Occidentalis comments

The poster is part of a tourism campaign for Nara.

One might be apt to think that an image like that would be prone to have a negative effect on tourists.

She looks like she is wrapped in ribbon candy.

Well now that China has stealth fighters, and we are developing laser weapons, we can protect NK our good friend. No one can stand in front of China and its good friend NK. We will develop more weapons to defend our good friend NK from USA and South K.

Birds of a feather flock together—two of a kind.

Perhaps the biggest difference between the militaries of the rival Koreas is a matter of attitude. As a North Korean colonel put it in 2009, according to an International Crisis Group report, “Everyone must clearly understand there is no advanced technology in this world that can counter or anticipate the unlimited ruthlessness and power of our retaliatory strikes.”

Those unlimited ruthless and power strikes would last but a season. The extinction of the North Korean regime and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea would be forever.

These people don’t have the support they had ten years ago. It comes as no surprise to me that there are only three of them in the photo.

Is making that Vee sign for photos in the DNA of every Japanese woman?

Koreans do the same thing.

The Chinese are going to love this and of course the North is going to scream puppet state.

Famed constitutional lawyer and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who defended O.J. Simpson and Claus von Bulow, is a former ACLU national board member who admits he "hates" guns and wants the Second Amendment repealed. Yet, says Dershowitz: "Foolish liberals who are trying to read the Second Amendment out of the Constitution by claiming it's not an individual right or that it's too much of a safety hazard don't see the danger in the big picture. They're courting disaster by encouraging others to use the same means to eliminate portions of the Constitution they don't like."

"Both oligarch and tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of arms."

--Aristotle

Personally, I have never owned a firearm.

Why would Medvedev disagree with Putin?

Weasel, you have made a very astute observation.

Russia is what it is, the land that made the word gulag famous. There is no way they are giving back these islands. Moscow is still as corrupt and totalitarian as it was during the cold war. It has nothing to gain by giving them back and much to lose if it did so. As for Medvedev saying Merry Christmas to Washington, the current administration said Merry Christmas to Medvedev by giving away missile defense development in the new START treaty.

One shouldn’t be surprised if the North Koreans have a little Christmas surprise in the works for South Korea.

I'd hate to think that Japan would rather save one South Korean or Japanese for the sacrifice of two or more North Koreans, but unfortunately that is the equation we readily accept.

You are putting words into other people’s mouths. I certainly did not say that the lives of North Koreans were of less value than any other people. Stop using eisegesis to interpret other people’s words and thoughts. I personally know North Koreans and have assisted them with humanitarian aid.

Japan has a ongoing duty to balance conflicting interests between its former colonies...

I do not see the correlation between past colonization and an ‘ongoing duty to balance conflicting interests’ between the two Koreas. It seems natural that Japan should side more heavily with the United States and the South; they are both allies and democratic states. Additionally, the United States and the Republic of Korea do kidnap Japan’s citizens.

"we feed them and they kill us"

So true.

By holding those massive and provocative war game America tries to achieve either of the following: 1) encroach further into Korean territory and sovereignty slice by slice, or 2) ignite a total war in an aim to quench the free Korea at once.

I wonder if the people in Yodok prison camp and others like it are experiencing that freedom.

Yeah, and I spoke to not one, but quite a few ROK men who served and have no doubt the ROK is behind it. The point is there is quite a lot of hard evidence to contradict what the ROK/US gov't are saying.

You must live in Korea, be married into the culture, be within North Korean artillery range, and know people from both sides of the DMZ.

I once spent some time in Peshawar; it’s like living in an altered reality on another planet, especially up in the Khyber Pass area. Since the Taliban and Al-Qaida moved into the area, the level of deprivation and evil must be incredible. Can’t say I miss the place.

The state-run broadcaster KBS aired an investigative program that refutes the latest governmental report on the cause of the sinking of the frigate Cheonan in March.

I spoke to a North Korean, former navy man after the sinking the ship; he didn’t doubt Pyongyang was behind it.

…the fact that a professor allowed by the government to examine the ship and torpedo had findings contrary to what the government claims is telling.

Unlike North Korea, South Korea is a democracy. Free nations let their citizens and broadcasting networks do that, even if it’s conspiracy theory stuff.

…any surviving government members would be sent to the Hague - if they were lucky. They know this, and that is why a certain amount of pinpoint bombing by the South would probably not lead to all-out war.

The Hague! I would love to see that; however, China would never let it happen. As for the pinpoint bombing not leading to an “all-out war,” that’s easy to say when you are not living in Seoul. Take it from one who lives in Seoul, as soon as they finish their "pinpoint bombing," the residents of Seoul are going to hear incoming.

Putin and Medvedev are still living the cold war. They still can’t stomach the loss of the Soviet empire. You are right, YuriOtani; Moscow can’t be trusted.

There should be their destiny in respect to Japanese traditions. The US is brainwashing us to make believe North is attacking, but what is not told is what provocations the SK and US are doing

Hmmm, Let’s see. Indeed, I am an American. My kid is in the Korean elementary school system. They take my kid to a historical museum—without my knowledge—and show him images of Japanese Imperial Army soldiers torturing Koreans. Consequently, my kid has nightmares about evil Japanese for two nights. On the other hand, I like Japan, even if they first bombed my country. I have to teach my child that Japanese are nice people, even though he is often told the opposite in Korea. Todori, you may want to listen to your fellow countryman, Limboinjapan.

US should leave Japan and S. Korea

Many Americans would second that, Todori; however, many good people in South Korea would be left to the tender mercy of the Dear Leader and his up and coming thug son. As for Japan, she still needs a strong ally in one form or another. Would most Japanese people like to live beside the likes of Beijing, Moscow and Pyongyang—all armed with nukes and with little interest in the wellbeing of the Japanese people and axes to grind too?

Why is this the prevailing response by the USA?

You would know the answer to this question if you knew and have met people from North Korea who have fled the country after losing family members to starvation or the gulag. I speak from firsthand knowledge.

Correction: may have consequences they may not like.

Many Chinese enjoy gambling; it seems as if the leadership in Beijing is no exception. The problem with gambling is that the odds favor the house. Beijing’s gambling with the use of its pit bull, North Korea, may have consequences they may like. This is what happens when one becomes engrossed in high stakes politics.

How much longer will there be a North Korea?

As long as China wants a North Korea.

“Nuclear weapons cannot be disinvented, but they can and must be outlawed, just as chemical and biological weapons, landmines and cluster munitions have been declared illegal,” she said.

They’re living in a dreamworld.

China again asserted its sovereignty over the islands, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu saying they “have been an integral part of Chinese territory since ancient times.”

Perhaps when they feel sufficiency of strength, the oligarchy in Beijing will make claims farther afield. It was dear comrade Moa who said, “Political power grows from the barrel of a gun.” It’s not too much of a stretch to imagine that such a violent outlook on life can translate into a gun—whether it be economic or military—being pointed at neighboring countries.

It’s an attractive flag. Unfortunately, Imperial Japan turned it into a symbol of tyranny and oppression.

Why doesn’t this surprise me? Around the time of the Olympics (April 2008), Koreans were attacked by Chinese students in Seoul. At the time, these Koreans were protesting China’s human rights record. Here is an excerpt from Reuters: “At one point, the two groups clashed with Chinese students kicking an elderly South Korean protester and hurling rocks at a group that raised banners chastising Beijing.”

Reuters, April 27, 2008