CONTENTS
1. US Violations of International Treaties
2. US Nuclear Posture
3. ROK Envoy in DPRK
4. DPRK-US Relations
5. DPRK-RF Relations
6. Russia-US Nuclear Disarmament
7. PRC Domestic Suicide Rates
II. Republic of Korea 1. ROK Special Envoy to DPRK
2. Inter Korean Relations
3. ROK Air Force Project
5. ROK-East Timor Relations
6. ROK-India Relations
III. Russian Federation 1. PRC Response to US regarding Human Rights
2. PRC Military to Reduce Their Use of Cellular Phones
3. Japanese Nuclear Power Sector to Expand
4. DPRK-ROK Relations
5. US Military Bases in ROK
I. United States
1. US Violations of International Treaties
Reuters (“U.S. SAID VIOLATING INTERNATIONAL TREATIES,” Washington, 04/04/02) reported that the US is increasingly violating and undermining major international security treaties in a slide away from rule of law toward the rule of power, according to a new study released on Thursday. According to the study, the trend began under former US President Bill Clinton but has accelerated under President Bush threatening the security of the US as well as the larger international community. Sponsored by two nonprofit groups, the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research and the Lawyers’ Committee on Nuclear Policy, the 188-page report analyzes the US response to eight major international agreements, including the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. “The United States has violated, compromised or acted to undermine in some crucial way every treaty that we have studied in detail,” said Nicole Deller, principal editor and co-author of the report, entitled “Rule of Power or Rule of Law.” The study determined that the United States “not only refuses to participate in newly created international legal mechanisms, it fails to live up to obligations undertaken in treaties that it has ratified.” It charged that the US is “drifting away from regarding treaties as an essential element in global security to a more opportunistic stand of abiding by treaties only when it is convenient.”
2. US Nuclear Posture
Reuters (“U.S. ARMS STANCE COMES UNDER FIRE AT CHINA MEET,” Beijing, 04/04/02) reported that the US came under fire from experts at a disarmament conference in Beijing on Thursday over a Pentagon nuclear policy review and the US’ unilateral approach to global arms issues. But a US official said the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), reported to describe US contingency plans to aim nuclear weapons at the PRC and other countries, has been misconstrued and US commitment to arms control was solid. “The NPR opens up a new vision of darkness I think for the 21st century in terms of nuclear disarmament,” Ron McCoy, chair of a Malaysian non-governmental organisation lobbying for the prevention of nuclear war expressed. Some delegates also criticised the US for its reluctance to adopt a new global covenant aimed at preventing an outer space arms race. US State Department Asian adviser Mark Groombridge said the US did not see the need to alter existing agreements and defended US activities in space. Lloyd Axworthy, former Canadian foreign minister responded, “A majority (of delegates) though think there should be a new regime. What the issue comes down to is, is the existing system sufficient or do you need to pre-empt by establishing very clear rules against any further (military) expansion.”
3. ROK Envoy in DPRK
The Associated Press (Lee Soo-Jeong, “INTER-KOREAN PEACE TALKS BOG DOWN,” Seoul, 04/04/02) and Agence France-Presse (“NORTH KOREA GIVES SOUTH’S ENVOY A TOUGH TIME,” 04/04/02) reported that the DPRK gave ROK presidential envoy Lim Won-dong a rough time, calling off scheduled talks and criticizing the ROK and the US. Lim was to have held a new round of talks in Pyongyang on ways to revive dialogue between the DPRK, the ROK, the US and Japan. A Unification ministry official in Seoul said: “Lim was to meet Kim Yong-Sun this morning but it was not held and North Korea did not say when the meeting would be held.” The ministry said the atmosphere had been “tough” since the arrival of President Kim Dae-Jung’s special advisor on security and foreign affairs on Wednesday. In his only official talks so far on Wednesday, Lim urged the DPRK to resume dialogue with the outside world as quickly as possible. He met Kim Yong-Sun, a secretary of the ruling Workers’ Party.
The Associated Press (Lee Soo-jeong, “S. KOREA URGES N. KOREA ON DIALOGUE,” Seoul, 04/04/02) reported that ROK presidential envoy met DPRK leader Kim Jong Il on Thursday to urge the DPRK to ease tensions on the divided Korean peninsula by resuming dialogue with the US and the ROK. Kim Jong Il held a dinner for the envoy, Lim Dong-won, in Pyongyang, said Kim Hong-je, an ROK spokesperson. Lim delivered a letter from ROK President Kim Dae-jung and “relayed President Kim’s proposal for peace and cooperation between the two Koreas,” the spokesperson told reporters in Seoul. It was not clear whether and how Kim Jong Il responded to the offers. Earlier Thursday, ROK officials said Lim’s talks in Pyongyang ran into difficulty as the DPRK accused the ROK and US of plotting to provoke a war on the divided Korean peninsula.
4. DPRK-US Relations Reuters (“N.KOREA, IN ABOUT-FACE, SAYS U.S. ‘SWORN ENEMY,'” Seoul, 04/04/02) reported that the DPRK said on Thursday that the US was its “most wicked sworn enemy” in a series of diatribes issued less than 24 hours after the DPRK dropped hints it might restart frozen dialogue with the US. “The U.S. is the most wicked sworn enemy of the Korean nation as it is not only hindering inter-Korean exchange and cooperation … but also putting a stumbling block in the way of achieving Korea’s reunification,” the state media quoted the North’s Asia- Pacific Peace Committee as saying. In the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper, demanded the withdrawal of US troops in the ROK saying, “it is imperative to put an end to the presence in South Korea by the U.S. imperialist aggression troops.”
5. DPRK-RF Relations
The Associated Press (Anatoly Medetsky, “NORTH KOREA SEEKS CLOSER TIES WITH RUSSIAN FAR EAST,” Vladivostok, 04/04/02) reported that a high-ranking DPRK delegation arrived in the Russian Pacific port of Vladivostok on Thursday, kicking off an eight-day tour around the Russian Far East in search of closer economic relations. The delegation, headed by DPRK Deputy Prime Minister Cho Chan Dok, said in a statement that the DPRK was worried about the lack of progress in the project to link the Trans-Siberian Railroad with the railway across the Korean peninsula, which would provide a shorter and cheaper route for ROK exports to Europe. “The implementation of the project has lately experienced an incomprehensible pause,” the statement said. Outlining areas for more cooperation, it said the DPRK wanted to expand logging in Russia using the current arrangement, under which the DPRK sends its loggers to Russia and imports a portion of the logs they cut. The DPRK proposals included increasing its construction and farming work force in Russia. The DPRK said that it hoped to import some of the wheat that its workers would grow in Russia.
6. Russia-US Nuclear Disarmament
The Associated Press (“RUSSIA-US NUCLEAR ARMS,” Washington, 04/02/02) and Reuters (“BUSH, PUTIN DISCUSS MIDEAST, NUCLEAR WEAPONS,” Washington, 04/02/02) reported that US President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed by phone on Tuesday the situation in the Middle East and US-Russian attempts to reduce nuclear weapons stockpiles, the White House said. Sean McCormack, spokespersonfor the White House National Security Council, said the two leaders spoke for about 15 minutes in what he described as a “good phone call.” He said the two leaders agreed that discussions on a new NATO-Russian relationship were making progress. The aim is to create a forum in which Russia would sit as an equal partner with the defense alliance’s 19 nations and have a say in decision-making on specific security issues. The issue is to be discussed at a May 14-15 meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Reykjavik, Iceland. Bush and Putin reviewed preparations for Bush’s trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg in late May. They are hoping to have a nuclear arms agreement ready by their summit.
7. PRC Domestic Suicide Rates
Reuters (“SUICIDE RATE AMONG CHINESE WOMEN 25 PCT HIGHER THAN MEN,” Beijing, 04/04/02) reported that PRC scientists have found that 25 percent more women in the PRC kill themselves than men, in stark contrast with other areas of the world, where men generally commit suicide more than women, state media said on Thursday. PRC researchers also found that women in rural areas were three times more likely to commit suicide than their urban counterparts, the China Daily reported. “It’s quite different from what it is in Western countries, where the male suicide rate is 3.6 times higher than that of women,” the newspaper quoted Li Xianyun, a medical researcher from a Beijing hospital, as saying. A cause of death study in 20 cities found that suicide was the leading killer of people aged 15 to 34, the newspaper said. State media reported last October official figures showing that 250,000 Chinese committed suicide each year. That was 22 people out of every 100,000, more than in affluent Western states like the United States, Canada and Britain, but fewer than in places like Hungary and Lithuania, where the ratio was between 40 and 50 per 100,000.
II. Republic of Korea
1. ROK Special Envoy to DPRK
Joongang Ilbo (Lee Young-jong, “LIM ASKS NORTH TO RENEW TALKS WITH U.S. JAPAN,” Seoul, 04/04/02) reported that ROK special presidential envoy Lim Dong-won arrived in Pyongyang Wednesday. Kim Wan-su, vice chairman of DPRK’s Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, and Choe Song-ik, director of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, met him at the airport. In the afternoon, Lim had the first of several rounds of talks with Kim Yong-sun, DPRK’s Workers’ Party secretary, at the Baekhwawon state guesthouse. In the meetings, Lim reportedly delivered the concerns of international society, US in particular, about the DPRK’s development of weapons of mass destruction.
2. Inter Korean Relations
Joongang Ilbo (“DAM SET TO CHECK FLOODS FROM NORTH,” Seoncheon, 04/04/02) reported that a dam will be built to check persistent flooding problems on the Imjin river caused by an upstream dam in DPRK, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation announced Thursday. The dam, which will cost 128.3 billion won (US$96 million), will be built in Yeoncheon-gun, Gyeonggi province, the ministry said. Construction is to begin in 2004, with completion expected in 2007. The dam will stand 27 meters high and 400 meters wide. Its holding capacity will be 70 million metric tons, and it will be able to control up to 43 million metric tons of floodwater. Ten water gates will be installed to control the water level when there is a natural flood or the DPRK’s April 5 Dam discharges water, an official said.
3. ROK Air Force Project
Joongang Ilbo (Ser Myo-ja, “DASSAULT AIDES DENY FIRM QUITS ITS F-X BID,” Seoul, 04/04/02) reported that Dassault Aviation representatives in Seoul denied a report published in France that the aircraft company is giving up on the ROK’s next generation fighter jet project. According to a report from ROK’s Yonhap News Agency, the French daily La Tribune reported Tuesday that Dassault is turning its eyes to markets in Singapore, India and Brazil, giving up its bid for the US$3.3 billion sales deal in ROK. The French warplane maker’s hope diminished, the newspaper reported, when the ROK government decided last week to hold a playoff between Dassault and Boeing.
5. ROK-East Timor Relations
The Korea Herald (Kim Ji-ho, “KOREA TO BECOME EAST TIMOR’S FIRST DIPLOMATIC PARTNER, ” Seoul, 04/04/02) reported that the ROK will be the first nation to open diplomatic ties with East Timor, which gains full independence May 20, a visiting East Timorese cabinet member said Wednesday. Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Jorge Teme said East Timor is scheduled to kick off diplomatic activities May 21, and that about 20 nations plan to recognize the new country.
6. ROK-India Relations
The Korea Herald (“KOREA, INDIA AGREE TO CONCLUDE EXTRADITION, CRIMINAL TREATIES,” Seoul, 04/04/02) reported that the ROK and India Wednesday agreed on a set of measures aimed at enhancing bilateral ties, including a plan to conclude treaties on extradition and legal assistance in criminal matters, the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said. Under the agreement, made during the inaugural meeting of the ROK-India Joint Commission in Seoul, the two sides will begin working-level negotiations over the treaties in the near future, officials said. The commission meeting was led by Korean Foreign Minister Choi Sung-hong and his Indian counterpart, Jaswant Singh, who arrived in ROK on Tuesday for a three- day visit. Earlier in the day, the two foreign ministers held talks that resulted in an agreement on close cooperation in the international communities, including the United Nations and Asian Regional Forum, and in a project to rebuild war-devastated Afghanistan.
III. Russian Federation
1. PRC Response to US regarding Human Rights
Sovetskaya Rossiya (“REAPING THE VIOLENCE”,” Moscow,” 3-4,” 03/26/02) published an abridged version of “Facts about the Human Rights Situation in USA in 2001″ published by the Press Office of the PRC State Council as a retaliation to US State Department’s annual report on human rights situation abroad,” which in particular criticized PRC for violations in that field. The PRC-produced document is divided into the following chapters: “Lack of guarantees of life,” freedom and personal safety” of US citizens; “Serious violations of human rights by law-enforcement agencies;” “Hard situation of the poor,” hungry and homeless;” “Women’s and children’s situation causing concern;” “Deep roots of racial discrimination;” “Irresponsible encroachments on human rights in the other countries.” The last chapter refers to US use of military force abroad,” US use of uranium-containing ammo in Yugoslavia and bombing of PRC Embassy in Belgrade in 1999,” US exports of weapons and torture tools,” crimes committed by US servicemen abroad,” in particular in Japan,” US refusal to sigh Basle Convention on harmful wastes and their export to some Asian countries and US withdrawal from Kyoto Protocol concerning green-house effect,” US boycott of the 3rd UN Conference against racism held in Durban in September,” 2001. The report recalls that USA were expelled from the UN Commission on Human Rights in 2001 “as a result of their double-standard policies on that issue.”
2. PRC Military to Reduce Their Use of Cellular Phones
Izvestia’s Ivan Denisov (“CHINESE GENERALS BANNED MOBILE PHONES”,” Moscow,” 10,” 04/03/02) reported that PRC top military leaders banned the use of mobile phones and pagers by PRC military servicemen,” except those who need them to carry out their duties. The ban was introduced to increase security and prevent information leaks. Also, “PRC servicemen are strongly urged to abstain from visiting night clubs, karaoke clubs and other ‘dubious establishments’ where vigilance is easily lost.”
3. Japanese Nuclear Power Sector to Expand
Nezavisimaya gazeta’s Nikolay Tebin (“JAPANESE AUTHORITIES IN FAVOR OF NUCLEAR POWER”,” Moscow,” 6,” 03/28/02) reported that the Ministry of Economy,” Trade and Industry of Japan had plans to subsidize construction of 10-13 nuclear power plants by 2010. Preference is to be given to smaller 300-700 thousand kilowatt plants as different from the present day plants of 1100-1356 thousand kilowatt. Local authorities sensitive to popular moods oppose such construction or demand big compensations for possible damage. Yet, the share of nuclear power plants in total electricity production is 33.8% and is expected to be the fastest growing in the future.
4. DPRK-ROK Relations
Izvestia (“TRUCE ON THE EVE OF THE COMPETITION”,” Moscow,” 8,” 03/26/02) reported that the DPRK and ROK were to resume their dialogue. Lim Don-won,” a special advisor to ROK President Kim dae-jung,” will come to Pyongyang in early April to discuss in particular family reunification.
5. US Military Bases in ROK
Nezavisimaya gazeta (“NEWS … USA-SOUTH KOREA”,” Moscow,” 6,” 03/30/02) reported that the US said they would reduce half of their military bases in ROK by 2010 under the recently signed US-ROK agreement. Altogether 28 bases and 3 test sites are to be closed,” and ROK will get back half of the land now used by the US military. Yet the number of US troops stationed in ROK will remain the same
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