NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, February 09, 2005
- 1. PRC on DPRK Nuclear Program
2. US on DPRK Nuclear Program
3. US on DPRK Nuclear Talks
4. DPRK on Abductee Issue
5. Japan on DPRK Sanctions
6. Japan on Stealth Sanctions
7. DPRK on Japanese Stealth Sanctions
8. DPRK – Japan World Cup Match
9. DPRK on Development and Aid
10. Inter – Korean Economic Cooperation
11. Russo – Korean Relations
12. Japan Missile Defense System
13. Japan on Iranian Nuclear Program
14. Sino – Japanese Territorial Dispute
15. US on Cross Strait Relations
16. Sino – US Economic Competition
17. Sino – US Military Relations
18. US on PRC Arms Embargo
19. Russian Military Exports to the PRC
20. US on PRC Human Rights
21. PRC Executions
22. US – Russian Air Defense Agreement
I. United States
1. PRC on DPRK Nuclear Program
The New York Times (“U.S. ASKING CHINA TO PRESS NORTH KOREA TO END ITS NUCLEAR PROGRAM”, 2005-02-09) reported that driven by new evidence that the DPRK may have begun selling nuclear materials around the world, President Bush sent an emissary last week to see President Hu Jintao of the PRC and urge him to intensify diplomatic pressure on the DPRK to give up its weapons program, according to senior American and Asian officials. According to Asian officials, the PRC promised to send a delegation to Pyongyang later this month, but also advised Mr. Bush against making public pronouncements about the DPRK situation, the way he regularly talked about the threat posed by Iraq in the year leading up to the March 2003 invasion.
2. US on DPRK Nuclear Program
Yonhap (“EX-U.S. OFFICIAL CLAIMS N. KOREA HAS URANIUM-BASED NUKE PROGRAM”, 2005-02-09) reported that the DPRK has acquired material and equipment to produce weapon-grade uranium that could make more than two nuclear bombs a year, a major Japanese newspaper reported Wednesday, citing an article by a high-ranking US official. The US government obtained clear evidence in mid-2002 that the DPRK acquired material and equipment for a centrifuge facility for weapon-grade uranium, the Asahi Shimbun said, citing an article by Mitchel Reiss, the former Director for Policy Planning in the US State Department.
3. US on DPRK Nuclear Talks
Yonhap (“U.S. TO RAISE CASE OF ABDUCTED PASTOR AT N. KOREAN NUKE TALKS”, 2005-02-08) reported that the US will take issue with the kidnapping of a Korean-American pastor by DPRK agents at future six-party talks over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program, a ROK interpreter close to the case said Tuesday. “U.S. State Department officials said they will raise the issue of the abduction of Rev. Kim Dong-shik with the North through various channels, including the six-way talks,” said Chang Hak-keun, a ROK interpreter who assisted Rev. Kim’s wife during her visit to the State Department on Tuesday afternoon.
4. DPRK on Abductee Issue
Kyodo (“N. KOREA CALLS JAPAN ‘WICKED TRICKSTER’ OVER ABDUCTION ISSUE”, 2005-02-09) reported that the DPRK’s official media on Wednesday called Japan a “wicked trickster” for claiming that people missing in Japan were abducted by the DPRK. It also accused a Japanese group investigating past abductions of Japanese nationals to the DPRK of having staged an anti-DPRK “burlesque” by making public a photo of two alleged Japanese abductees who later turned out to be Koreans. “The Japanese reactionaries are ill-famed for their crafty nature,” the Minju Joson daily said in an editorial.
5. Japan on DPRK Sanctions
The Associated Press (“JAPAN KOIZUMI VOICES CAUTION ON SANCTIONS AGAINST N KOREA”, 2005-02-09) reported that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Wednesday voiced caution over any imposition of sanctions against the DPRK for failing to resolve a dispute over the abductions of Japanese citizens. “I think we should keep the window for dialogue open,” Koizumi told reporters.
6. Japan on Stealth Sanctions
Yomiuri Shimbun (“‘STEALTH SANCTION’ STARTS IN MARCH”, 2005-02-09) reported that a new law to ban foreign vessels without proper insurance from Japanese ports will take effect on March 1, and it is expected that it could function as a de facto economic sanction on the DPRK. The law, therefore, could be particularly damaging to the DPRK, which depends greatly on trade with Japan, according to hard-liners who have been insisting on sanctions over issues such as the abduction of Japanese and the DPRK’s nuclear program.
7. DPRK on Japanese Stealth Sanctions
Yonhap (“N. KOREAN SHIP TO BUY MARITIME INSURANCE AT JAPAN’S REQUEST”, 2005-02-09) reported that the DPRK maritime authorities are pushing to take out international indemnity insurance for their ship plying between the DPRK and Japan, a major Japanese broadcaster reported on Wednesday. Quoting an unidentified source, Japan’s public television station NHK said that the DPRK has decided to take out indemnity insurance from a PRC firm for Mangyongbong-92.
8. DPRK – Japan World Cup Match
Associated Press (“JAPAN DOWNS NORTH KOREA ON LATE GOAL”, 2005-02-09) reported that substitute Masashi Oguro scored in injury time Wednesday to lift host Japan to a 2-1 win over the DPRK in a crucial World Cup qualifier. Oguro scored just after the end of regulation time at Saitama Stadium when DPRK goalkeeper Sim Sung Chol gave the ball away in front of his net and the Gamba Osaka forward fired home to give Japan the win.
(return to top) Reuters (“TENSION, NO TROUBLE AT JAPAN-N.KOREA SOCCER MATCH”, 2005-02-09) reported that Japan defeated the DPRK 2-1 in a closely fought soccer World Cup qualifier on Wednesday amid tight security in a match watched as much for its diplomatic overtones as its sporting rivalry. Japan supporters in the Saitama stadium near Tokyo booed loudly when the DPRK team was introduced, but were politely silent when the DPRK’s national anthem was played and some even clapped afterwards. After the final whistle, fans left the stadium in an orderly fashion with no sign of clashes. (return to top)
9. DPRK on Development and Aid
Kyodo News (“AID WORKERS PUZZLED BY NORTH KOREA’S REQUEST FOR LONGER-TERM DEVELOPMENT”, 2005-02-09) reported that the DPRK, which continues to suffer from a food crisis and a faltering economy, has left aid workers puzzled in recent months by saying it now wants help for longer-term development rather than emergency relief such as food and clothing. The Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme said late last year the DPRK is expected to post the best harvest in a decade in the 12 months from November 2004 to October 2005. The two UN agencies added, however, that food supplies will still fall short and the country will need 500,000 tons in assistance from other countries.
10. Inter – Korean Economic Cooperation
Yonhap (“GOV’T AIMS TO ATTRACT MULTINATIONALS TO N.K. INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX”, None) reported that the ROK plans to attract multinationals to a large-scale inter-Korean industrial complex being built in the DPRK border city of Kaesong, government sources said Wednesday. “In the second and third stage (of the complex), the government will permit participation by multinational firms that are willing to expand into the Northeast Asian region,” a ROK government official said on condition of anonymity.
11. Russo – Korean Relations
The Vladivostok News (“KOREA COOPERATION CENTRE OPENS IN RUSSIAN FAR EAST”, 2005-02-09) reported that the Far Eastern Russian-Korean Cooperation Centre was opened at the Far Eastern National University in Vladivostok on February 5, the press service of the presidential envoy to the Russian Far East reported. The center’s business will include promoting cooperation between Russia and the Koreas, and analyzing prospects of industrial, import-export, scientific and investment growth in the Koreas and Russia’s Far East. The center will also work out projects for two- and three-way cooperation between the Russian Far East and the two Koreas.
12. Japan Missile Defense System
The Japan Times (“RAPID MISSILE DEFENSE RESPONSE SET; BILL LETS SDF COMMANDERS ACT QUICKLY IN EVENT OF ATTACK”, 2005-02-09) reported that the government has come up with an emergency override process that sidesteps the normal decision-making channels if it needs to quickly activate a US-developed missile defense system it decided to adopt more than a year ago. According to a draft bill presented to the ruling coalition Tuesday, missile defense units of the Self-Defense Forces, for the sake of a timely and adequate response, will be allowed to skip consultations with Japan’s Security Council and do not have to seek Cabinet approval or inform the Diet if interceptor missiles need to be quickly launched.
13. Japan on Iranian Nuclear Program
Agence France-Presse (“JAPAN PRESSES IRANIAN FM ON NUCLEAR PROGRAM”, 2005-02-09) reported that Japan urged Iran to reach a deal with the European Union to end its uranium enrichment for good, as the Islamic republic’s foreign minister insisted Tehran was doing nothing clandestine. Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi, on a short working visit to Tokyo, held talks with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who pressed him on the nuclear issue. “Japan supports the three countries of the European Union and strongly hopes that they will reach an accord,” Koizumi said.
14. Sino – Japanese Territorial Dispute
Reuters (“JAPAN TO MAN LIGHTHOUSE ON ISLE CLAIMED BY CHINA”, 2005-02-09) reported that Japan is taking over a lighthouse built by right-wing activists years ago on a small island in the East China Sea, a move that has drawn fire from the PRC, which also claims sovereignty over the uninhabited isle. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told a news conference, “internationally and historically, there is no doubt that the islands belong to Japan. I feel there is no problem at all.” The PRC’s official Xinhua news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan as saying that Japan’s unilateral actions were “illegal and invalid” and that the main Diaoyu island and neighboring islets had long been the PRC’s territory.
15. US on Cross Strait Relations
Reuters (“TALKS FAIL TO BRIDGE U.S.-CHINA GAPS: OFFICIAL”, 2005-02-09) reported that US-PRC defense talks last week failed to bridge gaps over Taiwan and crisis management issues, a senior US defense official said on Tuesday. The Pentagon sees a “continuing substantial increase” in PRC military capabilities and during the talks in Beijing, Assistant Defense Secretary Richard Lawless repeated the US view that the PRC is “complicit in creating or escalating tensions” with Taiwan, the official said.
16. Sino – US Economic Competition
Reuters (“CHINA POISED TO OVERTAKE U.S. IN 2020S-AUTHOR”, 2005-02-09) reported that the PRC’s unprecedented rise, fueled by foreign investment and technology, has put the Asian giant on a path to surpass the US economically by 2025, the author of a new book on the PRC said on Tuesday. US pressure on PRC authorities to revalue the yuan currency will bring only a brief respite from the fusion of cheap-but-skilled labor, imported technology and economies of scale that make the PRC so competitive, said Oded Shenkar. “The rise of China is a watershed,” Shenkar told Reuters in an interview. “I compare it to the rise of the United States in the late 19th century.”
17. Sino – US Military Relations
The New York Times (“RUMSFELD WANTS TO VISIT CHINA TO REVIVE MILITARY TIES”, 2005-02-09) reported that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has agreed in principle to pay an official visit to the PRC, a significant step toward revitalizing a military-to-military dialogue forced into hiatus after a Navy surveillance plane and a PRC fighter collided in international airspace in 2001. “Secretary Rumsfeld is interested in visiting China this year,” a senior Defense Department official said Tuesday. But the official noted that no final commitment had been made and that no date had been set for a visit.
18. US on PRC Arms Embargo
Reuters (“RICE HINTS U.S. RESIGNED TO EU ENDING CHINA EMBARGO”, 2005-02-09) reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suggested on Wednesday that the US was resigned to the EU lifting its arms embargo on the PRC and felt US security concerns were being taken seriously. Rice told a news conference after meeting NATO foreign ministers: “We are still in discussions and open discussions about how to deal with the prospect of the lifting of the EU arms embargo on China. “I really have to underscore how much the Europeans have tried to take account of our concerns, how good the discussions have been,” she said.
19. Russian Military Exports to the PRC
Itar-Tass (“80% OF RUSSIAN MILITARY EXPORTS GO TO CHINA, INDIA”, 2005-02-09) reported that President Vladimir Putin has told the Rosoboronexport military exports company to have closer relations with the Russian Foreign Ministry. Rosoboronexport supplied armaments and military hardware to 59 countries in 2004 as against 53 countries in 2003. “India and China are the leading partners. Over 80% of all products are supplied there,” Chemezov said.
20. US on PRC Human Rights
The New York Times (“U.S. CAUTIOUS AS CHINA OFFERS DETAILS ON POLITICAL PRISONERS”, 2005-02-09) reported that the US responded guardedly on Tuesday to a move by the PRC to volunteer details about 56 political prisoners and suspected spies whose prison sentences have been or may be reduced. The release of the information, apparently an effort by the PRC to enhance its human rights image, comes as the Bush administration is weighing whether to press for a motion criticizing the PRC at the United Nations Human Rights Commission meeting next month in Geneva.
21. PRC Executions
Reuters (“CHINA SEES SIGNIFICANT RISE IN EXECUTIONS: GROUP”, 2005-02-09) reported that the PRC has significantly stepped up executions with at least 650 people reported put to death in December and January alone, the human rights group Amnesty International said on Wednesday. About 200 people were executed in the two weeks leading up to the Lunar New Year, which began on Wednesday, representing a significant increase despite government insistence capital punishment is imposed judiciously, it said. “There is a huge gap between policy and practice with regard to the death penalty in China,” Catherine Baber, deputy Asia director of the London-based group, said in a statement.
22. US – Russian Air Defense Agreement
Itar-Tass (“US, RF TO SIGN DOC ON CONTROL OVER PORTABLE AIR DEFENSE SYSTEMS”, 2005-02-09) reported that the US and Russia prepared for signing a document on control over portable air defense systems, head of the main department for international military cooperation of the Defense Ministry Col.-Gen. Anatoly Mazurkevich told journalists on Tuesday. “An intergovernmental agreement on cooperation and strengthening control over portable air defense systems will be signed in Bratislava on February 24,” he emphasized.