Free Republic

Where There Is No Truth, There Is No Freedom [A Czech Citizen Remembers...] By Alexandra L., intern [2012-01-05 15:04 ] “When truth is not given complete freedom, freedom is not complete." Václav Havel, the first president of the Czech Republic and a prominent figure in its struggle for democracy during the communist era, passed away on December 18th, 2011, just a day before the death of Kim Jong Il was reported. It was a coincidence that brought talk of the end of an era. “With Václav Havel left a man who had given back the Czech nation its dignity, a...

North Korea suspected in poison-needle attacks Analysts say three incidents targeting South Korea activists seeking to help defectors point to an increasingly belligerent regime willing to use any means to silence critics of Kim Jong Il. By Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times October 9, 2011, 10:01 p.m. Reporting from Beijing— On a Sunday evening in August, a middle-aged South Korean pastor collapsed suddenly near a taxi stand in Dandong, a Chinese city on the Yalu River overlooking North Korea. The 46-year-old, who used the name Patrick Kim, had a discolored complexion, spots on his fingers and limbs, flecks of foam...

A United Nations report released Friday declares Internet access a human right. Presented to the General Assembly, the report by UN Special Rapporteur Frank La Rue states that, "the Internet has become a key means by which individuals can exercise their right to freedom and expression."As LaRue highlighted, Internet access can be particularly valuable during times of political unrest, as evidenced in the Arab Spring uprisings. LaRue emphasized the power of the Internet as a communication medium and said in his report that, "given that the Internet has become an indispensable tool for realizing a range of human rights, combating...

New images of North’s prison camps Satellite images and new testimony released by Amnesty International yesterday show that political prison camps in North Korea hold an estimated 200,000 people, a considerable increase compared to a decade ago. North Korean political prison camps have been notorious for torturing and starving prisoners, which often leads to death. The new imagery shows the location and size of the camps, demonstrating a “significant increase” compared to satellite images of the camps from 2001. “As North Korea seems to be moving towards a new leader in Kim Jong-un and a period of political instability, the...

Carter Accuses S.Korea, U.S. of Withholding Food from N.Korea Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Thursday urged the West not to interfere over human rights in North Korea and immediately resume food aid to the renegade nation. Carter was in Seoul as part of a group of ex- leaders calling themselves the "Elders" that included former Irish President Mary Robinson and former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari who were winding up a three-day visit to North Korea. The group failed to meet either leader Kim Jong-il or his son and heir Jong-un. "Although we did not meet with the leader of...

The New Black Panther Party, the racist and radical black power group, has a big day ahead of it this coming Saturday. According to its website, it’s planning a massive 60-city “showdown.” And the day of rage will include a protest of “non-black” businesses. The group says it’s establishing a home base at an office building in Harlem, an area it’s modeling after revolutionary ground zero in Egypt. The site goes on to explain why its rallying: As in other revolutions, protests and uprisings going on around the earth, a showdown is looming for Saturday April 23rd as marchers with...

China Angered By Selection of Dissident Liu Xiaobo for Nobel Peace Prize China Calls Choice of Jailed Dissident a 'Blasphemy' on the Prize By CHITO ROMANA BEIJING Oct. 8, 2010— Imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize today, angering China which condemned the selection as a "blasphemy" and described Liu as a "criminal." In choosing Liu, the Nobel committee cited his efforts to use non-violence to demand fundamental human rights in his homeland. Liu, 54, was sentenced to 11 years in prison last December for his role in creating a manifesto entitled Charter 08, calling for...

Senate bill 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010, may be the most dangerous bill in the history of the US. It is to our food what the bailout was to our economy, only we can live without money. “If accepted [S 510] would preclude the public’s right to grow, own, trade, transport, share, feed and eat each and every food that nature makes. It will become the most offensive authority against the cultivation, trade and consumption of food and agricultural products of one’s choice. It will be unconstitutional and contrary to natural law or, if you like, the...

04/27/2010 15:26 CHINA With a growing economy, China becomes increasingly repressive In 2009, more and more people have been arrested, sent to “re-education” camps or “black jails” or subjected to internet censorship. As Chinese leaders feel more secure about the country’s growing economy and its international status, popular dissatisfaction grows, leading to clashes with police. Instead, human rights should be respected in order to build Hu Jintao’s “harmonious society”. Beijing (AsiaNews/CHRD) – China has become more repressive towards human rights activists, non-governmental organisations, online journalists and lawyers. Its economic success and rising superpower status are the main reasons. Yet growing...

Just when New Zealand seemed like the place to move, with the centre-right government, "considering cutting income tax rates," and all, and the European Union comes out with a proposal that makes it hard to chose where expatriates should go when fleeing the US. Americans used to think that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness encompassed the basis for human rights and now the European Union confuses the issue by declaring, "traveling a human right."  That's right, we can now add traveling to the list directly behind the right to universal health care. The EU is so dedicated...

The European Union has declared travelling a human right, and is launching a scheme to subsidize vacations with taxpayers' dollars for those too poor to afford their own trips. Antonio Tajani, the European Union commissioner for enterprise and industry, proposed a strategy that could cost European taxpayers hundreds of millions of euros a year.

Missing lawyer says he is living in northern China By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press Writer BEIJING – A dissident Chinese lawyer who was missing for more than a year said Sunday he is now living in northern China and wants only to spend time with his family away from media attention. Gao Zhisheng went missing from his hometown in Shaanxi province on Feb. 4, 2009, drawing international attention for the unusual length of his disappearance and for earlier reports of torture he said he faced from security forces. Contacted on his cell phone, Gao said he is living in Wutai...

2010/01/11 12:04 KST U.S. envoy calls N. Korean human rights conditions 'appalling' SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- U.S. embassies abroad have been instructed to provide easy access to all North Korean defectors seeking asylum in the United States or elsewhere, the special U.S. envoy on North Korean human rights said Monday. Robert King, who succeeded the United States' first-ever representative on North Korean human rights six weeks ago, said the situation in North Korea was "appalling," calling the communist North one of the worst violators of human rights. "It is one of the worst places in terms of lack of...

The Desperate Move Is Necessary? By Chris Green [2010-01-01 18:56 ] Before Robert Park entered North Korea this Christmas Day he was in Seoul, working as an energetic activist in the North Korean human rights field. Just a few days before he left for China en route for the North, Robert gave an interview to Reuters on the proviso that it not be released until after he crossed the Tumen River. Now Robert is inside North Korea, and Reuters released the full text of the interview on December 30th. In the interview Robert speaks in damning terms of those he...

Calif parents of US missionary believed detained in North Korea join vigil for safe return ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press Writer 1:51 AM PST, December 28, 2009 SAN MARCOS, Calif. (AP) — An American missionary believed to be detained when he stepped into North Korea on Christmas didn't inform his parents of his plans but they had a hunch he would visit the communist nation. "We had a sense," Pyong Park, the missionary's father, told The Associated Press late Sunday. "We told him to continue what you're doing in South Korea." About 100 people held candles Sunday night at Palomar Korean...

Hell on Earth Oct 22nd 2009 The West still turns a blind eye to the world's most brutal and systematic abuse of human rights A SPRAWLING encampment of think-tankers, academics, hacks and policymakers earns a living outside North Korea’s walls. They pick over its nuclear intentions and the prospects for the diplomatic dance known as the six-party process, which is meant to persuade North Korea to give up its nukes for cash and security guarantees. The encampment needs something to live on. Since North Korea declared the six-party talks dead in the spring, scraps have been meagre. So the North’s...

North Korea Faces Scrutiny Over Human Rights By EVAN RAMSTAD SEOUL -- North Korea's abusive treatment of its citizens, which has long been a secondary concern in diplomatic circles to the pursuit of nuclear weapons, will undergo increasing scrutiny in coming weeks as a high-profile review at the United Nations approaches. Diplomats in several countries and prominent human-rights organizations are revising data on atrocities in North Korea and preparing questions for its officials, who will go before the U.N. Human Rights Council on Dec. 7. Once every four years the council subjects each U.N. member to scrutiny. North Korea's review...

February 2, 2009 Protester throws shoe at Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Ben Macintyre, Cambridge and Nico Hines A protester threw a shoe at Wen Jiabao, the Chinese Premier, today as he delivered a speech on the global economy at Cambridge University. Mr Wen was coming to the last part of his address when a young Western-looking man with dark hair stood up, blew a whistle and shouted: “How can the university prostitute itself with this dictator? How can you listen to these lies?” The man, who appeared to be in his early twenties, then took off his heavy shoe and...

Activists send more leaflets to NKorea despite pleas, threats by Jun Kwanwoo Thu Nov 20, 2:24 am ET GIMPO CITY, South Korea (AFP) – South Korean activists Thursday launched tens of thousands of leaflets attacking North Korea's regime towards the border, ignoring threats from Pyongyang and pleas from Seoul. "Return the abductees!" shouted Choi Sung-Young as he released a towering gas-filled balloon carrying leaflets towards the heavily fortified frontier. Ten activists who gathered on a wintry hillside launched 100,000 plastic pamphlets castigating the hardline communist regime and its leader Kim Jong-Il. Apart from the leaflets, one of the balloons bore...

Chinese dissident tipped to win Nobel peace prize Hu Jia could be awarded the Nobel peace prize to continue human rights pressure on China after the Beijing Olympics * Gwladys Fouché in Oslo * guardian.co.uk, * Wednesday September 24 2008 13:06 BST This year's Nobel peace prize could be awarded to a Chinese dissident to highlight China's human rights record in the wake of the Olympic Games, according to experts who closely follow the workings of the award. A likely candidate to receive the prize, the winner of which will be announced on October 10 in Oslo, is Hu Jia,...

US disrupts Olympic party with human rights attack on China America has openly attacked China for failing to live up to its Olympic promise to improve human rights after eight US citizens were arrested and imprisoned without trial for their part in a pro-Tibet demonstration. By Peter Foster in Beijing Last Updated: 12:20PM BST 24 Aug 2008 The Foreign and Commonwealth Office called on China to 'respect its commitment to freedom of expression' Photo: AFP In an unusually candid statement issued on the eve of the Olympic closing ceremony the US Embassy in Beijing expressed mounting frustration with China's refusal...

IOC breaks ranks with hosts over protests By Roger Blitz Published: August 19 2008 20:42 | Last updated: August 19 2008 20:42 Olympic officials have for the first time openly criticised their Beijing hosts for China’s intolerance of public protests, questioning their desire to allow citizens the right to raise grievances during the games. The International Olympic Committee is also understood to believe that lower-than-expected attendances at games venues is the result of Beijing’s poor distribution of tickets for the general public, including a failure to reallocate unwanted tickets.

Bush to rebuke China on human rights, dissidents Wed Aug 6, 2008 9:42am EDT BANGKOK (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush plans to voice deep concerns about human rights in China in a speech on Thursday, hours before he arrives in Beijing for the opening of the Olympic Games. "The United States believes the people of China deserve the fundamental liberty that is the natural right of all human beings," Bush will say in a speech in Bangkok, copies of which were released in advance. "So America stands in firm opposition to China's detention of political dissidents, human rights...

'Old friend' McCain chides China in Dalai Lama visit By Curtis Wackerle, Aspen Daily News Saturday, July 26, 2008 China must release all Tibetan political prisoners and account for the disappearance of protesters after last spring's uprising, Sen. John McCain said after meeting with the Dalai Lama on Friday. Next month's Beijing Olympics must be a time for China to demonstrate to the world its commitment to "basic human rights," said McCain, who called on China and Tibet to engage in a "meaningful dialogue on genuine autonomy for Tibet." McCain also referenced the disappearance of people after the conflict in...

01.04.2008] - Talking Point - Dominik Jůn The Czech Republic and Tibet Several weeks ago, the Czech Republic raised eyebrows by celebrating the International Day for Tibet with particular enthusiasm. Politicians hung the Tibetan flag from government offices, and ministers showed open support for the plight of the Tibetan people. The event is usually regarded as little more than an act of symbolism. But this year, following the subsequent unrest in Tibet, this region, for sixty years part of China, has again come under the spotlight. Ondřej Liška For China, which is hosting the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer, these events...

German athletes mulling Beijing boycott over Tibet Published: Monday, 17 March, 2008, 02:22 AM Doha Time BERLIN: International Olympic Committee vice-president Thomas Bach said a number of top athletes were considering boycotting the games in China over the bloody crackdown on protesters in Tibet. “Several sports stars are feeling ill at ease when they think about the Olympic Games. Some are even considering cancelling,” Bach, of Germany, told yesterday’s edition of the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. Bach said he understood the athletes’ concerns about the situation in Tibet but said he was advising them to participate. “They will realise when...

China tells critics to back off ahead of Olympics By Chris Buckley 48 minutes ago China warned foreign groups on Wednesday not to use the Summer Olympics to pressure Beijing, presenting the nation as a "responsible" but poor power eager to end rows over trade, pollution and human rights. China has been buffeted ahead of the Games by worries over dirty air and international protests over human rights, Tibet, Sudan's Darfur and other controversies that often irk Chinese diplomats. Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told critics to back off, accusing them of violating the Olympic Games charter keeping politics away from...

Tibetans, Chinese Police Clash at Festival 2008.02.22 KATHMANDU—Sources in the Amdo region of eastern Tibet report a major clash between Chinese authorities and hundreds of Tibetans gathered for an annual prayer festival, with scores of monks detained. Chinese authorities in Rebkong [in Chinese, Tongren] county, Malho prefecture, in China's remote northwestern Qinghai province, ordered the prayer festival stopped and sent in three truckloads of armed police after a clash erupted on Feb. 21, the sources said. “They used tear gas, and most of the 200 Tibetans who were detained were monks from the area,” one source told RFA’s Tibetan service....

Linking Darfur with Beijing Olympics "totally unreasonable" A visiting senior Chinese diplomat said in London Thursday that it was "totally unreasonable" to link Sudan's Darfur issue with the Beijing Olympics in August. It was also "dangerous" to politicize the Olympics in the long run, said Liu Guijin, special representative of the Chinese government to Darfur issue, said at a news conference held at the Chinese Embassy in London. Liu told reporters that he was very surprised by Oscar-winning film director Steven Spielberg's resignation as an artistic adviser to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Beijing Olympic organizing committee had sent Spielberg...

Western media exaggerate China's limited arms sale to Sudan (Xinhua) Updated: 2008-02-22 22:34 LONDON - A senior Chinese diplomat has said that western media have exaggerated China's limited arms sale to Sudan. Liu Guijin, special representative of the Chinese government on the Darfur issue, told a news conference at the Chinese embassy in London on Thursday that "China has adopted a high degree of restraint in its arms sale to developing countries, including Sudan. It is very limited in numbers." According to relevant international statistics, among a total of seven countries exporting arms to Sudan, China only accounted for 8...

NKorea increases public executions; aid group says 1 man killed before 150,000 spectators By KWANGTAE KIM,Associated Press Writer AP - Tuesday, November 27 SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea has resumed frequent public executions, among them a factory chief accused of making international phone calls who was shot at a stadium before thousands of spectators, a South Korean aid group said Monday. ADVERTISEMENT Public executions had declined since 2000 amid international criticism but have been increasing, targeting officials accused of drug trafficking, embezzlement and other wrongdoing, the Good Friends aid agency said in a report on the North's human rights....

New book on China raises a storm By Richard Bernstein Sunday, November 18, 2007 NEW YORK: Even given the inherent ruthlessness in the imposition of emergency rule in Pakistan, there was something almost poignant last week about President Pervez Musharraf appearing before the press and practically imploring the United States to understand the reasons for his move. Dictators don't usually do that. They don't go in for a lot of public self-justification in Cuba or China or Burma, although none of those countries are remotely as tied to the United States and dependent on American support as Pakistan is. Still,...

Pope Benedict Encourages "Child-Poor" Europe to Open up to Life Called attention to the demographic implosion in Europe By John-Henry Westen MARIAZELL, Austria, September 10, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In his homily delivered Saturday at Mariazell during a Mass to mark the 850th anniversary of the Marian shrine's founding, Pope Benedict XVI called attention to the demographic implosion in Europe for a second time on his pastoral visit to Austria.  "Europe has become child-poor: we want everything for ourselves, and place little trust in the future," he told the assembled crowd. On Friday, Benedict addressed political leaders in the nation pointing...

China's dissidents, intellectuals ask party leaders to honor rights APPEAL JOINS OTHERS CONCERNED ABOUT OLYMPICS CRACKDOWN By Edward Cody Washington Post Article Launched: 08/08/2007 01:29:05 AM PDT BEIJING - A group of prominent Chinese dissidents and intellectuals called on the Communist Party government Tuesday to honor its human rights commitments out of respect for the Olympic spirit and next summer's Beijing Games. The unusually blunt appeal, in an open letter to the party's top three leaders, added respected Chinese voices to a chorus of foreign complaints of human rights abuses as China begins the one-year countdown to the Olympic Games...

US legislators propose China Olympics boycott over rights by P. Parameswaran Wed Aug 8, 3:55 AM ET US legislators introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives calling for a boycott of the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing unless China "stops engaging in serious human rights abuses," Congressional aides said. Backed initially by eight lawmakers from President George W. Bush's Republican party, the resolution also calls on Beijing to "stop supporting serious human rights abuses by the governments" of Sudan, Myanmar and North Korea, the aides said Tuesday. The resolution, a copy of which was made available to AFP, is...

N. Korea calls on U.N. to investigate Japan for human rights abuses (Kyodo) _ North Korea has written letters to the United Nations calling for a human rights investigation into Japan's treatment of Koreans resident in Japan, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday. "The DPRK permanent representative at the United Nations sent letters to the U.N. secretary general and the president of the U.N. General Assembly on July 6 as regards the Japanese authorities' evermore pronounced suppression of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon)," KCNA said. DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name,...

`NK Must Address Human Rights for Normalization With US' North Korea needs to meet international standards, especially in human rights, in order to normalize ties with Washington, the Yonhap News Agency reported Tuesday quoting the top U.S. envoy to the six-nation denuclearization talks. ``It's a price of admission to the international community,’’ Yonhap quoted Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill as saying Monday in Washington. The envoy said it was ``very, very wrong’’ for Pyongyang to hold up nuclear negotiations over a banking issue but said he was still convinced the communist regime was committed to implementing a Feb. 13...

Paul Stookey aims 'hammer of justice' at North Korea Mon Feb 19, 9:53 PM ET Paul Stookey, who has sung about a "hammer of justice" in the US folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary for four decades, is now taking aim at North Korea's "Great Leader" Kim Jong-Il. He has written a song about Megumi Yokota, who was kidnapped by North Korea in 1977 at the age of 13, and the agony of her ageing parents who believe she is still alive in the communist state which has declared her dead. "I'm holding out hope that somewhere in an automobile...

(2nd LD) Pyongyang blasts Seoul's backing of U.N. resolution onits human rights (ATTN: ADDS more quotes in paras 4-5) SEOUL, Nov. 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Saturday denounced South Korea's support of a U.N. resolution that condemns its human rights abuses, saying Seoul should bear responsibility for its decision. "South Korea's vote for the U.S. resolution on our human rights destroys inter-Korean relations and is against our efforts for the unification of the two Koreas," the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, a North Korean body in charge of inter-Korean affairs, said in a statement.

N.Korea Gulag Musical to Hit Washington A Korean musical about human rights abuses in North Korea’s notorious Yoduk concentration camp will be staged at the National Theater in Washington D.C. Producers of “Yoduk Story” said Monday the musical will debut there on Sept. 21. The 165-year old National Theater is right on Pennsylvania Avenue, about 100 m from the White House, and is one of the national symbols. There will be 10 shows until Oct. 1 at the theater. Suzanne Scholte, the head of the activist group Defense Forum Foundation who played a key part in arranging the show's U.S....

/begin my translation'Tank Man,' the Tiananmen Hero...Alive in Taiwan     (Hong Kong= Yonhap News) Chung Joon-ho reporting = The  whereabout of the man who blocked tank (column) during Tiananmen Democracy Protest in 1989 and had become the symbol of the democracy movement has been finally uncovered. His name is Wang Weilin . Ming-bao of Hong Kong reported on June 4th that Wang escaped to Taiwan fleeing from Chinese authorities' dragnet at the time, and is currently an adviser (on ceramic artifacts and antiques to) Taiwan's National Palace Museum in southern Taiwan. On June 5, 1989, Wang stood in front of (a column of)  4 tanks entering Tiananmen...

US pursuing 'very tough' policy on China over democratic reforms: Rice Tue May 23, 4:41 PM ET The United States is pursuing a "very tough" policy to bring about democratic reforms in China, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said. She was confident that the US policy, together with pressures to open up China's vast economy, would underpin democratic changes in the world's most populous nation. Asked on a local radio show why Washington was not using "tough language" on China, such as those used on Russia, in its bid to bring about democratic reforms in China, Rice said, "Well,...

China, U.S. in talks on 4 defectors from North May 22, 2006 ¤Ñ WASHINGTON ¡ª The United States has begun negotiations with China over four North Korean defectors, three men and a woman, who broke into the U.S. consulate in Shenyang, China. It was confirmed on Friday that the four North Koreans who had been sheltering in the South Korean consulate recently entered the neighboring U.S. consulate by climbing the wall between the two embassy buildings. A South Korean diplomatic source said yesterday, "The ball is now in the U.S. court," and, "We know that negotiations between the United States...

Bush Meets N.Korean Defectors, Activists Sakie Yokota, mother of Japanese kidnap victim Megumi Yokota, testifies on Capitol Hill on Thursday before a House committee as Koh Myung Sup, a South Korean abductee listens at right. Holding up photos of her daughter is her son Takuya Yokota. /AP-Yonhap U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday morning met with North Korean refugees including seven-year-old Kim Han-mi and his family, who defected from North Korea in 2002, and Chung Seong-san, the artistic director of the hit musical “Yoduk Story” about a North Korean concentration camp. The hour-long meeting at the Oval Office...

White House Puts Face on North Korean Human Rights By Peter Baker Wednesday, April 19, 2006; A01 She showed up at a school in a coastal city in China nearly five months ago and begged for help. Instead, she was deported to her native North Korea and never seen again. Now the case of Kim Chun Hee has made its way to the desk of President Bush, threatening to complicate the first White House visit of China's leader tomorrow and further irritate an irritable relationship. Urged on by evangelical supporters from his home town and other activists elsewhere, Bush has...

North Korea issues warrants for 4 Japanese PYONGYANG, North Korea, March 28 (UPI) -- North Korea has issued arrest warrants for four executives of Japanese non-governmental organizations on suspicion of abducting North Korean citizens. The North Korean Ministry of People's Security, which issued the warrants, has notified the Japanese government of the warrants through diplomatic routes, and demanded that the four be handed over, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Tuesday. The four were identified as Hiroshi Kato and Takayuki Noguchi of the Life Funds for North Korean Refugees organization; Fumiaki Yamata of the Society to Help Returnees to North Korea; and...

Nicholas Bequelin of Human Rights Watch in Hong Kong explains, and he says U.S. companies need to take a stand against BeijingThe news that Microsoft (MSFT ) shut down a Chinese blogger's site at the request of Beijing officials is bringing a renewed focus on the role U.S. companies play in helping China control the Internet. It's no secret that Western businesses that want to enter the Internet market in China have to do some unsavory things. The Chinese government, determined to prevent dissidents from using the Net to promote taboo subjects such as the Falun Gong religious movement, formal...

Bush Hails Taiwan As Democratic Model By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 2 minutes ago Piquing China just days before meetings with its leaders, U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday held up the self-governing island of Taiwan that Beijing claims as its own as a model of freedom "at all levels" that the communist giant should emulate. Bush's speech opening a four-country tour of Asia amounted to a road map of the coming discussions he was to have on a potential bird flu outbreak, global trade, North Korea's nuclear ambitions and other issues at a gathering of...

U.N. Experts to Train N. Korean Lawyers By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer 39 minutes ago Two U.N. legal experts are heading to North Korea next week to conduct a training session for lawyers to help improve their understanding of U.N. treaties, refugees and stateless people. "It's the first time that a legal delegation has been invited purely to talk law," Palitha Kohona, chief of the Treaty Section in the U.N. Office of Legal Affairs, said in an interview Friday. Kohona and Christoph Bierwith from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees are leaving for Beijing on...