Group items tagged

BBC News: Seoul sends warning of 'strong response' to North Korea http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12108638 Summary: The video on this article's page talks about how the North Korean officials have said that the main focus of their government in 2011 will be economic related, though they didn't talk about their bad relationship with the South. The South is trying to get it through the North's head that they won't be messed with, though there are fears of the North and their nukes. An expert thinks that one of the few reasons as to why there isn't a war there is because of the US troops stationed in the South. Reflection: I really think that the North Korean officials don't really know what they're doing, because they keep threatening South Korea with military action. also, i think that it's a bit scary to think that these crazy people have their hands on some nukes. Questions: 1. What really is the North Korean Nuclear Policy? 2. How much of a threat to the world is North Korea? 3. Is there any way to get peace in the Koran peninsula?

Hi Matt, While both are great sources as per the directions you may only use BBC once as a source for RJ's. As a result this posting will not count towards your grade.

BBC News - North Korea 'ready for sacred war' with the South http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12067735 Summary: North Korea says that they are prepared to use nuclear force against the South if provoked (they say the provocation is what the South did when they did war exercises after the bombing of an island). The South has taken a similar stance, only they don't use nukes. China wants to get North Korea back in peace talks, but that probably won't happen, seeing as they won't let the UN into their country. Reflection: i think that the North Koreans are just being paranoid. Also, (as seen in an annotation above) we don't know if they actually have a nuke. They could just be bluffing. The South only has taken their new stance and has done the war demonstrations because THEY were provoked by the North, not vice-versa. I really think that the North is being immature. Questions: 1. Does the North actually have a bomb or not? 2. Will both North and South follow through on their promises of war if provoked? 3. if so, what would we do about it?

Research Question: What is North Korea's Nuclear policy and how does it affect the people of North Korea? Source: AlJazeera Summary: the south koreans are trying to figure out whether or not they should start not allowing food to go to the north or not. if they do, they would probably bring down the regime much faster, but at the same time, they would be starving the people that they consider to be their kin. Or, they could not use food as a weapon, but then the regime would continue as it is. This is an especially pressing issue b/c the north recently unveiled a high-tech uranium enriching facility, which they 'build from scratch' after the negotiations on 2008. Reflection: I think that it's quite sad that the cold war between the north and south has come to this. no country should have to choose between starving their kin and taking down an evil regime. I also think that it's really stupid the the north tried to lie to the world and say that they somehow built a high-tech facility in three years, and all the while their people are starving. Questions: 1. why are the officials in the government so stupid? 2. why don't/can't the people of the north rise up? 3. should the south withhold food or not?

What is North Korea's Nuclear Policy and what effects does it have on the Korean People?  "NO SHIFT ON NORTH KOREA." States News Service 10 Nov. 2010. Academic OneFile. Web. 15 Feb. 2011. http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T004&prodId=AONE&docId=CJ241804370&source=gale&srcprod=AONE&userGroupName=lom_accessmich&version=1.0 Summery: President Obama took another trip to North Korea in November of 2010 to try and persuade North Korea to re-enter the six-party talks. He also discussed the future of North Korea. Unfortunately the outlook is still bleak. The six-party talks, which were to discus the nuclear weapons drive between the United States, Russia, both Korea's and Japan, have been halted since December 2008. Prospects for a renewal of these bleak after accusations by South Korea and the US that North Korea torpedoed one of Seoul's warships. In order for the US and others to be willing to resume talks there would be two preconditions: the invitation of of an International Atomic Energy Agency inspector to look over North Korean dismantlement procedures and the resolution of the concerns held by South Korea over the sinking of the South Korean's warship. Unfortunately North Korea is unlikely to follow either of these preconditions so the likely hood of the six-party talks continuing is slim. 

Jodie, great job overall but you are missing the questions section for each posting.

What is North Korea's Nuclear Policy and what effects does it have on the Korean People?  "North Korea blasts US nuclear policy, vows to bolster atomic arsenal." BBC Monitoring International Reports 9 Apr. 2010. Academic OneFile. Web. 15 Feb. 2011. http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T004&prodId=AONE&docId=A223588700&source=gale&srcprod=AONE&userGroupName=lom_accessmich&version=1.0 Summery: North Korea became angry and "lashed out" at the United States new nuclear policy which says that Barak Obama and his administration "renounced the use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states, but it left open all options, including a nuclear attack, on countries such as North Korea or Iran that defy international nuclear nonproliferation obligations." In other words the US says no nuclear activity against any non-nuclear country but they are willing to attack North Korea because it is unwilling to adhere to the nonproliferation obligations. Obana also warned North Korea that failure to comply could lead to an isolation of North Korea. However, Pyongayng says that this is a "hostile policy" and that North Korea will continue to make and develop atomic weapons until the United State are no longer a nuclear threat.

Source: CNN News: Gates to North Korea: End Belligerent Acts http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/01/14/south.korea.gates/index.html Summary: This article talks about how Defense Secretary Gates told the North to stop their war-provoking acts when he was touring southeast Asia. Gates also encouraged them to take steps towards negotiation actions and get back in the six-party peace talks. Gates says that the actions performed by the north are increasingly dangerous for the world. Reflection: I thought this was a pretty good article, as it give some insight as to what happens in the world of politics when dealing with -ahem- troublesome countries. I like it how Gates is taking the initiative and telling North Korea to cut it out. It's good because somebody has to. Their government is like a bad child. If you don't tell the child to stop and behave, that child will grow up to be a real pest and/or threat to you. Questions: Why does the North think that they need Nukes? Why can't we somehow take out the government? Why isn't the North willing to talk with other nations about this?

Summary: north korean officials told the russians that they would be willing to discuss their recently discovered uranium facility in nuke disarmament talks resume. also, south korea is doing regular drills for an attack from their counterparts in the north reflection: i think it's great the the north is willing to actually talk about some of their nuclear program with other nations instead of keeping to themselves and leaving the rest of us wondering. maybe they can be convinced that they don't need to go nuclear questions: why all this transparency all of the sudden? why does NK think that they need nukes just b/c there are US soldiers in the south? could the north be convinced to drop their nuclear program?

Matt, You have quite a few punctuation and grammatical errors. As this is a formal submission, you need to take more care in capitalization.

How does North Korea's communist government and nuclear technology influence the lives of its people? O'Neill, Tom. "Escaping North Korea." National Geographic Feb. 2009. Web. 9 Mar. 2011. .Summery:This article talks about the lives of people who defect from North Korea. It is a reporter who follows 3 people as he meets them in China and follows them on their journey to South Korea. To escape the awfulness of North Korea is hard and dangerous. The people who escape face punishment by North Korea if they are caught (labor/prison camps). As well as being tricked by the people they hire to help them. Red and White were tricked into the sex trade. There are people, usually Christians and humanitarians in China who help these trapped Defectors get back into South Korea where they can live in safety. These people also face huge risks in the work they do. Once in South Korea the defectors face a hard time acclimatizing into society. They have almost no training or skills and have never faced such freedoms. Response:I am glad that there are people who are helping these Defectors. It reminds me of the people who come into the US escaping Mexico but these people are escaping a much worse situation. I am amazed by the efforts put forth by South Korea to help these people, they spend a lot of money assisting the North Korean Defectors. It is a bitter sweet situation. I think this article will be very very helpful in our presentation. 

How does North Korea's communist government and nuclear technology influence the lives of its people? Ravenscroft, Nick. "Charities warn of food shortages in North Korea." BBC News. BBC, 24 Feb. 2011. Web. 9 Mar. 2011. .Summery: Recently a group of Humanitarians went into North Korea as invited by the Government. They discovered that North Korea is in a desperate situation. They are quickly running out of food and their people are malnourished. The harvest of wheat and barley has been mostly killed by a severe cold and their veggie harvests have been low. Some people are resorting to eating wild grasses. In 1990 North Korea faced a similar situation and millions of their people died. Now North Korea is pleading for help but because of their past actions people are hesitant to give it. The US, South Korea and the UN are afraid that food they may give to North Korea will only go to serve the government elite and the military. They are also holding this over North Korea to change Nuclear policy. Reflection: I want to simply say North Korea brought this upon itself, which is somewhat true, but I can't because the people who are starving are not the people who have caused the problems. It is extremely unfair that the people who have done nothing wrong are being starved because of the actions of their government. I wish there was a simple solution but unfortunately there just isn't. Questions: 1) What options do the US, South Korea and the UN have to get people in North Korea food?2) If the North Korean government is pleading for help, will they be willing to compromise for it?3) How is the North Korean government going to deal with the issues they have created for themselves?

North Korea's 'Currency Reforms' Hurt Thousands How does North Korea's communist government and nuclear technology influence the lives of its people?  Demick, Barbra. Interview by Renee Montagne. "North Korea's 'Currency Reforms' Hurt Th." Morning Edition. NPR, 19 July 2010. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. . Summary: The Communist North Korean government decided to change the currency of their country abruptly which destroyed the savings of many of its people. The government felt that the people having money was anti communist. In the article there is a case study on a 17 year old girl who grew up in a middle class household which meant that she wasn't starving. The other reason it is believed that the government chose to change currency was to "confiscate" the money of the people to gain money to make a celebration for Kim Jong Ilk's birthday.  Responce: How terrible for a country to be able to so easily destroy the hopes and dreams of its people! This article is so directly an answer to our research question because in a democratic government this could have never happened. This is a good article to have read because the case study will be very advantageous for our presentation. Questions: 1) How can a government do that to it's people? 2) What are the continuing effects of this currency change? 3) What are some other case studies like the 17 year old girl? (i will be checking the book this is based off out of the library.)

How does North Korea's communist government and nuclear technology influence the lives of its people? Summery: This book is about the lives of people living in North Korea. It is written by a woman who interviewed defectors  and looked at smuggled photos and videos. It is one of the few books written about the lives of people rather than the government or nuclear threat.  Response: This is simply an "about" for the book. I have a copy of it at home and I am reading it. I am about 40 pages in and have already learned so much about the horrors and hopes of the people living in North Korea. It is a book that so directly ties into our research question that I will read the entire book before world cultures night.  Questions: At this point many of the questions I would ask I hope will be answered by the book but I will put some of the questions I hope to have answered here. 1) What is the life of an average citizen? 2) How extreme is the control of the government on the average person? 3) Is there any hope for the North Korean People?

Research Question: How does North Korea's communist government and nuclear technology influence the lives of its people? Source: Reuters.com Summary: North Korean officials were to meet this past thursday, and there are rumors that Kim Jong Il's son will be given a high position in the party. The 2nd in command position in the North Korean government has been empty for quite some time after the last guy died. This is the first meeting of the North Korean brass since the bombings in South Korea last year. Reflection: I think that this article gives a fairly nice insight into how the North Korean government works, albeit a tad slowly. Part of me wonders why it is that the government officials haven't gotten together since the bombing, which doesn't really do anything to help my theory that the North Korean government is full of idiots. Questions: 1. Why is it that the North Korean government seems to run so slowly and inefficiently at times? 2. Will Kim Jong-un become the next dictator? 3. What will happen if he does?

Research Question: How does North Korea's communist government and nuclear technology influence the lives of its people? Source: Foxnews.com Summary: The leaders of North Korea's government met on thursday, and there were rumors that Kim Jong Il's son would be appointed to a higher position in the government to secure his place as next in line for the leadership of North Korea. However, there weren't any reports of that happening this time. Apparently, the top officials in the government meet once or twice a year to pass bills, appoint new leaders, etc. The government has been making significant progress over the past decade or so to be more self-sufficient as a country, which should greatly improve the standard of living for the average North Korean citizen. Reflection: I really think it's great that the people of North Korea might finally be able to have a better life, oppressed though it may be. I think that once the people have a better standard of living, they might also get to doing some thinking for themselves, and maybe have some interesting ideas about how their government is doing things. Yes, I know, that's a best-case scenario, but it could still happen. Questions: 1. What will happen once the people get better lives? 2. Is an overthrow possible? 3. What will Kim Jong Un be like as a ruler?