NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, October 25, 2006

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NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, October 25, 2006

NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, October 25, 2006

1. US on DPRK Nuclear Arms Transfer
2. US on DPRK Nuclear Issue
3. US on DPRK Sanctions
4. DPRK Exports
5. DPRK Food Aid
6. DPRK on Inter-Korean Relations
7. ROK on Inter-Korean Relations
8. Russia on DPRK Nuclear Issue
9. Japan on Nuclear Weapons
10. ROK Missile Program
11. US-ROK Trade Relations
12. France on PRC Human Rights
13. PRC Anti-Corruption Measures
14. PRC Dissident Trial
15. PRC Student Unrest

Preceding NAPSNet Report


1. US on DPRK Nuclear Arms Transfer

Reuters (“BUSH WARNS N.KOREA AGAINST SELLING NUCLEAR ARMS”, 2006-10-25) reported that President Bush warned the DPRK of a “grave consequence” if it tried to sell nuclear arms. Bush acknowledged it was still an open question whether UN Security Council sanctions would convince Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program. But he made clear that the US, which has not ruled out military options, would take strong action if the DPRK tried to sell nuclear weapons to America’s enemies.

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2. US on DPRK Nuclear Issue

The Associated Press (“JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN SAYS U.S. WOULD WIN WAR AGAINST N. KOREA BUT AT GREATER COST”, 2006-10-25) reported that the US military would prevail in a war against the DPRK but at a greater cost in lives than if the US were not already fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. “It would not be as clean as we would like it to be, but it would certainly be sure, and the outcome would not be in doubt,” said Marine Gen. Peter Pace.

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3. US on DPRK Sanctions

Donga Ilbo (“U.S., ALL-DIRECTION PURSUIT ON NORTH KOREAN SHIPS”, 2006-10-25) reported that it was informed on October 24 that the US is currently monitoring and tracking DPRK ships as a result of the resolution against the DPRK and the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). The ROK government is known to have received intelligence from the US government stating that it is tracking the route of DPRK ships which are suspected to be carrying either nuclear material or military equipment.

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4. DPRK Exports

Daily Yomiuri Online (“NORTH KOREA HIT BY PLUNGE IN EXPORTS “, 2006-10-25) reported that the DPRK’s marine product exports, which are mainly exported to the PRC and are a major earner of foreign currency for the country, have plunged significantly since Pyongyang conducted a nuclear test on Oct. 9, according to a PRC customs official. The official stopped short of citing reasons for the decrease, but a major fishery importer said that PRC importers are very concerned about radiation contamination and are consequently reticent about buying DPRK marine products.

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5. DPRK Food Aid

The Los Angeles Times (“DARKER DAYS LOOM AFTER NUCLEAR TEST”, 2006-10-25) reported that humanitarian experts see even more difficulty ahead for long-suffering North Koreans following their government’s Oct. 9 nuclear test. “The responsibility rests squarely on North Korea’s shoulders,” said Anthony Banbury, the World Food Program’s Asia regional director. “Donors are being asked to take a leap of faith, and blowing off a nuclear weapon reduces that trust. I just don’t know how North Korea is going to fill the food gap.”

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6. DPRK on Inter-Korean Relations

The Associated Press (“N. KOREA WARNS SOUTH AGAINST SANCTIONS”, 2006-10-25) reported that the DPRK warned the ROK against joining international sanctions, saying that its neighbor would “pay a high price” if it joins the US-led drive to punish the reclusive communist nation for its nuclear test. “If North-South relations collapse due to reckless and imprudent sanctions against us the South Korean authorities will be fully responsible for it and will have to pay a high price,” said the statement, carried by the DPRK’s official Korean Central News Agency.

(return to top) The New York Times (“IN SOUTH KOREA, SOFTER FEELINGS TOWARD THE NORTH”, 2006-10-25) reported that once fervently anti-Communist, the ROK has slowly parted ways with the US, its largest ally and wartime protector, on how to deal with the DPRK. Across age groups and political persuasions, most ROK citizens now appear to believe that their nation has no choice but to keep building ties with the DPRK, despite the widespread shock and anger here over its nuclear test. (return to top)

7. ROK on Inter-Korean Relations

Wall Street Journal (“SHIFT IN SOUTH KOREAN FOREIGN POLICY APPEARS UNLIKELY AMID RESIGNATIONS”, 2006-10-25) reported that ROK President Roh Moo Hyun is unlikely to make major changes in foreign policy as he assembles a new national security team following the resignations of the defense and unification ministers. Unification Minister Lee Jong Seok, who is in charge of relations with the DPRK, resigned Wednesday, a day after Defense Minister Yoon Kwang Ung said he would leave. Mr. Roh is expected to accept both resignations. His spokesman, Yoon Tai Young, said “it doesn’t appear at this point that this reshuffling signals a shift in government policy.”

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8. Russia on DPRK Nuclear Issue

Reuters (“PUTIN URGES CAUTION IN DEALING WITH NORTH KOREA “, 2006-10-25) reported that the DPRK should not be backed into a corner over its nuclear test if the global community wants to resolve the crisis over the DPRK’s atomic ambitions, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. Putin said one of the reasons the DPRK had resorted to conducting the test was that “not all participants in negotiations were able to find the correct tone…You must never push one of the participants in talks into a corner and place it in a situation from which it can find no way out other than boosting tension,” he said.

(return to top) Agence France-Presse (“NORTH KOREA SIGNALLING READINESS FOR NUCLEAR TALKS: PUTIN “, 2006-10-25) reported that the DPRK has sent “signals” that it is ready to return to international talks on its nuclear weapons programme, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. The DPRK would be ready for negotiations if given a “guarantee of its national interests regarding its security and development of peaceful atomic power”, Putin said. (return to top)

9. Japan on Nuclear Weapons

Agence France-Presse (“JAPAN FM RENEWS CALL FOR DEBATE ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS “, 2006-10-25) reported that Japan’s Foreign Minister Taro Aso renewed his call for a discussion about whether the pacifist nation should acquire nuclear weapons after the DPRK’s first atom bomb test. “We need to discuss once again why Japan came to decide not to possess nuclear arms,” Aso told a parliamentary foreign affairs committee.

(return to top) The Associated Press (“JAPAN OFFICIAL WARNS AGAINST NUKE DEBATE “, 2006-10-25) reported that Japan should not engage in “careless debate” on whether it should posses nuclear weapons, the country’s defense chief said Wednesday. Japan’s defense chief Fumio Kyuma, a native of Nagasaki, said the country has no intention of going nuclear despite the recent nuclear test by the DPRK and said Tokyo will abide by its long-standing non-nuclear policies. (return to top) Kyodo (“ABE REITERATES JAPAN FIRM ON NOT GOING NUCLEAR “, 2006-10-25) reported that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated that Japan will stick to its principles of not producing, possessing or allowing nuclear arms into its territory, in an attempt to minimize controversy arising from his foreign minister’s repeated calls for discussions on whether the nation should go nuclear. (return to top)

10. ROK Missile Program

Chosun Ilbo (“S.KOREA’S CRUISE MISSILE PROGRAM REVEALED “, 2006-10-25) reported that the ROK military authorities are developing or have developed four kinds of cruise missiles with a range of between 500 and 1,500 km. A government source revealed that the ground-to-ground Hyunmoo III has a range of 1,000 km and the Hyunmoo IIIA a range of 1,500 km. That means it would be capable of hitting anywhere in the DPRK as well as a significant number of major targets in neighboring countries, including Tokyo and Beijing.

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11. US-ROK Trade Relations

Agence France-Presse (“SKOREA REPORTS PROGRESS IN TOUGH FREE TRADE TALKS WITH US “, 2006-10-25) reported that the ROK reported progress on the third day of tough talks with the US on a free trade agreement. “We’ve completed a review of a new US offer to reduce tariffs on some 1,000 industrial goods and made some progress,” Lee Hae-Min, deputy delegation chief. He said the two sides expected talks on industrial goods to end a day earlier than scheduled.

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12. France on PRC Human Rights

Agence France-Presse (“CHIRAC IN CHINA HIGHLIGHTS HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE “, 2006-10-25) reported that French President Jacques Chirac singled out the PRC’s attitude on human rights as a particular area of concern for the country’s leaders as they look ahead to hosting the 2008 Olympics. “China will have to come to terms with these realities, particularly the problems related to humans rights,” Chirac said, during a meeting with French businessmen on the first day of his visit to the PRC.

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13. PRC Anti-Corruption Measures

Agence France-Presse (“CHINESE OFFICIAL TO HEAD INTERNATIONAL ANTI-GRAFT BODY “, 2006-10-25) reported that the PRC’s top prosecutor has been elected to head an international anti-corruption body tasked with implementing a United Nations’ convention on fighting graft, the PRC government said. Jia Chunwang was elected to head the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities at its inaugural meeting held in Beijing. Jia is the chief of the procuratorate, which is the central government’s top prosecution body.

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14. PRC Dissident Trial

The Associated Press (“CHINESE COURT SENTENCES DISSIDENT “, 2006-10-25) reported that a veteran of the PRC’s 1989 pro-democracy movement was sentenced to three years in prison after writing Internet essays critical of the PRC government, a monitoring center said. Li Jianping was convicted of subversion by a court in the eastern city of Zibo in Shandong province, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said.

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15. PRC Student Unrest

Reuters (“CHINA STUDENTS RIOT AS POLICE WARN OF UNREST “, 2006-10-25) reported that thousands of university students rioted in eastern PRC this week, officials and students said, as the police chief called for greater efforts to tame rising unrest. Students from Jiangxi province’s Clothing Vocational College marched through campus after state media reported that school authorities had deceived new students about their eventual qualifications and issued fake diplomas.

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