NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, August 25, 2005
- 1. Six Party Talks
2. PRC on Six Party Talks
3. US-DPRK Bilateral Talks before Six Party Talks
4. Inter-Korean Talks on POWs
5. Inter-Korean Family Reunions
6. Russia-DPRK Trade Relations
7. ROK-Japan Military Relations
8. Japan Spy Satellite
9. Japan Opposition on Iraq Dispatch
10. Sino-Japanese Energy Supply
11. Sino-Russian Joint Military Exercise
12. Russian Arms Sales to the PRC
13. PRC Cyberattacks
14. PRC on Dissident
15. PRC Arms Smuggling Trial
16. PRC Economic Reforms
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1. Six Party Talks
Reuters (“N.KOREA TALKS NEXT WEEK, SOME REPORTS SAY”, 2005-08-25) reported that six-party talks on the DPRK’s nuclear weapons programme may resume on September 2, PRC’s top envoy to the forum was quoted as saying on Thursday. Another report quoted a DPRK diplomatic source in Beijing as saying the talks were unlikely to resume next week. An unnamed DPRK source told Interfax news agency: “In our opinion, there is little chance that the fourth round of the six-way talks could be resumed next week.”
(return to top) Chosun Ilbo (“BILATERAL CONTACTS AMOUNG 6-PARTY NEGOTIATORS ACTIVE”, 2005-08-25) reported that while Washington and Pyongyang are busy fine-tuning differences, officials from the ROK, PRC and Japan are also gearing up to hammer out an agreement at the fourth round of six party talks. PRC’s envoy, Wu Dawei said the meeting will reconvene as planned, during the week of August 29. (return to top)
2. PRC on Six Party Talks
Reuters (“CHINA: MORE PROGRESS LIKELY IN NORTH KOREA TALKS”, 2005-08-25) reported that according to PRC envoy Wu Dawei, the next round of six-party talks is likely to make more progress than the previous round. “I think there will be more progress than before,” Dawei said.
3. US-DPRK Bilateral Talks before Six Party Talks
Chosun Ilbo (“AMBASSADOR DETRANI MEETS N.K. OFFICIALS IN NEW YORK ON NUCLEAR TALKS”, 2005-08-25) reported that US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that Washington had its fourth contact with Pyongyang prior to next week’s resumption of the six-party talks. while declining to give details of the meeting, the spokesman said US deputy chief negotiator to the talks Joseph DeTrani met with DPRK officials as part of Washington’s overall diplomatic efforts, adding that the US looks forward to resuming the talks.
4. Inter-Korean Talks on POWs
Korea Times (“S-N RED CROSS TALKS STALL “, 2005-08-24) reported that Red Cross officials of the ROK and DPRK on Wednesday appeared not to have succeeded in ironing out some fundamental differences on basic terms describing sensitive issues such as ROK prisoners of war (POWs) and abductees to the DPRK. Although the ROK wants the issue of abductees after the war as well as the POWs to be dealt with at the table, the DPRK is unlikely to agree to discuss the after-war missing, according to Yoo Jong-ryol, an official of the (ROK) Korean National Red Cross (KNRC) and a member of the ROK delegation.
5. Inter-Korean Family Reunions
Korea Times (“S-N FAMILIES TO BE REUNITED ON FRIDAY”, 2005-08-25) reported that the 11th round of face-to-face reunions of separated families between the ROK and DPRK will be held at Mt. Kumgang in the DPRK from today through next Wednesday. The reunions come after a 13-month hiatus, following an inter-Korean agreement struck during the 15th Cabinet talks in June. On-screen reunion sessions were held for 20 families from the ROK and DPRK each on Aug. 15, as part of joint celebrations for Liberation Day.
6. Russia-DPRK Trade Relations
The Vladivostok News (“PRIMORYE, N. KOREA DEVELOP TRADE RELATIONS “, 2005-08-25) reported that creating joint wood processing and agricultural plants are major prospects for cooperation between Primorye and the DPRK, Primorye’s Governor Sergei Darkin said at a meeting with the DPRK’s Foreign Trade Minister Rim Kyong Man in Vladivostok, Monday. “Developing friendly and mutually beneficial relations are very important for Primorye, the only Russian region that borders North Korea,” Darkin said according to a press statement from his office.
(return to top) The Vladivostok News (“RUSSIAN, N. KOREAN RAILWAY OFFICIALS ANNOUNCE TRAFFIC RESULTS “, 2005-08-25) reported that Russian Railways’ delegation arrived in the DPRK city of Rajin for a bilateral meeting to discuss cargo transportation and commercial activity, Monday, a press statement from the Russian Far Eastern Railways reported. At the meeting, the officials plan to discuss changes and additions in the Russian-DPRK railway agreement and to announce the volume of trade transported between the two countries for the first six months of 2005. (return to top)
7. ROK-Japan Military Relations
Joong Ang Ilbo (“SOUTH, JAPAN SEEN SIGNING MILITARY PACT”, 2005-08-25) reported that the defense chiefs of the ROK and Japan are scheduled to meet next week to formulate a bilateral military exchange and cooperation agreement, a diplomatic source here said yesterday. It would be the first bilateral military accord between ROK and Japan.
8. Japan Spy Satellite
The Associated Press (“JAPAN POSTPONING LAUNCH OF SPY SATELLITE”, 2005-08-25) reported that Japan has postponed the launch of a third spy satellite intended to keep an eye on the DPRK for at least six months due to a technical glitch, a report said Thursday.
9. Japan Opposition on Iraq Dispatch
Agence France-Presse (“JAPAN OPPOSITION LEADER READY TO MEET BUSH, PULL IRAQ TROOPS”, 2005-08-25) reported that the leader of Japan’s main opposition party has said a victory in next month’s election means Japanese troops out of Iraq — and he wants to meet George W. Bush to tell him so. Katsuya Okada, president of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), railed against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s decision to extend the historic deployment of Japanese forces.
10. Sino-Japanese Energy Supply
Xinhua (“CHINA SHARING COMMON INTEREST WITH JAPAN IN OIL, ENERGY FIELD, BFA OFFICIAL”, 2005-08-25) reported that the PRC and Japan ride on the same boat in the area of oil and energy, so the two nations should seek more common grounds in economic and trade relations, Long Yongtu, secretary-general of the Bo’ao Forum for Asia (BFA) was quoted as saying by the China News Service. At a seminar held by the China Daily and Beijing University here on Wednesday, Long said, as two major oil importers in the world, the PRC and Japan share many common interest. He expressed his wish for better cooperation between the two nations with regard to the energy problem.
11. Sino-Russian Joint Military Exercise
The Associated Press (“CHINA, RUSSIA WRAP UP MILITARY EXERCISE “, 2005-08-25) reported that thousands of PRC and Russian troops wrapped up their historic first joint military exercises Thursday with a mock invasion by paratroopers on the PRC’s east coast. The eight-day exercises with 7,000 PRC troops and 1,800 Russians underscored growing military ties between the former Cold War enemies, motivated by their common unease with US dominance in world affairs.
12. Russian Arms Sales to the PRC
RIA Novosti (“CHINA SET TO BUY 30 IL-76 PLANES FROM RUSSIA”, 2005-08-25) reported that the PRC is planning to buy around 30 Il-76 planes from Russia, a source in the Russian defense industry said. “The Russian-Chinese commission for military and technical cooperation will discuss China’s purchase of some 30 Il-76 planes from Russia and the possibility of buying Il-78 planes at a September session,” the source said.
13. PRC Cyberattacks
Washington Post (“HACKERS ATTACK VIA CHINESE WEB SITES”, 2005-08-25) reported that web sites in the PRC are being used heavily to target computer networks in the Defense Department and other US agencies, successfully breaching hundreds of unclassified networks, according to several US officials. Classified systems have not been compromised, the officials added. But US authorities remain concerned because, as one official said, even seemingly innocuous information, when pulled together from various sources, can yield useful intelligence to an adversary.
14. PRC on Dissident
Reuters (“CHINA ACCUSES HIGH – PROFILE DISSIDENT OF TERROR PLOT”, 2005-08-25) reported that the PRC accused a high-profile dissident exiled to the US of plotting to sabotage upcoming celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the setting up the northwestern autonomous region of Xinjiang. Wang Lequan, the Communist Party secretary of the restive region, said Rebiya Kadeer, a minority Muslim Uighur businesswoman freed in March after years in jail, had also evaded taxes, committed fraud and ran up huge debts. “She said that once abroad she would never do anything to damage state interests,” Wang said of Kadeer at a news conference. “But as soon as she went over the border, she broke her promises.”
15. PRC Arms Smuggling Trial
BBC News (“CHINA ARMS SMUGGLING TRIAL OPENS”, 2005-08-25) reported that seventeen people have reportedly gone on trial in north-west PRC, charged with smuggling arms from Pakistan. The case is one of the biggest of its kind ever seen in the PRC, the official Xinhua news agency said. More than 900 guns are reported to have been smuggled into the remote western provinces of Qinghai and Xinjiang.
16. PRC Economic Reforms
The Associated Press (“CHINA EXTENDS SHARE REFORMS IN KEY STEP “, 2005-08-25) reported that the PRC’s decision to have nearly 1,400 listed companies convert their government stakes into publicly tradable shares eventually could open up new opportunities for investors eager for a piece of the PRC’s booming economy, but analysts say the changes will take time. Declaring trial share reforms launched in May a success, regulators announced this week that all companies with shares traded in Shanghai and Shenzhen should move ahead with plans to shift their state-held, nontradable shares, worth a total of about $270 billion, into the market.