Left Flank

Take these two quotes to understand the difference between the younger and the older generations in ROK:

"Most people believed or suspected this sort of thing was always going on and took it for granted," says Lee Ji-soo of the Center for Good Corporate Governance in Seoul. "The difference this time is that someone has come forward to speak out against it, and there are more people prepared to say that this is not acceptable.

"There is a generational divide in Korea," Lee says. "And the younger generation is saying that Korea can't move forward unless we overcome that old way of thinking to become a more transparent society."

(...)

The whistleblower himself has sought sanctuary. Mr Kim is housed and fed by the CPAJ. Meanwhile a whispering campaign against him is making its way around Seoul. Father Kim In-kook of the CPAJ defends him: «He spent a lot of time thinking what he should do; and he has concluded that uncovering these actions by Samsung will benefit society.» But Father Kim declined to meet The Economist, saying his group had made a collective decision not to talk to foreign reporters about the Samsung allegations. «We don't want to air Korea's dirty laundry to the world,» he said. They have that, at least, in common with Samsung.

And, if either article can't satisfy the urge to see dirt, here's another scandal brewing.

What might the presidential candidates do about the corrupt business sector itself? Not much, but not surprising for the older guys. One wants to coddle the indebted; another college grads. And, Lee Hoi-chang wants tax breaks for small businesses. How a corrupt culture could exist in ROK barely needs explaining.

"Competition for survival has become ruthless and morality disregarded," says Kim Mun-cho, a Korea University sociologist. "In the competition to be ahead of others, people resort to any means available, resulting in corruption."

Some blame the tendency to shave corners on a cutthroat mentality that developed in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which shook Koreans' faith in an ever-expanding economy. Others contend that South Korea has never shaken off the mutual back-scratching culture of a small society, where the establishment has tight personal connections forged by blood, school or regional ties.

And some suggest that Korean society simply has an unhealthy obsession with success. "Living an ordinary life is not regarded as being successful, and staying still economically is seen as an unbearable retrogression," Kim says. "Korean society demands overachievement."

They forgot those cute white envelopes stuffed full of cash children receive on New Year's. And, William Pesek stumbles over another solution, but doesn't take a good point about legal rights for whistleblowers (via TMH) far enough. ROK needs to evolve from a republic by laws into a republic of laws.

(Actually, was antebellum America any less eager to cut corners?)

Nukes of Hazard's Eli Lewine has announced a new weekly summary of DPRK-and-nuclear-related news.

At the moment, Australia's new PM, Kevin Rudd, has limited his conceivable plans for East Asia to the naming of a Chinese-Australian female minister for climate change (splitting the environment portfolio with former Midnight Oil lead singer, Peter Garrett). But, speculation has raced around the blogosphere about more substantive changes.

Overall, E.J. Dionne, Jr. argues that Rudd is a trend-setter:

Rudd's balancing act provides a model for center-left parties that also points to the tensions they confront once in power. Rudd won as a self-described "economic conservative" who would tightly manage the nation's budget. But he also won thanks to an activated trade union movement fighting for its life in seeking to overthrow Howard's workplace rules.   

IHT's Raymond Bonner believes Australia under Rudd will continue to improve relations with Beijing. Yet, with the same resume in hand and a 2004 interview, Kerim Friedman and David on Formosa (via The View from Taiwan) have a polite disagreement about PM Kevin Rudd's future significance for Taiwan.

Emily O'Keefe (via TPR) argues that PM Rudd will challenge Japan to update Australian-Japan relations.

While fundamental policies should remain the same, Rudd will have a deeper understanding of Australia's relationship with the U.S. and Japan, and will look to use this to develop more constructive political and economic relations with China, Drysdale said.

But one area that Drysdale predicts will be affected by the change in government is Japan and Australia's free-trade negotiations.

"I think Rudd will pursue this more vigorously than Howard," he said.

Not only will Rudd refuse any deal that does not reduce agricultural trade barriers, he will be looking for a "much broader than traditional" agreement that would further Australia's interests on a multilateral level, he said.

"There is a clear understanding in the Rudd policy group that what Australia needs out of the negotiation of a new agreement with Japan is something more innovative . . . consistent with opening up the region and in multilateral negotiations over time," he said.

On India, Labor's uranium policy looks set to scuttle a smooth relationship with India. Yet, Japan Observer is optimistic about the prospects for an Australian-Japanese alliance to coax US re-engagement in the region.

With Fûkûdá Yasuo replacing Mr. Abe, and the Mandarin-speaking Mr. Rudd replacing Mr. Howard, the "deputy sheriff," the "quad" may be no more. Both Mr. Fûkûdá and Mr. Rudd seem to believe that their power is best spent promoting cooperation in Asia, not deepening security cooperation among democracies conveniently located on all sides of China.

The Economist concurs, but is more cautious about Japan's role in the new partnership:

Most of all, where Mr Abe—and Junichiro Koizumi immediately before him—believed that a stronger Japan meant, above all, one rooted in the American alliance, some of his advisers think Mr Fûkûdá should show that Japan is capable of more independent action as a way to enhance its prestige and protect its interests.

Japan, they say, should lead the creation of regional mechanisms that would ease territorial disputes, enhance military transparency and boost confidence among neighbours—think an Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Asia. Distracted elsewhere, the Bush administration has shown little interest in such ideas.

What then of the much-touted arc of freedom and prosperity? In truth, democratic values were always merely the cover for a hard-nosed desire to confront China's rise in Asia, which is Japan's abiding foreign-policy concern. The Fûkûdá doctrine could easily be adapted to address the same concern, but by aiming to entice rather than contain China.

To judge by his own foreign-policy pronouncements, Mr Rudd, a speaker of Chinese, would approve, while America can see it would be better off if its chief Asian ally had more respect, even influence, in the region. For Japan, then, the same hard-nosed goal, the same allies, but different and possibly more subtle methods—always assuming, of course, that Japan's dysfunctional politics do not sink this government before its arc has a chance to rise.

I'm afraid US engagement with any part of the world is a far-off prospect, but I agree globalization needs to balance geopolitics. So, it looks like it's up to Kevin Rudd to make it happen.

First it was the US House of Representatives acting holier than anyone, now it's the Canadian Parliament's turn to pontificate:

The Canadian motion was introduced by Olivia Chow, a legislator for the left-leaning New Democrats.

"I'm just extremely pleased that, today, the government of Canada formally said to Japan they need to sincerely apologize to the comfort women and (for) the atrocities," she told Reuters after the vote.

"Without a public apology we cannot even start dealing with reconciliation," Chow said.

The original motion said Japan should teach current and future generations about the army's "war crimes". Chow said she had toned down the language to reflect good ties between the two countries.

It's always a shame to watch innocent victims (and self-promoters of victimhood)caught in a proxy battle for political and economic hegemony in East Asia between the PRC and Japan, and for domestic scores in remote countries.

Again!

PACOM's Admiral Timothy J. Keating lets Beijing have the US Navy's most dámnìng insult:

Adm. Timothy J. Keating, the head of U.S. Pacific Command, and Adm. Gary Roughead, the chief of naval operations, both took sharp exception to the Chinese government's refusal to allow the minesweepers to come into port when threatened by rough seas.

"As someone who has been going to sea all my life, if there is one tenet that we observe it's when somebody is in need you provide [assistance] and you sort it out later," Roughead said.

Roughead noted that neither of the vessels was damaged by the storm and both were refueled at sea by a tanker.

China's denial of refuge for the minesweepers was perplexing and at odds with international mariner traditions, Keating said.

"This is, kind of, an unwritten law amongst seamen, that if someone is in need, regardless of genus, phylum or species, you let them come in; you give them safe harbor," Keating said. "Jimmy Buffett has songs about it, for crying out loud."

This is what comes of inviting the Dalai Lama to dinner.

It's odd how Seoul pushes for economic deals with Pyongyang—this time a joint fishing zone straddling the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea—when it desperately wants to avoid precipitous reunification. Anyway, Pyongyang continues with an old tune to avoid giving up too much to Seoul.

The North's Kim said his country was ready to work out a peace treaty to formally end the war but not before a new maritime border had been drawn and the United States had pledged non-aggression against his country.

"Efforts must be made to eradicate the U.S. hostile policy against the North," Kim said. Washington has pledged not to attack North Korea.

Fishing might be out, but shipping is welcome.

North Korean graphite material made at an inter-Korean joint venture factory is being shipped to South Korea, the Commerce Ministry said Friday.

The 200-ton shipment from the factory near the city of Haeju left the North Korean port of Nampo earlier in the day and is expected to reach Incheon on Saturday, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said.

«The shipment is significant because it is the first time that products made from minerals in the North have been shipped to the South after being manufactured at an inter-Korean joint venture company,» a ministry official said. The graphite can be made into heat-resistant bricks, pencils, ceramic melting pots and car brake linings.

Of course, that's easier to make propapganda from when North Koreans believe the South Korean shipping industry is collapsing.

I've never been a fan of Tibetan Buddhism or the Dalai Lama, but I like how he makes Beijing look silly (even if that makes dealing with it difficult for the US).

China has condemned the Dalai Lama's latest proposals, saying similar remarks earlier this month "violate religious rituals and historic conventions".

Critics say that is ironic coming from an atheistic government long accused of suppressing Tibetan Buddhism.

The Dalai Lama has floated numerous proposals for his succession, including one for Tibetans somehow to hold a referendum on abolishing his office altogether. But, Beijing, like a conspirator trapped in a bad plot, is stuck holding onto tradition.