1. US-DPRK Nuclear Talks

Agence France Presse (“US, NORTH KOREA MAKE THIRD CONTACT TO BREAK NUCLEAR IMPASSE”, 2005-08-22) reported that the US and DPRK held bilateral talks for the third time in a week prior to the resumption of Six Party Talks. White House spokesman Sean McCormack did not provide details on what was discussed with DPRK officials in New York, stating that Monday’s meeting “is part of the diplomatic process in anticipation of the second part of this round of negotiations.” The US is also holding separate discussions with the PRC, ROK, and Japan ahead of the resumption of the Six Party Talks in Beijing during the week of August 29.

(return to top) The Associated Press (“NATIONS MAKE PROGRESS IN N. KOREA TALKS”, 2005-08-23) reported that although “there is no agreement yet,” Christopher Hill has stated that the US had offered the DPRK a package of compensation that includes civilian power. “We have a set of measures that make it unnecessary for them to have a nuclear program,” he told reporters Tuesday. He said the aim also was to set a basis for wider accords, including a formal end to the Korean War more than 60 years ago. The issue, Hill said, was not a “show-stopper,” meaning it would not stop an overall agreement to end the DPRK’s nuclear weapons program. (return to top)

2. PRC and Japan on DPRK Nuclear Program

The Japan Times (“WU, SASAE TO DISCUSS NORTH KOREA”, 2005-08-23) reported that Wu Dawei will discuss the DPRK’s nuclear program with chief Japanese delegate Kenichiro Sasae on Wednesday in Tokyo. The main purpose of the visit by the Chinese vice foreign minister will be to coordinate policies on the nuclear issue with Sasae prior to resumption of the talks planned for next week. Wu will also meet with Deputy Foreign Minister Tsuneo Nishida on Wednesday to discuss bilateral ties between Japan and the PRC as well as various international issues. Sasae plans to have a similar policy coordination meeting with Lee Jong Seok, deputy head of the ROK National Security Council, in Tokyo on Wednesday.

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3. ROK and Russia on DPRK Nuclear Talks

Interfax (“RUSSIA AND S. KOREA FAVOUR SPEEDY RESUMPTION OF NORTH KOREA TALKS”, 2005-08-22) reported that, according to statement made by the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russia and the ROK favor broader contacts in a bid to promote a solution to the nuclear problem on the Korean peninsula. Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev and ROK Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council Li Chong Sok discussed the issue during bilateral meetings held in Moscow on Monday.

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4. DPRK-Russian Economic Cooperation

Russian News and Information Agency Novosti (“NORTH KOREAN FOREIGN TRADE MINISTER ARRIVES IN RUSSIA”, 2005-08-22) reported that Russian Governor of the Maritime Territory Sergei Darkin and the DPRK’s Foreign Trade Minister Rim Kyong Man met Monday to discuss prospects in trade and economic cooperation between the Maritime Territory and the DPRK. According to Darkin, bilateral trade turnover has risen four times against 2001, aggregating $9.3 million, but added that bilateral trade cooperation potential in the region has not been fully exploited. Promising areas of cooperation include the use of the DPRK workforce in the Russian region, the creation of joint enterprises in the forestry industry and agriculture and the transportation of Russian and Chinese goods via the DPRK port of Rason.

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5. Inter-Korean Relations

Chosun Ilbo (“TWO KOREAS IN FLURRY OF JOINT EVENTS”, 2005-08-22) reported that this week, the two Koreas will hold the sixth Red Cross meeting in the DPRK Tuesday to Thursday; families from the DPRK and ROK will be reunited during the 11th round of reunions from Thursday to Aug. 31; ROK singer Cho Yong-pil will give a concert to mark the 60th anniversary of Korea’s liberation at Pyongyang’s Yukyong Chung Ju-young Gymnasium on Tuesday; officials from the two Koreas will meet in Pyongyang on Wednesday to Saturday to fine-tune an agreement worked out by the Yukyong Chung Ju-young Gymnasium; and a pilot tourism project for the city of Kaesong will begin Friday. As one of the many inter-Korean exchanges scheduled to take place this week, a delegation from the Democratic Labor Party left for Pyongyang on Monday. The DLP said it will discuss inter-Korean cooperation projects such as regular exchanges with the DPRK’s Social Democratic Party and talk about the role of ROK and DPRK political parties after the June 15, 2000 Joint Declaration that started a thaw in relations.

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6. Inter-Korean Cooperation on POW Issue

The New York Times (“RED CROSS OFFICIALS TO DISCUSS P.O.W.’S STILL ALIVE IN NORTH KOREA”, 2005-08-23) reported that Red Cross officials of the DPRK and ROK are meeting through Thursday to discuss the fate of about 1,000 ROK prisoners of war and civilian abductees believed to be still alive in the DPRK. In mid-June, DPRK officials unexpectedly agreed to discuss the previously-unacknowledged POW problem with the ROK. With a new round of nuclear talks expected to start in Beijing the week of August 29th, the DPRK seems to be working to solidify the support of the ROK.

(return to top) Yonhap News (“PYONGYANG REVEALS FATE OF S. KOREAN FISHERMAN ABDUCTED IN 1972”, 2005-08-23) reported that the DPRK informed the ROK last week of the fate of Park Doo-nam, a fisherman from the ROK abducted by a DPRK patrol ship in the West Sea in 1972. Park was found dead in the DPRK, officials at Seoul’s Red Cross said on Tuesday. (return to top)

7. ICAPP Invitation Extended to DPRK

The Korea Times (“N. KOREA INVITED FOR ASIAN POLITICAL PARTIES’ CONFERENCE”, 2005-08-23) reported that the ruling Uri Party has invited the DPRK’s Workers’ Party to the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) to be held in Seoul in September next year. Chosen as the host party of next year’s conference, the Uri Party expects that over 600 representatives of 90 political parties from 35 Asian countries will take part in the four-day event. The conference will be held under the theme of “Peace and Prosperity in Asia’’ in Seoul from September 7-10. The agenda will include inter-Korean talks on the DPRK nuclear issue and the peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula.

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8. US-ROK Joint Military Exercise

Joongang (“U.S., SOUTH KOREAN FORCES BEGIN ANNUAL WAR GAMES”, 2005-08-23) reported that the US Forces Korea and the ROK military began their annual Ulchi Focus Lens exercise yesterday, and Pyongyang issued its annual criticism of them. The simulations are designed to let the two armed forces prepare for military operations on the Korean Peninsula under an array of situations, reportedly related to a potential DPRK invasion.

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9. PRC Civil Unrest

International Herald Tribune (“PROTESTS GROW, EVEN IN CHINA’S RICH SOUTH “, 2005-08-23) reported that once a hamlet of rice and vegetable farmers, Taishi Village now lies near the epicenter of southern PRC’s export-driven transformation, and many of its 2,000 residents work in factories and live in two- and three-story houses. But in recent weeks villagers have waged a bitter, sometimes violent, struggle with the police and officials that cuts to the heart of PRC government fears that even amid an economic boom, complaints of injustice are rising and social unrest is spreading.

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10. PRC Energy Supply

Xinhua (“CHINA TO PRIORITIZE NATURAL GAS AND NUCLEAR ENERGY DEVELOPMENT”, 2005-08-23) reported that the PRC plans to diversify its energy supply to increase natural gas and nuclear power in a bid to meet increasing demand. Zhou Dadi, head of the Energy Research Institute under the State Development and Reforms Commission made the comment on Monday at the annual academic congress of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology in Urumqi, capital of the PRC’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

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11. PRC Space Program

Agence France-Presse (“CHINA SETS UP LUNAR EXPLORATION CENTRE TO SPEARHEAD MOON PROBE PROJECTS”, 2005-08-23) reported that the PRC has set up a lunar exploration centre in Beijing to spearhead the country’s moon probe projects in its latest bid to secure its place as a major world space power. “The Centre for Lunar Exploration Programme, approved by the State Council (cabinet) in January 2004, will design and carry out the country’s unmanned moon probe project,” the China Daily cited officials as saying.

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12. PRC Streptococosis Suis Outbreak

Agence France-Presse (“PIG DISEASE CLAIMS 40TH HUMAN LIFE IN CHINA”, 2005-08-23) reported that a pig-borne disease has claimed a 40th human life in the PRC, and the first in southern Guangdong province, days after the government said it had brought the disease under control elsewhere. Three other people in Guangdong were also found to be infected with the streptococosis suis bacteria, provincial health bureau Wei Jiafen said.

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13. Sino-Australian Relations

Agence France-Presse (“NEW ROUND OF AUSTRALIA-CHINA FREE TRADE TALKS BEGIN IN BEIJING”, 2005-08-23) reported that Australia and PRC began a second round of talks on a free trade agreement that could eventually be worth some 20 billion dollars to the Australian economy, officials said. Ric Wells, a senior trade official, was leading the Australian delegation in talks with Zhang Xiangchen, vice director of the PRC’s Ministry of Commerce’s world trade department, officials from both sides said.

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14. Sino-Russian Joint Military Exercise

BBC News (“CHINA-RUSSIA GAMES IN FINAL STAGE”, 2005-08-23) reported that the PRC-Russian military exercise which the two countries are staging for the first time moved to its third and final stage on Tuesday. Over the coming three days, more than 7,000 PRC troops and 1,800 Russian soldiers will be taking part in live-fire combat practice. Navy and air force units will also be involved in the manoeuvres.

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15. Russia Bird Flu Outbreak

BBC News (“BIRD FLU ‘STABILIZING’ IN RUSSIA”, 2005-08-23) reported that the bird flu situation is stabilizing in Russia with the exception of the Siberian region of Tyumen where 40 birds died on Monday, officials say. No birds have died in several other affected regions of Siberia while one bird death was reported in the Urals.

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16. Sino-Japanese Relations

China Daily (“FORUM DISCUSSES CHINA-JAPAN TIES”, 2005-08-22) reported that over 60 Chinese and Japanese officials and experts are scheduled to convene Tuesday in Beijing for the first meeting of the Beijing-Tokyo Forum. During the two-day workshop themed “Building the Future of Asia – Problems and Prospects of Sino-Japanese Ties”, participants from business, political, academia, and news circles will endeavor to seek out the reasons behind the stalled PRC-Japan ties and find solutions for better Sino-Japanese relations.

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17. Japan UNSC Bid

Agence France-Presse (“JAPAN TO PRESS ON WITH QUEST FOR PERMANENT SECURITY COUNCIL SEAT: DIPLOMAT”, 2005-08-23) reported that Japan’s drive to gain a permanent seat on the UN Security Council is still alive, a Japanese UN delegate said, dismissing press reports that Tokyo planned to give up its bid for the time being after failing to win enough backing.

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