CONTENTS
1. DPRK Envoy to UN
2. US on DPRK Biological Weapons
3. Kim Dae-jung’s Visit to Europe
4. US Strategic View of PRC
5. Taiwan Parliamentary Elections
II. Republic of Korea 1. DPRK Criticism of ROK-US Policy
2. EU Aid to DPRK
3. WHO Office in Pyongyang
4. DPRK-ROK Maritime Border
I. United States
1. DPRK Envoy to UN
The Associated Press (“N. KOREA APPOINTS NEW ENVOY TO UN,” Seoul, 11/19/01) reported that the DPRK’s official Central Radio said Monday that the DPRK has appointed vice foreign minister Park Kil Yon to replace Ri Hyong Chol as the DPRK’s new ambassador to the UN. Park, 58, served as the DPRK’s UN ambassador from 1985 to 1996. Since then, he has served as vice foreign minister handling Middle East and Asian affairs. The DPRK broadcast gave no reason why Park was selected again.
2. US on DPRK Biological Weapons
Reuters (“US ACCUSES IRAQ, IRAN OF VIOLATING GERM ARMS BAN,” Geneva, 11/19/01) reported that on Monday the US accused Iraq, the DPRK, and possibly Iran of violating the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, which banned weapons of germ warfare. The US has tabled a number of alternative proposals for tightening the Convention, including a call to member states to pass laws imposing severe penalties on anybody involved in activities violating the treaty as well as making it easier for those accused in another country to be extradited. US Under-Secretary for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton told the opening session of the three-week conference that the US believed the DPRK had developed, produced and may have weaponized germ warfare agents.
3. Kim Dae-jung’s Visit to Europe
Reuters (“KIM DAE-JUNG TO VISIT EUROPE IN DECEMBER,” Seoul, 11/19/01) reported that the ROK announced on Monday that ROK President Kim Dae-jung will visit Europe next month as part of efforts to bolster the peace process on the Korean peninsula. Kim’s December 2-12 tour of Britain, Norway and Hungary will also include a visit to the European Parliament, where he will ask the European Union (EU) to maintain its active engagement with the DPRK in support of the ROK. ROK Unification Minister Hong Soon-young told the National Assembly, “A lull in North-South ties is inevitable for the time being, with the North expected to take a hard-line stance toward the South driven by the North Korean domestic situation.”
4. US Strategic View of PRC
The Wall Street Journal (Jennifer Saranow, “CHINA, SOUTHEAST ASIA GAIN IN STATURE AS U.S. REASSESSES THEIR IMPORTANCE,” Hong Kong, 11/19/01) reported that former US Ambassador to Japan Michael H. Armacost, currently president of the Brookings Institution, and Os Guinness, a senior fellow at the Trinity forum in McLean, Virginia, said that Southeast Asia and the PRC have increased in strategic importance given the September 11 attacks. Guinness stated, “As we move into the next century and as China becomes a superpower, I think the biggest question is ‘what will be the vision and values that guide China in the future?’ It’s clearly in a state of nation building.” He said that it was important that a value system emerges in the PRC that embraces modernity and provides an ethical foundation for capitalism. During a speech in Hong Kong, Armacost stated, “I think the tone of [the] relationship, [a] more businesslike relationship, has taken deeper root. I think it will be easier for us to deal with China.” He suggested that the PRC’s swift condemnation of the September 11 attacks and its offer to share intelligence was prompted by several factors: the PRC’s struggle to deal with its own Muslim separatists in western Xinjiang; the alignment of US policy with its own toward Pakistan; as well as happiness to “have the U.S. worried about some threat other than the China threat.” However, Armacost emphasized that the PRC was unlikely to welcome any increased US military presence in the region. [Ed. note: This article appeared in the US Department of Defense’s Early Bird news service for November 19, 2001.]
5. Taiwan Parliamentary Elections
Reuters (Benjamin Kang Lim, “TAIWAN EYES POST-ELECTION POLITICAL REALIGNMENT,” 11/18/01) reported that with Taiwan’s parliamentary polls just two weeks away, calls have surfaced for Taiwan’s main opposition Nationalist Party to merge with the People First Party and the New Party in a post-election political realignment to increase its chances of recapturing the presidency in 2004. The December elections are expected to result in the Nationalists losing their parliamentary majority for the first time in history. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has 66 seats and is hoping to get at least 80 seats in December’s poll. A DPP leader said if the Nationalists merged with the two smaller parties, it would further polarize politics on the island. An unnamed Nationalist spokesperson said that debate over political realignments should be deferred until after the elections.
II. Republic of Korea
1. DPRK Criticism of ROK-US Policy
The Korea Herald (Hwang Jang-jin, “NORTH STEPS UP CRITICISM AGAINST SEOUL- WASHINGTON COORDINATION,” 11/19/01) reported that the DPRK is stepping up its criticism of the policy coordination between the US and the ROK after the recent inter-Korean cabinet talks broke down last week. On November 16, the DPRK’s official radio station said that the ROK’s emergency alert on possible terrorist attacks was taken in accordance with the US’ antagonistic policy toward the DPRK. The Korea Central News Agency, another official medium of the DPRK, also raised criticism against the joint military drill between the ROK and the US, saying, “Talks and war game can’t go along with each other.”
2. EU Aid to DPRK
The Korea Herald (Hwang Jang-jin, “EU TO BEGIN TRAINING COURSE FOR NORTH KOREA NEXT YEAR,” 11/19/01) reported that ROK officials said Monday that the European Union (EU) plans to put into action a 5 million euro (US$4.3 million) program to teach DPRK citizens about the market economy, energy industry and agriculture next year. The DPRK and the EU agreed on the technological cooperation program when Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson visited Pyongyang in May. An official at the Foreign Ministry said that the educational program would focus on providing the DPRK with expertise in the market economy and technology related to energy and agriculture.
3. WHO Office in Pyongyang
The Korea Herald (“WHO HEAD ARRIVES IN N. KOREA, 11/19/01) reported that DPRK Central TV said on November 17 that Gro Harlem Brundtland, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), arrived in the DPRK to attend the opening of the WHO’s country office in Pyongyang. The DPRK media company said the WHO chief will meet with Kim Yong-nam, chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, and other officials to discuss the overall health situation in the DPRK, and the possibility of future cooperation and investments in the field. Brundtland will stay in Pyongyang for four days and then visit the ROK for two days. She is expected to meet President Kim Dae-jung, and Minister of Health and Welfare Kim Won-gil, as well as other ROK officials.
4. DPRK-ROK Maritime Border
Joongang Ilbo (Kim Hee-sung, “N.K. PATROL SHIP VIOLATES NLL YET AGAIN,” Seoul, 11/18/01) reported that the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that a patrol ship from the DPRK crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) by about 1.8 nautical miles at 8:35 on the morning of November 18, some 6.5 miles northwest of Baekryung Island, and headed back to the DPRK around 9:11 AM. A JCS officer said that Navy high-speed patrol boats intercepted the vessel and issued warnings via loud speakers. The officer said, “We didn’t spot any military moves from the patrol boat. The patrol boat instead, returned home after cracking down on the Chinese fishing boats around the area.”
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