East Asia

Today’s Podcast Dump

Thu, 08/19/2010 - 20:35 — Baltimoron

I listen to so much verbiage in a given weekday commuting to my worthless say job. I need to dump the pearls of wisdom.

1. For Good Reason: Massimo Pigliucci: How to Tell Science from Bunk

The MiG-21 In My Field

Thu, 08/19/2010 - 19:35 — Baltimoron

Don’t you just hate it when a N.Korean MiG-21 crashes in your neighborhood?

Tokyo Time-Lapse: Japan as Metaphor?

Sun, 08/08/2010 - 16:27 — James Turnbull

Apropos of nothing more than my mellow mood this Sunday, two time-lapse videos of Tokyo by photographer Samuel Cockedey for you to enjoy.

The Horrible Waste and Destruction of Two Atomic Bombs

Sat, 08/07/2010 - 08:34 — Baltimoron

I want to write more – as well as do more reading – but right now this comment I’ve left at Roy Berman’s post on “Hiroshima bombing anniversary” is my most recent statement on the significance of the two atomic blasts on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. More and more, I view both as unnecessary war crimes.

Continuing what M-Bone said, I think it’s important to view the A-Bomb not as only a military weapon, but as a means to a diplomatic strategy the US implemented to frustrate the Japanese.
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A Korean Woman’s Perspective on August 6, 1945 in Nagasaki

Fri, 08/06/2010 - 22:38 — Baltimoron

It’s the anniversary of a moral atrocity, around which ethical rationalizations perennially swirl. What one Korean woman thinks is nut that remarkable, But, the record of past prejudices should be burned indelibly in our memories.

Born in South Korea’s North Gyeongsang Province, Kwon came to Japan around 1930.

She was only 19 years old and happened to be at a construction company where her husband was employed about 1.8 kilometers away from the bomb’s hypocenter in the neighborhood of Inasamachi, Nagasaki, when the bomb exploded.
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Arirang Love (Video)

Thu, 08/05/2010 - 08:04 — Baltimoron

Although I don’t quite understand why the spectacle of Nuremberg-like mass formations at the Arirang Games are any different from the bloated spectacles at the Olympics, I reserve a special revulsion for the North Korean variant. But, who could ridicule pandas?

North Korea’s Arirang mass games opened Monday evening in Pyongyang, with about 100,000 people, ranging from schoolchildren to professional artists, taking part in the gymnastics and artistic spectacle.

A new part dubbed “Friendship Arirang” was added to the performance, stressing Pyongyang’s friendly ties with China following leader Kim Jong Il’s visit to the country in May.
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The Sun Dog of Leshan

Thu, 08/05/2010 - 07:36 — Baltimoron

It’s probably a sun dog. It could also be something else entirely unknown. But, I’m very certain ET has not come to Leshan.

Now the only question is, has pollution altered our perception of this wondrous astronomical event?

Obama Riffs on Bush As Pyongyang Stays on Tempo

Wed, 08/04/2010 - 15:34 — Baltimoron

Generally, I think sanctions have little effect except to please domestic constituencies in the sanctioning state and to give other states opportunities to fill the void. That’s why I generally agree with Tad Farrell’s yawning acknowledgment of the Obama administration’s burst of sanctions activity on Pyongyang.

As some analysts have already commented, this new round of U.S sanctions will likely be regarded as “meaningless” by the DPRK.
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More Support for the Japanese-As-Koreans Theory

Wed, 08/04/2010 - 15:10 — Baltimoron

Razib Khan offers his conclusion about a new interpretation of southern Korean population genetics and phylogeography: not only do northern Koreans display some features of many neighboring countries, but Japanese samples in certain regions share a great deal of material with southern Koreans.

In the paper itself they’re testing a few historical hypotheses. So I’ll leave it to them for the interpretation:
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Dalian Oil Spill and Beijing’s Lies

Tue, 08/03/2010 - 08:09 — Baltimoron

An aerial photo, released by China's Xinhua news agency on July 17, 2010, shows an oil slick floating off the coast of Dalian, China. Efforts were under way to contain and clean up a large oil slick after pipeline explosions at the northeastern Chinese port sent greasy black plumes into the ocean, state media reported. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Tian Jingyue) # Kushibo has expressed concern about an oil spill in the Yellow Sea – and about Beijing’s misleading official pronouncements.

Red Links, 7-31-10

Sat, 07/31/2010 - 10:02 — Baltimoron

Jon Berkeley Yes, I missed last week – apologies. This week brings disappointment leavened with hope – for carbon taxes, CCT’s, and sorting out the banking system and the world economy in general. I am, however, partial to a counter-terror strategy in Afghanistan. But, maybe I should read the WikiLeaks’ trove of documents now.

The Rising Power of the Chinese Worker
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It’s Hard to Believe in the Lee Administration

Fri, 07/30/2010 - 11:49 — Baltimoron

Erich Weingartner underscores the most annoying aspects of the Cheonan disaster: the Lee administration and the ROK military establishment keep doubt alive with their ham-fisted performances.

The DPJ’s ‘New Asianism’

Wed, 07/28/2010 - 15:28 — Baltimoron

David Fedman identifies what’s laudable and what’s borrowed in the DPJ’s ‘New Asianism’

Cloaked in the mantle of former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s elevated yu-ai, or fraternity, rhetoric, Japan has poured sugar on its regional relationships, especially with China. But what concretely has Japan done to demonstrate its commitment to rapprochement with its neighbours?
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Just Another Shaman Exorcism

Tue, 07/27/2010 - 17:42 — Baltimoron

No Money Backing the Stakes in the Koreas

Mon, 07/26/2010 - 16:17 — Baltimoron

Using foreigners as political foils resonates politically in the Koreas, where no one really takes the expressions to task. Case in point: ROK Foreign Minister Yu Myunghwan’s “Dear Leader-ing threat to South Korean dissenters. I agree with Yuna, that Minister Yu should keep his job. But, he needs to apologize and refrain from associating dissent with treason.

But, in the Koreas, it’s the leftists who are the real xenophobes.

The JSDF [Japanese Self-Defense Forces] observation will take place in the midst of China’s sensitive response to the joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises in the East Sea. Japan’s role is likely to add to existing tensions on the Korean Peninsula if China and North Korea issue unfavorable responses.
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