NAPSNet Daily Report 7 July, 2010
Contents in this Issue:
- I. NAPSNet
- ROK on Naval Ship Sinking
- DPRK on ROK Naval Ship Sinking
- UNSC on ROK Naval Ship Sinking
- DPRK Economy
- Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation
- Sino-DPRK Trade Relations
- Sino-DPRK Relations
- Alleged DPRK Cyberattacks
- DPRK Defectors
- US-ROK Joint Naval Exercises
- ROK Nuclear Reactor Exports
- Russo-ROK Naval Exercises
- Russo-Japanese Territorial Dispute
- Japan-India Security Cooperation
- USFJ Base Relocation
- Japan SDF Sudan Dispatch
- Japanese Nuclear Technology Exports
- Japan Climate Change
- Sino-Indian Relations
- PRC Afghanistan Investment
- PRC on Climate Change
- PRC Development
- PRC Protest
- PRC Energy Use
- PRC Nuclear Power
1. I. NAPSNet
2. ROK on Naval Ship Sinking
Yonhap News (“SOUTH KOREA TRYING TO CONVINCE ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM TO CONDEMN NORTH KOREA”, 2010/07/06) reported that the ROK is trying to convince Asia’s biggest security grouping, Asean Regional Forum (ARF) to condemn the DPRK for the deadly sinking of a warship when it convenes this year’s session in Vietnam later this month, according to Yonhap news agency. The ROK wants the ARF to adopt a strongly worded statement condemning Pyongyang for the unprovoked torpedo attack that killed 46 sailors. The key to such a statement is support from Vietnam, which will chair the session, officials said. Last Friday, the ROK and Vietnam held economic cooperation talks in Seoul.
3. DPRK on ROK Naval Ship Sinking
Kyodo News (“N. KOREA REPEATS CALL FOR INTER-KOREA MILITARY TALKS ON SHIP SINKING”, 2010/07/06) reported that the DPRK reiterated a call for the two Koreas to hold high-level military talks on the deadly sinking of a ROK warship. The envisaged talks are aimed at allowing the DPRK’s National Defense Commission to send an inspection team to the ROK to verify the results of a multinational investigation that found the DPRK responsible for the March 26 sinking of the Cheonan. “We have already clarified our position as regards this matter; an inspection team of the National Defense Commission must be sent to uncover the truth of the incident; working-level contacts for North- South high-level military talks must be made to this end,” the unidentified spokesman was quoted as saying.
Xinhua News (“DPRK OPPOSES U.S. MOVE TO REFER “CHEONAN” CASE TO ARMISTICE COMMISSION”, 2010/07/06) reported that the DPRK opposes the US move to have the “Cheonan” case discussed at the Military Armistice Commission, the official news agency KCNA reported. “The US had already destroyed by itself the Armistice Agreement and its mechanism. It does not stand to reason that the US is now trying to take them into the “Cheonan” incident,” a spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry said. The UN Security Council should “abide by the principle of objectivity and impartiality” so as to ascertain the truth of the incident, he added.
5. UNSC on ROK Naval Ship Sinking
Agence France-Presse (“UN STUDIES OPTIONS FOR N.KOREA CENSURE: REPORT”, 2010/07/06) reported that the ROK and UN Security Council members are studying several proposals on how to censure the DPRK, a report said on Tuesday. The PRC has come up with its own draft for the UN statement over the sinking of a ROK warship in March, Yonhap news agency said. It quoted an unnamed government official as saying prospects for an early compromise were not good. “There are various proposals… They are sometimes combined and sometimes separated,” the official was quoted as saying.
6. DPRK Economy
Agence France-Presse (“N.KOREA ECONOMY TO SHRINK ON TRADE CUTOFF”, 2010/07/06) reported that the DPRK’s economy is expected to continue shrinking this year after the ROK cut off most trade in protest at the sinking of a warship, a report said. “The North is very likely to see its economy shrink this year,” said the report from the ROK’s state-run Korea Development Institute (KDI), without estimating a figure. “Our outlook is based on a forecast that its external trade will likely post a setback.” A further shrinkage this year could spark an economic crisis, Tuesday’s report said.
7. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation
Yonhap (Sam Kim, “10 N. KOREANS PRESUMED KILLED IN BUS COLLISION AT JOINT FACTORY PARK”, Paju/Seoul, 2010/07/07) reported that ten DPRK workers presumably died and about 40 others were injured last week when two commuter buses collided with each other at the Kaesong industrial complex, ROK officials said Wednesday. Citing ROK witnesses, the official said that a bus carrying commuters hit another on the side amid heavy rains but no ROK workers were aboard the buses. “The case was reported by South Korean workers traveling to and from the Kaesong complex,” the official said, declining to be identified. “The exact number of casualties and how the accident happened have not been ascertained.”
8. Sino-DPRK Trade Relations
Yonhap News (“TRADE BETWEEN N. KOREA, CHINA RISES, SIGNALING CLOSER ECONOMIC TIES”, Seoul, 2010/07/06) reported that trade between the DPRK and PRC in the January-May period increased 18 percent compared to last year. The DPRK imported US$727.2 million worth of goods from the PRC and exported $256.4 million in the five-month period this year, according to figures recently released by PRC customs authorities. The DPRK imported 29 percent more while exporting 4.9 percent less this year in its trade with the PRC.
9. Sino-DPRK Relations
Xinhua News (“DPRK PREMIER MEETS CHINESE AMBASSADOR”, 2010/07/06) reported that Premier of the Cabinet of the DPRK Choe Yong Rim met PRC Ambassador to the DPRK Liu Hongcai. During the meeting at Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang, Choe said the traditional DPRK-PRC friendship, which was fostered by the elder generation of revolutionaries of the two countries, has developed to a new level under the attention of top leaders from both countries. Liu said the relationship between the two countries and two parties has been developing constantly under the attention from top leaders of the two countries. The PRC will further consolidate and develop bilateral friendship.
Xinhua News (“DPRK MEDIA LAUDS CHINA’S DISASTER RELIEF EFFORTS “, 2010/07/06) reported that the Rodong Sinmun of the DPRK praised the PRC government’s achievements in its response to the flooding in southern PRC. The newspaper said in an article that the PRC’s disaster relief efforts were conducted in a quick fashion and that the PRC’s orderly disaster relief system guarantees efficient execution of disaster relief operations. It said PRC leaders paid great attention to the disaster.
11. Alleged DPRK Cyberattacks
Global Times (“WASHINGTON RULES OUT N.KOREA AS CYBER CULPRIT: OFFICIAL”, 2010/07/06) reported that after a year of investigation, US officials dismissed an accusation that the DPRK crippled major US and ROK websites last year. Instead, they suspect ROK hackers of scapegoating Pyongyang and provoking antagonism, the AP reported. Don Jackson, director of threat intelligence for Atlanta-based SecureWorks, a computer security consulting company, told the AP that ROK sources had a mission and may have “wanted someone to be blamed for it (the attacks).”
12. DPRK Defectors
Donga Ilbo (“`NK EXECUTED 3 FEMALE DEFECTORS IN JUNE`”, 2010/07/05) reported that the DPRK is known to have executed three female defectors with ROK citizenship late last month after kidnapping them from the PRC. Free North Korea Radio, a ROK-based shortwave radio station targeting North Koreans, said Sunday that the DPRK prosecuted the trio late last month in Onsong County, North Hamkyong Province. “They were taken to North Korea after being kidnapped by a North Korean security team active in China while visiting China this past spring,” the report said. The three reportedly entered the ROK in September last year.
13. US-ROK Joint Naval Exercises
The Associated Press (“SKOREA, US TO HOLD WAR GAMES AFTER ANY UN ACTION”, 2010/07/06) reported that the ROK will hold military exercises with the United States after any possible U.N. action against the DPRK over its alleged sinking of a ROK warship, the ROK’s military said. The ROK “will conduct the drills by linking them to the result” of possible U.N. Security Council action against the DPRK, said Col. Lee Bung-woo, a spokesman for the ROK’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. He did not elaborate on the exact timing and scale of the drills off the ROK’s western coast.
14. ROK Nuclear Reactor Exports
Korea Times (Kim Tae-gyu, “KOREA EMERGING TO BE LEADING NUCLEAR POWER PLANT EXPORTER”, 2010/07/06) reported that after winning a mega deal in the Middle East last year, the ROK is now in talks with the Turkish government to build a pair of nuclear power reactors with the aim of gaining substantial results this year. The latest blip on the ROK’s atomic energy export radar is Mexico, where a senior bureaucrat asked for assistance in nurturing specialists in nuclear power plants. Mexico’s Energy Minister Girogina Kessel Martinez made the request at a recent meeting with his counterpart Choi Kyung-hwan, minister of knowledge economy.
15. Russo-ROK Naval Exercises
RIA Novosti (“TWO RUSSIAN SHIPS ARRIVE IN SOUTH KOREA FOR TACTICAL EXERCISES”, Vladivostok, 2010/07/06) reported that two Russian vessels from the Russian Far Eastern regions of Primorye and Sakhalin arrived to the ROK to take part in tactical exercises. The Russian FSB patrol ship Herluf Bidstrup with a Ka-27 helicopter on board and the Boug Coast Guard ship will take part in a joint exercise on July 7 in the Sea of Japan to train anti-piracy, anti-smuggling, and anti-terror efforts near the Mukho harbor in the ROK’s Donghae City. Two Russian and three ROK ships, two helicopters from the Russian FSB and the ROK National Marine Police Agency, two boats and a group of special forces from both sides will participate in the exercises held on July 6-9.
16. Russo-Japanese Territorial Dispute
Kyodo News (“RUSSIAN MILITARY CONDUCTS DRILL ON DISPUTED ETOROFU ISLAND”, Vladivostok, 2010/07/06) reported that the Russian military conducted a drill on Etorofu, one of the four islands off Hokkaido disputed between Japan and Russia, over the weekend. It immediately drew criticism from Japan, with Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada expressing “deep regret” over the military exercise. Okada told reporters in Yokkaichi in central Japan’s Mie Prefecture that Japan cannot accept the use of a training camp on Etorofu Island by the Russian military and has mounted a protest to Moscow through diplomatic channels.
17. Japan-India Security Cooperation
Calcutta News (“INDIA, JAPAN TO BOOST COUNTER-TERROR OPERATIONS”, 2010/07/06) reported that taking a long-range view of their security ties, India and Japan Tuesday held talks to intensify counter-terror and anti-piracy cooperation. During the first-ever ‘2+2 dialogue’ of sub-cabinet/senior officials, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar held talks with Japan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kenichiro Sasae and Vice-Minister for Defence Kimito Nakae on a range of strategic and defence issues. The two sides also discussed ways and means to expand cooperation in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and reviewed the joint naval exercises.
18. USFJ Base Relocation
Kyodo News (“DPJ CANDIDATES SHOW MIXED STANCE ON FUTENMA ISSUE: SURVEY”, 2010/07/06) reported that candidates in the upcoming upper house election from the ruling Democratic Party of Japan show a mixed stance on the issue of relocating the US Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station from Ginowan to the Henoko district in Okinawa Prefecture, a recent survey by a group of nongovernmental organizations shows. Of 106 DPJ candidates, 20, or 18.9 percent, responded to the survey, and half of them said the Marines at Futenma should be transferred abroad or outside of Okinawa, while others said the Futenma base should be moved to Henoko as agreed with the US under the Cabinet of former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
19. Japan SDF Sudan Dispatch
Kyodo News (“JAPAN TO DECIDE NEXT WEEK WHETHER TO SEND SDF TO SUDAN U.N. MISSION”, 2010/07/06) reported that Japan will decide on whether to dispatch the Self-Defense Forces to Sudan for a UN peacekeeping mission next week, the government’s top spokesman said. “We will draw a conclusion a week from now,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku said. The government has been divided over whether to send SDF helicopters to Sudan to help transport ballot boxes under the auspices of the United Nations when a referendum is held on the right to self- determination for the people of Southern Sudan next January.
20. Japanese Nuclear Technology Exports
Dow Jones (“6 JAPAN COS SET UP ORGANIZATION TO SELL NUCLEAR POWER OPERATIONS OVERSEAS”, 2010/07/06) reported that six Japanese companies said jointly Tuesday that they have set up a preparatory organization to sell nuclear power-plant construction and operation technologies overseas. The organization is targeting Vietnam and other countries that plan to introduce nuclear power, but which have little experience with the technology, a joint statement said. The six companies are Tokyo Electric Power Co., Chubu Electric Power Co., Kansai Electric Power Co., Toshiba Corp., Hitachi Ltd., and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
21. Japan Climate Change
Japan for Sustainability (“JAPAN SUBMITS TO UNFCCC ITS TARGET OF REDUCING EMISSIONS BY 25% BELOW 1990 LEVELS BY 2020”, 2010/07/06) reported that the Japan’s target is to reduce its emissions by 25 percent compared to 1990 levels by 2020. The government also submitted its emissions reduction target for 2020 that promised, based on 1990 levels, a “25 % reduction, which is premised on the establishment of a fair and effective international framework in which all major economies participate and on agreement by those economies on ambitious targets.”
22. Sino-Indian Relations
Press Trust of India (“INDIA, CHINA TO RESUME BORDER TALKS”, 2010/07/06) reported that India and the PRC plan to resume the next round of talks to resolve differences over demarcation of borders and conduct joint military exercises so as to boost bilateral ties, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon said. Menon, who is here on a four-day visit as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s special envoy, said India and the PRC would be finalising dates to resume talks to resolve differences over demarcation of borders and to conduct joint military exercises.
23. PRC Afghanistan Investment
The Associated Press (Tini Tran, “AS US FIGHTS, CHINA SPENDS TO GAIN AFGHAN FOOTHOLD”, 2010/07/06) reported that as the U.S. and its NATO allies fight to stabilize Afghanistan, the PRC has expanded its economic footprint with several high-profile investments and reconstruction projects. In 2007 it became the country’s largest foreign investor when it won a $3.5 billion contract to develop copper mines at Aynak, southeast of Kabul. For the PRC, the reward is not only expanded trade and access to natural resources, it’s also security for its western flank, the vast Xinjiang region that is home to a separatist movement of minority Uighurs, said Liu Xuecheng of the China Institute of International Studies, the PRC Foreign Ministry’s think tank.
24. PRC on Climate Change
Xinhua News (“CHINA TO HOST UN CLIMATE CHANGE TALKS IN OCTOBER”, 2010/07/06) reported that the PRC will host UN climate change talks in October, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang. The 12th session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) and the 14th session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) will be held in the northern PRC city of Tianjin, Qin told a regular news briefing. It is the first time for the PRC to host the UN climate change talks, Qin said.
25. PRC Development
Agence France-Presse (“CHINA TO PUMP BILLIONS INTO WESTERN REGIONS”, Beijing, 2010/07/06) reported that the PRC has said it will invest more than 100 billion dollars this year in 23 new infrastructure projects in impoverished western regions as part of efforts to boost domestic demand. The 682.2 billion yuan will be used to build railways, roads, airports, coal mines, nuclear power stations and power grids, the National Development and Reform Commission said on its website. Construction will start this year to “actively expand domestic demand and promote the fast and healthy development of the western areas,” the top economic planning agency said.
26. PRC Protest
China Daily (“VILLAGERS IN GUILIN PROTEST LANDFILL SITE”, 2010/07/06) reported that about 800 people in Lingchuan county of Guilin in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region petitioned on Saturday against a planned residential garbage landfill site that is to be located in a local village over concern for the surrounding environment. The petitioners were primarily inhabitants of Beishan and Shaotian villages in Lingchuan county. About 500 of them were persuaded by local officials to return to their homes, while the rest carried on to the county government in Lingchuan, where they delivered their petition, the county government said late Saturday.
27. PRC Energy Use
United Press International (“CHINA CUTS COAL, EMISSIONS STILL GROWING”, 2010/07/06) reported that the PRC is likely to reach its target of closing small coal-fired power plants totaling 10 million kilowatts of capacity by August, said a government official. “We have promised to the international community that 15 percent of our power will be generated from non-fossil sources by 2020,” said Zhang Guobao, director of the National Energy Administration. But even though the PRC has doubled its wind and solar energy for the fifth consecutive year, its emissions from fossil-fuel combustion, which includes burning waste gas from oil drilling and other industrial operations, increased by 9 percent last year, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency says.
Bloomberg News (“CHINA STARTS GENERATION AT ITS LARGEST OFFSHORE WIND FARM, XINMIN REPORTS”, 2010/07/06) reported that the PRC officially started transmitting power today from its biggest offshore wind farm to the mainland grid, Xinmin Evening News reported. The 102-megawatt Donghai Bridge Wind Farm off Shanghai’s coast may generate 267 million kilowatt-hours of power a year, the newspaper reported on its website. That could meet the needs of more than 200,000 households in the city, Xinmin said. The Donghai Bridge project has won initial approval for additional wind turbines totaling 100 megawatts in capacity, according to Xinmin. Shanghai also plans to build another four offshore wind farms, the newspaper said.
29. PRC Nuclear Power
Bloomberg News (“CHINA MAY USE WESTINGHOUSE TECHNOLOGY AT 10 NUCLEAR REACTORS, DAILY SAYS”, 2010/07/06) reported that the PRC may use technology from Westinghouse Electric Co. for 10 of its nuclear reactors, China Daily reported, citing an unidentified official. The technology, called AP1000, will likely be used at six reactors in the provinices of Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi and at four reactors in Zhejiang and Shandong.