NAPSNet Daily Report 26 October, 1999

 
CONTENTS

I. United States

II. Announcements

I. United States

1. US-ROK Military Exercises

The Associated Press (“U.S.-S.KOREA MILITARY WORK BEGINS,” Seoul, 10/26/99) reported that the US and the ROK on Tuesday began their annual Foal Eagle joint military exercise. About 500,000 ROK and 30,000 U.S. troops will be involved in sea, land and air drills aimed at repelling a possible attack by the DPRK. This year’s exercise will last 11 days, and is the 38th since 1961. The US military command said in a statement that the exercise “is designed to test rear area protection operations and major command, control and communications systems.” A third of the US troops taking part in the exercise are stationed in the ROK, and the rest come from bases on Okinawa, in the US and elsewhere. Also taking part are a number of warships from the US 7th Fleet, including the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk.

Reuters (“NORTH KOREA SAYS US-S.KOREA EXERCISES STAB IN BACK,” Seoul, 10/26/99) reported that the DPRK’s official Korean Central News Agency quoted an unnamed foreign ministry spokesman as denouncing the US- ROK Foal Eagle exercises. The spokesman said that the exercise is “a perfidious act of abandoning trust in its dialogue partner and stabbing him in the back.” He added, “This once again glaringly reveals [the US] double-dealing tactics of showing a carrot in the dialogue and preparing a stick behind the scenes.”

2. Remains of US Soldiers from Korean War

Pacific Stars and Stripes (Richard Roesler, “C-17 AIRCREW GETS GLIMPSE OF ‘THIRD WORLD’ N. KOREA,” Yokota Air Base, 10/27/99, 2) reported that a US Air Force C-17 plane’s crew landed in Pyongyang on Monday to receive the remains of four US soldiers killed during the Korean War. Captain Rich Nesmith stated, “It looked Third World. It looked like Haiti.” Captain Fred Boehm stated, “We bought some postcards in the terminal. They took American dollars.” Boehm said that air navigation was not difficult and that the DPRK air traffic controllers spoke English. He added, “I’ve flown into a lot of places in Africa, and some Third World countries, and it was similar.” [Ed. note: This article was included in the US Department of Defense’s Early Bird news service for October 26.]

3. US Military Bases in Japan

The Associated Press (“DIOXIN FOUND NEAR US BASE IN JAPAN,” Tokyo, 10/26/99) reported that Kenji Sato, an official at the Japanese Environment Agency, said Tuesday that levels of carcinogenic dioxin were dangerously high near the US Atsugi Naval Air Facility outside Tokyo. Sato said that a study conducted in July and August by the Japanese government and the US Navy found dioxin levels as high as 7.4 picograms per cubic meter, almost 10 times the accepted level set by the Japanese government.

4. Japanese Nuclear Policy

The Christian Science Monitor (Nicole Gaouette, “NUCLEAR TALKS STIRS THINGS UP IN JAPAN,” 10/26/99) reported that the Japanese government on Monday pressured former vice minister of defense Shingo Nishimura to cancel a press conference on his controversial remarks on Japanese nuclear policy. In a statement read by his secretaries, Nishimura said that the government had asked him not to appear so that the controversy over his comments would not overshadow the new session of the Diet that starts Friday. Takashi Mikuriya, a political history professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo, predicted, “[Japanese Prime Minister Keizo] Obuchi’s approval rating will start to fall.” Mikuriya attributed Nishimura’s appointment to the maneuverings of Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa, who recently formed a coalition with Obuchi’s Liberal Democratic Party. Mikuriya stated, “Ozawa knew Nishimura’s blunt style would draw public attention to defense issues. He wanted that. Most people expected Nishimura to resign at some point because of his inappropriate remarks, but no one thought it would happen so soon.” [Ed. note: This article was included in the US Department of Defense’s Early Bird news service for October 26.]

5. PRC Entrance to WTO

Reuters (Knut Engelmann, “SUMMERS MAKES LITTLE HEADWAY ON WTO IN CHINA,” Beijing, 10/26/99), The New York Times (Erik Eckholm, “U.S. AND CHINA CONCLUDE TALKS ON TRADE ISSUES,” Beijing, 10/26/99), and the Wall Street Journal (“SUMMERS CONCEDES CONGRESS WON’T OK DEAL TO LET CHINA JOIN WTO THIS YEAR,” Beijing, 10/26/99) reported that US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers ended his visit to the PRC on Tuesday with little progress on the PRC’s bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). Summers stated, however, “I felt that commitment was very much there.” He said that if a deal could be reached this year, it could be pushed through the US Congress next year. He added, “This is something that China and the U.S believe is in the interest of both countries if it can be done in the right way.”

6. Indian Nuclear Policy

The Associated Press (Arthur Max, “U.S. WANTS INDIA RESTRAINT ON NUKES,” New Delhi, 10/26/99), and Reuters (Sanjeev Miglani, “US URGES INDIA TO END N-MATERIAL PRODUCTION,” New Delhi, 10/26/99) reported that US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson on Tuesday asked India to curtail its nuclear weapons program in the next few months to ensure a successful visit by US President Bill Clinton. Richardson stated, “We want to see progress on the proliferation front.” He added, “I ask again, here and now, that India end production of fissile material … strengthen its export controls, restrain its missile programs and adhere to the CTBT.” An anonymous US official said that in his private meetings, Richardson made it clear that Clinton’s trip would go ahead, but that “the President wants it to be a positive visit.”

II. Announcements

1. Symposium Announcement

The Project on Defense Alternatives of the Commonwealth Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, is sponsoring a symposium on “Ten Years After The Wall: Trends In Post-Cold War US Security Policy.” The symposium will be held November 11-12, 1999, at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 135 Irving Street Cambridge, Massachusetts. On Thursday, November 11, 1:00 pm – 6:30 pm, panels will be held on “US Security Cooperation: Trends, Problems and Prospects,” and “Post-Cold War US Policy on the Role, Use, and Utility of Armed Force.” On Friday, November 12, 10:00 am – 6:30 pm, panels will be held on “Affording Peace: The New Defense Budget Paradox,” “The Recent Evolution of US Military Posture: Strategy, Missions, Structure,” and “The United States and China: Toward a New Cold War?” For further information, full panel descriptions, registration, directions, and parking information visit the symposium web page or call Aaron Katz at (617) 547- 4474.

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