I. NAPSnet

1. ROK, PRC on Six Party Talks

Yonhap News (“S. KOREA, CHINA CALL FOR FLEXIBILITY ON N.K. DENUCLEARIZATION “, 2005-11-16) reported that the ROK and the PRC on Wednesday urged participants in the six party talks on ending the DPRK’s nuclear weapons ambitions to be more flexible so they can faithfully implement the agreement made in the fourth round of talks in September for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. “Both sides shared the view that each party to the talks should show sincere flexibility on its position, and implement the statement in order to ensure continued progress in the six-party talks,” the leaders said in a joint statement released at the end of the summit.

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2. US on DPRK Nuclear Program

Reuters (“”JURY IS OUT” ON NORTH KOREA: RICE”, 2005-11-16) reported that the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday the DPRK had not yet shown it was serious about the dismantlement and verification of its nuclear weapons program. “The jury is out on whether the North Koreans are doing what they are prepared to do, which is to get serious about dismantlement and verification measures,” she told reporters where she was speaking in the ROK port city of Busan at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Rice also said a date had not been set for talks but she expected they would take place before the end of the year or soon thereafter. “The next one needs to have the North Koreans come seriously prepared to talk about dismantlement and verification,” she said.

(return to top) Chosun Ilbo (“RICE SLAMS N.KOREA’S ROADMAP TO DENUCLEARIZATION”, 2005-11-16) reported that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday criticized the DPRK’s proposed five-step roadmap to scrap its nuclear program. In a meeting with the ROK Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Busan, Rice said the DPRK’s demand at the six party talks now in recess to be given aid in five stages as it dismantles its nuclear program was not helpful and could take up a lot of time. Ban told Rice development aid, instead of one-time humanitarian support, should be considered to persuade the DPRK to reform and open its economy. But the US chief diplomat said such aid needs support from international financial organizations, and she was not convinced the DPRK will accept their conditions and offer the transparency they require. (return to top)

3. Inter-Korean Economic Union

Reuters (“S.KOREA SEES NORTH ECONOMIC UNION BY 2020”, 2005-11-16) reported that the DPRK and the ROK are likely to have formed at least an economic union by 2020, the ROK’s unification minister told Reuters. Chung Dong-young also said the DPRK would be ready to accept Seoul’s offer of free electricity as a stop-gap until light-water atomic reactors were built after a deal was reached in the six party talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programs. “The vision of the Republic of Korea — my personal vision as a politician — is that by 2020 we will be a welfare state, and also at the same time, the South and the North will be able to communicate freely, that we will at least have developed into a joint economic union,” he said.

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4. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation

Korea.net (“SINGAPORE SUPPORTS PREFERENTIAL TARIFF FOR GAESEONG PRODUCTS”, 2005-11-15) reported that Singapore’s foreign minister has voiced his support for Seoul’s efforts to get preferential trade tariffs for products manufactured at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex in the DPRK. “During his bilateral talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, Singapore’s Foreign Minister George Yeo said his government supports the idea of having products produced at the complex labeled as South Korean,” a senior Seoul official said after the meeting on the sidelines of the APRC forum.

(return to top) Asia Pulse (“HYUNDAI OFFICIALS EYE NORTH KOREA VISIT ON TOUR ANNIVERSARY”, 2005-11-16) reported that more than 180 officials of the Hyundai Group spearheading inter-Korean projects plan to visit Mount Geumgang in the DPRK this week to mark the seventh anniversary of the tourism business involving the mountain, group officials said Wednesday. The ROK visitors will make the three-day visit to the mountain from Friday, with a celebratory performance by a joint Korean artists’ group to be held on Saturday. The visit comes on the heels of an agreement Friday last week between the ROK conglomerate and the DPRK to put the tour program to the DPRK’s scenic mountain back on track. (return to top) Yonhap News (“LABOR RELATIONS, N.K. NUKE A DRAG ON FDI IN S. KOREA: OECD SECRETARY GENERAL “, 2005-11-16) reported that choppy domestic labor relations and “challenges” from the DPRK are two major factors warding off foreign investors from the ROK, the head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Wednesday. Labour relations have worried foreign investors and they (foreign investors) can be put off by the continuing challenges of North Korea,” OECD Secretary General Donald J. Johnston said during an international investment promotion conference held on the sidelines of the 2005 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Busan. (return to top)

5. ROK on DPRK Human Rights

Chosun Ilbo (“50 PERCENT WANT SEOUL TO VOTE FOR N.KOREA RESOLUTION”, 2005-11-16) reported that more than 50 percent of RO Koreans believe the government should vote for an EU-led resolution condemning the DPRK’s human rights abuses in the UN General Assembly, a snap survey suggests. The poll by Research & Research of 800 adults nationwide found 53.3 percent in favor of voting for the resolution. The government has decided to abstain. In the survey published Wednesday, only 22.2 percent agreed that the government must create a favorable mood for inter-Korean reconciliation and greater bilateral cooperation and abstain.

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6. ROK Opposition on DPRK Human Rights

Yonhap News (“VIDEO OF PUBLIC EXECUTION IN N. KOREA SHOWN IN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY”, 2005-11-16) reported that Rep. Kim Moon-soo of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) screened the video during his five-minute speech in the Assembly, saying that it showed an execution by a firing squad in Hoiryong, North Hamkyong Province. Despite such dismal conditions, the ROK government is blocking efforts to put a resolution on the DPRK’s human rights before a standing committee in the Assembly, Kim claimed. The GNP is requesting that the government attend the meeting on the proposed resolution against the DPRK’s human rights condition in the UN General Assembly this month

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7. US Group on DPRK Human Rights

Yonhap News (“ADVOCATES URGE SEOUL TO ADDRESS N.K. HUMAN RIGHTS IN ITS POLICY “, 2005-11-15) reported that advocates for improving the DPRK’s human rights conditions on Tuesday urged the ROK to include the issue when making its policies toward the DPRK. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USIRF), an independent body created in 1998 by the International Religious Freedom Act, issued the report titled “Thank you, Father Kim Il Sung.” Prepared by David Hawk, the report is the first of its kind by a US government agency. The report is based on interviews with 40 DPR Koreans who have fled their home country and resettled in the ROK.

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8. Religious Freedom in DPRK

The Chosun Ilbo (“FORTUNE-TELLING THRIVES IN N.KOREA’S RELIGIOUS VOID”, 2005-11-16) reported that a US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USIRF) report claims says the famine of the 1990s sent people into the arms of folk religions on such a scale that Pyongyang now quietly accepts the practices. “There is a fortuneteller every 2 km,” one defector said, adding there was also a trickle of astrology books coming in from the ROK. With the security forces seeking out fortunetellers themselves, there is no real crackdown expected anytime soon, but the report says many DPR Koreans use the little cash they have to consult fortunetellers instead of buying rice or livestock, and sessions can sometimes cost up to a month’s wages.

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9. DPRK Aid

The Washington Post (“N. KOREA GAINS AID DESPITE ARMS STANDOFF”, 2005-11-16) reported that the latest round of six party talks on the DPRK’s nuclear weapons program achieved no breakthrough last week, but the DPRK is already benefiting from a series of economic and diplomatic rewards from its closest neighbors, especially ROK. The ROK’s National Assembly last week approved $2.6 billion in economic and humanitarian aid to the DPRK, an amount that is more than double the 2005 allotment.

(return to top) Joongang Ilbo (“UNESCO CHANNELS AID TO THE NORTH”, 2005-11-16) reported that ongoing aid from the ROK to the DPRK is being funneled through the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), with money being used to preserve cultural relics and print textbooks, among other purposes. “Every year, the South provides $100,000 to UNESCO headquarters to be used solely for the purpose of maintaining and repairing the wall paintings in ancient Goguryeo tombs,” said Samuel Lee, secretary-general of the Korean National Commission for UNESCO. (return to top) The Korea Herald (“‘AID AGENCIES IN N.K. STILL TOLD TO LEAVE’ “, 2005-11-16) reported that with a bumper harvest almost certain this year, the DPRK is sticking to its earlier request for foreign aid agencies to stop emergency humanitarian deliveries and leave the country by the end of the year, UN officials said yesterday. The World Food Program and other international aid groups are negotiating with the DPRK over the decree, but even if foreign aid workers have to withdraw from the country, those who have uncompleted projects at hand would be allowed to stay until February or March next year the officials said. (return to top)

10. DRPK Students in US

Korea Times (“NUMBER OF NK STUDENTS ENROLLED IN US INCREASES “, 2005-11-16) reported that the number of DPRK students enrolled in higher education institutions in the US rose in the academic year 2004-2005, despite an overall decline in the number of international students enrolled in the US, according to a US report released on Wednesday. Two hundred and nineteen DPRK students studied in the US at higher education institutions during that period, a 25.6 percent increase from the 174 who studied in the US in 2003-2004, according to the Open Doors 2005 report published annually by the US based Institute of International Education (IIE).

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11. ROK, PRC on Yasukuni Shrine Issue

Kyodo (“S. KOREA, CHINA TO JOIN HANDS OVER KOIZUMI’S YASUKUNI VISIT “, 2005-11-16) reported that PRC President Hu Jintao and ROK President Roh Moo Hyun agreed to join forces in opposing Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine, which honors convicted Japanese war criminals along with the war dead, Yonhap news agency reported. “We agreed that the history issue should not have a negative impact on cooperation and development in Northeast Asia and that we need to try for future-oriented development,” Roh told a joint press conference with Hu after the meeting.

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12. Sino-Japanese Resource Competition

Asia Times Online (“CHINA-JAPAN OIL RIVALRY SPILLS INTO AFRICA “, 2005-11-16) reported that the PRC and Japan – the two giants of East Asia – are competing for energy resources around the globe. Last year, the PRC displaced Japan as the second-largest importer of African oil after the US, according to The Economist newspaper. Tokyo’s approach to its relationships in Africa includes an emphasis on democratic reform and human rights. The PRC’s strategy is heavily dependent on bilateral ties to oil-producing states. Africa nations including Sudan, Chad, Libya, Nigeria, Algeria, Gabon and Angola supply the PRC with about 25% of its oil.

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13. US on Cross Strait Relations

Agence France Presse (“BUSH PRESSES CHINA ON REFORMS, PRAISES TAIWAN “, 2005-11-16) reported that US President George W. Bush, citing Taiwan’s move “from repression to democracy,” urged the PRC to grant its people broader religious and political freedoms and embrace deeper economic reforms. “Modern Taiwan is free and democratic and prosperous. By embracing freedom at all levels, Taiwan has delivered prosperity to its people and created a free and democratic Chinese society,” he said.

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14. PRC on Cross Strait Relations

Agence France Presse (“CHINA REBUFFS BUSH OVER TAIWAN “, 2005-11-16) reported that the PRC said it would not tolerate any interference over Taiwan, after US President George W. Bush praised the island’s democracy and urged Beijing to open dialogue with Taipei. “Taiwan is a part of China, an inseparable part of China, and China does not brook any interference in its internal affairs,” Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told AFP.

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15. Cross Strait Relations

Agence France Presse (“CHINA CALLS FOR MORE DIRECT FLIGHTS TO TAIWAN DURING 2006 SPRING FESTIVAL “, 2005-11-16) reported that the PRC called for renewed direct flights to Taiwan during the 2006 Spring Festival, but on an even larger scale than when they were launched under much fanfare early this year. The PRC made the appeal at a press conference conducted by the Cabinet-level Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing, attended mostly by journalists from the PRC and Taiwan.

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16. US-PRC Relations

The Los Angeles Times (“BUSH CALLS FOR CHANGE IN CHINA”, 2005-11-16) reported that President Bush, speaking days before a meeting with PRC President Hu Jintao in Beijing, called on the communist nation’s leaders today to ease restrictions on free expression and religion. But his remarks reflected more of a nudge than an ultimatum — underscoring the increasingly delicate balancing act of weighing the PRC’s expanding influence in the world against demands by religious conservatives and human rights advocates at home, who want Bush to be more confrontational.

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17. PRC APEC Role

The Associated Press (“CHINA EDGING OUT U.S. FOR APEC LEADERSHIP “, 2005-11-16) reported that when the PRC joined the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum 14 years ago, it was the lone communist behemoth among a field of nimble market economies. Today, it’s a leading actor in the annual forum that represents about 60 percent of the global economy and nearly half of world trade. Analysts say the PRC has virtually edged out the US as the dominant economic and political force among the 21 Pacific Rim economies gathering this week in this ROK port city.

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18. PRC Bird Flu

New York Times (“CHINA CONFIRMS THREE CASES OF BIRD FLU IN HUMANS “, 2005-11-16) reported that the PRC’s Ministry of Health today confirmed three human cases of bird flu, including two in central PRC’s Hunan Province and one in east PRC’s Anhui Province. The announcement, which provided no further details, was posted on the Web site of Xinhua, the official news agency, a day after the PRC’s Agriculture Ministry said that it would inject all of the nation’s 5.2 billion chickens, geese and ducks with a vaccine against bird flu.

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19. PRC Hu Yaobang Anniversary

The Los Angeles Times (“CHINA TO HONOR REFORM-LEANING DEPOSED OFFICIAL”, 2005-11-16) reported that the PRC announced plans Tuesday to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the birth of deposed leader Hu Yaobang, a relatively open-minded official whose death sparked the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests. Analysts and Communist Party members cautioned, however, that this decision should in no way be considered a step toward reevaluating the violent crackdown 16 years ago, which defined a generation and soured PRC’s relations with the outside world.

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