From the same Tim Peters article on Time

Wars are fought by more than guns and bombs

Increasing radio broadcasting about world events and supporting Korean defector groups are key ways to empower the North Korea people, says Jay Lefkowitz, U.S. special envoy for human rights in North Korea.

The propaganda used by Kim Jong Il to suppress his people can be countered only by access to information about the outside world and the truth about conditions in North Korea, Lefkowitz told a joint hearing of the House International Relations subcommittees on Asia and the Pacific and on Africa, Global Human Rights, and International Operations April 27.

Although radios are controlled by the regime and fixed to a single propaganda channel, there is evidence from North Korean defectors that indicate the number of radios smuggled from abroad might have increased substantially, Lefkowitz said.

He cited a National Endowment for Democracy program to train North Korean defectors and South Korean democracy activists in journalism and broadcasting standards so they can broadcast into the North.

“We support this project and view it as a possible precursor to a more robust broadcast platform that creates an open window to North Korea,” Lefkowitz said.

With more information, the North Korean people increasingly will learn that just to the south there is a vibrant and free democracy, he said. North Koreans also will learn that they do not live in a socialist paradise.

Podcast anyone?

The path to freedom goes through China (even if you are not a refugee)

SEOUL — In the face of the Bush administration’s tough stance, North Korea has shifted its survival strategy from seeking a breakthrough in relations with the United States to deepening ties with its ally, China, officials and analysts say.

In recent years, North Korea has placed its top priority on improving diplomatic relations with the United States, which would pave the way for the isolated communist country to ensure security and get much-needed loans from the international lending institutions heavily influenced by Washington.

North Korea devised its nuclear development program to attract U.S. attention and used the nuclear game as a card to win more concessions from the United States, analysts say, but Pyongyang’s years-long efforts have failed to pay off as Washington has tried to further isolate the North over the nuclear standoff.

The United States has recently stepped up pressure on North Korea over its alleged human rights abuses and financial illegalities, prompting Pyongyang’s fears that the Bush administration is aiming for regime change in North Korea.

“Thus, North Korea has decided to wait until the Bush administration is replaced,” said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea specialist at Dongguk University in Seoul. “North Korea… seeks to sustain (itself) for the next years until the inauguration of a new leadership in the United States by strengthening ties with China.”

Negotiations with North Korea has not brought any tangible rewards over the last decade. China, on the hand, has more potential to deal with the human rights issue. However, how does one bring up North Korean human rights without bringing up Chinese human rights?