NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, June 29, 2006

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NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, June 29, 2006

NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, June 29, 2006

I. NAPSNet

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. NAPSNet

1. DPRK-PRC Relations

Reuters (“CHINA SUMMONS NORTH KOREA ENVOY ON MISSILES: REPORT”, 2006-06-29) reported that the PRC’s foreign ministry summoned the DPRK’s ambassador to convey PRC fears over a possible missile launch, Kyodo news agency said on Thursday. The PRC’s foreign ministry declined to comment on the Kyodo report.

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2. ROK-US Relations

Yonhap (“TOP S. KOREAN SECURITY OFFICIAL TO VISIT WASHINGTON NEXT WEEK”, 2006-06-29) reported that President Roh Moo-hyun’s chief security advisor will visit the US next week to discuss ways of resolving the crisis over the DPRK’s alleged missile launch preparations and resuming the six-way talks on the state’s nuclear weapons program, the presidential office said Thursday. During his trip to Washington starting on Tuesday, Song Min-soon, Roh’s chief secretary for security policy, plans to meet with his US counterpart Stephen Hadley and several other officials, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Jung Tae-ho said.

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3. ROK on DPRK-US Relations

Chosun Ilbo (“U.S., N.KOREA ‘TO MEET ONE-ON-ONE IF N-TALKS RESUME’”, 2006-06-29) reported that the chief presidential security secretary Song Min-soon said Thursday the US and the DPRK “will have no choice” but to hold bilateral talks when six-party negotiations on the DPRK’s nuclear program reconvene. Speaking on KBS radio, Song predicted delegates from the US will visit the DPRK and vice versa since there is no other realistic option for the two to sort out their differences.

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4. DPRK Abduction Issue

Chosun Ilbo (“KIM YOUNG-NAM DENIES ABDUCTION BY N.KOREA”, 2006-06-29) reported that a man presumed to have been kidnapped by the DPRK 28 years ago on Wednesday told reporters he was not the victim of an abduction but drifted out to sea and was rescued by a DPRK vessel. Kim Young-nam also told reporters his former wife Megumi Yokota, who was abducted by the DPRK at the age of 13, later committed suicide and her remains were returned to Japan.

(return to top) JoongAng Ilbo (“‘RESCUED’ KIM SAYS EDUCATION KEPT HIM IN NORTH KOREA”, 2006-06-29) reported that Kim Yong-nam, a RO Korean whom a DPRK agent confirmed had been kidnapped in 1978 from a Jeolla beach, told the ROK press yesterday at Mount Kumgang that he had neither been kidnapped nor voluntarily defected to the DPRK. He said his arrival in the DPRK was an “unexpected accident” and that he stayed in the DPRK in order to get a tuition-free university education. The reaction in the ROK was widespread skepticism. (return to top)

5. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation

Yonhap (“SEOUL TO CONTINUE EFFORTS IN TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, TRAINING FOR N. KOREA”, 2006-06-29) reported that the ROK will intensify efforts in technical assistance and training for the DPRK in order to help the state’s economy grow further, a government official said Thursday. “We should help the North to enhance its understanding of economic principles and their operation mechanism, which will guarantee us more substantial and enduring results from economic assistance to North Korea,” Vice Finance Minister Bahk Byong-won said in a speech at a forum titled “Knowledge Sharing for Economic Development of North Korea.” “Material assistance without economic knowledge and managerial capacity cannot contribute to sustainable economic growth,” he said.

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6. Inter-Korean Olympic Talks

Yonhap (“KOREAS FAIL TO AGREE ON FORMATION OF UNIFIED OLYMPIC TEAM: OFFICIAL”, 2006-06-29) reported that the DPRK and the ROK resumed talks Thursday on ways to field a unified team at upcoming international athletic events, including the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but failed to reach an agreement on details, an official at the ROK’s Unification Ministry told Yonhap News Agency. “The sides reportedly produced a joint press statement that says the next round of talks will be held in mid-July,” the official said while speaking on condition of anonymity.

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7. Japan Naval Redeployment

The Associated Press (“JAPAN ORDERS DESTROYER HOME FROM WAR GAMES OFF HAWAII”, 2006-06-29) reported that Japan has ordered a destroyer with advanced radar to return early from multinational war games in the Pacific Ocean, a defense spokeswoman said Thursday, amid concerns about a possible DPRK missile launch. The destroyer is being recalled from exercises with ships from the US and other allies in waters off Hawaii, a Defense Agency spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity, per agency protocol. She refused to comment on the reason for the schedule change or the timing of the ship’s departure.

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8. Japan-US Relations

Kyodo (“KOIZUMI, BUSH DECLARE NEW GLOBAL-SCALE ALLIANCE WITH COMMON VALUES”, 2006-06-29) reported that Japan and the US on Thursday declared a new alliance for the 21st century, with their leaders agreeing to work with the PRC to keep stability in the region and to stand united in pressuring the DPRK to resolve its missile threat and past abductions of foreigners. In a joint statement issued after talks in Washington, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and US President George W. Bush reaffirmed the strengthening and expansion of the alliance to a global scale based on “common values and interests,” including in areas outside of the traditional security cooperation.

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9. Cross Strait Relations

Agence France-Presse (“CHEN VOWS TO SAFEGUARD TAIWAN SOVEREIGNTY, REJECTS CHINA OVERTURE “, 2006-06-29 ) reported that Taiwan’s independence-leaning President Chen Shui-bian renewed his sovereignty pledge, saying he will not allow “Taiwan to become the second Hong Kong” during the remainder of his term. Chen has rejected Beijing’s persistent “one country, two systems” reunification overtures, saying Taiwanese people would not accept the “yoke” Beijing had placed on Hong Kong.

(return to top) Agence France-Presse (“CHINA SLAMS US VOTE TO DROP RESTRICTIONS ON TAIWAN CONTACTS “, 2006-06-29) reported that the PRC warned a move by US lawmakers to lift a ban on high-level US government contacts with Taiwan was a “serious violation” of the basis of Sino-American relations. Jiang was responding to a vote by the US House of Representatives Wednesday to strike down a ban put in place in 1979 on high-level US government contacts with Taiwan. (return to top)

10. PRC Nuclear Forces

Agence France-Presse (“CHINA’S HU CALLS FOR BUILD UP OF STRATEGIC MISSILE FORCES “, 2006-06-29) reported that PRC President Hu Jintao has pledged to step up scientific and technological reforms in the military, as he marked the 40th anniversary of the nation’s nuclear force, state media said. “To establish a strategic missile armed force and build up the Second Artillery Corps is a major strategic decision of the Communist Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission,” state television quoted Hu as saying.

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11. Lhasa-Golmud Railway Line

The Associated Press (“FIRST RAILWAY TO TIBET READY TO OPERATE “, 2006-06-29) reported that the first railway to Tibet is ready to start operation this weekend, using sealed, oxygenated cars to cope with the thin air and high-tech cooling to keep the frozen track bed stable, the PRC’s Railway Ministry said Thursday. The $4.2 billion rail line, which took four years to build, links Tibet’s capital of Lhasa to Golmud, a small city in Qinghai province already connected to the PRC’s vast rail network. Critics say it is part of a larger campaign by Beijing to crush Tibetan culture by allowing a huge influx of Han Chinese migrants.

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12. PRC Graft Scandal

BBC News (“CHINA NAVY CHIEF SACKED FOR GRAFT”, 2006-06-29) reported that a top-level PRC military official has been sacked for corruption after his mistress turned him in, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Wang Shouye, 62, was sacked as deputy commander of the navy and expelled from the national legislature. Wang is one of the most senior victims of an ongoing anti-corruption drive.

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13. PRC-Vatican Relations

The Associated Press (“VATICAN SEEKS TO RENEW CHINA RELATIONS “, 2006-06-29) reported that two senior Vatican officials have traveled to the PRC to sound out possibilities of re-establishing diplomatic relations, seeking to overcome a major dispute over the Vatican’s tradition that the pope names his bishops. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls issued an unusual one-line statement saying “I have no comment to make” — but he didn’t deny the report, which was seen here as confirmation of the mission.

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