So, Wikileaks has disclosed another big swatch of documents, ranging from the Middle East to Zimbabwe, from the 1970s to just a few months ago. And I understand the need for secrecy in governmental and international affairs, and as such, Wikileaks is breaking the law and doing bad things. But somehow, I cannot shake the feeling that in the long run, the open disclosure of what is really going on with governments around the world is a net positive and a good thing.
In fact, when I look at the financial criss, the war on terror, environmentalism, or any of the major issues we face, I think more transparency and accountability would help them all.
(I intended to go trolling through Wikileaks, looking for Korea-related stuff, or anything relevant to things I have been working on over the past few years. But I was having trouble accessing the database, so I just posted this little note as is).
UPDATE: Okay, apparently Wikileaks was suffering from a DoS attack when I was trying to check it out last week. But it is back up and running now. I did some searching and came up with these Korea-related cables… Nothing too juicy, but a little interesting.
First page includes an interesting one:
> ‘Thinking about an eventual collapse of North Korea: American and South Korean officials have discussed the prospects for a unified Korea, should the North’s economic troubles and political transition lead the state to implode. The South Koreans even considered commercial inducements to China, according to the American ambassador to Seoul. She told Washington in February that South Korean officials believe that the right business deals would “help salve” China’s “concerns about living with a reunified Korea” that is in a “benign alliance” with the United States.’
Wonder how many billions it’d take to bribe China…