Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. United States

1. DPRK on Relations with US

Associated Press (“N KOREA CALLS POWELL’S ASIA TRIP A ‘SLEIGHT OF HAND’ WITH U.S. ELECTION IMMINENT”, None) reported that the DPRK dismissed Secretary of State Colin Powell’s Asian trip as pre-US election trickery Saturday. On Saturday, Pyongyang sneered at Powell’s trip, with a spokesman from the DPRK’s Foreign Ministry describing Washington’s diplomatic effort as a “sleight of hand in the run-up to the presidential elections.” “The resumption of the six-party talks depends on whether the US is ready to fully consider the demands raised by the DPRK,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

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2. US on DPRK Nuclear Talks

The Washington Post (“POWELL STRESSES ‘URGENCY’ OF TALKS WITH NORTH KOREA “, 2004-10-25) reported that Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, in Asia to prod the DPRK to return to talks on ending its nuclear programs, said that although there is still time to resolve the impasse, “there is a sense of urgency.” Powell said: “We are not out of time. . . . We are all pressing hard, there is a sense of urgency. But President Bush has made it clear that he intends to use diplomacy and political activity, working with our friends and neighbors in a multilateral way, to solve this problem.”

(return to top) The New York Times (“POWELL AND JAPAN ASK NORTH KOREA TO RESUME TALKS “, 2004-10-25) reported that Secretary of State Colin L. Powell joined with Japanese leaders on Sunday to appeal again to the DPRK to resume the stalled negotiations over the future of its nuclear program, and not to see coming naval exercises as provocative or an excuse for further delay. He added that the only way the DPRK could get badly needed economic and energy help was for it to reach an accord in talks with the US, Russia, PRC, ROK and Japan to dismantle its nuclear arms program. (return to top)

3. DPRK on Nuclear Talks

The New York Times (“NORTH KOREA SETS 3 CONDITIONS FOR RETURNING TO NUCLEAR TALKS”, None) reported that the DPRK on Friday set out three conditions to be met before it would return to the regional talks on its nuclear weapons program. The US must drop its hostile policy, join an economic aid program for the DPRK and agree to discuss “South Korea’s nuclear problem,” a DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesman told the official KCNA news agency.

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4. US on DPRK Conditions for Nuclear Talks

The Washington Post (“N. KOREA’S CONDITION FOR TALKS REJECTED; POWELL RULES OUT ADVANCE COMPENSATION”, None) reported that Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said Saturday that the US would not provide “up-front” benefits to the DPRK if it agreed to dismantle its nuclear programs, rejecting a key condition laid out by the DPRK government Friday for its return to six-nation negotiations on its weapons programs.

(return to top) The New York Times (“POWELL REJECTS NORTH KOREAN DEMAND ON U.S.”, 2004-10-23) reported that Secretary of State Colin L. Powell on Saturday rejected the DPRK’s latest demand that the US drop its “hostile” policy toward that nation and agree to other steps before the stalled regional talks on its nuclear weapons program resume. Mr. Powell, speaking to reporters on his plane before arriving in Tokyo, said that “to put forward these kinds of conditions, which may lead to yet another set of conditions, is not the way to approach this problem.” (return to top)

5. DPRK on Nuclear Issue

Reuters (“N.KOREA VOWS TO BOOST DETERRENT, U.S. REJECTS DEMAND OCTOBER “, 2004-10-25) reported that the DPRK threatened on Saturday to double the size of its nuclear deterrent and the US rejected its conditions for a resumption of talks, leaving the two nations in a dangerous stalemate. “If the United States persistently pursues its confrontational hostile policy toward the DPRK from the viewpoint of escapism, it will only compel the DPRK to double its deterrent force,” the main newspaper in the DPRK said in a commentary published by the official KCNA news agency.

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6. US on Japan Role in DPRK Nuclear Issue

Reuters (“US SEEKS STRATEGY WITH JAPAN FOR NEW N.KOREA TALKS”, 2004-10-25) reported that Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday there was still time to resolve a nuclear crisis with the DPRK through six-party talks despite Pyongyang’s refusal to resume the negotiations. “We are not out of time,” Powell said at a news conference with Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura. Machimura vowed to use bilateral meetings next month to press the DPRK to return to talks.

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7. US on PRC Role in DPRK Nuclear Issue

Reuters (“U.S. URGES CHINA TO PUSH FOR MORE N.KOREA TALKS”, 2004-10-25) reported that Secretary of State Colin Powell urged the PRC on Monday to exert its influence over the DPRK to resume stalled talks on scrapping its nuclear weapons programs. “China has considerable influence with North Korea,” Powell said at a news conference after meeting PRC President Hu Jintao and other top officials. “I hope that as a result of our conversations, both of us will energize the other members of the six-party framework to resolve the outstanding issues that keep us from setting a date for a meeting,” he said. Powell also raised sensitive bilateral issues.

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8. Japan – ROK on DPRK Nuclear Issue

Korea Times (“RULING PARTY CHIEF IN JAPAN OVER NK NUKES”, 2004-10-25) reported that ruling Uri Party chairman Lee Bu-young arrived in Japan Monday afternoon on a four-day visit to the country. On the agenda will be the stalled six-way talks on the DPRKÕs nuclear programs, along with ongoing discussions on a free trade agreement between Japan and the ROK.

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9. ROK on DPRK Nuclear Program

Yonhap (“N. KOREA MIGHT HAVE TWO NUCLEAR BOMBS, S.K. DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS “, 2004-10-25) reported that the DPRK is thought to have at least one or two nuclear bombs, Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said Saturday. “Our position is that North Korea extracted 10 to 14 kilograms of plutonium in the early 1990s and possibly made one or two nuclear bombs with the plutonium,” Yoon told South Korean correspondents here.

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10. US – DPRK Nuclear Talks

Kyodo News (“1994 ACCORD ARCHITECT URGES QUICK U.S. ACTION ON N. KOREA NUKE ISSUE”, 2004-10-22) reported that the US should immediately present a clear choice to the DPRK with ‘carrots and sticks’ to convince the country to abandon its nuclear arms programs, one of the main architects of a 1994 US-DPRK nuclear accord said Thursday. Poneman served as special assistant to then President Bill Clinton and senior director for the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction at the White House’s National Security Council.

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11. US on DPRK and US Troop Realignment

The Associated Press (“U.S. DISCOURAGES NORTH KOREA WMD ATTACK”, 2004-10-25) reported that the US promised the ROK on Friday that any DPRK use of weapons of mass destruction after a planned US troop pullout “would have the gravest consequences.” The pledge was included in a joint statement issued after a regular round of security talks at the Pentagon involving top US and ROK military leaders.

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12. US on Kaesong Project

Chosun Ilbo (“DON’T EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM GAESONG INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX: U.S. AMBASSADOR “, 2004-10-25) reported that US Ambassador to the ROK Christopher Hill said Monday that the Gaeseong Industrial Complex Project may help reform the DPRK economic system, but it cannot fundamentally change the system. Thus, people should not expect too much from the project. He made this remark in a speech for the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation and added that the view that the ROKÕs Gaeseong project can fundamentally change the DPRKÕs economic system imposes too much pressure on the project.

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13. PSI Drill

Yomiuri Shimbun (“MULTINATIONAL SECURITY DRILL SLATED FOR WATERS OFF TOKYO”, 2004-10-25) reported that Japan will conduct from Monday to Wednesday the first multinational proliferation security initiative (PSI) exercise aimed at interdicting weapons of mass destruction in waters off the coast of Sagami Bay and Yokosuka Port in Kanagawa Prefecture. The US, France and Australia will take part in the exercise.

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14. DPRK on PSI Drill

The Associated Press (“N. KOREA CALLS U.S. EXERCISES ‘WAR ACTION'”, 2004-10-25) reported that the DPRK condemned US-led naval exercises in Japanese waters as an “ultimate war action.” KCNA said US military maneuvers around the Korean peninsula show that Washington “does not stand for a peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue.” “The DPRK has warned more than once that naval blockade exercises targeted against it would not be favorable for the atmosphere of dialogue,” KCNA said. “These moves only make the prospect of the negotiations with it dimmer as the days go by.”

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15. US – DPRK on Food Aid

Yonhap (“US-NORTH KOREA MEETING IN NEW YORK DISCUSSES FOOD AID MONITORING”, 2004-10-25) reported that the US acknowledged that it had a meeting with the DPRK in New York earlier this week and said it was about the monitoring of food aid to the state. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher did not say, however, whether the meeting took up the dispute over the DPRK’s nuclear program as well.

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16. DPRK Food Aid

Reuters (“NORTH KOREA SELLS FOOD AID ON LOCAL MARKET-SOUTH “, 2004-10-25) reported that DPRK has been selling on its domestic market international food aid aimed at helping to ease food shortages in the impoverished country, the ROK’s Unification Ministry said on Friday. In spite of the allegation, the ministry said at a meeting with the World Food Program (WFP) that it would donate 100,000 tons of corn to the DPRK via the organization as usual.

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17. Japan on DPRK Food Aid

The Associated Press (“JAPANESE TEAM TO MONITOR FOOD AID DISTRIBUTION IN N. KOREA IN NOV.”, 2004-10-25) reported that the Japanese government plans to send a team to the DPRK in early November to monitor if the food and medicines it provided as part of humanitarian aid are being distributed appropriately, a government source said Monday. The team, comprising 10 people, including Foreign Ministry officials will be in the DPRK for about a week as part of an international monitoring team, the source said.

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18. DPRK on UN Aid

Yonhap (“N. KOREA REJECTS U.N.-LED CONSOLIDATED AID FOR SECURITY REASONS “, None) reported that the DPRK has said it will not participate nor support the UN-led aid program known as Consolidated Appeals Process for it next year, citing security reasons, a UN relief agency said Monday. “The DPRK Government, in view of the prevailing security situation, is not in a position to accommodate all the requirements raised by international organizations, especially regarding monitoring and access,” the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs quoted a senior DPRK official as saying.

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19. DPRK Media Freedom

Yonhap (“MEDIA WATCHDOG LISTS N. KOREA LAST IN PRESS FREEDOM RANKING “, 2004-10-25) reported that the international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (known by the acronym of their French name, RSF) listed the DPRK last in a worldwide ranking of countries by respect for press freedom for a third year. According to the RSF’s Internet edition on Friday, there have been no positive changes in the DPRK’s news media, which is controlled by a single party and, some say, by Kim Jong-il personally.

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20. DPRK Minimum Wage Cut

Joongang Ilbo (“NORTH REPORTEDLY CUTS WAGES TO LURE INVESTORS “, 2004-10-25) reported that in an effort to lure foreign investment, the DPRK government has reportedly cut the minimum wage for workers at foreign companies by more than half. According to the Internet version of Choson Sinbo, a newspaper run by Chongryon, an organization of Koreans in Japan with ties to the DPRK, Pyeongyang has reduced the minimum wage for employees of foreign companies from $80-$90 to $38 per month.

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21. DPRK Defectors

Yonhap (“18 N. KOREANS TRY TO ENTER SOUTH CONSULATE IN BEIJING “, 2004-10-25) reported that eighteen would-be DPRK asylum-seekers tried to enter the ROK consulate in Beijing on Monday (25 October) to take refuge but only three succeeded in the attempt, witnesses said. Fifteen others were either arrested by PRC security officials or ran away, they said. Most of the would-be defectors were women and children.

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22. ROK on DPRK Defectors

Choson Ilbo (“SOUTH KOREA ASKS CHINA NOT TO ARREST 29 NORTH DEFECTORS IN SCHOO”, 2004-10-25) reported that the ROK embassy officials in Beijing said they have asked PRC authorities not to arrest 29 alleged DPRK defectors who barged into a ROK school in Beijing Friday (22 October) in a desperate attempt at defection. Embassy officials said that Seoul will request that Beijing help bring the asylum-seekers to ROK.

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23. ROK Depleted Uranium Experiment

Joongang Ilbo (“DEPLETED URANIUM ONCE USED IN WEAPONS “, 2004-10-25) reported that Representative Cho Seung-soo of the Democratic Labor Party and the environmental group Green Korea United said yesterday that the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute had produced anti-tank shells in the 1980s made from depleted uranium, alloyed with titanium.

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24. ROK – US Security Relations

Chosun Ilbo (“FIRST KOREA-U.S. STRATEGIC POLICY INITIATIVE MEETING TO BE HELD NEXT MONTH “, 2004-10-25) reported that the US and ROK agreed to establish a Strategic Policy Initiative (SPI) to form a blueprint for the future of the US-ROK alliance, during the annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) last Friday. The two countries agreed to hold the first SPI meeting in Seoul late next month, said Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung on Monday.

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25. ROK on USFK Realignment

Joongang Ilbo (“USFK COULD BE REGIONAL FORCE, MINISTER SAYS”, 2004-10-25) reported that Seoul and Washington are discussing turning the US Forces in the ROK into a “regional force,” meaning they would no longer focus solely on deterring the DPRK, and could be sent elsewhere in East Asia in times of crisis, Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said over the weekend.

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26. ROK Military

Reuters (“S.KOREA’S EX-SPIES PROTEST, DEMAND MORE RECOGNITION”, 2004-10-25) reported that about 100 former ROK commandos trained to infiltrate the DPRK staged a protest demonstration near the presidential Blue House on Friday, demanding more recognition for their work. The government had feared even confirming the special commando forces had existed could hurt delicate ties with the DPRK.

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27. ROK Capital Relocation

Agence France-Presse (“SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT ACCEPTS COURT RULING ON RELOCATING CAPITAL”, 2004-10-25) reported that ROK President Roh Moo-Hyun accepted a Constitutional Court ruling that has scuttled his ambitious plan to relocate the country’s capital out of Seoul. Breaking his silence about the court decision that declared a special law on relocation unconstitutional, Roh said he would not dispute the ruling but vowed to seek an alternative policy.

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28. ROK on Gando Convention

Chosun Ilbo (“FOREIGN MINISTER COMMENTS ON SOVEREIGNTY ISSUE OVER GANDO “, 2004-10-25) reported that Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki-moon said Friday that the Gando Convention may be legally null and void, but that it is important to approach sovereignty over the region from a non-legal point of view.

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29. Japan Iraq Dispatch

Los Angeles Times (“DEPLOYMENT ALLOWS JAPAN TO SHOW THE FLAG OVERSEAS”, 2004-10-25) reported that like the contingent of Japanese soldiers under his command, Col. Yuki Imaura went to Iraq this year carrying a gun Ñ and with unspoken but clearly understood orders to stay out of situations in which he’d have to use it. More than seven months into their deployment in the relatively peaceful Shiite Muslim city of Samawah, Japan’s troops have achieved what many here say is their main goal: showing the Japanese flag on a military expedition abroad, without getting hurt or hurting any Iraqis.

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30. US – Japan on US Troop Realignment

The Japan Times (“MACHIMURA, POWELL AGREE TO BOOST MILITARY DISCUSSIONS “, 2004-10-25) Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura and US Secretary of State Colin Powell agreed Sunday to hold strategic talks at the ministerial level to discuss the security situation in the Asia-Pacific region. Powell told reporters after the meeting that the presence of the US military here and its transformation have to be dealt with in terms of the “strategic needs” of Japan and the US.

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31. US – Japanese Trade Relations

Bloomberg News (“JAPAN TO ACCEPT U.S. BEEF AGAIN DEAL CALLS FOR LIMITED IMPORTS AFTER MAD COW DISEASE CASE”, 2004-10-25) reported that US beef exports to Japan are to resume soon under an agreement reached yesterday to ease a 10-month ban on the meat prompted by a case of mad cow disease in Washington state. “This agreement is kind of the gateway to all the other markets that haven’t opened yet,” said Gregg Doud, an economist with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. He said he expects the ROK to resume purchases after Japanese shipments resume. “The Koreans have signaled for some time that they were waiting on the US and Japan,” Doud said.

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32. Japan Quake

Washington Post (“JAPAN REELING FROM SERIES OF QUAKES RESCUERS FLY TO ISOLATED VILLAGES AS THOUSANDS SPEND ANOTHER NIGHT IN SHELTERS”, 2004-10-25) reported that rescue workers airlifted residents out of isolated villages and sifted through wreckage for earthquake survivors Sunday, a day after a series of strong temblors hit northwest Japan, killing at least 23 people and injuring more than 2,000. Dozens of quakes and tremors Saturday evening, the first and strongest measuring magnitude 6.8, rocked a largely rural area around the town of Ojiya, about 160 miles northwest of Tokyo.

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33. Sino – Japanese Gas Dispute

Kyodo News (“JAPAN-CHINA GAS TALKS END WITHOUT PROGRESS”, 2004-10-25) reported that senior officials from Japan and PRC on Monday concluded talks aimed at resolving their dispute over PRC gas exploration projects in the East China Sea without a breakthrough, Japan’s delegate to the talks said. ‘We did not reach and agreement,” Mitoji Yabunaka, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau told reporters.

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34. Cross Strait Relations

Reuters (“WHAT’S IN A NAME? FOR TAIWAN, MAYBE WAR OR PEACE”, 2004-10-25) reported that “We are Taiwanese. Taiwan is our mother. We are not Chinese,” said Peter Wang, a social activist who directs a league of about 130 pro-Taiwan independence groups called the Alliance to Campaign for Rectifying the Name of Taiwan. Their aim is to get rid of the ROC name and create the Republic of Taiwan, symbolizing formal independence from the PRC.

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35. US on Cross Strait Relations

The Associated Press (“POWELL URGES CHINA TO HOLD TAIWAN TALKS”, 2004-10-25) reported that Secretary of State Colin Powell encouraged PRC leaders on Monday to resume a dialogue with Taiwan but suggested Beijing was not prepared to do so because of strong concerns about President Chen Shui-bian’s policies. As for the possibility of a PRC-Taiwan dialogue, Powell said he encouraged the PRC “to keep an open mind and to take advantage of any opportunity that comes along.”

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36. Sino – US Trade Relations

Washington Post (“U.S. LIMITS CHINESE SOCK IMPORTS”, 2004-10-25) reported that US imports of socks from the PRC will be strictly limited next year, the Bush administration announced yesterday — a decision that could herald similar action against other types of PRC-made clothing that have the potential to dominate world markets. An interagency committee found that PRC sock imports should be capped because they have caused “both disruption and a threat of disruption” in the US market, James J. Jochum, assistant secretary of commerce for import administration, said in a conference call.

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37. Hong Kong Direct Elections

The Associated Press (“CHINA REJECTS HONG KONG REFERENDUM ON DIRECT ELECTIONS”, 2004-10-25) reported that the PRC has rejected a proposal by Hong Kong’s political opposition to hold a referendum on direct elections in this partially democratic territory. Hong Kong’s No. 2 official Donald Tsang earlier dismissed the idea, saying it goes against procedures set by Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law.

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38. PRC Population Growth

Agence France-Presse (“CHINA’S POPULATION TO HIT 1.5 BILLION PEOPLE BY 2030”, 2004-10-25) reported that the PRC, the world’s most populous nation, will see its population grow to nearly 1.5 billion over the next 20 to 30 years, state press reported. “Over the next 20 years, the nation’s population will still increase by about 10 million annually and reach a peak of 1.46 billion in the mid-2030s,” the Shanghai Daily quoted population expert Zhang Weiqing as saying.

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39. PRC Domestic Dissent

The Associated Press (“CHINA FACTORY WORKERS PROTEST PENSIONS”, 2004-10-25) reported that thousands of retired textile factory workers in an eastern PRC industrial center blocked traffic in a weekend protest over the failure of their pensions to keep pace with rising prices, officials and labor advocates said Monday.

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