NAPSNet Daily Report 8 June, 2009

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NAPSNet Daily Report 8 June, 2009

Contents in this Issue:

Preceding NAPSNet Report

MARKTWO

I. Napsnet

1. UN on DPRK Nuclear Program

Associated Press (“N.K. SANCTIONS PROPOSALS SENT TO GOVERNMENTS”, 2009/06/07) reported that the five permanent Security Council nations along with Japan and the ROK have sent the draft of a U.N. resolution with proposed new sanctions against the DPRK to their governments, but diplomats stressed Friday that the text is not final and is still being negotiated. The draft calls on U.N. members to immediately comply with sanctions imposed in 2006. The draft would expand the arms embargo to include the export of all weapons and weapons-related material. It would authorize ship searches on the high seas for suspected arms and banned weapons if the country whose flag the vessel is flying gives consent. If the country doesn’t give its consent, it shall “direct the vessel to proceed to an appropriate and convenient port for the required inspection by the local authorities.” It calls on the 192 U.N. member states to prevent financial institutions or individuals in their countries from providing financial services, funds or resources that could contribute to the DPRK’s nuclear-related, ballistic missile-related, or other weapons of mass destruction-related programs or activities.

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2. Japan on UN Sanctions

Yomiuri Shimbun (“GOVT AIMS TO CREATE LEGAL MEANS TO INSPECT DPRK-RELATED CARGO”, Tokyo , 2009/06/08) reported that the Japanese government is likely to begin creating a legal framework to enable the Self-Defense Forces and Japan Coast Guard to conduct cargo inspections on vessels plying to and from the DPRK, according to a government official. “It will be necessary to create a legal framework for [North Korean cargo] inspections,” the official said Saturday. “If it’s resolved [at the Security Council] to make the inspections compulsory, we’ll conduct them as a matter of course. Even if the resolution stipulates only that an effort must be made [to undertake inspections], it doesn’t mean that we don’t have to do it.”

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3. US on DPRK Nuclear Program

BBC (“NO ‘REWARD’ FOR N KOREA, US VOWS”, Caen, 2009/06/06) reported that US President Barack Obama said that the DPRK’s recent actions were “extraordinarily provocative.” “We are going to take a very hard look at how we move forward on these issues,” he said. He said the US preferred to take the diplomatic approach in dealings with Pyongyang but the DPRK must respond in what he called “a serious way”. “I don’t think that there should be an assumption that we will simply continue down a path in which North Korea is constantly destabilising the region and we just react in the same ways,” he said. “We are not intending to continue a policy of rewarding provocation.”

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4. ROK on DPRK Nuclear Program

Associated Press (Kwang-tae Kim, “SKOREA: NORTH’S NUKE, MISSILE THREATS WON’T WORK”, Seoul, 2009/06/06) reported that ROK President Lee Myung-bak said Saturday his country won’t give in to the DPRK’s nuclear and missile threats.  in a nationally televised Memorial Day speech  at Seoul’s National Cemetery, Lee said, “I would like to make it clear that there will be no compromise against things that threaten our people and security.”

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5. DPRK Missile Program

Associated Press (Jae-soon Chang, “NKOREA BANS SHIPS FROM COASTAL WATERS”, Seoul, 2009/06/08) reported that has warned fishermen and boat captains to stay away from the country’s east coast, Japan ‘s coast guard said Monday. Medium-range missiles are expected to be fired from the coastal town of Anbyon as part of a series of provocative moves .

Yomiuri Shimbun (Satoshi Ogawa, “SATELLITE IMAGE SHOWS DPRK BASE ‘READY TO LAUNCH MISSILE'”, Washington, 2009/06/06) reported that the construction of the launch platform at the site where the DPRK is believed to be preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile appears to be complete, according to a satellite image released Thursday by GlobalSecurity.org. The image was taken Wednesday by DigitalGlobe Inc., a U.S. firm that operates high-resolution imaging satellites. Other satellite images taken at the time show the construction of a missile assembly building and operation center were complete.

Yonhap (“‘N.K. MAY USE MOBILE RADAR BEFORE MISSILE LAUNCH'”, Seoul, 2009/06/08) reported that ROK officials believe the DPRK may deploy a mobile radar shortly before test-firing a long-range ballistic missile. Such a step would mean the DPRK could avoid setting up radar at the base, avoiding foreign surveillance.

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6. ROK on DPRK Missile Program

Yonhap (“S. KOREA VERIFIES PLAN AGAINST PROVOCATION”, Seoul, 2009/06/07) reported that the ROK has set in place a combined military operation plan to counter an armed ROK provocation along their western sea border, a government official said Sunday. Gen. Kim Tae-young, chairman of the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff, reported to President Lee Myung-bak on the combined plan to attack DPRK via air, land and sea should it shoot a missile at ROK naval vessels. “This is our countermeasure to prevent North Korea from further shooting of missiles,” the official said.

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7. US on DPRK Terror List Status

BBC (“US WARNS N KOREA OVER TERROR LIST”, Washington, 2009/06/07) reported that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US is considering reinstating the DPRK on its list of states viewed as sponsors of terrorism. Clinton stated, “Well, we’re going to look at it. There’s a process for it. Obviously we would want to see recent evidence of their support for international terrorism.” She said she could not yet comment on any evidence yet, adding: “Obviously they were taken off of the list for a purpose and that purpose is being thwarted by their actions.”

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8. DPRK Detention of Journalists

Reuters (Jack Kim, “NORTH KOREA JAILS U.S. JOURNALISTS, WARNS U.N”, Seoul, 2009/06/08) reported that the DPRK on Monday sentenced two U.S. journalists to 12 years hard labor. “The trial confirmed the grave crime they committed against the Korean nation and their illegal border crossing as they had already been indicted and sentenced each of them to 12 years of reform through labor,” the KCNA said in a brief dispatch. “We are deeply concerned by the reported sentencing of the two American citizen journalists by North Korean authorities and we are engaged through all possible channels to secure their release,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in the statement. “We once again urge North Korea to grant the immediate release of the two American citizen journalists on humanitarian grounds,” the statement said.

Korea Herald (“U.S. OPEN TO AL GORE GOING TO PYONGYANG”, Washington , 2009/06/06) reported that US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly did not rule out the possibility of sending former U.S. Vice President Al Gore to Pyongyang in order to negotiate the release of two American journalists. “This is such a sensitive issue, I’m just not going to go into those kinds of discussions that we may or may not have had,” he said. “The bottom line is that these two young women should be released but I’m not going to go into any kind of details on what we will or won’t do,” Kelly said.

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9. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation

Yonhap (“EXPORTS FROM INTER-KOREAN COMPLEX PLUNGE”, Seoul, 2009/06/08) reported that exports of ROK companies operating at the Kaesong industrial park fell by more than half in the first four months of this year. According to a report from the Unification Ministry, combined overseas shipments out of Gaeseong were $7.15 million in the January-April period, down 56 percent from the $16.27 million during the same period a year ago.

Yonhap (“SEOUL SAYS U.N. SANCTIONS WILL NOT AFFECT GAESEONG”, Seoul, 2009/06/07) reported that an expected resolution by the U.N. condemning the DPRK’s second nuclear test will not affect operations at the Kaesong industrial complex in the North, an ROK official said Sunday. “We are currently discussing with Security Council members about excluding any remarks that may affect the Gaeseong industrial park. Although the U.N. agreement will pose financial restrictions on the North, humanitarian aid and ordinary trade activities must not be harmed.”

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10. ROK Participation in PSI

Yonhap (“N.K. THREATENS TO RETALIATE AGAINST SOUTH FOR JOINING PSI”, Seoul, 2009/06/06) reported that the DPRK pledged anew Saturday to retaliate against the ROK for joining the Proliferation Security Initiative. “South Korea’s full participation in the PSI is a wanton violation of the DPRK’ s sovereignty and an open declaration of war against it,” the Rodong Sinmun said in a commentary. “South Korea will be wholly accountable for the disastrous consequences as it has followed foreign forces in utter disregard of the DPRK’s sovereignty and dignity,” it said.

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11. DPRK on Suicide of Former ROK President

Yonhap (“N.K. BLAMES LEE FOR FORMER PRESIDENT’S DEATH”, Seoul, 2009/06/05) reported that the Rodong Sinmun on Friday blamed ROK President Lee Myung-bak for the recent death of his predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun. Lee “criticized us for doing something while they were in a mourning period,” the paper said. “Speaking of the mourning period, they caused it,” the paper said. “If the group of traitors did not drive the former president to death through psychological pressure, would there be this problem in the first place?”

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12. DPRK Leadership

Yonhap (“N. KOREAN LEADER INSPECTS COOPERATIVE FARM”, Seoul, 2009/06/07) reported that DPRK leader Kim Jong-il inspected a cooperative farm in the northern city of Hamju and called for advanced technologies to increase crop productivity, the Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday. KCNA revealed a photograph of Kim’s inspection Saturday, did not say when Kim made the visit to the farm in South Hamgyong Province. Kim was accompanied by Workers’ Party Secretary Kim Ki-nam, as well as the party’s department directors, Jang Song-thaek and Pak Nam-gi.

Joongang Ilbo (“KIM’S FORMER CHEF DOESN’T FORESEE POWER STRUGGLE”, Tokyo, 2009/06/06) reported that Kenji Fujimoto, Kim Jong-il’s former personal sushi chef, said in an interview Thursday, “Even though North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has picked his third and youngest son, Kim Jong-un, to be his successor, the middle son, Kim Jong-chol, 27, will side with the leader. The eldest, Kim Jong-nam, 38, lost his father’s support earlier.” “Since the senior Kim regarded his second son as ‘girlish’ and not aggressive, I don’t think Kim Jong-il will oust Jong-chol even though Jong-un has become Kim’s heir,” Fujimoto said. “There won’t be a power struggle. Jong-chol is moderate and can be Jong-un’s supporter.”

Chosun Ilbo (“KIM JONG-IL’S ELDEST SON ‘IN THE DARK BUT NOT IN EXILE'”, Seoul, 2009/06/08) reported that DPRK leader Kim Jong-il’s eldest son Jong-nam said he assume his younger brother Jong-un will succeed their father based on media reports and could neither confirm nor deny them definitely. “My father likes my brother very much,” he stated. Kim Jong-nam said the appointment of a successor is wholly the decision his father, who is under no obligation to notify anyone. He added he had no wish to interfere in the matter. “I’m staying in China and Macau as a North Korean citizen. My exile from North Korea will never happen,” he added.

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13. US Nuclear Umbrella for ROK

Korea Times (Kim Sue-young, “US TO PROVIDE ‘EXTENDED DETERRENCE’ FOR S. KOREA”, Seoul, 2009/06/07) reported that ROK Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said Saturday that the ROK and the United States agreed to take joint action to cope with the DPRK’s nuclear and missile threats. “Considering North Korea’s nuclear test and missile launches as issues relevant to the South Korea-U.S. alliance, we agreed to take joint action and we also fine-tuned issues to be discussed during the upcoming summit,” he told reporters after meeting with his U.S. counterpart Hillary Clinton. Yu and Clinton agreed on the need for an “extended deterrence,” to protect the ROK under the U.S. nuclear umbrella and with conventional weapons in times of emergency.

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14. ROK Influenza Outbreak

Korea Times (“FIRST KOREAN TRAVELER FROM CHINA CHECKED FLU CASE”, Seoul, 2009/06/07) reported that ROK health authorities on Sunday reported that a 25-year-old ROK woman who returned from the PRC has contracted the new type-A flu that has spread through 69 countries worldwide. The new case brings the number of total infections found in the country to 47 since April and the first for a person arriving from the PRC, said the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs.

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15. ROK Climate Change

Arirang News (“JEJU’S ECOSYSTEM SUFFERS FROM GLOBAL WARMING”, Seoul, 2009/06/08) reported that the number of Korean fir trees on Mount Halla in Jeju has decreased by 30 percent in the past three years. Water temperatures have climbed 1.5 degrees Celsius during the past eight decades. Sea squirts and corals normally seen in subtropical climates are now living in the area and have upset the ecosystem for shellfish by hindering the development of algae. Warmer temperatures are transforming farming on the island of Jeju as well, making the cultivation of citrus fruits more difficult.

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16. ROK Environment

Korea Herald (“W22TR SET ASIDE TO RESTORE RIVERS”, Seoul, 2009/06/08) reported that the ROK government will spend a combined 22.2 trillion won ($17.8 billion) to improve water quality and prevent natural disasters at the nation’s four major rivers by 2012, officials said Monday. Of that total 16.9 trillion won will go to the main projects — dredging operations, building dams and reservoirs — on the Han, Nakdong, Geum and Yeongsan rivers. Officials said another 5.3 trillion won will be spent to enhance water flow and quality on smaller waterways.

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17. ROK Whaling

Arirang News (“GOV’T WANTS WHALING BAN LIFTED”, Seoul, 2009/06/08) reported that commercial whaling was banned in the ROK in 1986 under an agreement with the International Whaling Commission, though commercial sales remained legal. The ROK government says it will push to lift the ban at an IWC meeting in Portugal. The government says it will argue that whale meat dishes are part of the cultural heritage and above all, that there is a need to control the growing whale population for the broader marine ecosystem.

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18. ROK Energy

Yonhap (“KOREA AIMS TO BECOME NATIONWIDE USER OF ‘SMART GRID’ SYSTEM BY 2030”, Seoul, 2009/06/05) reported that the ROK aims to become the world’s first nationwide user of a “smart grid” system, a government-led committee said Friday. The grid that will be set up by 2030 could help reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 41 million tons annually and help cut fossil fuel imports by $10 billion, a report by the joint smart grid roadmap committee said. The committee made up of government officials, company executives and representatives and researchers also said smart grids are expected to reduce overall energy use by 3 percent and contribute to lowering the peak load for electric power by around 6 percent, which can save the country the expense of building seven 1,000 megawatt nuclear reactors.

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19. Japanese Politics

Yomiuri Shimbun (“ASO CABINET SUPPORT FLAT AT 29.5%”, Tokyo, 2009/06/08) reported that the approval rating for Prime Minister Taro Aso’s Cabinet has remained virtually flat at 29.5 percent, compared with 30 percent in the previous survey conducted in mid-May.  The disapproval rating was 61 percent, almost unchanged from 60.4 percent in the previous survey. On the reasons for not supporting the Aso Cabinet, 28 percent of respondents cited a “lack of leadership.” Asked whether Aso or DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama is more suited to the premiership, 44 percent of respondents chose Hatoyama, up two percentage points from the previous survey, while 33 percent backed Aso, up one percentage point.

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20. Japanese Climate Change

Yomiuri Shimbun (“GOVT TO AIM FOR 14% GAS EMISSIONS CUT BY 2020”, Tokyo, 2009/06/07) reported that the Japanese government is aiming to set a greenhouse gas reduction midterm target of 14 percent or more from 2005 levels as it enters the final stage of gathering opinions concerning the nation’s emissions reduction goal for 2020, government sources said Friday. In April, a panel meeting on global warming tabled six plans for reducing emissions that range from 4 to 30 percent cuts from 2005 levels. The government’s aim of about 14 percent has been decided on as it is felt most likely to win public approval based on a poll conducted by the Cabinet Secretariat in which 45.4 percent of people surveyed advocated a 14 percent reduction.

Yomiuri Shimbun (“TEPCO MAKES FAST CHARGER FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES”, Tokyo, 2009/06/06) reported that Tokyo Electric Power Co. has developed a small and cheap fast charger for electric vehicles in cooperation with an electrical equipment manufacturer and plans to start selling the charger this year, it was learned Friday. The charger is small enough to be installed at parking spaces near such places as convenience stores or condominium buildings.

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21. Japanese Anti-Piracy Measures

Yomiuri Shimbun (“MINISTRY TO URGE POSTING OF INFO ON PIRATES ON NET”, Tokyo, 2009/06/08) reported that Japan will propose to other nations the creation of an Internet-based system for sharing information on piracy in waters off Somalia with military and civilian entities around the world, a government source said. Yasutoshi Nishimura, parliamentary vice minister for foreign affairs, will put forward the plan at an international conference on piracy starting in Seoul on Tuesday. The envisaged system will not only help protect fishing boats from pirates, but also will help concerned authorities grasp the extent of pirate activities in the wider Indian Ocean area stretching from the Gulf of Aden to waters off eastern Somalia, the government source said.

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22. Japanese Military Procurements

Yomiuri Shimbun (“GOVT TO PUT OFF F-X FIGHTER PLAN”, Tokyo, 2009/06/08) reported that the Japanese Defense Ministry likely will not include the cost of purchasing next-generation F-X fighters for the Air Self-Defense Force in its budgetary request for fiscal 2010. The ministry said it was unable to obtain sufficient information on two state-of-the-art stealth fighters, or fifth-generation aircraft, from among six short-listed models, concluding that further study is necessary before purchasing.

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23. Russo-Japan Military Relations

Vladivostock Times (“TWO JAPANESE VESSELS ARRIVES [sic] IN SAKHALIN TO PARTICIPATE IN RUSSIAN-JAPANESE WAR GAMES”, Vladivostock, 2009/06/05) reported that two Japanese patrol vessels, Tzugaru and Siretoko, arrived at Korsakov to participate in Russian-Japanese war games aimed at preventing crime at sea off Sakhalin on Friday. The maneuvers were to demonstrate the coordinated actions on sea of the military units and warships of the RF FSS Frontier Service and the Japanese Defense Department.

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24. Sino-Japanese Trade Relations

Agence France-Presse (Miwa Suzuki, “CHINA, JAPAN MINISTERS MEET FOR KEY ECONOMIC TALKS”, Tokyo, 2009/06/07) reported that top ministers from Japan and the PRC held a day-long meeting on Sunday, discussing the global financial crisis and ways to boost trade ties. The Japan-China High-Level Economic Dialogue in Tokyo drew an 80-strong Beijing delegation led by Vice Premier Wang Qishan. “We hope that both countries will cooperate hand-in-hand for financial stability and economic growth in Asia and the world,” Wang said at the opening of the meeting with host officials led by Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone.

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25. Sino-US Climate Change Response

New York Times (John M. Broder and Jonathan Ansfield, “CHINA AND US SEEK A TRUCE ON GREENHOUSE GASES”, Washington, 2009/06/07) reported that a senior American team arrived in Beijing on Sunday for climate talks. “China may not be the alpha and omega of the international negotiations, but it is close,” said Todd D. Stern, the top US climate negotiator. “Certainly no deal will be possible if we don’t find a way forward with China.”

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26. Cross Strait Economic Relations

Agence France-Presse (“TAIWAN SAYS CHINA TO PURCHASE 2.2 BLN DLRS GOODS”, Taipei, 2009/06/05) reported that PRC companies are set to place more than 2.2 billion US dollars of orders in Taiwan this year to help boost the island’s economy, officials said Friday. “We received orders totalling 827 million dollars by the end of July while another 1.4 billion are expected by year-end,” said Wang Chih-kang, chairman of Taiwan External Trade Development Council.

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27. PRC Influenza Response

BBC (“US MAYOR QUARANTINED IN SHANGHAI”, Shanghai, 2009/06/08) reported that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is being held in a Shanghai hotel, after a passenger on his flight from the US fell ill with suspected swine flu. Nagin’s office confirmed the quarantine of the mayor, his wife Seletha, and a security guard. They were on a 10-day trip to the PRC and Australia aimed at promoting business to his city.

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28. PRC Tibet Issue

New York Times (Edward Wong, “CHINA CREATES SPECTER OF DUELING DALAI LAMAS”, Dharamsala, 2009/06/06) reported that both the PRC and the Tibetan exiles are bracing for an almost inevitable outcome: the emergence into the world of dueling Dalai Lamas — one chosen by the exiles, perhaps by the 14th Dalai Lama himself, and the other by PRC officials. “It’s a huge but ultracritical issue, with no clear outcome or solution except one: trouble,” said Robert Barnett, a Tibet scholar at Columbia University. “It is going to end up with two Dalai Lamas and thus with long-running conflict, unless the Chinese agree to a diplomatic solution pretty soon.”

Agence-France-Presse (“DEATH SENTENCE ON TIBET”, Paris, 2009/06/07) reported that the Dalai Lama accused the PRC on Saturday of imposing a “death sentence” on Tibet. “Since March 2008 I have the feeling that a very old nation and its heritage and culture have received a death sentence,” he said. “The Chinese government makes a hard line policy, but the Chinese people are ignorant of the situation. The international community must go there to investigate, without restrictions.”

New York Times (“REPORT SAYS VALID GRIEVANCES AT ROOT OF TIBETAN UNREST”, Dharamsala, 2009/06/05) reported that a group of prominent PRC lawyers and legal scholars have released a research report arguing that last year’s Tibetan riots were rooted in legitimate grievances brought about by failed government policies and not through a plot of the Dalai Lama. The authors of the report are members of a Chinese group called Gongmeng, or Open Constitution Initiative, which seeks to promote legal reform in the PRC.

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29. PRC Foreign Aid

Associated Press (Barry Schweid, “HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP CONDEMNS HOW CHINA GIVES AID”, Washington, 2009/06/06) reported that a joint report by Freedom House, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia accused the PRC of deceptively distributing billions of dollars in aid that promotes PRC power while subverting human rights. “These authoritarian regimes are undercutting or crippling the democracy-promotion and human rights efforts of rules-based organizations including the United Nations,” the report said. “These regimes are using soft-power methods to advance their interests internationally, particularly through billions of dollars in no strings attached development aid,” the report said.

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II. PRC Report

30. PRC Environment

People’s Daily online (“CHINA TO OPEN ENVIRONMENT HOTLINE”, 2009/06/06) reported that People who have complaints about environmental pollution in China would have a direct way to inform the Ministry of Environmental Protection as the ministry opens a tip-off hotline on Friday, the International Environment Day. The ministry said Thursday that the hotline, 010-12369, will take calls about emergency environment issues, cross-provincial pollution and other environmental issues that should be directly dealt with by the ministry.

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31. Sino-US Environmental Cooperation

China Daily (“CHINA, US TO NEGOTIATE ON CLIMATE CHANGE”, 2009/06/05) reported that Chinese and US envoys will meet in Beijing on Monday to talk about ways the countries can advance the fight against climate change. The talks will take place at the same time as UN negotiations on the same subject in Bonn, Germany. US climate envoy Todd Stern will meet his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua. The US delegation will be in China for four days. The envoys may meet representatives of non-governmental organizations, industry leaders and academics.

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III. ROK Report

32. PRC on DPRK Nuclear Program

Donga Ilbo (“CHINA, FOR DENUCLEARIZATION, DPRK SANCTIONS NECESSARY”, Seoul, 2009/06/08) writes that the problem lies in the PRC government. The US stance on the DPRK issue is clear. President Obama said that “we are not intending to continue a policy of rewarding provocation.” Only if China cooperates, nuclear testing can be stopped and the DPRK might eventually change. It is time for Chinese government to realize what is best for the DPRK.

Segye Ilbo (“CHINA FULL OF TROUBLES”, Seoul, 2009/06/08) wrote that quite a lot of Chinese communist authorities, government, and military are all criticizing DPRK, which is an unprecedented thing. However, the relation between China and DPRK are more closely connected than it looks. Insecurity in DPRK will also pose a grave threat to China, which is why China is passive in the UN Security Council’s discussions on DPRK sanctions despite strong criticisms in the media. China’s actions could be misinterpreted as allowing the DPRK to develop nuclear weapons. China needs to pay attention to the debate over nuclear armament in both the ROK and Japan. China seems to think that ROK and Japan’s nuclear armament is unrealistic due to US pressure. However, nothing is unchangeable in the world’s history.

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33. US on DPRK Nuclear Program

Hankyoreh Shinmun (“OBAMA’S WORRISOME REMARKS ON DPRK”, Seoul, 2009/06/08) wrote that we cannot help expressing concerns about President Obama’s statements about the DPRK. Turning away from its dialogue-centered approach towards increasing confrontation will have damages that will fall squarely on the ROK. It would be rash to abandon dialogue without having first made any proper gestures.