NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, August 4, 2004

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NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, August 4, 2004

NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, August 4, 2004

United States

II. ROK

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. United States

1. US on DPRK Nuclear Issue

United Press International (“U.S. OFFICIAL: NO ENERGY HELP FOR N.KOREA”, 2004-08-04) reported that the US will not be pressured by the PRC to give energy assistance to the DPRK, a U.S. official said Tuesday. “Instead of talking about our hostile policy, they (North Korea) need to concentrate on what the problem is,” the U.S. senior official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The problem is their pursuit of nuclear weapons.” The main issue is for the DPRK to verifiably eliminate its nuclear weapons program, the official told the Kyodo News Service. “At this point we made our proposal in June, the North Koreans have not responded to it substantively,” the official said. “We want them to respond to it so the ball is in their court.”

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2. US – ROK on DPRK Nuclear Issue

Chosun Ilbo (“SEOUL-WASHINGTON CONTINUE NUKE DIALOGUE STRATEGY DISCUSSIONS “, 2004-08-04) reported that in Washington, the ROK and the US held two days of talks on the 22-month-old stalemate on the DPRK’s nuclear row. On the second day Tuesday, Seoul’s Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck met with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly for preparatory discussions on a lower-level meeting set for later this month in Beijing among the two Koreas, the U.S., PRC, Japan and Russia. The so-called working-group meeting is to pave the way for the fourth round of higher-level six-party talks slated for before the end of September.

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3. ROK – Japan on DPRK Nuclear Issue

Yonhap (“SEOUL URGES COORDINATION WITH JAPAN ON N.K. NUCLEAR ISSUE “, 2004-08-04) reported that a leading ROK politician on Wednesday called for close coordination with Japan for a peaceful resolution of the dispute over the DPRK’s nuclear weapons program. Rep. Chun Jung-bae, the floor leader of the ruling Uri Party, asked Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to make many contributions to the resolution of the dispute and for peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia. “We highly appraise Prime Minister Koizumi’s diplomatic accomplishments, such as the improvement of relations between North Korea and Japan by visiting Pyongyang twice,” Chun said in a meeting with Koizumi. Chun has been in Tokyo since Saturday to discuss economic and political issues with Japanese officials.

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4. ASEAN on DPRK Nuclear Issue

Korea Times (“ASEAN VOWS ROLE AS DIPLOMATIC DETERRENT IN NK NUKE ISSUE”, 2004-08-04) reported that a top official of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) vowed the member nations will increase its efforts to serve as a “diplomatic deterrent” in the process of resolving the lingering impasse over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong set the premise of “not yet, and maybe not in a substantial way,” but also showed cautious optimism concerning the issue, saying the regional organization carries with it certain psychological value and effects. “I think North Korea doesn’t want to be left out, as their participation at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) clearly indicates. Moreover, the ASEAN+3 (ROK, Japan and PRC) system helps North Korea step up onto the international stage with others,” he said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.

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5. DPRK Drug Trafficking

Donga Ilbo (“NORTH KOREA RAISES MILITARY FUNDS BY SELLING DRUGS”, 2004-08-04) reported that the DPRK has annually earned $500 million during the recent one to two years from drug exports, and some of the funds were spent as military expenses, said the U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS) in its most recent report. The Japanese newspaper Sankei Shinbun, quoting the U.S. CRS report titled “Drug Transactions and North Korea,” said on August 4 that the DPRK was recently conspiring with criminal syndicates in Russia, the PRC, Japan, and the ROK in order to avoid internationally strengthened controls. However, the strict control resulted in poor profitability, and the DPRK therefore increased its transaction amounts on a large scale. Accordingly, exports of drugs have extended to 70 percent of North Korea’s total export amount ($700 million) in 2000.

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6. DPRK Missile Systems

Reuters (“NEW N. KOREAN MISSILES SAID TO THREATEN U.S. “, 2004-08-04) reported that the DPRK is deploying new land- and sea-based ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads and may have sufficient range to hit the US, according to the authoritative Jane’s Defense Weekly. Jane’s, which did not specify its sources, said the sea-based missile was potentially the more threatening of the two new weapons systems. “It would fundamentally alter the missile threat posed by the DPRK and could finally provide its leadership with something that it has long sought to obtain — the ability to directly threaten the continental U.S.,” the weekly said.

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7. MIA / POW Joint Recovery Operations

Washington (“REMAINS THOUGHT TO BE 2 U.S. TROOPS FOUND IN N.KOREA”, 2004-08-04) reported that remains believed to be those of two U.S. soldiers missing in action from the Korean War have been recovered in the DPRK and will taken to Hawaii for identification, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. The remains, found by a U.S.-DPRK search team, will be driven across the Demilitarized Zone between the DPRK and ROK and repatriated at Yongsan Military Compound in Seoul on Thursday. The remains will be flown to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, where U.S. forensic experts will work to establish positive identification. Since 1996, 30 joint operations have been conducted in the DPRK during which more than 200 remains believed to be those of U.S. troops have been recovered. Nineteen sets of remains believed to be those of U.S. troops were recovered earlier this year and flown to Hawaii.

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8. DPRK Domestic Dissent

Yonhap (“ANTI-GOVERNMENT MOVEMENT SPREADING IN NORTH KOREA: DEFECTOR “, 2004-08-04) reported that a number of small underground organizations in the DPRK are fast spreading a movement against the communist regime, controlled by Kim Jong-il, a DPRK defector said Wednesday. The anti-Kim movement, which started to take shape in the DPRK in May, is aimed at disclosing the realities of the government, Kim Deok-hong, a former DPRK businessman, told a press conference via Internet.

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9. DPRK Denies Defection Rumors

Yonhap (“N. KOREA DENIES DEFECTION OF TOP NUCLEAR SCIENTIST “, 2004-08-04) reported that the DPRK has dismissed allegations that its top nuclear scientist has defected, saying the researcher is still working at the DPRK’s maritime radioactive research institute. “The Ministry of Unification of South Korea posted on its Internet homepage a sheer lie,” the DPRK’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. In a lengthy dispatch from Pyongyang, the KCNA accused the Unification Ministry of spreading “sheer nonsense” by saying that Kim Kwang-bin, the head of the DPRK’s No. 38 atomic research center, has defected and testified that the DPRK developed nuclear weapons based on highly enriched uranium. “We make it clear that there are no such things as institutes Nos. 38 and 19,” the KCNA, monitored here, said.

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10. DPRK Defectors in the ROK

Chosun Ilbo (“N. KOREAN DEFECTOR PREVENTED FROM HOLDING PRESS CONFERENCE “, 2004-08-04) reported that Kim Deok-hong, a former DPRK businessman who defected from the DPRK along with former DPRK Workers’ Party secretary Hwang Jang-yeop in 1997, tried to hold a press conference at the Foreign Press Club at the Seoul Press Center. However, as the police kept him from appearing in public place due to safety reasons, Kim held a press conference via Internet at his home. He said at the beginning of the conference, “I wanted to go to the venue of the conference, but the police told me that they cannot guarantee my safety if I go outside. So I have to meet you through the Internet.”

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11. UN FAO Visit to the DPRK

Yonhap (“TOP FAO OFFICIAL VISITS N. KOREA “, 2004-08-04) reported that a top official of a U.N. agency has visited the DPRK, the country’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Wednesday. In a short dispatch from Pyongyang, the KCNA said Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was greeted by Vice Foreign Minister Choe Su-hon, chairman of the National Committee of the FAO. The agency said the DPRK hosted a reception in honor of the visiting U.N. official. Before leaving for Pyongyang, Diouf visited Seoul last Tuesday as part of a trip to Northeast Asia.

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12. Japanese – DPRK Relations

The Associated Press (“REPORTS: JAPAN TO SEND AID TO N. KOREA “, 2004-08-03) reported that Japan plans to send $47 million of humanitarian aid to the DPRK, part of a pledge Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made when he visited the DPRK in May, media reports said Tuesday. During his summit with DPRK Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, Koizumi promised 250,000 tons of food aid and another $10 million in medical supplies and other humanitarian aid to the impoverished and isolated country. In return, Koizumi won the release of five children of Japanese citizens who were abducted by DPRK spies decades ago. Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi will brief the Cabinet about the first batch of aid Thursday, Kyodo News agency said, citing unidentified ministry sources. A ministry spokesman said arrangements hadn’t been finalized.

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13. DPRK Human Rights

Yonhap (“KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS TO HOLD RALLIES IN ATHENS “, 2004-08-04) reported that a ROK civic activist group will hold protest rallies over the DPRK’s human rights situation in Athens next week, a group official said Wednesday. “The first group of human rights activists is scheduled to depart for Athens on Friday,” said Kang In-koo, an official of the Commission to Help North Korean Refugees.

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14. Inter – Korean Relations

Korea Times (“RULING PARTY SEEKS TO SCRAP ANTI-COMMUNIST LAW”, 2004-08-04) reported that the ruling Uri Party is moving to jump-start its stalled drive to do away with the nation’s anti-communist law, which carries harsh penalties for expressing sympathy with the DPRK. In a party’s forum Wednesday morning, a group of 46 lawmakers agreed to put forth a bill late this month aiming to annul what they claim is a “draconian” law. “The National Security Law, which defines North Korea as an anti-state organization, is an obstacle we have to overcome to promote reconciliation and cooperation between the two Koreas,” said student activist-turned-legislator Im Jong-seok.

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15. ROK – Russian Relations

Donga Ilbo (“PRESIDENT ROH TO VISIT RUSSIA IN SEPTEMBER “, 2004-08-04) reported that Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on August 3 that President Roh Moo-hyun is scheduled to visit Russia next month. It will be President Roh’s first visit to Russia. The Russian newspaper Commerzant reported, “President Roh was scheduled to visit Russia last year, but his visit was delayed because of the situation in Korea regarding his impeachment.” The Russian media quoted Chairman Lim and reported that cooperation on energy issues and the railroads will most likely be the main agenda of the summit meeting of the leaders from Korea and Russia. Meanwhile, on the same day, Konstantin Pulikovsky, the Russian president`s plenipotentiary to the Far Eastern Federal District, relayed the news that the DPRK national leader, Kim Jong-il, also intends to pay another visit to Russia.

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16. US Troop Reorganization

Chosun Ilbo (“DESPITE TROOP REDUCTIONS, USFK COMMANDS BEEFING UP”, 2004-08-04) reported that the US has officially informed the Korean government that it intends to greatly expand the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division headquarters into a “Unit of Employment X” (UEx), boosting its manpower from its current 300 to 1,200 by the end of next year. Attention is focusing on how this represents U.S. intentions to strengthen USFK fighting strength in preparation for an emergency despite the withdrawal of a battalion of Apache attack helicopters and a battalion of multiple launch rocket systems and self-propelled artillery. Many had expected dissolutions of or reductions in the 8th Army or 2nd Infantry Division commands or reductions in the ranks of their commanders following a one-third (12,500) reduction in USFK by the end of next year, but the planned re-organizations dramatically differ from those expectations.

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17. ROK Hostage Death

Chosun Ilbo (“KIM SUN-IL KILLING DUE TO FAILURE OF GOV’T DIPLOMACY-SECURITY SYSTEM “, 2004-08-04) reported that the National Assembly’s special committee on the abduction and murder of Kim Sun-il adopted a report saying that Kim’s abduction case was caused by the complete failure of the government’s diplomacy and security system. The report said, “We could not find the fact that the government was aware of Kim’s abduction in advance, but that does not mean the government is free from the responsibility to protect the people abroad.” There were problems in the government’s activities to protect citizens overseas and obtain intelligence, it added.

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18. ROK Citizens in Iraq

United Press International (“S.KOREA BANS TRIPS TO IRAQ”, 2004-08-04) reported that the ROK Wednesday warned its citizens not to travel to Iraq as the planned dispatch of thousands of troops to the Middle Eastern nation nears. In an unusual joint press conference that revealed a sense of urgency, Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon and Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung warned that “a second and a third tragedy” could happen in Iraq, referring to the death of a South Korean hostage by Islamic terrorists in June. “We ask our people to refrain from traveling to all dangerous regions, including Iraq, and those remaining in dangerous regions to return home or go to neighboring countries as soon as possible,” Ban said.

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19. Jenkins Case

The Associated Press (“JAPAN: JENKINS TO MEET WITH COUNSEL ‘SOON'”, 2004-08-04) reported that accused U.S. Army deserter Charles Jenkins will meet with a U.S. military attorney soon to discuss his case and legal options, the Japanese government said Thursday. Jenkins, 64, is accused of deserting his Army platoon in the ROK in 1965 and defecting to the DPRK. He has been hospitalized in Japan since last month. Japanese news reports say the meeting will come on Friday, but Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda would not say exactly when the meeting would take place. “When doctors permit it, I believe they will meet in one of the hospital’s rooms,” he told reporters. “But officials from neither country will be present.”

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20. Sino – Australian Trade

Reuters (“AUSTRALIA FARM TRADE LOOKS PAST WTO, U.S., TO CHINA”, 2004-08-04) reported that Australian farm leaders, disappointed with lack of access to major markets in World Trade Organisation talks and in a U.S. free trade agreement, have begun to pin hopes on a trade deal with the PRC. Raw sugar, Australia’s only export specifically excluded from the U.S. free trade pact, was sure to be declared a sensitive commodity by importing countries under the weekend farm trade concessions by WTO members, further squeezing exports, leaders said. “(But) in the next three to five years China is likely to become a long-term structural importer of sugar and a very important market for us,” Ian Ballantyne, General Manager of Canegrowers organization, said. “We see that as a great opportunity for sugar,” he said of negotiations which are expected to start soon between Australia and the PRC on a Free Trade Agreement.

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21. Sino – Pakistani Relations

BBC News (“ANTI-TERROR EXERCISE IN W CHINA”, 2004-08-04) reported that troops from the PRC and Pakistan have begun a joint anti-terrorism exercise in western PRC. Pakistan says it is the first time the two country’s troops have carried out such an operation inside the PRC. So far Beijing has refused to confirm the objective of the exercise, or the troop numbers involved. Pakistani authorities say it is an anti-terrorism exercise. The most likely targets are separatists who hide in mountains on the PRC’s western fringe. PRC media reports said the exercise was taking place in the south of its autonomous region of Xinjiang, near the two countries’ joint border.

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22. PRC Pipeline Project

Agence France-Presse (“PRICE HURDLE FOILED CROSS-CHINA PIPELINE VENTURE: REPORT”, 2004-08-04) reported that PetroChina terminated negotiations with three potential international partners for an ambitious cross-China pipeline because it couldn’t charge consumers in Shanghai and other PRC cities enough to pay for the gas it would carry. In a front-page report, the Financial Times business newspaper called the failure of PetroChina’s talks with ExxonMobil, Shell and Russia’s Gazprom “embarrassing” for the PRC’s biggest oil and gas producer. The so-called West-East pipeline would have transported natural gas over 4,200 kilometres (2,600 miles) from the west of the PRC to Shanghai, the nation’s biggest city and growing economic powerhouse.

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23. PRC Population Growth

Interfax (“CHINA’S POPULATION TO GROW BY 10 MLN A YEAR IN NEXT TWO


24. PRC Police Regulations

Agence France-Presse (“CHINA TO ENFORCE NEW REGULATIONS TO CURB RIGHTS ABUSES BY POLICE”, 2004-08-04) reported that the PRC will from October 1 enforce new interrogation rules in order to curb human rights abuses by police, state media said. The new regulation standardized interrogation procedures, Xinhua news agency said, citing an official with the legislative affairs department under the ministry of public security. The new regulation would specify the target of interrogation, standardize procedures and set guidelines for the management of detention rooms, he said, according to Xinhua. Police who broke the regulations would be punished. Those who beat suspects to death, cause death of prisoners for any other abnormal reason or whose neglect leads to prisoner suicide would be fired and prosecuted, Xinhua said.

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25. PRC and ROK on DPRK Nuclear Standoff

Chosun Ilbo (“CHINESE ENVOY IN SEOUL TO DISCUSS NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR STANDOFF”, 2004/08/02) reported that a senior PRC official is in ROK to discuss preparations for another round of six-party talks about DPRK’s nuclear ambitions. Ning Fukui arrived in Seoul Sunday and will meet with ROK officials before departing Tuesday for similar talks in Tokyo. Mr. Ning met with his U.S. counterpart Joseph DeTrani on Thursday. Mr. DeTrani said U.S. remains flexible, but will not change its stance that Pyongyang’s nuclear programs must be addressed to end the standoff on the Korean Peninsula.

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26. ROK Citizens in Iraq

Chosun Ilbo (“IRAQI TERRORIST GROUP TARGETING KOREANS RESIDING IN IRAQ”, 2004-08-02) reported that it was confirmed Monday that the government acquired intelligence that after the killing of the late Kim Sun-il, an Iraqi terrorist group was formed aiming at ROK people residing in Iraq. As Uri party lawmakers Woo Won-sik asked, “Have you ever gotten intelligence that a terrorist group was recently organized targeting ROK soldiers and people in Iraq?” Kim Doh-sik, a secretary at ROK embassy to Iraq, said, “I heard about it and sent a letter on it to the Foreign Ministry.” Kim attended a parliamentary hearing on the murder of Kim Sun-il on Monday.

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27. ROK Nuclear Program

Chosun Ilbo (“S. KOREA’S NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT ATTEMPT REVEALED”, 2004-08-02) reported that while efforts have been underway for nearly two years to end DPRK’s nuclear tension, classified government documents have shown that ROK had, in fact, come close to developing nuclear weapons in the 1970s. Though much of this has been under wraps, two documents have surfaced revealing the extent and details of the covert project pursued by former ROK President Park Chung-hee. The two documents show how far ROK went with its nuclear arms development project in the 1970s. Professor Kim Chul of Ajou University, who was in charge of the nuclear reprocessing made the documents public. “The documents contain the general process, estimated budget and estimated manpower needed to build nuclear arms.” Experts noted that Mr. Kim’s revelation is proof of former President Park Chung-hee’s intention to develop nuclear weapons. The project was reportedly suspended in 1979 due to mounting pressure from Washington. But otherwise, Mr. Kim says the reprocessing facility could have been completed in the early 1980s if research continued.

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28. DPRK Crop Damage

Chosun Ilbo (“NORTH KOREA REPORTEDLY SUFFERS SEVERE CROP DAMAGE”, 2004-08-04) reported that DPRK’s official news agency, in a rare report on a natural disaster, is warning of severe damage to crops in the impoverished country from torrential rains last month. DPRK Central News Agency says heavy rains have swamped at least 100,000 hectares of cropland and more than a 1,000 homes have been flooded, mainly in the southern and central part of the country. That would be about four percent of DPRK’s arable land. The state-run news agency adds the damaged fields are unlikely to produce a crop this year. International aid organizations in Pyongyang, as well as officials in Seoul, said that as of Monday, they had not been asked for additional help by DPRK.

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29. DPRK Food Aid

Chosun Ilbo (“RUSSIA DELIVERS 35,000 TONS OF RICE TO NORTH KOREA”, 2004-08-04) reported that Russia has delivered some 35,000 tons of food aid to DPRK, in a bid to relieve DPRK from its continuing food shortage crisis. The delivery according to Pyongyang’s DPRK Central News Agency, arrived at DPRK’s Nampo Port this past Saturday and was conducted through the World Food Program, the UN’s humanitarian assistance agency. The KCNA said the food provision from Russia was a display of the traditional friendly relationship, which has been in place between the two countries for decades.