NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, June 21, 2006

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NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, June 21, 2006

NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, June 21, 2006

I. NAPSNet

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. NAPSNet

1. DPRK Missile Test

Associated Press (“U.S. NIXES DIRECT TALKS WITH NORTH KOREA “, 2006-06-21) reported that the DPRK said Wednesday it wants direct talks with the US over its apparent plans to test-fire a long-range missile, but a top US envoy rejected the request. The DPRK this week issued a bristling declaration of its right to carry out the launch and said US concerns should be resolved through negotiations. US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton said a missile threat wasn’t the way to seek dialogue. “You don’t normally engage in conversations by threatening to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles, and it’s not a way to produce a conversation because if you acquiesce in aberrant behavior, you simply encourage the repetition of it, which we’re obviously not going to do,” Bolton told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.

(return to top) Bloomberg (“CHINA TELLS NORTH KOREA TO REFRAIN FROM MISSILE TEST “, 2006-06-21) reported that the PRC joined the US, Japan, the ROK and Australia in telling the DPRK to refrain from testing a long-range missile, saying it may damage six-nation talks on ending the DPRK’s nuclear program. The PRC has told the DPRK there are “a lot of concerns,” Ambassador Wang Guangya, the PRC’s envoy to the UN, said in an interview yesterday. “If they do it, then the political atmosphere among the major parties will be very negative,” Wang said. “You cannot say this action is a violation of this or that convention, but it would not be a constructive move.” Wang said the PRC’s government has “checked with” the DPRK to determine whether a launch is imminent. Officials in Pyongyang didn’t provide any information, he said. (return to top) JoongAng Ilbo (“U.S. CHALLENGES ‘SATELLITE’ THEORY”, 2006-06-21) reported that the US ambassador to Seoul, Alexander Vershbow, yesterday challenged Seoul’s cautions that the DPRK might be preparing to launch a satellite rather than test an intercontinental ballistic missile. After visiting former President Kim Dae-jung yesterday, Mr. Vershbow said a test launch would be a “serious matter” and the test had military implications. “The view of the U.S. government is that this missile has a military capability,” he told reporters after meeting Mr. Kim. (return to top)

2. DPRK Missile Arsenal

Associated Press (“A LOOK AT NORTH KOREA’S MISSILE ARSENAL”, 2006-06-21) reported that the DPRK is believed to have an arsenal of ballistic missiles and has claimed to have a nuclear weapon. It isn’t believed to have a nuclear bomb small and light enough to be carried by a missile. A look at some of the missiles the nation is believed to control. TAEPODONG-2: Believed to be the DPRK’s most advanced missile, with a range as long as 9,320 miles. Experts estimate it could potentially hit the mainland US with a small payload. However, the missile is unlikely to be accurate. TAEPODONG-1: The DPRK is believed to have test-launched this long-range missile in August 1998. The second stage landed off Japan’s eastern coast. The missile, with an estimated range of up to 1,800 miles, is believed capable of striking any part of Japan. NODONG: As many as 200 Nodong missiles are in the DPRK’s arsenal. With a range of about 620 miles, Japan is their most likely target. The missiles can be fired from mobile launchers and have been sold abroad. SCUD: The DPRK is believed to have more than 600 Scud-type missiles that are relatively short-range and would potentially target the ROK.

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3. Expert on DPRK Weapons Capabilities

Yonhap (“U.S. EXPERT SUGGESTS NORTH KOREAN THREAT FROM NUCLEAR DETONATION IN SPACE”, 2006-06-21) reported that obtaining intercontinental missile capability means the DPRK would be able to attack US satellites, possibly thwarting everyday lives as well as space-based US military capabilities, an American expert suggested Wednesday. Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution focusing on Asian security issues, said the DPRK is already likely able to jam precision weapons that rely on global positioning satellites.

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4. US-ROK Relations

Chosun Ilbo (“SOUTH KOREA’S LINES OF COMMUNICATION ARE CUT”, 2006-06-21) reported that White House spokesman Tony Snow said Tuesday that President George W. Bush contacted some dozen heads of state on the DPRK’s rumored imminent launch of a ballistic missile. Surely the US needs the closest cooperation from the ROK, but Bush did not talk to our president. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice substituted their talk with a conversation with Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon.

(return to top) Chosun Ilbo (“RICE TO VISIT KOREA NEXT MONTH”, 2006-06-21) reported that amid a continuing threat of a missile test launch by the DPRK, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is likely to visit the ROK. “Secretary Rice plans a visit to Korea sometime next month so that the two countries can discuss ideas on the missile issue as well as reopening the six-way talks on the North’s nuclear situation,” a diplomatic source said on Tuesday. “The two countries are currently discussing a concrete timetable for the visit.” Rice is expected to meet with Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon and likely to deliver a message from President George W. Bush to President Roh Moo-hyun. (return to top)

5. EU on US DPRK Policy

Associated Press (“EUROPEANS BACK BUSH ON IRAN, NORTH KOREA”, 2006-06-21) reported that President Bush on Wednesday won a robust endorsement from European leaders for his tough approach to nuclear standoffs with Iran and the DPRK, despite trans-Atlantic differences on Iraq, Guantanamo Bay and trade. EU leaders emerged from a summit with Bush in this capital of cafes and cobblestones to back US demands that the DPRK abandon a long-range missile test and that Iran quit dragging its feet in responding to a Western plan aimed at getting it to suspend uranium enrichment activity.

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6. UN on DPRK Nuclear Development

Yonhap (“ANNAN RAPS N. KOREA ‘S NUCLEAR PROGRAM”, 2006-06-21) reported that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday urged the DPRK to comply with international calls regarding its nuclear development amid growing concern over Pyongyang ‘s alleged plan to test-fire a missile that could be equipped with a nuclear warhead. Speaking at the UN Conference on Disarmament, Annan said the DPRK should “listen to what the world is telling them, and take great care not to make the situation on the Korean Peninsula even more complicated.”

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7. Kim Dae-jung’s DPRK Visit

International Herald Tribune (“SOUTH KOREA’S EX-LEADER WON’T VISIT NORTH”, 2006-06-21) reported that the former ROK president, Kim Dae Jung, scrapped plans to visit the DPRK next week, as the US ambassador to Japan warned Wednesday that “all options are on the table” if the DPRK launched a long-range missile in violation of a self-imposed test moratorium. Kim Dae Jung canceled a planned trip to Pyongyang, where he had hoped to meet Kim Jong Il, the DPRK leader, next week, his aides announced Wednesday.

(return to top) Yonhap (“POLITICAL PARTIES DIFFER OVER EX-PRESIDENT KIM DAE-JUNG’S DELAYED N.K. VISIT”, 2006-06-21) reported that although the ROK’s ruling and opposition parties expressed regret over the delay of former President Kim Dae-jung’s visit to the DPRK, they differed on when to reschedule the trip. While the ruling Uri Party stressed that the trip must be made in the near future, the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) insisted that the current administration must first alter its policy toward the DPRK before rescheduling the anticipated trip. (return to top)

8. Inter-Korean Aid

Chosun Ilbo (“SEOUL LINKS A MISSILE TEST TO A HALT IN AID”, 2006-06-21) reported that in Seoul yesterday, Lee Jong-seok, the unification minister, told the opposition Grand National Party’s interim leader, Kim Young-sun, that it would be “difficult” to continue economic aid to the DPRK if it tested a missile. But he said that Seoul’s action would be “limited sanctions” only. He did not elaborate, except to say that operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex would not be affected. A Unification Ministry official said plans to ship the remaining 100,000 tons of fertilizer and shipments of rice could be withheld if the DPRK’s missile lifts off.

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9. US Missile Test

Air Force News Agency (“MINUTEMAN TEST TO KWAJALEIN TARGETS SUCCESSFUL”, 2006-06-14) reported that an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from Launch Facility-04 on North Vandenberg at 1:22 a.m. The missile’s three unarmed re-entry vehicles traveled approximately 4,800 miles in about 30 minutes, hitting pre-determined targets at the Kwajelin Missile Range in the western chain of the Marshall Islands. The primary purpose of the launch was to assess and demonstrate the operational effectiveness of the Minuteman III weapon system.

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10. US Missile Defense System

Reuters (“US ACTIVATES MISSILE DEFENSE AMID N.KOREA DISPUTE “, 2006-06-20) reported that the US has activated its ground-based interceptor missile-defense system amid concerns over an expected DPRK missile launch, a US defense official said on Tuesday. Pentagon officials declined to say whether they would try to shoot down any missile launched by the reclusive state, but other US officials have said that is unlikely, assuming the launch is aimed at open water.

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11. US-Japan Missile Defense Cooperation

The Associated Press (“U.S., JAPAN TO TEST MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEMS OFF HAWAII”, 2006-06-21) reported that the US and Japan plan to test their missile defense systems off Hawaii today. A US Navy ship is due to shoot down a multistage target during the test while Japan’s navy plans to position one of its vessels nearby to practice tracking the target.

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12. US-ROK Trade Relations

The Korea Times (“US STICKS TO EXCLUDING KAESONG FROM FTA”, 2006-06-21) reported that the US does not want goods produced in the Kaesong industrial complex to be included in the free trade agreement (FTA) with the ROK, a senior economic official at the US Embassy in Seoul said. He said that if the US accepts the ROK’s proposal of including goods manufactured by ROK companies in the industrial complex in the DPRK in the FTA, that would bring the DPRK into the FTA.

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13. US-Japan Trade

Agence France-Presse (“ENDING RIFT, JAPAN TO BUY US BEEF AGAIN “, 2006-06-21) reported that Japan has agreed to resume buying US beef banned over mad cow disease as it faced threats of sanctions, its latest turnaround in a dispute that has strained ties between the close allies. The agreement removes a main point of friction from the agenda when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi heads next week to the US on a farewell tour before stepping down.

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14. Taiwan Leadership

Agence France-Presse (“TAIWAN OPPOSITION LEADER DEMANDS CHEN’S RESIGNATION IN INTERESTS OF COUNTRY “, 2006-06-21) reported that Taiwan’s opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou demanded that President Chen Shui-bian quit to take responsibility for corruption scandals implicating his family, saying he has lost the people’s trust. “President Chen, it’s time you seriously considering quitting the presidency… Should you do it now, you may win the last respect from the people,” Ma, chief of the Kuomintang (KMT), said in a speech televised nationwide.

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15. PRC-South Africa Relations

Agence France-Presse (“CHINESE PM IN SOUTH AFRICA ON PATHBREAKING VISIT “, 2006-06-21) reported that PRC Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in South Africa on the highest level visit in 50 years, saying he hoped to strengthen ties between the two giants of the developing world. “I am visiting South Africa to strengthen China-South Africa friendship, enhance mutual political trust, expand cooperation of mutual benefit and promote common development,” Wen said in a statement.

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