CONTENTS
1. DPRK-US Diplomatic Relations
2. Cross-strait Relations
3. ROK-Japan Joint History Study
4. Taiwan-Philippines Fighter Jets
II. Republic of Korea 1. Inter-Korean Relations
2. ROK Air Force Project
3. ROK-DPRK-US Relations
4. ROK-Pakistan Relations
5. Japanese Textbook Issue
III. Japan 1. Japan-PRC Relations
2. Japan-ROK Relations
I. United States
1. DPRK-US Diplomatic Relations
Reuters (“NORTH KOREA SETS TOUGH CONDITIONS FOR U.S. TALKS,” Seoul, 03/05/02) reported on Tuesday that it would respond to US calls for dialogue only after the Bush administration recognized the DPRK’s political system and returned to policies of the Clinton government. The DPRK dismissed US calls for talks as “camouflaged big stick logic and trojan horse tactics. The DPRK’s position is to resume the dialogue for the improved bilateral relations on the basis of the Bush administration’s respect for the agreement reached between the DPRK and the preceding U.S. administration,” a report carried by the DPRK news agency KCNA stated.
The Associated Press (Yoo Jae-suk, “N.KOREA ACCUSES US OF BLOCKING TALKS,” Seoul, 03/05/02) reported that the DPRK said Tuesday that the US was blocking prospects for dialogue by plotting to dismantle its communist system. “North Korea’s stand on dialogue is to get its political system recognized by the US, not to allow itself to be disarmed or abandon its system,” said the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). “This position is neither ‘brinkmanship’ claimed by the US side, nor a ‘prelude’ to dialogue,” said the KCNA report.
2. Cross-strait Relations
Reuters (Benjamin Kang Lim, “TAIWAN WELCOMES CHINESE PREMIER’S OVERTURES,” Taipei, 03/05/02) reported that Taiwan welcomed overtures by PRC Premier Zhu Rongji on Tuesday, saying that the island hopes to resume stalled dialogue without preconditions and under the principle of equality. Taiwan foreign ministry spokesperson Chang Siao-yue expressed, “There’s nothing new in the speech. Nevertheless, we hope to resume dialogue with Communist China. There should not be any preconditions. The resumption of dialogue should be under the principle of equality and fairness.”
3. ROK-Japan Joint History Study
Reuters (“JAPAN AND S.KOREA TO START JOINT HISTORY STUDY,” Tokyo, 03/05/02) reported that Japanese officials announced that Japan and the ROK will start a joint historical study this month in a move to resolve the issue of Japanese history textbooks. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda stated at a news conference, “We will set up a joint historical research committee made up of experts.” Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said that he hoped the joint research would help improve friendship between academics from the two countries. “There are differing views of history among various academics and research should be conducted in depth. It would be good if this creates a mood for both sides to deepen their friendship while recognizing their differences.” To facilitate the academic study the two countries will set up a separate panel of government officials and private sector experts that will meet later this month. The project is expected to take around two years, said Misako Kaji, the prime minister’s deputy press secretary.
4. Taiwan-Philippines Fighter Jets
Agence France-Presse (“PHILIPPINES IN TALKS TO BUY TAIWAN FIGHTER JETS,” Manila, 03/05/02) reported that Foreign Minister Teofisto Guingona announced Tuesday that the Philippines is negotiating to buy 24 F5-E fighter jets from Taiwan for a token fee to strengthen its air force. Guingona, who is also vice president, said the talks had been kept secret “for quite some time” for reasons he did not divulge, but said that it was a commercial transaction that should not upset the PRC. “It’s purely a commercial transaction. There’s nothing wrong with it,” Guingona expressed. To prevent a potential diplomatic row, Guingona said the fighter jets would be sold first to a “private firm” which would in turn sell them to the Philippine Air Force. But the sale depends on the approval of the US government, which licensed Taiwan the technology to make the single-seater F-5Es in the 1970s, foreign officials said. Taiwan’s China Times newspaper reported last week that Washington had shown no objection to the deal. A high-ranking diplomatic source here said that Taiwan had agreed to sell the fighter jets at a bargain price to Manila on condition that Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian visit the Philippines. Taiwan also wants Taiwanese pilots to train in the Philippines, as Taiwan reportedly does not have enough air space to train its pilots in 10 squadrons of ultra-fast jets including F-16s and the Mirage 2000-5, and is asking the Philippines to allow its air force to land in the former US air base at Clark north of Manila.
II. Republic of Korea
1. Inter-Korean Relations
Joongang Ilbo (Lee Young-jong, “SEOUL SAYS IT WANTS A SIGNAL FROM NORTH,” Seoul, 03/05/02) reported that the ROK will not offer an official proposal of talks to the DPRK unless the DPRK sounds ROK out about improving inter-Korean relations first, ROK Unification Ministry sources said Monday. The statement was a reversal of earlier assertions that the ROK would take initiatives to reopen inter-Korean talks. “South Korea’s National Red Cross repeated official offers to the North to reschedule the separated-families reunion, and Seoul has urged Pyeongyang to show constructive responses for governmental talks,” the senior ministry official said Monday. “We believe that it is inappropriate to make another offer without an assurance of the North’s acceptance.” The ministry already has mapped out a plan to provide humanitarian aid in return for that acceptance. The package reportedly includes food supplies and settlement of payments for the Mount Kumgang tour on behalf of the ROK operator Hyundai Asan. “We can also send fertilizer to the North,” Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun said Sunday.
2. ROK Air Force Project
Joongang Ilbo (Kim Min-seok, “FEAR VOICED THAT AN F-X FIX IS IN FOR BOEING,” Seoul, 03/05/02) reported that lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties expressed concern at the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee hearing on Monday that the government may have covertly selected the US-built Boeing F-15K as the nation’s next generation fighter jet. Competing for the multi-billion dollar project, code-named F-X, are the F-15K, the French-made Dassault Rafale, the Russian Sukhoi Su-35 and the European consortium’s Eurofighter. “The revised evaluation criteria favored a particular company,” said Representative Kang Sam-jae of the Grand National Party. He said that the criteria for technology transfer had been drawn up to favor Boeing. Millennium Democratic Party lawmakers, including Park Sang-kyu, joined the criticism. Defense Minister Kim Dong-shin denied that the ministry was under pressure from the US to purchase Boeing’s F-15Ks. The competition for the 4.2 trillion won (US$3.2 billion) project appears to have narrowed to a choice of Boeing or the French Dassault.
3. ROK-DPRK-US Relations
Korea Herald (Hwang Jang-jin, “S. KOREA, U.S. TO DEVELOP STRATEGY ON NORTH’S WEAPON,” Seoul, 03/05/03) reported that ROK officials said Monday that ROK and US military authorities are pushing for a joint study to develop a comprehensive strategy to cope with DPRK missiles and weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). The government-level study will be aimed at working out concrete measures for their joint efforts to reduce the DPRK’s military threat and proliferation of weapons. “South Korea has recently proposed to the United States launching a joint study on the North’s missiles and WMDs. The US defense officials responded positively to our suggestion,” a ranking ROK Defense Ministry official said on condition of anonymity. The plan indicates that the ROK is willing to take a more active role in addressing concerns about the DPRK’s nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, in an apparent departure from its earlier position that the matter should be discussed between the US and DPRK. The study is seen as a measure to follow up on an agreement made by the leaders of the two nations last month to cooperate closely to resolve the DPRK’s missiles and WMDs issues.
4. ROK-Pakistan Relations
Korea Herald (“PAKISTAN MINISTER ON N.K., Afghanistan,” Seoul, 03/05/02) reported that the ROK and Pakistan held a policy consultation meeting in the ROK on Monday to discuss bilateral relations and the latest developments on the Korean Peninsula and in Central Asia, ROK officials said. ROK Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hang-kyung and his Pakistani counterpart Inam ul Haq led their respective delegations to the meeting, the fourth of its kind since the leaders from the two countries agreed to launch the consultative body in 1996. Haq reconfirmed his government’s full support for the ROK’s engagement policy toward DPRK, stressing that issues concerning the two Koreas should be resolved between themselves. The two sides also agreed to further boost bilateral trade and cooperate in the ongoing reconstruction of Afghanistan, they said.
5. Japanese Textbook Issue
Korea Times (Shim Jae-yun, “ROK, JAPAN TO LAUNCH JOINT HISTORICAL RESEARCH BODY,” Seoul, 03/05/02) reported that the ROK and Japan will inaugurate their joint historical research body on Tuesday as a follow- up to the agreement reached between President Kim Dae-jung and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in October of last year. Scholars and government officials from the two nations will get together early next month for the first round of meetings of the new organization. Kim and Koizumi agreed to establish the research body with the goal of influencing the contents of future school textbooks from both nations.
III. Japan
1. Japan-PRC Relations
The Yomiuri Shinbun (Satoshi Saeki, “JAPAN-PRC SECURITY DIALOGUE,” Beijing, 03/03/02) reported that the Japan-PRC security dialogue will be held in Tokyo on April 18. Japan and the PRC are to discuss at the meeting the issue of the salvaging of the “mystery ship” that sunk last December.
2. Japan-ROK Relations
The Yomiuri Shinbun (“PRINCE TAKAMADOKOIZUMI TO ATTEND SEOUL OPENING FEST,” 02/28/02) reported that Japan’s Prince Takamado and his wife, Princess Hisako, along with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, will attend the opening ceremony of the World Cup soccer in Seoul on May 31. The ROK had requested that either the Emperor or Crown Prince Naruhito attend the ceremony in addition to the prime minister. But Japan opposed the idea because the necessary conditions for a visit to the ROK by either the Emperor or Crown Prince were not in place. Instead, the two governments reached an agreement to have Prince Takamado, who is honorary president of the Japan Football Association, attend the ceremony. Koizumi will pay an official visit to the ROK on March 21 and have summit talks with the ROK president Kim Dae Jung. During the meeting, the two leaders are expected to confirm that Kim will attend the final match of the championship, which will be played in Yokohama on June 30.
The NAPSNet Daily Report aims to serve as a forum for dialogue and exchange among peace and security specialists. Conventions for readers and a list of acronyms and abbreviations are available to all recipients. For descriptions of the world wide web sites used to gather information for this report, or for more information on web sites with related information, see the collection of other NAPSNet resources.
We invite you to reply to today’s report, and we welcome commentary or papers for distribution to the network.
Produced by the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable Development in partnership with:
BK21 The Education and Research Corps for East Asian Studies
Department of Political Science, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Center for American Studies,
Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
International Peace Research Institute (PRIME),
Meiji Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan
Monash Asia Institute,
Monash University, Clayton, Australia
Brandon Yu: napsnet@nautilus.org
Berkeley, California, United States
Timothy L. Savage: napsnet@nautilus.org
Berkeley, California, United States
Kim Young-soo: yskim328@hotmail.com
Seoul, Republic of Korea
Hibiki Yamaguchi: hibikiy84@hotmail.com
Tokyo, Japan
Saiko Iwata: saiko@akira.ne.jp
Tokyo, Japan
Hiroya Takagi: hiroya_takagi@hotmail.com
Tokyo, Japan
Peter Razvin: icipu@glas.apc.org
Moscow, Russian Federation
Wu Chunsi: cswu@fudan.ac.cn
Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Dingli Shen: dlshen@fudan.ac.cn
Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
John McKay: John.McKay@adm.monash.edu.au< /a>
Clayton, Australia