NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, December 06, 2005

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NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, December 06, 2005

NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, December 06, 2005

I. NAPSNet

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. NAPSNet

1. DPRK on Six Party Talks

International Herald Tribune (“NORTH KOREA TIES TALKS TO END OF US SANCTIONS”, 2005-12-06) reported that according to the DPRK it would quit six party talks on unless the US lifted financial sanctions imposed on the country for circulating counterfeit US dollars and trafficking in illicit drugs.

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2. Kim Dae-jung on Inter-Korean Unification

The Korea Times (“DJ PROPOSES KOREAS INITIATE 1ST STAGE OF UNIFICATION PROCESS”, 2005-12-06) reported that Kim Dae-jung, a former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, proposed Monday that the two Koreas enter the initial stage of the unification process by integrating the ROK’s “confederation” and the DPRK’s “federation” approaches. “The two sides should enter the first stage of unification without delay by integrating the South’s confederation and the North’s loosely-knit federation unification formulas,” he said.

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3. Inter-Korean Athletic Cooperation

Reuters (“NORTH, SOUTH KOREA MAKE PLANS FOR UNIFIED TEAM”, 2005-12-06) reported that the DPRK and the ROK will try to make a symbolic dream of unification a reality when they meet on Wednesday to discuss forming a joint team for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and for the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. Despite recent warming ties between Seoul and Pyongyang that have given some ROK officials optimism ahead of the talks, athletes and coaches say the barriers blocking the formation of a unified team may be too high to clear. “There is no official agenda for the sports talks because we do not want to build up any expectations,” an ROK official said. “This will be a new experience and a significant part of progress toward unification,” the official added.

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4. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation

The Korea Times (“UNIFICATION CHIEF TO VISIT KAESONG”, 2005-12-06) reported that ROK Unification Minister Chung Dong-young will visit Kaesong on Friday to encourage workers at the inter-Korean industrial complex there, Seoul officials said Tuesday. During the one-day visit, Chung also plans to visit the office for inter-Korean economic cooperation and tour nearby historical sites. Chung will be accompanied by around 60 businessmen, including 15 CEOs who have branch factories in Kaesong and six CEOs who plan to move into the industrial park next year.

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5. DPRK-US Economic Cooperation

Korea.net (“US BUSINESS GROUP TO DISCUSS PROSPECTS IN NORTH KOREA “, 2005-12-06) reported that The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea will hold a discussion on business opportunities in the DPRK this Friday (Dec. 9). The US business group’s DPRK committee will listen to a presentation by Stephen Linton, chairman of the Eugene Bell Foundation, and share opinions on the economic future of the nation.

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6. DPRK Human Rights

The China Post (“SEOUL PHOTO EXHIBIT DEPICTS N. KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES”, 2005-12-06) reported that pictures of starving DPR Korean children and people trying to flee the DPRK were displayed in Seoul on Sunday as part of efforts by activists to raise RO Koreans’ awareness of human rights abuses in the DPRK. The photo exhibit is being held on the sidelines of an international conference on human rights in the DPRK scheduled for Thursday through Saturday. The exhibition, which has toured 10 cities, including some in the US and Canada, since last month, “is not about art, but about life and death,” said Kim Moon-soo, a lawmaker with the opposition Grand National Party. “If we don’t care about our brethren who live miserably, who will?” Kim said at the opening of the exhibit.

(return to top) Joongang Ilbo (“POW’S RELATIVES HIT GOVERNMENT FOR LACK OF ACTION “, 2005-12-06) reported that a ROK prisoner of war, Han Man-taek, 72, whom the PRC repatriated to the DPRK in January, has been sent to a prison camp there, a civic organization official said yesterday. Choi Song-yong, head of the Abductees’ Family Union, a non-governmental group, claimed that various sources have confirmed that Mr. Han was sent to a prison camp located in South Pyongan province in April. (return to top)

7. DPRK Arirang Festival

Donga Ilbo (“NORTH KOREA SHOWS UNUSUAL GENEROSITY “, 2005-12-06) reported that the DPRK performers who participated in the mass gymnastics performance Arirang have reportedly hit the jackpot. “All the performers were given China-made sewing machines and a quantity of sweets on November 4 right after the end of the festival,” said a source. “Service medals (the lowest grade medal) were also given to them, even to preschool children.” It was very generous for the DPRK authorities to present such “valuable items” in accordance with the size of the festival. Some participants in other important events like the “Heroes Rally” were given color TVs.

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8. PRC Income Disparity

People’s Daily Online (“CHINA’S URBAN-RURAL INCOME GAP MAY REACH THE HIGHEST IN HISTORY “, 2005-12-06) reported that the income gap between urban and rural residents may be as high as 3.3 to 1. The ratio may reach 4 to 1 by 2020 should no action be taken to curb the trend, revealed Zheng Xinli. Vice Minister, Policy Research Office of CPC Central Committee at a forum on county-level economy.

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9. PRC Investment in Vietnam

Washington Post (“CHINA VENTURES SOUTHWARD”, 2005-12-06) reported that much as manufacturers in the US have transferred jobs to Latin America and just as Western European factories now look to Poland and Hungary, the PRC’s modern-day capitalists are increasingly focused on wringing profit from Southeast Asia. They are tapping new markets for sales and farming out work to people willing to labor for less than at home and in even tougher conditions. In a global economy driven by the pursuit of lower costs and fatter profit — a drive that has led so many multinationals to low-wage PRC — Southeast Asia is emerging as the PRC’s own version of the PRC.

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10. PRC Bird Flu Case

Agence France Presse (“CHINA ANNOUNCES NEW HUMAN CASE OF BIRD FLU “, 2005-12-06) reported that a school girl in southern PRC is undergoing emergency treatment in hospital after contracting bird flu, becoming the fourth human case in the country. The 10-year-old girl surnamed Tang from Ziyuan County in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region developed fever and pneumonia-like symptoms on November 23, it said, adding that the ministry of health had confirmed the case.

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11. PRC on Human Rights

The Associated Press (“CHINA DENIES U.N. REPORT ALLEGING TORTURE “, 2005-12-06) reported that the PRC on Tuesday denounced a special U.N. investigator’s report of widespread torture in this country, saying the researcher did not spend enough time here to draw an accurate conclusion. The comments by Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang were the PRC’s first on the report Friday by Manfred Nowak at the end of a two-week trip to the PRC.

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12. PRC Chemical Spill

The Associated Press (“CHINA GETTING U.S. HELP WITH TOXIC SPILL “, 2005-12-06) reported that the US said Tuesday it was sending experts to help the PRC limit damage from a toxic spill in a river, while Beijing promised to work closely with Moscow to cope with the chemicals flowing toward Russia’s Far East. US Ambassador Clark T. Randt said Beijing accepted Washington’s offer to send a team from its Environmental Protection Agency.

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13. US on Cross Strait Relations

Agence France Presse (“TAIWAN SET FOR DELIVERY OF TWO US-BUILT KIDD-CLASS DESTROYERS “, 2005-12-06) reported that the first two of four Kidd-class destroyers sold to Taiwan by the US are due to arrive this weekend, bolstering the island’s defense capabilities against the PRC. The two destroyers, which were first refitted for Taiwan’s use at a US naval shipyard, were scheduled to arrive Saturday at the Suao naval base in the island’s northeast, naval lieutenant-commander Wu Chih-chieh told AFP.

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14. US, PRC African Diplomacy

Agence France Presse (“US, CHINA WAGE DIPLOMATIC BATTLE ON ‘PLAYING FIELD’ OF AFRICA: REPORT “, 2005-12-06) reported that the PRC is challenging US interests and values in Africa, shielding “rogue states,” harming the environment and thwarting anti-corruption drives, according to a new independent survey of US policy on the continent. Beijing and the United States are on opposite sides in a new struggle for influence and resources in the new “playing field” of Africa, the study by a non-partisan task force sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations found.

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15. US on Hong Kong Democracy

Agence France Presse (“US ASKS CHINA TO PROVIDE QUICK TIMETABLE FOR DEMOCRACY IN HONG KONG “, 2005-12-06) reported that the US urged the PRC to quickly set up a time table for full democracy in Hong Kong, where people staged mass protests at the weekend demanding the right to choose their leaders. “We believe that it’s important to achieve universal suffrage in Hong Kong as soon as possible, that the people of Hong Kong are ready for democracy, and that the sooner that a timetable for achieving universal suffrage is established, the better,” deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.

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16. ROK-Japanese Relations

Agence France Presse (“JAPAN SAYS IT TAKES SKOREA’S ANGER SERIOUSLY “, 2005-12-06) reported that Japan has tried to reassure the ROK it takes Seoul’s anger “seriously”, amid a lingering row over the way Tokyo commemorates its wartime past. The ministry official said the letter had been sent out of “courtesy” but it could also aim to calm down a bilateral diplomatic row.

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17. Japan Iraq Mission

The Associated Press (“JAPAN TO EXTEND IRAQ MISSION INTO 2006 “, 2005-12-06) reported that Japan plans to extend its humanitarian military mission to Iraq into 2006 but could pull its ground forces in the middle of the year if the British and Australian troops guarding them leave, the Kyodo News Agency reported Tuesday. On Thursday, the Japanese Cabinet is expected to formally approve a yearlong extension of the mission, which expires Dec. 14, Kyodo said.

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18. US-Japan Missile Defense Cooperation

The Associated Press (“US, TOKYO MULLING SITE IN NE JAPAN FOR MISSILE RADAR”, 2005-12-06) reported that the US and Japanese militaries are looking at a site in northeastern Japan to base a radar system for a planned joint missile defense shield, the Defense Agency said Tuesday. The two militaries are considering stationing an X-Band radar system at a Japanese air force base in Aomori, 580 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, said an agency spokeswoman who identified herself only by her surname, Sasaki.

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19. US-ROK Security Alliance

Agence France Presse (“US, S.KOREA DISCUSS CHANGES TO SECURITY ALLIANCE “, 2005-12-06) reported that the US and the ROK held high-level security talks here on readjusting their traditional military alliance, officials said. High on the agenda at the two-day meeting is the ROK’s move to regain wartime control over its troops, which now would come under the operational control of the commander of US forces here in during times of conflict.

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