Pyongyang Spring
Could Kim Jong Il’s regime be the next autocratic government to fall? Don’t bet on it.
For North Korean State Waitresses Abroad, Lives of Rigor and Temptation
The waitresses, enlisted from the DPRK elite into state service and shipped to government-run eateries across Asia, face political scrutiny and the prison-like servitude of home
North Korea-Run Restaurants Spread Propaganda and Kimchi Across Asia
TGI Friday’s meets DPRK propaganda center, the state-owned Pyongyang Cafés provide kitschy entertainment and much-needed revenues for the regime back home
Japan’s nuclear troubles extend into Russia
The Russian used auto industry relies on used car shipments from Japanese companies that have dried up since the March earthquake and problems at the Fukushima plant.
Escaping North Korea
The hundreds of North Koreans escaping into China each year are facing ever tougher border controls. Those caught face imprisonment and torture.
REVIEW: ‘Cambodia’s Curse’, by Joel Brinkley
In June 2010, diplomats and donors converged on a conference hall in Cambodia’s capital for a meeting with senior government officials. Seated in rows with headphones beaming in live translations, donor representatives listened to key ministers speak about the country’s progress on a series of agreed to good governance reforms.
Limited liability for Khmer Rouge tribunal
PHNOM PENH – Sometime later this year, Cambodia’s war crimes court will convene its second trial at which four ailing Khmer Rouge leaders will face a raft of charges including crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. The four accused – Khmer Rouge “Brother No 2” Nuon Chea, former foreign minister Ieng Sary, head of...
Siberian tigers under threat as ‘timber mafia’ devastate Russian forests
Criminal gangs are increasingly smuggling Russian timber into China for manufacture into baby cribs, picture frames and toilet seats sold in the west. Those trying to thwart them face violence and corruption. Sebastian Strangio reports from Vladivostok.
Hun Sen’s war calculations
PHNOM PENH—Fighting along the Thai-Cambodian border continued over the weekend after two agreed ceasefires broke down last week. At least 17 people have been killed and 50,000 evacuated on both sides of the border since the latest round of armed skirmishes and diplomatic salvos commenced on April 22. Some analysts now wonder whether the sustained...
Thailand’s domestic politics drives Cambodian border clash
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia–Since the morning of April 22, Thai and Cambodian troops have waged a series of heated firefights along sections of their shared border. The two sides have now traded artillery and small-arms fire for a week, leaving at least 13 soldiers dead on both sides and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands...
Russia’s Far East forest mafia
With Chinese demand for hardwood rising, large swathes of forests are being illegally logged. Corruption and fear are hampering a crackdown.
Like father, like son in Cambodia
PHNOM PENH–ON May 29, 1999, Hun Manet, the eldest son of Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen, mounted the dais at the United States Military Academy at West Point to collect his diploma from General Dennis J Reimer, the US Army’s former chief of staff. Clad in a traditional grey jacket and red sash, then 21-year-old...
