NAPSNet Daily Report 06 November, 2002

Recommended Citation

"NAPSNet Daily Report 06 November, 2002", NAPSNet Daily Report, November 06, 2002, https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-daily-report/napsnet-daily-report-06-november-2002/

 
CONTENTS

I. United States

1. Japan-DPRK Talks
2. DPRK-ROK Economic Talks
3. DPRK Oil Shipment
4. DPRK on Missile Moratorium
5. DPRK on DPRK-US Relations
6. DPRK on Ambassador Greg Visit
7. US-ROK on DPRK Nuclear Issue
8. PRC Domestic Politics
9. PRC on Iraq
10. DPRK Oil Shipments
11. PRC Human Rights
12. Japanese Activist Deported
13. Powell ROK Trip Cancellation
II. Republic of Korea 1. DPRK Forces Reduction
2. US Intermediary’s Visit to DPRK
3. DPRK-Japan Relations
4. US-Japan-ROK Response to DPRK
5. US Undersecretary’s Visit to Seoul
III. People’s Republic of China 1. PRC Commentary on Jiang’s visit to US and Participation in APEC
2. ROK-DPRK Relations
3. DPRK-Japan Relations
4. PRC Response to DPRK-Japan Relations
5. PRC-DPRK Relations
6. PRC-Russian Ties
7. PRC-Japan Relations
8. DPRK-US Relations
IV. CanKor E-Clipping 1. CanKor #104

I. United States

1. Japan-DPRK Talks

Associated Press (Eric Talmadge, “JAPAN DEMANDS STALL N. KOREA TALKS,” Eric Talmadge, 11/05/02) reported that the DPRK threatened Tuesday to resume missile test-launches unless Tokyo stops making the North’s nuclear weapons program and the fate of five Japanese abductees central to normalizing relations. Quoting a Foreign Ministry official, the DPRK’s official Korea Central News Agency said Japan’s stance on the abductees and its demands that the DPRK stop developing nuclear weapons “is now creating very serious issues as it is illogical.” The date for the next round of talks has not been set. The five abductees are in Japan in their first homecoming, allowed by the DPRK but on the expectation it would last only a week or two. Japan now says it has no plans to return them to the DPRK. The DPRK Foreign Ministry official, who was not identified, said that if Japan is willing to break its promise on the abductees, the D{RL is not obliged to stick to the test-launch moratorium. “If any party ceases to implement its commitment, it is impossible for the other party to continue to fulfill its commitment,” the official said. “Normalization of relations depends on North Korea’s sincere achievement of its promises in the Pyongyang declaration…I would not accept any remarks that counter these conditions,” Koizumi said Tuesday on the sidelines of a summit with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Phnom Penh.

2. DPRK-ROK Economic Talks

The Agence France-Presse (“SOUTH KOREA SENDS DELEGATION TO NORTH FOR ECONOMIC TALKS,” 11/06/02) reported that the ROK has sent a delegation to the DPRK to resume economic talks as scheduled despite tension over the communist country’s suspected nuclear weapons program. The fresh talks, aimed at stepping up inter-Korean economic cooperation projects, are scheduled to run for four days in North Korea until Saturday, the South’s unification ministry said Wednesday. The 35-member team led by Vice Finance and Economy Minister Yoon Jin-Shik left Seoul early Wednesday on a flight to Pyongyang via China, it said. The two Koreas have sped up work on relinking their cross-border railways, which have been cut for five decades, since initiating economic talks in August. Earlier this month, both Koreas also agreed to begin work on building an industrial site in North Korea from December. However, an admission by North Korea last month that it was enriching uranium as part of a nuclear weapons program has complicated economic exchanges. Negotiators will not be able to avoid the issue, unification ministry officials said. The North faces mounting US-led international pressure to drop the program which was disclosed by a US envoy who said the communist country had admitted to having run the nuclear program during his visit to Pyongyang. Washington has since accused Pyongyang of violating nuclear safeguard accords, and decided not to resume normalization talks for the time being. Seoul has urged Pyongyang to scrap it nuclear ambitions, but also calls for a peaceful solution to the issue and has been forging ahead with its policy of engaging the North.

3. DPRK Oil Shipment

The executive board of KEDO includes the United States, South Korea, Japan and the European Union. Kelly also raised doubts whether the United States, a major financier of KEDO, would countenance any future payments towards fuel oil for impoverished North Korea. “For next year though, I see very little support in the US Congress to continue providing these fuel shipments,” said Kelly. The regular fuel shipments were thrown into limbo last month when North Korea admitted in talks with Kelly that it was developing an enriched uranium nuclear program. “There is a shipment being loaded at this point as scheduled,” said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher earlier on Tuesday. “But I would have to say that the whole issue of delivery is still a matter under discussion between the US government and other members of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization,” he said. “No decision has been reached yet, but we would expect the board to decide shortly on how to proceed regarding oil shipments,” said Boucher.

4. DPRK on Missile Moratorium

The Agence France-Presse (“NORTH KOREA TO ‘RECONSIDER’ MISSILE MORATORIUM,” 11/06/02) reported that the DPRK warned it would “reconsider” its moratorium on missile tests if normalization talks with Japan failed to make progress. The DPRK’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as saying last week’s opening of normalization talks in Kuala Lumpur was a failure and blamed Japan. “Upon learning about the outcome of the talks, the relevant organs and people of the DPRK (are becoming increasingly assertive that it is necessary to reconsider various points related to security, including the nuclear and missile issues,” the spokesman said Tuesday. “The DPRK should reconsider the moratorium on the missile test fire in case the talks on normalizing the relations between the DPRK and Japan get prolonged without making any progress.” But Koizumi shrugged off the DPRK’s reported threat to possibly break its pledge to extend the moratorium beyond 2003. “I do not expect the North Koreans will trample on the fundamental principles and the spirit of that declaration,” Koizumi told reporters in Phnom Penh, where he was attending the annual Association of South East Asian Nations summit. “So we would not take seriously that sort of statement.”

5. DPRK on DPRK-US Relations

Korean Central News Agency (“US URGED TO DROP ITS ARROGANT ATTITUDE,” Pyongyang, 11/05/02) carried an editorial that read “the DPRK will never yield to the US unilateral and brigandish demand and high-handed offensive against it. Minju Joson, an organ of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly and the Cabinet, today says this in a signed commentary urging the US to sincerely approach the DPRK’s proposal for concluding a non-aggression treaty. The commentary accuses the US of persistently demanding the DPRK disarm itself first, while refusing to discard its unilateral and arrogant stand on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula. It goes on: US Secretary of State Powell recently called on Pyongyang to dismantle its nuclear and missile programs and reduce its conventional weapons and a spokesman for the National Security Council of the US administration turned down the proposals of the DPRK to hold negotiations for the peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula. This only laid bare the true aim sought by the US in its catcall over the nuclear issue of the DPRK. The US assertion for the DPRK’s disarming is unrealistic as it utterly disregarded the present DPRK-US relations. It is brigandish for the US to demand Pyongyang drop its weapons. This is little short of forcing the DPRK to put down its arms first and submit to the US surrender to the US means death. The US military moves to stifle the DPRK only compel the latter to make all military preparations to cope with them with a high degree of vigilance against them. The US demand will only further aggravate the situation on the Korean Peninsula as it is a product of its vicious hostile policy toward the DPRK. The US will be held wholly responsible for a new clash to be sparked by its unilateral and arrogant attitude. If the US truly wishes to see the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula peacefully settled, it should drop its unacceptable demand and opt for concluding a non-aggression treaty with the DPRK.”

6. DPRK on Ambassador Greg Visit

Korean Central News Agency (“AMERICANS VISIT DPRK,” Pyongyang, 11/05/02) carried a story that read “Donald P. Greg, president of the board Korea Associated in US and ex-US Ambassador to South Korea, and his party visited the DPRK from November 2 to 5. During their visit, they met first vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok Ju and other officials concerned and had a sincere and candid exchange of views on a number of issues of concern including the DPRK-US relations.”

7. US-ROK on DPRK Nuclear Issue

Associated Press (Soo-Jeong Lee, “US UNDERSECRETARY OF DEFENSE IN SEOUL TO DISCUSS NORTH KOREA’S NUCLEAR ISSUE,” Seoul, 11/05/02) reported that US Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith met top ROK officials and US military field commanders Wednesday to discuss wide-ranging security issues, including the DPRK’s recently disclosed nuclear weapons development program. Feith arrived in Seoul late Tuesday on an Asian trip that includes a stopover in Tokyo. The visit comes as the US is trying to muster international support for its campaign to pressure the DPRK to give up its nuclear ambitions. In Seoul on Wednesday, Feith met ROK Defense Minister Lee Jun and conferred with US and ROK military commanders who lead forces that are deployed as a deterrent against the DPRK. Commenting on Feith’s trip, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said in Washington Monday that he “will confer on the full range of security issues affecting our respective countries, including the war on terrorism, the ongoing effort in Afghanistan and the threat posed by North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction.” The United States is reportedly prodding the ROK to expand its support for the war in Afghanistan by dispatching a military engineering unit. A small ROK military medical unit operates in the war-devastated country.

8. PRC Domestic Politics

Reuters (“POLITICAL REFORM UNDER SPOTLIGHT AHEAD OF CHINESE CONGRESS,” Beijing, 11/06/02), The Agence France-Presse (“CHINESE POLITICAL DISSIDENTS PETITION PARTY CONGRESS,” 11/06/02), and Reuters (“CHINA DISSIDENTS CALL FOR TIANANMEN VERDICT REVERSAL,” Beijing, 11/06/02) reported that the PRC’s Communist Party chieftains faced calls for political reform and greater transparency from dissidents and top academics on Wednesday in the final countdown to a watershed congress this week. Nearly 200 PRC political activists signed an open letter urging the party to reverse its verdict on the 1989 pro-democracy protests at the 16th congress starting on Friday, when top leaders are due to retire, a human rights group said. Two of the nation’s top economists, prominent members of the establishment, also made a bold appeal for clearer rules on how and when party leaders step down as speculation mounted that party chief Jiang Zemin would retire in name only. On Tuesday, the party’s 325-member Central Committee approved a plan to add to its constitution Jiang’s “Three Represents” theory which analysts say sanctions admitting private entrepreneurs in an attempt to modernize the party.

9. PRC on Iraq

Reuters (“CHINA DISCUSSES IRAQ WITH ANNAN, US, FRANCE AND RUSSIA,” Beijing, 11/06/02) reported that Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan pushed for a speedy “political solution” to allow weapons inspectors back into Iraq in telephone calls on Wednesday with United Nations Security Council counterparts, state media said. Tang’s phone exchanges came as the Council, chaired this month by the PRC, was due to receive a revised resolution that gives Iraq a “final opportunity” to comply with its disarmament obligations and leaves the door open for a military strike. Tang talked separately with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, US Secretary of State Colin Powell and foreign ministers Igor Ivanov of Russia and Dominique de Villepin of France, the official Xinhua news agency said. Tang told them that the PRC “hopes all sides can continue to display a flexible and cooperative attitude during the course of the consultations” and reach an agreement to allow nuclear weapons inspectors to return to Iraq as soon as possible, it said. The Council could “thereby arrive at a political resolution to the Iraqi problem at an early date”, he said.

10. DPRK Oil Shipments

The Agence France-Presse (“OIL SHIPMENT TO NORTH KOREA GOES AHEAD DESPITE NUKE CRISIS,” 11/06/02) reported that an international consortium is preparing a new shipment of fuel oil to the DPRK under a 1994 deal despite renewed concerns over the DPRK’s nuclear weapons program, officials said here. The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) has already begun loading more than 40,000 tons of heavy fuel oil for November’s shipment to the DPRK. “The loading of the fuel oil is underway in Singapore,” a senior official from the Office of the Lightwater Reactor Project said Wednesday. “We are following the normal procedures as no decisions have yet been made as to whether to continue the energy assistance or to stop it,” he said. US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly raised doubts whether the US would countenance any future payments towards fuel oil for the DPRK. “For next year though, I see very little support in the US Congress to continue providing these fuel shipments,” Kelly said on Tuesday.

The Agence France-Presse (“US RAISES DOUBTS OVER NORTH KOREA FUEL SHIPMENT,” 11/06/02) The United States has raised doubts that North Korea would receive its latest oil shipment mandated by a 1994 arms control pact which Pyongyang said was nullified last month when it confessed to developing nuclear weapons. The deal, known as the Agreed Framework, was supposed to freeze Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program in exchange for the provision of two nuclear power reactors and half a million metric tonnes of fuel oil a year until their construction is complete. The State Department said Tuesday it was discussing the fate of a shipment of more than 40,000 metric tonnes, recently loaded onto a tanker in Singapore, with fellow members of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO). Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, who secured the nuclear confession from the DPRK during a visit to the Stalinist state last month, said that a meeting of KEDO next week would take up the issue. “There is a board meeting next Monday that’s going to decide whether that goes ahead,” said Kelly.

11. PRC Human Rights

Reuters (“AMNESTY: CHINA EXECUTED 46 PEOPLE AHEAD OF CONGRESS,” Beijing, 11/05/02) reported that the PRC executed 46 people in just two days last week following calls to intensify the fight against crime ahead of a pivotal Communist Party Congress, Amnesty International said Wednesday. Twenty-nine people were executed in the southwest city of Chongqing and on southern island of Hainan last Wednesday while 17 were executed in the town of Pingdingshan in the central province of Henan two days later, Amnesty said in statement. No immediate comment was available from PRC officials.

12. Japanese Activist Deported

Associated Press (Koxo Mizoguchi, “DETAINED ACTIVIST RETURNS TO JAPAN, CLAIMS ABUSIVE TREATMENT BY CHINESE,” Tokyo, 11/06/02) reported that a Japanese activist, deported from the PRC Wednesday for allegedly helping DPRK escape their homeland, claimed he was physically abused during his weeklong detention by PRC authorities. “They put handcuffs on my right hand. The other was shackled to my seat. I was told to sleep like this – unable to move at all,” said Hiroshi Kato, co-founder of Tokyo-based aid group Life Funds for North Korean Refugees. He said the PRC authorities also beat him and threatened to quietly turn him over to the DPRK government if he didn’t confess to their allegations. “It was outrageous that they tried to make it look like I had done things that I really hadn’t,” he said after arriving at Kansai International Airport in western Japan. The PRC government expelled Kato, 57, claiming he had helped DPRK refugees dash into foreign embassies in the PRCto seek asylum. Kato has denied the charges.

13. Powell ROK Trip Cancellation

Reuters (“POWELL CANCELS TRIP TO SOUTH KOREA, CITES IRAQ,” Washington, 11/06/02) reported that US Secretary of State Colin Powell has canceled a trip to Seoul next week because of his preoccupation with U.N. Security Council deliberations on Iraq, a State Department official said on Wednesday. The State Department had said that Powell would attend the second ministerial meeting of the Community of Democracies, which takes place in Seoul from Nov. 10 to 12. Assistant Secretary of State Paula Dobriansky will head the delegation in his place, the official said. Powell was reluctant to go all the way to the ROK for such a short time, officials said. He had considered side trips to PRC and Japan but the PRC is holding a party congress and the Japanese will also have a delegation in Seoul, they added.

II. Republic of Korea

1. DPRK Forces Reduction

Joongang Ilbo (Kim Min-seok, Lee Young-jong, “SEOUL OFFICIAL SAYS NORTH TO CUT ITS FORCES BY 10%,” Seoul, 11/06/02) reported that ROK government official said that DPRK is planning to reduce its armed forces by about 10 percent to free up labor needed for its economic reform measures. About 100,000 members of the Second Economic Commission, a part of DPRK’ s armed forces assigned to logistics and civil engineering, will soon be discharged, the official said, quoting DPRK intelligence sources in Beijing. The economic commission was established in the early 1970s to manage military logistics. The National Defense Commission, headed by the DPRK leader Kim Jong-il oversees the economic unit, which is responsible for the production and supply of military equipment, weapons and ammunition. It also runs an income-earning agricultural production and export business on the side. The official said that details of the timing and exact scale of the reduction have not been confirmed.

2. US Intermediary’s Visit to DPRK

Joongang Ilbo (“GREGG ARRIVES IN SEOUL AFTER NORTH KOREA TRIP,” Seoul, 11/06/02) reported that former US Ambassador to ROK Donald Gregg returned to Seoul late Tuesday after a four-day visit to DPRK. Interest was heightened in his visit because it coincided with a statement by DPRK that it would welcome a US. Mr. Gregg declined to answer questions as he arrived at Incheon International Airport via Beijing. A former journalist and an East Asia specialist at Johns Hopkins University, Don Oberdorfer, accompanied Mr. Gregg. Mr. Gregg’s visit was a private one; he was invited by DPRK Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan before the revelation of DPRK’s secret weapons program.

3. DPRK-Japan Relations

Joongang Ilbo (Kim Young-sae, “NORTH THREATENS TO RENEGE ON MISSILE TESTING BAN,” Seoul, 11/06/02) reported that DPRK’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Tuesday blamed Japan for the lack of progress on talks to normalize relations between the two countries, and said DPRK may reconsider its self-imposed moratorium on ballistic missile testing. Speaking through the state-run Korean Central News Agency, the unnamed spokesman said the spirit of trust between the two countries that was established when the leaders of the two countries met in September has suffered, as Japan has insisted, from “twisted logic.” The two sides agreed to continue talks this month, but tense words have been exchanged since the Malaysia meeting. The lack of progress has led DPRK to review several security issues, including “the nuclear and ballistic missile” issues, the spokesman told the press agency. The joint declaration released after the North-Japan summit in September referred to the possibility that the moratorium may be extended beyond 2003.

4. US-Japan-ROK Response to DPRK

Chosun Ilbo (Ju Yong-jung, “OIL SHIPMENT TO NK LOADS IN SINGAPORE,” Washington,” 11/06/02) reported that the Korea Energy Development Organization (KEDO), the multinational organization that administers a 1994 agreement between US and DPRK, is preparing to send a 46,000 ton-shipment of heavy oil, the November portion the US provides to DPRK, from Singapore, the New York Times reported Tuesday. As a member of the energy organization’s executive board, the US would prefer to suspend the shipment, but so far has failed to persuade other membership countries such as ROK, Japan and the European Union to agree, said the New York Times, quoting an official who said “KEDO works on a consensus basis,” and “The US alone can’t make this decision.” The official also mentioned that an executive board meeting is scheduled within two weeks. ROK government official said Tuesday that ROK, US and Japan would make a final decision whether to withhold November’s share of the heavy oil at the Japan-US-ROK Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG) meeting scheduled on November 8 and 9, as well as the KEDO executive board meeting.

5. US Undersecretary’s Visit to Seoul

Chosun Ilbo (by Kwon Kyung-bok, “US UNDERSECRETARY TO DISCUSS NK NUCLEAR ISSUE,” Seoul, 11/06/02) reported that under Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith will pay a two-day visit to Seoul, from Wednesday, to discuss current issues on the peninsula, including DPRK’s nuclear weapons program in separate meetings with Ministers Choi Seong-Hong and Lee Joon of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and National Defense. ROK government official said Feith will be coming here to confirm the agenda of US-Korea Security Counter Measure (SCM) talks to be held in Washington next month, but the major concern will be DPRK’s nuclear weapons program. Measures for DPRK to stop the nuclear program, with various views, will be discussed, he added. Feith will also visit Japan on Thursday to discuss the nuclear issue with his Japanese counterpart Shigeru Ishiba.

III. People’s Republic of China

1. PRC Commentary on Jiang’s visit to US and Participation in APEC

China Daily (“JIANG’S US VISIT, APEC MEETING A GREAT SUCCESS,” 10/31/02, P4) carried a commentary that PRC President Jiang Zemin’s visit to US and his participation in the 10th annual Economic Leaders’ Meeting of APEC forum in Mexico were a great success, citing an editorial in the People’s Daily. The article commented that on the eve of the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of PRC, the tour is a major diplomatic move. It said that both leaders emphasized that friendly and equal co-operation between PRC and US is of great significance to the two countries and the world at large. The article also said that the two leaders agreed to enhance high-level strategic dialogue and contact and to hold consultations at the vice foreign ministerial level on strategic security, arms control and anti-proliferation. At APEC, Jiang put forward important proposals for achieving common development and prosperity while delivering a popularly received speech on anti-terrorism. PRC’s positions received positive responses and support, the newspaper said. In conclusion, the editorial said that Jiang’s successful visit has great and far-reaching influence on promoting the development of constructive and cooperative Sino-US relations, enhancing the positive role of PRC in APEC and promoting regional peace and development.

2. ROK-DPRK Relations

People’s Daily (Gao Haorong, “DPRK ECONOMIC SURVEY TEAM ENDS VISIT TO ROK,” Seoul, 11/04/02, P3) reported that the DPRK economic survey team ended visit to ROK and left Seoul on November 3. The report said that DPRK team remarked thanks in a statement to ROK, saying that this visit has showed its own active will and efforts in implementing the North-South Joint Declaration. The statement said that the survey confirmed again the fact that DPRK and ROK belong to a whole in descent, language, culture and history and the whole Korean nationality will be admirable in the world as long as the national wisdom and strength got united. The survey was a result of the agreement that was arrived in bilateral economic cooperation talks in August this year, the report said. It also reported that the survey team was awarded warm welcome from all the visited local government and enterprises.

China Daily (“NEW KOREAN REUNIONS PROPOSED IN DECEMBER,” Seoul, 11/02-03/02, P4) reported that ROK proposed on November 1 to the DPRK that they co-sponsor another round of reunions in December for family members who have not seen each other for more than half a century. The report said that ROK made the proposal at the start of inter-Korean Red Cross talks, which opened on November 1 at the DPRK’s Mount Kumgang resort, and suggested that the reunions be staged from December 3 to 8. However, DPRK said it preferred to discuss building a permanent reunion center for separated family members at the mountain resort. The report said the DPRK delegation raised that idea at a plenary of the working-level Red Cross talks on November 1. It also said that building a permanent reunion center would mean that family reunions, which so far have been arranged sporadically, would become a regular event. In contrast, while DPRK was eager to begin building the center this year, ROK called for an agreement to hold reunions regularly before and during the center’s construction, said the report.

3. DPRK-Japan Relations

China Daily (“NO OBVIOUS PROGRESS MADE IN TOKYO-PYONGYANG TALKS,” Kuala Lumpur, 10/30/02, P1) reported that negotiators from Japan and DPRK ended their talks on October 29 in the Malaysian capital with no obvious progress. The report said that the talks came about as a result of a declaration signed at a September summit between Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and DPRK leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang. Japanese delegation spokesman briefed the press that both sides discussed issues such as the abduction of Japanese citizens by the DPRK and the scrapping of the DPRK’s nuclear-weapons program on the basis of the Pyongyang declaration. The spokesman said that while the DPRK showed willingness to discuss these issues, it requested negotiations on the normalization of diplomatic ties between the two countries and also asked for Japanese assistance as soon as possible. At the same time, DPRK chief negotiator told his Japanese counterpart at the opening of the talks that “there are differences over various views” and “there are issues which cannot be solved without co-operation”. Earlier attempts to normalize formal bilateral relations broke down two years ago when DPRK denied its role in the abductions of Japanese citizens decades ago. DPRK is also pressing for the settlement of issues stemming form Japan’s harsh 35-year colonial rule of the Korean peninsula that ended in 1945. Formal negotiations will resume on October 30, following working meetings attended by some delegates from both sides, as the report said.

4. PRC Response to DPRK-Japan Relations

China Daily (10/30/02, P1) reported that PRC welcomed the resumption of DPRK-Japan dialogue on October 29. The report said PRC Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in Beijing that both the DPRK and Japan are important close neighbors of PRC and PRC has always welcomed efforts made to improve Japan-DPRK ties and the eventual normalization of relations between the two countries.

5. PRC-DPRK Relations

People’s Daily (Xu Hongzhi and Zhang Jinjiang, “JIANG MET DPRK PRESIDENT,” Los Cabos, 10/29/02, P1) reported that Chinese President Jiang Zemin met DPRK president Kim Dae-Jung on October 27. It reported that Kim congratulated Jiang on his successful visit to the US and briefed Jiang of his views on the current situation in the Korean Peninsula. Jiang spoke highly of Kim’s important contribution to the development of bilateral relations, especially the establishment of Sino-ROK cooperative partnership. According to the report, Jiang stressed that it is PRC’s consistent position to safeguard peace and stability in the peninsula. The DPRK’s nuclear weapons issue has recently drawn concerns across the world, Jiang said, adding that PRC supports a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and hopes the DPRK and the US could solve their issues concerned through dialogue, said the report.

6. PRC-Russian Ties

People’s Daily (Xu Hongzhi and Zhang Jinjiang, “JIANG MET RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER,” Los Cabos, 10/29/02, P1) reported that Chinese President Jiang Zemin met with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mikhailovich Kasyanov on October 27 on the sidelines of the 10th annual Economic Leaders’ Meeting of the APEC forum. During the meeting, Jiang once again condemned the recent hostage-taking event in Moscow by Chechen separatists, voicing firm support for the action of the Russian government to crack down on separatism in Chechnya. Jiang spoke highly of the development of Sino-Russian relations. With concerted efforts by both sides, the Sino-Russian treaty on good-neighborliness and friendship is being implemented while the political, economic and social basis for Sino-Russian relations is becoming more solid, he said. The Russian prime minister said that the relations of good-neighborliness and friendship between Russia and PRC have developed smoothly to a new level. On Iraq and other issues of common concern, the two sides agreed that PRC and Russia have identical or similar positions on many major international issues, the report said.

7. PRC-Japan Relations

People’s Daily (Xu Hongzhi and zhang Jinjiang, “JIANG MET JAPAN’S PRIME MINISTER,” Los Cabos, 10/29/02, P1) reported that Chinese President Jiang Zemin met with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on October 27. Jiang recalled in the report that this year is the 30th anniversary of normalization of Sino-Japanese relations. The Chinese and Japanese peoples enjoy a long history of friendly exchanges, but there was a miserable part of history of aggression against PRC by Japanese militarists, which inflicted great sufferings on the Chinese people, Jiang said. PRC hopes that Japan could properly handle relevant issues in order that Sino-Japanese relations would remain friendly from generation to generation, Jiang added. According to the report, Koizumi said that on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of normalization of Japan-PRC relations, there were grand celebrations in both countries, indicating that there exists a firm basis for bilateral relations. All walks of life in Japan hope to further strengthen relations with PRC, he said. As for the war (of aggression against PRC), Koizumi said that the Japanese side will make a thorough introspection of it and holds that such a war should never recur, said the report.

8. DPRK-US Relations

People’s Daily (Zhang Jinfang, “PYONGYANG REJECTS WASHINGTON’S DEMAND TO SCRAP NUCLEAR PROGRAM,” 11/03/02, P3) reported that DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesman on November 2 rejected US’s demand to scrap DPRK’s nuclear weapons program, and stressed on reaching a non-aggression treaty between the two countries. The spokesman said that on October 25, DPRK proposed reaching a non-aggression treaty with US to solve the nuclear issue, a proposal that was turned down by the US, who instead asked DPRK to scrap the nuclear program in an “immediate and verifiable” way after consultations with ROK and Japan. Accusing US of intending to settle the issue to its own will, the spokesman said this will bring diplomatic pressure on DPRK thus would arise new conflicts between the two countries. “It is quite natural for the DPRK to produce various types of weapons by every possible means under the present situation when the DPRK and the United States are in the most hostile relationship,” the spokesman said. “Is there any need for the DPRK to exert such tremendous efforts for increasing the defense capability and even making special weapons, despite its difficult economic condition, if such hostile relations do not exist between the DPRK and the United States?” the spokesman asked. The spokesman also said that the best way to eliminate the tension on Korean Peninsula is to sign a bilateral non-aggression treaty.

IV. CanKor E-Clipping

1. CanKor #104

A North Korean advance team is in Ottawa to begin the process of establishing an embassy in Canada’s capital — a surprisingly under-publicized fact, given the prominence of recent DPRK-related news in the Canadian media. The APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit in Mexico issues a statement calling on the DPRK to abandon its nuclear programme, but falls short of the condemnation sought by US President George Bush. In response, the DPRK accuses the USA for pursuing a policy of pre-emptive attack, and justifies its nuclear weapons programme is a defence necessity until the DPRK and the USA conclude a non-aggression treaty. Both documents appear verbatim in this issue of CanKor. Normalization talks between Japan and the DPRK end without the hoped-for assurances, but the two sides nevertheless agree to meet again at the end of November. North and South Red Cross societies agree on joint construction plans for a centre to serve as a permanent place for family reunions. The Southern delegation also broaches the subject of South Korean abductees, insisting the issue be in the agenda at the next Red Cross meeting. The two Koreas forge ahead with other joint ventures, reaching agreement on a variety of issues related to the Kaesong industrial complex. Women of both North and South Korea meet at Kumgang mountain resort at a rally for peace on the Korean peninsula. It is the first time for such a large and representative gathering of women from both Koreas to meet on Korean soil. This week’s FOCUS presents the final statement and recommendations of the conference, as well as a South Korean report comparing the lives of women in North and South.

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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@online.ru
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
Clayton, Australia

 


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