NAPSNet Daily Report 14 July, 2008
Contents in this Issue:
- I. Napsnet
- 1. Six-Party Talks
- 2. Japan on Six-Party Talks
- 3. Inter-Korea Relations
- 4. Mt. Kumgang Shooting
- 5. ROK Crisis Response
- 6. Sino-DPRK Relations
- 7. ROK-Japan Territorial Dispute
- 8. US-ROK Trade Relations
- 9. US Military in Japan
- 10. Unexploded Ordnance from World War II
- 11. US-Japanese Relations
- 12. Japanese Missile Defense
- 13. US Military
- 14. US Arms Sales to Taiwan
- 15. PRC Separatist Movements
- 16. PRC Espionage
- II. PRC Report
- 17. PRC Civil Society and Public Health
- 18. PRC Civil Society and Entrepreneurship
- 19. PRC Olympic Security
- III. ROK Report
I. Napsnet
1. Six-Party Talks
Associated Press (Tini Tran, “KOREA AGREES IN TALKS TO DISABLE NUCLEAR REACTOR”, Beijing , 2008/07/12) reported that the DPRK agreed to disable its main reactor by the end of October and allow international inspections to verify its nuclear declaration in a deal reached Saturday at the end of six-nation talks. n exchange, the United States, China, and three other countries promised to complete deliveries of fuel oil and other economic aid to Pyongyang. “The parties reach an important consensus,” said China’s envoy, Wu Dawei. The envoys from the six nations agreed that a verification procedure would include a team of experts who will visit DPRK nuclear facilities, review documents and interview technical experts.
2. Japan on Six-Party Talks
Yomiuri (Yuji Anai, “GOVT ANXIOUS AFTER LATEST 6-PARTY TALKS”, Beijing, 2008/07/13) reported that the Japanese government expressed disappointment over the latest round of six-party talks. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t reach an accord on the specifics [of verification],” said Akitaka Saiki, director general of the Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau told reporters after the talks. “It’ll certainly be late coming, so reaching agreement on details [on the method of verification] should be given top priority.” The article said that the Japanese government believes that if the DPRK’s declaration of its nuclear program is verified, there likely would be some shortcomings that would prompt the United States to scrap its plan to remove Pyongyang from the terrorism sponsors list.
Joongang Ilbo (“TOKYO’S STRONG STANCE ON ABDUCTEES HOLDS UP SIX-PARTY TALKS”, Beijing , 2008/07/14) reported that in the seventh round of the talks in Beijing last week, Tokyo’s insistence on resolving the issue of its citizens kidnapped by Pyongyang became a major source of dispute. “Japan explained [to the other nations in the talks] its stance not to join the fuel aid effort, and other countries said they understand Japan’s position,” said Akitaka Saiki, the director general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Even if we understand Japan’s position, that does not mean that we take Japan’s refusal [to take part in the fuel aid plan] for granted or just accept it,” said a senior Seoul negotiator in Beijing. The other six-party delegates also voiced the same concern, saying the issue should not hinder progress in the denuclearization process, he said.
3. Inter-Korea Relations
Associated Press (Hyung-jin Kim, “NORTH KOREA REJECTS PROPOSAL TO RESUME TALKS”, Seoul, 2008/07/13) reported that the DPRK on Sunday rejected a proposal to resume stalled reconciliation talks with the ROK. The Rodong Sinmun, said in a commentary that ROK President Lee Myung-bak’s proposal to restart bilateral talks was not even worth considering. The paper called Lee’s proposal a “deceitful” tactic to avoid taking responsibility for deteriorated ties. ROK presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan told reporters Sunday it is “not appropriate” for the DPRK to criticize the president’s proposal.
Associated Press (Hyung-jin Kim, “SKOREA PROPOSES TALKS WITH NKOREA”, Seoul, 2008/07/14) reported that the ROK ruling party on Monday proposed holding parliamentary talks with the DPRK. Hong Joon-pyo, floor leader of the Grand National Party, said the talks are necessary to prevent a further chill in relations between the countries after a shooting incident at Mt. Kumgang. The shooting “paradoxically shows why South-North reconciliation is necessary,” Hong said.
4. Mt. Kumgang Shooting
Korea Times (Kim Sue-young, “SOUTH TO CLARIFY STANCE AFTER PROBE INTO TOURIST KILLING”, Seoul, 2008/07/14) reported that the government will determine whether the shooting death of an ROK tourist at Mount Kumgang Friday was intentional or not after investigations are completed, the Unification Ministry said Monday. Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said it was too early to draw any conclusions about the incident since nothing has been clarified.
Korea Times (Na Jeong-ju, “NORTH BLAMES SOUTH OVER TOURIST KILLING”, Seoul, 2008/07/13) reported that ROK President Lee Myung-bak said Saturday that the death of the tourist at Mt. Kumgang “cannot be justified under any circumstances. It is not understandable how an unarmed female tourist was shot dead by the North Korean military. We need a thorough investigation.” The DPRK expressed regret over the death, but added, “The responsibility for the incident rests entirely with the South side. The South should make a clear apology and take measures to prevent the recurrence of a similar incident.”
Korea Times (Michael Ha, “‘VISITORS OFTEN ENCOUNTERED N. KOREAN SOLDIERS'”, Seoul, 2008/07/14) reported that some tourists who have visited Mt. Kumgang in the past are now recounting how they had wandered into restricted military areas outside the government-sanctioned resort and were detained by DPRK soldiers. Some reports suggested that Hyundai Asan, a subsidiary of the Hyundai conglomerate which operates tourism there, did not take sufficient precautionary measures and that the company deserved at least some blame for the shooting death of Park Wang-ja last Friday.
5. ROK Crisis Response
Korea Times (Na Jeong-ju, “LEE URGED TO OVERHAUL CRISIS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM”, Seoul, 2008/07/14) reported that ROK President Lee Myung-bak allegedly received a belated report about the shooting at the Mount Geumgang tourism complex on his way to the National Assembly Friday afternoon to give a speech on inter-Korean relations. Presidential secretaries asked Lee to change the content of his speech, but Lee ignored the suggestion, the Hankook Ilbo newspaper reported. “The incident reflects lack of risk management capabilities for Lee and his aides. The crisis management system is not working properly,” said Chung Sye-kyun, chairman of the largest opposition Democratic Party.
6. Sino-DPRK Relations
Donga Ilbo (“NO KIM JONG IL AT OLYMPIC OPENING”, Seoul, 2008/07/14) reported that DPRK Leader Kim Jong-Il will not show up at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics slated for Aug. 8, Instead sending Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, according to Xinhua news agency on Friday. PRC charge d’affaires in Pyongyang Xing Haiming stated, “China enthusiastically welcomes his visit.”
7. ROK-Japan Territorial Dispute
Associated Press (Burt Herman, “SKOREA SAYS IT WILL RECALL AMBASSADOR FROM JAPAN”, Seoul, 2008/07/14) reported that the ROK said Monday it will recall its ambassador from Japan over a rekindled debate about the disputed Tokdo/Takeshima islets. Japan announced its intention Monday to recommend in a government teaching manual that students learn about Tokyo’s claims to the islets. “Many people here are of the opinion that we should fully teach the facts about Takeshima and deepen understanding of Japan’s land and territory,” Japan’s chief Cabinet secretary, Nobutaka Machimura, told reporters in Tokyo, adding that Seoul was informed of its plan. “Both countries have our positions. But I believe it is necessary that we overcome our differences and deepen our mutual understanding,” Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told reporters.
Korea Times (Bae Ji-sook, “PUBLIC ANGER ERUPTS OVER DOKDO”, Seoul, 2008/07/14) reported that all political parties denounced Japan, Monday, with ruling Grand National Party (GNP) Supreme Council member Rep. Chung Mong-joon and Democratic Party (DP) Chairman Chung Se-kyun each leading delegations to the islets. GNP party floor leader Hong Joon-pyo said: “Should Japan carry on with its scheme, Korea-Japan relations will never be the same.” An alliance to secure Dokdo held a “protest against Japanese education on Korean Dokdo,” Monday. “We have warned the government several times that we should seek ways to secure the territory before our counterpart tries to provoke us. Now the government should take some responsibility for it,” the group’s spokesman said.
8. US-ROK Trade Relations
Korea Times (“PROTESTORS RALLY AGAINST US BEEF IMPORTS IN CENTRAL SEOUL”, Seoul, 2008/07/13) reported that thousands on Saturday staged rallies against the resumption of U.S. beef imports in downtown Seoul despite pouring rain. Police in riot gear blocked the march, but there were no significant clashes. Early Sunday morning, police dispersed the remaining hundreds of protestors.
9. US Military in Japan
Associated Press (“13,000 JAPANESE PROTEST US NUCLEAR CARRIER”, Tokyo, 2008/07/13) reported that thousands of Japanese rallied against the permanent basing of a nuclear-powered U.S. warship near Tokyo, saying a recent onboard fire made it unsafe. About 13,000 protesters gathered at a park near the port of Yokosuka, where the USS George Washington aircraft carrier will be based, media reports and organizers said. “The U.S. military has not fully disclosed the cause (of the fire),” said Masahiko Goto, a lawyer representing local residents. “Japan should not allow a deployment when serious safety concerns remain,” Goto said.
10. Unexploded Ordnance from World War II
Associated Press (“WWII US BOMB FORCES EVACUATION IN JAPAN”, Tokyo, 2008/07/13) reported that about 5,400 residents were evacuated in Osaka and flights at nearby airports were rerouted Sunday as army experts disposed of a large unexploded bomb believed to have been dropped by the U.S. military during World War II, authorities said. An explosives disposal unit from Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force safely defused the rusty one-ton bomb in the crowded residential area during a 50-minute operation, local army spokesman Shoji Matsumoto said. The bomb — about 6 feet long — was found by workers at a construction site last month, Matsumoto said.
11. US-Japanese Relations
Associated Press (“FIRE BOMB THROWN AT US CONSULATE GENERAL”, Tokyo, 2008/07/14) reported that an assailant threw a homemade firebomb into the U.S. consulate compound on Okinawa, but nobody was injured in the attack, police said. The Molotov cocktail fell in the garden inside the compound and burned itself out, Okinawan police official Yasuhiko Yoshinaga said.
12. Japanese Missile Defense
Associated Press (“JAPAN TO TEST MISSILE INTERCEPTOR IN US”, Tokyo, 2008/07/12) reported that Japan will conduct its first test-firing of a land-to-air missile interceptor in the United States in September to ensure that a missile shield for Tokyo will function properly if it falls under attack, the Defense Ministry said. The PAC-3 Patriot interceptor will be fired at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico during the week of Sept. 15, according to a ministry statement obtained Saturday. The planned test “aims to confirm the functions of the Patriot system that has been upgraded with ballistic missile defense capabilities,” the ministry said.
13. US Military
Associated Press (“NEW U.S. NAVY COMMANDER ASSUMES DUTY”, Yokosuka, 2008/07/12) reported that Vice Adm. John M. Bird assumed his post as the new commander of the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet in a ceremony Saturday at a port just south of Tokyo. Speaking at a ceremony attended by Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces chief Adm. Keiji Akahoshi, Bird promised to do his utmost to maintain peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, while strengthening the Japan-U.S. security alliance.
14. US Arms Sales to Taiwan
Associated Press (“TAIWAN: US WEAPONS NEEDED”, Taipei, 2008/07/12) reported that Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou said Saturday that the island needs to secure defensive weapons from the United States. “Our stance will definitely not change just because we have improved relations with the mainland,” he said. However, Ma acknowledged that influential voices in the U.S. State Department are believed to favor an open-ended suspension of arms sales to Taiwan. “It is a difficult situation for us,” he said.
15. PRC Separatist Movements
Associated Press (Tini Tran, “CHINA EXECUTES UIGHURS FOR TERRORIST LINKS”, Beijing , 2008/07/12) reported that the PRC has executed two ethnic Uighur men and imprisoned another 15 for alleged terrorist links, Radio Free Asia reported Saturday. The report said that Kashgar Intermediate Court in Xinjiang sentenced two men to death on Wednesday and then executed them after the public trial in Yengi Sheher county, citing Uighur sources and a local official. The men were identified as Mukhtar Setiwaldi and Abduweli Imin. Three other Uighurs were given two-year suspended death sentences while the remaining men were sentenced to jail terms ranging from 10 years to life, the radio quoted the sources saying.
16. PRC Espionage
BBC News (“PENTAGON ESPIONAGE ANALYST JAILED”, 2008/07/11) Gregg Bergersen, a former Pentagon analyst who passed military secrets to a PRC spy has been sentenced to almost five years in prison by a US court. Bergersen pleaded guilty in March to disclosing defence information to a New Orleans businessman, Tai Shen Kuo. Much of the information was about US military sales to Taiwan.
II. PRC Report
17. PRC Civil Society and Public Health
Pelple’s Daily Online, www.people.com.cn (Zeng Huafeng, “SOONG CHING LING FOUNDATION PROMOTES “SAFETY OF MOTHER AND INFANT” PROJECT IN GANSU”, 2008/07/11) <!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:SimSun; panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1; mso-font-alt:??; mso-font-charset:134; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 135135232 16 0 262145 0;} @font-face {font-family:”@SimSun”; panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1; mso-font-charset:134; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 135135232 16 0 262145 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:””; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:inter-ideograph; mso-pagination:none; font-size:10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:SimSun; mso-font-kerning:1.0pt; mso-fareast-language:ZH-CN;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –> reported that this morning the Soong Ching Ling Foundation held a ceremony for the “Safety of Mother and Infant” project in Lanzhou, Gansu. It donated 15 ambulances specially used for mother and infant health care and medicine worth 600,000 yuan. This project was launched by PRC Soong Ching Ling Foundation and PRC Welfare Institute in 2001. It aims at reducing the death rates of mother and prenatal infants. It mainly helps the poverty-stricken areas in establishing the mother and infant health care center, installing basic medical equipment, training obstetric medical staff, promoting scientific methods of fertility, giving money to local pregnant woman for free delivery and so on.
18. PRC Civil Society and Entrepreneurship
Shenyang Evening News (“LIAONING YOUTH BUSINESS FOUNDATION LAUNCHED”, 2008/07/08) <!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:SimSun; panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1; mso-font-alt:??; mso-font-charset:134; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 135135232 16 0 262145 0;} @font-face {font-family:”@SimSun”; panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1; mso-font-charset:134; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 135135232 16 0 262145 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:””; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:inter-ideograph; mso-pagination:none; font-size:10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:SimSun; mso-font-kerning:1.0pt; mso-fareast-language:ZH-CN;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –> reported that on July 8, Office of Liaoning Youth Business Foundation was formally established in Shenyang, Liaoning. It is also the first local programme office of Youth Business China (YBC) in the PRC. YBC is jointly launched by The Communist Youth League of China and China Youth Federation. This international organization is designed to help young people prosper in the PRC. It will provide the young people with 30,000-20,000 yuan interest-free start-up fund, through “one-on-one” instruction guiding young people into the business network. The conditions of YCB project’s objects are: 18-35 years old, and have the entrepreneurial will and the potential; the unemployed youth; have good business ideas and entrepreneurial passion, but lack of business experience; cannot raise start-up fund.
19. PRC Olympic Security
People’s Daily (Li Yun, “ARMED FORCE SECURE OLYMPIC”, 2008/07/08) <!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:SimSun; panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1; mso-font-alt:??; mso-font-charset:134; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 135135232 16 0 262145 0;} @font-face {font-family:”@SimSun”; panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1; mso-font-charset:134; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 135135232 16 0 262145 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:””; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:inter-ideograph; mso-pagination:none; font-size:10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:SimSun; mso-font-kerning:1.0pt; mso-fareast-language:ZH-CN;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –> reported that with the approaching of Beijing Olympic Games, Olympic security tasks of the PRC People’s Liberation Army are also advancing in a solid and effective way. The security tasks will spend armies from more than four military regions. Air Force will take actions of warning, forced landing, and attack to unidentified air situation. Navy will send frogmen to explore underwater security of maritime competition divisions; Special teams of anti-nuclear and biochemical terrorist attack will be deployed around Olympic venues; Mobile forces are prepared for the disposal of unexpected events; All the military action will strictly abide by the Olympic conventions, international practices and PRC law.
III. ROK Report
20. Inter-Korean Relations
Munhwa Ilbo (“INTER-KOREAN CONVERSATION CHANNEL IS SEALED”, 2008/07/14) reported that the inter-Korean conversation channel is sealed during the Lee administration. The DPRK is refusing to discuss even humanitarian aid. The secret conversation channel established during the former administrations vanished with the change of the regime, and there is no sign of reconstruction. The DPRK internal situation and strategy is another reason. The DPRK is showing a tendency to directly discuss the nuclear issue, including removal from the state sponsor of terrorism, with the US. Rise of military authorities, and fall of appeasers, is also a bad condition.