By Here is a message I received from the North Korea Freedom Coalition encouraging attendance to a candlelight vigil being organized that those living in the Washington, DC area may find of interest to attend:
On the occasion of the White House State dinner that President Barack Obama will host for President Hu Jintao of the People’s Republic of China on January 19, 2011, the North Korea Freedom Coalition cordially invites you to join us for a Candlelight Vigil to remember the North Korean refugees who have been repatriated against their will by the Chinese authorities to North Korea to face certain torture, certain imprisonment and even death for fleeing their homeland. We will begin gathering at Lafayette Park at 6 pm on Wednesday, January 19, 2011, for the candlelight vigil at 7 pm. We will walk in front of the White House for a quiet ceremony carrying a coffin to remember all those who have died because of this policy, and we will read THE LIST of all the names known to us of the North Korean refugees who have been forced back to North Korea. Special guests will include North Korean defectors.
Please join us for this event by RSPVing to Henry Song at henry@defenseforum.org.
If you are not able to join but want to participate, there are two ways that you can help:
1) Please send your letters — both personal appeals and letters from NGOs are welcome — to President Hu to stop repatriating the North Korean refugees by email to Sue Logan at sueyoonlogan@gmail.com — your letter will be delivered with many other letters at an undisclosed time to ensure receipt to the Chinese Embassy on January 19.
2) Please consider a donation in support of this event by donating to the North Korea Freedom Coalition. To make a donation, click here.
Hope to see you on January 19 or have your letter to President Hu Jintao to save the refugees in solidarity.
11:37 pm on January 16th, 2011 1
Pleas forgive my insensitivity; but what makes you believe the Communist Chinese give a "Tinker's Damn" about candles and petitions?
Or even bribes?
They have been exporting misery and revolution since 1949.
If they cared about the Nork People, they could easily have done things to stop the Kim Regime from the wanton slaughter any time in the last 60 years.
You have to know they are pulling the strings that make their puppets dance…
5:58 am on January 17th, 2011 2
The North Korean refugees that want to leave now are the intelligent and sane ones, the ones China should be glad to accept.
6:20 am on January 17th, 2011 3
This is worrisome…
The USA is showing so much interest on NK lately, like they did with Iraq before the invasion.
The USA needs a public enemy from time to time to justify its military might and political interference in the world. URSS, Iraq, Muslim terrorists, China and now NK?
We all know that most of those human right activists are sponsored by private interest and are used as instrument to manipulate the public opinion …. and now they are focusing NK? This is worrisome …
6:00 pm on January 17th, 2011 4
Dr Yu #3. Are you saying that communist NK DOES NOT oppress human rights? Do you actually believe that the stories given by NK defectors are all made up to "manipulate the public opinion?" Are you f'ing serious? I have a suggestion, why don't you MOVE to NK & then you could write us letters telling us about the abundance of food & the wide diversity of political opinion that is allowed in the people's paradise.
4:09 am on January 18th, 2011 5
Tom,
I'm just stating my opinion here.
Please, don't be rude.
6:18 am on January 18th, 2011 6
It's not worrisome at all. Anyone one with any common sense will know the US isn't, and most likey can't and should never, go to war with it's "public enemy" North Korea.
It should be South Korea's fight anyway, let them die, if America wants to provide logistical support, I would understand, but that's all.
Who is South Korea's public enemy anyway? America? Japan? Foreigners in general? Guess it all depends whats going down for them to decide that?
7:07 am on January 18th, 2011 7
Dr Yu #5. I'm sorry if you took my comments to be rude. I wasn't trying to be rude, I'm simply incredulous at what you wrote in comment #3. You wrote that human rights groups are sponsored by private interest. This implies that there aren't legitimate concerns about human rights in North Korea. You wrote that the US needs a public enemy to justify its military might & interference around the world. You may have forgotten that communist North Korea launched an invasion of South Korea in 1950 that resulted in the death of millions of Koreans on both sides (mostly civilians), destroyed the infrastructure of both countries, & to this day states that it wants to forcibly bring South Korea under in dominion. You wonder why there is now a focus on North Korean human rights abuses. Maybe the over 1 million who have died of starvation & the over 250,000 political prisoners just might have sparked a modicum of interest. To state the truth is not manipulating public opinion.
7:29 am on January 18th, 2011 8
Relax, Dr. Yu. At the time of the 2003 invasion, the US still had a budget surplus. Obama and the Dems are too busy huddling over the latest economic indicators to pay much attention to North Korea. It'll be a decade at least before we can afford to invade another foreign country. I find it sad that you express unfounded concerns about possible US military action against North Korea yet show no concern whatsover about the ongoing repression of the North Korean people. Anti-American dig FAIL.
11:21 am on January 18th, 2011 9
Tell me guys, what happen to the WMD in IRAQ? Why, despite the fact that thousand of American soldiers death for such a lie and billions of dollar wasted in a lame war, nobody in the USA is holding the government accountable for such a shameful scheme?
The USA media conspired with the government and manipulate the public opinion to make them support the “fight for the freedom of Iraq people” and you guys simply bitted it, and now human right activist are staging candle vigil for NK??
Nobody in the USA cared about human right violation in NK until now, except the politicians and the military, and than suddenly civilians are going to stage candle vigil???? Don’t you have enough problems inside to stage a candle vigil for????
If you don’t agree with me that’s ok, but please don’t call me anti-American just because I dared to disagree with you.
12:38 pm on January 18th, 2011 10
Some of the organizations involved in the candelight vigil have been active for more than a decade.
Okay, can I call you stupid for making the dumbazz assumption quoted above?
5:08 am on January 19th, 2011 11
Beauty, you can call me whatever you want as long as you don’t call “my love” or “my darling”.
Ok, keep denying it as American propaganda works as fine as communist and third world countries propaganda.
BTW, what do you think about Bush’s lie? Are you among those who believe that the ends justify the means? In that case congratulation cus you have just graduated from the American school of propaganda and indoctrination. Now you are a truly American patriot !!!!
I’m not denying that there is not human violation in NK. Aside from that fact I’m just concerned that this issue can be used for propaganda purpose.
7:06 am on January 19th, 2011 12
What exactly is "it" that you think I am denying?
I've made my opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan known repeatedly on the K-blogs. Now back to the topic…
See the last sentence in #8. At least you're honest and don't feign concern about human rights violations in North Korea but merely acknowledge them.
7:29 am on January 19th, 2011 13
Dr. Yu "Tell me guys, what happen to the WMD in IRAQ?"
Read the WikiLeaks and find out that Bush was right… (Bonus points if you can tell how many tons of "yellowcake" were actually shipped to Canada for proper disposal); but I'm sure that proving Bush right wasn't Assange's original intent…
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25546334/ns/world_new…
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?t…
http://iraqdailytimes.com/wikileaks-confirms-othe…
http://www.lagop.org/index.cfm/article_250.htm
etc…
Come now, Dr. Yu, can't you even keep up with the stuff released weeks ago?
7:31 am on January 19th, 2011 14
Let's do the math:
550 metric tons * 2205 lbs per metric ton = 1,212,750 lbs of yellowcake.
1,212,750 lbs * 85% = 1,030,837 lbs of uranium
1,030,837 lbs * 0.7% = 7,216 lbs of U-235.
For a crude gun-type bomb about 60 lbs of U-235 is needed. So
7,216/60 = 120 bombs (each about 10-15 kilotons yield).
Yep, that’s enough.
8:49 am on January 19th, 2011 15
#13 Setnaffa, I thought about mentioning the Yellowcake, but decided I didn't care to look up the facts, so I let it pass.
Glad you didn't.