NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, June 01, 2005

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NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, June 01, 2005

NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, June 01, 2005

I. United States

II. Japan

III. CanKor

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. United States

1. DPRK on Six-party Talks

Yonhap News (“N.KOREA: JAPAN HAS NO RIGHT TO ATTEND NUCLEAR TALKS”, 2005-06-01) reported that the DPRK claimed Tokyo has no right to take part in stalled six-nation talks even if the talks resume. The DPRK and Japan are at odds over a series of bilateral issues, including the DPRK’s admitted kidnapping of about a dozen Japanese citizens and the DPRK’s demand for compensation for Japan’s colonial occupation of the Korean Peninsula in the early part of the 20th century.

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2. DPRK on US Spy Flights

Associated Press (“NORTH KOREA ACCUSES WASHINGTON OF CONDUCTING 180 SPY FLIGHTS IN MAY”, 2005-06-01) reported that the DPRK accused the US on Wednesday of conducting more than 180 spy flights against the DPRK last month, saying Washington was preparing for a nuclear attack. The report said the US military used reconnaissance planes including the U-2, RC-7B, and RC-12 for aerial espionage. “Such cases of aerial espionage were committed at a time when the US imperialist warmongers are stepping up the preparations for a nuclear war against the DPRK at a final phase,” the DPRK’s official Korean Central News Agency said in a commentary.

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3. Analysts on DPRK Nuclear Program

Agence France-Presse (“FEAR OF US ATTACK, BRINKMANSHIP DRIVE NORTH KOREA’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM “, 2005-06-01) reported that the DPRK’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, which the US believes could lead to an imminent test, is driven by genuine fear of US attack as well as diplomatic brinkmanship, analysts say. DPR Koreans are taught from the cradle that the US is a brutal imperialist power determined to attack with a nuclear strike at the earliest opportunity.

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4. US on DPRK Nuclear Exports

The Korea Times (“US INTERCEPTED TWO NK SHIPMENTS”, 2005-06-01) reported that the US and its allies have intercepted two DPRK deliveries of materials useful in making nuclear and chemical weapons. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher made the disclosure in remarks to reporters, citing 11 successful efforts in the past nine months by the US and its allies in an anti-proliferation campaign, called the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). “We worked to impede the progress of North Korean weapons of mass destruction and missile programs, for example, bilateral cooperation with several governments prevented North Korea from receiving materials used in making chemical weapons and cooperation with another country blocked the transfer to North Korea of a material useful in its nuclear programs,” he said.

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5. US on DPRK Nuclear Issue

Associated Press (“NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR ISSUE TO TOP AGENDA AT ASIAN DEFENSE MINISTER’S MEETING”, 2005-06-01) reported that growing frustration at a year’s worth of failed attempts to draw the DPRK back to six-nation talks will likely dominate a conference of Asian defense ministers this week. US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is expected to outline Washington’s policies for Asia on issues from nuclear proliferation to terrorism, troop deployment and shipping security on Friday in Singapore, where defense ministers and military chiefs from more than 20 countries will meet.

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6. US on DPRK-US Relations

Reuters (“BUSH SAYS DIPLOMATIC OPTIONS REMAIN ON NORTH KOREA”, 2005-06-01) reported that President Bush on Tuesday said there were still diplomatic options available to persuade the DPRK to abandon its nuclear ambitions without having to resort to a military strike. “It’s either diplomacy or military. And I am for the diplomacy approach,” Bush told reporters at a news conference.

(return to top) Associated Press (“BUSH: PERSONNEL NOT THREATENED IN KOREA”, 2005-05-31) reported that the suspension of Pentagon efforts to find and recover the remains of thousands of American war dead from the DPRK was a precautionary move to reassess whether conditions were safe for US teams, President Bush said Tuesday. Bush said the decision, announced with little explanation last Wednesday, one day after the Pentagon announced a successful recovery mission in the DPRK, was made by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. (return to top)

7. US-ROK Talks on DPRK Nuclear Issue

The Financial Times (“US AND S KOREA MEET ON NUCLEAR CRISIS”, 2005-06-01) reported that the ROK’s top security officials flew to Washington yesterday to seek ways to resume stalled six-party talks on the DPRK’s nuclear crisis. The four-day trip by Kwon Jin-ho, national security adviser, and Song Min-soon, Seoul’s chief nuclear negotiator. Mr Kwon is set to meet Stephen Hadley, his US counterpart, and Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State, to have “an in-depth discussion of bilateral relations” ahead of a summit between the ROK President Roh Moo-hyun and President George W. Bush on June 10.

(return to top) Yonhap News (“NSC OFFICIAL VISITED U.S. TO DISCUSS N.K. PLAN, GOV’T SOURCE SAYS”, 2005-06-01) reported that a senior official of the ROK presidential NSC visited the US last week to discuss contingency plans in the event of emergency situations in the DPRK. Seo Joo-seok, head of the NSC’s strategy planning bureau, went to Washington for three days to coordinate positions of the two countries on the so-called Concept Plan 5029 and other issues on consolidating the decades-old bilateral alliance, the official said. (return to top)

8. ROK on US-DPRK Relations

Reuters (“S.KOREA SAYS U.S.-N.KOREA DISTRUST DELAYING TALKS”, 2005-06-01) reported that distrust between Washington and Pyongyang is impeding efforts to revive talks on the DPRK’s nuclear program, despite a recent, but rare, meeting of their officials, the ROK said on Wednesday. “Despite efforts to clear distrust between the United States and North Korea, the situation is not evolving in a favorable way,” ROK Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said at his weekly press briefing.

(return to top) Associated Press (“SOUTH KOREA PRAISES BUSH COMMENTS ON DIPLOMATIC APPROACH TO NORTH KOREA”, 2005-05-31) reported that the ROK on Wednesday praised comments by President Bush reaffirming the use of diplomatic rather than military means to resolve tensions with the DPRK. Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said Bush’s remarks were “meaningful” in reaffirming a commitment to resolving the nuclear issue through dialogue. (return to top)

9. DPRK-Japan Relations

Kyodo News (“N.KOREA RAPS JAPAN’S PROPOSAL FOR 5-WAY TALKS”, 2005-06-01) reported that the DPRK media on Wednesday criticized a Japanese proposal to discuss the DPRK’s nuclear programs among five members of the six-way talks excluding Pyongyang, calling it a “silly act.” The comment in the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the Workers Party of Korea, marked the first reaction from Pyongyang regarding the proposal floated by Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura as a way to jump-start the stalled six-way talks. KCNA quoted the Rodong Sinmun as saying that Japan “will pose an obstacle to the resolution of the (nuclear) issue even if the six-way talks are held under these circumstances.”

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10. PRC, Japan on Six-Party Talks

Kyodo News (“JAPANESE, CHINESE OFFICIALS REAFFIRM IMPORTANCE OF SIX-WAY TALKS”, 2005-05-31) reported that Kenichiro Sasae, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau and PRC Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, reaffirmed the importance of resuming the stalled six-way talks.

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11. PRC on DPRK Nuclear Test

Kyodo News (“CHANCES OF N.KOREA NUCLEAR TEST FIFTY-FIFTY, CHINA OFFICIAL SAYS”, 2005-06-01) reported that a PRC Communist Party official told Japanese lawmakers that there is a fifty-fifty chance of a DPRK nuclear test and Pyongyang is ambivalent about conducting it. Wang Jiarui, the head of the party’s International Department, however, did not explain the comments that he made during his talks on May 21 in Beijing with visiting senior lawmakers Tsutomu Takebe and Tetsuzo Fuyushiba, the sources said.

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12. DPRK on June 15 Celebration

Chosun Ilbo (“PYONGYANG WANTS SEOUL TO CUT JUNE 15 DELEGATION”, 2005-06-01) reported that the DPRK demanded a drastic reduction of the ROK delegation that is to visit Pyongyang for ceremonies marking the fifth anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration, citing “new obstacles” created by the US. Pyongyang cited “serious slander” of the DPRK regime by the US and the deployment of stealth bombers to the ROK. The ROK government is perplexed by the sudden change in the DPRK position. Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hong-jae only said the ministry will “urge the North to conform to the existing agreement” by fax tomorrow or the next day.

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13. Inter-Korean Civic Exchanges

Yonhap News (“N.KOREAN NEWS AGENCY RETRACTS REPORT ON S.KOREAN DELEGATION”, 2005-06-01) reported that on Tuesday, KCNA said that a ROK delegation led by Incheon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo delivered a gift to the DPRK leader but five hours later retracted the report. The ROK government officials in Seoul speculated that the visitors might have asked their DPRK host to retract the report after learning that it was picked up by the ROK’s Yonhap News Agency. Giving a gift to the DPRK leader by the ROK is a highly political gesture, which could anger many people in the ROK.

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14. Inter-Korean Sports

Reuters (“SOUTH KOREA CONFIDENT ABOUT 2014 GAMES BID”, 2005-06-01) reported that the ROK’s Pyeongchang city sees itself as a favourite to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, with a little help from the DPRK, says the president of the bid committee. “We sincerely hope that North Korea will also participate in our bidding effort for the 2014 Winter Olympics,” Kim Jin-sun, governor of Kangwon province and committee president, told Reuters in an interview. Kim, who visited the DPRK in December 2003 and said he got backing for Pyeongchang’s bid, said he would explore the possibility of a joint Korean team.

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15. DPRK Refugee-Defectors

Associated Press (“FIVE NORTH KOREAN DEFECTORS TO SEOUL BACK IN THE NORTH, SOUTH KOREAN REPORT SAYS”, 2005-06-01) reported that five DPRK defectors to the ROK have returned home where they are being used by the regime for anti-ROK propaganda. The returnees were among 31 DPRK defectors who settled in the ROK but have since left the country, the newspaper JoongAng Daily said, citing documents from the Unification Ministry, which handles defectors. It said they returned to the DPRK in an attempt to bring family members out.

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16. DPRK Food Shortage

International Herald Tribune (“NORTH KOREA SENDS CITY WORKERS TO FARMS”, 2005-06-01) reported that to combat growing food shortages that could lead to a famine, the DPRK is sending millions of city dwellers ever weekend to work on farms, largely transplanting rice, according to foreign aid workers. “We saw thousands of people who were marching out of the city,” Gerald Bourke, a WFP spokesman, said by telephone from Beijing on Tuesday about a recent visit to the port of Wonsan. The monthlong mass mobilization, scheduled to end June 15, is one of the largest seen in the DPRK, where millions may face starvation this summer because foreign donations have dwindled, partly because of its nuclear bomb program.

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17. NGOs on DPRK Food Shortage

Associated Press (“NORTH KOREA FACING HUGE FOOD SHORTAGES”, 2005-06-01) reported that world aid agencies called for food assistance to be stepped up to the DPRK despite a stalemate in talks to end its nuclear program, saying the DPRK still faces tremendous shortages affecting millions of people. “Whether there is progress or not in the six-party talks, we feel that as humanitarian agencies, we need to continue to provide assistance to the North Korean people who are genuinely in need,” said Victor Hsu of the New York-based Church World Service, one of 100 groups participating in a conference in Beijing on aid for the DPRK.

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18. WFP Food Inspection in the DPRK

Chosun Ilbo (“WFP CONDUCTS FIRST NATIONWIDE FOOD INSPECTION IN N.K.”, 2005-06-01) reported that for the first time, the WFP is conducting a nationwide household food inspection in the DPRK. According to the agency’s website Reliefweb, the WFP will assess the food situation by conducting interviews, holding group discussions and making observational walks around the country for 10 days until next week. The goal of the evaluation is to confirm what kind of measures the DPRK is taking to overcome the food shortage.

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19. Japan Aid to DPRK

Kyodo News (“CHARITABLE DONATIONS FROM JAPAN TO N.KOREA FALL”, 2005-05-31) reported that charitable donations from the Japanese to nongovernmental organizations helping the DPRK have fallen from 50 million yen to under 10 million yen since the late 1990s, a Japanese NGO official said Tuesday. The amount of aid that Japanese people donate to the 10 or 15 food agencies active in the DPRK has declined to “several million yen” since a high period between 1995 and 1998, said Michiya Kumaoka, head of the Japan International Volunteer Center.

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20. DPRK-Russian Relations

Russian News and Information Network (“NORTH KOREA OPEN TO COOPERATION WITH RUSSIA-AMBASSADOR”, 2005-06-01) reported that the DPRK is always open to cooperation with Russia, according to DPRK Ambassador to Moscow Pak Ui Chun. “This is a political event demonstrating that North Korea is always open to and ready for cooperation with countries, particularly Russia,” the ambassador said after the presentation of postage stamps issued by Russia and the DPRK. The diplomat said that Russia-DPRK cooperation “was developing owing to the efforts of the two countries’ leaders and their relations”.

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21. PRC on UNSC Expansion

The Associated Press (“CHINA: U.N. COUNCIL RESOLUTION DANGEROUS”, 2005-06-01) reported that the PRC called a resolution by Brazil, Germany, India and Japan to expand the UN Security Council — and hopefully give them permanent seats — “dangerous” and hinted it would use its veto power if necessary to block final approval. The language used by the PRC’s U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya appeared to be the strongest yet by Beijing. Wang made clear in an interview with The Associated Press that the PRC opposed any move to expand the council now because the 191 U.N. member states are deeply divided. “I think what has been proposed by G-4 is very dangerous, so as far as China is concerned, we will work with others to see that this will not happen,” Wang said in an interview Tuesday.

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22. Sino-Japanese East Sea Gas Dispute

Agence France Presse (“TOKYO TO TAKE OVER TEST-DRILLING IN GAS FIELDS DISPUTED WITH CHINA”, 2005-06-01) reported that Japan plans to speed up test-drilling of gas fields contested with the PRC and put the project under government control after bilateral talks on the dispute ended in stalemate, a Japanese newspaper reports. Japan in April said it would let private companies apply to explore potentially huge gas and oil fields in the East China Sea. But amid rising tension with the PRC, Tokyo will make any selected company work under government contract, the Mainichi Shimbun said. The daily said the Japanese government wanted to show it was dedicated to the project and believed the move would speed it up, with a company to be granted drilling rights as soon as mid-2005.

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23. PRC Petroleum Reserves

Xinhua news (“CHINA SHOULD ADJUST ITS PETROLEUM RESERVE STRATEGY, EXPERT “, 2005-06-01) reported that the PRC should adjust its oil reserve strategy by increasing planned oil reserves and establishing hinterland bases for future oil storage, said Associate Professor Cai Rongsheng with the Chinese People’s University in an article published in Wednesday’s Economic Daily. Due to the PRC’s rocketing oil demand and imports, the country has found it urgent to establish its own strategic oil reserve to safeguard its energy security, Cai said. The PRC has decided to establish four coastal bases for strategic oil reserves in Zhejiang and Shandong in east China and Liaoning in northeast China. Cai suggested more hinterland reserve bases should be built in central and northeast China’s oil fields so as to prevent earthquakes and fires. Cai also suggested that the PRC pass special laws on petroleum reserve establishment, and encourage private companies to participate in petroleum reserve work.

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24. PRC Energy Supply

Xinhua (“CHINA’S ELECTRIC POWER SHORTAGE THIS SUMMER TO EXCEED 30 MILLION KW “, 2005-06-01) reported that the PRC’s electric power shortage may climb to more than 30 million kilowatts this summer, its greatest ever, according to figures released by the State Grid Corp. of China. Of the total, 25 million kw will be experienced in north PRC and 7 million in the country’s south, said the national power grid company. Though strain on the country’s power supply has tended to ease to some extent, the whole situation remains stark in 2005, said Liu Zhenya, head of the company.

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25. Sino-Japanese Relations

Kyodo (“EX-PREMIER HASHIMOTO TO VISIT CHINA FROM JUNE 8”, 2005-06-01) reported that former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of the Liberal Democratic Party will visit the PRC from June 8 and 13, LDP officials said Wednesday. Hashimoto will visit the PRC on an exchange program for defense officials between Japan and the PRC, according to the LDP. During his trip, Hashimoto is expected to meet with PRC Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan and senior officers of the People’s Liberation Army to exchange opinions on security issues, they said.

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26. PRC Floods

Reuters (“CHINA FLOODS LEAVE 200 DEAD, MISSING-RESIDENT”, 2005-06-01) reported that heavy rain has triggered floods and mudslides in southern PRC, leaving about 200 people dead or missing, a resident and state media said on Wednesday. Torrential rain hit a mountainous region of Hunan province in the early hours and 17 people died in floods, the online edition of the official Xinhua news agency said. Thirty-five people were missing. However, a local resident with knowledge of the extent of the damage and casualties said about 200 people died or were missing after floods toppled more than 3,500 homes in Xinshao and Lianyuan counties in Hunan.

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27. PRC Freedom of the Press

Washington Post (“WIFE OF JAILED REPORTER DENIES SPYING CHARGES BY CHINA”, 2005-06-01) reported that the wife of the chief PRC correspondent for Singapore’s Straits Times newspaper denied Tuesday that her husband had engaged in espionage on the mainland, rejecting the PRC government’s first public explanation for the detention of the prominent Hong Kong-based journalist. In a brief written statement, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said authorities detained Ching Cheong, 55, on April 22 for investigation “on suspicion of being involved in spying matters,” adding that he had confessed to accepting payments for collecting intelligence. But the government provided no evidence to support its allegations, and Ching’s wife, Mary Lau, denied her husband was a spy. She said security agents detained him after he traveled to the mainland to obtain a collection of interviews secretly conducted with Zhao Ziyang, the former Communist Party chief who was purged for opposing the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and died in January after nearly 16 years under house arrest.

(return to top) Los Angeles Times (“REPORTER MAY FACE THE DEATH PENALTY”, 2005-06-01) reported that the PRC accused a Hong Kong-based reporter for Singapore’s Straits Times newspaper of spying for foreign agencies. If convicted, Ching Cheong, 55, could face the death penalty. He was detained April 22 in the southern city of Guangzhou. The Straits Times said it was shocked by the arrest, and Ching’s wife said he was innocent. (return to top)

28. ROK-Japanese Fishing Dispute

Choson Ilbo (“KOREAN, JAPANESE PATROLS IN WATERY STANDOFF”, 2005-06-01) reported that three patrol boats from the ROK Coast Guard and three from the Japan Coast Guard remained locked in a farcical face-off on Wednesday evening, both sides lashed to a small Korean trawler suspected of illegally fishing in Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The ROK Coast Guard mobilized its boats after receiving word from the 77-ton eel trawler Sinpung-ho 502 just after midnight on Wednesday that Japanese patrol boats were trying to seize the vessel. They arrived at the scene around 2:00 a.m. to discover the Shinpung-ho being chased by the Japanese, and tied the trawler to the starboard side of a ROK patrol boat to thwart Japanese attempts to seize it. The three Japanese patrol boats that had been chasing the Shinpung-ho in turn tethered themselves to the starboard side of the trawler. As of 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, the deadlock was in its 17th hour.

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29. ROK-Japan on Yasukuni Shrine Issue

Choson Ilbo (“KOREA, JAPAN TO DISCUSS WAR-CRIMINAL SHRINE”, 2005-06-01) reported that Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said Monday persistent visits by Japanese leaders to a Tokyo shrine housing memorials to convicted war criminals would form part of discussions during a summit of President Roh Moo-hyun and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. “Since visits to the Yasukuni Shrine are an important problem hampering the bilateral relationship between Korea and Japan, I expect that there will be discussion of them,” Ban told reporters.

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30. US-Japan Missile Defense System Test

Kyodo (“JAPAN, U.S. EYE 1ST MISSILE INTERCEPTION TEST NEXT MARCH”, 2005-06-01) reported that Japan and the US have basically agreed to carry out the first interception test for a sea-based missile defense system next March in Hawaii as they are set to move onto the joint development stage of the system, US defense officials and related sources said Tuesday. If the test is successful, it is expected to spur their cooperation on the missile shield, mainly aimed at dealing with increasing missile threats from the DPRK, which is also allegedly planning to conduct a nuclear test.

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II. Japan

31. Japan-PRC Relations

Kyodo (“HU WARNS OF ‘INSTANT’ DIPLOMATIC DAMAGE”, 2005-05-23) reported that Chinese President Hu Jintao renewed his call on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to stop visiting Yasukuni Shrine, warning that bilateral ties can be damaged “in an instant,” according to a senior Diet member. In a meeting with Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe and his New Komeito counterpart, Tetsuzo Fuyushiba, Hu cited “recent moves in the Japanese leadership that we do not like to see,” Takebe told reporters. On Taiwan, Hu expressed concern over the inclusion of Taiwan in the scope of security cooperation between Japan and the US, Takebe said.

(return to top) Japan Times (“WU CANCELS KOIZUMI MEETING, FLIES HOME”, 2005-05-24) reported that Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi abruptly canceled a meeting with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and left for Beijing because of “urgent domestic official duties.” Wu left Tokyo in the afternoon following a meeting with Lower House Speaker Yohei Kono and a luncheon with Japan Business Federation officials, including its chairman, Hiroshi Okuda, who is also chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. Speculation immediately grew that the PRC may have canceled the meeting because of Koizumi’s remark last week that he may go ahead with another contentious visit to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, which enshrines the nation’s war dead as well as 14 class-A war criminals. (return to top) Japan Times (“WU SNUBBED KOIZUMI OVER SHRINE DISPUTE”, 2005-05-25) reported that Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan confirmed that the Wu-Koizumi meeting was canceled because of Beijing’s displeasure over the issue of Yasukuni, which honors class-A war criminals along with Japan’s war dead. “To our regret, during Vice Premier Wu Yi’s stay in Japan, Japanese leaders repeatedly made remarks on visiting Yasukuni Shrine that go against the efforts to improve Sino-Japanese relations,” Xinhua quoted Kong as saying. Meanwhile, Japanese Foreign Minister Machimura sharply criticized the PRC for the sudden cancellation of Wu’s meeting with Koizumi. “The fact is they have not even offered an apology for the sudden cancellation of the schedule,” Machimura said. “Is this how people committed to a trusting relationship behave?” (return to top)

32. US Forces in Japan Realignment

Kyodo (“JAPAN, U.S. BEGIN TALKS ON MILITARY REALIGNMENT”, 2005-05-26) reported that senior Japanese and US officials kicked off a three-day meeting Tuesday in Washington to discuss the realignment of US forces in Japan and the sharing of defense roles. The senior foreign affairs and defense officials are expected to arrange a “two-plus-two” top security meeting of their ministers sometime between July and September to adopt a final document. Japan will also explain its plan to begin consulting municipal and prefectural governments from around fall to win their cooperation on basic agreements the two nations are expected to reach by August on specific realignment schemes, Japanese sources said.

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33. Japan-RF Territorial Dispute

Kyodo (“JAPAN’S CLAIM TO ISLANDS GROUNDLESS, RUSSIA SAYS”, 2005-05-23) reported that Japan’s claim to the four Russian-held islands is groundless under international law, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said ahead of a visit to Japan at the end of the month. The bilateral 1993 Tokyo Declaration, which acknowledges the existence of the dispute, is nothing more than a “political statement” and not a treaty, he said in a written response to questions submitted by Kyodo News.

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34. Japan UNSC Bid

Associated Press (“JAPAN FEELS IT’S LONG BEEN OWED UNSC SEAT”, 2005-05-24) reported that Japan has now joined Brazil, Germany and India on a draft resolution that would expand the UN Security Council from 15 to 25 members and give the four countries and two African nations permanent seats. The four maintain they have the support of 120 UN members, and Secretary General Kofi Annan has said he wants a decision on council expansion before September. But rival proposals are being floated, and there is debate over whether new permanent members would get the veto power held by the present permanent members. One, championed by Pakistan, Italy and South Korea, would create a new tier of eight semi-permanent members — two each from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas — that would serve for four years, subject to renewal, plus one nonpermanent seat. While wooing international support, Japan recently angered the PRC — a permanent member of the Security Council — by defending Japanese officials’ visits to the contentious Yasukuni Shrine and approving textbooks that allegedly whitebr Japan’s wartime conquests in Asia. China has indicated it will not support a seat for Japan, and with veto power that alone could be a deal-breaker.

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35. Japan Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant

Japan Times (“ACTIVISTS, CELEBRITIES PUSH FOR DELAY OF ROKKASHO PLANT”, 2005-05-26) reported that nearly 150 people from 17 countries, including the leaders of Japanese and international peace organizations and the Arms Control Association of the US, have called upon Japan to indefinitely postpone the Rokkasho reprocessing plant in Aomori Prefecture, warning that the project would increase the global proliferation risk of nuclear bomb materials. Commercial reprocessing operations at Rokkasho are to begin in late spring 2007. The appeal to stop Rokkasho was presented by the Japanese NGO Peace Boat and a representative of Physicians for Social Responsibility to Foreign Ministry delegates attending the nearly month-long Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference in New York.

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36. Japan Visa Issuance to Chinese Tourist

Japan Times (“MORE CHINESE GROUP TOURISTS TO GET VISAS”, 2005-05-26) reported that the Japanese government is prepared to expand its visa issuance for group tourists from China, currently limited to those from designated areas, including Beijing, to tourists from all parts of the country starting in early July. They said the two countries are trying to finalize the deal, which will not be affected by the sudden cancellation by visiting Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi of her meeting with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

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37. Japan Refugee Policy

Kyodo (“AMNESTY SLAMS JAPAN ON REFUGEES”, 2005-05-26) reported that Amnesty International on Wednesday highlighted Japan’s failure to meet international standards on refugees even though attention was drawn to the issue a year ago. Amnesty pointed to instances of detainees being separated from their children and a number of people who were repatriated after several years of detention while their appeals were still pending. Amnesty also rapped Japan’s continued use of the death penalty, noting that two death row inmates were executed in September in secret.

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38. Pension for Korean Residents in Japan

Kyodo (“OSAKA COURT REJECTS KOREANS’ CLAIM TO PENSIONS”, 2005-05-26) reported that the Osaka District Court rejected a damages suit Wednesday by five South Korean long-term residents in Japan that had challenged the state’s refusal to grant them old-age pensions under an abolished nationality clause in the national pension system. It is the first court ruling in Japan on old-age pensions for foreign residents. Presiding Judge Yoshihiro Konishi said that excluding foreign residents from the pension system under a nationality requirement was not an abuse of the state’s discretion and did not violate the Constitution. The nationality requirement was included in the national pension system when it was established in 1959. The government did not take any steps to include foreign residents in the system when the nationality clause was abolished in 1982.

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39. PRC WWII Historic Site Demolition

Kyodo (“SHENYANG DEMOLISHES HISTORIC SITE MARKING START OF JAPANESE INVASION”, 2005-05-27) reported that authorities in Shenyang, China, have demolished the 98-year-old site where the Imperial Japanese Army fired its first shots at China in 1931. Last Thursday, wrecking crews tore apart the Northeast Army Beida Barracks, a former Chinese military post attacked on Sept. 18, 1931. Chinese historians say Japan began its 14-year occupation of Chinese territory that day. Demolition for redevelopment is common in Chinese cities, but authorities usually spare historical sites.

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III. CanKor

40. CanKor #206

CanKor (“INTER-KOREAN VICE MINISTERIAL JOINT PRESS RELEASE”, 2005-05-20) Following a ten-month suspension, the first inter-Korean working-level talks wrapped up on Thursday, without the hoped-for DPRK promise to return to the hexagonal table. However, a new date for the resumption of ministerial talks, and mutual promises to send high-level government delegations to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the North-South Summit is considered a modest victory.

(return to top) CanKor (“US, DPRK MEET IN SECRET IN NEW YORK”, 2005-05-19) Special Envoy Joseph DiTrani secretly visited the DPRK UN Mission in New York with assurances that the US recognizes the DPRK (under Kim Jong Il) as a sovereign state and has no intention to attack it. Presumably to counter excitement over the chance of bilateral talks, the US Embassy in Tokyo immediately released a statement saying the New York channel was used “to convey messages about US policy, not to negotiate.” (return to top) CanKor (“US MISREADING CHINA’S STAND ON DPRK”, 2005-05-17) Frustration with the lack of progress in the regional standoff is polarizing the rest of the nations involved in the six-party talks. The US and Japan support a quarantine of the DPRK, whereas China and the ROK strongly object to such pressure tactics. (return to top) CanKor (“DPRK FOOD CRISIS WORSENS AS WFP STOCKS RUN OUT”, 2005-05-18) August will see 3.8 million DPR Korean primary school children, elderly people and urban poor without UN food rations to supplement their meagre diets, as humanitarian supplies run out. (return to top) CanKor (“KWANGJU: LINGERING LEGACY OF KOREAN MASSACRE”, 2005-05-18) Twenty-five years ago, May 18, 1980, hundreds of RO Koreans took to the streets of Kwangju in a pro-democracy rally, following the assassination of US-backed president Park Chung Hee and the military coup which brought General Chun Doo-hwan to power. The sheer brutality of Chun’s paratroops as they fired indiscriminately into crowds, and later buried the evidence in mass graves, drew the outrage of ROK citizens, creating a mass movement of resistance and a siege of Kwangju which lasted over a week. When the smoke cleared, estimates of lives lost ranged from 500 to 2,000. The Kwangju Massacre is seen in the ROK as pivotal in initiating democratic reforms, the questioning of US role in Korean affairs and the challenging of national hostility towards the DPRK. (return to top) CanKor OPINION (“WHY THE US-ROK ALLIANCE REMAINS IN US NATIONAL INTEREST”, 2005-05-17) presents excerpts from a paper by US Congressman James Leach (Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific) delivered at a CSIS and Chosun Ilbo Conference on “Prospects for U.S. Policy toward the Korean Peninsula in the Second Bush Administration.” In it, Leach explains why the US-ROK alliance remains “profoundly” in US national interest and Washington can prudently agree with Seoul that there is no alternative preferable to a policy of “sunshine”. (return to top) CanKor OPINION (“PUSH DPRK TOWARD REAL REFORM”, 2005-05-18) Jack Pritchard, former DPRK negotiator for the Clinton and Bush presidencies and Michael O’Hanlon, both currently scholars at the Brookings Institution submit that there are ways to take the US administration’s strong views and use them to help construct a new strategy with much better prospects of success. (return to top)