NAPSNet Daily Report 09 July, 1998

Recommended Citation

"NAPSNet Daily Report 09 July, 1998", NAPSNet Daily Report, July 09, 1998, https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-daily-report/napsnet-daily-report-09-july-1998/

IN TODAY’S REPORT:

I. United States

I. United States

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1. US Troops on Korean Peninsula

Reuters (“U.S. FORESEES COMBAT PRESENCE IN ANY FUTURE KOREA,” Washington, 07/09/98) reported that US Defense Secretary William Cohen on Thursday, at a joint news conference with his visiting ROK counterpart, Cheon Yong- taek, said that the US expects to maintain combat troops on the Korean Peninsula indefinitely. Cohen stated, “We think that should continue … even if there is … a unification of the two Koreas.” He added that ROK President Kim Dae-jung has expressed support for a continued US presence even after any Korean unification. He stated, “We are forward-deployed in various parts of the globe, but we are there at the request and with the consent of the host government. The host government in this particular case believes it’s in their interests and our interests to have our combat forces there working together.” Cohen also defended the continued US troop presence in Japan, saying that any pullout would create a dangerous power “vacuum” that might “be filled in a way that would not enhance stability but detract from it.”

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2. ROK-DPRK Economic Cooperation

The Associated Press (“S. KOREA HYUNDAI EXECS GET OK TO VISIT N. KOREA LATER IN MO.,” Seoul, 07/09/98) reported that the ROK government on Thursday gave approval to officials of Hyundai Group to freely visit the DPRK to discuss sightseeing tours. Also on Thursday, Hyundai said it would send a 33-member delegation to the DPRK later this month to discuss details of the tourism project agreed upon during Hyundai chairman Chung Ju-yung’s recent visit to the DPRK. The Hyundai officials will discuss other joint-venture proposals as well, including a potential project to relocate some of Hyundai’s surplus facilities in the DPRK to assemble subcompact cars.

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3. ROK-Russian Spying Row

Reuters (“FOCUS-RUSSIA SAYS MAY RETALIATE IN KOREA SPY ROW,” Moscow, 07/09/98) reported that Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir Rakhmanin said on Thursday that Russia was pondering further moves against the ROK following the ROK’s expulsion of a Russian diplomat. Rakhmanin stated, “We are seriously thinking about this. The Korean side has worsened the situation, now it’s our turn to answer.” He said that Russia was also reviewing the ROK’s request for a meeting between the two countries’ foreign ministers to try to end tensions over the issue. An ROK Foreign Ministry spokesman said earlier on Thursday that the ministry was trying to arrange a meeting between ROK Foreign Minister Park Chung- Soo and Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov at the ASEAN Regional Forum on July 27 in Manila.

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4. Alleged Technology Transfers to PRC

The New York Times (Eric Schmitt, “REPORT CONCLUDES CHINA UNLIKELY TO HAVE RECOVERED COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE DATA,” Washington, 07/09/98) reported that a US National Security Agency review has concluded that encoded circuit boards that disappeared after a failed launching of a US communications satellite in the PRC two years ago most likely were destroyed in the crash. The review stated, “It is highly unlikely that the devices survived the crash because of the crash impact and high temperatures produced by burning rocket propellants.” It added that, even if the PRC had recovered the microprocessor chips, “It is highly unlikely that these items could have been recovered in sufficient detail” to enable the PRC to reproduce them.

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5. Nuclear Waste Shipment

The San Francisco Chronicle (Michael Hytha, “PROTESTERS HIT NUCLEAR CONTAINERS,” 07/09/98) reported that anti-nuclear groups said Wednesday that casks carrying spent nuclear fuel rods from the ROK to the Bay Area this month are not as safe as US officials claim. US Department of Energy officials pointed to tests demonstrating that the casks are virtually indestructible, but protesters charged that the tests were done on casks of a different size and shape than the casks that will be used in upcoming shipments. Lee Dazey, northern Nevada director for Citizen Alert, argued, “Those tests were done on obsolete models and can only yield obsolete results.” Citizen Alert also asserted that the tests did not account for such factors as the heat and pressure generated by the highly radioactive bomb-grade uranium. Meanwhile, the California Coastal Commission argued that the Energy Department has not adequately studied the risks of an accident involving the ship carrying the casks.

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Produced by the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable Development in partnership with:
The Center for Global Communications, Tokyo, Japan
Center for American Studies,
Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

Wade L. Huntley: napsnet@nautilus.org
Berkeley, California, United States

Timothy L. Savage: napsnet@nautilus.org
Berkeley, California, United States

Choi Chung-moon: cily@star.elim.co.kr
Seoul, Republic of Korea

Hiroyasu Akutsu: akutsu@glocomnet.or.jp
Tokyo, Japan

Peter Razvin: icipu@glas.apc.org
Moscow, Russian Federation

Chunsi Wu: dlshen@fudan.ac.cn
Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

Dingli Shen: dlshen@fudan.ac.cn
Shanghai, People’s Republic of China


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