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North Korea almost pulled off a stunning upset of Japan in World Cup Qualifying action last night in Japan.

SAITAMA — Japan managed to avoid a major disaster with an injury-time winner from Masashi Oguro securing the points in a thrilling 2-1 win in a World Cup Group B Asian qualifier against North Korea at Saitama Stadium on Wednesday night.

Japan made heavy weather of what should have been a routine three points and can consider itself fortunate to come out of this media-hyped fixture unscathed.

North Korea came very close to winning this contest before Japan scored the winning goal near the end of the game during injury time.

Japan began to panic as time ticked away, leaving gaping holes for North Korea to exploit at the back and it was only centimeters that saved Japan from certain defeat when, in the dying minutes, Kim Yong Jo struck a free-kick that shaved Japan’s right post.

Takahara glanced a late header wide and Ogasawara had a low shot well-saved by Chol with the writing appearing to be on the wall for Japan.

I like this cynical comment from the Japan Times article expressing their anger at the Japanese coach:

Deep into injury time with Zico frantically scribbling down excuses to present to the Japanese media, Chol, who had shown an unwillingness to catch crosses, opted to punch a soft one straight to Oguro who accepted the gift, slotting home the winner and taking home the glory.

Coach Zico from Japan has been drawing the anger of the media in Japan recently for benching some of his best players who play in the European leagues for players that play in the Japanese J-League.

Kim Jong Il must of been really pissed off after the game to come out today and announce to everyone he has nukes. Sore Loser!

Check out Simon World’s latest Asia by Blog Round Up.

Will Japan ever get enough of this guy? Here is a picture from the Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan of Bae Yong-joon. No word yet if it won the grand prize or not.

Does anyone know how a glow in the dark chicken fights cancer?

South Korean scientists successfully produced a chicken, which inheriteda fluorescent character from its green-tinged transgenic father, opening theway to mass-producing biomedical substances.

“We confirmed the possibility that biomedical substances such as cancer-fightingenzymes can be produced en masse via chickens, which can inherit injected genetic materials,” Kim said.

Congratulations Korea, you are first in the world with glow in the dark chickens!

15 North Korean defectors were detained trying to enter the US according to the Chosun.

Fifteen presumed North Korean defectors who had settled in South Korea were arrested for trying to sneak into the U.S.
The Los Angeles-based Association of People From Five Northern Provinces said on Sunday it learned that 15 North Koreans were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol as they tried to smuggle themselves into the U.S. from Tijuana, Mexico. But the association’s president Kim Ho-jeong added it remained to be confirmed whether the 15 really were defectors.

The 15, who are being held at an immigration detention center in San Diego, California, said they intended to seek political asylum in the U.S. after previously settling in South Korea. Kim Yong, the head of another defectors’ association in Los Angeles, said that under U.S. law such individuals were usually deported.

I guess it easier to escape North Korea than enter the US? It is sad to see these defectors escape from North Korea to South Korea, only to see them try and escape the prejudice in South Korea by trying to sneak into the US. With the new North Korea Human Rights Act this incident could turn into a political football. Hopefully this story will continued to be covered so we can all learn what happens to the 15 defectors.

North Korea is making new demands on South Korea by demanding 500,000 tons of fertilizer for the upcoming spring planting season.

South Korea has been agonizing over a recent request from North Korea for an “unusually” large volume of fertilizer aid, officials in Seoul said Sunday.

“Annual fertilizer aid toward the North has never exceeded 300,000 tons,” a KNRC executive told South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. “The one-time request for 500,000 tons, valued at about 140 billion won ($130 million), is seen as quite exceptional.”

I can’t imagine the South Korean government will turn down the request, but I can’t help but think, what the hell is South Korea getting out of this? Is the Mt. Kumgang tours worth being treated like somebodies lap dog? South Korea has serious leverage on the North with all the fertilizer they give to them. They should use this leverage to help the international community contain the North Korean nuclear program instead of just continually giving them free stuff with nothing in return. Pretty soon Kim Jong Il will be demanding Tiburon sports cars and LG flat screen TV’s. Where do you draw the line?

It is so ironic that a country with a nuclear program can’t afford to buy their own fertilizer. But then again why should you buy your own fertilizer when somebody is willing to give it to you for free?

I met a really interesting KATUSA a few days ago. For those who don’t know what a KATUSA is, he is a Korean Augmentee to the United States Army. They are Republic of Korea soldiers that serve along side of American soldiers in regular US Army units but are supervised by the ROK Army. Only male soldiers are authorized to serve as a KATUSA.

Anyway, I was talking to this KATUSA about where he was from and he told me he was from Minnesota. I was a little surprised and ask if he had family there or had just visited Minnesota but he said he was born and raised there. He then told me his dad is a Korean citizen and his mom is an American thus giving him dual citizenship. He could of avoided ROK Army service by staying in America or just giving up his Korean citizenship. However, he did not want to give up his Korean citizenship and his dad was adamant about him doing his military service so he agreed to join up. This is the first American KATUSA I have ever met. I wonder how many more are out there?

The latest Asia by Blog is available over at Simon’s World, so make sure you check it out. Also the latest and greatest Ulsan Pear is out with plenty of great articles worth reading.

I’m sure no one is to shocked that Koreans are discriminated against in Japan. One Korean citizen Chong Hyang-gyun in particular has led a legal challenge to allow foreigners to take a civil service examination to allow foreigners to hold higher government positions. Here are the details from the Japan Times.

Chong Hyang Gyun has just written herself into the history books, but not for the reason she wanted.

Makoto Teranaka, secretary general of Amnesty International, Japan, says that Japan, as a signatory to the U.N. International Convention on Eliminating Racial Discrimination, has a duty to protect all residents from discrimination.

However, strangely enough Chong was not even born in Korea. Here are some details on Chong from the Japundit.

Some aspects of Chong’s story raise a few questions. She was born in Iwate Prefecture to a Korean father and Japanese mother. I have not seen detailed information on her background, but it is probably safe to assume that she has spent most, if not all, of her life in Japan. She is obviously a native speaker of Japanese. Most important, she is not being denied Japanese citizenship; her South Korean citizenship is an option she chose. Indeed, her brother took Japanese citizenship and works as a university lecturer. She could have followed her brother’s example and taken the promotion exam a decade ago.

In other words, she chose to become a citizen of a country she wasn’t born in and doesn’t live in because of something that happened to other people before she was born. So for Chong, it’s not about getting a promotion. It’s about being a crusader and drawing attention to her cause.

Apparently there is more to this story also. It appears possibly that the main reason the Japanese are denying her the ability to take the civil service examination may be due to national security reasons. Also from the Japundit.

Not all zainichi kankokujin are harmless women who just want to advance their career and boost their income. The largest and most powerful organization of Korean residents in Japan is Chongryun, or Chosen Soren in Japanese. There are an estimated 670,000 zainichi kankokujin in Japan, and of these about 150,000 are thought to be affiliated with the group, its schools, or its businesses.

While there is no potential danger in a public health nurse rising to a supervisory rank, it would be a different story if the Foreign Ministry or Self-Defense Forces were obligated by the Supreme Court to hire and promote someone loyal to North Korea.

If national security concerns are the real reasons than I can kind of understand the ruling but it seems they should just be choosy about what positions can or cannot take a the civil service examination. A nurse getting promoted is not a national security issue. However, getting promoted to a high level SDF position is a security issue. For example in the US, a foreigner cannot be the President but foreigners can hold other government positions. It seems like an arrangement like this would be a suitable compromise unless it is just simple racism at work.

Does anyone know if foreigners can hold government positions in Korea?

North Korea Zone provided a great link to a Times of London article about the slow demise of the Kim Jong Il regime. Here are some of the interesting points from the article if you haven’t heard about these incidents before:

Jang Song-thaek, Kim’s ambitious brother-in-law, was purged from party office after he tried to build up a military faction to put his own son in power. Mystery surrounds the fate of Vice-Marshal Jo Myong-rok, the soldier once sent as Kim’s emissary to meet Bill Clinton in the White House.

In a telltale measure, frontier guards ordered us to leave all mobile phones at the Chinese border post — rumour has it that the Ryongchon blast was triggered by a mobile phone.

I will have to mark February 16th on my calendar to see if Kim shows himself. It was also interesting to read about the Christian underground:

Word has spread like wildfire of the Christian underground that helps fugitives to reach South Korea. People who lived in silent fear now dare to speak about escape. The regime has almost given up trying to stop them going, although it can savagely punish those caught and sent back.

“They know there is a Christian network to put them in contact with the underground, to break into embassies in Beijing or to get into Vietnam. They know, but you have to pay a lot of money to middlemen who have the Christian contacts.”

Makes me wonder what contacts this Christian underground has with Evangelical Republicans? I wonder if this is coordinated at any political level? If so, who would of thought missionaries would be the ultimate answer to ending North Korea? What I found really enlightening was how Kim Jong Il was really betting on a John Kerry victory in the Presidential election:

Bush’s re-election dealt a blow to Kim, 62, who had gambled on a win by John Kerry, the Democratic candidate. Kim used a strategy of divide and delay to drag out nuclear talks with the United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea through 2004.

Kim lost his bet and now faces four more years of Bush, who says that he “loathes” the North Korean leader and has vowed to strip him of atomic weapons.

And the Democrats wonder why they lost the last election. In this day an age a perception of weaknesses is not something voters really like. However, make sure you read the complete article. It continues to look like this is going to be an interesting year for North Korea watchers.