NAPSNet Daily Report 24 October, 2002

Recommended Citation

"NAPSNet Daily Report 24 October, 2002", NAPSNet Daily Report, October 24, 2002, https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-daily-report/napsnet-daily-report-24-october-2002/

 
CONTENTS

I. United States

1. ROK DPRK Nuclear Diplomacy
2. PRC Foreign Policy
3. PRC-US Summit
4. PRC on PRC and US Role on Weapons Proliferation
5. ROK on DPRK Nuclear Issue
6. PRC-US on Export Controls
II. Japan 1. US Bases in Japan
2. Yasukuni Issue
3. Japan-US-DPRK Relations
4. Japan ODA Reform
5. Emperor’s Wartime Responsibility

I. United States

1. ROK DPRK Nuclear Diplomacy

The New York Times (Don Kirk, “SEOUL TO URGE TALKS TO DEAL WITH A-ARMS IN NORTH KOREA,” Seoul, 10/23/02) reported that ROK President Kim Dae Jung today signaled the conciliatory approach that aides said he would advocate when he discusses the DPRK nuclear threat on Saturday in Mexico with President Bush and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan. Kim said dialogue with the DPRK was “the only way to resolve this matter,” according to a spokesman, who quoted him as adding, “I hope you understand this.” Kim carefully dismissed both military action and economic sanctions, the two approaches that he said were the only alternatives to dialogue. “Military action can result in great tragedy,” he said. “Nobody wants that.” Economic sanctions, he added, would give the DPRK “the freedom for nuclear responses.” US ambassador to Korea, Thomas C. Hubbard, said at an economic forum here on Tuesday that there was “very little basis for trust and confidence that dialogue will lead to a solution.” However, “If you disavow the agreed framework, the North Koreans are not obligated to inspections of stored fuel from the experimental reactor that was shut down in 1994,” said Scott Snyder, representative of the Asia Foundation here and author of a book on negotiating with the North. [This article of the New York Times appeared in today’s edition of the US Department of the Defense’s Early Bird news summary.]

2. PRC Foreign Policy

The Washington Post (John Pomfret, “CHINA EMBRACES MORE MODERATE FOREIGN POLICY; ANALYSTS SAY MOVES SHOW NEW CONFIDENCE,” Beijing, 10/24/02) carried an analytical commentary that reported that exhibiting new self-confidence and unprecedented acceptance of US power in the world, the PRC has embraced a more moderate, engaged foreign policy than ever before, according to PRC and US officials and analysts. In the past two weeks, the PRC has moved to establish additional rules to control the export of missile technology and dual-use biological and chemical agents and has tightened military export regulations, seeking to remove long- standing irritants in relations with Washington. The PRC used to shun multilateral organizations, for instance, and now it embraces them. Globalization was once a dirty word in Beijing, qualified as a US plot to rule the world; now the PRC, increasingly a global manufacturing center, welcomes it. The new buzzword from senior PRC diplomats and scholars, repeated in several interviews, is that “time is on China’s side.” “Chinese foreign policy is maturing,” said Kenneth Lieberthal, a National Security Council official responsible for Asia under the second Clinton administration. “It now sees itself as a major player with the confidence and perspective that comes from that.” [This article of the Washington Post appeared in today’s edition of the US Department of the Defense’s Early Bird news summary.]

3. PRC-US Summit

The Washington Post (Glenn Kessler and Karen DeYoung, “N. KOREA PUTS EDGE ON VISIT TO BUSH,” 10/24/02) reported that the visit of PRC President Jiang Zemin to President Bush’s ranch in Texas tomorrow was intended as a sentimental send-off for the 76-year- old PRC leader as he prepares for his expected retirement next month. But the disclosure that the DPRK has a secret nuclear weapons program has turned the largely social visit into a high- stakes discussion over how to manage this new crisis. “The Chinese have influence,” one senior official said. “We think it’s important that they use it.” After a 24-hour visit to Chicago, Jiang arrived in Houston yesterday. He was to tour NASA’s Johnson Space Center today, then attend a dinner with former president George H.W. Bush, who lives in Houston. During the visit to President Bush’s ranch in Crawford on Friday, Bush and Jiang will meet for 90 minutes before breaking for a two-hour lunch with first lady Laura Bush and Jiang’s wife, Wang Yeping. Currently, there are no plans for a communique, although the two leaders will hold a joint news conference after their meetings. Bush has pressed for the resumption of senior defense discussions between US and PRC officials. “By and large, the relationship [with China] is in good shape,” national security adviser Condoleezza Rice told reporters yesterday, citing healthy trade relations and cooperation on counterterrorism as well as progress on “difficult issues” such as proliferation and human rights. “The stewardship of the relationship has been good, and the two presidents have a good relationship.” [This article of the Washington Post appeared in today’s edition of the US Department of the Defense’s Early Bird news summary.]

4. PRC on PRC and US Role on Weapons Proliferation

Agence France-Presse (“JIANG SEEKS CLOSER CHINA-US COOPERATION ON TERRORISM AND KOREA PEACE,” 10/25/02) reported that PRC President Jiang Zemin said that the PRC and the United States should step up cooperation to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction and maintain peace on the Korean peninsula. But Jiang pointedly did not name the DPRK or Iraq in a speech to college students here one day ahead of a summit with US President George W. Bush, expected to be dominated by the DPRK’s secret development of nuclear weapons revealed last week. “To prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction, maintain peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, South Asia and the Middle East, and protect the world environment, these are major issues of concern to the people the world over,” Jiang said in a speech in English. “China and the US ought to step up consultation and cooperation in these fields, for this serves the common interests of the two countries,” he told students at the George Bush Presidential Library. “China will continue to step up its consultation and cooperation with the US on counter-terrorism and join the rest of the world in the concerted fight against this common scourge,” he said.

5. ROK on DPRK Nuclear Issue

Agence France-Presse (“S.KOREA RIFT WIDENS OVER PYONGYANG NUCLEAR PROGRAM,” 10/25/02) reported that a rift between the ROK and the US over North Korea’s nuclear program widened with officials here questioning US motives and candor in its dealings with the DPRK. The US revealed last week that the DPRK had admitted it was running a clandestine nuclear weapons program in violation of a 1994 arms control deal. The DPRK also declared the 1994 deal, the Agreed Framework, “nullified,” according to the US account of the visit by envoy James Kelly to Pyongyang earlier this month. But top ROK officials are now suggesting that the US may have misunderstood or even distorted its account of Kelly’s meeting with the DPRK’s First Vice Foreign Minsiter Kang Sok-Ju, who made the confession. “It seems that Kang’s remarks have been trimmed while they were being conveyed (to the outside world by the US side),” Unification Minister Jeong Se-Hyun said Thursday. “It could be seen as if the DPRK had gone for brinkmanship as some of the clauses (in Kang’s statement to Kelly) have been dropped off,” he said in a radio interview. “The North is said to have declared the Agreed Framework nullifed but I wonder whether the statement was made without any preconditions. There is a possibility that the North might have meant the agreement would be at peril if this or that happens.” ROK President Kim Dae- Jung’s top aide on North Korea, Lim Dong-Won, went further than Jeong, suggesting that the US government was seeking to put the brakes on ROK and Japan’s efforts to improve ties with the DPRK. At a Wednesday meeting between President Kim and five presidential candidates, Lim questioned the timing of the US revelation about the DPRK’s atomic program. “It coincided with the time when Japan was preparing a visit to Pyongyang by Prime Minister (Junichiro) Koizumi and the two Koreas were set to start work to restore the inter-Korean railway,” Lim said. But the ROK presidential office later denied that Lim was suspicious about the US timing. “Lim just explained the fact … but he himself never raised any questions about when the United States raised the nuclear issue,” it said in a statement.

Agence France-Presse (“SOUTH KOREA’S KIM EMBARKS ON CRUCIAL MISSION TO AVERT NUCLEAR CRISIS,” 10/24/02) reported that ROK President Kim Dae-Jung left here for summit talks in Mexico with President George W. Bush after delivering an apparent snub to the US leader over the DPRK’s nuclear program. ROK officials said Kim would expand on the DPRK’s position to resolve the crisis through dialogue when he meets Bush and other leaders at the annual Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. “The three-way summit will become a crucial forum to have in-depth consultations on how to cope with North Korea’s nuclear problem,” presidential spokeswoman Park Sun-Sook said Thursday. An assertive Kim is demanding that the ROK take the lead in the crisis, steering the situation away from confrontation, and has ruled out economic sanctions against the DPRK. “What I firmly believe is that it should be settled through dialogue, not economic sanctions or war,” Kim said Wednesday after four days of tough cabinet-level talks between the two Koreas.

6. PRC-US on Export Controls

Reuters (“U.S. AND CHINA STILL AT ODDS OVER ARMS TRANSFERS,” Washington, 10/24/02) reported that despite issuing new export controls on missiles, the PRC has resisted US demands to resolve other proliferation differences, meaning the US will not lift arms-related sanctions in connection with this week’s Sino- American summit, US officials said on Wednesday. The PRC was eager to have the US lift a ban on launching US satellites on PRC rockets in time for the summit between President George W. Bush and PRC leader Jiang Zemin but it is not expected to happen. “We have seen real progress on a couple of the issues that we laid out as needing action and we have not seen progress on several others,” one senior official said. One positive development includes a commitment by PRC authorities that the CMEC Machinery and Electrical Import Export Company — a company under US sanctions — “would not be eligible to export” under the new export rules, he said. Still, “we continue to see activities (that) suggest Chinese entities are exporting missile-related technologies to countries like Pakistan or Iran or Libya,” he added, without going into detail.

II. Japan

1. US Bases in Japan

Kyodo (“GOVERNMENT TO PAY 2.75 BILLION YEN OVER BASE NOISE,” Yokohama, 10/17/02) reported that in a landmark noise-pollution case, the Yokohama District Court ordered the Japanese government to pay about 2.75 billion yen in compensation to 4,935 residents around the Atsugi military base in Kanagawa Prefecture. Referring to the Weighted Equivalent Continuous Perceived Noise Level (WECPNL), an international environmental index used to gauge airplane noise, presiding Judge Tamio Okamitsu said residents in an area where noise levels exceed 75 WECPNL “suffer (noise levels) beyond the tolerable limit.” The noise index was not recognized in a previous noise-pollution lawsuit. Okamitsu said soundproofing measures carried out by the government have not solved the problem. He also dismissed the government’s claim that the compensation figure should be reduced because residents chose to live around the base knowing there could be noise problems. The ruling marks a record-high compensation award related to noise from a military base. This was the third noise-related lawsuit involving the base, which is used by both the US Navy and the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF). The ruling follows the outcome of similar suits over US bases in Yokota, Tokyo, and Kadena, Okinawa Prefecture, and a Japanese base in Ishikawa Prefecture.

2. Yasukuni Issue

The Japan Times (“89 LAWMAKERS PAY TRIBUTE AT YASUKUNI AUTUMN FESTIVAL,” 10/19/02) reported that Takeo Hiranuma, minister of economy, trade and industry, joined 88 fellow lawmakers to pay tribute at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo during an annual autumn festival. The politicians, members of a nonpartisan Diet group promoting visits to the Shinto shrine, included former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori. The Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Taku Yamasaki and his predecessor, Makoto Koga, as well as Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of the New Conservative Party, visited the controversial war memorial. Other participants included members of both houses of the Diet from the LDP and the New Conservative Party, as well as the Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Party. Koga, chairman of the Japan War-Bereaved Families Association, which advocates an increase in welfare assistance to families of the war dead, said after paying his respects that he hopes prime ministers will be able to visit the shrine whenever they want to. An advisory panel to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda is considering the possibility of creating a new memorial facility for Japan’s war dead to ease tension with neighboring countries, but Koga dismissed the idea, saying, “Yasukuni Shrine is indeed the only (war) memorial facility.”

3. Japan-US-DPRK Relations

The Japan Times (“KAWAGUCHI URGES PEACEFUL APPROACH,” 10/19/02) reported that Japan hopes the US will not resort to force in dealing with efforts by the DPRK to develop a nuclear weapons program, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said. “The United States has said it will resolve the issue peacefully,” Kawaguchi said. “This is an issue that the international community shares, and our country will take up the issue. But we also hope the United States will deal with the matter peacefully.”

4. Japan ODA Reform

The Japan Times (“LDP GROUP CALLS FOR REVIEW, REVAMP OF ODA FRAMEWORK,” 10/19/02) reported that a working group set up within the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to examine official development assistance reform is calling for the general framework for ODA to be altered, according to a draft paper obtained by Kyodo News. The draft paper states that the basic objective of ODA should be redefined and that aid strategy toward Asia must be re-established. The draft also says ODA must be used for human security purposes and to establish peace after a conflict has ended. The group also wants the functions of a director general-level liaison council on ODA among related government ministries and agencies to implement ODA strategically. The LDP team, led by former Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, hopes to come up with a final plan by the end of the year.

5. Emperor’s Wartime Responsibility

The Japan Times (“MACARTHUR-EMPEROR DOCUMENT MADE PUBLIC,” 10/18/02) reported that the Japanese Foreign Ministry released a document detailing the first meeting between Emperor Showa (Hirohito) and US Gen. Douglas MacArthur in 1945. The ministry said it is the first time a complete written account of the meeting, which took place Sept. 27, 1945, at the US Embassy, has been released. The document does not feature any allusions by the Emperor to his wartime responsibility. The document also states that MacArthur talked about the war in strong terms for the first 20 minutes of the 37-minute meeting. According to the document, Emperor Showa said he and the Japanese people understood the reality of Japan’s defeat. He also said he hoped to carry out the stipulations of the Potsdam Declaration, voicing intent to build a new postwar system.

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Ilmin Internationl Relations Institute
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Department of Political Science, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Center for American Studies,
Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

International Peace Research Institute (PRIME),
Meiji Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan

Monash Asia Institute,
Monash University, Clayton, Australia

Brandon Yu: napsnet@nautilus.org
Berkeley, California, United States

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

Kim Young-soo: yskim328@hotmail.com
Seoul, Republic of Korea

Hibiki Yamaguchi: hibikiy84@hotmail.com
Tokyo, Japan

Saiko Iwata: saiko@akira.ne.jp
Tokyo, Japan

Hiroya Takagi: hiroya_takagi@hotmail.com
Tokyo, Japan

Peter Razvin: icipu@online.ru
Moscow, Russian Federation

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

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

John McKay: John.McKay@adm.monash. edu.au
Clayton, Australia

 


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