Myanmar Update: Cambodia's in your corner!

A monk runs from tear gas fired by police on protesting Buddhist monks in Yangon from the AFP.

My Myanmar blog post, but it's seven updates strong, so it's time for a new post instead of an update.

Last week the UN released a report that was very critical of the government in Myanmar. This week Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia praised Myanmar. In reaction, it seems, UN investigator Paulo Sergio Pinheiro called for Myanmar to enter into talks. It just seems with China supporting it and its neighbors sitting back on the human rights issue, I see no reason why those in power would bother with any talks. Maybe I'm missing something, if so, get me up to speed.

Envoy pleads for Myanmar dialogue

GENEVA, Switzerland (AP) -- The U.N. special investigator for Myanmar pleaded with the country's military junta on Wednesday to engage in a serious dialogue about human rights, a day after U.S. President George W. Bush threatened new international sanctions.

"We know that we have a problem," Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, who recently visited the country, told Myanmar's ambassador at a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Pinheiro said he was disappointed by Myanmar's reaction to a report he formally presented to the 47-nation body on the government's deadly crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in September.

The report released last week found that at least 31 people were killed -- more than double the number acknowledged by authorities. Pinheiro said the death toll was probably much higher.

Pinhero's plea came a day after Cambodia's government defended Myanmar's junta. On Tuesday Cambodia's leader said the U.N. should leave Myanmar alone and stop disrupting the junta's progress toward democracy by issuing critical reports on human rights abuses.

"Myanmar has been moving smoothly ahead," Prime Minister Hun Sen said, becoming perhaps the first national leader to publicly praise the country's military junta since its bloody September crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

Hun Sen, whose government is regularly criticized for human rights abuses, lashed out at the Pinheiro report released last week. Hun Sen said the report did nothing but "disturb" Myanmar's efforts toward reform.

Also on Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill meant to stop Myanmar's rubies and high quality jade from entering the United States. The bill tightens already tough sanctions against a ruling military junta that killed peaceful pro-democracy protesters and Buddhist monks in September.

The House bill would freeze assets by Myanmar's leaders and cut off tax deductions for U.S. companies working in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

It attempts to stop Myanmar from dodging U.S. sanctions through laundering gemstones in third countries before selling them in the United States.

"Burma's generals fund this repression of their own people by selling off the country's natural resources," Democratic Rep. Tom Lantos, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement.

More links:

International Herald Tribune: Cambodian leader blasts report, says UN should leave Myanmar alone
AFP: At least 31 killed in Myanmar unrest: UN expert

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UN Security Council Sanctions North Korea

Nothing much to say on this except that it feels like the same old tepid response from the UN which will not change the situation. As it takes all of the permanent members (P5) to approve a resolution, at least the fact that both China and Russia signed on to it shows some unity among the P5. China and Russia are the closest allies North Korea has right now, but even they can't (or won't) lay the requisite pressure on North Korea to change course on its increasingly dangerous provocations.

The text is linked here. The title is "Non-proliferation/Democratic People’s Republic of Korea" and it's document number "S/RES/1718 (2006)."

Here is a link to the UN webcast archives, so you can see what the various diplomats had to say about the situation: 2006 Archived Webcasts of Security Council Meetings

Links:

• Security Council imposes sanctions on DPR Korea after its claimed nuclear test - UN News Centre
• UN slaps sanctions on North Korea - BBC
• U.N. Votes to Impose Sanctions on N. Korea - Washington Post
• NKorea rejection of UN resolution echoes country's long-held positions - International Herald Tribune
• Security Council Backs Sanctions on North Korea - New York Times

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South Korean Ban Ki-moon is the Next UN Secretary General!

Kofi Annan, the United Nations Secretary-General shakes hand with Ban Ki-moon, Foreign Minister of South Korea at the U.N. headquarters in New York, Wednesday, October 11, 2006. (photo and caption shamelessly lifted from the WashingtonPost.com.)

Nothing much needs to be said except for congratulations to Ban Ki-moon and South Korea on Mr. Ban's appointment as the next Secretary General of the United Nations!

I remember discussing this in class last year. Then the general opinion was even though South Korea would put forth a strong candidate that because of international politics the candidate wouldn't have a chance.

My how things change in a few months! All of his opponents eventually dropped out of the race and he was unopposed. It's just great!

Here is a news article from the WashingtonPost talking about his appointment.

South Korean Approved as U.N. Secretary General

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 13 -- The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon on Friday as the next U.N. secretary general.

The Security Council's choice of Ban, 62, to succeed Kofi Annan was ratified by acclamation at the General Assembly, consisting of all 192 U.N. member governments.

Hundreds of diplomats and U.N. staffers broke into loud applause when the General Assembly president, Sheikha Haya Rashed al-Khalifa of Bahrain, asked the assembly to adopt the resolution by acclamation. She then banged the gavel and said, "It is so decided."

Ban will become the eighth secretary general in the United Nations' 60-year history on Jan. 1, when Annan's second five-year term expires. The last Asian to run the world body was U Thant of Burma, who held the post from 1961 to 1971.

"It has been a long journey from my youth in war-torn and destitute Korea to this rostrum and these awesome responsibilities," Ban said in accepting the post, in both English and French.

"I could make the journey because the U.N. was with my people in our darkest days," he said. "It gave us hope and sustenance, security and dignity. It showed us a better way. So I feel at home today."

Ban will oversee an organization with 92,000 peacekeepers around the world and a $5 billion annual budget. The United Nations' reputation has been tarnished by corruption scandals, and its outdated practices need reform to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Annan hailed Ban as "exceptionally attuned to the sensitivities of countries and constituencies in every continent."

The choice of Ban for the top job coincides with increased U.N. involvement in the effort to thwart North Korea's nuclear weapon development program. Ban has said that he would like to help mediate the dispute with the communist government in North Korea.

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North Korea's Nukes and Ban Ki-moon

A South Korean military police walks past a signboard showing the distance to the North Korean capital Pyongyang from Imjingang Station, of the incomplete inter-Korea railway, near the demilitarized zone which separates the two Koreas, about 55 km (34 miles) north of Seoul, October 6, 2006. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (photo and caption taken from Reuters.com)

You know, when I heard about North Korea announcing to the world that it was planning a nuclear test, I just rolled my eyes in frustration.

Yes, it's serious, but the thing is North Korea is tiresome and invokes the same tired tactics all the time. The nation is like those annoying kids who pitch a fit when they don't get their way. The problem is unlike the kids who don't get their way, North Korea has weapons and technology to trade in for cash to get even more dangerous weapons and technology. Also, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that they're stupid in North Korea. North Korean specialists on the US know much more about the States and its society than vice versa. The problem also they know the world basically rolls its eyes when they make noise so they have to up the ante with each move which inevitably makes them more dangerous with each provocation.

Now that South Korea has Ban Ki-moon running unopposed for the postion of the next UN Secretary General, North Korea is making noise. Now this probably isn't just to thwart Ban at the UN, but I'm sure it plays a part. Whenever South Korea is doing well or is making positive strikes the North makes noise to take from their achievement it seems. The good thing is it doesn't matter at this point. If you didn't know, both North and South Korea joined the UN in September of 1991.

During that time South Korea has made impressive strives with its economy and democracy. In contrast, North Korea has managed to isolate itself even more than before with even its traditional allies of Russia and China slapping its wrists for its political miscalculations.

The problem is here in South Korea there is a generational divide and a lot of South Koreans aren't given and don't seek out the full story. South Koreans forget this, but the North tried to take away South Korea's glory during the 2002 World Cup. Good for me, David Scofield remembered when he wrote N Korea's military edge over S Korea:

In the closing days of the World Cup competition in 2002, a North Korean naval vessel attacked and sank a South Korean navy ship inside South Korean territorial waters. Two years later, not one politician from either the ruling or opposition camps attended the memorial for the six South Korean sailors who perished, and most of the nation's media outlets relegated the story to the back pages, if they covered it at all.

The irony is up to recently every South Korean I spoke to remembered the accident where two South Korean teenage girls were killed by a US Army tank during the same month. But when I remind or inform them that during the same period North Korea intentionally fired on a South Korean ship and killed South Korean sailors, all I get is silence.

South Korea is also back pedaling on its desire to have the US Army reduce its presence here.

So will North Korea conduct a nuclear test in spite of the UN's warning not to do so? Probably.

The problem is it's the same old guff but the stakes are escalating. North Korea has no problem with taking things to a crisis point because they have in the past. The question is if, how, and when will it stop. Let's hope that Ban can conduct another Korean miracle if he is successful in becoming the highest ranking diplomat in the world.

Here is a timeline from FACTBOX-N.Korea's nuclear gestures - it's all in the timing

(Reuters) - North Korea's announcement of its plan to carry out a nuclear test coincided with a symbolic anniversary, just as previous bold statements were timed to capture maximum attention.

Here is an overview of similar tactics by Pyongyang in the past:

- Oct 3, 2006 - Pyongyang says it will conduct a nuclear test but gives no date. The announcement comes on Foundation Day, the anniversary of the day in 2,333 B.C. that the mythical Tangun founded Korea, and while China is on a Golden Week holiday.

- July 5, 2006 - North Korea launches seven missiles early in the morning, with the launch coinciding with the U.S. Independence Day holiday.

- Feb 10, 2005 - North Korea declares it has nuclear weapons for the first time. The announcement comes as South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon is in the air on a trip to Washington to meet U.S. officials, and as much of Asia is celebrating the Lunar New Year's holidays.

- Feb 25, 2003: North Korea test fires a short-range cruise missile. The test comes hours before the inauguration of South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and other international guests in Seoul for the event. Powell says the test is "fairly innocuous" but the White House calls it diplomatic extortion, aimed at forcing a compromise in the stand-off over Pyongyang's suspected nuclear program.

- August 31, 1998 - North Korea test fires its Taepodong-1 missile, its first test in five years and fourth since 1984. The test comes as the United States and North Korea are 10 days into sporadic talks in New York about the North's nuclear program, and ahead a September congress that confirms leader Kim Jong-il as holding the highest office of state.

- November 1987 - North Korean agents blow up a Korean Air passenger jet, killing 115 people, in what South Korea says is an attempt to disrupt Seoul's hosting of the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Sources: Reuters, Global Security

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Not a Surprise: UN ready to help North Korean flood victims, but they're having problems

North Korean co-operative farm workers on a rice paddy in Unpha county, North Hwanghae province, July 19, 2005. The U.N. World Food Program said on Monday North Korea had yet to allow it to distribute food aid there after widespread flooding that some analysts have warned could trigger famine in the country. (Gerald Bourke/WFP/Handout/Reuters)

The Middle East crisis is dominating the news. Now there is good reason because it's a gripping story and horrible things are happening there and, in particular, to civilians in Lebanon.

However, there are issues going on in other parts of the world too.

As I mentioned in Rain, Mint, and Flooding, here in Korea, we were in the 장마 season. It was pretty much raining non-stop for more about two weeks. In South Korea there have been a few deaths with about 2,400 of people displaced from their homes.

However, in North Korea it is feared that many more people have suffered due to the high amount of rain that we experienced in the region. North Korea released an announcement on Friday saying hundreds were killed or are missing.

North Korea on Friday made its first official comment on deaths from the storms, saying hundreds were killed or went missng. The thing is they're only letting the World Food Program (WFP) into one county. As a result, the WFP can't assess what the damage was and what the need is, and it can't ensure that aid gets into the hands of those who need it most.

And you wonder why North Korea doesn't let its people have any interaction with the outside world? Outside of the probable reality that the people would wise up and rise up, the fact that the North Korean government has let its own people suffer and starve would surely anger quite a few people.

It's incredibly sad to put a priority on game playing in international politics and allow people to suffer this way.

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