NAPSNet Daily Report Monday, October 17, 2005

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NAPSNet Daily Report Monday, October 17, 2005

NAPSNet Daily Report Monday, October 17, 2005

I. NAPSnet

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. NAPSnet

1. Six Party Talks

Donga Ilbo (“SIX-WAY TALKS PARTICIPANTS PREPARE FOR NEXT ROUND”, 2005-10-17) reported that with the fifth round of multilateral talks scheduled for early November, the six party nations have started to harmonize their positions in advance. The ROK’s Song Min-sun is scheduled to meet US administration officials, including Christopher Hill and members of Congress, to discuss specific plans to implement the joint statement. On his way back to the ROK, Song will also visit Japan. PRC ambassador Li Bin plans to visit the DPRK, US, and ROK. Meanwhile, US envoy Christopher Hill is expected to visit the ROK, PRC, and Japan prior to the next round of six party talks.

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2. US on DPRK Nuclear Program

Chosun Ilbo (“TOP U.S. NUCLEAR NEGOTIATOR OFFERS TIMELINE FOR N.K. DISMANTLEMENT”, 2005-10-15) reported that the US government intends to present a tough timetable for the DPRK to dismantle its nuclear programs and restart inspections when the fifth round of six party talks resume in Beijing in November. The Bush administration is supporting a visit to the DPRK by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to reinforce Washington’s message since early 2003: that economic incentives will come after the DPRK dismantles its nuclear programs.

(return to top) The Associated Press (“AP: U.S. TO PRESS NORTH KOREA ON NUKES”, 2005-10-17) reported that US Governor Bill Richardson told reporters in Tokyo that he would press the DPRK for “concrete steps” to dismantle its atomic weapons program and a commitment to allow verification that it will remain nuclear-free. The governor was accompanied by public health, energy and other officials from his state. Richardson said on Monday that he hoped their presence would show DPR Koreans what kind of assistance they could expect in return for giving up nuclear weapons. Richardson said he did not expect to meet with Kim Jong-il and instead hopes to meet with Foreign Ministry and defense officials. (return to top)

3. DPRK-US Bilateral Talks

The New York Times (“A U.S. DEMOCRAT TO GO TO NORTH KOREA FOR NUCLEAR TALKS”, 2005-10-14) reported that US Governor Bill Richardson will travel to Pyongyang for talks aimed at persuading the DPRK to give up its nuclear arms program. Richardson said that he would not represent the US as an official negotiator but that his trip was intended “to move the diplomatic process forward.” According to Richardson’s office, the governor’s intention is to present to the DPRK with some expert thinking on its food, health, and energy problems with the implication that such help would be more forthcoming in the event of a deal on its nuclear programs. Richardson is expected to arrive in the DPRK on Monday for three days of talks, after which he is planning to visit Japan and the ROK to brief officials there before returning to the US.

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4. DPRK-PRC Relations

The Korea Times (“CHINESE LEADER CABLES KIM JONG-IL”, 2005-10-16) reported that PRC President Hu Jintao has sent a telegram to DPRK leader Kim Jong-il to pledge continued cooperation between the two countries, the DPRK’s Radio Pyongyang reported on Saturday. In the telegram sent on Thursday to Kim and other DPRK leaders, Hu said, “China will continue strengthening the bilateral friendly cooperative relationship between the (communist) parties, governments and peoples of the two countries under the spirit of maintaining tradition, seeking future-oriented relationship and enhancing friendly cooperation.” “We sincerely wish the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will get stronger and prosper and our brotherly DPRK people could enjoy happy lives,” the PRC president said in the telegram.

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5. DPRK-ROK Relations

Joongang Ilbo (“PRO-NORTH CONTROVERSY GETS HOTTER”, 2005-10-17) reported that a ROK professor’s pro-DPRK remarks caused considerable controversy over the weekend. Chang Si-ki, a professor at Dongguk University, argued in an online column that Kim Jong-il should have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the 2000 summit meeting in Pyongyang with then ROK President Kim Dae-jung. Calling Kim a “great leader,” the professor wrote on the web site of the National Association of Professors for a Democratic Society that the DPRK leader was deprived the Nobel Peace Prize because of influence from Washington. The professor’s views drew angry responses yesterday from citizens who bombarded the website of the association. Kang is currently under investigation after being charged with violating the National Security Law, which forbids making pro-DPRK remarks.

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6. DPRK-Opposition Party Relations

Yonhap News (“RULING PARTY HEAD PLANS N.K. VISIT FOR TALKS ON SUMMIT: AIDE”, 2005-10-17) reported that the head of the ROK’s governing Uri Party, Moon Hee-sang, has told the DPRK of his wish to visit the country for discussions on a second inter-Korean summit, his aide claimed on Monday. The aide said Representative Kim Jae-hong conveyed the party chairman’s wish to Pyongyang during his visit there last month.

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7. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation

The Korea Herald (“SOUTH WANTS MORE COMPLEXES IN N.K.”, 2005-10-14) reported that Seoul has proposed building additional industrial complexes in the DPRK, the Ministry of Unification said on Thursday. The ROK sees the Gaeseong industrial development as a good model for more complexes in the DPRK, but Pyongyang has yet to respond to a formal Seoul proposal, said Vice Minister Rhee Bong-jo. The ministry has launched its first task force to discuss plans on how to further economic cooperation between the two countries. Rhee will lead the team, which will include senior-level officials from 14 other ministries, to set an agenda on how to aid the DPRK’s economic development.

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8. Expert on Inter-Korean Tourism

Reuters (“NORTH KOREA MASS GAMES A CASH COW FOR REGIME”, 2005-10-16) reported that, according to analysts, the DPRK’s Arirang festival is more than a display of collective discipline and military might; it has a commercial imperative. “It’s obviously good money,” said Andrei Lankov, a DPRK specialist based in Seoul. Analysts say, however, that the influx of so many outsiders could have unintended effects, particularly the presence of ROK tourists, who pay $1,000 for an all-inclusive overnight stay, and whose designer clothes and watches, expensive cameras, and souvenir shopping demonstrate their wealth. “The North Koreans are eager to ask everyone who they can approach with a reasonable level of security about the outside world,” Lankov said, adding their most frequent questions were about living standards and salaries.

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9. DPRK-UK Economic Cooperation

The Guardian (“TOBACCO FIRM HAS SECRET NORTH KOREA PLANT”, 2005-10-17) reported that British American Tobacco (BAT), the world’s second largest cigarette company, has secretly been operating a factory in the DPRK for the past four years. BAT launched its business in DPRK in September 2001 after forming a joint venture company with a state-owned enterprise called the Korea Sogyong Trading Corporation. BAT made an initial investment of $7.1m in the enterprise, and owns 60% of the company they formed, which is known as Taesong-BAT. The company employs 200 people at its factory in Pyongyang, producing up to two billion cigarettes a year. BAT has never mentioned the factory in its annual accounts, and it is thought that many shareholders are unaware of its links with the country.

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10. UN on DPRK Food Aid

The Christian Science Monitor (“NORTH KOREA CLOSING ANOTHER DOOR, THIS TIME ON FOOD”, 2005-10-17) reported that while the World Food Program (WFP) is still negotiating with Pyongyang, the UN agency is rapidly shutting down 19 factories that process raw food into noodles and biscuits for the most vulnerable citizens. “North Korea is likely to be a chronically food-insecure country until one of two things happens,” says Richard Ragan, director of the WFP in the DPRK. “It has to buy enough food on the international market” or rely on donations. “It is unlikely that they will ever produce enough food without massive overhauling of the economy.” Getting food to the people who need it most will be another challenge, particularly with the loss of the WFP, said Ragan.

(return to top) The Korea Times (“NK FOOD SHORTAGE REMAINS SERIOUS: UN”, 2005-10-14) reported that the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) expects cereal production in the DPRK to increase by around 400,000 tons from last year’s 3.5 million tons. “In spite of relatively good production overall, chronic food insecurity is likely to remain widespread,” the UN agency warned in its latest report. According to the FAO, the DPRK allots 900 grams of food a day for those doing heavy labor, but only a third of the amount is granted to family members who stay at home. This policy is likely to have critical implications for people not in the workplace, such as children, the elderly and the unemployed, the report said. (return to top)

11. US on DPRK Counterfeiting

Joongang Ilbo (“U.S. LINKS COUNTERFEIT CURRENCY TO NORTH KOREA AND THE IRA”, 2005-10-14) reported that the US government has asked the UK to extradite a senior member of a splinter group of the Irish Republican Army, Adam Ereli, on charges of conspiring with the DPRK to circulate counterfeit US currency. Washington has periodically accused Pyongyang of engaging in counterfeiting and drug running, but this indictment was the most detailed exposition of those charges. In a statement, the Justice Department said the notes “were manufactured in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea under the auspices of the government and transported worldwide by North Korean individuals acting as ostensible government officials.”

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12. EU Economic Workshop in DPRK

The Financial Times (“NORTH KOREA HINTS AT MORE ECONOMIC REFORMS”, 2005-10-17) reported that the DPRK hinted at a desire to implement further economic reforms last week, when officials discussed how to modernize state-owned enterprises and to attract foreign investment during a European Union-organized conference in Pyongyang. Almost 100 officials from the DPRK’s finance-related ministries, the central bank, and state companies discussed how former socialist countries like Hungary and Poland had transformed their economies. Dusan Triska, a former Czech deputy finance minister, told of moving from central planning to development with marketing incentives, while Hungarian economist Andrea Szalavetz advised how to mobilize domestic and foreign capital.

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13. DPRK Diplomat in US Symposium

The Korea Times (“NK DIPLOMAT SEEKS TO VISIT WASHINGTON”, 2005-10-17) reported that a senior DPRK diplomat at the United Nations is seeking permission to travel to Washington later this month to attend a symposium, the organizer said on Sunday. Han Song-ryol, deputy ambassador to the UN, accepted an invitation to speak at the October 27 seminar, the Institute for Corean-American Studies (ICAS) said. Han has notified the host that his speech is titled “Road to Peace on the Korean Peninsula,’’ the ICAS said.

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14. DPRK Leadership

Reuters (“ALL IN THE FAMILY FOR NORTH KOREAN LEADERSHIP”, 2005-10-17) reported that, despite recent Russian and ROK news reports, the DPRK is keeping mum on a possible successor to Kim Jong-il. While at 63, Kim is not likely to relinquish power any time soon, choosing an heir now is seen as important to maintaining stability within the leadership, analysts say. ROK news reports have placed their bets on Kim’s son Jong-chol, 24.

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15. DPRK Defector

Joongang Ilbo (“COMMISSION SUPPORTS PASSPORT FOR DEFECTOR”, 2005-10-17) reported that the National Human Rights Commission of Korea has quietly recommended to the National Intelligence Service not to oppose the issuance of a passport to DPRK defector Kim Tok-hong, an official with the commission said yesterday. An official with the commission said yesterday that its decision was not made public as the commission took into consideration Seoul’s position, which had not allowed Mr. Kim to travel to the US out of fear his anti-DPRK activities might put a dent in relations between the two Koreas. An official with the service said yesterday it would allow Mr. Kim to visit the US once proper security measures to protect him are devised.

(return to top) Chosun Ilbo (“N. KOREAN TORTURE VICTIMS ARRIVES IN SEOUL”, 2005-10-17) reported that a DPRK torture victim who had her feet amputated by DPRK authorities arrived in the ROK with her son last weekend. Before leaving Bangkok to fly to Seoul, she told the Yonhap news agency that her family name was Kim, not Park as previously reported. Kim said it was very difficult for DPRK defectors to come to the ROK. She said she knew of four defectors who were arrested by Lao police while crossing the Mekong River into Thailand and were sent back to the DPRK. (return to top)

16. Yasukuni Shrine Issue

The New York Times (“KOIZUMI VISITS WAR SHRINE, AS HE PLEDGED”, 2005-10-17) reported that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi prayed at the Yasukuni Shrine on Monday morning, fulfilling a promise to make annual visits to a war memorial considered a symbol of unrepentant Japanese militarism in Asia.

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17. ROK, PRC on Yasukuni Shrine Issue

Bloomberg News (“CHINA, S. KOREA SCRAP JAPAN TALKS AFTER SHRINE VISIT”, 2005-10-17) reported that the ROK and PRC canceled government talks with Japan after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Yasukuni Shrine, which includes memorials to convicted war criminals. A spokesman for ROK President Roh Moo Hyun said the two leaders will not meet as planned at next month’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, and that talks for a bilateral summit in December were off. The PRC scrapped a visit by Japan’s foreign minister to Beijing on Oct. 23.

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18. US Troop Repositioning

The Associated Press (“REPORT: JAPAN, U.S. OK BASE RELOCATIONS “, 2005-10-17) reported that the US and Japan have reached a basic agreement on relocating two US military bases on the southern island of Okinawa, where the US presence has frequently provoked protests, a newspaper reported Sunday. Under the accord, the United States will return port facilities at the Naha Naval Port in Naha and the Makiminato Service Area in Urasoe to Japan, the Yomiuri newspaper said, citing unidentified Japanese government sources.

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19. Sino-Japanese East Sea Gas Dispute

Sydney Morning Herald (“JAPAN, CHINA IN BLUE OVER OFFSHORE GAS RESERVE”, 2005-10-17) reported that the row between Japan and the PRC over undersea gas reserves has been turned up a notch with reports of a military spy plane being dispatched by Beijing as Tokyo seeks high level talks. Raised at weekend meetings in Beijing, the dispute over the East China Sea resources has resurfaced as Japan’s foreign minister travels to Beijing this week to try to arrange a meeting between the leaders of the two countries.

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20. Russo-Japanese Energy Pipeline

Bloomberg News (“JAPAN TO PRESS RUSSIA ON PIPELINE “, 2005-10-17) reported that Japan, concerned that the PRC will receive most of Siberia’s $18 billion in annual oil and gas exports, will urge President Vladimir Putin of Russia in November to accelerate plans to build an oil pipeline to Japan. Russia will build a pipeline from East Siberia to the PRC first, and then a smaller line to the Pacific coast near Japan, Putin said Sept. 5. Gazprom, Russia’s gas-exporting monopoly, will make the PRC a priority in Asian sales, the deputy chief executive, Alexander Medvedev, said Sept. 21.

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21. Bush Asia Trip

Reuters (“BUSH TO VISIT CHINA, JAPAN IN NOVEMBER ASIA TRIP “, 2005-10-17) reported that President George W. Bush will visit the PRC and Japan in November as part of a trip to a region of increasing economic significance and strategic concern to the US.

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22. Rumsfeld PRC Visit

The New York Times (“RUMSFELD TO VISIT CHINESE PRESIDENT”, 2005-10-17) reported that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld will visit Beijing next week as the Pentagon balances two views of the PRC: on the one hand, that the Asian giant is engaged in an unwarranted military buildup and, on the other, that it can serve as a security partner in ending the DPRK’s nuclear program.

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23. US on PRC Economy

The New York Times (“U.S. OFFERS DETAILS OF PLAN FOR OPEN MARKETS IN CHINA”, 2005-10-17) reported that the Bush administration is expected to present the PRC’s political leaders on Sunday with a sweeping plan to overhaul the PRC’s financial markets and open the country to foreign banks, investment firms and insurance companies. The plan, to be discussed in two days of talks here and in Beijing, calls for the PRC to speed up the privatization of state-owned companies, including banks; to develop a Chicago-style futures market for currency trading; to establish an independent credit-rating agency; and to crack down on bailouts for banks left holding bad loans.

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24. Cross Strait Relations

Reuters (“LEE SET TO PROMOTE TAIWAN INDEPENDENCE ON US TRIP “, 2005-10-17) reported that former Taiwan president Lee Teng-hui heads to Washington this week to pedal his vision of an independent Taiwan, aiming to draw international attention to the PRC’s military threats against his island. Once branded by Beijing as a “splittist” who should be tossed into the “dustbin of history,” the fiercely pro-independence Lee is set to further irk the PRC by touring the US capital just as US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visits Beijing.

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25. PRC Space Program

The Associated Press (“CHINA’S SECOND ASTRONAUT MISSION RETURNS SAFELY TO EARTH”, 2005-10-17) reported that the PRC hopes to conduct a spacewalk in 2007 and might recruit women into its next group of astronaut candidates, a senior space program official said Monday following the safe completion of the nation’s second manned mission. The next stage focuses on developing ways for astronauts to walk in space and the ability to rendezvous and dock with other spacecraft, he said.

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26. PRC Uranium Supply

Agence France Presse (“AUSTRALIA MULLS CHINESE REQUEST TO EXPLORE FOR URANIUM “, 2005-10-17) reported that Australia said that it could give resource-hungry PRC direct access to its huge uranium deposits if Beijing signs pledges the nuclear material would not be used for military purposes. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the PRC asked for permission to conduct uranium exploration and mining in Australia during talks early this year in the PRC capital.

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27. PRC AIDS Issue

Xinhua (“CHINA REPORTS 126,808 HIV INFECTION CASES”, 2005-10-17) reported that by the end of June 2005, the PRC has reported 126,808 people infected with HIV, including 28,789 AIDS patients. The death toll of HIV/AIDS had reached 7,375, according to Hao Yang, deputy head of the disease control department with the Ministry of Health on Friday.

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28. US-ROK Military Alliance

Chosun Ilbo (“U.S. TO BECOME PARTNER, NOT PATRON, OF SOUTH KOREA”, 2005-10-17) reported that ahead of bilateral defense talks, a conciliatory Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Sunday said the US will no longer serve as the ROK’s patron but become a partner in a more supporting role. He said Washington’s promise to protect the ROK stands, but it will perform in a supportive capacity.

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