Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. United States

1. US on DPRK Return to Talks

LA Times (“OFFICIAL SAYS US WON’T DO AS N. KOREA DEMANDS”, 2005-06-13) reported that an anonymous senior US State Department official said Monday that he believed the DPRK wanted to return to six-nation talks on its nuclear weapons program, but that the US would not parrot language demanded by the DPRK like a circus animal to lure Pyongyang back to the bargaining table. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said that the US does not question the DPRK’s sovereignty. But Rice has not expressly said that the US harbors no “hostile intent” or promises of “peaceful coexistence” with the regime in Pyongyang — language that the DPRK has demanded as a condition for returning to the negotiations after a nearly one-year hiatus.

(return to top) Reuters (“NORTH KOREA NUCLEAR TALKS WILL BEAR FRUIT-POWELL”, 2005-06-14) reported that, according to former US secretary of state Colin Powell on Tuesday, the DPRK is not suicidal enough to use its nuclear arsenal and talks to dismantle its atomic program will eventually bear fruit. “I believe the six-party talks will eventually bear fruit,” Powell told a lunch meeting at the Pacific Basin Economic Council. “I am not concerned that North Korea will threaten or use their nuclear weapon. They’re not suicidal. They’re clever. The only thing they have is their nuclear weapons program. They will use it to get more in return.” (return to top)

2. PRC on DPRK Return Talks

Associated Press (“CHINA SAYS STILL NO DATES FOR RESUMING SIX-PARTY NORTH KOREA NUCLEAR TALKS”, 2005-06-14) reported that the PRC said Tuesday there were still no dates for resuming six-nation talks, despite the recent flurry of international diplomacy aimed at getting Pyongyang back to stalled negotiations. “We don’t have a specific time,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao. “But, all parties are working toward a restart of the talks… There is no deadline on this issue”.

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3. ROK-US Summit

Joong Ang Ilbo (“SUMMIT BUYS ‘BREATHING ROOM,’ SAYS SEOUL OFFICIAL “, 2005-06-13) reported that ROK and US officials presented a united front in deeming the weekend’s presidential summit a success, and one Seoul official said the meeting had bought the ROK “breathing room” to persuade Pyongyang to return to the six-party talks over its nuclear ambitions. US President Bush told reporters, “today’s meeting should make it clear that South Korea and the United States are of one voice on this very important issue.”

(return to top) Korea Times (“ROK, US DIFFER ON ‘STRATEGIC FLEXIBILITY’”, 2005-06-14) reported that, according to Lee Jong-seok, deputy chief of the presidential National Security Council (NSC), ROK President Roh Moo-hyun and US President George W. Bush differed last Friday over the concept of “strategic flexibility” for US troops stationed here and on a military contingency plan for the DPRK. “Roh delivered to Bush the country’s position clearly on the ‘strategic flexibility’ of US forces here and a contingency plan, dubbed ‘5029,’” Lee said. Seoul has opposed the US defense policy to give “strategic flexibility” to its forces abroad, including the 32,000-strong force on the Korean Peninsula. As for the DPRK’s nuclear weapons program, the NSC deputy chief emphasized that the ROK and US are united to resolve the issue in a peaceful manner. (return to top) Chosun Ilbo (“ROH AND BUSH DISCUSSED USFK FLEXIBILITY, OPLAN”, 2005-06-14) reported that Lee Jong-seok, deputy chief of Korea’s NSC, said President Roh Moo-hyun told US President George W. Bush what Seoul thinks of the greater strategic flexibility Washington wants for the US Forces in Korea and of OPLAN 5029. With the remark in the National Assembly, Lee ended feverish speculation in the local press what Roh could have meant by “one or two minor disagreements” that came up during the summit. But Lee said the problems were already being resolved in working-level talks and Roh’s statement did not mean that the differences between the ROK and US remained. (return to top)

4. ROK on US-ROK Summit

Joongang Daily (“ROH DISCUSSES SUMMIT WITH PARTY LEADERS AT BLUE HOUSE”, 2005-06-14) reported that President Roh Moo-hyun hosted the leaders of five political parties at a Blue House lunch yesterday, where he discussed his recent summit with US President George W. Bush and asked for advice on the DPRK nuclear crisis. “Whether diplomacy is right or wrong, sharing the results among the leadership of both the governing and opposition parties becomes a backbone for diplomacy in and of itself,” Mr. Roh said, adding that he would take into consideration any advice the political leaders would give him. Mr. Roh also said the ROK-US alliance was strong and that his government would make efforts to ensure it stayed that way.

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5. ROK Summit Delegation in DPRK

Reuters (“SOUTH’S DELEGATION ARRIVES IN N.KOREA TO FETE SUMMIT”, 2005-06-14) reported that ROK officials arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday to celebrate the anniversary of the historic summit. Four days of festivities in Pyongyang are planned to mark the anniversary, scaled down at the DPRK’s request. ROK Unification Minister Chung Dong-young and Kim Yong-nam, president of the DPRK’s parliament, are to meet during that time. Chung plans to brief the DPRK about last Friday’s summit meeting between ROK President Roh Moo-hyun and US President George W. Bush, where the two leaders agreed to press the DPRK to return to stalled six-party talks on its nuclear weapons programmes.

(return to top) LA Times (“OFFICIAL TO HOLD TALKS WITH NORTH’S NO. “, 2005-06-13) reported that ROK’s top official for DPRK affairs, Unification Minister Chung Dong Young, will meet Pyongyang’s second-ranking leader Thursday. Chung will lead a 40-member delegation to Pyongyang and will meet the president of parliament, Kim Yong Nam, who is the nominal head of state. (return to top)

6. Expert on Korean Reunification

Bloomberg (“NORTH KOREA NUCLEAR ARMS DASH UNITY TALK 5 YEARS AFTER SUMMIT”, 2005-06-14) reported that despite the current summit celebrations, Korean reunification seems unlikely at present. “Reunification seems very unlikely as long as this nuclear issue hangs over our heads,” said Lee Nae Young, a professor at Seoul National University. “Not only South Korea, but the U.S. and other nations involved in the talks are getting very tense, which means bilateral cooperation between North and South Korea will be impossible.”

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7. Expert on DPRK Nuclear Crisis

Korea Times (“GERMAN UNIFICATION EXPERT SEES HOPE BEYOND NUKE CRISIS”, 2005-06-14) reported that the ROK has a chance to enlist long-term international support for advancing the unification process, according to a former German official who helped manage her country’s reunification. Irmgard Schwaetzer, who was West German vice minister of foreign affairs at the time of the collapse of the Berlin Wall and served as minister for construction and regional planning in the post-unification government, said the six-nation talks aimed at ending the current nuclear crisis could transform into a framework to oversee ROK-DPRK unification. “This could be a historic opportunity for a multilateral approach that would allow South Korea to play a far more active role, rather than being again reduced to an object in the game,” she said.

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8. DPRK Government Officals Shuffle

Korea Times (“PRAGMATISM MANIFESTED IN NK LINEUP”, 2005-06-14) reported that a reshuffle of key government and military officials has been carried out by DPRK leader Kim Jong-il since 1994 that includes many pragmatist figures. According to the report, 26 of the top 30 aides had been replaced since the death of his father, Kim Il-sung, in 1994. The report seems to reflect Kim’s pragmatic approach as more capable officials with practical attitude are included on the list than that of his father’s era, experts said.

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9. DPRK-Philippine Trade

Korea Herald (“PHILIPPINES SEEKS TRADE BUILDUP WITH N.K. “, 2005-06-14) reported that, according to Ambassador Aladin G. Villacorte, the Philippines is building up its trade with the DPRK because it feels more international contact with the DPRK will help lessen the state’s isolation and ease tension. Noting his country has established focusing on agriculture and irrigation, Villacorte said, “It is one way of lessening tensions. You have to engage North Korea and let North Korea see the other side of the world and try to cut down the wall of distrust.” Villacorte sees distrust between the DPRK and the US as the main problem. “There is too much suspicion on both sides,” he said in an interview with The Korea Herald.

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10. Inter-Korean Sports Exchange

Associated Press (“PRO BOXERS FROM NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA TO COMPETE FOR THE FIRST TIME”, 2005-06-14) reported that Pro boxers from the both Koreas will compete for the first time this month at the World Boxing Council Female title matches in Pyongyang. Han Yon Soon of the DPRK will take on the ROK’s Son Cho-long in the flyweight ranking competition at a gymnasium in Pyongyang on June 28, the Korea Boxing Commission said. The exact venue has yet to be decided. ROK officials hope the event will help promote sports exchanges between the Koreas.

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11. DPRK Defector-Refugee Honoured in ROK

Yonhap News (“N. KOREAN DEFECTOR CITED FOR CLOSING DIGITAL GAP IN S. KOREA”, 2005-06-14) reported that a DPRK defector Heo Keum-yi was honored in the ROK for helping bridge the gap between information haves and have-nots. Heo, who defected to the ROK in Oct. 2001, has worked as a teacher in a government-run Internet and computer training facility for DPRK defectors. She was among 49 people receiving awards for contributing to narrowing the digital divide in a ceremony marking the 18th anniversary of the nation’s Month of Information and Culture, the ministry said in a statement.

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12. DPRK Gulag Survivor Meets with Bush

Joongang Daily (“NORTH GULAG SURVIVOR MEETS WITH BUSH”, 2005-06-14) reported that President George W. Bush met with Kang Chol-hwan, author of “The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in a North Korean Gulag,” for 40 minutes in the Oval Office on Monday. Mr. Kang went to the DPRK from Japan after the division of the peninsula, but was put into a labor camp on charges that one of his relatives was a counter-revolutionary. From age nine he spent 10 years there before escaping to the ROK where he became a reporter for the Chosun Ilbo. “The president thought that it was a compelling story,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, citing Mr. Bush’s concern on human rights in the DPRK.

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13. Documentary on DPRK

KOIS (“BRITISH DOCUMENTARY ON NK MAY SCREEN IN TWO KOREAS “, 2005-06-12) reported that a documentary, filmed in the DPRK by a British director, is expected to be screened both in the ROK and DPRK. Hypertheque Nada, a theater located in Seoul, said on Sunday that it will release Daniel Gordon’s “A State of Mind” in August. The documentary may also be aired on the North Korean Central Television Broadcasting Station, the nation’s single network, as the director is attempting to win an approval from DPRK officials for broadcast. Gordon was quoted as saying the film “is a neutral take on North Korea,” far from political propaganda. He added the film touches the “human side, to get beyond the goose-stepping soldiers.”

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14. DPRK Art Display at British Museum

Yonhap News (“N. KOREA’S CONTEMPORARY ARTWORKS ON DISPLAY AT BRITISH MUSEUM”, 2005-06-13) reported that a number of contemporary artifacts from the DPRK are being displayed in the corridor leading to the Korean gallery at the British Museum. Eight works of art, comprising two paintings, a work of pottery, three wood-block prints, a poster for political propaganda and some calligraphy are on view at the entrance of the museum’s gallery named after its chief sponsor, the Korea Foundation. “We devised this exhibition to showcase North Korea neutrally and as it is,” a curator of the museum said. The exhibition will last for one year as part of the museum’s plan to showcase contemporary artwork from both Koreas in turn.

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15. Jenkins Leaves for US

China Daily (“US ARMY DESERTER HEADS HOME FOR FIRST TIME IN 40 YEARS”, 2005-06-14) reported that Charles Jenkins, the US soldier who deserted to DPRK in 1965, left Japan for his first visit to the US in 40 years to see his 91-year-old mother. “This has been a very emotional and special time for me,” he said in the statement. Jenkins, then a 24-year-old sergeant disgruntled with army life, walked across the snowy Cold War frontier dividing the DPRK and ROK in 1965, spooked by the fear of being sent to Vietnam.

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16. Japan on Koizumi-Roh Talks

Kyodo News (“KOIZUMI-ROH TALKS FORMALLY SET FOR MON. IN SEOUL”, 2005-06-14) reported that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will meet with ROK President Roh Moo Hyun on Monday in Seoul in the hope the talks will help mend strained bilateral ties. The announcement erased concerns that the two countries might not be able to arrange the summit due to soured ties stemming from disputes over Koizumi’s repeated visits to the war-related Yasukuni Shrine, the ROK-held pair of islets in the Sea of Japan and some Japanese school textbooks. Koizumi told reporters, “I want to discuss [with Roh] the importance of boosting friendly relations, though there are differences and conflicting issues” between the two countries.

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17. ROK-Japanese Relations

Choson Ilbo (“KOREA-JAPAN SUMMIT WILL GO AHEAD”, 2005-06-14) reported that the ROK and Japan on Tuesday said President Roh Moo-hyun and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will meet at Cheong Wa Dae on June 20, ending weeks of speculation whether the summit will go ahead. Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Man-soo said the two heads of government will discuss ways of sharing historical views to improve relations between the ROK and its former colonial power, and will talk about a peaceful resolution to the DPRK nuclear dispute. “We hope that the meeting provides a significant opportunity for the two nations to talk about the direction they should take to improve their relationship,” he added.

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18. IAEA Leadership

Washington Post (“NUCLEAR MONITOR FOR U.N. HAS HIS PIVOTAL ROLE EXTENDED”, 2005-06-14) reported that Mohamed ElBaradei was virtually unknown when the US engineered his candidacy eight years ago to run the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency. Yesterday, the agency’s 35-member board unanimously awarded ElBaradei a third term running an agency whose findings and pronouncements could significantly bolster or undermine the Bush administration’s push to confront Iran over its nuclear program. Despite the warm beginning, ElBaradei’s refusal in 2003 to confirm White House allegations that Iraq’s Saddam Hussein had rebuilt his nuclear weapons program lost ElBaradei the US support he had enjoyed for nearly six years. Washington responded to ElBaradei’s findings on Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction by trying to prevent him from taking a third term, despite requests from other board members that he stay on.

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19. Japan on UNSC Expansion

Xinhua (“JAPAN TO SUBMIT UN REFORM PLAN BY SUMMER”, 2005-06-14) reported that Japan will submit a draft resolution calling for enlargement of the UN Security Council to the UN General Assembly by the end of this summer, Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Tuesday. “The draft resolution should be submitted to the General Assembly by summer,” Machimura told reporters after a cabinet meeting, adding “it is a must to avoid longtime waiting on the submission issue, otherwise, the plan’s power will fade away”.

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20. Sino-ROK Relations

Korea Times (“S. KOREA-CHINA PREMIERS’ TALKS DUE NEXT WEEK”, 2005-06-14) reported that Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan will embark on a three day visit to the PRC on June 21 for talks with his PRC counterpart Wen Jiabao, aides said on Tuesday. Lee and Wen will discuss ways to boost cooperation between the two countries on the basis of the results of the summit meeting in July 2003, the aides said. “We expect it to be an opportunity to secure cooperation from China for the peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue and further develop ties in the fields of economy and trade.”

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21. Sino-Japanese Relations

Kyodo News (“JAPAN, CHINA TO HOLD SUBCABINET-LEVEL TALKS THIS MONTH”, 2005-06-14) reported that Japan and the PRC on Tuesday agreed to hold subcabinet-level talks in Tokyo later this month to discuss various pending issues, a senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official said. Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi and visiting PRC diplomat Cui Tiankai who heads the PRC Foreign Ministry’s Asian Affairs Department reached the agreement during a meeting in Tokyo, the official said. Yachi and his PRC counterpart Dai Bingguo are expected to discuss how best to mend bilateral ties which have soured substantially since last month’s abrupt cancellation by PRC Vice Premier Wu Yi of her planned talks with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Tokyo, the official said.

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22. Japan-Russian Relations

RIA Novosti (“RUSSIA, JAPAN HAVE BIG COOPERATION PROSPECTS IN MANY SPHERES – PUTIN”, 2005-06-14) reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia and Japan had big cooperation prospects. “I am convinced that Russian-Japanese business cooperation has great prospects in the investment, trade, innovation and energy spheres, as well as economic development of the Far East,” Putin at the foundation ceremony of the Toyota car factory near St. Petersburg. According to him, the permanent development of political dialogue opens broad possibilities for this mutually beneficial partnership.

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23. Yasukuni Shrine Issue

Agence France Presse (“NATIONALISTS, POLICE BLOCK TAIWANESE FROM PROTESTING AT JAPAN WAR SHRINE”, 2005-06-14) reported that indigenous Taiwanese who want the names of their ancestors removed from a war shrine in Tokyo gave up on protesting at the controversial site after being blocked by police and Japanese nationalists. The protesters, dressed in traditional clothes and chanting, “Return the souls of our ancestors,” waited in two buses some 300 meters (yards) from the Yasukuni shrine as police stood between them and flag-waving nationalists. Police held the bus doors shut and after an hour and a half the vehicles turned around. The group of around 60 people instead gave a press conference elsewhere in Tokyo to sing songs of mourning for their ancestors’ souls.

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24. Japan History Textbooks

MOFA (“JAPAN’S SCHOOL TEXTBOOK EXAMINATION PROCEDURE”, 2005-06-14) there is a new webpage on the Japanese MOFA website about textbook screening. The School Education Law enacted in 1947 created the current system of textbook authorization. The process of textbook creation and authorization involves several steps. First, a publisher gathers a team of academics and school teachers. This group writes a textbook. Once the book is complete, the publisher submits a sample to the Ministry of Education. There the Textbook Authorization Research Council examines the text. Based on recommendations from the council, the Ministry of Education requests that unsuitable passages undergo revision. If the Council decides them satisfactory, it recommends the textbook as an appropriate one. The recommendation is followed by the final decision of the Ministry of Education on the authorization. Textbooks authorized by the Ministry of Education are placed on display in local communities to allow public examination of them. The final decision on which books to use rests with local boards of education in the case of public schools, and with the schools themselves in the case of private institutions. http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/education/textbooks/index.html

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25. PRC on Arms Ban

Bloomberg (“CHINA WILL CHANGE STRATEGY AFTER EU DECISION ON BAN”, 2005-06-14) reported that the PRC will probably react angrily to the European Union’s decision to delay ending a 16-year-old arms embargo on the country and may start to target individual European states to get around the ban, PRC-based analysts said. “China will not give up its pursuit of lifting of the embargo, but will start using a new strategy of dealing with individual EU member states to acquire advanced technologies,” said Guan Anping, managing director of Beijing trade law firm Anping & Partners and a former adviser to Vice Premier Wu Yi.

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26. US on Arms Sales to the PRC

Agence France Presse (“US RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT ISRAELI MILITARY SALES TO CHINA”, 2005-06-14) reported that the US has raised concerns with Israel about its sales and transfer of military equipment and technology to the PRC, a Pentagon spokesman said. The spokesman declined to comment on the specifics of an Israeli report that Washington is demanding Israel provide details of more than 60 percent of recent security deals with the PRC and its arms export trade in general. “This is certainly an issue that is being discussed between the United States and Israel, and we have made our concerns about the sale and transfer of defense equipment and technology to China, known to Israel,” said Bryan Whitman, a spokesman for the Defense Department.

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27. US Defense Posture

Japan Times (“NEW US DEFENSE POSTURE; CHECKING THE THREAT THAT COULD BE CHINA”, 2005-06-14) reported that when US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld addressed the Shangri-la Security Dialogue in Singapore last weekend, most of the attention in the meeting and later in the press focused on his candid comments about the PRC’s military strategy, spending and modernization. The secretary barely touched on the fundamental revision in the US defense posture that is intended to counter a potential threat from the PRC or to respond swiftly to contingencies elsewhere, pointing only to “a repositioning of US forces worldwide that will significantly increase our capabilities in support of our friends and allies in this region.” American defense officials in Washington, at the Pacific Command here in Hawaii, and in Asia have spent many months seeking to bring Rumsfeld’s policy to reality. They have fashioned a plan intended to strengthen the operational control of the Pacific Command, enhance forces in the US territory of Guam, tighten the alliance with Japan and streamline the US stance in the ROK.

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28. PRC Environment

Agence France-Presse (“CHINA SAYS DESERTIFICATION BEING CONTROLLED BUT SITUATION STILL GRIM”, 2005-06-14) reported that the PRC claimed success in stemming desertification that is costing the country billions of dollars, saying it has slowed for the first time in decades although the situation remains grave. “Notable progress has been made in combating desertification and sandification in China … but the situation is still severe,” Zhu Lieke, deputy director of the State Forestry Administration, said at a briefing. Halting the march of deserts has become a priority for the PRC with state media previously reporting that desertification costs the country more than 40 billion dollars every year in direct and indirect economic losses.

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29. PRC Energy Supply

Agence France Presse (“CHINA TO BUILD FOUR NEW NUCLEAR REACTORS AT QINSHAN PLANT”, 2005-06-14) reported that the PRC National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) plans to double generating capacity at its Qinshan plant by building four new reactors for a total investment of 4.3 billion dollars, state media said. CNNC, the country’s largest nuclear reactor constructor, will build two 650-megawatt reactors and two 1,000-megawatt reactors, funding the projects itself, the China Daily reported, citing the company. CNNC said the installed capacity of the Qinshan plant in the eastern province of Zhejiang would rise to 6,200 megawatts from the current 2,900 megawatts upon completion of the projects.

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30. PRC AIDS Issue

Agence France-Presse (“CHINA TELLS UN IT IS CAPABLE OF CURBING EXPLODING HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC”, 2005-06-14) reported that Premier Wen Jiabao told a top UN official that the PRC is “determined and capable” of controlling its exploding HIV/ AIDS epidemic, as the official warned that much more work was needed. “China is still facing serious challenges in HIV/AIDS prevention and control, but the Chinese government is determined and capable of curbing the spread of the disease to ensure the people live a healthy and peaceful life,” Wen said Tuesday, according to the Xinhua news agency. He made the comments in a meeting on Monday with Peter Piot, executive director of the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), who has warned that a “truly exceptional response” is needed from Beijing to control the disease’s spread.

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31. PRC Web Censorship

The Guardian (“CHINA’S SECRET INTERNET POLICE TARGET CRITICS WITH WEB OF PROPAGANDA “, 2005-06-14) reported that the PRC’s communist authorities have intensified their campaign against the party’s biggest potential enemy – the internet – with the recruitment of a growing army of secret web commentators, sophisticated new monitoring software and a warning that all bloggers and bulletin board operators must register with the government or be closed down and fined. The escalation of the government’s effort to neutralize critical online opinion comes after a series of large anti-Japanese, anti-pollution and anti-corruption protests, many of which were organized or publicized using instant messaging services, chatrooms and text messages. In response, the propaganda departments of provincial and municipal governments have recently been instructed to build teams of internet commentators, whose job is to guide discussion on public bulletin boards away from politically sensitive topics by posting opinions anonymously or under false names.

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