And the South is providing the training

South Korea plans to open a job training center in the North to improve the skills of North Koreans who work in South Korean-owned companies.

The training center, to open in June, each year will offer training in 13 areas of work to 4,000 employees of midsized companies, the state-funded Human Resources Development Service of Korea said in a statement.

The center will conduct job training and supply a quality workforce to our companies which will move in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, it said.

South Korea’s government has allocated $16.4 million to construct the training center in the industrial zone, The Korea Herald reported Thursday.

The Kaesong Industrial Complex, opened in 2004, combines the South’s capital and technology with the North’s cheap labor and land.

Currently, 11 South Korean companies employ 6,000 North Korean workers and 600 South Korean workers in the zone, according to the Ministry of Labor.

The ministry expects that some 300 firms will eventually recruit 90,000 North Korean workers when the first-stage development of the inter-Korean complex is completed in 2007, the newspaper reported.

Three words: Arbeit. Macht. Frei.

(Via. The Asia//Korea Tide) Any one betting on China to heed this?

UN Tells China to Cease Repatriation of Defectors

Antonio Guterres, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said on Thursday that even those North Koreans who crossed the border for purely economic reasons would be in grave danger if they were returned to their country and therefore need to be seen as refugees. The Commissioner made these remarks in a press conference after concluding his itinerary in China, before heading back to Geneva.

That is interpreted as a roundabout remark that the Chinese government should treat North Korean defectors as refugees who are seeking asylum. However, through a briefing by the Foreign Ministry spokesman on Tuesday, the Chinese government reaffirmed that they can not recognize North Korean defectors as refugees, referring to them as “illegal migrants who enter into Chinese territory.”

The visit by the head of UNHCR to China is the first in 10 years, Guterres focused on meeting with officials who are related to refugee issue, including State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce.

China: As the Permanent Member of the UN Security Council, we will do everything in our power and position to force you to take that comment and stick it up your ass.

That’s the most “logical” way of handling something from the UN. On the other hand, it reminds me of this:

President Black Bush (In the Rose Garden) “U.N., you got a problem with that, know what you should do? You should sanction me. Sanction me with your army. OH! WAIT A MINUTE! YOU DON’T HAVE AN ARMY! I guess that means you need to shut the (bleep) up! That’s what I’d do if I didn’t have no army, I would shut the (bleep) up. (With his mouth inches from the microphones, speaking one word into each of them) Shut – the – (bleep) – UP! That’s right!”

In all seriousness, one has to think what are China’s interests. Right now, it is definately not North Korean refugees, and most definately not some international agreements. Therefore, in order to force China into honoring UNHCR protocols, one has to target China’s real interests. In other words, make China’s economy pay the price for repatriating refugees. How that is done is up to lawmakers. Hopefully, they do act in a way that won’t cripple their own economies.

A case against analogies, with pictures and video (Via. Cal Patriot)

Students from PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, drew an angry crowd on Sproul after displaying images that compared animal treatment to the lynching and enslavement of black Americans. About a dozen Berkeley students furiously engaged the PETA members, accusing the animal rights group of racism. The situation intensified when one member of the crowd threw ketchup and mustard on the PETA display and another tore down part of the exhibit.

One image presented by PETA featured a chained elephant foot juxtaposed with the chained foot of a slave. Another showed black individuals hanging from a tree by their necks contrasted with the image of a cow being hung by its hind legs. Several black students shouted down the PETA students and called for the display to be taken down. One student who was upset by PETA’s comparison of slavery to animal mistreatment shouted amid tears, “I’m not trying to say that people should eat meat. I understand you, but the way you’re depicting our history, the way you are depicting the things that happened to us, the thing that happened to our ancestors, it’s not ok, it’s not ok!”

Imagine being the person trying to convince the angry crowd that that display is a good thing. The best way to avoid situations like this is to avoid comparisons all together. Now, if one must make an analogy, they better be more closely related than comparing animals to humans. I consider the North Korean issue to be unique for many reasons. Therefore, no comparison should be neccessary.