NAPSNet Daily Report Monday, November 07, 2005

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NAPSNet Daily Report Monday, November 07, 2005

NAPSNet Daily Report Monday, November 07, 2005

I. NAPSnet

II. CanKor

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. NAPSnet

1. Six Party Talks

Agence France Presse (“MODEST EXPECTATIONS FOR NKOREA NUCLEAR TALKS”, 2005-11-07) reported that expectations for the fifth round of six party talks are being kept deliberately low as to avoid costly disappointment, analysts said. Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing has warned smooth sailing is the least likely scenario. The reluctance of the US and DPRK delegates to budge from entrenched positions is the main reason why talks will probably move at a snail’s pace, according to observers. “It is premature to expect a complete agreement or fast resolution of North Korean problems at the six-party talks,” said Dae-Sook Suh, an expert on Korean issues at the University of Hawaii. “In view of the US policy toward North Korea, no one truly expects a quick and binding resolution,” he said. “The minimum that is acceptable for progress at the talks is a willingness by North Korea to define ‘all nuclear programs’,” said Ralph Cossa, president of Honolulu-based think tank Pacific Forum CSIS.

(return to top) Reuters (“US, JAPAN MAY PROPOSE N. KOREA HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP”, 2005-11-04) reported that Japan and the US may propose the establishment of a working group on human rights in the DPRK when the fifth round of six party talks begins. In a report quoting sources close to the six party talks, Kyodo news agency said that both the PRC and the US wanted to reach an agreement to set-up groups on specific issues in an effort to resolve them. According to the sources, Japan and the US want human rights to be the focus of one such group. Kyodo said Pyongyang was also likely to propose a working group on its demand for a light-water civilian nuclear reactor before it abandons its weapons programs. (return to top) Agence France Presse (“US UNDER PRESSURE TO BREAK KOREAN NUCLEAR STALEMATE”, 2005-11-07) reported that the US is under pressure to give some concessions upfront for the DPRK to fulfill a pledge to abandon its nuclear weapons program as six party talks enter a crucial phase this week. “I think the next round is unlikely to yield significant progress, because the two sides are very far apart on what each of them should do at the beginning,” said Selig Harrison, director of the Asia program at the Washington-based Center for International Policy. Harrison believes Pyongyang wants the US to “take some steps” leading to normalized relations, such as the DPRK’ removal from the US list of states accused of sponsoring terrorism. By waiting for the US to initiate steps towards normalization of relations, the DPRK may be testing whether Washington is genuine in its desire to end any bid for regime change in the DPRK. (return to top)

2. ROK on Six Party Talks

The Korea Times (“‘SEOUL SHOULD PLAY GUARANTOR’S ROLE IN 6-PARTY TALKS’”, 2005-11-07) reported that according to remarks made by the ROK Unification Minister on Monday, the ROK should play the role of “guarantor” in six party talks as relations between the US and DPRK still lack trust. “If there is no trust, a bank can’t lend money to a customer,” Chung Dong-young said during a radio interview. “But the bank can issue the loan if somebody stands in as security for the customer. I think we have to actively pursue the guarantor’s role in the six-party talks.” “The spirit of the joint statement would be compromised if there is somebody always arguing that you should do something first,” he said. “The principle here is to take coordinated steps, based on the rule of simultaneous action.” Chung said Pyongyang should be given rewards proportionate to its “stopping” of nuclear activities.

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3. US on Six Party Talks

Agence France Presse (“KOREAN NUCLEAR TALKS NEXT WEEK MAY BE SHORT, FRUITFUL: US OFFICIAL”, 2005-11-04) reported that the next round of six party talks could be short and fruitful, a senior US official hinted. Expectations are that the fifth round of the talks beginning November 9 could be wrapped up before the start of a preparatory meeting for the APEC summit in Busan three days later, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “I think that’s everybody’s going-in intention,” the official said. The anonymous US official indicated on Thursday that the DPRK could submit a plan to dismantle its nuclear weapons arsenal at the six party talks.

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4. PRC on Six Party Talks

Chosun Ilbo (“CHINA’S CHIEF NEGOTIATOR PROPOSES SIX-PARTY EXPERTS CLUB”, 2005-11-07) reported that the PRC’s negotiator in six party talks said on Monday that he would propose setting-up a standing team of experts from the six participating countries. “Each country will look into the issue of establishing an expert panel,” Wu Dawei told Japanese reporters in Beijing. “China has already made a list of experts.” Wu said he would propose that the next round of the talks adjourns after three days and resumes once the APEC forum in Busan on November 18-19 is over. He said he hoped the talks would then reconvene before the year is out. Wu said at the top of the agenda for this round of talks would be deciding what comes first: a civilian light-water reactor the DPRK wants the US to provide or Pyongyang’s abandonment of its nuclear programs.

(return to top) Agence France Presse (“CHINA CONFIDENT OF PROGRESS IN NORTH KOREA NUCLEAR TALKS”, 2005-11-04) reported that PRC Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing has expressed confidence that progress will be made at the upcoming six party talks. “We have confidence that thanks to the patient and flexible efforts of the various parties, the six-party talks will be carried forward, despite that we are quite sure that some problems will be unavoidable,” said Li. He said he was buoyed by the commitment that the US, DPRK, and Russia have voiced in recent days to move the process forward and lightheartedly revealed some of the “difficulties along the way”. Li predicted next week’s round of talks would need less coffee, further reflecting views that September’s joint statement of objectives was a crucial hurdle in the long-winded process. (return to top)

5. ROK, Russia on DPRK Nuclear Program

The Korea Times (“ROH, PUTIN TO DISCUSS NORTH KOREA NUKES”, 2005-11-04) reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a summit with President Roh Moo-hyun on November 19. The presidential office in Seoul said one of the main agenda items, which the two leaders will address, is how to resolve the DPRK’s nuclear issue. “The two leaders will discuss issues of mutual interest, including ways of peacefully resolving the North Korean nuclear standoff and promoting peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia,” presidential spokesman Kim Man-soo said.

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6. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation

The Korea Times (“HYUNDAI GROUP CHAIRWOMAN TO VISIT N. KOREA”, 2005-11-07) reported that the chairwoman of Hyundai Group is scheduled to visit the DPRK on Thursday, an official of the group’s affiliate, Hyundai Asan, said on Monday. During her visit, Hyun Jeong-eun is expected to meet Lee Jong-hyeok, vice chairman of the DPRK’s Asia-Pacific Peace Committee in Kaesong, the official said. The official declined to elaborate on what is being discussed because it would cause an impediment to negotiations with the DPRK.

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7. Inter-Korean Family Reunions

Chosun Ilbo (“MORE FAMILY REUNIONS GET UNDER WAY IN N. KOREA”, 2005-11-06) reported that some 441 RO Koreans were reunited with 100 relatives from the DPRK on Saturday during a fresh round of reunions of families separated by the Korean War. The 12th such reunion event again took place in the DPRK’s scenic Mt. Kumgang resort, where a permanent venue for the events is being built. After a group meeting at the Onjonggak Rest House on Saturday, the DPR Koreans visited the Haegeumgang Hotel, where their relatives from the ROK are staying. The RO Koreans go home on Monday, and another 100 or so will meet their DPRK relatives from Tuesday to Thursday.

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8. DPRK-US Relations

Chosun Ilbo (“BUSH CALLS KIM JONG-IL A TYRANT AGAIN”, 2005-11-07) reported that US President George Bush has once again called DPRK leader Kim Jong-il a “tyrant,” while speaking to young business and civic leaders in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia on Sunday. In his speech, Bush hailed Japan as a great friend in dealing with “a tyrant in North Korea,” Japan’s Asahi Shimbun reported on Monday. “I’m going to Japan in two weeks. I will be sitting down with one of the best friends that I have in the international arena, [Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro] Koizumi,” Bush said.

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9. DPRK-Japanese Relations

Donga Ilbo (“KOIZUMI’S NORTH KOREA POLICY CHIEF SAYS BALANCING ROLE “IMPOSSIBLE””, 2005-11-07) reported that Hitoshi Tanaka, the former director-general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau under Japan`s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in an interview on November 5 that since the DPRK is not reliable, everything that it agrees to should be verified. On the issue of the recent DPRK-Japanese summit meeting, Tanaka said that “The roadmap based on the North Korea-Japan Pyongyang Declaration still remains. However, there will be no progress without resolving the nuclear issues. That is why the six-party talks are important. The breakthrough in the talks is a synonym for the normalization of North Korea-Japan diplomatic relations.”

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10. DPRK-Japanese Bilateral Talks

Reuters (“JAPAN, N. KOREA END TALKS WITH NO AGREEMENT”, 2005-11-04) reported that Japan and the DPRK ended two days of talks on Friday with no visible progress in long-standing disputes that have blocked the Asian neighbors from forging diplomatic ties. “There is nothing we have agreed upon,” DPRK negotiator Song Il-ho told reporters. Both sides acknowledged that they failed to reach any conclusive agreement on key issues, including the DPRK’s kidnapping of Japanese citizens decades ago. Japanese negotiator Akitaka Saiki said he had “in depth” discussions with Song on the issue and exchanged “harsh” words. He said Japan and the DPRK would try to have another round of talks at an unspecified date.

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11. DPRK Human Rights

Chosun Ilbo (“PYONGYANG ATTACKS U.S. ‘BID TO OVERTHROW’ REGIME”, 2005-11-06) reported that the DPRK has belatedly slammed the US North Korea Human Rights Act as an attempt to overthrow its regime and warned of a “hardline response.” A DPRK delegate made the remarks in a speech to a committee in the UN General Assembly, the Korean Central Broadcasting Station reported on Saturday. He said the purpose of the Act “lies in switching the system or overthrowing the government under the cloak of promoting human rights and democracy and facilitating market economy in our country.” The delegate was quoted as saying the US evaluated a country’s level of human rights and democracy based on how pro-US the government is. He also protested against an EU-sponsored resolution on the DPRK’s human rights now before the General Assembly, saying the EU needed to end a prejudiced anti-Pyongyang policy that was “toeing the US line” and “recover its reason.”

(return to top) Joongang Ilbo (“RIGHTS PANEL LAGS ON NORTH, CRITICS CHARGE”, 2005-11-05) reported that through September, the National Human Rights Commission only used 41% of the budget allocated for research on DPRK human rights issues this year, a National Assembly audit found. In a report, the Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee said that despite various forums, international symposiums, and research activities on the human rights situation in the DPRK, the commission had failed to provide a comprehensive survey of its findings. Opposition parties are attributing the lack of spending to the Roh administration’s policy of refraining from confronting Pyongyang over human rights issues. Kim Jae-gyeon, a Grand National Party lawmaker, warned that the current policy of turning a blind eye to the human rights situation in the DPRK could pose difficulties in gaining international support for a unified peninsula. (return to top) Reuters (“SOUTH KOREA PONDERS U.N. VOTE ON NORTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS”, 2005-11-06) reported that the ROK will likely abstain on a United Nations resolution to condemn the DPRK for human rights abuses. A ROK government official familiar with inter-Korean relations said on the weekend that little had changed since Seoul abstained in a vote to condemn DPRK for rights abuses at the UN Human Rights Commission in April that would cause Seoul to change it stance — indicating another abstention. “There likely will not be a departure from that vote,” the unnamed official said. (return to top)

12. DPRK Military

Chosun Ilbo (“NORTH KOREA OGLES RUSSIAN NAVAL WEAPONRY”, 2005-11-06) reported that the DPRK is reportedly eyeing naval weaponry from Russia with the intent to match recent ROK additions including destroyers equipped with the Aegis combat system. The director of DPRK Navy Command, Rear Admiral Han Sang-soon, and two other officers attended an international naval weapons exhibition at a Navy base in Saint Petersburg, Russia, according to a ROK official. They were joined by nine officials from the Saint Petersburg office of Pyongyang’s trade delegation. They “showed keen interest in the displayed weaponry, especially the new long-range torpedoes, and closely filmed the weapons with a Japanese Panasonic video camera,” the official said.

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13. DPRK Economy

Joongang Ilbo (“AMONG FIRMS IN THE NORTH, MARKETING STRATEGIES TAKE HOLD”, 2005-11-05) reported that while capitalism may still be a rather unfamiliar concept in the DPRK, the idea of actively marketing products seems to have taken root, a phenomenon that government officials attribute to the recent Arirang festival that saw many tourists spending their money in the DPRK. The marketing is not only visible in Pyongyang, but also in the Kaesong area, where ROK tourists have begun to venture. A government official said that measures taken three years ago to stimulate the DPRK’s ailing economy have encouraged DPRK companies to switch to a performance-oriented system and compete. “This is why North Korean companies that didn’t care much about sales previously are now engaged in a sales competition using advertising phrases that are close to capitalism,” said the official.

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14. DPRK Culture

The Associated Press (“NORTH KOREA URGES WOMEN TO WEAR DRESSES”, 2005-11-04) reported that the DPRK government is urging women in the country to wear traditional Korean clothes instead of pants, according to a DPRK monthly magazine. “Keeping alive our dress style is a very important political issue to adhere to specific national cultural traditions at a time when the U.S. imperialists are maneuvering to spread the rotten bourgeois lifestyle inside North Korea,” the Joson Yeosung (Woman) magazine said. The magazine said exotic dress dampens the revolutionary atmosphere in society and blurs national sentiment and asked the public to reject clothes that aren’t DPRK in style. Instead, it counsels women to wear Hanbok — the brightly colored, loose-fitting dresses that are traditional in the Koreas.

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15. DPRK Tourism

Yonhap News (“N.K. TO BAR FOREIGN TOURIST VISITS FOR ONE MONTH: SWEDISH AGENCY”, 2005-11-05) reported that the DPRK is planning to suspend the entry of foreign tourists into the country for one month, according to a travel agency on Saturday. “North Korean borders will be closed from Dec. 15 to Jan. 15,” Sweden-based Koreakonsult said on its website. “No tours can be arranged during the period.” The travel agency failed to gave reasons for the reported border closure.

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16. USFJ Base Realignment

Reuters (“JAPAN MAY PAY PART OF US TROOP RELOCATION-REPORTS”, 2005-11-07) reported that the Japanese government is considering paying part of the costs of relocating US military personnel currently stationed on the southern island of Okinawa to Guam through enactment of a special law, media reported on Sunday. Japan is now considering paying part of the costs of building new facilities on Guam for the Marines, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun and other media said, adding that the US had estimated that a previous plan to relocate only 4,000 Marines to Guam would cost about $3 billion.

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17. Governors on USFJ Base Realignment

Kyodo (“OKINAWA, KANAGAWA GOVERNORS TELL GOV’T THEY REJECT REALIGNMENT PLANS “, 2005-11-07) reported that Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine told Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe on Monday that his prefecture “cannot accept” a new Japan-US agreement to relocate the US Marine Corps Futemma Air Station within Okinawa, government officials said. In a meeting with Defense Agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga, Kanagawa Gov. Shigefumi Matsuzawa demanded that Japan and the US withdraw realignment plans.

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18. Japan on Remilitarization

Agence France Presse (“REVAMPED ALLIANCE NOT TO CHANGE JAPAN’S PACIFISM: SENIOR MPS “, 2005-11-07) reported that a revamped US-Japan alliance would not violate the nation’s pacifist constitution, senior lawmakers from Japan’s ruling party said. “It will never happen that Japan’s Self Defense Force would be involved in the US military strategy,” said Hidenao Nakagawa, a parliament member and policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). “We are determined to keep to our constitution’s pacifism” Nakagawa said in a televised interview.

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19. Russian Oil Pipeline

The Associated Press (“REPORT: RUSSIA MULLS CHINA PIPELINE BRANCH “, 2005-11-07) reported that Russia is working on a feasibility study for a pipeline to the PRC, Energy and Industry Minister Viktor Khristenko said in an interview. Khristenko told Profil magazine the planned Siberia-Pacific Coast pipeline was a “pragmatic” project and said a branch to the PRC would not leave out Japan, which originally appeared slated to be the main customer for the oil.

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20. PRC on Arms Ban

Reuters (“HU TRIP TO WIN OVER EU ON ARMS BAN”, 2005-11-07) reported that President Hu Jintao will use a visit to Europe this month to promote that the PRC is a “peacefully developing” power that should not be subject to an arms ban, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said. “The weapons ban should have been thrown into the rubbish bin of history long ago,” Li said. He said the ban worked against “mutually beneficial cooperation” but he dismissed the possibility that the PRC would offer concessions on human rights to persuade the EU to lift it.

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21. Cross Strait Relations

The Associated Press (“TAIWAN MULLS EXPANSION OF CHARTER FLIGHTS “, 2005-11-07) reported that Taiwan is considering expanding charter flights to rival PRC for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, an official said Friday, in the latest sign of improved commercial relations between the longtime adversaries.

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22. PRC Bird Flu

The New York Times (“CHINA SAYS THREE CASES MAY BE BIRD FLU”, 2005-11-07) reported that the PRC announced Sunday that three people in which pneumonia was initially diagnosed, including a girl who died, are now suspected to have had bird flu. The government said it had asked the World Health Organization for help finding the cause of their illness.

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23. PRC Legal Reform

The New York Times (“CHINA TO DROP URBANITE-PEASANT LEGAL DIFFERENCES”, 2005-11-07) reported that the PRC plans to abolish legal distinctions between urban residents and peasants in 11 provinces as the government tries to slow the country’s surging wealth gap and reduce social unrest, state media said. Under an experimental program, local governments in those provinces will allow peasants to register as urban residents and to have the same rights to housing, education, medical care and social security that city dwellers have.

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24. PRC AIDS Issue

Agence France Presse (“VICTIMS OF HIV SCANDAL DETAINED AT MAJOR CONFERENCE IN CHINA”, 2005-11-07) reported that around 30 people who contracted HIV from tainted blood transfusions were briefly detained by police in central PRC after they tried to submit a petition to the government. The detainees were among a group of about 50 people from the province of Henan who travelled to the provincial capital Zhengzhou in hopes of submitting a letter to Vice Premier Wu Yi, whom they thought would be attending an AIDS conference there.

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25. PRC Renewable Energy

Agence France Presse (“CHINA TO SPEND $180 BILLION TO BOOST RENEWABLE ENERGY USE”, 2005-11-07) reported that over the next 15 years the PRC is set to spend about 180 billion dollars to increase its use of renewable energy to 15 percent of the total generated, from the current seven percent. Zhang Guobao, vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, revealed the plan at an international conference on renewable energy in Beijing, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.

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26. Australian-ROK Trade Relations

Asia Pulse (“AUSTRALIA INTERESTED IN TRADE PACT WITH S.KOREA: DIPLOMAT”, 2005-11-07) reported that Australian Ambassador Colin Haseltine Monday said his country was considering signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the ROK to further enhance bilateral trade in services and investment, as well as in goods. “Australia has expressed an interest in undertaking a Free Trade Agreement with South Korea, or at least a study to look at the benefits of such an agreement,” the ambassador said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency.

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II. CanKor

27. Report #225

CanKor (“Current Events “, 2005-11-04) Canada’s International Institute for Sustainable Development organizes an international workshop in Beijing to provide training for DPRK officials on environmental assessment and sustainable development strategies. The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirms that the fifth round of Six-Party Talks will resume in Beijing on Wednesday 9 November. This round may be held over several phases, with a break to allow negotiators to attend the APEC summit slated for 18 and 19 November in Busan, ROK. Japan and DPRK meet in Beijing for talks on bilateral relations; the first formal meeting of the two nations since November 2004. UN special rapporteur Vitit Muntarbhorn releases his report on the DPRK human rights situation. In the most symbolic of a series of recent moves toward rapprochement, the two Koreas agree to send a joint team to the Beijing Olympics in 2008. In line with DPRK’s demand that foreign aid agencies end their emergency relief work, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) are prevented from carrying out their annual harvest assessment this year. Japan and DPRK meet in Beijing for talks on bilateral relations; the first formal meeting of the two nations since November 2004. UN special rapporteur Vitit Muntarbhorn releases his report on the DPRK human rights situation. In the most symbolic of a series of recent moves toward rapprochement, the two Koreas agree to send a joint team to the Beijing Olympics in 2008. In line with DPRK’s demand that foreign aid agencies end their emergency relief work, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) are prevented from carrying out their annual harvest assessment this year.

(return to top) CanKor (“Focus: Accelerating DPRK international trade “, 2005-11-07) This week’s CanKor FOCUS discovers that despite the fact that the DPRK is challenged by virtual business quarantine, its international trade is accelerating. The ROK government announces the opening of the Office of Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation in Kaesong. The office promotes economic cooperation by reducing trade costs and investment risk. Inter-Korean trade is expected to reach $1 billion this year. However, the ROK is not the only country whose business engagement with the DPRK is on the rise. The PRC doubles exports of crude oil and cereals, as well as increasing exports of automobiles and spare parts. The DPRK also signs its first mining deals with PRC companies, for coal and iron ore. British American Tobacco has been secretly operating a cigarette factory in the DPRK for the past four years. (return to top)