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About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2017)
Page 8 n THE ASIAN REPORTER U.S.A. / SPORTS February 20, 2017 North Korea says sanctions aim to hinder sports activities SANCTIONS & SPORTS. North Koreans ride a snowmobile at the Masik Pass Ski Resort in Wonsan, North Korea. North Korea’s Olympic committee lashed out against sanctions over its nuclear and long-range missile programs, claiming they are aimed at hurting the North’s efforts to compete in international sports. Sanctions blocking the sale of items such as skis, snowmobiles, snow groomers, yachts, and even bil- liard tables are a “vicious ulterior political scheme,” according to its National Olympic Committee. In the bottom photo, North Koreans ski down a slope at Masik Pass Ski Resort. (AP Photos/Wong Maye-E) By Eric Talmadge The Associated Press YONGYANG, North Korea — With just one year to go before South Korea hosts the Winter Olympics, North Korea’s Olympic committee lashed out against sanctions over its nuclear and long-range missile programs, claiming they are aimed at hurting the North’s efforts to compete in international sports events. Sanctions that block the sale of items such as skis, snowmobiles, snow groomers, yachts, and even billiard tables are a “vicious ulterior political scheme” to prevent the country from having sports exchanges and achieving its goal of becoming a world sports power, Kang Ryong Gil, deputy secretary-general of North Korea’s National Olympic Committee, said in a statement. Such items are identified as luxury goods subject to the sanctions imposed by the United Nations because of North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests. It’s rare for a North Korean official to say that sanctions are affecting the country. Normally North Koreans when talking in public insist that sanctions don’t matter to them and they say that they will survive on their own whatever the rest of the world does. But in a brief scripted statement, Kang said some European countries are refusing to sell sports equipment to North Korea. The statement also claimed that sanctions block the International Olympic Committee and international sports federations from transferring funds they would otherwise provide North Korea, as they do for other developing countries. Kang did not comment on whether North Korea will compete in the upcoming Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South P Members of president’s commission on Asian Americans resign By Jesse J. Holland The Associated Press ASHINGTON — Ten members of the President’s Advisory Com- mission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) have resigned to protest the new administration’s policies and positions on repealing the Affordable Care Act, building a wall between the United States and Mexico, and punishing sanctuary cities. “We can no longer serve a president whose policies aim to create outcomes that are diametrically opposite to our princi- ples, goals, and charge,” the resigning commissioners said in a letter sent to President Donald Trump. This is a second wave of resignations from the 20-member commission; six members resigned in January. This leaves the commission with only four members. The White House did not immediately respond to an e-mail about the resigna- tions. The resigning commissioners said in a letter that several of Trump’s positions and statements don’t align with what they wanted to advocate as a commission. “Protecting civil rights and fighting against bullying were pillars of our commission’s work,” said actor Maulik Pancholy, a former commissioner. “We cannot serve under an administration that seeks to exclude members of our society or take away their rights, especially the Muslim community, which is very much part of our AAPI community.” President Bill Clinton created the com- mission in 1999, and Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama reauthorized it. The terms of the commissioners were already scheduled to end in September, but the former chair, Tung Nguyen of San W Francisco, said they could no longer serve with this administration. Nguyen said they had tried to communicate with the Trump administration since the election but have not been able to make any headway. “We basically have been informed that we are not to communicate with them unless it’s something that is congruent or in the same direction as their policies,” Nguyen said. “We were supposed to be the connector (between the White House and their communities) and we were told that unless those concerns were aligned with the administration’s actions or agenda, there was no point in doing it.” This year marked the 75th anniversary of President Franklin Roosevelt’s decision to authorize internment camps for Japanese Americans during World War II, said Nguyen, who has been on the commission since 2011. “We could no longer sit and decide to do nothing,” he said, while the administra- tion is putting forth its policies on immi- gration, healthcare, and sanctuary cites. Go paperless! protests sanctions as unjust. But this may be a particularly sore nerve. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made raising the country’s profile in global 2016 Most Honored Elder Award Recipient Vicki Nakashima Vicki Nakashima, a third-generation Japanese American (sansei), was born August 1, 1947 in Spokane, Washington. Her grandfather emigrated from Tottori, Japan around 1900 and her grandmother was one of the first “Picture Brides.” Much of Vicki’s family was interned during World War II at Minidoka, while her parents were sent to Tule Lake due to her father’s activism. Vicki, now retired, worked as the director of multicultural health for the Oregon Department of Human Services. She was an American Leadership Forum Senior Fellow (Class XIII) and has been the recipient of many accolades, including the Portland State University Center for Women, Politics & Policy 2010 Women Leaders of Oregon Award, the Herm Gilliam Spirit Award (2011), the World Arts Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church Coretta Scott King Award. Vicki has a son, Lloyd, daughter-in-law, Bethany, and a three-year-old grandson, Jalen. Her many volunteer activities include the Partners in Diversity Leadership Council, including serving as its first executive director; the Marylhust University Board of Trustees; the City of Portland Golf Advisory Committee; the Oregon-Toyama sister-state relationship; and the Western States Golf Association. She is an avid golfer and often officiates golf tournaments for youth and adults. She also enjoys shopping at thrift stores and being an extra on film sets for movies and television. AR Photo/Eugene Wong Korea. North Korea, which conducted another missile test that has been widely criticized as a U.N. resolution violation, frequently sports a high priority of his regime. There has been a clear effort in the North to nurture world-class athletes capable of bringing back gold medals from major world competitions, similar to the sports powerhouses of East Germany and other nations in the former communist bloc. A ban on winter sporting equipment also hits close to home for the North’s leader- ship. Soon after assuming power in late 2011, Kim, who lived in Switzerland for a time when he was young, ordered the con- struction of North Korea’s first and only luxury ski resort. The facility at Masik Pass has been singled out by some sanctions advocates as a prime example of how luxury goods still find their way into the country, usually via China. Following the North’s nuclear test early last year, the sanctions were tightened to specifically target equipment used to maintain the resort’s slopes. The tougher trade restrictions appear to have had little impact, however. The resort continues to not only be operational and well-stocked, but is also a popular destination for foreign tourists along with North Korean work units, social groups, and schoolchildren. North Korea has been subject to several rounds of U.N. sanctions since its first nuclear test in 2006. The Asian Reporter Foundation is accepting nominations for its 2017 “Most Honored Elder” awards. The recognition banquet will be held Thursday, April 20, 2017 at northeast Portland’s TAO Event Center. Nomination forms and guidelines for eligibility are available for download at <www.ARFoundation.net>. The nomination deadline is Wednesday, March 22, 2017 at 5:00pm. Read The Asian Reporter – exactly as it’s printed here – online! Just visit <www.asianreporter.com> and click the “Online Paper (PDF)” link. The Asian Reporter Foundation’s 19th Annual Scholarship & Awards Banquet features: Most Honored Elder Awards Cultural entertainment Exemplary Community Volunteer Awards Ethnic dinner College Scholarship Awards Silent auction