted 5 weeks ago: I have been really engaged on the Beyond Belief series, but I think this blog needs something Korea related today. It has been a pretty slow news cycle, and while the DPRK balks, all the rest can do is wait to see what happens. However, it does not mean the negotiations are not going on, and right now, it seems ... [
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Posted 5 weeks ago: (Big hat tip to pleb from Worth1000) Here is a must see conference on the controversial topic of religion and science called Beyond Belief. This is a whopping ten part series that span around 16 hours+. This has absolutely nothing to do with North Korea, but this series was so good in my opinion, I am sure readers may be ... [
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Posted 5 weeks ago: Update: One Free Korea has a much better commentary on this story and is well worth the read. There have been questions and charges raised regarding the so-called supernotes that supposedly came out of North Korea. I do not know the validity of these charges because I am not a currency expert. However, there are two articles today that may ... [
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Posted 5 weeks ago: It is that time yet again, and we look at the continuation of the year 1994. This does not make a lot of sense because some of the footage is clearly older, but as with everything north Korea, how is anything clear? ShareThis [
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Posted 7 months ago: …a lot of these exchanges are beginning to incorporate more and more North Koreans into the experience. For instance, these twenty-one thousand workers at Kaesong who are North Koreans, eventually are going to go home and tell their families and friends what they experienced. At this point what we’re seeing is very initial steps on [...] [
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Posted 8 months ago: The International Crisis Group has a decent briefing on what they expect LMB will do for the Korean peninsula. Pretty much the same old stuff, including: Lee is expected to continue South Korea’s efforts at rapprochement with North Korea but to press more firmly for reciprocity than his predecessor. He has outlined a plan to narrow [...] [
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Posted 8 months ago: A guest post by a reader and now once again blogger… —————~ Dear Fellow Bloggers and Blog Readers, Greetings. I have enjoyed reading this and other blogs on Korea policy issues. Inspired by the second inter-Korea summit in October and other fast-paced changes that have brought renewed promises for peaceful settlement and further reconciliation in Korean peninsula, the [...] [
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Posted 8 months ago: Many suspected that differences in North Korea policy between a Lee Myung-Bak administration and the Roh Moo-Hyun administration were going to be largely cosmetic. Most thought it as an open secret that North Korea policy would largely remain the same… Stability is after all, much more valuable to most South Koreans than any chance of a North Korean [...] [
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Posted 8 months ago: Kenneth Quinones, former US State Department North Korea specialist, has a very interesting piece comparing the ‘freeze’ on North Korean nuclear facilities that the Clinton administration sought and the ‘disablement’ on North Korean nuclear facilities that the Bush administration is seeking. Here is a taste: In November 1994, I accompanied the first U.S. delegation to visit the [...] [
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Posted 8 months ago: The draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup preliminary competition was held in Durban over the weekend. And in an announcement that drew gasps from the crowd, both North and South Korea were drawn to compete against each other in Asia’s Group 3, with Jordan and Turkmenistan. Watching how this plays out could be extremely [...] [
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Posted 8 months ago: OK… Away from the serious stuff for a while. I once heard that Kim Jong Il was once heard to say that he thought another dynastic succession would make the DPRK the laughing stock of the world… well… it’s too late to stop that now… Share This [
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Posted 8 months ago: Before I go into all of my Japanese tabloid theories on the successor to Kim Jong-Il, I’ll let you guys read it yourself. From Reuters: TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has named his second eldest son to a major post, making him the top candidate to eventually take over as head of the [...] [
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Posted 8 months ago: I reckon this extract from a Reuters report on the re-establishment of rail links says a lot about what drives South Korean unification policy: Cargo trains will cross the heavily fortified border dividing North and South Korea every day from next month, restoring a link severed for more than half a century, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said on [...] [
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Posted 9 months ago: South Korea abstained from a vote to adopt a draft resolution at the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee, which condemned human rights abuses in North Korea. A draft resolution entitled Situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (document n0760137.pdf) would have the Assembly express its very serious concern at continuing reports of systematic, widespread and ... [
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Posted 81 minutes ago: The Sejong Society will host a talk by Kim Dong-su, a North Korean defector who was the Second Secretary of the Permanent Representative of North Korea to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization when he defected to South Korea in 1998. Before his defection, he served in key posts in North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including as Assistant Secretary ... [
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Posted 13 days ago: This week I had the humbling (and somewhat mind-numbing) experience of taking the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT) for Korean. I’d planned on taking the test later this year as I’ll be in Korea this fall for three weeks to visit family, but circumstances dictated that the test occur sooner; I had to cram and was unprepared. In the process ... [
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Posted 13 days ago: This week Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama criticized the Bush administration for not engaging in diplomacy with North Korea between 2002-2005. Said Obama: “While the United States was refusing to talk with North Korea, the reclusive regime developed eight units of nuclear weapons… North Korea secured nuclear materials (plutonium) that can make eight to 10 nuclear weapons” While I’ll be ... [
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Posted 13 days ago: It’s been just over a year and the first birthday parties - regular and traditional (첫돌) - were last week! [
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Posted 5 weeks ago: I’ll be very busy and mostly without net access until mid-July. [
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Posted 6 weeks ago: Update: Probably it would have been better to get these answers *before* announcing plans to delist North Korea and remove other trade barriers, as that is what the agreements actually called for: North Korea did not answer U.S. suspicions of enriching uranium and proliferating technology when it released an inventory of its nuclear plans this week, Secretary of State Condoleezza ... [
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Posted 6 weeks ago: From the Dong-a Ilbo: “President of the Families of Abducted and Detained in North Korea, confirmed yesterday at a press conference, ‘A former South Korean soldier surnamed Kim is currently staying in a third country. He crossed the North Korean border at around 10 p.m. on June 14. He joined the South Korean army in August 1951 at age 17. ... [
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Posted 6 weeks ago: The Chosun Shinbo (조선신보, also Romanized as Chosun Sinbo), a newspaper in Japan controlled by the North Korean organization Chosun Soren (a.k.a the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, 재일본 조선인 총련합회), has endorsed Barack Obama over John McCain in the upcoming U.S. presidential elections. This is not to be confused with American-style endorsements from newspapers as communications from ... [
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Posted 7 weeks ago: The Tears of My Soul. Kim Hyun-hee. William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1993. This book is well worth reading primarily because it offers a glimpse into the training and operational procedures of North Korea’s intelligence services. I’m not sure if the descriptions of training are credible or not, but have not found information to the contrary. It also offers a ... [
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Posted 7 weeks ago: This is almost too good to be true - according to U.S. intelligence sources, the physical records of plutonium processing North Korea gave the U.S. for determining how much had been processed had trace amounts of highly enriched uranium (HEU) on them, and likely not possible transfer from Pakistani equipment supplied by prolific proliferator A.Q. Khan: The United States in ... [
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Posted 3 weeks ago: Hamhung, July 13 (KCNA) -- The State Academy Beryozka Dancing Troupe of Russia Named after N.S. Nadezhdina on a visit to the DPRK gave its premiere at the Hamhung Grand Theatre in South Hamgyong Province on Sunday. The repertoire of the performance which raised its curtain with chorus "Song of General ... [
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Posted 3 weeks ago: Pyongyang, July 14 (KCNA) -- The Tonghae (East Sea) Fishery Institute is a scientific research centre which contributes to the development of the fishing industry in the country. The institute, formed in February Juche 35 (1946), is located in Wonsan City, Kangwon Province. It has made big achievements by deepening researches ... [
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Posted 3 weeks ago: Pyongyang, July 14 (KCNA) -- The working people of all strata of the DPRK are taking an active part in art activities as creators and enjoyers of art. It is a precious fruition of the wise leadership of Kim Jong Il that the flower garden of Juche art is flourishing daily ... [
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Posted 3 weeks ago: By Choe Chol Sun Rodong Sinmun July 14, 2008 Pyongyang -- The famous work "Let Us Struggle Resolutely to Implement the Three Principles of National Reunification" authored by General Secretary Kim Jong Il on July 14, Juche 61 (1972), serves as an important work as it clearly explains the fundamental matters to be ... [
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Posted 3 weeks ago: By Ri Hyon Do Rodong Sinmun July 14, 2008 Pyongyang, July 14 (KCNA) -- The U.S. loudmouthed "peace" and "threat" are, in essence, nothing but a synonym for bolstering up its nuclear armed forces and expanding its armament. The U.S. can never cover up its true colors as the mastermind of the global ... [
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Posted 3 weeks ago: Pyongyang, July 14 (KCNA) -- The 66th candlelight action was staged in Seoul on July 12 under the sponsorship of the People's Measure Council against the Total Opening of south Korean Markets to American Beef. It was participated in by more than 50,000 children, old persons, workers, peasants, students, men of ... [
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Posted 3 weeks ago: Pyongyang July 14 (KCNA) -- International Christian organizations sent letters of protest to traitor Lee Myung Bak on July 2 in denunciation of the indiscriminate repression of religionists who participated in the candlelight actions against the import of American beef. Referring to the fact that the police authorities cracked down upon ... [
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Posted 3 weeks ago: Pyongyang, July 14 (KCNA) -- Remembrance meetings and film shows were held by the Sogd Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Tajikistan and the Indian Institute for Foreign Policy Studies on July 4 and 7 on the occasion of the 14th anniversary of demise of President Kim Il Sung. Speeches ... [
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Posted 3 weeks ago: Pyongyang, July 13 (KCNA) -- Talks of the heads of the delegations to the six-party talks were held in Beijing from July 10 to 12. The talks estimated the implementation of the October 3, 2007 agreement and there reached an agreement on successfully winding it up before adopting a press release. According ... [
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Posted 4 weeks ago: Pyongyang, July 13 (KCNA) -- Talks of the heads of the delegations to the six-party talks were held in Beijing from July 10 to 12. The talks estimated the implementation of the October 3, 2007 agreement and there reached an agreement on successfully winding it up before adopting a press release. According ... [
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Posted 4 months ago: The organization LiNK (Liberty in North Korea) is sponsoring two programs in Seoul this summer. The first is a program for North Korean defectors called the Chollima Leadership Program to be held from June 1–21, 2008. "Co-sponsored by the International... [
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Posted 4 months ago: North Korea has made development of IT one of the cornerstones of its economic program. With that in mind, we have two interesting IT items to report on. The latest issue of the National Committee on North Korea's newsletter has... [
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Posted 4 months ago: Although it's a bit after the fact now, the latest issue of CanKor has an interesting collection of articles on the New York Philharmonic's famous -- or infamous, depending on your perspective -- trip to Pyongyang. Writing in Japan Focus,... [
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Posted 5 months ago: The Pyongyang Circus is hoping to embark on a world tour including the United States and South Korea following the New York Philharmonic's highly successful visit to Pyongyang, a North Korean official has said. But uncertainty continues to surround... [
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Posted 5 months ago: In its annual report on the international narcotics trade, the U.S. State Department reported that North Korea may have switched from drug-running to counterfeiting cigarettes. So from illegal drugs that can kill you, Pyongyang is switching to legal drugs that... [
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Posted 5 months ago: Only one week into his presidency, Lee Myung-bak's approach to the Unification Ministry has now come full circle. First, he attempted to abolish it. Then he tried to appoint a scholar with noted anti-unification views to head it. Now comes... [
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Posted 5 months ago: In the wake of the New York Philharmonic's visit to Pyongyang, there's an interesting Washington Post story about how North Korean conductors are being sent to Vienna to perfect their art. The North Korean students at the University of... [
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Posted 5 months ago: Lee Myung-bak's nominee to be Minister of Unification, Nam Joo-hong, withdrew his name Wednesday in response to reports linking him to real estate speculation. It's not our place here to take a partisan stance on South Korean politics so I... [
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Posted 5 months ago: I've always been skeptical about speculations by Pyongyangologists on who will succeed Kim Jong-il, but today's news provides the strongest indications yet that Kim Jong-chul is the chosen one to succeed his father. In the wake of the New York... [
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Posted 5 months ago: Apologies for the lack of postings recently; we were having some technical difficulties that appear to be cleared up. The big news here in Seoul, of course, is that Lee Myung-bak was inaugurated today. Nothing really new in his inauguration... [
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Korean Artists Association