NAPSNet Daily Report 4 July, 2008
Contents in this Issue:
- I. NAPSNet
- 1. DPRK Nuclear Declaration
- 2. DPRK Nuclear Program
- 3. DPRK Nuclear Dismantlement
- 4. US on DPRK Terror List Status
- 5. US Policy on the DPRK
- 6. DPRK-Pakistan Nuclear Cooperation
- 7. Russia on DPRK Nuclear Issue
- 8. Abductee Issue
- 9. DPRK Human Rights
- 10. DPRK Economy
- 11. Sino-ROK Relations
- 12. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation
- 13. DPRK Defectors
- 14. Russo-Japanese Territorial Dispute
- 15. Japan Whaling Issue
- 16. Cross Strait Relations
- 17. Sino-Indian Relations
- 18. Sino-Russian Energy Trade
- 19. Tibet Issue
- 20. PRC Food Supply
- 21. PRC Internet Use
- 22. PRC Olympic Security
- 23. Mongolia Elections
- II. PRC Report
- III. ROK Report
I. NAPSNet
1. DPRK Nuclear Declaration
Korea Times (Michael Ha, “‘NK NUCLEAR DECLARATION IS COMPLETED'”, 2008/07/03) reported that the US State Department, responding to questions on whether the DPRK fully disclosed information on its uranium program and nuclear proliferation, said Pyongyang’s declaration last week was “completed” and that there were no gaps. The spokesman’s comments indicate that Pyongyang presented information on its nuclear proliferation to Syria and the uranium-based nuclear program, in addition to the plutonium program. “In terms of the declaration ? the turning in of the declaration ? that step is completed. The process is one now of verification. And I would expect that through the verification process, we are going to excavate issues related to plutonium, as well as HEU (highly enriched uranium) and proliferation.”
Kyodo (“N. KOREA SAYS 25.5 KG OF PLUTONIUM FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS: SOURCES”, Beijing, 2008/07/04) reported that the DPRK has acknowledged in a declaration of its nuclear programs submitted last week that it used 25.5 kilograms of extracted plutonium for making nuclear weapons, sources involved in the six-party denuclearization talks said Friday. That is part of about 38.5 kg of plutonium it has collected, and would be enough for at least five bombs, according to the sources. The 25.5 kg does not include the 2 kg Pyongyang mentioned in the report as the amount used for its first nuclear test in October 2006.
2. DPRK Nuclear Program
Agence France-Presse (“NKOREA SAYS PROGRESS ON NUKE DEAL MAY BE DELAYED”, Seoul, 2008/07/04) reported that the DPRK said Friday it would not push ahead with an international deal to scrap its nuclear programme until negotiating partners fulfil their side of the bargain. The destruction of the cooling tower at Yongbyon “showed our commitment to denuclearisation,” a DPRK foreign ministry spokesman told the official Korean Central News Agency. “In response to our efforts, other participants in six-party talks should sincerely carry out their obligations.” “Only when other participants meet their own obligations completely can it be said that the October 3 agreement is implemented,” said the spokesman. “Only after that will we be able to move on to the next stage of the talks.”
3. DPRK Nuclear Dismantlement
Korea Herald (“U.S. APPROPRIATES $19.5 MILLION FOR N.K. DISMANTLEMENT: STATE DEPT.”, Washington, 2008/07/04) reported that Washington has set aside $19.5 million to fund the DPRK’s nuclear disarmament, the U.S. State Department said Thursday, according to Yonhap News Agency. “The Department of State’s Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund is currently funding disablement measures at North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear facility,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said at a daily briefing. “This fund has $20 million in available funds and has obligated thus far approximately 19.5 million dollars for disablement measures there.”
Chosun Ilbo (“N.KOREAN NUCLEAR DISMANTLEMENT ‘TO COST US$575 MILLION'”, Seoul, 2008/07/04) reported that the U.S. Congress has estimated that it will cost the country US$575 million over the four years from 2009 to dismantle and replace the DPRK’s nuclear facilities, Radio Free Asia reported Thursday. This breaks down to $300 million for 2009, $200 million for 2010, $50 million for 2011, and $25 million for 2012. It also includes the costs of removing spent fuel rods, from which plutonium can be extracted, to a third country for disposal.
4. US on DPRK Terror List Status
Chosun Ilbo (“U.S. LAWMAKERS IN MOVE TO KEEP N.KOREA ON TERROR LIST “, 2008/07/03) reported that an increasing number of American political leaders oppose US President George W. Bush’s plan to strike the DPRK from a list of state sponsors of terrorism. In the latest move, Brad Sherman, chairman of the Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade Subcommittee of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted a bill to Congress raising the bar for the DPRK’s removal from the list. The bill requires the DPRK to make a complete and verifiable declaration of all its nuclear programs and stockpiles, including the nuclear weapons the DPRK is refusing to list.
5. US Policy on the DPRK
Korea Times (“BUSH’S SUCCESSOR LIKELY TO CONTINUE NORTH KOREA POLICY, EXPERTS SAY”, 2008/07/03) reported that US President George W. Bush’s policy on the DPRK will likely be continued by his successor if the ongoing talks on the DPRK’s denuclearization go smoothly, prominent US experts were quoted as saying. “If the negotiations appear to be making reasonable progress, either President McCain or Obama would likely continue the general parameters of the current Bush policy,” said Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation. “On the other hand, if the talks are experiencing difficulties or North Korea is being confrontational, then either candidate would be compelled to take stronger action.”
6. DPRK-Pakistan Nuclear Cooperation
Yomiuri Shimbun (Masahiro Sato, “KHAN DENIES N-ACCUSATIONS”, Islamabad, 2008/07/04) reported that Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan rejected a 2004 statement by the Pakistan government claiming he passed nuclear information and technology to other countries, such as the DPRK and Iran, without authorization. In his reply to written questions from The Yomiuri Shimbun, Khan also rejected the official statement’s claim that he had apologized to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in connection with the case.
7. Russia on DPRK Nuclear Issue
Bermana (“RUSSIAN PRESIDENT CALLS ON OTHER COUNTRIES TO HELP N. KOREA”, Moscow, 2008/07/03) reported that President Dmitry Medvedev calls on other countries to help the DPRK to solve their nuclear problem, Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency reports. “The situation is not simple with the North Korean nuclear problem, but the moves taken by the country’s leadership including dismantling appropriate nuclear installations are in the right direction”, he said. He said:”Russia backs these initiatives in every way and looking forward to work with other countries to aid North Korea, in order to reach a settlement”.
8. Abductee Issue
Agence France-Presse (“PARENTS OF ABDUCTED JAPANESE GIRL DISMISS NKOREA PROBE”, Tokyo, 2008/07/03) reported that the parents of a Japanese schoolgirl who was snatched by DPRK agents in 1977 Wednesday dismissed Pyongyang’s move to reopen investigations into the case and urged Tokyo to maintain pressure on the regime. “The practical consequences of the US delisting would be economically limited as North Korea would still need Japanese aid to develop,” Shigeru Yokota, Megumi’s ailing father, told a news conference. “We’re not asking the US to solve it. We just want them to give the same kind of support that they have given us until now,” he told the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.
9. DPRK Human Rights
Korea Times (Jung Sung-ki, “BAN URGES NK TO IMPROVE HUMAN RIGHTS”, Seoul, 2008/07/04) reported that U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the DPRK Friday to address its human rights situation, calling it “unacceptable.” “There are still many areas where human rights are not properly protected, and even abused,” said Ban. “This is an unacceptable situation.” He said he is willing to visit the DPRK to help solve the nuclear problem. “I would like to say again that I intend to take appropriate diplomatic measures as U.N. secretary general if necessary, depending on development of the situation,” said Ban.
10. DPRK Economy
Xinhua (“KIM JONG IL URGES LOCAL SELF-RELIANCE “, Pyongyang, 2008/07/03) reported that Kim Jong Il, top leader of DPRK, has urged local governments to improve self sufficiency, the official daily Rodong Sinmun reported. Local resources and potential should be properly tapped and utilized to settle issues related to people’s livelihoods, Kim said while on an inspection tour of Hwaphyong County in Jagang province. He underscored the role of county in the construction of the country, the report added.
11. Sino-ROK Relations
Yonhap (“S. KOREA, CHINA TO DISCUSS MARITIME BORDER “, Seoul, 2008/07/03) reported that the ROK and PRC will resume talks on the vague demarcation of their maritime border later this week, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday, as Beijing and Tokyo have agreed to the joint exploitation of gas fields in the East China Sea. The one-day working-level talks, the 13th of their kind, will be held Friday in the PRC city of Qingdao, aimed at drawing a line between the neighboring nations’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs), the ministry in a press release. “In the upcoming talks, the two nations will discuss the demarcation of maritime borders in the West Sea and other mutual concerns related to maritime issues,” it said.
12. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation
Yonhap News (Shim Sun-ah, “SEOUL TO FINANCIALLY SUPPORT INTER-KOREAN CIVILIAN PROGRAMS “, Seoul, 2008/07/03) reported that Seoul has allocated an additional 4.3 billion won (US$4.1 million) from a civilian-government fund to promote inter-Korean civilian programs to help North Koreans this year, the Unification Ministry said. The additional funds will be funneled into development aid programs run by ROK non-governmental organizations operating in the DPRK, the ministry said.
Yonhap News (“S. KOREA TO OPEN FIRE STATION AT MT. GEUMGANG NEXT WEEK “, Seoul, 2008/07/03) reported that a ROK-funded fire station will open near a joint tourist resort at the DPRK’s Mount Geumgang early next week to help cope with fire disasters in the area, the Unification Ministry said. “The fire station at the Mount Geumgang resort is 96 percent complete and is due to open around next Tuesday,” Kim Ho-nyoun, a spokesman for the ministry, told reporters. The government is to inject around 1.7 billion won (US$1.6 million) from the government-civilian fund for promoting inter-Korean cooperation programs for the construction of the building and supply of fire extinguishing equipment, he said.
13. DPRK Defectors
Korea Times (“FEMALE NK DEFECTOR, SON FOUND DEAD AT HOME”, Seoul, 2008/07/04) reported that a 39-year-old DPRK defector and her son were found stabbed to death at home in Incheon, police said Thursday. Police suspect her husband, a 44-year-old Korean-Chinese, who has been missing since Saturday.
14. Russo-Japanese Territorial Dispute
Kyodo News (“RUSSIA’S MEDVEDEV HINTS AT SOME FLEXIBILITY OVER TERRITORY ROW “, Moscow, 2008/07/03) reported that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has implied that two diplomatic documents issued in 1956 and 1993 would give ”positive impulses” to help solve a long-standing territorial dispute between Japan and Russia over the ownership of three islands and an islet group off Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido. Medvedev’s remarks seem to show flexibility over the territorial dispute as compared with his predecessor Vladimir Putin who had acknowledged the effectiveness of the 1956 joint declaration.
15. Japan Whaling Issue
Agence France-Presse (“JAPAN READY TO SPARE HUMPBACKS FOR ANOTHER YEAR: OFFICIAL “, Tokyo, 2008/07/03) reported that Japan is ready to spare humpback whales from its Antarctic hunt for another year if international whaling talks make progress, a senior Japanese official said. Japan is willing to work with the current chair of the International Whaling Commission by suspending its humpback hunt if there are signs of progress at the IWC, said Japan’s chief whaling negotiator Joji Morishita. The current chair of the IWC, William Hogarth of the United States, has reportedly urged Japan to spare the humpbacks for another year to avoid driving a wedge into an already divided commission.
16. Cross Strait Relations
The Financial Times (Kathrin Hille, “OBSTACLES ON ROAD TO BEIJING-TAIPEI CONCORD “, Taipei , 2008/07/03) reported that a total of 36 return flights will link several Taiwanese and PRC cities over the next four days and over every weekend from now on. Mr Ma’s government is also taking unilateral steps to open the island economically to the PRC. However, the road to rapprochement will get a lot bumpier from here. Wang Yi, the PRC’s new top Taiwan policy official, told a Japanese delegation Taiwan was not qualified to join the World Health Organisation, bringing an irritated response from Taipei. The next big problems will come with the Olympic Games next month in Beijing. PRC scholars have proposed that the PRC and Taiwanese teams be arranged to enter the stadium together at the opening ceremony. “But while Beijing would sell that as a ‘goodwill gesture’, many of our citizens would feel humiliated,” says a national security adviser to Mr Ma.
Associated Press (Debby Wu, “CHINA-TAIWAN DIRECT FLIGHTS BEGIN”, Taipei, 2008/07/04) reported that hundreds of PRC tourists arrived in Taiwan on Friday on the first regular commercial flights in nearly six decades. “From today onward, regular commercial flights will replace the rumbling warplanes over the skies of the Taiwan Strait, and relations between the two sides will become better and better,” pilot Liu Shaoyun said after the 90-minute flight from Guangzhou. Before boarding an Air China flight to Taiwan from Beijing, Shao Qiwei, head of the PRC’s Tourism Administration, said the regular flights will “build a bridge of friendship” with Taiwan’s 23 million “hospitable compatriots.” “The start of mainland tourists … will create a scenic route across the strait,” Shao said at the Beijing airport.
17. Sino-Indian Relations
Express India (“‘INDIA NEEDS TO BE WARY OF CHINA’S MILITARY MODERNISATION’”, New Delhi, 2008/07/03) reported that with the PRC rapidly modernizing its military, India needs to be wary of likely implications, which will impact the nation’s security, Army chief Deepak Kapoor warned. “We need to take note of likely implications of China’s military modernisation, improvement in infrastructure in Tibet Autonomous Region and other related issues, which could impact our security in the long run,” Kapoor said in New Delhi.
18. Sino-Russian Energy Trade
RIA Novosti (“RUSSIA SET TO EXPORT 68BLN CU M OF GAS TO CHINA ANNUALLY BY 2020”, Moscow, 2008/07/03) reported that Russia plans to export 68 billion cubic meters of natural gas to the PRC annually by 2020, the president of the Russian Gas Union said. Valery Yazev, who is also deputy chairman of the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, said that Russia planned to supply up to 30 million metric tons (220 million barrels) of crude oil to the PRC via a branch line of the East Siberia – Pacific Ocean pipeline (ESPO). Yazev said trade between Russia and the PRC was expected to expand from $48 billion in 2007 to around $60 billion in 2008.
19. Tibet Issue
Associated Press (Ashok Sharma, “DALAI LAMA ENVOY: CHINA TALKS DIFFICULT”, New Delhi, 2008/07/04) reported that Lodi Gyari, an envoy for the Dalai Lama, said Friday that the latest round of talks with the PRC were “one of the most difficult sessions” held so far. He said during the meetings he countered the PRC’s accusations that the Dalai Lama planned to sabotage next month’s Olympics and was behind anti-government protests that rocked Tibet and other areas of the PRC in March. “Such baseless accusations make the Chinese government really look ridiculous in the eyes of the world,” Gyari said. “This time they realized that labeling his Holiness being responsible for the present disturbances in Tibet and accusing him of sabotaging the Olympics is something that no one buys.”
20. PRC Food Supply
Agence France-Presse (“CHINA FACES SERIOUS CHALLENGES ON GRAIN SUPPLY: PREMIER “, Shanghai, 2008/07/03) reported that the PRC faces serious challenges in ensuring it will have enough grain to feed its population in the decades to come, with urbanisation and climate change two major problems, Premier Wen Jiabao said. The PRC’s grain supply and demand are basically balanced now but the situation is expected to worsen in the long term, Wen said in a statement published on the website of State Council. Industrialisation, urbanisation and a growing population are boosting grain demand while “shrinking arable land, water shortage and climate change is an increasing constraint on output,” Wen told a cabinet meeting.
21. PRC Internet Use
The Wall Street Journal (Juliet Ye and Geoffrey A. Fowler, “CHINESE BLOGGERS SCALE THE ‘GREAT FIREWALL’ IN RIOT’S AFTERMATH”, 2008/07/02) reported that to slip past Internet censors squashing reports of a weekend riot in the PRC’s Guizhou province, some bloggers have started writing backward. Some 30,000 rioters set fire to government buildings over the weekend to protest the way authorities handled the death of a teenager in the province’s Weng’an County. Bloggers on forums such as Tianya.cn have taken to posting in formats that the PRC’s Internet censors, often employees of commercial Internet service providers, have a hard time automatically detecting. One recent strategy involves online software that flips sentences to read right to left instead of left to right, and vertically instead of horizontally.
22. PRC Olympic Security
Associated Press (“CHINA TO USE UNMANNED SECURITY DRONES AT OLYMPICS”, Beijing, 2008/07/04) reported that the PRC plans to use unmanned security drones to patrol the skies over the Olympic sailing venue of Qingdao, state media reported Friday. The drones were tested for the first time during a drill Wednesday in Jinan, the capital of eastern Shandong province. It is reportedly the first time the PRC has used the low-flying reconnaissance spy craft.
23. Mongolia Elections
The New York Times (Jim Yardley, “MONGOLIA ENFORCES MARTIAL LAW IN CAPITAL AMID POLITICAL UNREST “, Beijing, 2008/07/03) reported that armed soldiers enforced martial law on the streets of Mongolia’s capital on Wednesday, a day after five people were killed as hundreds angered by election results rioted, Mongolian state news media reported. President Nambaryn Enkhbayar responded to the unrest by declaring a national state of emergency late Tuesday. Mongolia’s national news agency, Montsame, said 710 people had been detained after groups of protesters, alleging fraud in last weekend’s parliamentary elections, clashed with the police in the capital, Ulan Bator.
II. PRC Report
24. Sino-US Disaster Reconstruction Cooperation
Sichuan Daily (Li Xu, Zeng Xiaoqing, “CHINA AND U.S. START NEW COOPERATIVE MODEL ON POST-DISASTER RECONSTRUCTION”, Chengdu, 2008/07/02) <!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:SimSun; panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1; mso-font-alt:”Arial Unicode MS”; mso-font-charset:134; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1 135135232 16 0 262144 0;} @font-face {font-family:”@SimSun”; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:134; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1 135135232 16 0 262144 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:””; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:inter-ideograph; mso-pagination:none; font-size:10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:SimSun; mso-font-kerning:1.0pt; mso-fareast-language:ZH-CN;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –&g reported that the Director of U.S. Agency of International Development clearly expressed in a forum held by Sichuan provincial government and related sectors, that U.S. government, enterprises and NGOs would jointly help the post-disaster reconstruction of Sichuan. The Asian Director of the American Chamber of Commence suggested that Sichuan set up a bilingual or a multilingual website for the communication between disaster areas and international society. This earthquake has put about 700,000 people out of work. Many multinational companies pay attention to the reconstruction need of professional education. They hope that they could move some research institutions or factories to Sichuan and recruit more Sichuan employees. The Sichuan Commence Office has been appointed to be the liaison between the two sides.
25. PRC Energy
China Energy Net, http://www.nengyuan.net/200807/01-3007.html (” NUCLEAR POWER MAY BECOME THE BELLWETHER OF CHINA ENERGY POLICY ADJUSTMENT”, 2008/07/03) <!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:SimSun; panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1; mso-font-alt:”Arial Unicode MS”; mso-font-charset:134; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1 135135232 16 0 262144 0;} @font-face {font-family:”@SimSun”; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:134; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1 135135232 16 0 262144 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:””; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:inter-ideograph; mso-pagination:none; font-size:10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:SimSun; mso-font-kerning:1.0pt; mso-fareast-language:ZH-CN;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –&g reported that the China Electricity Council recently revealed that the PRC was prepared to adjust its Medium-and-Long Term Nuclear Power Development Plan (2005-2020). The nuclear power proportion of total electric power in 2020 will increase from 4% to more than 5%. At present, the rising price of coal and electricity make the PRC turn to nuclear power. The site of nuclear power station will be chosen preferentially at Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, and other coastal areas.
26. PRC Environment
Xinhua Net, www.xinhuanet.com (Yue Deliang, “HUANGZHOU: A TWO WEST LAKE-BIG EVERGLADE PARK TO BE PUT INTO SERVICE DURING THE OCT.1 HOLIDAY”, 2008/07/03) <!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:SimSun; panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1; mso-font-alt:”Arial Unicode MS”; mso-font-charset:134; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1 135135232 16 0 262144 0;} @font-face {font-family:”@SimSun”; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:134; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1 135135232 16 0 262144 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:””; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:inter-ideograph; mso-pagination:none; font-size:10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:SimSun; mso-font-kerning:1.0pt; mso-fareast-language:ZH-CN;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –&g reported that the Hangzhou government recently said that Xixi National Everglade Park will basically finish construction and be put into service on Oct.1. The constructed area will be 11 square kilometers, as big as nearly two West Lakes. An everglade is an ecological system with many special functions. It can provide human with lots of food, raw materials, and water. It plays an important role in maintaining ecological balance, protecting biological diversity and precious species resource, and controlling soil erosion.
III. ROK Report
27. Food Aid for DPRK
Goodfriends (“ROK GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE MORE ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN HUMANITARIAN AID”, 2008/07/03) wrote that the food crisis in the DPRK is critical, so let the ROK government provide food support and require transparent distribution. The DPRK government should accept it immediately, and continue to request food aid when needed. The ROK government should, of course, continue to provide provisions. By this, both Korean governments can save the starving DPRK people without losing face.
28. DPRK Policy
Yonhap News (“SEVERANCE OF INTER KOREAN CONVERSATION, DPRK STRATEGY TO NULIFY THE SIX PARTY TALKS”, 2008/07/04) wrote that an assertion was made that DPRK is intentionally severing inter-Korean talks to nullify the six party talks. Che Gyun-chul, the senior researcher at Institute for National Security Strategy, suggested the theory at the conference concerning ‘diplomacy and security strategy of the Lee administration: the DPRK nuclear issue and prospects of six party talks’- held on July 4. Che assumed that the DPRK would isolate the ROK, the country which would most furiously oppose the ‘partial’ denuclearization, and try to prevent revival of the ROK-US-Japan cooperation structure toward the DPRK.
29. Inter-Korean Relations
Hankyoreh (“THE DPRK AND THE ROK FINALLY SEEMS TO END THE DEADLOCK”, 2008/07/04) wrote that inter-Korean relations are still confusing; however there is an indication of improvement. An ROK government official said that there are possibilities of actively pursuing improvement in inter-Korean relations, and both Korea might fulfill the 10.4 summit declarations 100% after they negotiate. It seems the Lee administration is now trying to reorganize the principles of the policy toward the DPRK. Now it is time to set the course and actively engage in inter-Korean conversation.