Screw you, jackass

The original title was set to be "Fu¢k you, aßßhole," but the use of profanity within a headline itself seems so unseemly.

Back when The Stupogants™ (i.e., Laura Ling, Euna Lee, and Mitch Koss) ran afoul of the North Korean authorities in 2009 — leading to the detainment, conviction, and incarceration for Ms Ling and Ms Lee — I got a bit of flack for my criticism of those three for what they did and how they did it. At places like One Free Korea, it was merely ideological and based on interpretations of the facts, but in other places it got more personal, including accusations of plagiarism.

With apparent Christian missionary Kenneth Bae being the latest guest at the Pyongyang Palazzo, it's natural that some are drawing parallels between Mr Bae and the case of Ms Ling and Lee (and Mr Koss), or even that of Messianic crusader Robert Park and his buddy Aijalon Gomes. I myself did so in a recently post.

But what gets in my craw today is this comment by Marmot's Hole dweller DLBarch in response to the news (carried also by me yesterday) that Kim Jong-un's new BFF Dennis Rodman has asked KJU to do him a solid and pardon Mr Bae:

I am never in favor of standing by while any American — even the Kenneth Bae’s of the country — are incarcerated on trumped up charges by an odious, repugnant regime like North Korea, so I do think the U.S. needs to do what it can, within reason, to seek Bae’s release.

But, but…it is fascinating to compare how the MH commentariat has treated the Kenneth Bae incident with how it treated Laura Ling and Euna Lee not too long ago. The full-throated vituperation and, yes, barely disguised misogyny that surrounded the Ling and Lee drama is nowhere to be found in the latest Bae hostage taking.

Given Bae’s voluntarily — and repeatedly — entered North Korea whereas Ling and Lee got misled into inadvertently crossing the North Korea-China border, this difference of popular reaction to the two incidents is striking. Bae seems to be getting a huge pass, while Ling and Lee were thoroughly excoriated in the most personal of attacks.

Pretty damning.

DLB

Okay, so maybe I shouldn't take regard as direct criticism of my views since I do not comment at The Marmot's Hole anymore (no, not in any way, shape, or form for many years now), but since I was early on the preeminent critic of The Stupogants™ (enough that Laura Ling's famous sister, Lisa Ling, contacted me directly about my criticisms) and there was an entire post at The Marmot's Hole about my views on the matter, I'm taking DLB's bogus comments personal, at least as they relate to me.

While I agree with DLB's first paragraph, to describe my "full-throated vituperation" as "barely disguised misogyny" is preposterous, and demonstrably false for a number of reasons. Let's go over them, shall we?

• Do a word string search for "Mitch Koss" at my site and you'll see me referring to him repeatedly in my criticisms of The Stupogants. My full-throated vituperation of Ling and Lee extends to him as well, and that was early on. It has nothing to do with them being women; the closest I got to a gendered comment was mocking Koss — who managed to escape while Ling and Lee ended up captured — for his lack of chivalry in saving his own ass.

• I also spent considerable time skewering Robert Park, a mentally troubled man who can't decide if he's Moses or the Messiah. Robert Park, you may have noticed, is a man. Ditto with Aijalon Mahli Gomes. 

• The criticism of The Stupogants is valid and has nothing to do with their gender. They were there for personal gain (fame from getting the scoop of all scoops) and their journalistic negligence — they were carrying tapes of the escaped refugees they'd interviewed! — may well have cost lives and caused the North Korean authorities to plug up an important escape route. (Likewise, Robert Park's crazy walkabout into North Korea was about increasing his own fame.)

• Unlike The Stupogants or Mr Park, Mr Bae has been risking his freedom for something that offers no financial aggrandizement or opportunity for fame. In fact, if his life-endangering "mission" is offering hope and escape to individuals in the North (or providing a slow-dose poison pill to the regime), his motives are the diametric opposite of those of The Stupogants. Consequently, any "striking" difference in levels of criticism would be about something other than gender. 

• My "attacks" on Lee and Ling (or Koss) were no more "personal" than to admonish others not to buy their books, because they shouldn't profit from their foolishness and arrogance that endangered some extremely vulnerable people in China and North Korea. They sought publicity afterwards, and that opens them up for scrutiny and, if warranted, criticism.   

• Whether or not Bae "gets a huge pass" will depend a lot on what information comes out when he's released. If it turns out that he knowingly did careless things that could bring considerable harm on those he encountered — as was the case with Koss, Lee, and Ling — I will be first in line to pillory him for that. The Stupogants were depicted as innocents who just got lost, when the reality turned out to be quite different; if I was so full-throated in my vituperation, it's because I recognized that early on and I was at first the lone voice in saying so.

• Oh, and Ms Ling and Ms Lee did not "inadvertently cross the North Korea-China border" (which is a river, by the way). They knowingly and deliberately crossed in order to have a great hook for their program. 

So in conclusion, one can make the case that I am inconsistent in whom I criticize or that my thought processes can be a tad inscrutable at times (though I would submit there is a clear, but complex, pattern), but if someone throws some bogus charge at me like plagiarism or "damning" misogynistic criticism, and you've got hell to pay, aßßhole.

KSB

...

Detained American in North Korea was there as a clandestine missionary

That is what the North Korea News is reporting:

An NK News investigation shows that Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American currently being detained by the North Korean government, is a trained missionary who was using his China-based tour company as a platform to bring missionaries into North Korea. The news comes following a statement released Sunday by the Korea Central News Agency which said that Bae had "disguised his identity" upon entering North Korea.

The NK News investigation shows that Bae was initially sent to China by the evangelical missionary organization “Youth With a Mission” (YWAM) in 2006. The organization is designed to help equip missionaries with the skills needed to convert people into Christians.

Those who recall my skewering of The Stupogants™Laura Ling and Euna Lee (and Mitch Koss), or Messiah Complex-afflicted Robert Park and his buddy Aijalon Gomes may be surprised that I'm far less critical and much more sympathetic to the plight of Kenneth Bae, who was recently sentenced to fifteen years of hard labor.

I've met a number of North Korean refugees and those who quietly are trying to fish them out, and they are nothing like the publicity whores (I'm trying to think of a nicer way to say that) that have ventured into North Korea to further their own careers (e.g. The Stupogants) or their own suicidal delusions of salvadorism (e.g., Robert Park and possibly his buddy Aijalon Gomes).

Rather, it is the missionaries who quietly enter the DPRK who are bringing the message of hope and possible regime change. They are the ones who — if their message takes hold and their underground railroad stays in place — may pose a real threat to the regime by changing the calculus of support and fear. Those who have a means to escape or are attuned to a higher being with a grander purpose may become impervious to the terror tactics employed by the power machine.

And that is messy work. It takes people with a willingness to risk their lives and safety on a daily basis to go in and out, again and again, until the regime has fallen or has changed beyond recognition. Kenneth Bae is a casualty of this, and it is my fervent hope that what he loses is little more than his freedom temporarily.

I pray also that he doesn't reveal — directly or inadvertently — the identities and whereabouts of people who might be harmed by the regime for having worked with him or even merely come in contact with him. That was one of my biggest criticisms of The Stupogants: Not only had they caused the North to plug up an important escape route, but they had the videotapes of their refugee interviewees on their person when they were caught!

At this point I hope and pray Kenneth Bae is released soon and without harm to him or anyone touched by him, and that we don't expend significant political or actual capital in order to secure his freedom.

...

Pyongyang about to release OC man held since last year? (UPDATED)

I'm on Maui now and my only Internet access is via iPhone, so I'm reduced to typing posts with one finger and emailing important news links like this one. [UPDATE: Now back in Honolulu, I'm fixing this post up a tad.]

The conventional wisdom (er... conventional speculation) is that this is a move to secure food aid, but I wonder if Beijing is pressuring Kim Jong-il to stop kidnapping other countries' citizens in their effort to make North Korea "normal."

The link to the story is here.

UPDATE:
And Mr Jun Young-su has been released. It will be interesting to hear what he tells us about why he was arrested (the speculation is that it's missionary work — something I guessed from the beginning — but you know how I get when the press lazily speculates about things related to North Korea).

Reuters offers some video:



And we'll have to see what quid pro quo, if any, was given in exchange for Mr Jun's released. Right now North Korea is clamoring for food aid, and the US is balking so far, so that right there may be where this is headed.

UPDATE 2:
According to the Orange County Register, Mr Jun the "OC man" may not really have strong ties to Orange County after all. Apparently he hasn't really lived in OC for the past eight years (which might explain why they've done so little coverage of this story).

Then again, neither have I, for that matter, though it has been my "permanent address" for voting, taxpaying, and driver license purposes for the entire time I've been a Seoul resident. I wonder if My Jun's situation is a bit like that.

Eddie Jun stuck in North Korea but "well cared for"

Remember Eddie Jun, aka Youngsu Jun? His family sure does.

If you don't, here's a refresher: he's the Orange County kyopo who ended up getting arrested while in North Korea, for some crime he has confessed to but which has still not been specified to the rest of the world. Some had hoped that "The Elder" Jimmy Carter would be able to secure Mr Jun's release from the Pyongyang Palazzo, but President Peanut was snubbed.

Mr Jun remains in North Korea, but we get word that he is being treated okay and has even been allowed contact with his family:

The U.S. government says that an American detained by North Korea since November is being well cared for and has been permitted to speak to his family by phone.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Wednesday Swedish diplomats have visited Eddie Jun six times since March and were continuing at U.S. request to ask for regular consular access.

Sweden looks after U.S. interests in the communist state.

Toner called for Jun's immediate release on humanitarian grounds so he can be reunited with his family.

The literal message is that traipsing
into North Korea isn't very bright.

I'd really like to know what he was arrested for. Given his religious background, it could be anything from helping ferry North Koreans out of the DPRK and the PRC, to proselytizing and/or passing out religious materials, to helping spread discontent about the Pyongyang regime. And any of those could mean big trouble if he's convicted (which is likely).

Sure, the US eventually released Evan Hunziker, Robert Park, Aijalon Mahli Gomes, Laura Ling, and Euna Lee, but not until after a lot of hemming and hawing and perhaps some backroom quid pro quo (e.g., a favorite topic of Joshua at One Free Korea: not putting North Korea back on the list of state sponsors of terror).

If this doesn't scream, "Stay the #+¢& away!" then I can't help you.

Well, despite my public proclamations about the foolishness of Americans publicly and purposefully going into North Korea without permission and the danger it puts on everyday North Koreans trying to escape or the way it ties the hands of Washington and its allies, I do hope and pray that Mr Jun is okay and continues to be okay. (And I add: we don't know yet why he was nabbed.)

If he's already staying at whatever villa is being used as the Pyongyang Palazzo and he's being seen by the Swedes and even allowed to call California, I'm not too terribly worried for Mr Jun's safety right now. Euna Lee and particularly Laura Ling were physically harmed during their ordeal, but this was almost entirely during their capture when they escaped back into Chinese territory. After they were in custody they were placed in a darkened room with no access to hot water, a form of torture DPRK citizens call "being in North Korea."

On the other hand, if he is actually convicted, things could be different. Though he would likely be released, the difference between Mr Jun and most of the others is that he is a full-blooded ethnic Korean and a male, and therefore with few mitigating excuses to release him.

So far only Robert Park fit that description, and I think the Pyongyang authorities quickly realized he was a nutjob and wanted to get rid of him. It helped things along that Robert Park cracked and told the KCNA everything they wanted to hear. People can be very magnanimous after a propaganda victory.

Robert Park explains himself

Robert Park, the guy with the messianic complex who traipsed into North Korea one day thinking that this brazen act would topple the North Korean regime, is in the news explaining himself. (But first, let me explain his self: Apparently, he figured, the DPRK propaganda ship is designed like the Death Star, such that, despite billions of dollars of munitions and layer after layer of redundant security weaponry, a single hit by some kid from the desert can bring the whole thing down.)

Do I go with a joke about phallic-shaped
mics or do I just call him a drama queen?

Writing at One Free Korea, frequent commenter and Park/Gomes cheerleader KCJ says Robert Park interview "confirms [his] analysis" that Mr Park's confession was dictated to him.

Ah, but to the rest of us, it just confirms our analysis that Robert Park (and Aijalon Mahli Gomes) shouldn't have gone in the first place.

But let's analyze Mr Park's latest brush with the media for what it might tell us:

He added that to prevent him from divulging the details of his detention, the security forces carried out humiliating sexual torture. "As a result of what happened to me in North Korea, I've thrown away any kind of personal desire. I will never, you know, be able to have a marriage or any kind of relationship."

We've already covered the "humiliating sexual torture" bit. I wasn't so certain before, but now I'm becoming more and more convinced that Robert Park is a latent homosexual (the suicidal tendencies which include going to North Korea to "sacrifice" himself in the first place, the narrative about not being ever able to be with a woman, etc.). And he has now engineered a perfect cover to hold off the church ajummas and his own parents who might have pushed him to settle down.

Park insisted that an apology he read on North Korean TV was dictated to him.

Not just his apology, but also his flowery praise of North Korea. Here's a tidbit:

Not only service personnel but all those I met in the DPRK treated me in a kind and gentlemanly manner and protected my rights.

I have never seen such kind and generous people.

People have been incredibly kind and generous here to me, very concerned for my physical health as never before in my life. I mean, my family, of course, is concerned about my physical health but people here have been constantly concerned and I'm very thankful for their love.

Another shocking fact I experienced during my stay in the DPRK is that the religious freedom is fully ensured in the DPRK, a reality different from what is claimed by the West.
Being a devout Christian, I thought such things as praying are unimaginable in the DPRK due to the suppression of religion.

I, however, gradually became aware that I was wrong.

Everybody neither regarded praying as something unusual nor disturbed it. I was provided with conditions for praying everyday as I wished.

Okay, then. How hard was the bayonet pushed into your back for you to say all that?

Back to the Chosun Ilbo piece:

Asked why he decided to enter the North illegally armed with nothing but a Bible, he said, "I hoped through my sacrifice, that people will come together and they will liberate North Korea."

Instead, he strengthened the regime's hand. Please, no more day-trippers to North Korea.

Welcome back, Carter.

Abstract:
Former President Carter may have met Kim Jong-il on his last trip. And may have offered him things. And talked about Aijalon Mahli Gomes's condition and stuff.

Wordy essay: 
When former President Jimmy Carter went over to North Korea to fish out Holy Roamer Aijalon Mahli Gomes, it was widely reported and generally assumed that he did not end up meeting Kim Jong-il.

Since it was always figured that high-profile visits by the likes of former President Bill Clinton or Carter are what the status-hungry DPRK craves, it was puzzling that KJI would take off just as Carter was arriving.

The Dear Leader, so the speculation went, had snubbed Carter when he chose instead to make a last-minute trip to northeast China (where, many believe, he was getting Beijing's approval for the ascension of his son, Kim Jong-un, but I, Kushibo, believe he was getting permission — or perhaps even orders — to do Chinese-style reforms). Either that, or KJI was afraid of the Carter Curse™.

So far, so good. Joshua at One Free Korea noted that the snub may have been a good thing, because it made it harder for Carter to offer anything other than a suitcase full of gourmet organic peanut butter in exchange for Mr Gomes's freedom.

But wait... Perhaps Mr Carter did in fact meet Kim Jong-il on this last trip. I hold this out as a possibility simply because Mr Carter, in a discussion at the Carter Center, didn't say one way or the other:

The 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner would not say if he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. But he said he spoke with leaders who told him "they were eager to have peace talks that will lead to the denuclearization of the peninsula and a permanent peace treaty with the U.S. and South Korea." [AP via WaPo]

Why would this be a secret? If he didn't meet him, then he didn't meet him. But if he did meet him and there was something he wasn't to reveal (like KJI's physical condition?) then the "cannot confirm or deny" response would make sense. Not saying it's the only possibility, but it is a plausible reason.

And perhaps Carter did make some offers Pyongyang wouldn't refuse. I'm gleaning this from the title of the AP article ("Carter hopes prisoner release helps peace talks") and this quote:

"We didn't have any communication with North Korea, so they called and asked me to come over there to get Mr. Gomes," the Georgia Democrat said during a discussion at the Carter Center. "They said they would not let him go to anyone except me. Obviously, they wanted me to come back over there."

Reading between the lines, it seems quite likely that someone in the Pyongyang regime had Mr Carter come over to talk about returning to the denuclearization talks because they could extract a quid pro quo from him.

The talk also went into the conditions of Mr Gomes's incarceration:

Carter said doctors determined that Gomes, of Boston, had been treated "superbly" during his seven months in prison and that North Korean officials gave him his own prison cell. He also said Gomes was given his own hospital room in the country's capital, Pyongyang, after he tried to commit suicide, but he did not elaborate.

"Treated superbly"? Sounds a bit different from what some had speculated. I guess if it's not true, Mr Gomes himself might speak up eventually.

Conclusion:
See Abstract.

Robert Park comes around in Christianity Today

It should come as no surprise to my readers that I sometimes feel that Robert Park — he who traipsed into North Korea with the demand that Kim Jong-il resign from his position and unshackle the North Korean people on his way out, only to be followed by his friend, the equally quixotic Aijalon Mahli Gomes — really sticks in my craw.

Frankly, although he and I are both deeply troubled about the plight of people stuck under Pyongyang's thumb and the North Koreans who have escaped but remain in hiding in China, I have made no secret that I think his consternation is fatally muddied by an apparent Messianic complex (or at least a Mosaic one).

Moreover, like daytrippers Euna Lee, Laura Ling, and the aforementioned Mr Gomes, I think Mr Park's exploits have generated considerably more detriment than benefit.

And according to this article in Christianity Today, Mr Park seems to be coming around to my point of view on the futility of his media whoring publicity stunt:

"My hope was, through sacrifice, that maybe there would be repentance and people could come together to address issues in North Korea," he said.

But Park said that did not happen.

"It takes work, and the church and human rights groups have to realize the most important thing is that we come together," he said. "This generation has to be captivated and compelled because this is the most systematically intentional genocide since the Holocaust."

Park says he is not angry with God, but he is frustrated with the church.

"My wish and my hope and prayer is for the church to rise and spearhead the move for liberation," he said.

That first paragraph still sounds a bit like it's all about him, but at least he recommends something that I've been saying all along is the best way for those feeling the need for personal sacrifice (of the monetary or bodily variety):

Park says one of the best ways for Christians to help North Koreans is to redirect money to refugees and North Koreans assisting refugees.

"North Korean people know how to get money to hard-hit areas that can lead to family reunification and food going to inaccessible areas when other organizations are not quite as urgent or knowledgeable," he said. "The North Korean people themselves love their homeland and they desire liberation more than anyone else—their hearts are in North Korea."

Here we agree as well.

Nevertheless, my opinion that Mr Park may be both Messianic and suicidal remains strong. In an earlier Christianity Today article, he actually talks about his motivations to commit suicide:

Park says his concern for Gomes and frustration over the lack of media coverage and response to his friend's imprisonment have led him to speak out—and were the cause of his plans for a July 16 suicide demonstration.

Park said he was ready to end his life because nothing was being done, "but God stopped it through the intervention of a friend."

"I was planning to kill myself with a suicide note to bring attention to Aijalon—I feel responsible for him being there," Park said. "He is one of my best friends, and I prayed for my life to be taken and not his."

A suicide demonstration?! Clearly this is a troubled man, and it is incumbent on organizations like Christianity Today that trot him out before the media to also keep a watchful eye on his darker side. Sure, let's highlight him singing the praises of getting real work done to help North Koreans in the PRC and the DPRK, but keep him away from the soapboxes.

US issues travel warning to idiots with messiah complexes not to go to North Korea

Enough already! Our ex-Presidents have enough to do as it is.

(More on this later.)

Free at last!

The AP (via the Los Angeles Times) is reporting that Aijalon Mahli Gomes has been released and will be sent home:

Carter Center spokeswoman Deanna Congileo said late Thursday that the former president will return to the U.S. with Aijalon Gomes. She says Gomes should be in Boston by Friday afternoon. North Korea news agency KCNA says Carter has left Pyongyang.

U.S. officials have billed Carter's trip as a private humanitarian visit to try to negotiate Gomes' release. Gomes was sentenced to eight years of hard labor in a North Korean prison for entering the country illegally from China.

More on this later (I'm in class now, learning about global health disasters). In the meantime, you can take a look at previous Gomes posts to get an idea what my thoughts are.

Oh, and don't buy his book.

UPDATE:
The New York Times has a longer article on the release, which also gets into the snub Carter experienced by not being able to sell out US interests to the DPRK meet Kim Jong-il:

Mr. Kim is grooming his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as successor, according to South Korean officials. North Korea is to convene a congress of its ruling Workers’ Party early next month, where Mr. Kim is expected to rally popular support for his succession plans.

If confirmed, this would be Mr. Kim’s sixth trip to China, his impoverished country’s largest trading partner and aid provider. His last trip was in May, when he met President Hu Jintao during a five-day visit. North Korea and China usually do not confirm a trip by Mr. Kim until it is over.

News of the possible trip by Mr. Kim led to rampant speculation in South Korea. Possible motives cited by analysts in Seoul included the North’s need for Chinese aid because of flooding and the possibility of a decline in Mr. Kim’s health, which might have forced aides to take him to China for treatment. Many intelligence officials believe Mr. Kim had a stroke in 2008. Around the time that Mr. Kim’s train crossed the border, North Korean news media reported that China would provide emergency flood relief.

With North Korea’s relations with the South and the United States at a low point, “China is the only one Kim Jong-il can go to to seek aid,” said Kim Keun-sik, an analyst at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. “He badly needs aid before the party meeting to make it a national festival, as it is meant to be.”

Even so, leaving North Korea without meeting Mr. Carter would be a notable breach of diplomatic etiquette, the analyst said. “A possible political message of this is that North Korea gives its priority to China over the United States,” he said.

Despite earlier reports, it looks like JC didn't feel like waiting around for KJI to get home. While I'm happy he was not able to do too much damage in order to secure Mr Gomes's release, I'm disappointed I won't be able to post a picture of the Dear Leader with our Thirty-ninth president with the headline, "Welcome back, Carter."

Carter waiting around for Kim Jong-il to come back

Apparently, our thirty-ninth president is doing the political equivalent of waiting around his smitten's porch, hoping to get a kiss goodnight after she gets home from a late night out with her friends and God knows who else.

Jimmy, you can't compete with Big Brother China, so don't even try. I hate to think what you might offer up out of desperation.

That's not a high-five. She was trying to slap your forehead.
Just be thankful rampant malnutrition has rendered 
that eighteen-year-old waif too short to reach. 

While we're at it, I just want to point out how fitting it is that someone initialed "JC" is off saving someone who himself my have a Jesus complex (well, that epithet is more fitting for the messiah-wannabe Robert Park, but Jimmy Carter didn't go and save RP, did he?).

Holy leader switcheroos, Fatman!

So everyone has been expecting former US President Jimmy Carter to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in order to secure the release of daytripper Aijalon Mahli Gomes by paying homage to Juche  making a quid pro quo deal with the Dear Leader  giving the Coifed One a photo-op to show how world leaders grovel in front of him  appealing to his humanity.

But lo and behold, just as Mr Carter is collecting his carry-ons after touch down in Pyongyang, we get news that Kim Jong-il is not even in North Korea! He's in China! That's right: China! I'll bet you didn't see that one coming, eh?

[UPDATE 2: With his son, Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong-un, no less! If there was ever a time for a brown parade.]

No doubt, the timing of this impromptu trip is motivated by fear (or flashbacks of being overshadowed like a Hobbit). For starters, KJI is probably genuinely afeared that any jaunt across the Yalu carries with it the risk of assassination and/or coup, so best to keep it on the down-low.

Second, it's already been irrefutably established that Jimmy Carter is a stone-cold killer. Within months of meeting the former peanut farmer, Kim Il-sung (KJI's dad) was dead (cue audio of Dubya saying, "He tried to kill my Daddy!"). Same with South Korean strongman Park Chunghee.

Could be a huge coincidence, but if I were the Dear Leader, I'd get the hell out of Dodge, too. Or at least send a Doppelgänger.

UPDATE 1:
Commenting at One Free Korea, James calls "death watch." And that reminded me that I forgot to add the more serious reason for the urgent trip: Maybe Kim Jong-il really may be much closer to the Pearly Gates (as if!) than we realize, and this emergency trip by L'il Kim is intended to make sure Big Brother China is on board with a continuation of a North Korean monarchy.

It's not too late to join my year-old KJI Death Pool.

Another ex-president heads to Pyongyang on a rescue mission

I wonder if Mr Gomes
will name his firstborn Earl.

First it was Bill off to save Euna Lee and Laura Ling. Now it's Jimmy to gain Aijalon Mahli Gomes's release.

Good luck. Save your receipts.

UPDATE:
And need I remind you what happened the last time Jimmy Carter visited Pyongyang? We may need that Reunification Tax sooner than you think.

UPDATE 2:
Mr Carter has succeeded in gaining Mr Gomes's release.

US medical team reportedly visits Aijalon Mahli Gomes

That North Korea is leaving access open to Mr Gomes is a good sign, methinks. From AFP:

The United States said Monday that a US consular official and two doctors last week visited in a Pyongyang hospital an American serving hard labor in North Korea for an illegal border crossing.

"We requested permission to visit Mr. (Ajalon) Gomes. That permission from the North Korean government was granted," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.

Crowley said a translator accompanied the consular official and doctors on the visit, adding: "I believe they visited him in a hospital."

He said the team was in Pyongyang from August 9 through August 11.

"The basis of the trip was simply our ongoing concerns about Mr. Gomes's health and welfare," Crowley said.

Given that there have been reports of Mr Gomes attempting suicide and he may still be in a hospital because of that, there is reason for concern about his health and well-being. On the other hand, if the suicide attempt has kept him from hard labor (as he was sentenced), then perhaps it's a cause for optimism. We won't know until he is released whether he really was put into a regular prison camp or he was put up at the Pyongyang Palazzo.

At any rate, even if his release is not pending (Pyongyang is no doubt hoping to use him as a bargaining chip, though I don't know if Mrs Clinton and the Obama Administration are willing to let that happen), it is a good sign for those who hope to see him released that US consular officers and medical staff have access to him. It means, at least, that they're probably not using him for bayonet practice or a punching bag.

I just wonder what Pyongyang will try to get for his release, and if they'll get it or something halfway. This dilemma, of course, is one of the reasons I've been so critical of the walkabouts of Robert Park and Mr Gomes: At some level it does hamstring Washington's ability to operate with a free hand. Joshua at One Free Korea seems to believe that North Korea was kept off the State Sponsors of Terror list as a means to get Robert Park out of the DPRK, while an argument can be made that a post-Ch'ŏnan reinstatement of North Korea on the list can't easily occur until after Mr Gomes is released.

Talks to get Aijalon Mahli Gomes released?

NOTE: Prepare yourself for the Ultimate Aijalon Mahli Gomes Link Fest™!

UPDATE (August 24, 2010):
Jimmy Carter is reportedly headed to North Korea to gain Mr Gomes's release.

ORIGINAL POST:
UPI is reporting that Washington and Pyongyang (and Sweden) are in talks over the possible release of Robert Park follower Aijalon Mahli Gomes, who also walked straight into North Korea with a martyrdom-inspired message of peace.

It has been just over six months since he was arrested and just under four months since he was sentenced to eight years imprisonment. Based on the past cases of Evan Hunziker, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, and Robert Park, it's past time to call out Howie and play "Deal or No Deal." Especially since Mr Gomes is (like Robert Park) reportedly suicidal (and as much as it pains me to say it, I give a lot of weight to KCNA reports on the foreigners North Korea imprisons).

[source]

It's no secret that I don't like what he did and I want others to stop following in Robert Park's messianic footsteps (and post-release antics), but I still hope Mr Gomes can come home soon (even fellow skeptic Joshua Stanton agrees).

Just don't write a book. I'd hate to have to launch a preemptive boycott, only to let down my opposition when you send my mother a free copy.

KCNA report on Aijalon Mahli Gomes's suicide attempt

Here it is, straight from the KCNA (朝鮮語):

American Prisoner Attempts Suicide

Pyongyang, July 9 (KCNA) — American Gomes serving a prison term in the DPRK recently attempted to take his own life, according to information available from a relevant organ.

Driven by his strong guilty conscience, disappointment and despair at the U.S. government that has not taken any measure for his freedom, he attempted to commit suicide. He is now given first-aid treatment at a hospital.

The Swedish embassy here representing the U.S. interests acquainted itself with the condition of the patient at the hospital.

Hmm... He feels despair that the US government hasn't taken any measure for his freedom? That sounds like Pyongyang extending an invitation to Washington if ever there was one. Read between the lines, American Clinton: Let's make a deal!

Maybe there's reason for the "glimmer of hope" after all. I leave you now to giggle to yourselves about "a relevant organ."

Boston Globe refers to "a glimmer of hope" in Aijalon Mahli Gomes case

Hmm... the guy has been sentenced to eight years in a North Korean prison, threatened that could go longer because of the warlike belligerence of the US, and he has reportedly committed suicide, but his hometown newspaper, the Boston Globe, sees "a glimmer of hope."

Actually what they're talking about is the same thing I mentioned earlier, that Pyongyang does not want the death of this guy on their watch, so like with Evan Hunziker, they may be keen to release him very soon.

From the BG (or should we say BoGlo):

The contrast between the speedy resolution of the case involving the Russian spies and Gomes’s plight in North Korea reflects the dramatic difference between the improving US-Russian relationship and the worsening tensions between the isolated North Korean regime and the rest of the world.

Now, however, one North Korea expert says there may be a glimmer of hope for Gomes in what he sees as recent signals from North Korea and the United States that they want to move beyond the high-stakes confrontation over the March sinking of a South Korean naval vessel that killed 46 sailors.

Sung-Yoon Lee, an adjunct professor of international politics at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, said yesterday that North Korea had responded with restraint to a UN statement on Friday that condemned the sinking but stopped short of blaming the North directly.

“I am usually not an optimist with North Korea, but it may be a positive sign in the sense that North Korea is indicating it really wants to release him for the right price, whatever that may be,’’ Lee said.

Ah, note the wording: "For the right price." Anyone who thinks that the hijinks of Robert Park and Aijalon Mahli Gomes (or Laura Ling, Euna Lee, and Mitch Koss) don't come with a price tag in terms of real financial cost or political capital is kidding themselves.

And even if Mr Park or Mr Gomes says, "Don't rescue me," really  how can Washington do anything else, particularly now that we get news of Mr Gomes's suicide attempt. Unless that is a ruse... Hmm...

Anyway, I am not making light of Mr Gomes's plight, even if he got into it all on his own. When he eventually gets back, he must be watched carefully by medical and mental health professionals and those he loves. We do not want another tragedy like that of Evan Hunziker.

UPDATE:
Here is the English-language edition of the KCNA report about the suicide attempt. The Chosŏnŏ report is here.

Washington's Swedish proxies in Pyongyang visit Aijalon Mahli Gomes

After news reports from North Korea's KCNA of a suicide attempt by Aijalon Mahli Gomes, a US citizen being held in the DPRK for following in the footsteps of fellow evangelist and friend Robert Park by traipsing into North Korea with a message of piece and that Kim Jong-il should get the hell out of Dodge, Washington decided it might be a good idea to check up on this guy.

And since we don't have an embassy or consulate in North Korea, we sent our representatives, the Swedes... er, the North Koreans sent the Swedes:

The United States on Friday disclosed that a diplomat from Sweden, representing U.S. interests in North Korea, was asked to visit a U.S. citizen jailed in North Korea, who reportedly tried to commit suicide.

U.S. State Department Spokesman Mark Toner told journalists at a briefing that the Swedish diplomat was requested by the North Korean regime to visit detained Aijalon Mahli Gomes.

“Today, on July 9th, at the request of the DPRK, Swedish diplomats in Pyongyang visited Mr. Gomes in their capacity as the U.S. protecting power in North Korea,” Toner said.

Asked to comment on the condition of Gomes and his whereabouts, Toner declined citing privacy considerations.

Toner said the United States is concerned about Gomes' welfare and reiterated call for his immediate release on humanitarian grounds, saying, “We reiterate our urge for the North Korean Government to release Mr. Gomes on humanitarian grounds.”

It's a good sign that Pyongyang not only allowed the visit, but they requested it. In fact, I think it's a sign that they're preparing to slough him off. Dead men may tell no tales, but they also make lousy bargaining chips. (Except for Korean War MIAs and KIAs, but I don't mean that in a derisive or mean-spirited way, even though it's clear that Pyongyang cynically uses the search for their remains as a ploy to extract hard currency from Washington.)

Over at ROK Drop, frequent commenter Chicken Head wonders why we've heard so little about Mr Gomes vis-à-vis others, like Mr Park or Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who have ended up in the North Korea:

I’m curious… Why the complete media blackout compared to Ling/Lee?

Aijalon Mahli Gomes went to North Korea with more open, honest and pure intentions… yet the MSM is as quiet as a nun’s fart.

It would almost seem that a track record of elitist-leftist support is more important than intentions based on silly concepts like freedom or human rights.

A fair question. While I'm not so certain we can automatically assume the "honest and pure intentions" of Mr Gomes (certainly his mentor seems to have a Messiah complex of sorts, and it's not at all implausible that either or both would seek book deals after their ordeal is over), I think it's reasonable to assume that Laura Ling's sister's political and media connections played a very big role in publicizing her plight and getting something done. She makes that point herself in the book they co-wrote.

But I don't think that's all there is to it. For starters, there isn't really a "complete media blackout," as Chicken Head describes it. I've written two stories in as many days about him because he has been in the media (the second is here). The media tends to report what comes down the pipeline, and a big part of the answer to that question is that Mr Gomes's people have not been as effective (and perhaps haven't been trying to be as effective) at publicizing Aijalon's case as Laura Ling's family had been.

Even in that particular case, if it had been just Euna Lee that was imprisoned, not Laura Ling, there may have been considerably less publicity, even though Ms Lee works for the same "elitist-leftist" news outlet.

Another factor is that Mr Gomes is not a first of any significant kind. He is not the first American in a long time to be imprisoned in the north, as were Evan Hunziker in 1996 and the Lee-Ling team in 2009. Nor is he the first American to voluntarily walk into North Korea to demand human rights from the DPRK; that would be Robert Park.

So his story is important enough to report on when new news comes down the wire, but not important enough to follow on a daily basis, à la the BP oil spill, where no news is also news. If you want to change this, you must convince his family or his church or some other related group to do news-making events.

(UPDATED) North Korea says American prisoner Aijalon Mahli Gomes tried to commit suicide

The BBC quotes the KCNA:

"Driven by his strong guilty conscience, disappointment and despair at the US government that has not taken any measure for his freedom, he attempted to commit suicide," the North's KCNA news agency said.

"He is now given first-aid treatment at a hospital."

The New York Times is now also carrying the story. The announcement of Mr Gomes's hospitalization comes after news two weeks ago that North Korea was threatening that America's warlike rhetoric could mean a tougher penalty for this follower of Robert Park (there's a double meaning for you).

This turn of events is hardly surprising, though it is distressing. As foolish as I feel Mr Gomes was for doing what he's doing (and ditto Mr Park, his role model), I wish him no harm.

Robert Park himself is reportedly a suicidal person, though it's not clear if he was a troubled individual before he traipsed into the North and was captured or that came afterward. Ditto with Mr Gomes.

I finally found a picture of Mr Gomes that isn't of him at the demo. I like this one; it is, I believe, in a part of northern Seoul or the adjoining part of Kyŏnggi-do Province, along the Chungnang-ch'ŏn River. His warm smile certainly stands in stark contrast with the stern visage of someone protesting human rights abuses. I took it from here, a site that got it from here.

One thing is for sure, however, and that's that Mr Gomes has become a hot potato for the Pyongyang regime. Not only is he of no value as a bargaining chip if he's dead, but it could easily appear that his suicide may have been directly due to some bad acts by the regime, which would potentially hurt the image they're trying to cultivate on the international stage.

In the past I have surmised that Evan Hunziker, fished out of North Korea by Bill Richardson back in 1996, may have been released because his North Korean handlers recognized his suicidal tendencies (he actually killed himself not long afterward). [The eerie similarities now seen between Mr Gomes and Mr Hunziker are echoed in Bill Richardson's posthumous praise for the evangelizing Mr Hunziker in 1996: "Evan was a gentle young man who sought peace for all people."]

My prayers go out to him and his family, but can't we all recognize there is no good that comes from trips like Robert Park's or Mr Gomes's? (Which is not to say the same of Mr Son's).

UPDATE (August 24, 2010):
Jimmy Carter is reportedly headed for North Korea in a bid to release Mr Gomes.

UPDATE (August 27, 2010):
Mr Gomes has been released.

North Korea allows Aijalon Mahli Gomes to contact his family?

I will address this more later, but fir now here's an update on Aijalon Mahli Gomes. Could this mean his release is not too far off? Pyongyang sure could use the brownie points.

From AP, via MSNBC:

SEOUL, South Korea — An American imprisoned in North Korea was allowed to speak to his family by telephone Friday, state media said in a report with few details and no clues whether he would be released.

North Korea's highest court sentenced Aijalon Mahli Gomes to eight years of hard labor and fined him $700,000 on April 6 for entering the country illegally and for an unspecified "hostile act."

Gomes, from Boston, was the fourth American detained by North Korea for illegal entry in less than a year. He had been teaching English in South Korea before being arrested in the North on Jan. 25.

The official Korean Central News Agency reported that Gomes spoke with family on Friday. The call was allowed after he asked "for a phone contact with his family for his health and other reasons," the report said.

The brief dispatch from North Korea's capital Pyongyang provided no further details on the call.

Thaleia Schlesinger, a spokeswoman in Boston for Gomes' family, was trying to confirm the North Korean report with family members.

Gomes' imprisonment comes amid increasing uncertainty on the Korean peninsula.

Tensions between North and South are running high amid a dispute over joint economic projects and the mysterious March sinking of a South Korean warship near their western sea border in which 46 southern sailors died.

Meanwhile, international negotiations aimed at getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons remain stalled. The United States is a participant in those talks.

KCNA also said Gomes had contact in prison with a Swedish Embassy official to whom he handed a "written petition." The report said that happened before the phone call but wasn't specific.

The U.S. and North Korea do not have diplomatic relations, and Sweden handles U.S. interests in the North.

"We have continuous contacts with the detained American citizen on behalf of the U.S.," Swedish Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Camilla Akesson Lindblom said in Stockholm. "Right now we cannot get into any more details."

Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were held for five months before North Korea released them last August, and activist Robert Park was expelled some 40 days after crossing into North Korea last Christmas.

Gomes' motivation for entering North Korea remains unclear, though he attended rallies in Seoul in support of Park, a fellow Christian who deliberately crossed the North's border to call attention to the nation's human rights record, which has been criticized by the United Nations and U.S. as dismal.

Park was released in February without charge after the regime said he showed "sincere repentance of his wrong doings."

Ling and Lee, who work for former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's Current TV media venture, were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for illegal entry and engaging in "hostile acts" after their arrest in March 2009 near the Chinese border.

They were freed in August after former President Bill Clinton traveled to Pyongyang to negotiate their release. Clinton met North Korean leader Kim Jong Il during the visit.

KCNA on Aijalon Mahli Gomes trial

The KCNA issued its report on the trial of the follower of Robert Park (literally and figuratively) who also went on walkabout into the North:

A trial of Aijalon Mahli Gomes, male U.S. citizen, was held at a court of justice of the Central Court of the DPRK on Tuesday.

An examination was made of the hostile act committed against the Korean nation and the trespassing on the border of the DPRK against which an indictment was brought in and his guilt was confirmed according to the relevant articles of the criminal code of the DPRK at the trial. On this basis, the court sentenced him to eight years of hard labor and a fine of 70 million won.

The accused admitted all the facts which had been put under accusation.

The presence of representatives of the Swedish embassy here to witness the trial was allowed as an exception at the request of the Swedish side protecting the U.S. interests.

I'm a bit disturbed that the KCNA didn't mention that Mr Gomes went into the North to protest human rights abuses and demand that Dear Leader Kim Jong-il step down. I mean, how will the people know that's the real reason if the KCNA and the Rodong Shinmun don't print it. I think I shall fire off a letter to the editor to the Hamhung Herald or the Kaesong Crier to bring this matter to their attention.

In all seriousness, though, I do find it interesting (if it's true), that there is mention that the Swedes were there to protect US interests (which, presumably, would include protecting Mr Gomes's rights as best they can). I don't think they're in much of a position to let us know how much of a sham this trial with the foregone conclusion was.

See here and here for my more recent takes on the foolish and dangerous antics of Mr Gomes and Mr Park.