I. NAPSnet

1. DPRK on Nuclear Program

Reuters (“NORTH KOREA APPEARS TO BACK AWAY ON REACTOR DEMAND”, 2005-09-27) reported that the DPRK appeared to back away on Tuesday from its demand for atomic energy facilities before it abandons its nuclear weapons programs, saying it wanted the US to supply reactors “as early as possible”. In a report published on the Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday, the DPRK cited comments made last week by one of its delegates at a disarmament conference in Geneva on the issue of the relatively proliferation-resistant light-water reactors. The comments were less strident than previous rhetoric. “What is most essential is, therefore, for the U.S. to provide light-water reactors to the DPRK as early as possible as evidence proving the former’s substantial recognition of the latter’s nuclear activity for a peaceful purpose,” the report cited the unnamed delegate as saying.

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2. US, Japan on DPRK Nuclear Program

Yonhap News (“JAPAN, U.S. REAFFIRM TIMING OF REACTOR DISCUSSION WITH NORTH KOREA”, 2005-09-27) reported that Japan and the US jointly emphasized on Monday that the DPRK must completely dismantle its nuclear programs before starting discussions on giving it a civilian power plant. A Japanese official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, emphasized the word “completely” when asked when members of the six party talks would address building a light-water reactor for the DPRK.

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3. DPRK-US Relations

Agence France Presse (“TOP US ENVOY TO HOLD DIRECT NUCLEAR TALKS WITH NORTH KOREA”, 2005-09-26) reported that US envoy Christopher Hill said he would hold direct consultations with Pyongyang ahead of the next round of six party talks. Hill did not say what he wished to discuss with the DPRK but stressed that all six parties “have to have some serious discussions about the nature of the verification regime and dismantlement efforts” for the DPRK to make good its promise to disarm. Hill also said that there would be “a very intensive period of consultations” ahead of the fifth round of the talks, adding that a ROK team was scheduled to arrive in Washington as part of that effort.

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4. Inter-Korean Relations

Yonhap News (“PRESIDENT ROH URGES N. KOREAN LEADER TO VISIT SEOUL”, 2005-09-27) reported that President Roh Moo-hyun called Tuesday for DPRK leader Kim Jong-il to pay a reciprocal visit to the ROK. He admitted to the slim chance of an immediate reaction from Kim, who promised to visit ROK in return for former ROK President Kim Dae-jung’s historic trip to Pyongyang in 2000.

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5. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation

The Korea Herald (“SEOUL PUSHES FOR MINERAL DEVELOPMENT IN N.K.”, 2005-09-27) reported that the state-run Korea Resources Corporation said yesterday that it would expand its development of mineral resources in the DPRK, forecasting the recent breakthrough in the DPRK’s nuclear crisis would lead to better investment circumstances. The company sent one executive to the DPRK this month to set-up its permanent office in Pyongyang and oversee development of a graphite mine in the north of the country. Development of the graphite mine, a 50-50 joint venture between the ROK company and its DPRK counterpart, is scheduled for completion by November 2005. The company is also in talks with the DPRK to develop five more mines in the country. The company said it has plans to examine the DPRK’s geology and its mineral reserves starting next year until 2008, and extract several kinds of minerals such as gold, copper and zinc jointly with the DPRK.

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6. DPRK Mineral Development

The Japan Times (“NORTH KOREA MAY HAVE MINERAL BOUNTY”, 2005-09-24) reported that the US and Europe are eyeing possible large deposits of minerals in the DPRK that could be used in the high-tech and weapons industries. Many US business leaders have been making visits to the DPRK to help keep the door open to any opportunities that may arise, including mining, according to a Japanese business executive. European countries, including Germany and Italy, have also been sending delegations to the DPRK to study its mining industry. “Some of them are interested in rare metals,” said Teruo Komaki, an expert on the DPRK at Kokushikan University. “There are also many Chinese talking about investment.”

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7. ROK on DPRK Military

Chosun Ilbo (“ARMY SAYS N. KOREA WILL KEEP UP MILITARY STRENGTH”, 2005-09-27) reported that while the Defense Ministry has cited a reduced threat from the DPRK as the main reason for troop cutbacks, the ROK military predicts that the DPRK will maintain its fighting strength at the current level until 2020, the year Seoul’s reforms are scheduled for completion. Some fear that the Defense Ministry underestimates the DPRK military threat to justify its promotion of military reform. Announced by Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung on September 13, the reform plan is premised on a gradual reduction of the military threat from the DPRK. This is the first time ROK top brass has offered a forecast on the military threat from the DPRK in relation to the reform plans.

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8. Energy Aid to DPRK

Yonhap News (“UNIFICATION MINISTER CALLS N.K. ENERGY AID INVESTMENT FOR FUTURE”, 2005-09-27) reported that the cost of providing enormous energy aid to the DPRK should be deemed an investment for the future in terms of peace, a sound regional vision, and the economy, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said on Tuesday. “Focus is being paid on the cost after the six-nation denuclearization statement was announced on Sept. 19,” Chung told a group of chief news editors from major media organizations, referring to the six-point agreement reached at the end of the fourth round of six party talks in Beijing.

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9. Food Aid to the DPRK

Reuters (“N. KOREA PLAN TO HALT AID A BAD IDEA: US AGENCY”, 2005-09-27) reported that, according to Andrew Natsios, the head of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the DPRK’s demand that aid agencies end humanitarian relief efforts in the country by the end of this year could lead to more refugees. “They are going to shut down the World Food Program efforts at the end of this year, which we think is a mistake,” Natsios said on Monday. The USAID official claimed that direct aid from the PRC and ROK, which the DPRK prefers because it comes with little or no monitoring, could increase refugee flows as more vulnerable DPR Koreans are denied aid. “Many of the donors should realize that when they give large amounts of food bilaterally to North Korea without the controls in place, the risk of increase of those population flows increases dramatically,” he said.

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10. DPRK Food Shortage

Chosun Ilbo (“N. KOREA TO INCREASE FOOD RATIONS NEXT MONTH”, 2005-09-27) reported that the DPRK authorities are reportedly confident they can raise daily food rations to above 500 grams a head next month. On Tuesday, a source who recently traveled to the DPRK quoted officials there as saying Pyongyang would normalize food rations on October 10, which marks the 60th anniversary of the Workers Party of Korea. The source said he was told that cereal rations, which averaged 300g a day per person and were cut to 250g a day earlier this year, would be increased to 500-700g from that day. It was unclear whether that is a temporary measure to mark the anniversary or whether it reflects an improved food situation. The source said a normal adult should consume about 700g a day.

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11. DPRK Human Rights Abuses

Chosun Ilbo (“STILLS ‘SHOW N. KOREAN SOLDIERS ABUSING WOMAN’”, 2005-09-26) reported that an activist group has released images of a DPRK soldier kicking a defector during interrogation at what it says is a guard post on the PRC-DPRK border. On Sunday, Free North Korea Broadcasting posted some 14 stills on its website that show a DPRK border trooper abusing the female defector, who was caught returning to the DPRK from the PRC where she reportedly hid for the past eight years. The group says the video was recorded by a DPRK resident and will be released by a Japanese broadcaster next month.

(return to top) The Korea Herald (“AUTHENTICITY OF N.K. DEFECTOR FILM IN DOUBT”, 2005-09-28) reported that experts are doubtful about the authenticity of footage on the Free North Korea website that depicts two DPRK border guards beating a female defector. Experts suggested the scenes might have been intentionally created. The film contains frontal and zoomed-in scenes which are technically impossible to capture when using a hidden camera. The picture is also too clear. They also pointed out the two men`s long hair, noting that DPRK soldiers are supposed to shave their head. The two guards also seem to be conscious that they are being pictured, experts said. (return to top)

12. DPRK Defections

Chosun Ilbo (“U.S. SUPPORT FOR N. KOREANS RIGHTS MOSTLY RHETORIC”, 2005-09-26) reported that despite growing US interest in DPRK human rights, the US admitted a total of nine defectors from the DPRK between 1997 and September 2005, according to Foreign Ministry figures. Statistics submitted on Monday to Grand National Party lawmaker Kim Moon-soo show that only one-fifth of the 48 DPR Koreans who applied for asylum during this period were accepted. In the past year, the US accepted one DPRK asylum-seeker as opposed to the 1,240 Chinese and 1,470 Colombians it admitted during the same period. Over the last five years, the US has not admitted a single DPRK exile recognized as a refugee.

(return to top) Donga Ilbo (“MORE NORTH KOREAN DEFECTORS LEAVING SOUTH KOREA FOR U.S.”, 2005-09-26) reported that 57 DPRK defectors who had settled in the ROK after fleeing the DPRK did not return to the ROK since going abroad for trips. In addition, 34 new residents were found to have emigrated since the 1970s. This information was submitted by the Ministry of Unification (MOU) to Grand National Party lawmaker Kim Moon-soo. It is the first time that the present condition of defectors and the emigration of new residents have been made public. The document found that many of the 57 new residents who failed to return to the ROK went to the PRC and US for tours, visiting relatives, and preaching gospel. An official of the MOU said, “There are many new residents who haven’t come back to Korea after the North Korean Human Rights Act came into effect last October in the U.S.” (return to top)

13. DPRK Assets Frozen

The Korea Times (“US FREEZES PROPERTY OF 3 N. KOREAN COMPANIES”, 2005-09-26) reported that the US froze the assets of three DPRK companies in June as they were allegedly involved in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry said Monday. Assets, totaling $31.7 million, of the Choson Mining Trade Company, Choson Ryonbong General Company and Danchong Commercial Bank have been frozen since July 1 when Executive Order 13382 came into effect, the ministry said in a report to Representative Kim Won-wung of the ruling Uri Party. The three companies were allegedly responsible for importing and exporting the missile parts.

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14. ROK Defense Spending

Chosun Ilbo (“THE RISE AND RISE OF THE DEFENSE BUDGET”, 2005-09-27) reported that next year will see a 9.8 percent increase in defense spending with a US$22 billion military budget proposal, in excess of $2 billion more than this year. According to defense department insiders, the National Defense Reform Bill calls for an 11 percent average yearly increase in military spending through 2015.

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15. Japan on UN Dues

Agence France Presse (“JAPAN WANTS CHINA, RUSSIA TO BOOST UN DUES “, 2005-09-27) reported that bitter over its stalled bid to win a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, Tokyo has decided to seek a cut from 2007 in Japan’s payout to the UN budget and hikes in the contributions of the PRC and Russia, which are far lower than those of other permanent council members, the Sankei Shimbun said.

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16. Sino-Japanese East Sea Gas Dispute

Kyodo (“JAPAN, CHINA TO HOLD E. CHINA SEA GAS TALKS ON FRI., SAT.”, 2005-09-27) reported that Japan and the PRC will hold talks on Friday and Saturday in Tokyo to discuss a dispute over the PRC’s gas and oil development in the East China Sea, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

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17. Sino-Japanese Relations

Reuters (“CHINA DISMISSES TALK OF MILITARY THREAT TO JAPAN”, 2005-09-27) reported that the PRC dismissed on Tuesday a Japanese newspaper report that Tokyo’s military had drawn up a defense plan citing the slight possibility of a PRC invasion, saying it posed no threat to its neighbour. Any talk of a “China threat” was a product of “ulterior motives”, PRC Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a news conference.

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18. PRC Military Exercise

The Associated Press (“CHINA LAUNCHES MAJOR WAR GAMES “, 2005-09-27) reported that the PRC on Tuesday launched major annual war games in Inner Mongolia, pitting 16,000 troops against each other in a mock battle observed by military officers from a record 24 nations. Code-named “North Sword 2005,” the exercise was being held at the sprawling Zhurihe training base amid dry grasslands about 310 miles northeast of Beijing, the Shanghai Daily newspaper and other official media reported.

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19. PRC Military

The Associated Press (“CHINESE COMMISSION NEW CLASS OF WARSHIPS “, 2005-09-27) reported that the PRC’s navy has commissioned the first in a new class of domestically designed and built warships, official media reported Tuesday. The report gave no other details about the ship, but Western military experts have described it as the first in the 054 Ma’anshan class, representing the PRC’s most advanced missile frigates.

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20. PRC WMD Export Controls

Reuters (“CHINA NOT ENFORCING WMD EXPORT CONTROLS: RAND”, 2005-09-27) reported that the PRC lacks the ability to enforce export controls on technologies used to produce weapons of mass destruction, undermining its claims to be a responsible global power, an influential US research group said. The RAND Corporation report says that while the PRC has stepped up regulations on exports of WMD-related technologies in the past decade, it is still hampered by a lack of financial resources and qualified people to properly implement and enforce its own rules.

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21. Sino-Indian Relations

Agence France Presse (“INDIA AND CHINA END BORDER TALKS WITH LITTLE PROGRESS”, 2005-09-27) reported that Asian giants India and the PRC ended a sixth round of border talks with no apparent progress in settling a dispute that has languished since a 1962 frontier conflict, officials said. “The talks have concluded, I really have nothing to share with you on the progress made,” said Sanjay Verma, spokesman for the Indian Embassy in the PRC, on Tuesday.

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22. Hong Kong Lawmakers in the PRC

The Associated Press (“HONG KONG LAWMAKERS BADGER BEIJING ENVOY “, 2005-09-27) reported that visiting Hong Kong lawmakers badgered a top PRC official about Beijing’s bloody crackdown on protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989, shouted pro-democracy slogans, complained about the pollution and went to church in an officially atheist state. But as the lawmakers’ historic trip to the PRC’s southern Guangdong province winded down Monday, the big question was whether Communist officials had reached the limits of their tolerance.

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23. PRC Death Penalty

BBC News (“CHINA TO REVIEW DEATH SENTENCES”, 2005-09-27) reported that the PRC’s top court is to regain its power to review death sentences, as the authorities move to stem criticism that the death penalty is too widely used. The PRC carried out at least 3,400 executions last year, according to rights group Amnesty International. The Supreme People’s Court is setting up three branch courts in order to conduct the reviews, according to PRC state media.

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II. CanKor

24. CanKor #220

CanKor (“JOINT STATEMENT OF THE FOURTH ROUND OF SIX-PARTY TALKS “, 2005-09-27) The fourth round of Six-Party Talks concludes in Beijing on 19 September 2005 with a six-point joint statement summarizing the principles on which future negotiations will be based. CanKor reproduces the statement as released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.

(return to top) CanKor (“US-KOREAN DEAL ON ARMS LEAVES KEY POINTS OPEN “, 2005-09-27) Heated debate within the Bush administration and last-minute pressures from China precede the US signature to the agreed statement, which marks a significant concession to the DPRK, accepting the principle of “commitment for commitment, action for action,” which has been pursued by the DPRK for the past 3 years. What is left uncomfortably open is the timing of nuclear disarmament, with the DPRK insisting that it should receive a light-water reactor before dismantling its nuclear weapons programme, and the USA saying the only appropriate time to discuss civilian nuclear power is well after the dismantling of all nuclear facilities under highly intrusive inspections. (return to top) CanKor (“DPRK AGREES TO RESUME TALKS WITH JAPAN “, 2005-09-27) Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura announces that the DPRK and Japan will resume bilateral talks to broach “outstanding issues,” taken to mean the controversial abductions of Japanese citizens and the DPRK’s missiles. (return to top) CanKor (“DPRK REJECTS UN FOOD AID “, 2005-09-27) The UK-based agency Fitch Ratings considers raising the credit rating on ROK following the Six-Party Joint Statement. The ROK Ministry of Finance welcomes this news, claiming that both Standard and Poor (S&P) and Moody’s Investors Service are likely to follow suit, as they have previously cited the DPRK’s nuclear brinkmanship as the biggest risk to the Korean Peninsula. (return to top) CanKor (“FITCH TO RAISE KOREA’S CREDIT RATING “, 2005-09-27) DPRK Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Su Hon meets with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York, requesting the UN to cease food aid shipments by the end of this year, in favour of long-term development assistance. The DPRK also wishes foreign NGO aid workers to leave the country, and accuses the USA of politicizing humanitarian assistance by linking it to the human rights issue. UN relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland urges the DPRK to reverse this decision, worrying that the abruptness of the cut-off will harm the country’s children. (return to top) CanKor (“DPRK PROMOTES FEDERAL SYSTEM OF REUNIFICATION “, 2005-09-27) A letter received by CanKor directly from the DPRK Permanent Mission to the United Nations headquarters in New York promotes the DPRK’s reunification formula, namely the creation of a “confederal republic” of Korea, which operates on the principle of “one nation, one state, two systems, two governments”. The letter, authored by the Korean Committee for Solidarity with the World’s People and sent to supporters worldwide, points to the “miraculous changes” that have occurred in the past several years, such as the reconnection of severed railways and roadways, demonstrating that coexistence of different systems and ideas is possible. Reunification under this formula would stabilize the security of the entire north-east Asian region, claims the letter. (return to top)