NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, September 06, 2007
- 1. US on DPRK Status on Terror List
2. Inter-Korean Summit
3. Vietnam Aid for DPRK Flood Victims
4. ROK Hostages in Afghanistan
5. ROK Role in Iraq
6. Japan Cabinet
7. Sino-Japanese East Sea Gas Dispute
8. Quadrilateral Initiative Naval Drill
9. Cross Strait Relations
10. US-PRC Trade Relations
11. PRC Party Congress
12. APEC on Energy, Environment
II. CanKor
- 13. Report #291
I. NAPSNet
1. US on DPRK Status on Terror List
Associated Press (“U.S. DENIES N. KOREA OFF TERROR LIST”, 2007-09-05) reported that Christopher Hill told Japanese reporters that the DPRK remains on a list of states that sponsor terrorism. Hill’s comments were the first U.S. denial since the DPRK’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement carried Monday by the country’s official news agency, said that Washington decided to scotch the terror designation and with it related economic sanctions. The statement said the change came in a weekend meeting between Hill and his counterpart in Geneva.
2. Inter-Korean Summit
Chosun Ilbo (“DEFENSE, FOREIGN MINISTERS TO ACCOMPANY ROH TO NORTH”, 2007-09-06) reported that Foreign Minister Song Min-soon and Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo will be in the entourage of President Roh Moo-hyun for the second inter-Korean summit, which is scheduled for early October in Pyongyang. Neither the foreign nor defense minister accompanied president Kim Dae-jung when he met Kim Jong-il for the historic first in 2000. The inclusion of the two ministers had generated speculation that both the nuclear problem and the controversial question of the Northern Limit Line, the de-facto maritime border between the two Koreas, are on the agenda.
3. Vietnam Aid for DPRK Flood Victims
Thanh Nien News (“VIETNAM TO GIVE FLOOD-HIT NORTH KOREA $50,000 AID”, 2007-09-06) reported that Vietnam will provide US$50,000 in emergency aid to the DPRK to help cope with the devastating floods last month.
4. ROK Hostages in Afghanistan
Chosun Ilbo (“SPY BOSS SAYS THERE ARE ‘OTHER’ TALIBAN DEALS”, 2007-09-06) reported that the head of the ROK’s main spy agency admitted yesterday that there are undisclosed aspects to the agreement Seoul hammered out with the Taliban to resolve the dilemma of the kidnapped aid workers in Afghanistan. Asked if money was paid in return for the release of the hostages, Kim maintained the official position that no ransom was paid. Other remarks, however, fueled skepticism.
5. ROK Role in Iraq
Korea Times (“545 S. KOREAN TROOPS LEAVE FOR IRAQ”, 2007-09-06) reported that a batch of 545 ROK forces left for Iraq as part of troop rotation for the 1,200-strong ROK contingent, Zaytun Division, stationed in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, the Army said. The latest troop replacement came amid a controversy over whether or not to extend Zaytun’s mission for one more year.
6. Japan Cabinet
The Associated Press (“JAPAN’S ABE FACES NEW CABINET SCANDAL”, 2007-09-06) reported that just a week after naming a new Cabinet in an effort to regain public trust, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was hit with another scandal — calls for his environment minister to resign over misreported political funds. In the latest fracas, Environment Minister Ichiro Kamoshita acknowledged an organization managing his political funds borrowed $103,000 from him, but reported getting only $86,200. Later the group reported borrowing a total of $200,000, but he said he loaned it only $130,000. Kamoshita said that the discrepancies were merely a mistake.
7. Sino-Japanese East Sea Gas Dispute
Kyodo (“JAPAN, CHINA TO HOLD TALKS ON GAS PROJECTS SEPT. 21”, 2007-09-06) reported that Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura and his PRC counterpart Yang Jiechi agreed that the two countries will hold senior working-level talks Sept. 21 in Beijing on disputed gas projects in the East China Sea, Japanese government officials said. Machimura and Yang reached the accord during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Sydney.
8. Quadrilateral Initiative Naval Drill
The Associated Press (“5 NATION WAR GAMES IN BAY OF BENGAL”, 2007-09-06 ) reported that Indian and US aircraft carriers plow through the Bay of Bengal launching fighter jets into the air. American submarines cruise below Japanese, Australian and Singaporean warships. The stated aim of this week’s massive war games off India’s eastern coast is to improve the forces’ ability to fight terrorism and piracy. But in the five days of naval exercises that began Tuesday, experts see a broader strategic shift that’s being driven in large part by the fear of a rising PRC.
9. Cross Strait Relations
Agence France-Presse (“US, CHINA JOIN FORCES TO WARN TAIWAN OVER UN BID”, 2007-09-06) reported that in an unusual diplomatic two-step, the US and PRC presidents set aside their differences on Taiwan and put pressure on the island to drop plans for a referendum on UN membership. Presidents George W. Bush and Hu Jintao warned Taipei that its proposed vote on whether to apply for United Nations membership under the name “Taiwan” was provocative and could propel the region into a “possibly dangerous period.”
10. US-PRC Trade Relations
The Associated Press (“HU REASSURES US ON CHINESE PRODUCTS “, 2007-09-06) reported that PRC President Hu Jintao, on the defensive over recalls of tainted toothpaste, pet food and toys, told President Bush that Beijing was stepping up product safety inspections. Hu was the first to bring up the sensitive subject about recent recalls that have stained the “Made in China” label. Bush expressed America’s concern about the safety of imported products, and stressed to Hu that safety concerns did not amount to trade protectionism. Hu told Bush that the government has set up an agency to oversee the quality and safety of exports, and that officials responsible for wrongdoing have been held accountable.
11. PRC Party Congress
Reuters (“CHINA SAYS WILL ALLOW NOTHING TO SPOIL THE PARTY”, 2007-09-06) reported that the PRC is ready to stamp out hostile forces, defuse popular unrest and the Falun Gong “cult,” cut crime and clean up cyberspace to ensure the success of a key Communist Party meeting next month, the police chief said. While acknowledging that the overall situation was favorable, Public Security Minister Zhou Yongkang warned police at all levels of the arduous task of maintaining social harmony.
12. APEC on Energy, Environment
Reuters (“APEC RIFT OPENS OVER CLIMATE CHANGE DEBATE “, 2007-09-06) reported that the PRC’s President Hu Jintao gave qualified support to Australia’s initiative on climate change, as a rift opened at APEC’s meetings over the “Sydney Declaration” and targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Its draft declaration calls for a new global framework that would include “aspirational” targets for all APEC members on lowering greenhouse gas emissions. That approach is getting a decidedly lukewarm response at the APEC meeting from the PRC and developing countries, which prefer to see the whole issue handled under the U.N. framework.
(return to top) Kyodo (“APEC CALLS FOR NUCLEAR, DIVERSIFIED ENERGY USE FOR GROWTH”, 2007-09-06) reported that Asia-Pacific foreign and trade ministers called for ensuring a “diversified mix of energy sources” including nuclear energy so that long-term economic growth in the fast-growing region can be pursued while reducing dependence on fossil fuels. “These include the use of natural gas, biofuels from sustainably farmed crops and residues, renewable energy and nuclear energy for interested economies,” the ministers from the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum said in a statement issued after a two-day meeting in Sydney. (return to top)
II. CanKor
13. Report #291
CanKor (“Current Events”, 2007-09-06) Progress in the Six-Party process may lead to an improved Canada-DPRK relationship as Ted Lipman, Canada’s new ambassador to both Koreas takes up his post in Seoul. An external audit of the United Nations World Food Programme’s DPRK operations recommends strengthened monitoring access and a more limited role for local staff, but finds no wrongdoing by the agency. The Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) nears completion and hopes to open in April 2008. After the modest computer graphics school founded by the Canadian NGO Global Aid Network (which closed at the end of 2005), this is the first major foreign-built and funded educational institution in the DPRK. It will eventually teach 600 graduate and 2,000 undergraduate students and be staffed by some 40 foreign professors, with English as the primary language of instruction.
(return to top) CanKor (“FOCUS: Floods exacerbate humanitarian crisis”, 2007-09-06) The FOCUS in this issue of the CanKor Report examines international response to the extensive flooding in mid-August that wiped out over 10 percent of the DPRK’s agricultural crops. (return to top) CanKor (“RESOURCES”, 2007-09-06) In this issue’s RESOURCES section, Prof. Don Baker of the University of British Columbia reviews the book “ELEVY: Growing Up as a Missionary’s Child in Korea in the 1920s,” by Eloise Reid Frary. (return to top) CanKor (“WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT THE CANKOR REPORT:”, 2007-09-06) “This excellent service is at the cutting edge of news and analysis about North Korea, and the peninsula more widely. I find it indispensable for my work as a Korea analyst.” Aidan Foster-Carter, Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Sociology & Modern Korea, Leeds University (UK). (return to top)