[Cankor] Report #250

[cankor at cankor.ca]

Dear subscriber,

Welcome to issue #250 of the CanKor Report.

QUIDNUNC still pending:
The US Treasury Department actions are justified by the Bush 
administration as targeting criminal elements such as drug trafficking 
and counterfeiting. How effective is this tool to fight the black market 
and other illicit activity in the DPRK?

And Dr. Aidan Foster-Carter challenges fellow-experts with a tough question:
When and why did the DPRK carve two new remote northern border 
provinces, Jagang and Ryanggang, out of the centuries-old Pyongan and 
Hamgyong provinces?

Send your replies to editor at CanKor.ca.
But also, do you have any questions that may stump or amuse our many 
expert subscribers and contributors? We'd like to hear from you.

The CanKor team.

For articles not original to CanKor, direct links are available in the 
Contents section, should you wish to consult the originals on the 
internet. If the links no longer function, you may refer to the full 
text articles appended to the issue. For back issues, archives and other 
content, please visit our website: http://www.cankor.ca
*************************************************

CANADA-KOREA ELECTRONIC INFORMATION SERVICE

CanKor # 250

Friday, 25 May 2006
*************************************************

US and Chinese officials discuss the possibility of negotiating with the 
DPRK for a formal end to the Korean War.

Citing the failure of inter-Korean military talks designed to work out 
an accord on cross-border safety, the DPRK cancels the much anticipated 
first railway crossing of the DMZ. The ROK lodges a formal protest, to 
which the DPRK replies.

This week marks the Canadian debut of the British award-winning 
documentary "State of Mind" at the Cinematheque in Vancouver. The 
Washington Post said on the occasion of its US premiere last year that 
the film struck a "rare balance." Also in this week’s FOCUS: DPRK on 
film, radio and television, the Associated Press Television News becomes 
the first Western news organization to open a full-time office in 
Pyongyang; young North Korean refugee-defectors produce short films; and 
CanKor presents a list of media resources for DPRK-Watchers.
*************************************************

Contents:
1. US, PRC OFFICIALS DISCUSS DPRK PEACE AGREEMENT
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_China_US_NKorea.html

2. DPRK CANCELS TEST RAIL RUN ACROSS DMZ
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5843083,00.html

3. DPRK STATES REASON FOR TEST RAIL RUN CANCELLATION
http://www.kcna.co.jp

FOCUS: DPRK: film, radio and television
4. FILM ABOUT DPRK STRIKES RARE BALANCE
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/10/AR2005061002095_pf.html

5. APTN FIRST TO SET UP BUREAU IN DPRK
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/22/ap/world/mainD8HOITF00.shtml

6. FILMS BY YOUNG DEFECTOR-REFUGEES EXPRESS NOSTALGIA
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200603/28/200603282022193209900091009101.html

7. OTHER MEDIA FOR DPRK-WATCHERS
Original article, compiled from various sources

QUIDNUNC: Readers ask and respond to common and uncommon questions
*************************************************

1. US, PRC OFFICIALS DISCUSS DPRK PEACE AGREEMENT
Associated Press (AP), 25 May 2006

US and Chinese officials on Thursday discussed the possibility of 
negotiations with North Korea to formally end the Korean War. US envoy 
Christopher Hill and Chinese officials, who met to try to revive North 
Korean nuclear disarmament talks, did not elaborate on their discussion 
of possible peace negotiations. North Korea wants a peace treaty with 
Washington to replace a cease-fire negotiated with the US-led United 
Nations command that fought to defend South Korea in the 1950-53 
conflict. Some 1.8 million troops are still massed on both sides of the 
divided peninsula, the last Cold War frontier.

After a meeting Thursday with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, 
Hill noted a pledge to hold peace talks was mentioned in a joint 
statement issued in September by the six nations holding negotiations on 
North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
"We did have some discussion on that," he said. Hill ruled out other 
concessions to Pyongyang, which has boycotted the six-nation talks since 
November.

"The two sides agree that a long-term peace mechanism on the Korean 
Peninsula should be set up and the denuclearization of the Korean 
Peninsula serves the interests of all parties concerned," Chinese 
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.

China has organized multiple rounds of talks on demands that North Korea 
renounce nuclear development. The other participants are Russia, South 
Korea and Japan. Pyongyang says it won't return to the talks until 
Washington lifts sanctions of North Korean companies and a Macao bank 
that deals with the North, which are based on accusations of 
counterfeiting, money-laundering and selling weapons of mass 
destruction. Hill ruled out lifting sanctions or offering other 
incentives to draw North Korea back to the talks.

"I don't think the agreement needs to be sweetened," he said. Hill 
arrived later Thursday in Seoul, South Korea, where he said, "I am not 
sure if this is about the US economic measures. I think this is about a 
country, DPRK, that just has trouble making up its mind," Hill told 
reporters, referring to North Korea by the acronym of its official name.

Hill was set to meet South Korean officials before departing Friday. He 
also said he might visit Tokyo before returning to Washington. In 
Beijing, Hill said Chinese officials did not ask him during his visit to 
show more flexibility on the sanctions.
"I've heard that line before but I did not hear that line today, and I 
think the fact that I didn't hear it simply shows the Chinese know 
precisely what our position is," he said.
*************************************************

2. DPRK CANCELS TEST RAIL RUN ACROSS DMZ
by Jae-Soon Chang, Associated Press (AP), 24 May 2006

North Korea stunned South Korea on Wednesday with an abrupt decision to 
cancel landmark test runs of trains across the two nations' heavily 
guarded border, underscoring the mercurial nature of the communist 
regime. South Korea quickly expressed its displeasure. Vice Unification 
Minister Shin Eon-sang called the cancellation - which came barely 24 
hours before the planned test - "very regrettable," and warned that his 
government would consider taking "necessary steps." He did not elaborate 
but local media, including the official Yonhap news agency, raised the 
possibility of the South reconsidering economic aid to the impoverished 
North.

"The responsibility for the collapse of scheduled trial runs lies in 
North Korea," Shin said. The tests would have been the first train 
crossings of the Korean border in more than a half-century, and were a 
high-profile element of efforts at detente between the North and South 
since a pivotal summit in 2000. Train service between the Koreas was 
halted in June 1951.

North Korea claimed Wednesday that the situation on the divided 
peninsula had become too "unstable" to conduct the test runs, 
criticizing "pro-US ultra-right conservative forces" in the South for 
"pushing the situation in Korea to an extreme phase of confrontation and 
war." It also said the two Koreas have not worked out a military accord 
to guarantee the safety of travelers crossing the border. The two sides 
held high-level military talks last week, but failed to reach agreement.

"We will wait for an appropriate time to come for the trial train 
operation between the North and the South after a military guarantee is 
provided ... and the situation in the South returns to normal," Pak Jong 
Song, head of the Northern group handling the rail and road issue, said 
in a message to his South Korean counterpart. The North's Korean Central 
News Agency carried Pak's message [see next item – CanKor].

North Korea is known for its unexpected actions. In September, the 
country flouted a six-nation agreement on abandoning its nuclear 
program, claiming a day later that it would not disarm, as called for by 
the accord, unless it first received a nuclear power plant. It was 
unclear how the train cancellation would affect relations between the 
two Koreas. Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Seoul's Dongguk 
University, said it was a blow to "trust." Paik Hak-soon, a research 
fellow at South Korea's independent Sejong Institute, attributed the 
delay partly to tensions between Washington and Pyongyang, and said 
North Korea's military had slammed the brake on inter-Korean relations. 
He said Pyongyang appears tense over what it views as Washington's goal 
of regime change in the North.

"The North's military has no choice but to flex its muscle amid growing 
danger," Paik said. Washington says it does not plan to invade the country.

South Korean Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said more cooperation was 
needed between the two Koreas' militaries and that talks between defense 
ministers would help. Such a meeting was held once in September 2000, 
but the North never agreed to a second round. Former South Korean 
President Kim Dae-jung, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for meeting North 
Korean leader Kim Jong Il at the two sides' first and only summit, held 
in June 2000, is planning to travel to North Korea next month and had 
pressed to go there by train. The South's Shin said North Korea should 
still honor its commitment to allow Kim Dae-jung to make the trip. It 
was unclear whether he would be able to travel by rail.

Since the summit, the two Koreas have made strides in reconciliation, 
but further cooperation has been hampered by the North's refusal to heed 
international calls to abandon its nuclear weapons development. The two 
sides have been in an official state of conflict since the 1950-53 
Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
*************************************************

3. DPRK STATES REASON FOR TEST RAIL RUN CANCELLATION
Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), 25 May 2006

Kwon Ho-ung, head of the North side's delegation to the inter-Korean 
ministerial talks, Friday [26 May] sent the following telephone message 
to Ri Jong-sok, chief delegate of the South side's delegation:

We sent notice to your side on 24 May, informing it of our stand in 
connection with the circumstances that made it impossible to conduct the 
North-South trial train operation as scheduled amidst the attention and 
expectation of people at home and abroad. Your side, however, set in 
motion authorities, those concerned of ruling and opposition parties, 
"experts on North Korean affairs" and media to create impression that 
the North side was to blame for the failure to conduct the trial train 
operation. Your side went the lengths of even sending a "notice" to our 
side in a bid to shirk off the responsibility for it.

I am compelled to clarify once again our side's stand on the failure to 
conduct the trial operation. The blame for the failure to have that 
trial operation entirely rests with your side. It was mainly because 
your military totally sidestepped the solution of pending issues, 
priorities in ensuring peace on the Korean Peninsula. Your side will not 
deny the fact that it is a vital matter directly linked with the destiny 
of the nation to take a military step for guaranteeing peace under the 
present situation that the US moves to isolate and stifle the DPRK have 
reached the extremes and huge armed forces of both sides are standing in 
acute confrontation with each other.

As our side has stressed several times on various occasions including 
the general-level military talks, the primary task for guaranteeing 
peace on the Korean Peninsula at present is to correctly fix a sea 
boundary urgent for preventing military clashes in the waters of the 
West Sea. The two military clashes in the waters of the West Sea which 
caused many casualties and drove the inter-Korean relations into 
deadlock in the past period clearly show that a solution to this matter 
presents itself as the most urgent issue in the inter-Korean relations. 
But the military of your side evaded the settlement of the issue for the 
groundless reason despite our repeated proposals and patient efforts, 
thus keeping the North and the South from taking security steps in any 
field.

What we cannot but take a serious view of is that the ultra-right 
conservative forces of the "Grand National Party" of your side held a 
"ceremony" of burning the flag of the DPRK, a dignified symbol of our 
state, in front of KwangHwamun of Seoul and in Phyongthaek while taking 
issue with our side in a far-fetched way just a few days before the 
trial train operation between the North and the South which was 
scheduled as an experimental work for inter-Korean reconciliation and 
cooperation. This unpardonable serious provocation was openly committed 
in broad daylight at the tacit connivance of your police authorities. 
This most serious provocation against our side compels us to interpret 
it as a clear confirmation in practice of your side's lack of will to 
get reconciled and cooperate with our side. The development was so 
serious that your side dared not make public it and has kept it under 
wraps.

We take note of the fact that such provocative incidents took place 
whenever the inter-Korean relations made progress, and express deep 
regret at such most reckless and dangerous provocation of your side, an 
indication of its disregard and insult to its dialogue partner. We 
cannot but call to account such clumsy attitude taken by your side as 
talking about the issue of providing "raw materials and other supplies 
for light industry" and "materials for railways," when arguing about the 
blame for the failure to conduct the trial train operation. Your side 
should be responsible for what it has said.

We have so far lived our own way and will go this way in the future, 
too. We hold that if your side is to question who is to blame for the 
abortive trial train operation, it should take to task nobody but the 
military authorities of your side and the ultra-right conservatives of 
the "Grand National Party" and should be bold enough to properly settle 
their crimes. Availing myself of this opportunity, I strongly urge your 
side to honestly apologize for such crime as defaming our national flag 
and sternly punish those responsible for it.
*************************************************

FOCUS: DPRK: film, radio and television

*************************************************

4. FILM ABOUT DPRK STRIKES RARE BALANCE
by Anthony Faiola, Washington Post, 11 June 2005

When a crowd gathered one evening in April at the grand New York store 
of the Italian fashion house Prada, the main event had nothing to do 
with catwalks or new collections. Instead, the guests sat down and 
watched the US debut of a very unusual film, a British documentary on 
two North Korean gymnasts whose purpose in life is to glorify their 
country's leader, Kim Jong Il. "A State of Mind," screened at the store 
during the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival, will open in theaters in 12 
American cities in August. The film will begin a showing in Washington 
in the fall.

As part of a major counteroffensive by secretive North Korea against its 
portrayal abroad as a fiendish nuclear state, officials in the capital, 
Pyongyang, offered rare cooperation to the film's director, Daniel 
Gordon. They let his cameras track the two girls from day to day for a 
93-minute work that treats its subjects with a striking balance of 
Western and North Korean perspectives. The normally bombastic North, 
which has long threatened to turn Seoul, the South Korean capital, into 
a "sea of fire" and to "crush the American dogs," is launching what may 
be its most difficult global mission yet -- a charm offensive.

"They have been called part of the axis of evil, they have been called 
drug traffickers and counterfeiters -- clearly, North Korea has an image 
problem," said Jeong Dae Yeon, a board member of the Seoul-based 
citizens' group Korean People's Solidarity, which advocates engagement 
with the North. "Now, they are actively trying to do something to 
counter that impression."

This week, North Korea granted rare access to an ABC News crew headed by 
Bob Woodruff for the first extended visit by a US news organization 
since then-Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright's visit in October 
2000. ABC's reports have so far included a human interest piece about 
North Korean views on America and an interview with North Korean Vice 
Foreign Minister Kim Gye Gwan, who issued assurances that his nation, 
while nuclear-armed, had "no intention at all of attacking the US"

An organization with close ties to the Pyongyang government has opened a 
restaurant in Cambodia to promote North Korean culture through singing 
waitresses and traditional meals, including a popular soup of cold 
vinegar noodles. The North Koreans have also launched a Web site 
(http://www.dprkorea.com), which offers Internet users the chance to 
download North Korean cartoons as well as helpful tips on taekwondo, the 
popular Korean martial art. The Pyongyang government has been especially 
assiduous about trying to charm South Koreans, who are in the midst of a 
major detente with the North. Cho Myung Ae, a celebrated North Korean 
dancer, has been permitted to appear in ads for the South Korean 
electronics giant Samsung. And last week, North Korea agreed to make a 
joint bid with the South to co-host the 2014 Asian Games.

These moves have been accompanied by major diplomatic initiatives. Late 
last year, North Korea reopened its closed embassy in Mongolia and is 
now engaged in talks on resuming the practice of sending North Koreans 
to work there, according to a Mongolian official in Ulan Bator. Last 
month alone, dignitaries from Russia, Mongolia, Guinea, the Czech 
Republic, Egypt, Nigeria, Libya and Laos visited North Korea, according 
to the country's official KCNA news service.

The outreach remains a far cry from North Korea's propaganda glory days 
in the 1970s and 1980s. Financially backed by the Soviet Union, 
Pyongyang opened information centers in Latin America and Africa, most 
of which have since closed because of the North's dire economic 
problems. So far, the new moves have done little to change North Korea's 
reliance primarily on two countries -- China and South Korea -- for 
survival. But strengthened diplomatic ties with other Asian countries 
have led to a crackdown on North Korean refugees attempting to use those 
countries as way stations to reach South Korea, according to refugee aid 
groups.

"The refugees have become like mice being ushered into a corner," said a 
South Korean-based refugee activist who asked not to be named because 
his efforts are considered illegal in some of the countries he works in. 
"Chinese authorities are clamping down on them. The routes to freedom 
via Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are being blocked after North Korea 
complained to its old-time allies. So now, many of them are fleeing to 
Mongolia, but that, too, may close up soon."

Few of the charm attempts, however, have been as fascinating as the film 
"A State of Mind." Gordon, formerly a British television sports 
journalist, won backing from the BBC and New York City's PBS affiliate, 
WNET, to make the $600,000 documentary. It was his second about North 
Korea -- in 2002, he made "The Game of Their Lives," a film about North 
Korea's surprisingly strong 1966 World Cup soccer team. The film never 
had a theatrical release in the United States.

Gordon, 32, won the North Koreans' trust with the help of his associate 
producer, Nicholas Bonner, who since 1993 has run a Beijing-based 
company that takes tourists into North Korea. Rather than propaganda, 
Gordon said in a telephone interview from London, the new film "is a 
neutral take on North Korea."

The movie indeed offers a rare glimpse into an opaque world, letting 
North Koreans have their say while illustrating the hardships of their 
lives in a manner almost never permitted by the Pyongyang government. 
The families of the two young gymnasts -- one 11, the other 13 -- are 
shown eating meals by candlelight because of electricity shortages. Not 
surprisingly, the United States bears the brunt of North Korean 
displeasure in the film. One North Korean mother coping with blackouts 
is quick to blame the nation's adversity on "the bloody Americans."

The film documents North Koreans' extraordinary devotion to Kim, who is 
viewed in the country as a semi-religious figure. He is kept at the 
center of national life through everything from propaganda cartoons for 
children to state radio broadcasts in every home. The film shows how the 
volume on radios in North Korea homes can be lowered but not turned off. 
Gordon said that the North Koreans feel misunderstood and that their 
permission to make the film was, in part, a way for them to show their 
"human side, to get beyond the goose-stepping soldiers." They "never 
tried to control or censor" the film crew during the six-month shoot in 
2003, he said, although there were ground rules. Ubiquitous portraits of 
Kim Jong Il and his father, national founder Kim Il Sung, for example, 
could not be shown partly obscured. "But those would have been the same 
ground rules if we were shooting in the Vatican," Gordon said, 
suggesting that deep respect would have to be shown there as well.

The film does not let Kim Jong Il off lightly. After countless days of 
hard training by the two girls for the Mass Games -- a North Korean 
spectacle of gymnastics and theatrics to honor Kim -- the film shows 
that Kim did not even turn up to watch the performance. Perhaps for this 
reason, the film was screened for the Communist Party elite in 
Pyongyang, but Gordon is still trying to win approval from North Korean 
officials to broadcast it on the nation's single network, which is run 
by the government.
*************************************************

6. APTN FIRST TO SET UP BUREAU IN DPRK
Associated Press (AP), 22 May 2006

AP Television News opened a full-time office in North Korea on Monday, 
becoming the first Western news organization able to provide regular 
coverage of that nation. Under the arrangement, international staff from 
APTN, which is headquartered in Britain, will work with local staff 
recruited from Korean Radio and Television. The announcement followed 
four years of negotiations with the state broadcaster, Korean Radio and 
Television, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"Once again, The Associated Press opens a window with authoritative and 
impartial coverage from all parts of the world," said Tom Curley, 
president and CEO of The Associated Press. APTN is the international 
video division of the AP. APTN Executive Director Nigel Baker, in 
Pyongyang for the opening of the bureau, called it "a groundbreaking 
opportunity."

"APTN has secured frequent and prolonged access to North Korea over the 
past four years," Baker said. "The agreement for a full-time bureau now 
means we'll be the only Western news organization with regular coverage."

APTN delivers breaking global news, sport, entertainment, technology and 
human interest video content to broadcasters, online and mobile 
platforms around the world. APTN also provides broadcast customers with 
broadcast facilities and technical expertise via its global network of 
strategically located bureaus.
*************************************************

6. FILMS BY YOUNG DEFECTOR-REFUGEES EXPRESS NOSTALGIA
by Kim Seong-ryong, Joong Ang Ilbo, 29 March 2006

Despite risking their lives to escape famine and political oppression in 
North Korea, many defectors still feel attached to their homeland. No 
matter how horrible it was to live there, the North remains their 
birthplace and was the backdrop for a good part of their lives. Their 
nostalgia for home is well expressed in "Young-ok's Call Not Answered," 
a short film produced by teenage defectors attending a special school in 
South Korea. Produced by Shin Young-ok, 17, and several friends, it was 
recently released on the Internet portal Daum (tvpot.media.daum.net), 
and via SK Telecom and KTF mobile phone networks.

It begins in the winter with Young-ok calling her boyfriend, who is 
still in the North. The answering machine picks up, and she leaves a 
message that lasts the duration of the film.
"Hi Nam-cheol, do you remember me? This is Young-ok. Studying is hard 
here. I was a better student than you in the North...but many South 
Korean students are better than me. I remember spending time with you 
and Eun-gyeong on a hill nearby. Do you remember? It was hardly spring, 
but azalea flowers were already in bloom and I brought them home."

Towards the end of the call, her voice becomes subdued.
"We can meet again when Korea unifies. Until then, keep the North safe, 
and the hill and the riverside. I'll go back there someday. I miss you. 
Be well."

The dramatized voice message is paired with documentary footage of the 
students' lives in South Korea.
"It is difficult to understand if I talk about it, but by showing a 
video image, other people could have a better understanding of how we 
feel," said Ju Cheol, 23, who shot the film on a digital camcorder. The 
11-and-a-half minute film was culled from 10 hours of footage that Mr. 
Ju shot in his free time at the Set Net School (Three Four School), an 
alternative institution designed for the special needs of teenage defectors.

An earlier film the students made, "Long Distance Covered," won an award 
for portraying the suffering they endured while escaping the North.
"In the beginning I started [making films] out of curiosity," said 
Young-ok, a shy girl, who came to South Korea alone in September 2002. 
"I wanted to show that North Koreans also feel affection and fall in 
love just like South Koreans."
Jeon Gwang-heok, 22, Young-ok's real-life boyfriend, played her former 
boyfriend, who is still in the North. "I was a little jealous because 
she had a boyfriend in North Korea. But I understand because life 
happens like that," Mr. Jeon said.

Their mentor in the process was 31-year-old Kim Geon, who teaches film 
and television at their school. He also directed and edited the project.
"I was making a documentary about Set Net School and wanted to get close 
to the students so I started teaching television and film there," said 
Mr. Kim. He added that Young-ok and Gwang-heok are a well-known couple 
at the school. The students chose the story of lovers separated by the 
North-South Korean border for their subject matter on a recommendation 
from the Sidus FNH film studio, which recently produced "South of the 
Border," a commercial feature to be released in May. The movie is about 
a defector who tries to return to the North to meet his lover again.

In addition to "Young-ok's Call Not Answered," the studio has also 
produced three documentaries about defectors: "Arirang Sonata," "Until 
Kim Seon-ho is Born" and "Samsun -- I Dream of Love in the South."

Young-ok noted that many defectors miss their loved ones in the North, 
as portrayed in "South of the Border." "In the South, there are many 
‘instant loves' that heat up really fast and cool down, but North 
Koreans believe that if you love once, you love forever."

"In my hometown, azalea flowers will be in bloom soon. Whenever I see 
them, I remember hanging on my father's back and saying, ‘I am going to 
marry Nam-cheol,'" said Young-ok.
*************************************************

7. OTHER MEDIA RESOURCES FOR DPRK-WATCHERS
Compiled from various sources, 26 May 2006

FILM:
A State of Mind: http://www.astateofmind.co.uk/
Film Trailers: http://www.astateofmind.co.uk/default2.aspx?CF=Trailers

North Korea - 'a day in the life of' (Dutch film on a day in the life of 
a North Korean family. The movie's trailer (in Korean with Dutch 
subtitles) is available for download: http://www.goldenmonkey.nl/index2.htm

The Game of Their Lives (winner of the best sports documentary, Royal 
Television Society Awards, 2003): http://www.thegameoftheirlives.com/

INTERNET:
PowerPoint created by Korean Friendship Association: 
http://www.metroblogging.com/NKDelegation2005.swf

BBC NewsRound, information page on the DPRK geared for young people: 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/find_out/guides/world/north_korea/newsid_2646000/2646023.stm

Pyongyang Metro (a virtual tour of the Pyongyang subway): 
http://www.pyongyang-metro.com/

SHORT WAVE RADIO:
Listeners in North America can tune in daily at 1500 UTC on 9335 or 
11710 kHz, while Europeans can listen on 11335 or 15245 kHz. The 
European broadcast repeats at 1900 and 2100 UTC on the same frequencies.

TELEVISION:
DPRK Television News (Korean only): http://www.elufa.net/

Kim's Nuclear Gamble (documentary on various DPRK topics by the US 
public broadcaster PBS): 
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/kim/view/
*************************************************

QUIDNUNC
In this section of CanKor, we invite readers to send questions, answers, 
or responses. Answers should be under 150 words and may be edited for 
space.
*************************************************

ONE CANKOR READER MADE AN ONLINE ORDER OF THE BOOK "INSIDE NORTH KOREA: 
DIARY OF A MAD PLACE," BY NORBERT VOLLERTSEN. HE RECEIVED A REPLY FROM 
AMAZON CANCELING THE ORDER, STATING, "ALTHOUGH WE'D EXPECTED TO BE ABLE 
TO SEND THIS ITEM TO YOU, WE'VE SINCE FOUND IT WON'T BE RELEASED AFTER 
ALL." DOES ANYONE KNOW WHY THIS BOOK IS NOT BEING RELEASED? 
*************************************************

The kind folks at Encounter Books (the publisher) have informed 
inquisitive readers that "the project was not completed and has been 
officially cancelled." An e-mail from Dr. Vollertsen confirms the 
cancellation, but mystery still remains as to the reason.
*************************************************

WHAT NOW?
Scholar Aidan Foster-Carter asks: When and why did the DPRK carve two 
new remote northern border provinces, Jagang and Ryanggang, out of the 
centuries-old Pyongan and Hamgyong provinces?

[Answers should be e-mailed to: editor at CanKor.ca]
*************************************************

End CanKor # 250

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