I. NAPSNet

1. Six Party Talks

The Associated Press (“SOUTH KOREA: NORTH HAD PLAN TO CURB NUKES”, 2005-11-13) reported that the DPRK proposed a five-step plan to abandon its nuclear weapons programs at the latest round of six party talks, the ROK’s Unification Minister said on Monday. Under the plan, the DPRK said it would first halt any plans for nuclear tests and agree not to transfer nuclear technology or materials to other nations, said Chung Dong-young. The DPRK would then agree not to produce more weapons, and afterward suspend and later dismantle its nuclear program, subject to verification. Finally, the DPRK would rejoin the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and safeguards under the International Atomic Energy Agency. Despite the proposal, the DPRK has insisted that it will not make any move until the US first offers concessions for giving up its nuclear weapons. Washington has refused the demand.

(return to top) Joongang Ilbo (“NO DATE FOR NEXT NUCLEAR TALKS”, 2005-11-12) reported that the six party nations initially planned for the chairman of the talks to issue a statement that would include a date for reconvening, but the DPRK’s sudden complaints about US financial sanctions forced a change in plans. DPRK delegates said they would not continue talking because of US pressure on a Macau bank to end its dealings with the DPRK. A statement by the PRC after the meeting said only that the six nations agreed to continue the talks as soon as possible. US envoy Christopher Hill said he wanted the talks to resume before February. (return to top) The New York Times (“NORTH KOREA AND U.S. SPAR, CAUSING TALKS TO STALL”, 2005-11-11) reported that the US and DPRK sparred over financial penalties and whether to negotiate a nuclear freeze or focus on full disarmament, as six party talks ended Friday on the same inconclusive and irresolute note they began with three days earlier. The meeting failed to resolve even basic procedural issues, like setting up working groups to tackle technical problems pertaining to inspections and other matters. The DPRK accused the US of “spoiling the atmosphere” of the negotiations by imposing penalties on a PRC-owned bank accused of laundering money for the DPRK. The US rejected a DPRK proposal to freeze production of nuclear fuel in return for aid, insisting that the focus remain on complete disarmament. (return to top) Agence France Presse (“US-NKOREAN MISTRUST SEEN AS BIGGEST HURDLE TO NUCLEAR TALKS”, 2005-11-13) reported that according to analysts, mistrust between the US and DPRK was the biggest hurdle in the latest round of six party talks. “One statement is not going to overcome years of, you could even argue, decades of, mistrust,” said Peter Beck, director of the Northeast Asia Project at the International Crisis Group. Nam Sung-Wook, a professor and DPRK expert at Seoul’s Korea University, said the latest round was “a killing-time session of talking tough” before developing into real actions. “It requires time for leaders in Washington and Pyongyang to feel their bullying tactics have limitations and to feel like making progress,” Nam said. (return to top)

2. US on Six Party Talks

The Washington Post (“N. KOREA ARMS TALKS END WITH LITTLE PROGRESS”, 2005-11-12) reported that six party talks adjourned on Friday with delegates reporting little progress. In a potentially significant development, US envoy Christopher Hill said the DPRK raised but did not press a demand that it be provided with a light-water nuclear reactor before it disarms. Hill said he and envoys from the four other nations were united in insisting that the request be discussed only after the DPRK had dismantled its nuclear facilities and opened itself up to inspections. “It was mentioned a couple of times, but it was not an issue we had to devote much time to, so maybe that’s encouraging,” Hill said. He cautioned that it was too early to conclude the dispute had been settled.

(return to top)

3. DPRK-US Bilateral Talks

Bloomberg News (“N. KOREA, U.S. TO HOLD TALKS ON SANCTIONS AMID NUCLEAR IMPASSE”, 2005-11-11) reported that the DPRK’s chief delegate to six party talks said the US has agreed to hold bilateral negotiations about economic sanctions. Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan said the sanctions are holding-up nuclear negotiations and need to be lifted before an agreement can be reached. “Financial sanctions compromise the joint statement and prevent the implementation of the promises within the joint statement,” Kim told reporters.

(return to top)

4. Inter-Korean Relations

Reuters (“SOUTH KOREA INTERCEPTS TWO N. KOREA FIGHTER JETS”, 2005-11-11) reported that the ROK scrambled six fighter jets on Friday to intercept two DPRK planes that briefly crossed a disputed frontier over the Yellow Sea before heading back, the ROK military said. It was not immediately clear why the aircraft had flown south of the disputed Northern Limit Line, known as the NLL. A spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff said by telephone the ROK was investigating whether the incident happened during military training or for another reason.

(return to top) Reuters (“N. KOREA SHIPS BRIEFLY CROSS DISPUTED BORDER: SOUTH”, 2005-11-12) reported that a DPRK navy vessel and nine fishing boats briefly crossed the disputed Yellow Sea border on Sunday before heading back, the ROK military said. The DPRK patrol boat briefly crossed the maritime border early Sunday morning to send back the nine boats that had strayed across the line, the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. The ROK navy sent six warnings and the DPRK patrol boat responded by saying: “We know the situation, so do not fire,” the statement said. (return to top)

5. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation

The Korea Times (“HYUNDAI, NK TO NORMALIZE TOURISM PROJECT”, 2005-11-11) reported that Hyundai Asan and the DPRK agreed on Friday to normalize the company’s tourism business to Mt. Kumgang, the chairwoman of Hyundai Group said. According to Hyun Jeong-eun, who recently returned from a one-day visit to Kaesong, the two sides made the agreement to resume the stalled project beginning next Friday. “We agreed to improve the recent abnormal relations and reaffirm mutual trust,” said Hyun. Hyundai will start inviting tourists who want to visit the mountain from November 22. Hyundai expressed its wish that Friday’s meeting would usher in further negotiations for new tourism projects to Kaesong.

(return to top) Yonhap News (“HYUNDAI ASAN, KNTO TO LAUNCH MT. PAEKTU TOUR PROGRAM NEXT YEAR”, 2005-11-14) reported that the ROK’s tourism promotion agency said on Monday that it plans to launch a pilot tourism project next year for RO Koreans to visit Mount Paektu in the DPRK. “Along with Hyundai Asan Corp., we will visit Mount Paektu around April to explore a tourism project there,” said Shin Hee-su, the head of inter-Korean tourism project at the state-run Korea National Tourism Organization. “We expect pilot tourism for Mount Paektu to begin early next year at the earliest,” he said. (return to top)

6. UN Delegation Visit to DPRK

The Associated Press (“U.N. EXPERTS TO TRAIN N. KOREAN LAWYERS”, 2005-11-11) reported that two United Nations legal experts are heading to the DPRK next week to conduct a training session for lawyers to help improve their understanding of UN treaties, refugees, and stateless people. The visit to Pyongyang “is a good opportunity to begin a dialogue” on treaty law and refugees and stateless people, said Palitha Kohona, chief of the Treaty Section in the UN Office of Legal Affairs. Kohona said UN seminars and training generally focus on the requirements to join a treaty, an examination of treaty provisions and their implications, and the rights and obligations of a country once it ratifies a treaty and is bound by it. Kohona expects 30 to 40 DPR Koreans to attend the sessions from November 16-19.

(return to top)

7. DPRK Food Aid

Chosun Ilbo (“WFP TO RESUME TALKS WITH N. KOREA NEXT WEEK”, 2005-11-12) reported that the World Food Program (WFP) says it will resume talks with the DPRK in Pyongyang next week to determine its status after it stops providing food to the country. The WFP, which was asked by Pyongyang in August to end its food distribution work by the end of 2005, released an emergency report on Friday claiming that chronic food shortages persist in the DPRK. Some 3.6 million of the 6.5 million beneficiaries in the DPRK will not receive WFP cereals this month.

(return to top)

8. DPRK Censorship

Joongang Ilbo (“‘ABDUCTED’ A DIRTY WORD”, 2005-11-11) reported that DPRK officials have censored ROK reporting of recent inter-Korean family reunions. DPRK authorities complained that Seoul’s Ministry of Unification had ordered ROK journalists to report on the reunions in ways unflattering to the DPRK. In one instance, DPRK security agents ordered the Korea Broadcasting System to remove references to kidnapping before it was allowed to transmit its footage. ROK reporters agreed to withhold reporting of the incidents until the end of the reunions due to threats by the DPRK to cancel the remainder of the family reunions. Journalists also complained about the unwillingness of ROK government officials to intervene.

(return to top)

9. Japanese Abductees in the DPRK

Yonhap News (“JAPANESE GROUP BEAMS RADIO PROGRAM TO CONTACT ABDUCTEES IN N.K.: REPORT”, 2005-11-12) reported that a Japanese civic group launched a shortwave radio program last month to try to contact any Japanese abductees still alive in the DPRK years after being kidnapped by the country. “The broadcast began on Oct. 30,” Radio Free Asia quoted Kazuhiro Araki as saying in an interview. Araki heads a Tokyo-based grassroots group called the Investigation Commission on Missing Japanese Probably Related to North Korea (COMJAN). Asked to provide details on the program, he said, “We read the names of possible Japanese abduction victims, the dates when they disappeared and their ages.” Araki said the ultimate goal of the broadcast is to urge the DPRK government to repatriate the suspected Japanese abductees.

(return to top)

10. DPRK Defectors

The Korea Herald (“N.K. DEFECTORS TO PRESENT GIFT TO BUSH AT APEC”, 2005-11-14) reported that a group of DPRK defectors is planning to give visiting US President George Bush a porcelain gift as a show of appreciation, a representative of the group said yesterday. Kang Chol-won, the head of the group, said the present was a token of their appreciation for Bush’s efforts to improve human rights in the DPRK. Bush arrives in Korea on Wednesday and will hold a bilateral summit meeting with President Roh Moo-hyun the next day.

(return to top)

11. US-ROK Transfer of Wartime Command

Korea Times (“US WARTIME COMMAND CRUCIAL: GEN. LAPORTE”, 2005-11-14) reported that the chief of US troops in the ROK has said his wartime operational control of both US and ROK forces is the “cornerstone of deterrence” on the peninsula, his office said Saturday. The remarks by Gen. Leon J. LaPorte are expected to create diverse speculation as the ROK and the US agreed last month to speed up talks on Seoul’s wish to take back full operational control of its own military.

(return to top)

12. ROK-Japanese Relations

Agence France Presse (“JAPAN MOVES TO REPAIR TIES WITH SKOREA AT APEC “, 2005-11-14) reported that Japan and the ROK will hold talks as Tokyo tries to repair relations with Asian neighbours damaged by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s visit to a controversial war shrine. The foreign ministers will meet ahead of this week’s Asia-Pacific summit in the ROK port of Busan, where Japanese leaders are expected to get the cold shoulder from the PRC over the shrine visit.

(return to top)

13. Russo-Japanese Territorial Dispute

Agence France Presse (“BETTER RUSSIA-JAPAN TIES POSSIBLE WITHOUT KURILS RESOLUTION: KOIZUMI “, 2005-11-14) reported that resolving a 60-year-old row over four disputed Pacific islands would significantly boost ties between Japan and Russia, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said in an interview. But the Japanese leader noted that a resolution on the four southernmost Kuril Islands was not a precondition for improving bilateral relations, in an interview on Russian television a week ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s planned visit to Tokyo.

(return to top)

14. USFJ Base Realignment

Kyodo (“KOIZUMI, BUSH TO EXPEDITE REALIGNMENT OF U.S. FORCES IN JAPAN “, 2005-11-14) reported that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and US President George W. Bush are expected to seek to expedite bilateral efforts to realign the US military presence in Japan in their talks Wednesday in Kyoto, Japanese officials said Monday.

(return to top)

15. Russo-Japanese Relations

The Yomiuri Shimbun (“JAPAN TO BACK RUSSIAN BID TO JOIN WTO”, 2005-11-14) reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin will sign an agreement with Japan on his nation’s joining the World Trade Organization when he meets with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Nov. 21 as the two governments have virtually reached accord on Japan approving Russia’s bid for membership, sources close to the government said Sunday.

(return to top)

16. Japan Leadership

Washington Post (“TOKYO MAVERICK JUST ONE OF THE CROWD NOW”, 2005-11-14) reported that Shintaro Ishihara, governor of Tokyo, no longer seems the threat he once was. While some still see him as a loose cannon, his politics can no longer be called radical. The Mainichi newspaper recently released results of a poll of 1,058 Japanese showing that 43 percent thought the nation’s actions during World War II were “clearly wrong,” while a majority of respondents either said the war had been unavoidable or were unsure. Meanwhile, revisionist textbooks that critics say whitebr Japan’s wartime role are being adopted by more and more schools, and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is pushing to alter the pacifist postwar constitution to allow an official military.

(return to top)

17. Sino-US Relations

Washington Post (“BUSH CARRIES TO CHINA A DELICATE DIPLOMACY”, 2005-11-14) reported that perhaps no country presents a greater challenge to the vision Bush outlined in his second inaugural address than the PRC. Bush made it the mission of his presidency to promote freedom and democracy around the world, vowing to confront “every ruler and every nation” and predicate US relations with other governments on how they treat their own people. Yet when it comes to the PRC, home of 1.3 billion people living under communist rule, Bush and his administration seem more animated by economic and security issues.

(return to top) Xinhua (“QIAN: CHINA, US SHOULD SAFEGUARD BILATERAL TIES”, 2005-11-14) reported that Former PRC Vice Premier Qian Qichen said in Beijing Monday that the PRC and the US should properly handle differences and sensitive issues concerning Taiwan, human rights and trade frictions, in a bid to safeguard the overall situation of bilateral ties. It is in the interests of both the PRC and the US to oppose and check “Taiwan independence” and safeguard peace and stability across the Taiwan straits, Qian said. (return to top)

18. PRC on Religious Freedom

People’s Daily Online (“CHINA STRONGLY OPPOSED TO US RELIGIOUS COMMISSION’S REPORT: FM SPOKESMAN”, 2005-11-14) reported that the PRC is strongly opposed to a report US Commission on International Religious Freedom has published on the PRC’s policies on religion, said PRC Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Jianchao on Nov. 13, according the Ministry’s website. Liu said in order to strengthen mutual understanding between the religious circles of the two countries, the PRC’s State Administration for Religious Affairs invited representatives of US Commission on International Religious Freedom to visit the PRC in August this year.

(return to top)

19. US Security Warning for the PRC

The Los Angeles Times (“U.S. ISSUES SECURITY WARNING FOR SOUTH”, 2005-11-14) reported that the US Consulate in Hong Kong is warning Americans that they could face a security threat in clubs, restaurants and schools in southern PRC. In a message posted on its website, the consulate also said it had received “credible information” a terrorist threat may exist against US government facilities in the city of Guangzhou.

(return to top)

20. PRC Bird Flu

The Associated Press (“CHINA REPORTS NINTH OUTBREAK OF BIRD FLU “, 2005-11-14) reported that the PRC on Monday reported a new case of bird flu in poultry in the country’s east — its ninth outbreak since Oct. 19. The news, announced on government television, came as experts from the World Health Organization were in central PRC to help determine whether bird flu killed a 12-year-old girl and sickened two other people in a village that suffered an outbreak in poultry last month.

(return to top)

21. ROK on PRC Economy

Xinhua (“ROK INTENDS TO RECOGNIZE CHINA’S MARKET ECONOMY”, 2005-11-14) reported that the ROK government is expected to announce its decision on whether to recognize the PRC’s market economy status (MES) this week, the Korean Times reported Monday. The decision would be announced on Nov. 16, when PRC President Hu Jintao holds a summit with his ROK counterpart Roh Moo-hyun during a visit to Seoul, said the paper.

(return to top)

22. PRC Graft

The New York Times (“CHINESE FOE OF GRAFT IS JAILED FOR GRAFT”, 2005-11-14) reported that a Communist Party official who complained publicly of widespread corruption in the ruling party was himself sentenced Thursday to life in prison for graft. Huang Jingao became an instant anticorruption hero last August when he posted a long letter on the Web site of People’s Daily in which he accused other officials of colluding with a real estate developer to enrich themselves and seize land from peasants with little or no compensation. But the Communist Party moved quickly to silence him, several supporters of Mr. Huang said. He was detained last December and later charged with corruption himself.

(return to top)

23. PRC-Kazakhstan Oil Pipeline

Xinhua (“OIL PIPELINE LINKING CHINA, KAZAKHSTAN JOINS TOGETHER”, 2005-11-14) reported that as technicians of Sinopec finished their last welding work in Alataw Pass Monday, the oil pipeline linking the PRC and Kazakhstan joined ends after 18 months unremitting efforts. This marked a perfect accomplishment of the first period of the 1000-km oil pipeline project. The joining serves as a firm foundation for the eventual overall completion of this project soon.

(return to top)

II. CanKor

24. Report #226

CanKor (“Current Events”, 2005-11-11) The Six-Party talks resume on a “sour” note this week, according to press reports. The DPRK Foreign Ministry accuses US President George Bush of violating the spirit of the talks by referring to a “tyrant in North Korea” during his visit to Brazil. For his part, Christopher Hill restates the US position that Pyongyang will not receive a light-water reactor until it disarms and opens to nuclear inspectors. Kenichiro Sasae, director of Japan’s Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, holds talks with DPRK Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan. Sasae presents a proposal to set up a venue parallel to, but separate from the general discussions at the Six-Party talks, for discussing the abduction issue, security and normalization of diplomatic relations. The ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff (JSC) decide to create a new department to take charge of DPRK affairs, including inter-Korean military talks, and cope with the changing security environment. The move comes as the ROK Defence Ministry seeks to strengthen the role of the JSC in line with its defence reform plan on troop reduction. Washington’s top envoy to Seoul says the USA is willing to open an office in Pyongyang if the DPRK takes concrete steps to dismantle its nuclear weapons programmes. The move could be a step towards normalizing relations but will only proceed if “North Koreans will do their part in building confidence.” Claiming it is urgent to remove DPRK leader Kim Jong-il, a US military strategist offers three operational scenarios to accomplish this goal in a new book “Blueprint for Action: A Future Worth Creating.” Meanwhile, a former assistant secretary of state says the current US administration has abandoned the idea of regime change in the DPRK. Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Commission on the Situation of Human Rights in the DPRK, visits Seoul to assess the impact of the DPRK’s human rights situation on the ROK. Based on the lessons he learned from his visit, Muntarbhorn presents a “Six-Points-Human-Rights-Formula” for all parties concerned. Visitors to the recent Arirang festival in Pyongyang notice a marked rise in quantity and quality of advertisements. DPR Korean businesses seem to be showing a rising level of marketing sophistication.

(return to top) CanKor (“QUIDNUNC: How far can DPRK missiles fly?”, 2005-11-11) CanKor introduces a new feature this week. QUIDNUNC is modeled on The Guardian Weekly’s “Notes & Queries” section, in which readers ask questions on a variety of subjects and receive answers by other readers. CanKor subscribers include some of the world’s most knowledgeable DPRK experts. Quidnunc is meant to encourage the sharing of this expertise and to stimulate discussion and debate. (return to top)