I. NAPSNet

1. Six Party Talks

Interfax (“SIX-PARTY TALKS ON N. KOREA COULD BE HELD AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL – LAVROV”, 2007-07-05) reported that according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the six-party talks might in the future be held at the level of foreign ministers.

(return to top) RIA Novosti (“SIX-PARTY N. KOREA TALKS MAY RESUME JULY 14 IN BEIJING – AGENCY”, 2007-07-05) reported that Six Party Talks could reopen July 14 in Beijing if Pyongyang shuts down its nuclear reactor next week. Yonhap news agency’s sources said the chances of that happening are “high.” IAEA experts are expected to arrive in the DPRK July 12-14 to monitor the closure of its nuclear facilities and PRC Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi has already visited Pyongyang to discuss the resumption of six-party talks. But Japan said Tuesday six-party negotiations were unlikely to go ahead in early July as hoped, as the IAEA Board of Governors will hold a session July 9 and negotiations may take several weeks. (return to top)

2. Korean Peace Mechanism Talks

Agence France-Presse (“FOUR-PARTY TALKS PURSUED TO DISCUSS KOREAN PEACE PACT”, 2007-07-03) reported that the ROK, PRC and the United States want to hold four-party talks including the DPRK to discuss a peace treaty for the Korean peninsula. The four foreign ministers could meet in Beijing late this month, the JoongAng Ilbo quoted an unidentified Seoul government official as saying. If Pyongyang agrees, the four-party talks could open before foreign ministers from the six countries meet in Manila in early August on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum, he said.

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3. IAEA on DPRK Denuclearization

Asia Pulse (“IAEA SAYS NORTH KOREA PLEDGES COOPERATION IN DENUCLEARIZATION”, 2007-07-05) reported that the IAEA officials’ trip to the DPRK was made at their invitation. The IAEA team entered one day after the resolution of the troublesome banking issue. Upon returning from Pyongyang, the chief of the IAEA delegation, Deputy Director General Ollie Heinonen, said the trip was fruitful and that his delegation has reached an understanding with the DPRK on what should be done to shut down and seal the nuclear complex. He also said Pyongyang had stated that it is ready to cooperate fully on monitoring, including giving unrestricted access to all suspect facilities, sealing sensitive areas and setting up monitoring devices.

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4. ROK Oil Shipment to the DPRK

Bloomberg (“SOUTH KOREA TO SHIP OIL TO NORTH KOREA BY JULY 14”, 2007-07-05) reported that the ROK will send a first shipment of 6,200 metric tons of heavy fuel oil to the DPRK before July 14. The shipment, will leave from the port of Ulsan for Sunbong, the ROK Vice Unification Minister Shin Un Sang told reporters at a briefing in Seoul today.

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5. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation

Hankyoreh (“KOREAS HOLD TALKS ON COOPERATION IN LIGHT INDUSTRY SECTOR”, 2007-07-05) reported that the Koreas held a new round of working-level talks on ways to cooperate in light industry and natural resource exploration, as the DPRK moves to take initial steps to shut down its main nuclear facilities. In April, the ROK reconfirmed the agreement to supply industrial materials worth US$80 million to the DPRK starting in June to help revive its sagging light industry in return for the right to develop natural resources in the North. Under the deal, the DPRK was supposed to allow ROK experts to conduct an on-site survey of three zinc and magnesite deposits in its mountainous northeastern region for 12 days beginning on June 25. In return, the ROK would ship 5 million tons of polyester fabric worth $800,000 to the DPRK on June 27.

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6. ROK Trade Relations

Yonhap (“KOREA AND EU TALK TARIFFS FOR FTA”, 2007-07-05) reported that the ROK and the European Union will exchange proposals on tariff duties as early as this weekend as the two sides prepare to hold a second round of negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement this month, an official said. The two sides agreed in principle to eliminate or phase out tariffs on 95 percent of bilateral trade. The ROK’s average tariff is 11.2 percent, far higher than the EU’s 4.2 percent.

(return to top) Donga Ilbo (“KOREA-CHINA FTA JOINT STUDY GROUP HOLDS MEETING IN KOREA “, 2007-07-05) reported that the ROK-PRC FTA Joint Study Group, which was set up to review the feasibility of a free trade agreement between the two countries, held another round of discussions. The two countries are expected to focus on discussing customs procedures, anti-dumping measures, and measures impacting the agricultural and manufacturing sectors that could come with a ROK-PRC FTA during the meeting. (return to top)

7. ROK Lebanon Dispatch

Agence France-Presse (“SOUTH KOREA LAUNCHES LEBANON DEPLOYMENT”, 2007-07-05) reported that an advance party of about 60 ROK troops flew in to Beirut to join the reinforced UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon that is now more than 13,000-strong. They left the airport on board three buses headed for the south, where the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) monitoring the volatile border region with Israel is deployed.

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8. Japan Missile Defense Program

The Associated Press (“JAPAN TO HOLD MISSILE INTERCEPTOR TEST”, 2007-07-05) reported that Japan will conduct its first test launch of the US-developed SM-3 missile interceptor from a destroyer later this year, a Defense Ministry official said. The ministry spokesman, however, denied a report that Japan and the US plan to hold a joint missile defense exercise off the Japanese coast in January.

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9. US-Japan Security Alliance

Reuters (“JAPAN’S FIRST FEMALE DEFENSE MINISTER EYES CLOSE U.S. TIES”, 2007-07-05) reported that Japan’s first female defense minister vowed to strengthen ties with Tokyo’s close security ally, the US, and improve working conditions for women in the nation’s military. Yuriko Koike, a former national security adviser, took over after her predecessor resigned for remarks appearing to condone the 1945 US atomic bombings of two Japanese cities. “Based on the Japan-U.S. alliance, we want to build closer ties with the United States,” the 54-year-old Koike told a news conference.

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10. Japan and Cross Strait Relations

Kyodo News (“CHINA WARNS OVER TAIWAN AS JAPAN APPOINTS NEW DEFENSE MINISTER”, 2007-07-05) reported that the PRC believes a senior government official should act with the country’s interests in mind regardless of his or her beliefs, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday, in what is believed to be a warning toward Japan’s new defense minister known for her links with Taiwan. One of the premises of good relations between the PRC and Japan is Tokyo’s “appropriate handling of the Taiwan issue,” Qin Gang said, a day after Japan appointed Yuriko Koike as the country’s defense chief.

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11. Japan-India Relations

Calcutta News.Net (“JAPAN AND INDIA LOOK TO A COMBINED FUTURE”, 2007-07-05) reported that Japanese Industry Minister Akira Amari says Japan and India should start to share their infrastructure development. Japan and India are currently engaged in a 90-billion dollar project, funded by the Indian and Japanese Governments, Japanese firms, and money raised by Indian firms issuing shares in Japan. The project will include a high-speed rail freight corridor, new power capacity of 4,000 megawatts, three new seaports and six airports.

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12. PRC Military

The Associated Press (“AUSTRALIA, US CONCERNED BY CHINESE POWER “, 2007-07-05) reported that Australia and a top US military official expressed concern that the PRC’s rapid military buildup and use of a missile in space could add to instability in the Asia-Pacific, and backed a greater role for Japan in regional security. Releasing his government’s first defense policy update since 2005, Prime Minister John Howard said the PRC’s economic rise was good for the world, but added a caution that it was also a pivotal player in several tense issues in the region.

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13. PRC Environment

The Associated Press (“CHINA DENIES HIDING POLLUTION DEATH DATA”, 2007-07-05) reported that the PRC denied it pressured the World Bank to cut data from a draft of an environmental report that allegedly found that pollution caused about 750,000 premature deaths nationwide annually. The government was apparently concerned the figures could cause social unrest if released, the Financial Times reported. A World Bank spokeswoman in Beijing, Li Li, would not say whether the PRC had pressured the bank to omit data.

(return to top) Xinhua (“200,000 PEOPLE AFFECTED BY WATER POLLUTION IN E. CHINA CITY”, 2007-07-05) reported that water pollution in Shuyang County, east PRC’s Jiangsu Province, has caused close of the county’s water supply system in urban area since Monday, affecting 200,000 local residents, government sources said on Tuesday. Harmful substance in the county’s water supply plant was detected at 3:00 p.m. Monday. The substance was identified as ammonia and azote and the amount is 28 mg per cubic meter. (return to top)