I. NAPSNet

1. Military Forum on DPRK

Stars and Stripes (“MILITARY EXPERTS, SCHOLARS MEET TO DISCUSS N. KOREA”, 2006-05-10) reported that almost 200 leaders of military special-operations forces, scholars and other experts met here this week to discuss current and future tactics involving the DPRK, according to US Forces Korea officials. The UN Command Special Operations Forces Conference shared information on the DPRK to better plan how to use special-operations forces in case of the country’s collapse or conflict, according to Brig. Gen. Richard W. Mills, the commander of Special Operations Command Korea.

(return to top)

2. Inter-Korean Relations

Yonhap (“ROH’S OFFER OF ‘MANY CONCESSIONS’ TO BREATHE NEW LIFE “, 2006-05-10) reported that ROK President Roh Moo-hyun’s offer to make “lots of concessions” to the DPRK will likely add to momentum in inter-Korean relations and stalled six-nation talks over the Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programs, according to analysts Wednesday.

(return to top) Yonhap (“RENOVATION OF N. KOREAN SIDE OF TRUCE VILLAGE SPARKS SPECULATION “, 2005-05-10) reported that the DPRK has begun large-scale renovation work on a building at the truce village of Panmunjeom, sparking speculation here about whether the state is preparing it for a visit by a senior official, such as its leader Kim Jong-il, officials said Wednesday. According to officials at the UN Command, which oversees the joint security area, the DPRK began renovating the building, known as Panmungak, at the beginning of the month. (return to top)

3. DPRK Defector Issue

Yonhap (“SEOUL JABS AT U.S. COURT’S APPROVAL OF N. KOREAN DEFECTOR’S ASYLUM”, 2006-05-10) reported that ROK officials said Wednesday that a recent US court decision to grant political asylum to a DPRK defector who has ROK citizenship should not be used as a precedent for other defectors. The ROK’s Justice Minister Chun Jung-bae downplayed the ruling, saying it is not the official stance of the US government on the DPRK defector issue.

(return to top)

4. DPRK-US Travel

New York Times (“FOR A FEW WEEKS, NORTH KOREA JOINS AXIS OF TOURISM”, 2006-05-10) reported that President Bush may consider it a member of the “axis of evil”, but the DPRK is nonetheless a hot travel ticket this summer. The DPRK will allow US passport holders to enter on visas Aug. 10 to Oct. 10 to go to the 2006 Arirang Festival in Pyongyang and to attend the 2006 Mass Games, a synchronized gymnastics performance involving thousands of participants.

(return to top)

5. Ancient Korean City

Associated Press (“CHINA REPORTS DISCOVERY OF ANCIENT CITY”, 2006-05-10) reported that the ruins of a 2,000-year-old walled city have been found in a reservoir on the PRC’s northeastern border with the DPRK, the PRC’s official news agency reported Wednesday. The mud-covered ruins were exposed when the water level in the Yunfeng Reservoir was lowered for repairs, Xinhua News Agency said, citing government officials. The report said the ruins, near the present-day city of Ji’an, are believed to date to China’s Han Dynasty in 202 B.C.-220 A.D. But Korea’s Koguryo kingdom ruled the area at that time, and Xinhua said the city included tombs of Koguryo design.

(return to top)

6. Yasukuni Shrine

The Yomiuri Shimbun (“BUSINESS BODY SEEKS END TO YASUKUNI VISITS”, 2006-05-10) reported that the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai) urged the prime minister to cease his visits to Yasukuni Shrine and instead build a national memorial for the war dead in a set of written proposals regarding Sino-Japanese relations.

(return to top)

7. Japan ABM Testing

Crisscross News (“AEGIS DESTROYER TO JOIN U.S. MISSILE TEST”, 2006-05-10) reported that a Japanese Aegis-equipped destroyer will take part in a US anti-ballistic missile test for the first time, off Hawaii and possibly in June, according to the Maritime Self-Defense Force.

(return to top)

8. Japan Nuclear Power

BBC News (“JAPAN COURT BACKS NUCLEAR PLANT”, 2006-05-10) reported that a legal challenge to shut down the Rokkasho Nuclear Facility, a uranium enrichment plant in northern Japan, has failed.

(return to top) Crisscross News (“JAPAN TO COOPERATE IN 5 AREAS OF U.S. NUCLEAR FUEL PROGRAM”, 2006-05-10) reported that Japan offered to cooperate in five areas with a US-initiated international program aimed at safely providing nuclear fuel to developing nations and advancing technologies for recycling and protecting nuclear fuel and waste. (return to top)

9. PRC-US Military Dialogue

Agence France Presse (“US COMMANDER IN CHINA TO IMPROVE MILITARY TIES”, 2006-05-10) reported that the PRC’s Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan demanded that the US end all military-to-military contacts with Taiwan and stop the sale of advanced weapons to the island during talks with visiting US Admiral William Fallon, commander of the US Pacific Fleet.

(return to top)

10. PRC-Tibet Relations

The International Herald Tribune (“CHINA SAYS DALAI LAMA STIRS CONFLICT”, 2006-05-10) reported that the PRC accused the Dalai Lama of stirring religious conflict in Tibet, furthering its criticisms of the exiled leader even amid sensitive negotiations on establishing a more permanent dialogue.

(return to top)

11. PRC E-commerce

The China Post (“CHINESE MAN BUYS MIG-21 FIGHTER JET, WANTS REFUND”, 2006-05-10) reported that Zhang Cheng, a Beijing businessman, bid US$24,730 and paid a US$2,000 deposit for a former Czech air force MiG-21 on Chinese-based ebay. Authorities have ruled that the jet cannot be shipped to the PRC.

(return to top)

12. PRC Development Politics

The Asahi Shimbun (“FLOOD OF ANGRY OPPOSITION TO DAM GETS CHINA’S ATTENTION”, 2006-05-10) reported that an outcry from locals, NGOs, and even the state-owned media, barely a month after the picturesque Nujiang river was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in July 2003 and plans by the PRC to build a massive dam on the site were revealed, may have actually persuaded the PRC government to temporarily halt the project.

(return to top)

13. PRC Currency

The New York Times (“BUSH AIDES STRUGGLING WITH YUAN”, 2006-05-10) reported that after nearly three years of pushing the PRC to let its currency float more freely, with only modest results, the Bush administration still appears reluctant to accuse the PRC of manipulating its exchange rate. A decision to officially brand the PRC a manipulator would require the administration to formally open negotiations with the government in Beijing, but its main effect would be as a signal to currency markets that the US wants the dollar to decline in value.

(return to top)

14. PRC Narcotics Ring

The China Post (“RECORD COCAINE FOUND IN CHINA DRUG OPERATION”, 2006-05-10) reported that a joint operation by Hong Kong, the PRC and US agencies have smashed a Colombia-based drugs ring, seizing the largest amount of cocaine ever recovered in the PRC.

(return to top)

15. PRC Terrorism Suspects

Xinhua (“US, ALBANIA URGED TO REPATRIATE “EASTERN TURKISTAN” TERRORIST SUSPECTS”, 2006-05-10) reported that the PRC called on the US and Albania to repatriate the five “Eastern Turkistan” terrorist suspects recently released from Guantanamo Bay detention center as quickly as possible. The five Chinese Uygur Muslims were allowed to go to Albania as refugees for resettlement.

(return to top)

16. UN Human Rights Council

Xinhua (“CHINA VOWS TO FURTHER CONTRIBUTE TO HUMAN RIGHTS COURSE”, 2006-05-10) reported that the PRC, as a newly-elected member of the UN Human Rights Council, pledged to fulfill its obligations under the terms of international human rights accords.

(return to top) Crisscross News (“JAPAN, 12 OTHER ASIAN COUNTRIES GAIN U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL SEATS”, 2006-05-10) reported that Japan, along with 12 other countries, was selected to sit on the newly formed UN Human Rights Council representing Asian states in the first election held Tuesday at the General Assembly. (return to top) Kyodo News (“JAPAN TO RAISE CONCERNS ABOUT N. KOREA AT NEWLY FORMED U.N. COUNCIL”, 2006-05-10) reported that Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Wednesday that Japan will play an active and constructive role in the newly formed UN Human Rights Council and will raise “serious concerns” over the DPRK’s human rights conditions, including its abductions of foreign nationals. (return to top)

17. Avian Flu

The International Herald Tribune (“MIGRATING FLOCKS NOT CARRYING BIRD FLU, SCIENTISTS REPORT”, 2006-05-10) reported that the flocks of migratory birds that winged their way south to Africa last autumn and then back over Europe in recent weeks did not carry the H5N1 flu virus or spread it during their annual journey.

(return to top)