N. Korea owes S. Korea $961 million by 2037--but what is LiNK doing?

NK News takes on Liberty in North Korea, writing a well-research editorial with sources asking if LiNK has the right priorities, if it is spending its money well, etc.

There's an old joke where an economist walking down the street:
Friend: "Joe, how is your wife."
Joe: "Compared to what?"

LiNK raised a record $1.5 million last year, and since 2010 has spent $1.3 million on its "changing the narrative" campaign.

Is LiNK spending its money well. Well, compared to what?

$724 million: South Korean government loans to NK government, 2000-07, unpaid

$257 million: South Korean government assistance to North Korea during Lee Myung-bak's administration, 2008-13

$199 million: World Food Programme budget for food aid to North Korea, 2013

$150 million: U.N. appeal in 2013

$29.4 million: U.N. appeal for emergency situation in DPRK, 2013

$15.1 million: U.N. humanitarian fund, 2013

$13.3 million: South Korean humanitarian aid to NK in 2014

$12 million: South Korean humanitarian aid to NK in 2013

$6.8 million: humanitarian aid from South Korean private aid groups, Feb-Dec 2013.

$6.5 million: Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), 2014

$5.6 million: International Red Cross budget, 2014

$3.2 million: WFP emergency aid to North Korea, 2014

$2.1 million: Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), 2014

$1.5 million: Liberty in North Korea budget, 2013

$1 million: World Vision (USA), 2014

If LiNK spent $1.5 million a year until 2037, it still wouldn't spend as much as the international organizations spend on North Korea.

I love the conclusion of one article: "South Korea says the North is required to pay back a total of $961.53 million by 2037."

Scam? Yo Momma!

Note: This was originally posted shortly after Jesse Lee Peterson's book was published, reposted in 2005, and now because of a fight between black customers and a Korean merchant in Dallas, Texas. Scam? Yo Momma! During the summer of 2002 I was an observer to a dispute between the Asian owners of a Chinese takeout and some of their black customers in Washington, D.C. The month-long boycott began when a local activist accused a cook at a Chinese takeout of attempting to cook a piece of chicken he had allegedly dropped on the floor. Despite the best efforts of human rights activist Dick Gregory, popular talk-show host Joe Madison, and Rev. Walter Fauntroy, the protestors were unable to coax any media to report on the protest. On some days there were, by my unofficial count, as many as 100 people chanting songs and marching. But one key person was missing: Rev. Jesse Jackson. It was important to the foot soldiers at the boycott that someone from the media report on...

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Part 1: When I was a youngster I used to collect Confederate money, posters and photographs with caricatures of blacks, and "No blacks allowed signs." I loved the money because it was a reminder of how far the sorry Confederacy had fallen. I had one poster of a dark-skinned black boy munching on a watermelon. I would look at that small poster and wonder, "What in the world is wrong with anyone wanting to eat watermelon?" Yes, white people, I'm talking to you. Your parents, grandparents, and other ancestors who thought making fun of blacks for eating watermelon were crazy ! Even people who say that nothing has changed in race relations must acknowledge that the many stereotypes of blacks are no longer prevalent. But then, there are also some ready to remind us of days-gone-by by debunking stuff that doesn't need to be debunked today. According to the Washington Post: The sound you just heard was yet another racial stereotype going kersplat ! Some ...

Thank God for the Atom Bomb

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Park Jin welcoming remarks to FSI (and Casey Lartigue)

National Assembly member Park Jin makes the welcoming remarks at FSI's conference featuring North Korean diplomats. Park Jin | Greeting message to FSI and Casey Lartigue mention - YouTube

From nothing to something super special (2023-02-10)

FSI has moved into a better institutional neighborhood where we are the poorest in the area. In August 2022, I was elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Freedom Speakers International (FSI) and in January 2023 FSI achieved incorporation status in South Korea. This has meant that FSI must upgrade operations and structure and I am the one, as chairman and co-president, who will be blamed if it doesn’t happen. I really should not be the chairman, for a variety of reasons, but anyway I am. Eunkoo and I are not the typical executives of a growing organization. In addition to being mainly responsible for building and fundraising for the organization, we are the hands-on leaders who are constantly in contact with North Korean refugee speakers. We look forward to the day we can afford staff to handle many tasks. Until then we can expect to continue having more days like yesterday, even on Eunkoo’s birthday. 2023-02-10 Meeting #1: planning We started Eunkoo’s birthday with a planning...

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