NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, November 17, 2005

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NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, November 17, 2005

NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, November 17, 2005

I. NAPSNet

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. NAPSNet

1. DPRK Nuclear Program

Joongang Ilbo (“NORTH PROPOSES CO-OWNING REACTOR”, 2005-11-18) reported that the DPRK has proposed to co-own a light-water nuclear reactor and to allow the US to manage the spent fuel rods to be produced from it, said a Korean-American expert who accompanied a senior US official’s recent visit to the DPRK. Mr. Namkung said a top DPRK official made the proposal to appoint an American CEO for a joint entity that would operate the light-water reactor Pyongyang has been demanding in return for ending its nuclear programs. Washington is seriously considering the offer, Mr. Namkung said, claiming that the recently expressed optimism of Christopher Hill, the US chief negotiator for the six party talks, is linked to the DPRK offer. A ROK government official confirmed Mr. Namkung’s statement. The Seoul official, however, said Washington is firm about beginning the light-water reactor discussion at an appropriate time, presumably only after the DPRK dismantles its nuclear programs.

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2. US on DPRK Nuclear Program

The Associated Press (“BUSH FIRM AGAINST N.KOREA NUCLEAR PROGRAM”, 2005-11-17) reported that President Bush says the US won’t help the DPRK build a civilian nuclear reactor to produce electricity until it dismantles its nuclear weapons programs. “We’ll consider the light-water reactor at the appropriate time,” Bush said. “The appropriate time is after they have verifiably given up their nuclear weapons and/or programs.”

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3. US, ROK on DPRK Nuclear Program

The New York Times (“U.S. AND SEOUL SHARE A GOAL BUT NOT A STRATEGY ON NORTH KOREA”, 2005-11-17) reported that President Bush and President Roh Moo Hyun of the ROK tried Thursday to reconcile their differing approaches to dealing with the DPRK, with Mr. Roh repeating his vow that a nuclear armed DPRK would “not be tolerated,” even while defending his efforts to take a softer approach toward the country. Mr. Roh’s government had been engaged in a debate in Parliament about whether to double its aid to the DPRK next year, pouring nearly $2.5 billion into its bankrupt neighbor, despite the DPRK’s claims that it has built new nuclear weapons. The Bush administration is heading in exactly the opposite direction. For months, it has been working behind the scenes to cut off as many of the DPRK’s sources of revenue as it can get its hands on.

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4. US, ROK on Korean Peace Treaty

BBC News (“LEADERS URGE KOREA PEACE TREATY “, 2005-11-17) reported that President George Bush and ROK leader Roh Moo-hyun have said talks should be held to draw up a formal Korean peace treaty. The two leaders said in a statement a peace treaty would “improve confidence and reduce military tension on the Korean peninsula”. Both countries are publicly committed to seeking a non-nuclear Korean peninsula.

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5. Inter-Korean Relations

Yonhap News (“S KOREA’S UNIFICATION MINISTER TO MAKE 1ST VISIT TO MT.GEUMGANG”, 2005-11-17) reported that the ROK’s Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Thursday he will visit Mount Geumgang on Friday, his first trip to the DPRK resort since taking office in July last year. “I will make a visit to Mount Geumgang to celebrate the seventh anniversary of the inter-Korean tour project that has recently hit a snag but is to be normalized tomorrow,” Chung said at a peace forum.

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6. Inter-Korean Communication

The Korea Times (“SEOUL-KAESONG TELEPHONE LINK-UPS WILL OPEN THIS YEAR”, 2005-11-17) reported that the ROK will start installing telecommunications equipment in the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the DPRK with the aim of opening direct telephone link-ups between the two Koreas this year, officials at the Unification Ministry and KT said yesterday. The long-delayed move was given a go-ahead as the US Department of Commerce Wednesday approved the ROK’s shipment to the DPRK of seven product materials needed for the installation of the equipment. The US issued the first-ever license for inter-Korean business to KT, thanks to the coordinated efforts of relevant government agencies in the ROK, KT executives said. The Seoul government hopes that the planned direct telecommunication lines will help ease the difficulties of southern businesses that operate factories using DPRK manpower in the Kaesong Industrial Complex.

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7. PRC on Korean Unification

The New York Times (“CHINA’S HU SAYS SUPPORTS EVENTUAL KOREAN UNIFICATION”, 2005-11-17) reported that the PRC’s President Hu Jintao pledged his support for eventual reunification of the two Koreas in a speech to the ROK’s parliament on Thursday. “As always, China supports North-South Korean dialogue to improve ties and build trust between the two sides, leading to eventual independent reunification,” he told the National Assembly, drawing strong applause from lawmakers. Hu also said the PRC would continue to work ceaselessly to solve the problem of nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula.

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8. DPRK-US Relations

The Korea Times (“US OFFICIAL WARNS CONSEQUENCES FOR NK’S COUNTERFEITING”, 2005-11-17) reported that a senior US official warned there will be “significant consequences” for the DPRK government’s involvement in the circulation of fake American dollars. “There are counterfeiting rings out there producing very high quality counterfeit US currency that are associated with the government of North Korea,” Stuart Levey, treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence said.

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9. DPRK Human Rights

The Chosun Ilbo (“UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY SET TO VOTE ON N.KOREA RESOLUTION”, 2005-11-17) reported that an EU-sponsored resolution condemning human rights violations in the DPRK will be put to the vote at the UN General Assembly on Friday. The US, Japan and the EU agreed to strengthen sanctions against human rights violators like the DPRK and have joined forces to push the resolution through. The resolution will not be legally binding and merely has symbolic significance. A UN official said if the resolution passes, it would serve as a standard for judging Pyongyang’s rights violations. If Pyongyang ignores the resolution as expected, there is a remote possibility that the UN Security Council could regard the DPRK’s violations in the area as crimes against humanity and refer it to the International Criminal Court.

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10. ROK on DPRK Human Rights

Joongang Ilbo (“SEOUL SAYS IT WILL DUCK RIGHTS VOTE”, 2005-11-17) reported that Seoul again has decided to abstain on a DPRK human rights vote at the UN, this one in the General Assembly and sponsored by the EU. While acknowledging that the measure is likely to be approved by UN member states, an official here stressed that the resolution is non-binding and said Seoul would issue a statement in New York immediately before the vote to explain its reasons for abstaining. The ROK’s statement, the official said, would express concern over the human rights situation in the DPRK. But he said the statement would also note that “there are more pressing and important policy objectives than human rights that are linked to the peace and security of the Korean Peninsula.”

(return to top) Yonhap News (“NORTH KOREA CHANGING SLOWLY, BUT SURELY: VICE UNIFICATION MINISTER”, 2005-11-17) reported that human rights conditions in the DPRK are showing signs of slow improvement even though the conditions are still far below international standards, ROK’s vice unification minister claimed Thursday. The claim followed Seoul’s decision to again abstain from voting on a UN resolution urging the DPRK to end its human rights violations. One of the signs that the DPRK is changing, or trying to change, is that it is sending nearly 200 government officials overseas annually to study international norms in global trade and commerce, he said. The ROK official also claimed the UN, in an agreement with the DPRK, is soon expected to launch a program in which UN officials and experts will visit Pyongyang to directly train a large number of officials. (return to top)

11. US on DPRK Human Rights

The Korea Times (“US ENVOY ON NK RIGHTS TO VISIT SEOUL”, 2005-11-17) reported that the US special envoy on the DPRK human rights issues said Wednesday he plans to visit the ROK and other Asian countries within a couple of weeks with a concrete action plan on improving conditions in the DPRK. He is expected to attend an international forum on the DPRK’s human rights situation, opening in Seoul early next month. The US, under the DPRK Human Rights Act, plans to allow some of the refugees to settle in its territory, but none have been accepted yet. In order to bring them over to the US, a nation in the Asian region has to host a center to process them, and finding such a host is difficult, Lefkowitz said. “The most natural place for them to go, of course, is South Korea,” he said.

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12. DPRK Medical Training

The Chosun Ilbo (“NOVARTIS TO HELP N.KOREA REBUILD MEDICAL FACTORIES”, 2005-11-17) reported that the Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis will help the DPRK rebuild its medical production facilities. Novartis Korea CEO Peter Magg recently told reporters he discussed how the pharmaceutical company can help rebuild facilities with the DPRK Health Minister Kim Soo-hak during a visit to Pyongyang. As a first step, Novartis will invite and educate DPRK medical experts and officials, he said. Magg said he wanted to help DPR Koreans and offer additional medical supplies to Pyongyang in cooperation with the World Health Organization.

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13. DPRK Aid

Agence France Presse (“NORTH KOREA EXPELS EUROPEAN AID GROUPS “, 2005-11-16) reported that the DPRK has ordered non-governmental European aid groups to leave the country after the European Union submitted a UN resolution criticizing Pyongyang’s human rights record, aid workers said Wednesday. The order covers at least 11 of the 12 foreign non-governmental organizations in the DPRK, which has struggled for a decade with severe food shortages. The NGOs have been asked to wind up their operations by Dec. 31, said Padraig O’Ruairc, coordinator for Concern, an Irish humanitarian group. Other groups ordered to leave include Britain’s Save the Children, the French groups Handicap International and Premier Urgence and Sweden’s PMU Interlife, according to aid workers.

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14. South China Sea

Xinhua (“FIRST PHASE OF JOINT MARINE SURVEY COMPLETE”, 2005-11-17) reported that the first phase of the three-year offshore collaboration agreement, signed in March by the PRC, the Philippines and Viet Nam, was completed yesterday. The three countries will gather seismic data in the 140,000-square kilometers offshore area of the South China Sea within three years.

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15. Japan-US Relations

Japan Today (“BUSH CALLS JAPAN BEDROCK OF ASIA FREEDOM, KOIZUMI ONE OF HIS BEST FRIENDS”, 2005-11-17) reported that US President George W Bush stressed the importance of the US-Japan alliance on Wednesday as the “bedrock” for promoting freedom in Asia and pursuing global economic and security matters.

(return to top) Japan Today (“OKINAWA GOVERNOR SLAMS PM’S REMARK”, 2005-11-17) reported that Okinawa Gov Keiichi Inamine on Wednesday criticized Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for saying in a joint press conference with US President George W Bush that Japan must pay a “certain cost” to enjoy the security offered by a strong US-Japan alliance. (return to top)

16. Japan UNSC Bid

The Yomiuri Shimbun (“GOVT MAY REVISE UNSC EXPANSION BID”, 2005-11-17) reported that a top Japanese representative to the UN said Wednesday that Japan was considering revising its proposal to expand the UN Security Council to gain US support, the lack of which resulted in the proposal being scrapped before being put to a vote in the UN General Assembly.

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17. Japan in Iraq & USFJ Realignment

Japan Today (“KOIZUMI SAYS JAPAN WILL EXTEND IRAQ MISSION”, 2005-11-17) reported that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi indicated Wednesday that Japan will extend its troop deployment in Iraq after December in view of its alliance with the US. Koizumi also pledged “maximum efforts” to help realize plans to realign the US military presence in Japan.

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18. Japan SDF & Iraq

The Yomiuri Shimbun (“U.S. TO OK SDF PULLOUT IN ’06”, 2005-11-17) reported that the US government is ready to agree to the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force’s withdrawal from Samawah, southern Iraq, in the early half of next year, a senior US government official said Tuesday.

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19. Japan & The Kurile Islands

Japan Today (“KOIZUMI AIMS TO BUILD TRUST WITH PUTIN”, 2005-11-17) reported that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday he will try to build confidence at an upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, even though they will not issue a new joint political document on their countries’ territorial row.

(return to top) ITAR-TASS (“JAPAN PREMIER WANTS HIS TALKS WITH RUSSIA PRESIDENT TO BUILD TRUST”, 2005-11-17) reported that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi wants his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 20-22 to result in “the expansion of relations and establishment of confidence … [and in a] general understanding as regards the territorial issue solution and conclusion of a peace treaty.” (return to top)

20. Japan & Yasukuni

The Japan Times (“WAR CRIMINALS, WAR DEAD SAME: ABE”, 2005-11-17) reported that the Japanese government should not look into the responsibility of the accused Class-A war criminals honored at Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine and instead count them among the nation’s 2.46 million war dead, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Wednesday.

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21. Cross Strait Relations

Xinhua (“DON’T HINDER OFFICIAL’S TRIP, TAIPEI TOLD”, 2005-11-17) reported that Beijing yesterday urged Taipei to be pragmatic about a planned visit to the island by Chen Yunlin, minister of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, which is scheduled for mid-December.

(return to top) The China Post (“TAIWAN’S MODEL OF DEMOCRACY HAILED BY BUSH”, 2005-11-17) reported that US President George W. Bush on Wednesday held up the self-governing island of Taiwan as a model of freedom “at all levels” that the giant communist PRC should emulate. (return to top)

22. PRC-US Relations

The New York Times (“BUSH, IN JAPAN, SUGGESTS THAT CHINA EXPAND FREEDOMS”, 2005-11-17) reported that US President George W. Bush is scheduled to give a speech in Kyoto just three days before landing in Beijing, implicitly urging the PRC’s leaders to follow the path of Japan, ROK and Taiwan, which Mr. Bush called “free and democratic and prosperous.”

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23. PRC-US Espionage

BBC News (“CHINA SPY ‘AGENTS’ CHARGED IN US “, 2005-11-17) An engineer working for a defense contractor in California and two of his relatives have been charged with acting as agents of the PRC to smuggle documents about a classified US Navy project to the PRC. The federal court indictment, however, did not charge them with the more serious crime of espionage.

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24. PRC at the Pacific Rim Forum

The China Post (“CHINA WILL CONTRIBUTE TO GLOBAL PEACE, PROSPERITY”, 2005-11-17) reported that PRC President Hu Jintao at the Pacific Rim forum offered assurances that there is nothing to fear from his fast-developing country. “Facts have proved that China’s development will not stand in the way of anyone, nor will it pose any threat to anyone … Instead, it will only do good to peace, stability and prosperity in the world.”

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25. Bird Flu

The New York Times (“CHINA TO VACCINATE ALL ITS POULTRY, WITH 5.2 BILLION FLU SHOTS”, 2005-11-15) reported that the PRC’s Agriculture Ministry said Tuesday that it would inject all of the nation’s 5.2 billion chickens, geese and ducks with a vaccine against bird flu.

(return to top) Xinhua (“PREMIER WEN: WE WILL SURELY CONQUER BIRD FLU”, 2005-11-17) reported that PRC Premier Wen Jiabao said, “We have conquered the SARS epidemic in 2003, and we will surely conquer the bird flu virus…” Kexing company in a joint effort with the PRC Center for Disease Control and have developed preliminary human vaccines for the bird flu and will carry out clinical tests in days. (return to top) BBC News (“CAN CHINA COPE WITH BIRD FLU? “, 2005-11-17) reported that the PRC has announced its first human death from bird flu. Up until now, all of the human fatalities from the H5N1 strain have been in East Asia, most of them in Vietnam and Thailand. (return to top)