We’ve heard of these North Korea logging camps, this is the first substantial documentary about them

To the West, North Korea is a pariah state, best known for its secrecy, famines, belligerent politics and its leader’s brutality.

At home, North Koreans live under total government control and the watchful eye of the Dear Leader, Kim Jong-il.

But in the Amur region of Russia, almost 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from the border, North Korea has created a home away from home at a series of remote logging camps in which nearly 1,500 workers are employed.

I travelled to one of the camps deep in the forest. A giant monument bearing the words “Our greatest leader Kim Il-sung lives with us forever” stood in the middle.

One of the buildings had a sign which read “Laboratory of Kim Il-sung’s Theory” a commonly used slogan found on North Korean administration blocks. The camp even had its own theatre.

Further into the forest we found a group of North Koreans hard at work. They lived in a mobile wagon, decorated with portraits of the North Korean leaders.

Although reluctant to speak, one told me that he earned the equivalent of $200 per month. Another said that he earned $1 for each truck he loaded and that he could load up to nine per day, but he had not been paid since May.

Like trafficking of North Korean women in China, Russia’s North Korean logging camps have to do with addressing Russia’s shrinking population.

Be sure watch the actual video on the page.

I better write up my review for a Long Road Home, before these two publish theirs

Laura Ling, one of the women journalists captured by the North Koreans in March and then freed earlier this month following a visit by former President Bill Clinton, is shopping a book proposal–with her sister.

According to a publisher who has seen the proposal and asked to remain anonymous, Ms. Ling, together with her sister, Lisa Ling, a special correspondent for “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” is offering a book that will examine the meaning of sisterhood and journalistic ideals. The issue of Laura Ling’s captivity will be discussed, but in a larger context.

Some commentators wanted to blame Ling and Lee for endangering North Korea refugees. I defended them saying that helping refugees by nature carries a heightened risk and that the real culprits are the Chinese and North Korean government.

But it’s over. Ling and Lee are free. There are tens of thousands more refugees hidden in China. The cause I’ve been blogging for over threes is not about two journalists at the wrong place.

This is the last I will mention these two. I hope everyone else will follow suit.

Rarely does one find a politician in America that is Pro-North Korean, but OFK might have found one in John Choe, who is running for the NYC Council in Queens. You should read his take.

I don’t live in New York so I have no stake in this and Choe’s foreign policy views aren’t applicable in city council. If he does get elected, it may or may not be interesting fodder for this blog.