Our old friend Kim Jong Il weighs in on Japan’s textbooks:
bq. “This betrays philistinism peculiar to Japan, a vulgar and shameless political dwarf,”Â? an unnamed North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday, according to KCNA.
And in a turn of events worthy of “the Deer Leader’s blog”:http://www.livejournal.com/users/kim_jong_il__/ :
bq. North Korea on Wednesday called for regional security talks among Northeast Asian nations but said the United States and Japan should be excluded.
The Illmatic can be pretty emotional, but wait! “The commentary continues”:http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050413.wnkorea0413/BNStory/International/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20050413.wnkorea0413 stating:
bq. Since the United States lies across the Pacific Ocean and Japan is an island separated from the rest of Asia, they have no direct stake in the region’s peace and security…
The Norks have a tendency to ignore Japan in defense matters. Remember that time they did a “missile test”:http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9808/31/nkorea.missle.03/ and [sarcasm] forgot Japan was in the middle of the firing range? [/sarcasm]
About Younghusband
Sir Francis Edward Younghusband (1863-1942) was a British explorer, army officer, military-political officer, and foreign correspondent born in India who led expeditions into Manchuria, Kashgar, and
Tibet. He three times tried and failed to scale Mt. Everest and journeyed from China to India, crossing the Gobi desert and the Mustagh Pass (alt. c.19,000 ft/5,791 m) of the Karakoram mountain range in modern day Pakistan. Convinced of Russian designs on British interests in India, Younghusband proactively engaged in the nineteenth century spying and conflict over Central Asia between the British and the Russians known as the Great Game.
"Younghusband" is a Canadian who has spent a number of years bouncing back and forth between his home country and Japan. Fluent in Japanese and English with experience in numerous other languages from Spanish to Georgian, Younghusband has travelled throughout Asia. He graduated with an MA from the War Studies Department at the
Royal Military College of Canada, where he focussed on the Japanese oil industry and energy security issues. He has recently returned to Canada from Japan, and is working in the technology sector.
just wanted to take this opportunity to say, keep up the good Asia blogging.
Anytime I see ‘Uncle Kim’ weigh in on an issue, I automatically want to take the other side. How dare he speak on the issue of textbooks in Japan and make me feel all conflicted. *sigh*
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In another turn of events, a solution to our one of our NE Asia security woes “is laid on the table”:http://www.borowitzreport.com/archive_rpt.asp?rec=1109&srch=:
“bq”KIM JONG-IL AGREES TO GIVE UP NUKES IN EXCHANGE FOR ANGELINA JOLIE
Bush Blasts Proposal as “ËœIndecent’
In what some hailed as a breakthrough in a long-running diplomatic standoff, North Korean President Kim Jong-Il today agreed to give up his nation’s nuclear weapons program in exchange for the actress Angelina Jolie.
Under the terms of the deal, which calls for the transfer of Ms. Jolie to North Korea by summer of 2007, international arms inspectors would have the right to inspect sites in North Korea in exchange for granting President Kim the right to inspect Ms. Jolie.
The accord, which caught many in diplomatic circles by surprise, would unite Ms. Jolie, widely considered the sexiest woman alive, with President Kim, widely considered the craziest man alive, raising the specter that he may be planning to create a race of super-sexy, super-crazy people.
Such concerns may have prompted President George W. Bush to blast the nukes-for-Jolie deal today, calling it “an indecent proposal.”Â?