NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, June 28, 2006

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NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, June 28, 2006

NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, June 28, 2006

I. NAPSNet

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. NAPSNet

1. DPRK Missile Test

JoongAng Ilbo (“LAUNCH, NOT MISSILE, RECEDES OVER HORIZON”, 2006-06-28) reported that officials from Tokyo and intelligence sources in Seoul have been pouring cold water on Washington’s assessments of the imminence of a DPRK missile launch. A US senator said somewhat the same thing. In Tokyo, a government official told the press that nothing in the available intelligence suggested that a launch was imminent. He added that there had also been no pick-up in radio chatter in the missile test site area that would suggest unusual activity. There was a sudden burst in the amount of traffic, the official said, before the DPRK launched a missile from there in 1998.

(return to top) Agence France-Presse (“CHINESE PREMIER WEN EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER NORTH KOREA MISSILE”, 2006-06-28) reported that PRC Premier Wen Jiabao has said he is “very concerned” that the DPRK could test fire a missile and urged all sides involved to ensure tensions did not rise further. “We are very concerned about the issue,” Wen told reporters after meeting with Australian Prime Minister John Howard here. “We are following closely the information showing that there might be a possible launch of a missile by DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea).” (return to top) Agence France-Presse (“US WARNS NORTH KOREA AGAINST TALKS ‘BLUFF'”, 2006-06-28) reported that the US warned the DPRK against thinking it could use worries over a possible long-range missile to force the US into direct talks. “If it’s a bluff for direct negotiations, it’s not an advisable way to do it,” White House spokesman Tony Snow told a press briefing. (return to top)

2. Russia-Japan DPRK Relations

Kyodo (“JAPAN, RUSSIA AGREE TO PUT N. KOREA MISSILE, ABDUCTION ON G-8 AGENDA”, 2006-06-28) reported that Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, agreed Wednesday to address the DPRK’s possible test-firing of a long-range missile and abductions of Japanese and other foreign nationals at the Group of Eight summit meeting in mid-July as well as the G-8 foreign ministerial talks Thursday, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said.

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3. Inter-Korean Regional Security Meeting

JoongAng Ilbo (“NORTH-SOUTH MEETING MIGHT OCCUR IN JULY”, 2006-06-28) reported that Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon and his DPRK counterpart, Paek Nam-sun, will both attend a regional security meeting to be held next month in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a ROK government official said yesterday. Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, who is visiting Seoul, told Mr. Ban yesterday in a meeting that Mr. Paek will participate in the Asian Regional Forum (ARF), the official said.

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4. Inter-Korean Artistic Cooperation

Yonhap (“JOINT EXHIBITION TO PRESENT TRADITIONAL CRAFT WORKS FROM SOUTH, NORTH KOREA”, 2006-06-28) reported that representative traditional craft works by masters from the ROK and the DPRK will be featured in a joint exhibition in Seoul next week, organizers said Wednesday. The exhibition will present 200 handicrafts by 60 DPRK artists and 250 by 90 ROK artists at the Seoul History Museum from Tuesday to Aug. 16 as part of the two Korea’s efforts to boost their exchanges in the area of fine arts, said organizers with the Korean Craft Promotion Foundation, a Seoul-based public body.

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5. Inter-Korean Olympic Team Talks

Yonhap (“TWO KOREAS TO RESUME TALKS FOR UNIFIED ASIAN GAMES AND OLYMPIC TEAM”, 2006-06-28) reported that after a long hiatus, the DPRK and the ROK have agreed to rehold talks on fielding a unified team at the upcoming Asian Games and Olympic Games, the South Korea Olympic Committee (KOC) said Wednesday. “We agreed to meet in a city of North Korea, Kaesong, tomorrow to organize a unified team for the upcoming Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, in December, as well as the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games,” said a KOC press statement.

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6. DPRK Abductee Reunion

Agence France-Presse (“SOUTH KOREAN KIDNAPPED BY NORTH KOREA REUNITED WITH MOTHER “, 2006-06-28) reported that a ROK man kidnapped by the DPRK when he was a schoolboy was reunited with his mother for the first time since he disappeared nearly three decades ago. Kim Young-Nam, who was abducted in 1978, met his 82-year-old mother, Choi Gye-Wol, at the DPRK’s scenic resort of Mount Kumgang.

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7. Red Cross Aid to DPRK

Korea Times (“$400,000 TO BE GIVEN TO NK FOR ON-SCREEN FAMILY REUNION”, 2006-06-28) reported that the Red Cross will provide $400,000 (a little over 388,000,000 won) to its DPRK counterpart along with 10 buses and 6 cars to facilitate more on-screen reunion meetings of family members separated by the inter-Korean border. The provision is in line with an agreement both sides signed earlier this month through an exchange of letters via the Panmunjom truce village. According to the agreement, the ROK will provide the DPRK with cash and vehicles for promoting family reunions and will also give the DPRK necessary materials for building on-screen family reunion centers in the DPRK at the earliest possible date.

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8. DPRK Human Rights Symposium

Korea Times (“FOUNDATION TO HOST SEMINAR ON NK RIGHTS”, 2006-06-27) reported that the second Peace Foundation symposium on practical ways to improve the DPRK human rights situation will be held at the Press Center in downtown Seoul on July 11. The symposium will also focus on evaluating policies of the ROK and the international community on the DPRK’s human rights conditions, the foundation said in a press release. Sponsored by Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the symposium is expected to attract around 300 scholars, diplomats and civic group leaders, the press release said.

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9. Japan-Canada Relations

Kyodo (“KOIZUMI, HARPER HOLD TALKS ON HUMAN SECURITY COOPERATION”, 2006-06-28) reported that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper met Wednesday morning to discuss bilateral relations, including new cooperation on human security, and global issues such as climate change and the Middle East situation. Canada’s position on Japan’s bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council is also likely to be taken up in the meeting.

(return to top) Agence France-Presse (“JAPAN, CANADA URGE NORTH KOREA TO GIVE UP NUCLEAR ARMS”, 2006-06-28) reported that Canada and Japan agreed to pressure the DPRK to give up its nuclear weapons drive, with the Canadian prime minister saying Pyongyang’s moves were posing “a very real threat.” Visiting Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his Canadian counterpart, Stephen Harper, held their first meeting and pressured the DPRK amid international concerns that the state may test-fire a long-range missile. “I told Prime Minister (Koizumi) that Canada shares his country’s concerns about Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” Harper told a press conference after the summit talks. (return to top)

10. Yasukuni Shrine Issue

Reuters (“JAPAN PM LASHES OUT AT DOMESTIC CRITICS OF YASUKUNI “, 2006-06-28) reported that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi defended his visits to a Tokyo war shrine seen by the PRC and the ROK as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism, saying he was free to go there as often as he wished. He lashed out at domestic critics of his annual pilgrimages, saying they opposed the visits to the Yasukuni Shrine because Beijing did so.

(return to top) Agence France-Presse (“JAPANESE COURT REJECTS LATEST SUIT AGAINST WAR SHRINE “, 2006-06-28) reported that the Tokyo High Court refused to order Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to stop visiting a war shrine at the center of tensions in East Asia, handing him his latest legal victory. Some 137 Japanese and ROK individuals, including relatives of war dead, and a ROK group filed Wednesday’s lawsuit in which they sought 30,000 yen (258 dollars) each in compensation for mental anguish. They said top leaders violated the constitution’s separation of religion and state by visiting the Shinto shrine. (return to top)

11. PRC-Japan Relations

Xinhua (“CHINA SEEKS TO STRENGTHEN DEFENSE COOPERATION WITH JAPAN “, 2006-06-28) reported that the PRC hopes to further strengthen defense cooperation with Japan to promote mutual understanding and trust, said a senior officer of the People’s Liberation Army on Wednesday. Xu Caihou, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks here in a meeting with a delegation of the Sasakawa Japan-PRC Friendship Fund, led by Sasakawa Yohei, chairman of the Nippon Foundation, a non-governmental Japanese organization for international development.

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12. PRC-Australia Relations

The Associated Press (“AUSTRALIAN PM HAILS NATURAL GAS CONTRACT “, 2006-06-28) reported that Australia’s prime minister hailed his country’s record liquid natural gas export contract with the PRC as a symbol of blossoming trade between the countries during an inaugural ceremony Wednesday at the PRC gas terminal. Prime Minister John Howard joined PRC Premier Wen Jiabao for the 20-minute ceremony at the Dapeng Gas Terminal in the bustling manufacturing hub of Shenzen in the southern PRC.

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13. Hong Kong Democracy Movement

Agence France-Presse (“HONG KONG PROTESTERS DEMONSTRATE AGAINST BEIJING OFFICIAL’S VISIT “, 2006-06-28) reported that Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters scuffled with police as high-ranking PRC politician Jia Qinglin arrived at a hotel for dinner with legislators in the southern PRC territory. Chanting “Democracy rise up,” several hundred people protested human rights abuses in the PRC and demanded the introduction of universal suffrage in Hong Kong.

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14. PRC Space Program

The Associated Press (“CHINA SHOWS OFF SECRETIVE SPACE PROGRAM “, 2006-06-28) reported that the PRC gave reporters a glimpse of the heart of its space program Wednesday — including a rare appearance by its first astronaut — a charm offensive aimed at persuading Washington to allow Beijing a role in international space projects. The tour adds to a lobbying campaign by Beijing, which is trying to win more access for its scientists to US aerospace conferences and possibly a role in the International Space Station by allaying foreign unease about its military-linked program.

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