The Korean War never ended - but how did it start?

Very recommendable! 

Germany was reunited in 1990! How much longer will it take to reunite the Korean peninsula? Probably we have to wait until the demise of the Communist Party of China and Putin the Terrible!

How North Korea became the world’s most reclusive country

Germany was reunified 34 years ago!

Kim Jong Un Executes 30 Officials Over Deadly Floods in North Korea with Palki Sharma

When will the North Korean people finally get rid of their demented dictator!

Is Kim Jong Un's Health Deteriorating? Who will Succeed Him? with Palki Sharma

Very recommendable! When will the Korean peninsula be reunited again? Germany was reunified in 1990.

South Korea marks first North Korean Defectors' Day

Recommendable!

Is North Korea not the largest prison in the world?

As a German will I live long enough to witness the reunification of the Korean peninsula?

Living between enemy lines inside Korea’s Demilitarised Zone

Update 3/14/2024: BBC has rereleased this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyqoU-4WYrE on YouTube.

Update of 3/13/2024: What a surprise! BBC removes its video on the demilitarized zone between South and North Korea after less than 24 hours on YouTube. You wonder why!

Recommendable! Germany has been reunified since 1990! When will the Korean peninsula follow? Will I witness it in my lifetime?

What an armistice! What an absurd situation! E.g. these villagers live under a daily curfew.

Tae Sung, the freedom village?

South Korea's gender imbalance is bad news for men − outnumbering women, many face bleak marriage prospects

More good reasons and high time to reunite the Korean peninsula! Germany was reunited in 1990!

"South Korea’s bachelor time bomb is about to really go off. Following a historic 30-year-long imbalance in the male-to-female sex ratio at birth, young men far outnumber young women in the country. As a result, some 700,000 to 800,000 “extra” South Korean boys born since the mid-1980s may not be able to find South Korean girls to marry. ..."

South Korea's gender imbalance is bad news for men − outnumbering women, many face bleak marriage prospects

How the first people (a family) to escape North Korea in 2023 journeyed by sea to South

Recommendable! When will the Korean peninsula finally be reunited! Germany was reunited in 1990!

What were Bronze Age daggers used for? New analysis method has answer

Recommendable! This is about an amazing technique to show that a 3,000 year old metal instrument was used for animal butchering and meat carving in its time.

"Used widely throughout Europe during the Bronze Age including the Britain Isles, the functional use of copper-alloy daggers has long been debated by researchers but until recently there had not been a scientific method to analyze the metal [for organic residue]. ...
In their report published in Scientific Reports, the researchers said they used a special staining solution to enable the world’s first extraction of organic residues from ten copper-alloy daggers excavated in 2017 from Pragatto, a Bronze Age settlement site in Italy. ...

Traditionally, they have been viewed as ceremonial symbols of male identity and power because many daggers were found in warrior burials, but other researchers had maintained that the daggers had multiple uses both as tools, perhaps for ritual slaughter of animals, and as weapons.

According to the researchers, the new analysis method revealed scientifically for the first time how these objects were used, for what tasks, and on what materials, and it seems to have been for the slaughtering, butchering and carving of animal livestock for meat. ...

the project team developed a technique using a Picro-Sirius Red (PSR) solution which is used to stain muscle and collagen fibers. Collagen is a fiber-like protein in the body which is used to make connective tissue.

The residues highlighted by the solution were then observed under optical, digital and scanning electron microscopes, which allowed the team to identify micro-residues of collagen and associated bone, muscle and bundle tendon fibers.

The researchers believe these findings suggest the daggers had indeed come into contact with multiple animal tissues and were used to process a variety of animal carcasses. The daggers seem to have been used for slaughtering of livestock, butchering carcasses and carving the meat from the bone, the researchers concluded. ..."

From the abstract:

"The article discusses results of organic residue analysis performed on ten copper-alloy daggers from Bronze Age Pragatto, Italy, c.1550–1250 BCE. Metal daggers are widespread in Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Europe, yet their social and practical roles are still hotly debated. Are they symbolic or functional? Are they tools or weapons? How were they used? For what tasks and on what materials? The research addresses these questions through a novel application of biochemical staining and SEM–EDX analysis. The method has proved successful in extracting and identifying animal residues located on cutting edges including bone, muscle, and tendons. These are interpreted as evidence of prehistoric carcass butchering and carving. Further residues were observed on blade faces and hafting plates or tangs; these are interpreted as remnants of bone handles and sheaths, the latter made of either wood fibers or processed hide and fur. The readings proposed in the article are validated by original experiments with replica daggers, as detailed in the Supplementary Materials. The analysis and experiments shed new light on Bronze Age metal daggers, showing that they were fully functional tools (and perhaps tool-weapons) primarily utilized for the processing of animal carcasses. This original research result contributes significant knowledge towards interpreting an under-studied, yet socially salient, prehistoric metal artifact."

What were Bronze Age daggers used for? New analysis method has answer - The Jerusalem Post Long thought by many to have been used as a symbol of male identity and power, turns out they were used for something more mundane.

Organic residue analysis reveals the function of bronze age metal daggers (open access)

South Korea's new president vows to help North Korea if communist regime gives up its nuclear weapons

The Korean peninsula should have been reunited decades ago! What is standing in the way: Primarily, the Communist Party of China!

Bravo! Possibly, a great move by the new South Korean president!

To meet with the demented and senile 46th President is not helping!

"... "If North Korea genuinely embarks on a process to complete denuclearization, we are prepared to work with the international community to present an audacious plan that will vastly strengthen North Korea's economy and improve the quality of life for its people," he said. ..."

South Korea's new president vows to help North Korea if communist regime gives up its nukes | Just The News The new South Korean president will meet this month with President Biden, in a sign that both leaders hope to move forward with the alliance.

North Korean hackers steal billions in cryptocurrency. How do they turn it into real cash?

Recommendable! North Korea has engaged for decades in illegal or criminal activities to make money! The reunification of the Korean Peninsula is long overdue! Why are Russia and China preventing it?

"... In the last decade, Pyongyang has increasingly turned to cybercrime—using armies of hackers to conduct billion-dollar heists against banks and cryptocurrency exchanges, such as an attack in 2018 that netted $250 million in one fell swoop. The United Nations says these actions bring in vast sums which the regime uses to develop nuclear weapons that can guarantee its long-term survival. ..."

North Korean hackers steal billions in cryptocurrency. How do they turn it into real cash? | MIT Technology Review For Pyongyang’s hackers, the heist is the easy part. Actually getting their hands on the money is a different story.

Big electoral wins for 2 North Korean defectors — and South Korean democracy

Good news! When will the Korean peninsula finally be unified again! Will it only happen after Communist Party of China has been replaced by constitutional democracy and after Putin the Terrible?

Big electoral wins for 2 North Korean defectors — and South Korean democracy | American Enterprise Institute - AEI: This week’s National Assembly elections in South Korea saw two North Korean defectors make history, providing a victory for Korean democracy as a whole.

Who Is Kim Jong Un?

Posted: 3/3/2019  Updated: 8/10/2019, 3/4/2019

Update Of 8/10/2019

Just read this article: Trump says North Korea's Kim apologized for missile tests, wants to meet soon (8/10/19 Washington Times). According to President Trump, Kim Jong Un sent him a long, handwritten letter. I find that very unusual in the digital age. The dictator apologized for recent missile tests? Is this dictator in charge or not? Is he sincere? This man seems to be an enigma.

Update Of 3/4/2019

Here is a very recommendable biography video on Kim Jong Un by Biographics with host Simon Whistler: Kim Jong-un: A Brighter Future?

If the North Korean dictator is serious about attempting the decades overdue reunification of the Korean peninsula then he is very courageous and deserves some praise. Will Kim Jong-Un be the next Gorbachev?

Original Post

Just watched this remarkable, possibly revealing brief press conference with dictator Kim Jong Un and President Trump presented by Fox News on Youtube.

If you assume for a moment that the third generation dictator is not a pretender nor an actor, then this young man came across as quite helpless and shy. Apparently, he does not even speak fluently english (presumably he was not educated in the West), while many South Korean men or women in leading positions do.

One has to wonder whether this young man is even in charge or is he a puppet controlled by others in the regime?

Kim Jong Un: Courage Or Deception?

Posted: 6/12/2018  Revised/Updated: 5/31/2019

Update Of 5/31/2019

Today, following article appeared in the The Korean Times: 'Kim Jong-un carried out purge after Hanoi summit collapse': report. (5/31/19) Here is the related Reuters News article: North Korea executes envoy to failed U.S. summit -media; White House monitoring (5/30/19)

“North Korea executed Kim Hyok Chol, its special envoy to the United States, and foreign ministry officials who carried out working-level negotiations for the second U.S.-North Korea summit in February, holding them responsible for its collapse …

The North Korean leader is believed to be carrying out a massive purge to divert attention away from internal turmoil and discontent, the newspaper said. …

It is the first time since the December 2013 execution of Jang Song Thaek, Kim Jong Un's uncle ...” (emphasis added)

It still remains an open question whether the dictator of North Korea evolves more like Stalin or like Gorbachev.

We  know from experience with the history of e.g. USSR and People’s Republic of China that purges in totalitarian communist regimes have to be taken quite seriously. They may portend e.g. significant changes or a power consolidation.

Original Post

Now that the historic meeting between the Korean dictator and a U.S. president has taken place, many wonder what will be the outcome of this in the following days, weeks, months, or years? If President Reagan and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev are any guide, we should remain optimistic.

If Kim Jong Un is sincere in his efforts to finally to end the Stalinist totalitarian dictatorship in North Korea, he truly is a courageous leader and deserves to be remembered in history despite all his guilt. There are probably many vested interests in North Korea (and probably in Russia and China) that prefer the status quo as it is and these vested interest would do anything in their power not to lose their privileges they have enjoyed for some time. Thus, Kim Jong Un’s life is in jeopardy.

If Kim Jong Un is insincere and/or his allies Russia and China are scheming to upset the West than we wish or will see if President Trump has the clairvoyance to counter that!

From my previous blog posts, the reader will gather that I have supported a reunited Korean peninsula and have speculated over why it has not happened a long time ago (see e.g. here).

North Korea: China Shirks Responsibility As An Ascending Superpower!

Posted: 7/1/2017

Trigger

Just read China’s Moment to Lead on North Korea. Unlike the author of this article, I would not argue that the U.S. has to offer more to make China move on ending this horrible, dynastic dictatorship in North Korea to finally and long overdue reunite the Korean peninsula.

No Doubt About China’s Role Of Buttressing North Korea

Without communist China’s enduring, extensive and decades long support in many ways, communist, stalinist North Korea would have long collapsed.

What is the purpose? To be a constant thorn in the flesh of or to maintain a distraction for capitalist countries? Quite possible!

Would China have to face up to their own communist dictatorship if they help to rid the world of the communist dictatorship in North Korea? Probably!

Is China a wretched, economic beneficiary (e.g. import of slave labor, natural resources) of supporting North Korea? It appears so.

Russia’s Or Iran’s Role

Will these two country remain the last two rogue powers to support North Korea?

Pleading With The Ascending Superpower

Reunite the Korean peninsula in a peaceful and humanitarian way! Plan a transition for the reunification!

What does China want to get rid of the dictatorship in North Korea? A nuclear weapons free Korean peninsula? A neutral Korean peninsula like Austria or Switzerland? None of this is impossible!

Previous, Related Blog Posts

I have blogged about the subject of North Korea, reunification etc. several times before.

Three Individuals Challenge North Korea

Posted: 9/14/2014

Trigger

Just read “North Korea sentences American Matthew Miller to 6 years of hard labor”. According to this article there are now three American individuals sentenced to labor camp by this totalitarian, bellicose dictatorship.

I have previously blogged here about why Korea is still not united!

Kudos!

If these gentlemen indeed acted out of an urge to help the people in North Korea and to end this regime, then they are very brave and the world should take notice. Kudos!

Sometimes an unarmed, single human can achieve much more than what the super powers failed to accomplish.

We pray that these men will not have to suffer and that they will be released soon unharmed!

We pray that their actions will not have been in vain!

North Korea Supplies Natural Resources To China

Trigger

In a recent article about the show trial against an uncle and accused counter revolutionary of the current dictator of North Korea, I also learnt that North Korea supplies important natural resources to china.

Unfortunately, this article did not provide any details as to the extent and importance of this trade of natural resources from North Korea to the People’s Republic of China.

Significance

Some time ago I speculated in a blog post (here) why the two Koreas are still not unified like Germany. Well, this piece of information buttresses my suspicion that it is China and Russia that prevent the long overdue reunification of both Koreas.

Why Is Korea Still Not Reunited?

Posted: 3/3/2012  Updated: 4/2/2017, 11/1/2015

Update Of 4/2/2017

Just read this quite compelling article by John R. Bolton about the subject of reunification of the Korean peninsula. He argues after over 20 years of thoroughly failed U.S. foreign diplomacy it is about time to put the goal of reunification on the front burner.

Update Of 11/1/2015

Just read in this article Nordkorea verkauft offenbar tausende Bürger ins Ausland Die Vereinten Nationen werfen Nordkorea staatlich organisierten Menschenhandel vor: Um an Devisen zu kommen, habe Nordkorea 50.000 seiner Bürger zur Zwangsarbeit ins Ausland geschickt. that the United Nations reported that North Korea sells about 50,000 slave workers primarily to Russia and China for hard currency revenues.

""It is believed that the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea earns through that system between $1.2 billion and $2.3 billion per year," he wrote, adding that they worked mainly in mining, logging, textile and construction." (Reuters)

As I have speculated below it is primarily Russia and China that still and persistently prevent the unification of Korea now even more than 25 years after the unification of Germany. This is a disgrace on a global scale!

Prologue

The artificial division of Korea is probably the last remaining major relic of the Cold War.

What Is Wrong With Wikileaks?

Why does Wikileaks not leak any Chinese, Russian, or North Korean documents to shed some light on this on this decades old quagmire? Just making fun of Wikileaks. I am sure one day they will publish those documents. ;-)

What Is The Matter With Western Diplomacy?

How much longer will it take until the surviving members of separated Korean families are united again? How much longer will it take until the enslaved, starving, and impoverished North Koreans can enjoy a better life?

Is the Western diplomacy content with their narrowly focused efforts to isolate or contain North Korea or to subject North Korea to nuclear arms inspections regime? Why is the West afraid of openly asking China and Russia what they want? Let the world find out.

What is so intractable that we see no progress? Is there perhaps a hidden agenda why Western countries plus Japan are not succeeding in the reunification of Korea?

If China is opposed, what is China asking for? If Russia is opposed, what is Russia asking for? Are there other parties opposed to the reunification, perhaps Japan or other Asian countries?

What are the West, Japan, and South Korea willing to offer? What price is South Korea willing to pay for reunification?

What If China Opened The Borders To North Korean Refugees?

There is probably little doubt that China holds the key to the reunification on the Korean peninsula.

Currently, China treats North Korean refugees like criminals and repatriates them to North Korea. Another one of China’s human rights violations. China's repatriation policy is a violation of the International Convention on Refugees, to which it is a signatory. The Convention bars returning of refugees to places where their lives would be endangered.

Finally, in early March 2012, South Korea has dared to raise the issue in the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Is there a minefield built by the North Korean dictator along the Chinese border to prevent large numbers of people to flee the country?

How long could the North Korean regime survive if China were to decline further support of the regime and if China opened the border to North Korean refugees? My guess is not very long. North Korean soldiers (and with them entire navy ships and air force planes) would be among the first to cross the border and go AWOL. I am sure South Korea and the West would pay for any refugees.

What Is The Role Of Russia?

Is Russia really willing to support the North Korean dictator even if China were to give up support of North Korea? Does Russia have any business interests in North Korea? Is Russia just playing games with the West, South Korea, and Japan?

What Are The Obstacles?

Is it solely the reluctance of the North Korean dictator and its military that prevents the unification? Would the North Koreans start a war or launch its missiles if China and Russia were to withdraw their support of the regime?

Is South Korea averse to reunification fearing perhaps the enormous costs of rebuilding North Korea? Does South Korea have any advantages from the current status quo?

Is China afraid of a bigger economic or military competitor if Korea was reunited? Does the Chinese Gerontocracy still believe in a buffer? Is China holding out to vex the West, South Korea, and Japan? Does China insist that Taiwan has to be part of the solution? Is China afraid that the unification of Korea would threaten its own dictatorship?

If China insists on Taiwan being part of the solution, is Taiwan refusing to consider being a part?

Is Japan the problem? Why?

Whatever the obstacles or hidden agendas why does the general world public not learn more about it? [Sarcastic footnote: Well, Wikileaks and Mr. Assange are too preoccupied to attack the US and greedy Western Banks. Wikileaks and Assange are not really interested in human progress.]

A Possible Scenario

Reunification yes, but unified Korea may have to become neutral like Switzerland. Taiwan agrees to hold a referendum whether it will be reunited with China or not and about the transition period perhaps somewhat along the lines of Hong Kong.