I. NAPSnet

1. DPRK on Nuclear Program

Reuters (“N.KOREA SAYS US USING TALKS AS PRETEXT FOR ATTACK”, 2005-09-21) reported that the DPRK accused the US on Wednesday of using diplomatic talks to try and take away its nuclear arms so that Washington could crush the DPRK with an atomic weapons strike. “Clear is the ulterior intention of the US talking about settlement of the nuclear issue through dialogue under the pretext of the six party talks. In a word, it is to disarm the DPRK and stifle it with nuke,” according to a report carried on the official KCNA news agency.

(return to top) Yonhap News (“P’YANG STRESSES POSSESSION OF NUCLEAR REACTOR IS ITS SOVREIGN RIGHT “, 2005-09-21) reported that DPRK’s abandonment of its nuclear weapons program depends on the US’ provision of light-water nuclear reactors, a pro-DPRK newspaper published in Tokyo said on Wednesday. Washington should provide Pyongyang with the nuclear reactors if it wants to see dismantlement of DPRK’s atomic weapons, Chosun Sinbo said. “North Korea has already decided to abandon its nuclear program, and it will not backpedal on the commitment,” it said. “Provision of a nuclear reactor to North Korea is not a gift from the US but Pyongyang’s sovereign right to peaceful nuclear activities.” (return to top)

2. US on DPRK Nuclear Program

The New York Times (“U.S. SAYS NORTH KOREAN DEMAND FOR REACTOR WON’T DERAIL ACCORD”, 2005-09-21) reported that the Bush administration on Tuesday brushed off a demand from DPRK for a light-water nuclear reactor, saying that the accord announced Monday in Beijing left it clear that the DPRK must abandon its nuclear weapons program before such a matter can be discussed. “I think we will not get hung up on this statement,” said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, referring to a comment from DPRK that it would continue to insist on getting a reactor up front, as a price for agreeing to the Beijing deal. “We will stick to the text of the Beijing statement, and I believe we can make progress if everybody sticks to what was actually agreed to.”

(return to top) The New York Times (“U.S.-KOREAN DEAL ON ARMS LEAVES KEY POINTS OPEN”, 2005-09-19) reported that according to US officials, Christopher Hill still has misgivings regarding the six party agreement. Hill felt, the vaguely worded six party agreement did not address the date disarmament would happen. Furthermore, the agreement hinted that there would be time to discuss a civilian nuclear power plant with the DPRK, a concession that the Bush administration said they would not waiver on. (return to top) The Korea Times (“US PREPARED TO DISCUSS LIGHT-WATER REACTOR: RICE “, 2005-09-21) reported that it is “worth” discussing the provision of a light-water reactor to DPRK in the future, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview in New York on Tuesday. The top American diplomat, however, said that Pyongyang should first return to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. (return to top) The Globe and Mail (“PEACE GAINS A FOOTHOLD ON KOREAN PENINSULA “, 2005-09-20) reported that US President George W. Bush welcomed the six party deal with the DPRK. “They have said, in principle, that they will abandon their weapons programs,” Mr. Bush said. “And what we have said is, ‘Great. That’s a wonderful step forward.’ But now we’ve got to verify whether that happens.” (return to top)

3. Russia on DPRK Nuclear Program

RIA Novosti (“N.KOREA SHOULD END ITS NUCLEAR PROGRAM BEFORE GETTING REACTOR-RUSSIA”, 2005-09-21) reported that according to Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, discussion of light-water nuclear reactors to DPRK can only be considered after it dismantles its nuclear program. Lavrov and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice agreed that the sequence of steps laid down in the six party agreements should be observed.

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4. US, PRC, Japan on DPRK Nuclear Program

Agence France Presse (“US AND CHINA ON SAME KOREAN NKOREAN NUCLEAR PAGE, KOIZUMI CALLS FOR RESPECT “, 2005-09-21) reported that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met her PRC counterpart Li Zhaoxing and both agreed that the DPRK nuclear deal reached in Beijing was binding on the parties, a US spokesman said. “They both agreed that the agreement signed in Beijing by the six parties was the binding text for (the) parties, including on the question of light water reactors,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. Separately Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi called for DPRK to respect the agreement reached at talks in Beijing to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

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5. ROK Aid to DPRK

The Korea Times (“N. KOREA ENERGY AID MAY TOP $12 BIL.”, 2005-09-21) reported that with the DPRK nuclear disarmament agreement reached during the six party talks, experts estimate over 12 trillion won ($11.5 billion) will be required to keep ROK’s massive energy and power supply promise by 2018.

(return to top) The Korea Herald (“DEBATE BREWS OVER SEOUL’S EXPENSES FOR NORTH KOREA “, 2005-09-21) reported that debate is simmering over the scope of expenses ROK would need to bear when compensating DPRK for its nuclear dismantlement. New business proposals such as logistics and building infrastructure for telecommunication will also involve some hundreds of billions of won in expenses, they said. The government is currently pushing to endorse a special law on developing inter-Korean relations that will enable systemized planning on projects related to the two Koreas. (return to top)

6. ROK Credit Rating

Chosun Ilbo (“N.KOREAN DEMANDS FREEZE MOODY’S RATING OF S. KOREA “, 2005-09-21) reported that credit rating agency Moody’s has shelved a plan to upgrade ROK’s credit rating born when talks on DPRK’s nuclear program reached agreement Monday. Moody’s said in a press release Wednesday it had considered raising ROK’s sovereign credit rating to the “positive” level on Monday, when the six countries at the talks agreed on a statement of principles. But after Pyongyang on Tuesday made it clear that it understood the principles very differently from the US, Moody’s kept ROK’s credit rating at the current level of A3.

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7. US-ROK Military Strategy

Chosun Ilbo (“U.S. TO HAND COUNTERFIRE COMMAND TO SOUTH KOREA “, 2005-09-21) reported that the ROK will take back another part of wartime operations command from the US on Oct. 1, when control of counterfire to neutralize any DPRK long-range artillery attacks on Seoul passes from the US Forces Korea to the domestic military. For such missions, the ROK military – the Third ROK Army command — will be in charge of both ROK and US forces.

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8. US-ROK Military Alliance

Joongang Ilbo (“MAJORITY OPPOSES U.S. TROOP PRESENCE”, 2005-09-21) reported that a majority of Koreans now want US forces to withdraw from this country, a recent survey by the JoongAng Ilbo showed. According to the poll, commissioned on the newspaper’s 40th anniversary, 54 percent of respondents wanted the G.I.s out. The proportion of Koreans opposed to a US military presence here has increased steadily over the past three years.

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9. ROK Military

Agence France Presse (“S. KOREA SAYS WILL DEVELOP COMBAT ROBOTS “, 2005-09-21) reported that the ROK announced it was developing highly sophisticated combat robots that could complement the roles of human soldiers on battlefields. The ministries of defense and information and communication approved a joint project worth 32.4 million dollars to develop the robot system by 2011.

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10. Japan Postal Reform

Agence France Presse (“JAPAN’S KOIZUMI VOWS MORE REFORM AHEAD “, 2005-09-21) reported that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pledged to push ahead with more privatization after he breaks up the powerful post office as parliament got to work following his landslide election victory. “First, we will work for the legislature to pass the postal reforms,” Koizumi told a press conference. “Then, we will press forward on our principles to privatize what can be privatized and decentralize what can be done by local authorities.”

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11. Japan Afghanistan Aid Mission

The Associated Press (“JAPAN TO EXTEND AFGHAN TROOP AID MISSION “, 2005-09-21) reported that Japan intends to extend its mission in the Indian Ocean in support of US-led troops in Afghanistan for another year, the government’s spokesman said Wednesday. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said the decision was made prior to a special session of Parliament to convene Wednesday. The current mission expires on Nov. 1.

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12. Sino-Japanese East Sea Gas Dispute

Kyodo (“JAPAN, CHINA TO HOLD E. CHINA SEA GAS TALKS LATE NEXT WEEK”, 2005-09-21) reported that Japan and the PRC have agreed to hold talks late next week in Tokyo to settle a dispute over PRC gas and oil development in the East China Sea, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Wednesday. The talks will be the third of their kind and Japan plans to repeat its demand for a halt of the PRC gas projects and ask for concrete data on the exploration during the upcoming bilateral meeting, the minister told reporters.

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13. US on Cross Strait Relations

Agence France Presse (“PENTAGON OFFICIAL WARNS TAIWAN ON DEFENSE SPENDING “, 2005-09-21) reported that Edward Ross, a top official with the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, said US government officials, members of Congress and business people were increasingly raising questions about Taiwan’s commitment to its own defense. “They ask us, ‘if Taiwan is not willing to properly invest in its own self-defense, why should we, the US, provide for its self-defense,'” he said.

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14. PRC Justice System

The New York Times (“DEEP FLAWS, AND LITTLE JUSTICE, IN CHINA’S COURT SYSTEM”, 2005-09-21) reported that justice in the PRC is swift but not sure. Criminal investigations nearly always end in guilty pleas. Prosecutors almost never lose cases brought to trial. But recent disclosures of wrongful convictions have exposed deep flaws in a judicial system that often answers more to political leaders than the law. The law has become a front line in the PRC’s struggle to modernize under one-party rule.

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15. Sino-Russian Gas Market

Bloomberg News (“GAZPROM IN TALKS TO SUPPLY CHINA WITH GAS”, 2005-09-21) reported that Gazprom, the world’s biggest producer of natural gas, said Wednesday that it was discussing a deal to sell gas from Russia to China National Petroleum. Russia’s monopoly gas supplier is developing new markets in Asia to maintain export growth forecast at 6.4 percent this year, the deputy chief executive, Alexander Medvedev, told reporters in Beijing.

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16. Sino-US Resource Competition

The Associated Press (“CHINA UNLIKELY TO CUT VENEZUELA’S U.S. OIL “, 2005-09-21) reported that the PRC’s increased interest in the Venezuelan oil industry is unlikely to have any effect on US supplies, a top State Department official said. Charles Shapiro, a senior Western Hemisphere specialist at the State Department, told a Senate panel looking at the PRC’s role in Latin America that it would be economically painful for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to make good on a reported threat to cut off oil shipments to the US.

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17. PRC Coal Supply

Washington Post (“INDONESIA’S ILLEGAL COAL MINES FEED CHINA”, 2005-09-21) reported that the PRC coal rush has helped transform the coast of Indonesia’s South Kalimantan province since late 2003 as traders from the PRC have streamed into Borneo, seeking to exploit a largely unregulated landscape populated by dealmakers, gangsters and wildcat miners. The PRC, a large and growing consumer of minerals and other natural resources, is increasingly looking south to Indonesia.

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18. PRC Power Supply

Reuters (“CHINA BEATS THE POWER CRUNCH”, 2005-09-21) reported that the PRC has emerged from the summer with far fewer electricity blackouts and shortages than feared, potentially closing the latest chapter in its boom- and-bust power sector saga. Better demand management, rainy weather and improved coal transport helped close supply gaps, in turn curbing the need for extra oil supplies to power independent generators, a key reason for this year’s surprisingly weak oil demand.

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19. PRC Environment

Reuters (“POLLUTION TURNS CHINA VILLAGE INTO CANCER CLUSTER “, 2005-09-21) reported that the residents of Huangmenying village are poor, even by PRC standards, but more and more are opting to splash out for bottled water rather than drink from local wells. Well water, they say, gives you cancer. Their fears are backed by the unusually large number of cancer cases in this village of fewer than 2,500 in central Henan province.

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20. PRC AIDS Issue

Xinhua (“GLOBAL FUNDS HELP SOUTH CHINA REGION FIGHT AIDS”, 2005-09-21) reported that five cities and 13 counties in south PRC’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region will benefit from a five-year anti-AIDS program with aid of over 10 million US dollars from the Global Fund. The program aims to help concerned departments, especially non-governmental organizations in the region, prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among mainline drug consumers and underground prostitutes and reduce the negative impact of the killer disease by introducing comprehensive preventive measures, according to the regional health department.

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