NAPSNet Daily Report 17 August, 2010

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"NAPSNet Daily Report 17 August, 2010", NAPSNet Daily Report, August 17, 2010, https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-daily-report/napsnet-daily-report-17-august-2010/

NAPSNet Daily Report 17 August, 2010

Previous day’s Issue

Contents in this Issue:

1. ROK Policy Toward DPRK

Chosun Ilbo (“HOW REUNIFICATION COST IS CALCULATED”, Seoul, 2010/08/17) reported that the ROK Unification Ministry on Monday explained how the government estimates the cost of reunification, saying the estimates factor in “all expenses needed in the process, from unifying two different political systems to integration and stabilization.” The total includes the estimated cost of crisis management in the initial stage of reunification for emergency food and medical supplies for the DPRK. The cost of integrating the political, military, economic and social systems of the two Koreas after reunification would also be huge. A government official said money will be needed, for instance, to provide soldiers in both parts with the same uniforms. But the biggest issue would be the currency union.

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/08/17/2010081700912.html

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2. DPRK Military

Agence France-Presse (“N.KOREA FLEW DRONE OVER SENSITIVE BORDER: S.KOREA”, Seoul, 2010/08/17) reported that the DPRK flew an unmanned plane after it fired a volley of shells near the disputed sea border with the ROK last week, an official said Tuesday. “The North flew a drone, possibly for surveillance, after it fired artillery shells Monday last week into waters in the Yellow Sea,” the military official was quoted as saying by a Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman. “This seven-metre (23-foot)-wide drone hovered over the North’s waters, keeping a very low altitude, some 20 kilometres (13 miles) north of Yeonpyeong islands,” the official said. “It might be a surveillance drone or a decoy” aimed at disturbing the ROK’s radars and surveillance aircraft, he said.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/7777172/n-korea-flew-drone-over-sensitive-border-s-korea/

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3. ROK Nuclear Fuel

Yonhap (“KEPCO-LED CONSORTIUM TO RE-EXPLORE CANADIAN URANIUM BLOCK”, Seoul, 2010/08/17) reported that Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), the ROK’s state-run power company, said Tuesday that a consortium-led by KEPCO has signed a deal to explore a uranium block in central Canada for the second time. Under the deal with Canadian uranium explorer Fission Energy Corp., the consortium will carry out a detailed exploration of the uranium block near Waterbury Lake in Saskatchewan Province, Canada over the next three years, KEPCO said in a statement.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2010/08/17/42/0501000000AEN20100817003400320F.HTML

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4. Japan-India Nuclear Cooperation

Indian Express (Pranab Dhal Samanta, “TOKYO TO DELHI: WE NEED MORE ASSURANCES FOR N-DEAL”, New Delhi, 2010/08/17) reported that talks between India and Japan on a civil nuclear cooperation agreement have run into trouble after this year’s Nagasaki declaration specifically criticized the Japanese government for launching negotiations with India. Under severe domestic pressure,Tokyo has now conveyed that New Delhi’s non-proliferation commitments to Washington as per the Indo-US 123 agreement are not enough.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Tokyo-to-Delhi–We-need-more-assurances-for-n-deal/661170

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5. Cross Strait Relations

Agence France-Presse (“TAIWAN ‘CLOSELY MONITORING’ CHINA’S MILITARY BUILD-UP”, Taipei, 2010/08/17) reported that Taiwan said Tuesday it was “closely monitoring” the PRC’ss arms build-up following a US government report warning that the PRC’s military advantage over the island was growing. “China has not given up the use of force against Taiwan, and we are closely monitoring China’s military developments. We ask the public to be rest assured,” defence ministry spokesman Yu Sy-tue told AFP. In an annual report to Congress, the Pentagon said Monday that the PRC’s military build-up against Taiwan has “continued unabated” despite improving political relations. “The balance of… military forces continues to shift in the mainland’s favor,” the report said.

http://www.mysinchew.com/node/43456