Word: pyongyang
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Christopher Hill, it turns out, does his best work by moonlight. The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State and chief negotiator at the six-party North Korean nuclear talks had a Chinese draft proposal in hand that could jump-start the long-stalled negotiations. The proposal offered Pyongyang the possibility of a light-water reactor for producing electrical power in the future if it agreed to completely dismantle its nuclear programs, both military and civilian. But Hill needed assurances from the other delegations?China, Russia, Japan, South Korea?that they would not help North Korea get the reactor until international inspectors...
...That was how the six-party talks were saved: China provided the foundation, and Hill and Rice closed the deal. At around noon on Sept. 19 the delegations released the Chinese-authored statement of principles, and Pyongyang agreed to abandon its nuclear programs in exchange for security, economic and energy benefits that included the possibility of the light-water reactor. No specific dates for disarmament have been set, and barely hours passed before Pyongyang and Washington were sniping at each other over the details. North Korea declared that the U.S. "should not even dream" that it would dismantle its nuclear...
...Delisle takes a stroll in 'Pyongyang...
...author. North Korea's culture of fear systematically and deliberately prohibits foreigners from gaining any kind of truthful access to its citizens. Yet one still cannot help but wonder about Delisle's own, unstated and unexamined prejudices that may have prevented him from fully accessing these people. Pyongyang's depiction of North Koreans as strange, weak (in their inability to critically examine and overthrow an utterly corrupt government) and exploitable by the West fits an unfortunate pattern of past such depictions of Asians. How much of the book's depictions come from Delisle's own cultural expectations? The answer remains...
...spite of the limitations placed on him, Guy Delisle's Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea provides a fascinating tour of this demonized, closed-off country in a highly readable and entertaining way. What one wishes for, but never gets from Pyongyang, is how the author feels changed by the visit or how he reflects upon his own culture in the context of North Korea. Even so, while this smart and funny book may not dispel the West's fears and prejudices about North Korea, and may even confirm many of them, it will at least give its readers something...