In today’s Report:
1b. Hwang Defection: Embassy Events
1c. Hwang Defection: Chinese Response
1d. Hwang Defection: US Response
1e. Hwang Defection: DPRK
1f. Hwang Defection: ROK
1g. Hwang Defection: Japan
1h. Hwang Defection: LA Times Analysis
1b. Hwang Defection: DPRK Response
1c. Hwang Defection: Claim of Spies in ROK Government
1d. Hwang Defection: Pro-DPRK Students’ Reaction
2. Editorial on DPRK Economic Prospects
3. Commentary on DPRK-Taiwan Nuclear Waste Deal
4. Japan-US Defense Cooperation
5. Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM)
6. Correction
I. United States
1a. Hwang Defection: Hwang’s Statements [Ed. Note: please see the Special Reports issued earlier to day for excerpts from various Hwang letters.]
Reuters (“N.KOREA DEFECTOR THREATENS TO DIE IN BEIJING,” Rome, 2/14/97) reported a statement from the ROK embassy in Rome (but datelined Seoul) that Hwang Jang-yop, the DPRK official seeking asylum in the ROK, has said he will die in Beijing if his request is not granted. The statement quoted him as saying, “I want to make it clear that South Korea is the place where I want to go, and I will not go to any third country.” The embassy report also said Seoul’s foreign ministry had issued a statement Thursday hand-written by Hwang. It quoted Hwang’s note as saying, “My remaining life will not be long. I am a failed man in politics.” It also quotes the note as saying, “I don’t have a slightest intention to take a share in any one side. I only wish to give help to south-north relations and unification until the last minute of my life.”
1b. Hwang Defection: Embassy Events
The New York Times (Patrick E. Tyler, “DEFECTOR FROM KOREA IS HOT POTATO FOR BEIJING,” Beijing, 2/14/97) reported that Hwang’s case is extraordinary not only because of his rank, but also as a result of the defection drama playing itself out in front of the ROK embassy in Beijing.
The Los Angeles Times (Rone Tempest, “CHINA GRAPPLES WITH DEFECTION DILEMMA,” Beijing, 2/14/97) quoted ROK embassy spokesman Chang Mo