NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, July 27, 2006

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NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, July 27, 2006

NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, July 27, 2006

I. NAPSNet

II. CanKor

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. NAPSNet

1. DPRK Talks at ASEAN Forum

Agence France-Presse (“NORTH KOREA SAYS NO NUCLEAR TALKS UNTIL US LIFTS SANCTIONS”, 2006-07-27) reported that the DPRK refused to rejoin nuclear talks until the US drops financial sanctions, dimming hopes of reviving the stalled discussions at a security meeting here. The state’s announcement comes despite days of hectic diplomacy aimed at dragging Pyongyang back to the negotiating table on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum. “There can be no such a thing as six-way talks,” said Chung Sung-Il, a spokesman for the DPRK delegation to the forum, after the country’s Foreign Minister Paek Nam-Sun arrived in Kuala Lumpur.

(return to top) Agence France-Presse (“US HAS “ZERO” PLANS TO MEET NORTH KOREA AT ASEAN”, 2006-07-27) reported that the US said it had “zero” plans to meet one-on-one with the DPRK until the state re-enters the “diplomatic game” of six-nation nuclear talks. US envoy Christopher Hill also said that as Pyongyang had refused to join an informal six-party get together at a Southeast Asian security forum here, a wider eight-nation forum would take place without them. The talks on Friday will discuss broad security structures but are not intended to reach any conclusions, he said. (return to top)

2. DPRK on UNSC Resolution

Korean Central Broadcasting Station (“DPRK ARMED FORCES MINISTER CONDEMNS UNSC RESOLUTION ON MISSILE LAUNCH AT MEETING”, 2006-07-27) reported that referring to the current situation and the recent missile launches, Kim Il Chol comments: “The new development of the situation surrounding the Korean peninsula today shows that neither the UN nor anybody else can protect us, and that one can defend the nation’s dignity and the country’s sovereignty and independence only when it has its own powerful strength. To cope with the grave situation our army and people will strengthen their self-defensive war deterrence in every way by taking all the means and methods, without being hindered by anything.”

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3. UN DPRK Sanctions

Yonhap (“U.S. WANTS U.N. MEMBERS TO FREEZE ASSETS OF N.K. ENTITIES DESIGNATED BY WASHINGTON”, 2006-07-27) reported that the UN member states should freeze assets of 11 DPRK entities that the US designated last year as missile and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferators as the first step in implementing the UN Security Council resolution adopted this month, US Undersecretary of Treasury Stuart Levey said Wednesday. The resolution requires all UN member nations to prevent the transfer of funds, material and technology that could help DPRK’s missile and WMD programs.

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4. US on PRC Freezing of DPRK Funds

Yonhap (“U.S. WELCOMES CHINESE BANK’S STEPS AGAINST N.K.-RELATED ASSETS”, 2006-07-27) reported that the White House on Wednesday welcomed steps by the PRC to freeze DPRK-related funds at its bank as “affirmative” and said Beijing was starting to pressure Pyongyang to return to nuclear dialogue. “We are encouraged by the fact that the Chinese government has taken affirmative steps,” spokesman Tony Snow told reporters.

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5. Korean War Remembrance

Yonhap (“KOREAS MARK CEASE-FIRE IN KOREAN WAR AMID TENSION OVER N. KOREAN MISSILES”, 2006-07-27) reported that more than half a century has passed since the two Koreas agreed to a cease-fire in a fratricidal war that left millions of people from both sides killed or injured, but the countries still remain at odds over who started the war. Pyongyang claims the first shot was fired by US forces stationed here since the nation’s liberation from 35-year Japanese colonial rule in 1945, and also claimed victory in what it said was a war to liberate the fatherland from US imperialism. ROK officials dismiss the DPRK’s claims that the US began the Korean War as nothing short of a lie. “The fact that North Korea invaded the South is a historical fact that the entire international community acknowledges, and even the Soviet Union has admitted,” a government official said.

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6. ROK Elections

Yonhap (“OPPOSITION PARTY SWEEPS PARLIAMENTARY BY-ELECTIONS”, 2006-07-27) reported that the ROK’s main opposition party swept parliamentary by-elections, dealing another massive blow to the government of President Roh Moo-hyun. The conservative Grand National Party (GNP) won three of the four parliamentary elections, while the small opposition Democratic Party won the final race.

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7. US-ROK Security Alliance

Korea Herald (“SPECULATION GROWS ON U.S. PULLOUT: CLASHES IN POLICY BETWEEN SEOUL AND WASHINGTON FUEL ANXIETY”, 2006-07-27) reported that with recent repeated reports of clashes between the ROK and the US over a range of alliance restructuring and DPRK issues, worries are mounting here that US forces will sharply cut its presence in the Korean Peninsula in the future. The Defense Ministry said yesterday the two countries are considering a blueprint for their future alliance which excludes plans for after ROK and DPRK are reunified. This decision is a significant departure from past agreements which included the shape of the alliance in the post-reunification stage.

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8. ROK-Japan Relations

Chosun Ilbo (“KOREAN, JAPANESE FMS IN CHILLY TETE-A-TETE “, 2006-07-27) reported that Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon and his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso kept the pleasantries to a minimum before they went straight to business at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur. The atmosphere was markedly different for Ban’s meeting with the PRC Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing a day earlier, when the two hugged and laughed as soon as they laid eyes on each other and exchanged pleasantries. But the hour and 20 minutes Ban and Aso spent together reflected the icy relations between the two neighbors.

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9. Yasukuni Shrine Issue

Kyodo (“GRANDSON OF CLASS-A WAR CRIMINAL OPPOSES YASUKUNI ENSHRINEMENT”, 2006-07-27) reported that a grandson of Class A-war criminal and former Prime Minister Koki Hirota expressed opposition Thursday to Yasukuni Shrine’s inclusion in the late 1970s of the late prime minister on the list of people honored there. “There was no contact from Yasukuni in advance” of Hirota’s enshrinement, said Kotaro Hirota, 67. “If asked, (I would) have rejected it,” he added.

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10. Japan Elections

Agence France-Presse (“FINANCE MINISTER ANNOUNCES BID TO LEAD JAPAN “, 2006-07-27) reported that Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki announced his candidacy for Japan’s premiership, promising to mend sour ties with Asian neighbors and to raise taxes to rein in the national debt. The 61-year-old career politician trails in opinion polls far behind Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, who has taken a harder line in foreign policy.

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11. Japan Missile Drill

Kyodo (“HYOGO PREF. PROTEST DEFENSE AGENCY OVER MISSILE-LINKED DRILL”, 2006-07-27) reported that the Hyogo prefectural government lodged a protest Wednesday with the Defense Agency against a missile-related drill conducted in the Sea of Japan off the prefecture the previous day allegedly without a satisfactory prior notice, prefectural officials said.

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12. US on PRC Currency

The Associated Press (“SENATORS TO SEEK VOTE ON CHINA CURRENCY “, 2006-07-27) reported that two senators who are sponsoring legislation that could impose stiff sanctions on the PRC imports said Wednesday they plan to bring their measure up for a vote by Sept. 30 unless the PRC goes further to overhaul its currency system. Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., made the announcement after a meeting with new Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

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13. Cross Strait Economic Relations

Agence France-Presse (“TAIWAN OPENS NATIONAL FORUM ON REVIVING ECONOMY”, 2006-07-27) reported that Taiwan has opened a two-day national forum aimed at working out measures to revive the island’s sluggish economy but anlaysts said politics may get in the way of any constructive proposals. The central issue is business ties with the PRC whose booming economy has attracted billions of dollars in investment from Taiwan, with divisions driven as much by political as economic considerations.

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14. PRC Torture Ban

The Associated Press (“CHINA SPECIFIES BANNED ACTS OF TORTURE “, 2006-07-27) reported that new PRC guidelines identify specific acts of torture for which police can be prosecuted in an apparent attempt to rein in such abuses. The guidelines, viewed on government Web sites, describe practices ranging from beating to starvation. “The human rights of criminal suspects will be better protected with these regulations,” deputy chief prosecutor Wang Zhenchuan was quoted as saying.

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15. PRC Activist Injury

The Guardian (“CHINESE POLICE SAY ACTIVIST BROKE OWN NECK “, 2006-07-27) reported that the PRC police investigating the alleged beating of a land rights activist have concluded that he broke his own neck, prompting accusations of a whitebr from the paralysed man’s family and human rights organisations. Fu Xiancai – a vocal opponent of the Three Gorges Dam – says he was attacked by an unknown assailant on June 8 while he was on his way home from the Zigui public security bureau, where police officers warned him to stop complaining to lawyers and foreign journalists.

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II. CanKor

16. Report #256

CanKor (“FOCUS”, 2006-07-21) With international interest diverted to the Middle East this week, CanKor continues to FOCUS on the fallout from the DPRK’s 4th of July missile tests. For the record, we reproduce the full text of the United Nations Security Council Resolution, as well as the official DPRK response. A Reuters article prior to the vote explains the difference between the Chinese and Russian draft that was unanimously approved, and the original Japanese draft that both China and Russia vowed to veto.

(return to top) CanKor (“OPINION”, 2006-07-27) In this week’s OPINION section, we continue our series of commentaries on the DPRK missile tests and what they mean in the short and long term for the region’s security. Featured are three of CanKor’s loyal readers and repeat contributors: Wade L. Huntley, Director of the Simons Centre for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Research in the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia, Canada, C. Kenneth Quinones, Professor of Korean Studies at Akita International University, Japan, and John Feffer, Co-director of Foreign Policy In Focus at the International Relations Center, Washington, DC. (return to top)