This whole day, I've been fixated on the disclosure of the North Korean nuclear arms testing. As some of you know, I spent a year in South Korea, translating oral testimonials by North Korean refugees and writing politics articles about the human rights problem (check out, for example, my article for the Guardian).

Marmot's Hole, although its political leanings are sometimes dubious, is a good resource on updates. I'm also waiting to see if Brian Myers, aka B.R. Myers, has anything tantalizing to say about this situation. Brian, an Atlantic Monthly contributor, is someone I met and befriended while in Korea. He's more known for his railings against what he calls Postmodern fiction (in which I've had a few heated arguments with him about). It's a shame that he's known for his literary opinions, since he's more spot on about his analysis on North Korean culture and politics, which is his specialty as an academic. He wrote an interesting article about how to read between the lines of North Korean propaganda for the NY Times.

With all the news analysis and finger-pointing--Bush has catastrophically fucked up once again, but will predictably place the blame on the Clinton administration--little is said about the North Korean people, who will most likely be the worst victims of the sanctions, if China ever goes through with it. Barbara Demick, from the LA Times, wrote a great article about life in a North Korean city.