NAPSNet Daily Report 18 October, 2010
Contents in this Issue:
1. DPRK on Nuclear Talks
Global Times (Wang Zhaokun, “NORTH KOREA READY TO REJOIN NUCLEAR TALKS”, 2010/10/17) reported that the DPRK said Saturday that it is willing to rejoin the six-party nuclear disarmament talks, but at the same time warned that it would build up its armed forces should the US continue its military threat against it. The DPRK “remains unchanged in its will to implement the September 19 joint statement adopted at the Six-Party Talks for denuclearizing the whole Korean Peninsula,” the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as saying on condition of anonymity. The official was referring to a 2005 deal, confirmed by another accord in 2007, that offered to provide the DPRK with economic aid and security guarantees in exchange for its denuclearization.
http://world.globaltimes.cn/asia-pacific/2010-10/582880.html
2. Inter-Korean Relations
The JoongAng Daily (Christine Kim, “GOV’T DRAFTING PLAN FOR UNIFICATION TAX BY MID-2011: HYUN”, 2010/10/18) reported that the ROK Unification Minister Hyun In-taek, 56, said the government will come up with a tangible plan during the first half of next year to raise money for the unification of the DPRK and ROK. Although the Unification Ministry has been around for 41 years and is responsible for everything related to DPRK policies and unification, the ROK government has never drafted an official policy on how unification could or should come about. That will change in the next few months, Hyun said. “We are moving on a schedule that has selected groups and committees researching how unification will happen, and they will complete their analysis by this December or next January,” Hyun said.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2927296
3. Sino-Japanese Relations
The San Francisco Chronicle (CARA ANNA, “THOUSANDS IN CHINA, JAPAN RALLY OVER ISLAND CLAIMS”, Beijing, 2010/10/16) reported that thousands of Chinese marched in the streets in sometimes violent protests Saturday against Japan and its claim to disputed islands, a show of anger far larger than past protests over the competing territorial claims. The PRC government said the protests were “understandable” but that patriotism should be expressed in a rational way. Photos from the southwestern city of Chengdu and the central city of Zhengzhou showed hundreds of people marching with banners and signs protesting Japan’s claim on what the PRC calls the Diaoyu islands. Japan calls them the Senkaku islands.
4. US on PRC Export Controls
The Washington Post (John Pomfret, “U.S. SAYS CHINESE BUSINESSES AND BANKS ARE BYPASSING U.N. SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAN”, 2010/10/18) reported that the Obama administration has concluded that PRC firms are helping Iran to improve its missile technology and develop nuclear weapons, and has asked the PRC to stop such activity, a senior U.S. official said. During a visit to Beijing last month, a delegation led by Robert J. Einhorn, the State Department’s special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control, handed a “significant list” of companies and banks to their PRC counterparts, according to the senior US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue in US-PRC relations. The official said the Obama administration thinks that the companies are violating U.N. sanctions, but that the PRC did not authorize their activities.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/17/AR2010101703364.html
5. Russo-Japanese Nuclear Cooperation
Rianovosti (“RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES NUCLEAR COOPERATION DEAL WITH JAPAN”, Moscow, 2010/10/15) reported that the Russian government has approved an agreement with Japan on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy, according to a statement published on the government’s website. In line with the deal, Russia and Japan intend to exchange information concerning nuclear security, cooperate in the development of uranium deposits, designing, construction and operation of light-water nuclear reactors, and in disposing of nuclear waste.