NAPSNet Daily Report 11 August, 2010
Contents in this Issue:
1. Inter-Korea Relations
Arirang News (“KOREAN REUNIFICATION INDEX DECLINES FOR 2ND STRAIGHT YEAR”, Seoul, 2010/08/11) reported that according to the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University on Tuesday, its index which shows the feasibility of the overall integration of the ROK and the DPRK in political, economic, social and cultural aspects has declined for a second straight year. In 2008 the index dropped 61 points to 212.2 out of a total 1,000, with a high score indicating substantial integration. Last year it went down again to 198.6, dropping for two consecutive years for the first time, IPUS said.
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/08/11/2010081100882.html
2. Japan-DPRK Relations
Kyodo (“N KOREA SLAMS KAN FOR APOLOGIZING ONLY TO S.KOREA FOR COLONIZATION”, Pyongyang, 2010/08/11) reported that the DPRK on Wednesday criticized Prime Minister Naoto Kan for issuing an apology Tuesday only to the ROK over Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. ‘‘We can only judge that Japan wants to keep the division of the peninsula,’’ a DPRK official in charge of Japanese affairs said. ‘‘Besides, Japan has failed to settle the past with our country even 65 years after the end of World War II.’‘
http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/n-korea-slams-kan-for-apologizing-only-to-s-korea-for-colonization
3. Japanese Nuclear Policy
Mainichi Shimbun (“KAN’S REFERENCE TO NEED FOR NUCLEAR DETERRENCE HIGHLIGHTS POLICY DILEMMA”, Tokyo, 2010/08/10) reported that while the international move toward nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation gains momentum with several representatives from nuclear powers attending this year’s atomic-bomb ceremonies in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s reference to the need for “nuclear deterrence” has highlighted Japan’s dilemma over nuclear-related policy. Before suggesting that he would consider legislating the non-nuclear principles, Kan, speaking at the peace ceremony in Hiroshima, said Japan had a “moral responsibility to lead action toward realizing a world without nuclear weapons.” Afterwards, however, he told a news conference, “Continued nuclear deterrence is necessary for our country” — a remark that sparked criticism.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20100810p2a00m0na006000c.html
4. Japanese Nuclear Exports
Bloomberg News (“JAPAN NUCLEAR VENTURE TO TARGET MIDEAST IF VIETNAM EXPANSION IS SUCCESSFUL”, Tokyo, 2010/08/09) reported that Japanese companies led by Tokyo Electric Power, which last month formed a venture to jointly bid for nuclear contracts, will target the Middle East if their strategy is successful in Vietnam. “We learnt our lesson from our unsuccessful bid for the U.A.E. nuclear program,” Tsunehisa Katsumata, Tokyo Electric’s chairman, said in an interview today in Abu Dhabi, which is hosting a two-day Japan forum. “We decided to set up a ‘one-stop shop’ because we understand that is what emerging-market countries need.”
5. PRC Renewable Energy
China Daily (“JV WILL FOCUS MIRRORS TO LEVERAGE SUN”, 2010/08/11) reported that Beijing Zhonghang Airport General Equipment Co Ltd plans to set up a joint venture to invest in a concentrated solar power (CSP) equipment project worth 878 million yuan ($129.63 million) in Yuanling county of Hunan Province. While concentrated solar power plants are more cost-effective and more efficient than widely-used photovoltaic panel installations, they have seen little commercial use in China to date.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90778/90862/7100392.html