NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, September 28, 2006

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NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, September 28, 2006

NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, September 28, 2006

I. NAPSNet

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. NAPSNet

1. US on Six Party Talks

Kyodo News Service (“RICE MAY VISIT JAPAN, CHINA, S. KOREA IN NOV. OVER N. KOREA ISSUE”, 2006-09-27) reported that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wants to visit Japan, PRC and the ROK in November, mainly to discuss ways to bring the DPRK back to the Six Party Talks. Rice is expected to visit the three countries as part of her Asia trip to attend the Nov. 15-16 annual ministerial meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Hanoi. Christopher Hill, top US negotiator for the talks, underlined the importance of “the next weeks” for efforts to resume talks. “There is a certain sense of urgency,” Hill said Wednesday at a forum on US-ROK ties at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Senior US intelligence official Joseph DeTrani said at the same forum that a possible nuclear test “seems to be something (the DPRK) have put into play” to deal with increasing international pressure after the missile test-firing on July 5. DeTrani, DPRK mission manager at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said experts assessed recent statements made at the United Nations and conclude that that the DPRK is implying they “could do other things in addition to…launching missiles, (they) could do something of a physical nature, which would be a nuclear test,” DeTrani said.

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2. ROK on Six Party Talks

Associated Press (“SOUTH KOREA `FRUSTRATED’ OVER NORTH’S REFUSAL TO RESUME NUKE TALKS”, 2006-09-28) reported that ROK Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon said the countries in the Six Party Talks were working on a detailed strategy to resume the talks. He would not provide details or say when it might be presented, though he said the parties were trying to expedite it.

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3. PRC Visit to ROK on Six Party Talks

Reuters (“CHINA TO SEND NUCLEAR TALKS ENVOY TO SEOUL”, 2006-09-28) reported that Vice foreign minister Wu Dawei, the PRC’s representative on Six Party Talks will be in South Korea from Friday until Sunday. The ROK Foreign Ministry confirmed the visit and added Wu would also discuss a planned summit meeting between the leaders of the two countries in October. The ministry also said Wu would meet the ROK foreign minister and chief envoy to the Six Party Talks.

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4. PRC – DPRK Relations

Yonhap News Agency (“CHINESE AMBASSADOR TO PYONGYANG MEETS N. KOREAN MILITARY LEADERS”, 2006-09-27) reported that Liu Xiaoming, the new PRC ambassador to Pyongyang, met with DPRK military leaders. Liu paid a courtesy call on Kim Il-chol, minister of the People’s Armed Forces, and Kim Yong-chun, chief of the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army, reported the DPRK’s KCNA news service without elaborating on the contents of the talks. The PRC envoy had a series of meetings with officials, including Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun, since he began his official business on Sept. 11 by submitting his credentials to Kim Young-nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly.

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5. US Funds Radio Broadcasts to DPRK

Donga Ilbo (“US FUNDS RADIOCASTS AIMED AT NORTH”, 2006-09-28) reported that the US State Department has awarded $1 million (950 million won) to the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), to fund radio broadcasting for the DPRK led by three organizations for DPRK human rights in the ROK for the first year of business. The US government’s decision to support this huge amount in financial aid is interpreted by some as a shift in its policy toward empowering DPRK human rights advocate groups in the ROK that are seeking to induce “calm change” in DPRK residents.

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6. DPRK on US Annual Religious Freedom Report

Reuters (“NORTH KOREA: US NOT WORLD’S ‘RELIGIOUS JUDGE'”, 2006-09-27) reported that the DPRK challenged US charges that it suppresses religion by telling Washington to stop acting as the world’s “religious judge.” The US State Department, in its annual International Religious Freedom Report released this month, quoted defectors and others as saying the DPRK imprisoned and executed people who tried to practise religion. An article on Wednesday in Pyongyang’s official Rodong Sinmun daily said the US for its part “has murdered many Muslims in cold blood in its mainland, Afghanistan and Iraq and made no bones about insulting and overriding Islam and Islamic culture”.

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7. US-ROK Security Alliance

Joongang Ilbo (“U.S. AIDE IRKED AT NATIONALISM IN CONTROL ISSUE”, 2006-09-28) reported that a senior US Defense Department official criticized the Roh administration for making transfer of wartime command an issue of national sovereignty. Richard P. Lawless, the Pentagon’s deputy undersecretary for Asia-Pacific affairs, also defended the transfer as a natural step in the evolution of the US-ROK alliance.

(return to top) Chosun Ilbo (“KOREA MUST PAY MORE TO KEEP USFK NUMBERS UP: PENTAGON”, 2006-09-28) reported that if the ROK maintains its share in the upkeep of the US Forces Korea at the current level, it will be unable to keep the number of USFK troops it wants stationed here, US defense department official Richard Lawless warned. The Pentagon’s under secretary for Asia and Pacific said that the ROK’s financial contribution is 10 percent short of what is required now. Lawless said the US will turn over wartime operational control of ROK troops to Seoul in 2009, a timetable he called achievable. (return to top) Donga Ilbo (“AMBASSADOR: NO COMMAND SHIFT DATE SET “, 2006-09-28) reported that Alexander Vershbow, US ambassador to the ROK, said yesterday at a private policy forum at the National Assembly with assemblymen from the Uri Party that it is not time to set a date for the transfer of wartime operational control. Vershbow said that officials will look into the date of command transfer during the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) next month, and that all situations involving the ROK military’s ability and preparedness for self-defense should be checked and approved by both states. (return to top)

8. US-Japan Missile Defense Cooperation

The Associated Press (“U.S. ACTIVATES MISSILE RADAR IN JAPAN”, 2006-09-28) reported that the US military has activated a high-powered radar outpost in northern Japan that will enable it to track ballistic missiles in the region amid concerns about the DPRK. The so-called X-Band radar is so powerful it can identify baseball-size objects from thousands of miles away and is designed to differentiate between decoys and real missile warheads.

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9. US-Japan Relations

The Associated Press (“NEW JAPANESE PM, BUSH VOW TO KEEP TIES”, 2006-09-28) reported that Japan’s new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Bush agreed during a telephone call Wednesday to maintain close ties and to meet in November, officials said. In their first conversation since Abe was elected premier, the two said they would meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in November in November in Hanoi, Vietnam, Kyodo News agency reported. Bush also said he wants to see Abe in Washington, the report said.

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10. ROK-Japan Relations

Joongang Ilbo (“ABE, ROH AGREE IN PRINCIPLE TO MEET”, 2006-09-28) reported that President Roh Moo-hyun, in a telephone call yesterday from Shinzo Abe, Japan’s new prime minister, agreed that they should “meet at a proper time to exchange views on ways to advance bilateral ties.” Mr. Roh’s spokesman, Yoon Tae-young, said plans for a meeting would be discussed in diplomatic channels.

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11. Japan-Russia Territorial Dispute

Kyodo News (“IDEA TO RETURN 3 ISLANDS TO JAPAN NOT ON TABLE: MINISTRY SPOKESMAN”, 2006-09-28) reported that an idea to return three of the four Russia-administered islands off Hokkaido to Japan is not on the table, a Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday, referring to a remark made by Foreign Minister Taro Aso. “We are not officially considering the idea to return the three islands to resolve (a territorial row between Japan and Russia),” Mitsuo Sakaba, the ministry’s press secretary, said in a news conference.

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12. US-PRC Financial Relations

Reuters (“SENATE UNLIKELY TO VOTE ON CHINA BILL: SENATOR”, 2006-09-28) reported that the US Senate is unlikely to vote on a controversial bill threatening the PRC with steep tariffs on its exports to the US, a key US senator said on Thursday. “It is my opinion there will not be a vote,” said Sen. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, after meetings with authors of the PRC legislation.

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13. PRC Anti-Corruption Measures

The Los Angeles Times (“CHINA REBUKES 2 OFFICIALS OVER FARM SEIZURES”, 2006-09-28) reported that the PRC government said that it had disciplined two officials for illegally seizing farmland, two days after it removed the party chief of Shanghai on corruption charges. The actions, coming little more than a week before a key PRC Communist Party meeting, have prompted speculation that President Hu Jintao is acting on a dual agenda: purging potential rivals while he attempts to quell public unrest over government corruption and impunity.

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14. Cross Strait Relations

Reuters (“CHINA QUIET ON TAIWAN PROTESTS TO AVOID BACKLASH “, 2006-09-28) reported that the PRC has kept quiet on Taiwan’s recent outbreak of street protests calling for the ouster of independence-leaning President Chen Shui-bian because it fears any strong reaction might backfire, analysts say. “We have clearly stated that (the issues) should be resolved by Taiwan people.” Li Weiyi, spokesman for the PRC’s policy-making Taiwan Affairs Office, said.

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