Arrogantly, Ridiculously Defiant

Barbara Demmick's recent phoney protestations that she's covered North Korea fairly and openly notwithstanding (see post below), the opinion of the LATimes was laid out openly, arrogantly and ridiculously for all to see. How many letters did LAT get on Demmick's Without the Rancor story? Anyone's guess, but certainly a lot. How many did they run? One.

And it is complimentary, anti-Bush and pro-North Korea:

It is refreshing to hear directly from North Koreans in the article "N. Korea, Without the Rancor" (March 3). Indeed no other media in the U.S., as far as I can recall, conveyed the opinions of North Koreans directly. What's clear from the article is that the leaders of North Korea are desperate to improve their relationship with the U.S. I firmly believe that the desire has been genuine all along since the early 1990s, throughout the negotiations with the Clinton administration.

Now the Bush administration should seriously consider this question: Why can't the United States normalize its diplomatic relationship with the small and powerless country in the post-Cold War era, when through negotiation it could guarantee nonproliferation of nuclear weapons in the Korean peninsula and promote the chance of democracy in North Korea? The question should be thought-provoking when it is remembered that China (or Pakistan) has more nuclear weapons and an equally bad human rights record.

Jong-Il Park
Los Angeles

There you have it. With 209,704 Koreans in the LA basin, and with bloggers from around the nation riled up, we are supposed to accept that the LAT is being forthcoming in representing that this letter reflects the reaction to Demmick's piece?

What more is there to say?