NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, June 05, 2007

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NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, June 05, 2007

NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, June 05, 2007

I. NAPSNet

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. NAPSNet

1. Russia on Frozen DPRK Funds

RIA Novosti (“RUSSIA MAY HELP N.KOREA WITH MONEY CRISIS IF U.S. GIVES NOD -2”, 2007-06-05) reported that Russia could make a financial vehicle available for the transfer of the DPRK’s frozen funds, if Washington guarantees that no sanctions against Russia will follow. “There is a chance we could use our facilities, if the U.S. side provides a written guarantee that they will not introduce any sanctions against our financial institutions, we may be in a position to look at the possible transfer of these funds to a Russian bank where the North Korean government has an account,” Alexander Losyukov said.

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2. Russia-DPRK Economic Relations

Donga Ilbo (“NORTH KOREA AND RUSSIA AGREE TO OPEN PORT OF RAJIN”, 2007-06-05) reported that the DPRK agreed with Russia to allow foreign ships enter and leave the port of Rajin. The agreement seems to show the country’s willingness to open partially under the mounting burden of economic sanctions. Since 1991, the DPRK had attempted a limited opening of the port as part of the Rason (formerly Rajin-Sonbong) Economic Special Zone Project. However, low participation of foreign investors and the nuclear crisis in 1994 derailed the opening. Unlike the past, however, the PRC and Russia now show keen interest in developing the port of Rajin. Many predict that this time will be different. The port’s sea level is deep enough to be advantageous for the development of the port. The PRC and Russia are in competition for such development.

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3. Australia, Japan, US Missile Defense Cooperation

Agence France-Presse (“AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE MINISTER SEEKS CLOSER TIES WITH JAPAN”, 2007-06-05) reported that Australia’s defence minister called for closer cooperation with Japan and the US, including possible participation in missile defence, to fend off threats such as the DPRK. Nelson confirmed Australia is looking at taking part in the missile defence system launched in earnest by Tokyo and Washington. “Within the limits of our economic resources and capability, we are studying the extent to which Australia might be able to cooperate in a responsible way with such defence,” he said. He also said Australia was planning the construction of “three warfare destroyers which may give our country in the future an option to put on to those destroyers a mobile anti-ballistic missile defence capability.”

(return to top) Sydney Morning Herald (“AUSTRALIA BRACES FOR ‘REAL’ NORTH KOREAN THREAT”, 2007-06-05) reported that Australia’s air warfare destroyer ships may provide an anti-ballistic missile shield against the “real” threat of attack by the DPRK, which could strike the north of the country with upgraded missiles. Brendan Nelson, Australia’s Defense Minister told a Tokyo conference that the trilateral alliance between Australia, Japan and the US was “a specific defence for a specific threat from a rogue state such as North Korea”. (return to top)

4. PRC on Missile Defense Program

Xinhua (“CHINA SAYS U.S. MISSILE DEFENSE PLAN MAY CAUSE WEAPON PROLIFERATION”, 2007-06-05) reported that the PRC said that a US plan to deploy a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe may cause new weapon proliferation problems. “China has always maintained that missile defense affects the strategic balance and international stability, is not conducive to mutual trust between major powers and may cause new proliferation problems,” said PRC Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu.

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5. ROK Space Program

Yonhap (“S. KOREA’S SPACE PROGRAM TO BLAST OFF AS SPACE CENTER NEARS COMPLETION “, 2007-06-05) reported that the ROK’s ambitious space program is expected to receive a critical boost as the country’s first space center nears completion, the center’s chief said. The ROK plans to launch a rocket, called the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1), and an experimental satellite in December 2008, and become the 13th country in the world to launch a rocket into space on its own.

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6. Japan on Climate Change

Agence France-Presse (“ABE SEES JAPAN MEDIATOR ROLE ON CLIMATE CHANGE”, 2007-06-05) reported that Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in Berlin ahead of his first G8 summit, saying the Asian power would use its clout to act as a go-between in the fraught debate on climate change. “The European Union and the United States still remain divided” over their positions on climate change, Abe told reporters. “That is why Japan has to take the initiative to lead all the countries in one direction that they can basically accept,” he said.

(return to top) The Associated Press (“JAPAN STRUGGLES TO MEET KYOTO GOALS”, 2007-06-05) reported that Japan is trying to take the lead on climate change at this week’s G-8 summit, but the world’s second-largest economy is falling behind on its existing obligations to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Under the global agreement known as the Kyoto Protocol, Japan pledged to reduce its emissions to 6 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. Instead, emissions rose 8.1 percent by 2005, the Environment Ministry says. Now, Japan needs to achieve a cut of about 14 percent just to meet the 2012 goal. (return to top)

7. PRC on Climate Change

The New York Times (“CHINA ISSUES PLAN ON GLOBAL WARMING, REJECTING MANDATORY CAPS ON GREENHOUSE GASES”, 2007-06-05) reported that with global warming high on the agenda for the world’s industrial powers gathering later this week in Germany, the PRC staked out its position on by releasing its first national strategy on climate change, a plan that promises to improve energy efficiency but rejects any mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions. The 62-page plan, two years in the making, served at least partly as a rebuff to separate efforts by President Bush and European nations to draw the PRC and other developing countries into a commitment to reduce emissions, which was expected to be a focal point at the expanded summit meeting of the Group of 8 industrialized nations.

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8. PRC Energy Demand

Washington Post (“CHINA’S ENERGY RUSH SHATTERS VILLAGE”, 2007-06-05) reported that Da Antou, located in Shanxi province about 400 miles southwest of Beijing, has become another victim of the PRC’s energy rush. The country’s booming economy, with growth of nearly 10 percent a year, has produced a growling hunger for coal, which fuels 70 percent of the PRC’s energy needs. To meet the demand, coal companies have become willing to go to almost any lengths — and hamlets such as Da Antou are paying the price. More than half the houses in Da Antou have developed cracks, and half the 400 residents have moved away.

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9. PRC AIDS Issue

Xinhua (“MORE WOMEN SUFFER FROM HIV/AIDS IN CHINA”, 2007-06-05) reported that the ratio of men and women among newly reported HIV/AIDS cases in the PRC has surged to 2:1, up from 5:1 in the 1990s, a senior official said. The number of women sufferers has been rising rapidly since 1985 when the PRC reported its first AIDS case, said Vice Health Minister Wang Longde. A total of 203,527 HIV/AIDS cases had been reported by April 30, up from 183,733 by Oct. 31 last year, according to the official. Women accounted for 27.8 percent of all the reported HIV/AIDS cases in 2006, against 19.4 percent in 2000, and more than half of sexual transmission cases, the official added.

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10. Cross Strait Relations

Agence France-Presse (“TAIWAN OPPOSITION LEADER VOWS TO END HOSTILITY WITH CHINA”, 2007-06-05) reported that the presidential candidate for Taiwan’s leading opposition Kuomintang vowed to end hostility with PRC and inaugurate direct transportation links if elected in the 2008 polls. Former Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou said he would give top priority to forging a peace agreement and a military confidence-building mechanism with Beijing.

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