NAPSNet Daily Report 25 September, 2009

Recommended Citation

"NAPSNet Daily Report 25 September, 2009", NAPSNet Daily Report, September 25, 2009, https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-daily-report/napsnet-daily-report-25-september-2009/

NAPSNet Daily Report 25 September, 2009

Contents in this Issue:

Preceding NAPSNet Report

MARKTWO

I. NAPSNet

1. ROK on DPRK Nuclear Program

Bloomberg (Seyoon Kim, “SOUTH KOREA’S LEE CALLS ON SIX NATIONS TO WORK CLOSELY ON NORTH “, 2009/09/24) reported that the ROK’s President Lee Myung Bak said the nations involved in six-party talks with DPRK should work more closely to try to resolve the nuclear arms issue. “A strong unity among the members of the six-party talks is needed,” Lee said in a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in New York. The DPRK “isn’t yet showing indications to give up nuclear arms,” Lee was quoted as saying.

Yonhap News (Lee Chi-dong, “S. KOREA DEFENDS PROPOSED ‘GRAND BARGAIN’ WITH N. KOREA “, Seoul, 2009/09/24) reported that the ROK said Thursday that President Lee Myung-bak’s proposed “grand bargain” with the DPRK on its nuclear program was a result of close consultations with the U.S., countering media speculation on a possible policy rift between the allies. His aides later elaborated that the president’s remarks were based on consensus among the ROK, the U.S., the PRC, Russia, and Japan that they should break the past pattern of giving rewads for the DPRK’s short-lived gesture towards denuclearization.

(return to top)

2. ROK, PRC on DPRK Nuclear Program

Chosun Ilbo (“LEE, HU DISCUSS PACKAGE DEAL FOR N.KOREA”, 2009/09/24) reported that President Lee Myung-bak met with his PRC counterpart Hu Jintao in New York, where the two discussed the principle of a “grand bargain” with the DPRK for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Cheong Wa Dae said. “The two leaders agree on the package initiative on giving North Korea security assurances and epoch-making economic assistance in return for the irreversible dismantlement of nuclear weapons,” a senior presidential official said. “They discussed a recent visit by Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, President Hu Jintao’s special envoy to Pyongyang and agreed to strongly urge the North to return to the six-party talks as soon as possible.”

JoongAng Ilbo (“HU SAYS THE NORTH SEES DIRECT U.S. TALKS AS NECESSARY “, 2009/09/25) reported that  the DPRK sees bilateral nuclear negotiations with the United States as a requirement and multilateral talks as an option, PRC President Hu Jintao told ROK President Lee Myung-bak at their summit, a Lee administration official said. Hu told Lee about the outcome of his envoy’s recent visit to Pyongyang. “What Kim [Jong-il] had meant was that the bilateral dialogue is the priority,” Hu was quoted as saying.

(return to top)

3. UK on DPRK Nuclear Program

WashingtonTV (“UK’S BROWN ISSUES WARNING TO IRAN, N. KOREA”, 2009/09/23) reported that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned Iran and the DPRK that the international community was prepared to take further steps to curb their alleged pursuit of nuclear arms. In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Brown said that those two countries should know that they could face tougher sanctions for noncompliance with United Nations resolutions. “Iran and North Korea must now know that the world will be even tougher on [nuclear] proliferation. We are ready to consider further sanctions,” he said.

(return to top)

4. DPRK-US Bilateral Talks

JoongAng Daily (“OBAMA PONDERS DIRECT NORTH TALKS”, 2009/09/24) reported that in his summit with PRC President Hu Jintao, U.S. President Barack Obama said his country is willing to engage in bilateral dialogue with the DPRK to bring the regime back to the six-party nuclear talks, Yonhap News Agency reported, quoting a senior U.S. official.   “[Obama] noted that bilateral talks between the U.S. and North Korea could be useful if they contributed to restoration of that framework and a serious North Korean commitment to those goals,” Yonhap quoted the official as saying. According to the report, the PRC supported Obama’s view.

(return to top)

5. UN Sanctions on DPRK

Yonhap News (Hwang Doo-hyong, “(LEAD) OBAMA CALLS FOR FULL IMPLEMENTATION OF U.N. SANCTIONS ON N. KOREA “, Washington, 2009/09/24) reported that U.S. President Barack Obama called Thursday for full implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions sanctioning the DPRK and Iran for their nuclear programs. Obama made the remarks while chairing the UNSC summit on Nuclear Nonproliferation and Nuclear Disarmament at the headquarters of the U.N. in New York.

Kyodo News (“SANCTIONS AGAINST N. KOREA NECESSARY IN SOME CASES: HATOYAMA “, New York , 2009/09/23) reported that Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama underscored the need to impose sanctions against the DPRK, if necessary, to comprehensively solve Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile problems, as well as the abduction issue, Japanese officials said.

(return to top)

6. Inter-Korea Relations

Korea Herald (Kim So-hyun , “OVERSUPPLY OF RICE, N.K. AID NOT RELATED “, 2009/09/24) reported that the ROK’s rice supply and aid to the DPRK are two different issues, Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said Thursday regarding opinions that leftover rice should be sent to the impoverished DPRK. “Sending massive amounts of rice will be considered in the context of overall inter-Korean relations,” the minister said. Hyun said he was aware that the World Food Program repeatedly requested the ROK president and ministers of foreign affairs, trade and unification to provide food staples to the DPRK, but said that the government “couldn’t make a decision due to stiffened inter-Korean relations.”

(return to top)

7. DPRK Defectors

(Choe Sang-Hun, “NINE NORTH KOREANS ESCAPE TO VIETNAM”, Seoul, 2009/09/24) reported that nine DPRK citizens entered the Danish Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Thursday seeking political asylum and passage to Seoul, ROK activists said. The group entered Vietnam from the PRC through smuggling routes, said Kim Sang-hun, a leader of the International Network of North Korean Human Rights Activists. The rights network said the defectors carried a message in English: “We are now at the point of such desperation and live in such fear of persecution within North Korea that we have come to the decision to risk our lives for freedom rather than passively await our doom. The only power we have left is to appeal to you on our knees and with tears.”

Yonhap News (“S. KOREAN ACTIVISTS URGE CHINA TO STOP RETURNING N. KOREAN DEFECTORS “, Seoul, 2009/09/24) reported that a group of conservative ROK activist organizations sent a letter to PRC President Hu Jintao on Thursday appealing for his government to stop repatriating DPRK defectors. “It is a shame that China’s secret agreement with North Korea (to repatriate the defectors) against their will has resulted in putting them in prison or execution,” right-wing non-governmental organizations, including the American & Korean Friendship National Council, said in the letter delivered to the PRC Embassy in Seoul.

(return to top)

8. ROK Labor Unrest

Hankyoreh (“LEE GOVERNMENT ISSUES WARNING AGAINST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE LABOR UNION “, 2009/09/24) reported that the ROK government warned government employees labor unions of consequences for joining the Korean Confederation Trade Union (KCTU), the country’s largest umbrella union, by saying, “If the government employees labor union decides to engage in a political struggle, we will be unyielding.” However, the labor unions have defied the government and are saying, “The government’s attempt to control our actions is anachronistic.”

(return to top)

9. ROK Civil Society

Yonhap News (“CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OVERRULES BAN ON NIGHTTIME RALLIES “, Seoul, 2009/09/24) reported that the Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that a current ban on night rallies is unconstitutional, ending a decade-long debate on the clause which critics charged violates the right to assemble. The ROK’s demonstration law enacted in 1964 prohibits outdoor rallies after sunset. But the court overruled the ban by a vote of seven to two and ordered the legislation be revised by end of June next year. “The Constitution forbids any type of prohibition on assembly. The assembly law that requires people to get prior approval contravenes the Constitution,” the court said in the ruling.

(return to top)

10. ROK International Aid

JoongAng Ilbo (Moon Gwang-lip , “KOREA SHIFTING TO AGRICULTURAL AID IN RESOURCE DIPLOMACY”, 2009/09/25) reported that the Korea Rural Community Corporation, under the Agriculture Ministry, said Thursday it would build a 100,000-hectare (247,100-acre) agricultural complex in Tanzania beginning next year. The project, which the government estimates will cost 700 billion won ($587.5 million) to 800 billion won, will be the largest single piece of agricultural infrastructure the ROK has ever built overseas. The measure came after the government promised help for Tanzania’s agricultural industry to the East African country’s prime minister, Mizengo Pinda, during his recent visit to the ROK, the KRCC said.

(return to top)

11. ROK Climate Change

Xinhua News Agency (“SOUTH KOREA TO ANNOUNCE EMISSIONS CUT TARGET BEFORE YEAREND “, 2009/09/24) reported that ROK President Lee Myung-bak said his country will make a voluntary announcement before the end of the year on its emissions cut target by the year 2020. Lee said Seoul hopes that its “green growth” proposals and efforts will positively contribute to success at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen in December. He said the ROK is working to enact a Framework Law on Green Growth and establish a five-year Plan for Green Growth. “We will not only transform our economic and industrial structures, but also change our very lifestyles to become more future-oriented,” Lee said.

(return to top)

12. ROK, PRC Climate Change

Reuters (Deborah Zabarenko, “CHINA, S.KOREA LEAD IN GREEN STIMULUS INVESTMENT”, Washington, 2009/09/24) reported that the ROK and the PRC lead the world’s 20 largest economies in the percentage of economic stimulus money they invest in environmental projects, the U.N. Environment Program reported on Thursday. Other members of the Group of 20 leading economic powers, including the United States, trail behind in percentage of green investment from stimulus money, the agency found.

(return to top)

13. ROK-PRC Relations

Xinhua News Agency (“SOUTH KOREAN SPEAKER HAILS CHINA’S ACHIEVEMENTS IN 60 YEARS”, Seoul, 2009/09/24) reported that the PRC has stood among the greatest and strongest nations in the world by achieving rapid progress in the past 60 years, Kim Hyong-o, Speaker of ROK National Assembly, said on Thursday. “On behalf of the parliament, I am willing to extend sincere congratulations and appreciation to all Chinese people who have attained splendid achievements,” he added. Kim said he hoped that the ROK and PRC would deepen mutual trust and friendship so as to become closer partners to open an era of a peaceful and prosperous north-east Asia in the 21century.

(return to top)

14. Japan-ROK Relations

Agence France Presse (“JAPAN’S NEW PM VOWS TO FACE UP TO WARTIME MEMORIES”, New York, 2009/09/23) reported that Japan’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama vowed to face up to the bitter memories of his country’s wartime past that still stir distrust in Asia, an official said. Hatoyama made the pledge during a meeting with ROK President Lee Myung-Bak on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly and ahead of a Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh, said the Japanese government official. “The new government has the courage to keep a firm eye on history,” Hatoyama told Lee, according to the official. “Based on it, we would like to jointly develop our future-looking relationship.”

Kyodo News (“AGENCY CAUTIOUS OVER EMPEROR’S VISIT TO S. KOREA TO SOLVE ISSUES”, Tokyo, 2009/09/24) reported that Imperial Household Agency chief Shingo Haketa expressed caution Thursday about a proposed visit to the ROK by Emperor Akihito as a means to resolve bilateral issues. The emperor and Empress Michiko “generally do not visit other countries to solve international concerns or political issues, ” Haketa told a regular press conference. The agency will study arrangements for a possible visit by the couple “solely to promote international goodwill,” he said.

(return to top)

15. Japan on Nuclear Weapons

Agence France Presse (“JAPAN JOINS CALL TO END ‘CRUELTY’ OF NUCLEAR ARMS”, 2009/09/24) reported that Japan on Thursday hailed moves to rid the world of the “cruelty” of nuclear weapons as it warned they still posed a threat. New Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said he had been “choked with emotion” when he visited Nagasaki and Hiroshima last month and witnessed the lingering effects of the radiation unleashed by two American bombs 60 years ago. “I would like to encourage all leaders of the world to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki and absorb with their own eyes and ears the cruelty of nuclear weapons,” Hatoyama said.

(return to top)

16. Japan Self-Defense Force

Kyodo News (“DEFENSE CHIEF POSITIVE ABOUT SENDING SDF FOR PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS “, Tokyo, 2009/09/24) reported that Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa showed a positive stance Thursday on sending Japan’s Self-Defense Forces for U.N. peacekeeping operations in line with the Democratic Party of Japan’s policies.

Asahi Shimbun (“TOKYO URGED TO GO ON WITH REFUELING”, New York, 2009/09/24) reported that Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband urged Tokyo to reconsider its plan to discontinue the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s refueling activities in the Indian Ocean. Miliband, in talks with Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, said Japan has played a vital role in providing fuel to vessels involved in counterterrorism operations. Okada told Miliband that the Democratic Party of Japan had insisted during last month’s election campaign that it would not unconditionally extend the mission. However, he said he would carefully consider the issue.

(return to top)

17. Japan Climate Change

Bloomberg (Shigeru Sato and Yuji Okada, “JAPAN MUST BOOST NUCLEAR USE TO MEET CLIMATE TARGET (UPDATE1) “, 2009/09/24) reported that Japan must increase dependence on nuclear-power to meet Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s target for cutting carbon emissions, a senior trade ministry official said in Tokyo today. The government’s previous target of boosting nuclear output to as much as 40 percent of all generation “may not be enough,” said Yosuke Kondo, parliamentary secretary for the trade ministry.

(return to top)

18. PRC Climate Change

Agence France Presse (“CHINA LAUNCHES CLIMATE PROJECT WITH BRITAIN, SWITZERLAND: GOVT”, Beijing, 2009/09/24) reported that the PRC has launched with Britain and Switzerland a project aimed at finding ways for the Asian giant to tackle climate change and mitigate its effects, officials said Thursday. The Adapting to Climate Change in China project will run from this year through 2012, said the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Beijing’s top economic planning agency, in a statement on its website. The project will look at the impact of climate change on agriculture, water resources, grassland livestock, natural disasters and human health and then develop measures and polices to tackle the problems, it said.

Reuters (“GROUP PLANS MARKET STANDARD FOR EMISSIONS IN CHINA”, Washington, 2009/09/24) reported that a French emissions exchange and a PRC exchange are forming a carbon market standard for the PRC, marking a step toward a voluntary system to limit greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and forestry in the world’s top emitter. The French company BlueNext, which is 60 percent owned by N.Y.S.E. Euronext, and the China Beijing Environment Exchange, a government-backed program, hope to expand the standard eventually to cover voluntary emissions reductions in the PRC’s transportation, construction and manufacturing.

(return to top)

19. PRC Public Health

Agence France Presse (“CHINA TO HAVE 26 MLN SWINE FLU SHOTS BY END-OCTOBER”, Beijing, 2009/09/24) reported that the PRC will have a stockpile of 26 million swine flu vaccine shots by the end of October, the government has said, as it ramps up a mass inoculation programme in anticipation of a winter outbreak. The number of vaccines in reserve will later surge to 100 million, but not before year’s end, health ministry spokesman Deng Haihua told reporters.

(return to top)

20. PRC Leadership

Xinhua News Agency (“CHINESE PRESIDENT ADDRESSES UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY, MEETS RUSSIAN, S KOREAN PRESIDENTS”, New York, 2009/09/24) reported that PRC President Hu Jintao addressed the UN General Assembly during its general debate to elaborate on the PRC’s position on major world and regional issues and met presidents of Russia and the ROK on the sidelines of the UN meetings. During his speech at the general debate of the 64th session of the UN General Assembly, President Hu put forward a four-point proposal on building a harmonious world, calling on the international community to work together for world peace and development.

(return to top)

21. PRC Military

Associated Press (“CHINA ARMY PROMOTES MAO ZEDONG GRANDSON TO GENERAL”, Beijing, 2009/09/24) reported that Mao Zedong’s only grandson has become the youngest general in the People’s Liberation Army at age 39, a Chinese newspaper said Thursday. Military historian Mao Xinyu is the son of Mao’s second son Mao Anqing, who died in 2007 at the age of 84. The younger Mao is a member of the main advisory body to the country’s rubber stamp parliament and a fierce defender of his grandfather’s legacy. The state-run Changjiang Daily reported that the promotion came “recently” and said the move made Mao Xinyu the first PLA general born in the 1970s.

(return to top)

22. PRC Tibet Issue

Associated Press (Christopher Bodeen , “OFFICIAL DENIES TIBET BAN FOR FOREIGN VISITORS”, Beijing, 2009/09/24) reported that a PRC official on Thursday denied reports that Tibet will be closed to foreign visitors over the sensitive Oct. 1 national day period. Liao Yisheng, spokesman for the Tibet Tourist Administration, told The Associated Press that foreigners are permitted to visit as members of tour groups, but not individually. He also said authorities had advised travel agencies to “appropriately adjust their arrangement to avoid the peak time,” but said that was due to high demand, not because of the anniversary.

(return to top)

23. Sino-India Relations

Agence France Presse (“INDIAN STATE SLAMS BEIJING OVER DALAI LAMA VISIT”, Guwahati, 2009/09/24) reported that the chief minister of an Indian state at the centre of a territorial dispute between the PRC and India told Beijing on Thursday to stop interfering in plans for the Dalai Lama to visit the area. The Tibetan spiritual leader is scheduled to visit the Tawang monastery in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh as well as the capital Itanagar in Novembe r. “China has no business to interfere with the Dalai Lama’s proposed visit to Arunachal Pradesh,” the state’s chief minister Dorji Khandu told AFP by telephone. “We welcome the Dalai Lama’s visit and will ensure that his trip is successful.”

(return to top)

24. Sino-Australia Relations

Voice of America (Phil Mercer , “AUSTRALIA BLOCKS CHINA MINE BID ON SECURITY GROUNDS “, Sydney, 2009/09/24) reported that Australia has vetoed a multi-billion dollar mining project involving a PRC company because of national security and safety concerns. The plan involved a mining site within a restricted missile testing range at Woomera in the South Australian desert. The Hawks Nest iron ore mine would have been a joint venture between Australian company Western Plains Resources and a Chinese steel corporation.

(return to top)

25. Cross-Strait Relations

Central News Agency (“DPP TO COUNTER ALLEGED CHINA INTERFERENCE WITH TAIWAN’S FREEDOM”, Taipei, 2009/09/24) reported that the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) unveiled Thursday its plan to show more documentaries in Taiwan about the human rights movement in the PRC’s minority areas of Xinjiang and Tibet, after the screening of a film about exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer was rescheduled due to Beijing’s objections. The plan is aimed at countering China’s interference with Taiwan’s freedom, according to DPP spokesman Chao Tien-lin.

(return to top)

II. PRC Report

26. PRC Economy

South Daily (Huang Chao, “SHENZHEN TO INVEST ANNUALLY 500 MILN RMB ON BIOINDUSTRY”, 2009/09/24) reported that from this year to 2015, Shenzhen city will invest 500 million RMB per year on bioindustry development, and make the sales income of bioindustry reach 200 billion RMB by 2015, becoming a high-tech pillar industry in Shenzhen.

(return to top)

27. PRC Civil Society

Qinalong Net (“SHENZHEN SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS TO CARRY ON 284 GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTIONS”, 2009/09/24) reported that during the new round of local government reform, number of Shenzhen government sectors will cut down from 46 to 31. 284 governmental functions will be turned over to social organizations, including training of accountant, tourist guide, marriage registrar, etc..

(return to top)

28. PRC Climate Change

China Youth Daily (“MENGNIU MILK GROUP ESTABLISHES CHINA’S FIRST ECOLOGICAL GRASSLAND FUND”, 2009/09/24) reported that China’s first fund aiming at grassland construction and protection – Mengniu Ecological Grassland Fund was formally established in Beijing on September 16 th . Mengniu Milk Group has invested 6 million RMB as the start-up capital of the Fund.