Picture gallery for Asia - January 2006

Across the river: North Korea. In the hour spent we have seen only one passanger train, with one passenger in it. This is part of the big plan to "Open the North".

On the Demilitarized Zone, a statue contemplating the re-unification of the two Koreas.

The eternal watch, the S Korean soldiers are exposing only half of their bodies in case that the hostilities might erupt.

On the other side- North Korean soldier. I wonder what he thinks about re-unification.

South Korean officers bowed to never smile. I join them in their task,

Interview with Lt. Colonel Parker, the man in charge with the US Army deployment plans and armament logistics in South Korea. Technically the US is still in charge of the S Korean defense. I wonder for how much longer.

Panoramic shot over downtown Seoul. Jason is teaching me to film.

Interview with Mr. Yoo of the URI party. He is also the Chairman of the South Korean Defense committee. I asked what is his next step up, and he told me that he will candidate for presidency.

Downtown Shanghai. The glitz and the polish are superficial. China still has a long way to go to become an industrialized nation.

Taiwan: Interview with Chich-Chen Lo Ph D. Executive director of the Institute for National Policy Research.  He is very much pro independence and a continued alliance with the US.

Taiwanese Marines invite us to film a demonstration of their fighting capabilities. They seemed competent and motivated.

For the next demonstration, being a close quarters fighting we are required to suit up.

Taiwanese special forces, storm an "enemy building" with live ammunition. The display is impressive.

We have been received by Vice Admiral Chen, one of the commanders of the Taiwanese Navy.

The Taiwanese Military shares with us information about new Chinese airbases close to the Formosa Straight shores.

Cameraman/Director Jason Tomaric, and the staff of one of the Taiwanese Destroyers.

Here is one of the 4 Diesel-Electric submarines in the Taiwanese Navy. While they dont have the range and speed of the nuclear ones, they are much more quiet, quite suitable for defensive capabilities. Later on, we have visited one active duty submarine inside.

Interview with Legislator Hsiao, one of the youngest congresswomen in the Taiwanese parliament, from the DPP Party. Fiercely anti-Chinese, she stands for an independent Taiwan. One of the best interviews of the trip.

Japan
Interview with Professor Akiko Fukushima - political analyst, Director of Policy Studies and Senior Fellow National Institute for Research Advancement in Tokyo.

Japan - a country of declining birth rates and declining  families. Hoards of workohoolics take refuge after hours in game parlors  full of noise and cigarette smoke.

Interview with Prof Hideshi Takesada, political analyst, expert in Japanese - Korean relations.

Last interview of the trip, with Mr.Hideashi Kase. Former foreign policy adviser to the Japanese prime minister Yasukiro Nakasone, and author of over 50 books. His father was the first Japanese UN Ambassador in New York when Mr. Kase was only 18.