NAPSNet Daily Report 13 January, 2010

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"NAPSNet Daily Report 13 January, 2010", NAPSNet Daily Report, January 13, 2010, https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-daily-report/napsnet-daily-report-13-january-2010/

NAPSNet Daily Report 13 January, 2010

Contents in this Issue:

Preceding NAPSNet Report

MARKTWO

I. NAPSNet

1. DPRK on Nuclear Talks

Reuters (Chris Buckley and Benjamin Kang Lim, “NORTH KOREA DIGS IN ON U.S. PEACE TALKS DEMAND”, 2010/01/12) reported that the DPRK will not return to nuclear disarmament negotiations unless the US agrees to peace treaty talks and lifts sanctions, a senior DPRK diplomat said on Tuesday, leaving little room for compromise. The DPRK’s ambassador to the PRC, Choe Jin-su, said in a rare news briefing in Beijing there could be immediate progress if the reclusive state’s demands were met. “Only concluding a peace treaty can eradicate the hostile relations between the DPRK and the United States and rapidly and actively advance denuclearization of the Korean peninsula ,” Choe told a small group of reporters.

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2. Russia on DPRK Nuclear Talks

Yonhap News (“RUSSIA MULLING DENUCLEARIZATION REWARD FOR N. KOREA UNDER ‘GRAND BARGAIN'”, Seoul, 2010/01/12) reported that Russia can speed up its various economic projects with the DPRK as part of a reward for Pyongyang under a “grand bargain” proposed by Seoul that seeks to quickly and completely denuclearize the DPRK in a single step, the country’s ambassador to the ROK, Konstantin Vnukov, said. “The grand bargain is a comprehensive idea, and therefore we can always hold discussions to include new elements or proposals. And we can hold discussions to include such an idea (of implementing or speeding up Russian projects) in the proposal for a grand bargain,” Vnukov said.

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3. PRC on DPRK Nuclear Talks

Xinhua (“CHINA URGES ALL PARTIES TO SAFEGUARD STABILITY ON KOREAN PENINSULA “, 2010/01/12) reports that a PRC Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tuesday said the PRC urged all parties to push forward the denuclearization process to safeguard peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. “A peaceful and stable Korean peninsula is not only in the interests of the PRC, but also in that of all nations in the region,” said Jiang Yu at a regular press conference. Pushing forward the six-party process and fully achieving the goals set in the Sept. 19 Joint Statement were the common aspirations of all sides, Jiang said. The PRC would keep in touch with the other sides on relevant issues.

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4. Japan-DPRK Relations

The Associated Press (“N. KOREA WON’T SEND WOMEN’S FOOTBALL SIDE TO TOKYO”, Tokyo, 2010/01/12) reported that Japanese media reports say the DPRK is not sending its women’s team to the East Asian championship in Tokyo next month. Japan’s government had said it would provide entry visas for the DPRK team to compete in the event as an exception to Tokyo’s sanctions in protest at missile and nuclear tests by the communist nation. Taiwan will replace the North Koreans in the Feb. 6-14 four-nation tournament.

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5. ROK on DPRK Military

The Korea Herald (Kim Ji-hyun, “MILITARY KEEPING CLOSE TABS ON N.K. MOVEMENT”, 2010/01/13) reports that Defense Minister Kim Tae-young yesterday said the military was closely watching for possible aggression from the DPRK in the wake of a series of reconciliatory gestures from the communist regime. “The military is closely monitoring the situation, more so than before,” Kim said in a press conference. He noted that the DPRK military has beefed up training on the DPRK’s western coast, but said Seoul has yet to detect any abnormal activities. “The military, as always, is prepared to meet aggression,” the minister said, citing the latest naval skirmish last year that ended in Seoul’s victory.

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6. Inter-Korean Relations

Associated Press (Hyung-jin Kim, “NKOREA WARNS SKOREA OVER PROPAGANDA LEAFLETS”, Seoul, 2010/01/13) reported that the DPRK military warned Wednesday that the ROK would face unspecified retaliation if it doesn’t stop activists from launching propaganda leaflets. It said it “will never tolerate even the slightest acts” of undermining “our leadership’s absolute authority.” The DPRK demanded the ROK immediately punish activists engaged in sending leaflets and disband their organizations, saying hundreds of thousands of propaganda leaflets were flown to the North on January 1. “The separatists at home and abroad will never be able to flee from a stern punishment by the nation for challenging history,” the English-language statement said. Chun Hae-sung, a spokesman at the ROK Unification Ministry, said Wednesday that the ROK has no law that could ban activists from launching leaflets.

Yonhap (“S. KOREAN COLLEGE LECTURER FACES IMPRISONMENT FOR ESPIONAGE”, Suwon, 2010/01/13) reported that the Suwon District Court on Wednesday sentenced a college lecturer to 10 years in prison for spying for the DPRK over the last 17 years. Prosecutors indicted the man, identified only by his last name Lee, last October on charges of providing information on ROK military operations and key facilities to the DPRK on five occasions after receiving $30,000 from a DPRK agent based in India. The court, however, said it lightened the punishment because the defendant later attempted to extricate himself from DPRK intelligence authorities and confessed his crime to investigators here. The court ordered authorities to confiscate 31 million won (US$27,500) from Lee.

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7. DPRK Human Rights

Yonhap News (“N. KOREA AMONG NINE WORST COUNTRIES IN RIGHTS, DEMOCRACY: FREEDOM HOUSE”, Washington, 2010/01/12) reported that the DPRK has been listed among the nine worst countries in terms of human rights and democracy, an independent human rights watchdog group said. “Of the 47 countries ranked Not Free, nine countries and one territory received the survey’s lowest possible rating for both political rights and civil liberties: Burma, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Tibet, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan,” Freedom House said in the survey titled “Freedom in the World 2010: Global Erosion of Freedom,” which was posted in its Web site.

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8. ROK Cyber Security

The Chosun Ilbo (“MILITARY TO PHASE OUT USB DRIVES AFTER HACKING DEBACLE”, 2010/01/12) reports that the military will phase out use of USB flash drives starting next year after a slew of military secrets were leaked, the latest being a joint the ROK-U.S. military action plan that was apparently accessed by DPRK hackers. A Defense Ministry official on Monday said the ministry plans to build a new data exchange system by investing W2.8 billion (US$1=W1,121) this year. The new system to be completed by year’s end will link the Defense Ministry, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the headquarters of the Army, Navy and Air Force. A military spokesman said the Intranet will be thoroughly separated from the Internet and a new server will allow exchange of data between the Intranet and the Internet. The new system will put tight controls on USB flash drives, he added.

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9. US-ROK Security Alliance

The Korea Times (Jung Sung-ki, “3-STAR GENERAL MAY HEAD USFK”, 2010/01/11) reports that a three-star general is likely to assume command of the U.S. Force Korea (USFK) after the planned command rearrangements designed to shift the roles of American forces here to naval- and air-centric supporting ones are completed, sources said Monday. Currently, a four-star Army general is in charge of the 28,500-member USFK. The commander also serves as chief of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) and the U.N. Command (UNC). But the four-star general will move to the U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) in Hawaii by 2012 when the ROK takes back wartime operational control (OPCON) of its forces from the USFK, as part of a realignment of U.S. forces in Asia and the Pacific, they said.

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10. ROK Politics

The Korea Times (Lee Tae-hoon, “DP DIVIDED OVER 3 INDEPENDENTS’ REENTRY”, 2010/01/12) reports that Rep. Chung Dong-young filed an application Tuesday with the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) to rejoin the party from which he defected last March in defiance of a decision to block him from running in parliamentary by-elections. DP spokesman Woo Sang-ho said the party welcomes Chung’s return, which will be processed in accordance with party regulations. But some members, mostly supporters of party Chairman Chung Sye-kyun, reiterated their objections to the move. Two other independents, Reps. Shin Kuhn and You Sung-yop elected in the DP’s home turf of North Jeolla Province, also submitted an application to retrieve party membership.

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11. ROK Nuclear Exports

Yonhap (“S. KOREA AIMS TO EXPORT 80 NUCLEAR REACTORS BY 2030”, Seoul, 2010/01/13) reported that the ROK aims to export 80 nuclear reactors by 2030 as part of its strategy to become one of the top three atomic energy powers in the world, the government said Wednesday. The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said in a nuclear energy industry meeting chaired by President Lee Myung-bak that the country will strive to grab at least 20 percent of the global market share for new reactors in the next 20 years. To meet this goal, the country must “customize” export strategies to meet the needs of individual countries, attain full technological self-sufficiency to bolster competitiveness, train more engineers and set up arrangements to ensure a steady supply of fuel, the ministry said.

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12. ROK Energy Supply

Joongang Ilbo (“HYUNDAI HEAVY FUNDING A WIND-POWER FARM IN KOREA”, 2010/01/12) reported that Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the ROK’s leading shipbuilder, said yesterday that it plans to build a wind-power farm that can generate up to 200 megawatts of energy.  Hyundai Heavy, along with state-run Korea Southern Power Co. and several other firms, is expected to invest some 500 billion won ($446 million) by 2012 in the project.  The exact site for the plant has yet to be decided, officials from the company said.

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13. USFJ Base Relocation

Reuters (“MILITARY BASE DEAL ELUDES CLINTON, OKADA IN HAWAII”, 2010/01/12) reported that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada failed to reach a deal on a dispute over a US military base, but pledged not to let it derail the broader relationship. Clinton, after an 80-minute discussion with Okada in Hawaii , said she had again urged Tokyo to follow through on a deal to relocate the Marines’ Futenma base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa , but allowed that this could take time to fully resolve. “This is an issue that we view as very important,” Clinton told a news briefing. “But we are also working on so many other aspects of the global challenges that we face and we are going to continue to do that.”

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14. US-Japan Relations

Washington Post (“JAPAN’S FOREIGN MINISTER REAFFIRMS CLOSE TIES WITH U.S.”, 2010/01/12) reported that saying he hoped that Japan’s alliance with the United States lasted “30 years or 50 years or longer,” Japan’s foreign minister sought to fend off speculation in Washington that the new government in Tokyo wants to move away from its close relationship with the United States. Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada declared that Americans should not fear that Japan was interested in moving closer to the PRC, nor should they worry that Japan wanted US troops to leave Japanese territory. Okada’s statements marked the clearest declaration so far from a senior official in the Democratic Party of Japan about the importance of the alliance.

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15. Japan Nuclear Reprocessing

Kyodo News (“ENVIRONMENTALISTS SLAM NUCLEAR WASTE SHIPMENTS FROM BRITAIN TO JAPAN “, London, 2010/01/12) reported that environmentalists are opposing the shipment of highly radioactive waste from Britain to Japan, claiming that it is ”potentially dangerous” and ”wholly unnecessary.’

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16. Japan Ban on Arms Exports

Kyodo News (“HATOYAMA SAYS BAN ON ARMS EXPORTS MUST BE KEPT, COUNTERS KITAZAWA”, 2010/01/12) reported that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said that Japan should adhere to its policy of banning arms exports, saying Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa’s remarks earlier in the day suggesting it was time to review the policy were a little careless. “Japan has declared to the world that it is a peaceful nation, and one of its promises is to stick to (the policy),” Hatoyama told reporters in the evening. “Under the current circumstances, the ban is something that must be maintained.”

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17. Japan on Climate Change Negotiations

Kyodo News (“HATOYAMA ASSURES U.N. CHIEF JAPAN TO CONTINUE LEADING CLIMATE TALKS”, Tokyo, 2010/01/12) reports that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama assured U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon Tuesday that Japan would continue to lead international negotiations toward adopting a new legal framework to replace the Kyoto Protocol, the Foreign Ministry said. Hatoyama and Ban held telephone conversations for about 20 minutes on Tuesday morning as per request by the U.N. secretary general, according to the ministry. Ban sought Japan’s support toward the Copenhagen Accord adopted by leaders from some 20 major nations at a key U.N. climate change conference last December, saying demonstrating a political will to back the accord would help move forward the climate change negotiations, the ministry said.

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18. Sino-Indian Territorial Dispute

Press Trust of India (“SUITABLE ACTION AGAINST CHINA’S INCURSIONS: IAF CHIEF”, 2010/01/12) reported that IAF chief Air Chief Marshal PV Naik on Tuesday said India will take “suitable action” if the reports of PRC occupying Indian territory along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) was established. “I am not aware of the authenticity of the reports. When it is established on the ground, then we will take suitable action. It (incursions) has got nothing to do with the Air Force though,” Naik told reporters in New Delhi. However, the IAF chief said there was “no” increase in the air space violations by the PRC military aircraft.

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19. PRC Missile Defense

AFP (“CHINA DID NOT NOTIFY US BEFORE ANTI-MISSILE TEST: PENTAGON”, Washington, 2010/01/12) reports that the PRC did not notify the United States in advance of a missile defence test and Washington has asked Beijing to clarify its intentions with the intercept weaponry, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. “We did not receive prior notification of the launch,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Major Maureen Schumann. “We detected two geographically separated missile launch events with a exo-atmospheric collision also being observed by space-based sensors,” she said after the PRC announced a successful test of its missile intercept system. “The US is requesting information from the PRC regarding the purpose for conducting this interception as well as the PRC’s intentions and plans to pursue future types of intercepts,” she said.

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20. PRC on US Arms Sales to Taiwan

Associated Press (“CHINA AGAIN WARNS AGAINST ARMS SALES TO TAIWAN”, Beijing, 2010/01/13) reported that the PRC again expressed its opposition to arms sales to Taiwan on Wednesday. “The stand we take in opposing any country selling arms to Taiwan has been consistent and clear,” the spokesman for the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Yang Yi, told a news conference.

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21. PRC Ethnic Unrest

Agence France-Presse (“CHINA’S XINJIANG TO STEP UP SECURITY SPENDING: REPORT”, Beijing, 2010/01/13) reported that funding for public security in Xinjiang will nearly double in 2010, the China Daily reported Wednesday. A budget proposal placed before Xinjiang’s legislature on Tuesday called for 2.89 billion yuan (423 million dollars) to be spent on public security, up from 1.54 billion yuan in 2009. “The July 5 riot in Urumqi… had an enormous impact on the Xinjiang people. It has severely damaged social stability in the region,” the paper quoted regional chairman Nur Bekri as telling the Xinjiang People’s Congress. Bekri said the priority for Xinjiang security forces in 2010 would be to crack down on the “three forces” of terrorism, separatism and religious extremism , which the government blamed for the unrest, the paper said.

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22. PRC Protest

Agence France-Presse (“ONE DEAD, SCORES INJURED IN CHINA LAND BRAWL: WITNESSES”, Beijing, 2010/01/12) reported that one person was killed and scores injured last week as police clashed with villagers in eastern PRC over the forced eviction of farmers from rural lands, residents and a human rights group said. The violence began last Thursday when about 100 hired thugs beat farmers who had resisted eviction in the city of Pizhou in Jiangsu province, the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said. It said the farmers from Hewan village had refused to move off lands where local authorities want to build a chemical plant .

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23. PRC Environment

The New York Times (“COAL IS LINKED TO CANCER IN CHINA PROVINCE”, 2010/01/11) reported that nonsmoking women in an area of the PRC’s Yunnan province die of lung cancer at a rate 20 times that of their counterparts in other regions of the country — and higher than anywhere else in the world. Coal in that part of the PRC contains high concentrations of silica, a suspected carcinogen, the scientists reported in a recent edition of the journal Environmental Science & Technology. Like others in rural PRC, the families of Xuanwei County use coal for heat and for cooking. As the coal burns, particles of silica are released with the vapor and inhaled. Women, who do the cooking, face the greatest exposure.

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II. PRC Report

24. PRC Internet Censorship

Reuters (Melanie Lee and Alexei Oreskovic, “GOOGLE MAY QUIT CHINA OVER CENSORSHIP”, Shanghai/San Francisco, 2010/01/13) reported that Google on Tuesday threatemed to quit the PRC after hackers accessed human rights activists ‘ e-mail accounts. “These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered — combined with attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the Web — have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China,” Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond said in a statement. “We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.”

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25. PRC Civil Society and Disaster Relief

Sina.com (“CHINA RED CROSS AIDS XINJIANG SNOW DISASTER AREAS”, 2010/01/12) reported that as at 20:00, January 8, there are already 12 cities/counties, 90 towns and nearly 2.6 million people suffering from a heavy snow disaster in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to Ministry of Civil Affairs. For this, China Red Cross Society has rapidly allocated disaster relief materials of near 100,000 RMB to Xinjiang.

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26. PRC Energy Supply

Xinhua Net (“200 MILLION TONS OF COAL MINE FOUND IN JIANGXI”, 2010/01/12) reported that a nearly 200 million tons of raw coal resource has been newly found in Meishan cola mine of Xinyu city, Jiangxi province, according to Jiangxi Department of Land and Resources today. This find will help relieve undersupply of coal and electricity in Jiangxi province.