NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, October 05, 2005

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NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, October 05, 2005

NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, October 05, 2005

I. NAPSnet

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. NAPSnet

1. US on DPRK Nuclear Program

Washington Post (“U.S. TO PUSH KOREANS ON NUCLEAR PROGRAM”, 2005-10-05) reported that with the fragile framework of a nuclear agreement in hand, President Bush’s envoys now plan to push the DPRK to begin disclosing the extent and locations of its secret development programs right away to test the sincerity of Pyongyang’s commitment to give up its pursuit of atomic weapons. President Bush and his advisers want to translate the pact’s ambiguous language into a more concrete set of obligations, senior officials said. By pressing for tangible actions by Pyongyang, though, the officials acknowledge that they could aggravate the DPRK and jeopardize the precarious accord.

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2. Six Party Talks

The Associated Press (“DIPLOMACY EXPECTED AHEAD OF NUKE TALKS “, 2005-10-05) reported that the ROK’s foreign minister said Wednesday his chief nuclear negotiator would visit the US and the PRC later this month to lay the groundwork for a new round of international disarmament talks on the DPRK. Ban Ki-moon also said the PRC and the US have similar plans to send envoys to other countries ahead of a new round of six party talks scheduled for early next month. “We’re going to dispatch our chief nuclear negotiator to the United States and China for advance consultations,” Ban told a weekly press briefing. “There will be discussions on … proactive steps each party can take” to implement last month’s accord of goals and principles, he said.

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3. DPRK-US Relations

Chosun Ilbo (“HILL WARNS OF DIFFICULT N. KOREA TALKS AHEAD “, 2005-10-05) reported that The US chief negotiator in the six party talks said Tuesday he was keeping in touch with the DPRK through its UN mission in New York ahead of the next round of talks slated for November. Hill added the US would be stepping up its diplomatic efforts before talks resume with visits to the other countries in the talks, which group ROK, PRC, Russia and Japan. Asked about Pyongyang’s refusal of further food aid from the international community and quasi-expulsion of UN World Food Program staff, Hill said Washington’s conclusion was that the DPRK still needs food aid.

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4. DPRK-USFK Military Inspections

Donga Ilbo (“INTERVIEW WITH CAMPBELL “, 2005-10-04) reported that Charles Campbell, commander of the US Forces Korea (USFK), said on Monday that he is willing to accept the DPRK’s nuclear inspection of US bases in Korea. Korea and the US are willing to accept mutual inspection with the DPRK on nuclear facilities with a view to resolve the DPRK nuclear issue. When asked what he thinks about the DPRK’s insistence on including US bases in Korea in the nuclear inspection on the Korean peninsula, Campbell told this paper Monday, “We can take appropriate measures if they are for peace and co-existence.”

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5. DPRK Human Rights

Yonhap News (“ACTIVISTS PROTEST SEOUL’S MOVE TO REPATRIATE FORMER N.K. SPIES “, 2005-10-05) reported that about two-dozen anti-DPRK activists staged a street protest Wednesday against a government move to send home convicted spies in an effort to promote reconciliation between the two divided Korean states. Do Hui-yoon, who heads a citizen’s coalition for human rights of abductees and DPRK refugees, said the ROK gesture should be reciprocated by the DPRK. “The government should not consider the repatriation of North Koreans without a reciprocal reaction from North Korea,” Do said. “It should work harder to secure the release of South Korean citizens.”

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6. UN on DPRK Human Rights

The Donga Ilbo (“U.N. RELEASES NORTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT”, 2005-10-05) reported that the UN’s 22-page report on the DPRK human rights situation, to be discussed in the ongoing UN General Assembly 60th Session, has recently been disclosed on the UN website. It includes details about abduction of Japanese nationals and status of DPRK defectors in Mongolia, among others. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade believes that a stringent resolution on the DPRK human rights is likely to be adopted with the release of the report in the current session of the UN General Assembly.

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7. UN on DPRK Food Aid

Reuters (“N.KOREA PLANNING TO RATION FOODGRAINS – UN OFFICIAL”, 2005-10-05) reported that the DPRK might stop the sale of food grains on the open market and return to a rationing system where the staple will only be provided through distribution centers, a spokesman for the UN World Food Programme said. The move comes after the DPRK said it no longer wanted direct emergency food handouts from aid agencies and was looking to build a more self-sufficient food sector. “Our understanding is that later this month, product trading in grains will no longer be allowed”. “The change in the grain market being implemented seems to be aimed at making it easier for those who suffered most in the market reforms to be better taken care of,” Gerald Bourke, a spokesman for the WFP based in Beijing, said on Wednesday.

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8. Hyundai Probe

Joongang Ilbo (“NORTH PIQUED AS HYUNDAI OUSTS EXECUTIVE”, 2005-10-05) reported that the Hyundai Group dismissed former Hyundai Asan chief executive Kim Yoon-kyu as its vice chairman yesterday over charges of misappropriation of company and state funds. Meanwhile, DPRK officials continue to express their dismay at the public disclosure of the charges against Mr. Kim, who was an instrumental figure in Hyundai’s business dealings with the DPRK.

(return to top) The Korea Herald (“HYUNDAI SCANDAL RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT STATE FUNDING OF N.K. AID “, 2005-10-05) reported that the scandal involving a former Hyundai Group pointman to the DPRK has raised questions about the transparency of the government’s management of funds for inter-Korean economic cooperation. An in-house investigation at Hyundai Asan, the group’s DPRK business arm, found that former chief executive Kim Yoon-kyu embezzled billions of won in company funds, including state subsidies, in connection with the cross-border tourism project. (return to top)

9. DPRK-PRC Economic Cooperation

Xinhuanet (“KIM JONG-IL INSPECTS CHINA-AIDED GLASS FACTORY”, 2005-10-04) reported that Kim Jong-il inspected the newly established Tae-an Friendship Glass Factory, which was built with aid from the PRC. The factory, seen as “a symbol of the DPRK-China friendship”, covers hundreds of thousands of square meters and owns a big production capacity. All the main production processes and auxiliary facilities are equipped with the latest technologies.

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10. Japan-DPRK Bilateral Talks

Joongang Daily (“JAPAN AND NORTH KOREA PLAN TO RELAUNCH TALKS”, 2005-10-05) reported that the ROK Foreign Ministry official said yesterday that Japan and the DPRK have agreed to restart negotiations next week aimed at normalizing ties between the countries. “Both sides are currently in the final stages of deciding on a venue for the negotiations where senior working-level officials are expected to meet,” the official said. Negotiations are expected to encompass several issues ranging from the DPRK nuclear programs to Japanese abductees.

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11. Japan on DPRK Abductions

Agency France Presse (“JAPANESE TRADE MINISTER CALLS FOR SANCTIONS AGAINST NKOREA”, 2005-10-05) reported that Japan’s trade minister called for economic sanctions against the DPRK to resolve the Cold War kidnappings of Japanese citizens by Pyongyang agents. “If it helps solve the abduction issue, I believe they (sanctions) should be launched as soon as possible,” Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Shoichi Nakagawa told the upper house budget committee. His comments came as Japan prepared to resume talks with the DPRK which have been stalled for almost a year in the dispute over the kidnappings.

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12. US Arms in the ROK

Washington Post (“DISREPAIR CITED IN U.S. ARMS”, 2005-10-05) reported that critical US military war stocks in the ROK fell into such significant disrepair in the past year that it could have slowed a US ground response to DPRK hostilities or another Pacific conflict, unreleased classified and unclassified US government reports show. But even after government inspectors found, starting in October 2004, that at least half and as much as 80 percent of the heavy weapons and other fighting gear were not “fully mission capable.”

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13. Japanese Remilitarization

Arirang News (“MOST JAPANESE OPPOSE AMENDMENT TO PEACE CONSTITUTION”, 2005-10-05) reported that six out of every 10 Japanese believe Article 9 of their Constitution, which renounces war, should not be altered in any way even if other revisions are to be made to the basic law. A survey of some 4,550 people by the Japanese daily Mainichi Shimbun showed more than half of the respondents in favor of a general revamp of the Constitution.

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14. Yasukuni Shrine Issue

Agence France Presse (“JAPANESE PM WINS COURT CASE ON SHRINE “, 2005-10-05) reported that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi won a victory with a court throwing out a lawsuit over his visits to a war shrine, less than a week after a landmark judgment saying he violated the constitution. The Takamatsu High Court in western Japan dismissed a suit by plaintiffs seeking damages over Koizumi’s visits to Yasukuni shrine, which honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead including top war criminals.

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15. Japan Cyberattacks

United Press International (“JAPAN TO STAGE MOCK CYBERATTACKS”, 2005-10-05) reported that Japan will conduct nationwide exercises next year to prepare effectively for cyberattacks on computer networks. Mock cyberterrorists will simulate attacks on computer networks of businesses and government organizations to discover vulnerable areas, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Wednesday.

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16. Japan on Russo-Japanese Territorial Dispute

Bloomberg (“JAPAN SAYS RUSSIAN OIL DEALS MAY HELP ISLANDS DISPUTE “, 2005-10-05) reported that Japan’s government said it wants joint development of oilfields in Russia to help resolve a territorial dispute that has prevented a peace treaty between the neighbors since World War II. Japan’s investment in the $12.8 billion Sakhalin-1 project may help it gain access to other Russian oil and natural gas ventures, including a proposed oil pipeline from Siberia to the Pacific, Koichi Hirata, parliamentary secretary for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, said.

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17. Russia on Russo-Japanese Territorial Dispute

RIA Novosti (“RUSSIA CAN BUILD SIBERIAN OIL PIPELINE WITHOUT JAPANESE INVESTMENT – YAKOVENKO”, 2005-10-05) reported that Russia does not need Japan’s help to build the East Siberia-Pacific oil pipeline, Russia’s deputy foreign minister told a respected daily Wednesday. In an interview with Izvestia, Alexander Yakovenko said, “Russia is not making the building of the oil pipeline contingent on [its] relations with Japan. We have sufficient resources to build this oil pipeline independently, and should they prove insufficient, additional resources can always be attracted.”

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18. Sino-Russian Trade

RIA Novosti (“POOR INFRASTRUCTURE OBSTRUCTS RUSSIA-CHINA TRADE – PAPER”, 2005-10-05) reported that Russia and the PRC will be unable to bring bilateral trade to the target of $60-80 billion by 2010 unless transport infrastructure is improved and administrative barriers are eliminated, an expert told a popular Russian daily Wednesday. “Even a relatively better infrastructure can substantially increase bilateral trade,” Vremya Novostei quoted Mikhail Dmitriyev, head of the Center for Strategic Studies, as saying.

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19. PRC Leadership

Reuters (“CHINA’S HU EYES PROMOTIONS AT COMMUNIST MEETING”, 2005-10-05) reported that the PRC’s Communist Party gathers behind closed doors this weekend for an annual meeting that will chart a course for the fast-growing economy and may see party chief Hu Jintao further consolidate his power. The spotlight at the four-day meeting in the Soviet-era Jingxi Hotel will be on Hu to see whether he takes the opportunity to maneuver key allies into place, push forward a possible successor and cement his grip on power.

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20. PRC One Child Policy

Chicago Tribune (“CHINESE PEASANTS JAILED TO ENFORCE 1-CHILD RULE”, 2005-10-05) reported that men and women are locked up because their relatives will not agree to undergo government-ordered sterilization or abortion, according to current and former detainees. Such detentions are against the law in the PRC. The jailing of residents here suggests abuses might be occurring on a wider scale than had been previously reported, despite central government pledges to curb violations.

(return to top) Agence France Presse (“CHINESE ACTIVIST FIGHTING FORCED STERILISATIONS BEATEN”, 2005-10-05) reported that a blind social activist who blew the whistle on an east PRC county which forced villagers to undergo sterilizations and detained those who refused has been badly beaten, sources said. On Tuesday Chen was beaten and punched by several thugs allegedly hired by the county government when he tried to leave his home in Dongshigu village, one friend, Xu Zhiyong, told AFP. (return to top)

21. PRC Journalist Arrest

Washington Post (“INTERNAL TIMES MEMO KEY TO CHINA’S CASE”, 2005-10-05) reported that the PRC government’s case against a New York Times researcher relies almost entirely on a copy of an internal Times memo obtained by the State Security Ministry. Susan Chira, the Times’ foreign editor, said the newspaper did not give the government a copy of the memo, which was stored in a file cabinet in the Times Beijing bureau. Asked to comment on the possibility that state security agents searched the office and photocopied it, she replied: “If that were true, we’d be upset. . . . We really don’t know what happened.”

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22. Hong Kong Pirate Radio

Agence France Presse (“HONG KONG ACTIVISTS PROTEST WITH REBEL RADIO BROADCAST”, 2005-10-05) reported that Hong Kong activists have defied the law by airing a pro-democracy unlicensed broadcast in a bid to counter what they see as the loss of media freedom in the PRC territory. Citizens’ Radio, run by a group of 10 activists, broadcast a trial program on Monday evening on the same frequency as that used by a radio station owned by local tycoon Li Ka-shing.

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23. PRC Energy Supply

Xinhua (“SUPER-EFFICIENT NUKE REACTOR SET FOR TRIAL”, 2005-10-05) reported that the PRC scientists are planning super-efficient nuclear reactors that can maximize uranium burn-up and minimize waste in the generation of electricity. If the first experimental reactor, set to be in operation by 2010, is successful, the technology could help relieve the PRC’s uranium supply problems as the country accelerates nuclear power plant construction.

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