Archives

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

III. Russian Federation

I. United States

1. DPRK Reported To Accept Four-Party Peace Talks

The Associated Press (“NORTH KOREA AGREES TO PEACE TALKS,” Seoul, 6/25/97) and Reuters (“PYONGYANG AGREES TO LAUNCH KOREA PEACE PROCESS,” Seoul, 6/25/97) reported that the DPRK has agreed to join the proposed four-party talks aimed at a creating permanent peace treaty to end the 1950-53 Korean War. An ROK Foreign Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, was quoted as saying, “North Korea has accepted a proposal that senior officials of the United States, China and both Koreas meet in early August to set an agenda and other details of the peace talks.” The official said vice foreign ministers of the US and the two Koreas will meet in New York on Monday, June 30, to set the date of preliminary talks to arrange for full-fledged four- party talks. ROK Foreign Ministry spokesman Lee Kyu-hyung said there would be a simultaneous announcement of the agreement in Seoul and Washington later on Wednesday. The four-party talks concept emerged in April 1996, when US President Bill Clinton and ROK President Kim Young-sam jointly proposed that the two Koreas meet to discuss a peace treaty, with the US and the PRC mediating. DPRK watchers said acceptance of this formula represented a reversal of the DPRK’s previous stand that any treaty to secure peace on the Korean peninsula must be signed directly by Washington and Pyongyang, excluding the ROK. The DPRK’s acceptance also indicated that it had dropped its demand that it be guaranteed food aid in exchange for joining the talks. That demand held up a pending agreement in two months ago to begin the talks. The US and the ROK have given millions of dollars of free food in resp

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1. KEDO Developments

The AP-Dow Jones News Service (“NORTH KOREA, CONSORTIUM SIGN PROTOCOL ON NUCLEAR PLANTS,” New York, 6/24/97) reported that officials from the DPRK and the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) on Tuesday signed an agreement spelling out the penalties in the event of late payments during KEDO’s construction of two nuclear reactors in the DPRK. The two sides hope to begin work within the next several months on preparing the site for construction, which will include building roads and setting up offices. The US$5 billion set of reactors will be built in exchange for the DPRK’s freeze on its suspected nuclear weapons program, as stipulated in the US-DPRK Agreed Framework.

The AP-Dow Jones News Service (“KEDO BUYS JULY 2% SULFUR FUEL OIL FROM BP, PETRO-DIAMOND,” Singapore, 6/24/97) reported that the US-based agency International Services Corp., on behalf of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO), has awarded a 60,000-metric-ton fuel oil tender to BP Singapore Pte. Ltd. and Petro-Diamond Co. Ltd. BP Singapore will delivery a 36,000-ton cargo of 2 percent sulfur fuel oil to Sonbong, DPRK, July 21-30. Petro-Diamond will provide a 24,000-ton cargo of 2 percent sulfur fuel oil for lifting from Aichi, Japan, July 15-19. The tender closed June 18.

2. DPRK Officials Visit US Arms Control Center

The Washington Times (Bill Gertz, “NORTH KOREANS VISIT ARMS-CONTROL CENTER,” 6/24/97) reported that DPRK Foreign Ministry officials made a highly unusual visit to an arms-control center sponsored by a US nuclear-weapons laboratory in New Mexico last week. Rod Geer, a spokesman for the S

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1. Summit of the Eight Statement on DPRK

The “Final Communique of the Denver Summit of the Eight” (USIA Transcript, 6/22/97) included the following passage: “We reaffirm the importance of implementing the U.S.-DPRK Agreed Framework and full compliance by North Korea with its non-proliferation obligations. We therefore place great value on the continuing role of the IAEA in monitoring the freeze on North Korea’s nuclear program, implementing safeguards, and helping preserve all information relating to the DPRK’s past activity. We welcome the conclusion of negotiations for the EU to participate in the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) and call for further international support for KEDO, including the provision of funds. We stress the importance of Four Party talks and the necessity of North-South dialogue. We call on North Korea to halt its development, deployment and export of ballistic missiles.” [Ed. note: More extensive excerpts from the Final Communique will be distributed to NAPSNet subscribers in a subsequent Special Report.]

US President Bill Clinton (“PRESIDENT’S FINAL DENVER SUMMIT PRESS CONFERENCE,” USIA Transcript, 6/22/97), during a press conference at the conclusion of the Denver Summit of the Eight on June 22, responded to a question as to why the Final Communique did not explicitly call on the DPRK to agree to participate in the proposed four-party peace talks, and what he felt were the prospects of the four-party meetings taking place. Clinton said: “I would say that it is an oversight and we should have, because I do every time I can. And secondly, I’m fairly optimistic now because North Korea has agreed to participate

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1. US Gains Access to Defector Hwang

The Associated Press (“U.S. QUESTIONS N. KOREAN DEFECTOR,” Seoul, 6/20/97) reported that Jim Coles, a spokesman for US military forces in the ROK, said that US officials are joining ROK officials in questioning DPRK defector Hwang Jang-yop. “We can’t go into details, but U.S. officials are participating in discussions,” Cole said. The statement was the first confirmation that US investigators are questioning Hwang, who arrived in Seoul in April after entering the ROK consulate in Beijing. The ROK earlier had indicated that US intelligence agents would be allowed to talk to Hwang only after its own interrogation was completed. Hwang, 74, was a member of the DPRK’s top decision-making body, an architect of the DPRK’s guiding philosophy of juche, or self-reliance, and once tutored Kim Jong-il, the DPRK’s current leader. Hwang, the highest-ranking official to ever flee from the DPRK, reportedly was facing a purge when he defected in February. The ROK Agency for National Security Planning said in May that Hwang had reported that the DPRK has nuclear weapons capable of “scorching” all of the ROK and part of Japan. The US State Department doubted the claim, saying that although it believed the DPRK possessed enough plutonium to put together a nuclear device, its nuclear program was frozen and monitored under the 1994 Agreed Framework.

2. DPRK Rhetorical Attacks

The AP-Dow Jones News Service (“N. KOREA ACCUSES S. KOREA OF SHOOTING NEAR BORDER,” Tokyo, 6/20/97) reported that the DPRK on Friday accused the ROK of shooting rounds from tanks near the border intended “to provoke and threaten us.” The al

1. United States 1. DPRK Rhetorical Attacks Reuters (“NORTH KOREA STEPS UP WAR OF WORDS ON SOUTH,” Tokyo, 6/19/97) and the Associated Press (“TENSIONS LIKE EVE OF KOREAN WAR,” Tokyo, 6/18/97) reported that the DPRK on Thursday stepped up its war of words against the ROK. The DPRK’s Rodong Shinmun newspaper, an outlet for the […]

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

III. Japan

IV. People’s Republic of China

I. United States

1. DPRK Rhetorical Attacks

Reuters (“NORTH KOREA STEPS UP WAR OF WORDS ON SOUTH,” Tokyo, 6/19/97) and the Associated Press (“TENSIONS LIKE EVE OF KOREAN WAR,” Tokyo, 6/18/97) reported that the DPRK on Thursday stepped up its war of words against the ROK. The DPRK’s Rodong Shinmun newspaper, an outlet for the DPRK’s ruling party, said in a commentary carried on state-run Radio Pyongyang and monitored by Japan’s Radiopress news agency that the ROK’s recent amphibious war games were clearly directed against the DPRK and were raising tensions to a level similar to the eve of the Korean War. “This war exercise by the puppets is clearly a kind of declaration of war and can never be tolerated,” the commentary said. “In the last decade or so, South Korea has camouflaged invasion exercises as ‘defensive maneuvers’,” it said. “But this time, the Kim Young-sam group openly declared that this was a war exercise to land on the beaches of our republic,” the commentary said. “Because of their actions, today in our country a delicate situation like the night before June 25, 1950, has been created.” The Rodong Shinmun added: “If the puppets and their American imperialist masters provoke an aggressive war, our people and the People’s Army will reply with a hundred-fold, thousand-fold defeat against them.” The commentary also said the DPRK was prepared to mobilize “dormant power” built up over the past several decades if the ROK and the US failed to heed its warnings. Thursday’s commentary followed a warning from a DPRK military spokesman Wednesday that the country’s armed forces were ready for a “final battle” with the US and the ROK. [Ed. note: see following item.] DPRK-watchers in Jap

In today’s Report:

I. Republic of Korea

I. Republic of Korea

1. DPRK Plans to Attack Japan in Future Korean Peninsula Contingency

ROK internal documents revealed that the DPRK has plans to directly attack Japan if the US becomes involved in a “future contingency” on the Korean peninsula. Reportedly, much of the document is according to testimony by Hwang Jang-yop, former secretary of the DPRK Workers Party who recently fled the DPRK. Such information is supported by the known mid-range missile capacities of the DPRK’s Rodong I. Observers interpret the DPRK’s plan as an intention to deter the US from getting involved in a Korea peninsula conflict since the DPRK’s direct attack on Japan would escalate such a scenario to a broader international level. (Kyonghyang Shinmun, “DPRK PLANS TO ATTACK JAPAN IN CASE OF US INVOLVEMENT IN FUTURE CONTINGENCIES OF THE KOREAN PENINSULA,” 06/18/97)

2. ROK Private Aid to the DPRK

A ROK ship carrying food aid will arrive at the Hungnam port in the DPRK next Monday, a Red Cross official said yesterday. The “Sangyoung- ho” will carry 1,000 tons of corn flour and 150,000 boxes of ramen (instant noodles) and0 will leave from Pusan on Saturday. It will be the first ROK shipment of relief goods from private organizations to the DPRK. The flour was donated by Chung Ju-yung, honorary chairman of Hyundai Business Group, and the ramen by religious groups. (Korea Herald, “AID SHIP TO ARRIVE IN NORTH JUNE 24,” 06/18/97)

3. ROK Demonstrates Firm Stance on Tokdo Issue

The ROK government and officials of the ruling New Korea Party announced Tuesday that they cannot respond to any proposal that would affect the sovereig

In today’s Report:

I. Republic of Korea

I. Republic of Korea

1. Alterations to the Taiwanese Nuclear Waste Trade

ROK Foreign Minister Yoo Chong-ha has urged Taiwan to end its plan to ship nuclear waste to the DPRK, and to reconsider the PRC as their contractor. During his May 18-21 trip to China, Minister Yoo said that PRC officials had offered to take the Taiwanese radioactive waste. The Minister, appearing on “In Focus,” a debate program on cable television, said, “[Chinese officials] said that China is ready to take the Taiwanese radioactive waste because they have the facilities, technology and experience.” (Korea Herald, “CHINA OFFERS TO TAKE WASTE TO STOP NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR DEAL; ARIRANG TV TO AIR YOO’S INTERVIEW TONIGHT,” 06/17/97)

2. Kim Jung-Il Likely to Assume Presidency This Year

According to Radio Moscow, Kim Jong-il, the DPRK’s de facto leader, is expected to assume the state presidency this year. Quoting DPRK Ambassador to Russia Son Song-phil at a recent memorial service held at the DPRK embassy in Moscow, the official news source reported Son as saying, “In accordance with the people’s demands, Kim Jong-il is likely to be elected state president this year.” July 8, the third anniversary of the senior Kim’s death, will also mark the end of the three-year mourning period for the late President Kim Il-sung. (Korea Herald, “KIM TO TAKE TOP NORTH KOREA POSTS THIS YEAR: SAYS DPRK AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA,” 06/17/97)

3. No New Progress in Four-Party Peace Talks

US State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns announced at a briefing yesterday that there has been no progress in the four-party peace talks after the th

In today’s Report:

I. Republic of Korea

I. Republic of Korea

1. DPRK Adopts De Facto Market Economy in Najin-Sonbong

The DPRK recently reported to the UNDP of their economic liberalization and reform plan in the Najin-Sonbong SEZ. The plan is comprised of eleven articles and includes proposals for currency reform, permission for citizens to run private businesses and freely trade goods, the establishment of a free market in the border town of Wonjong-li, the privatization of government owned businesses, and a cut in government subsidies. Observers view such reform plans as a de facto adoption of a market economy and demonstrated concerns of its impacts. (Joong-ang Ilbo, “DPRK TO PERMIT PRIVATE BUSINESS IN NAJIN- SONBONG,” 06/16/97)

2. Taiwan to Purchase 2,000 Rocket Launchers from France

The Taiwanese defense ministry announced through local media on June 15 of their plan to purchase two thousand anti-tank rocket launchers from France. The announcement came despite the 1994 PRC-France agreement on arms embargo to Taiwan. The report, quoting an anonymous senior official in the defense force, said that the proposed deal is likely to be completed because the rocket launchers are classified as “general” military equipment. Neither the name of the exporter nor the cost of the purchase were disclosed. (Kyunghyang Shinmun, “TAIWAN TO PURCHASE ANTI-TANK MISSILE LAUNCHERS FROM FRANCE,” 06/16/97)

3. ROK Food Aid Continue in DPRK

The ROK’s first shipment of corn in relief aid to the DPRK, which began last Thursday, resumed yesterday in three areas bordering the North and China. It is expected that the last of the 11,200 tons of corn will be delivered to the DPRK by June 19, with the second shipment of 17,600 tons of corn scheduled to begin the following day. According to Lee Kye-bok of the South Korean National Red Cross (KNRC), who is overseeing the transportation of th

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

III. Japan

IV. Announcement

I. United States

1. US-DPRK Missile Talks

US State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns (“STATE DEPARTMENT NOON BRIEFING, JUNE 12,” USIA Transcript, 6/13/97) stated that talks between the US and the DPRK on missile proliferation began on Wednesday and were scheduled to continue through Friday. The US delegation is being led by Deputy Assistant Secretary Bob Einhorn. “I am not going to be providing an assessment of how the talks are going. We will do that at the end of the talks,” Burns said. In response to a subsequent question regarding whether the talks include the issue of DPRK chemical weapon development, Burns said, “These are proliferation talks, so they encompass both ballistic missile and any kind of concerns that we would have with other proliferation activities, fissile material, anything that came into play.”

2. ROK Stinger Missile Purchase from US

US State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns (“STATE DEPARTMENT NOON BRIEFING, JUNE 12,” USIA Transcript, 6/13/97), in response to a question concerning ROK denials of US statements that the ROK has agreed to purchase US$307 million worth of Stinger missiles from the US, stated, “If, in fact, the South Koreans say that, well, … we would just have one bit of advice for the South Koreans. American products are obviously superior.” Burns added, “We are a good friend to South Korea, and the South Koreans know that. We are the best friend that South Korea has. We are always there to help defend South Korea. So we attach particular importance to the sale of the Stingers, a lot of importance.”

US Defense Department Deputy Spokesman Mike Doubleday (“PENTAGON SPOKESMAN’S REGULAR BRIEFING,”