NAPSNet Daily Report 26 September, 1997

In today’s Report:

1. DPRK Missile Test
2. Huang Comments on DPRK Army Size
3. Four-Party Peace Talks
4. US Executive-Military Relations on Land Mine Ban
5. US-Russia Nuclear Accords

II. Republic of Korea

1. ROK Presidential Elections
2. ROK Colonel Joins UN Chemical Weapons Organization
3. ROK-DPRK Negotiate on Ferry Launch
4. Repatriation of ROK Pastor

III. People’s Republic of China

1. ROK-US Relations
2. PRC-Russia-US Relations
3. Northeast Asia Security Prospects
4. Asia-Pacific Security
5. PRC-ROK Economic Relations
6. Russian Military Reform

IV. Russian Federation

1. RF Military’s Political Role
2. US Scientist on RF Nuclear Weapons Safety
3. RF Far Eastern Region Current Crisis
4. RF Position on Land Mines Convention
5. PRC Position on Chechnya
6. PRC Denies Missile Threat to RF
7. RF-Japan Informal Summit Set
8. RF Position on Kurils
9. Japan Relations to US and PRC
10. RF-DPRK Agricultural Links
11. DPRK Harvest Prospects
12. Kim Jong-il Ascension
13. RF Media on PRC Communist Party Congress

I. United States

1. DPRK Missile Test

The Associated Press (“U.S. WATCHES N. KOREA EXERCISES,” Washington, 9/26/97) and Reuters (“U.S. WATCHING NORTH KOREA MISSILE MOVES,” Washington, 9/26/97) reported that Navy Admiral Joseph Prueher, the head of the US Pacific Command, said Friday that the DPRK has conducted exercises with units that appear to support the No Dong missile, but has not yet deployed the weapon itself. “We have seen the troop deployments. We have not seen the deployment of the No Dong missile,” Prueher told reporters in an interview. “If they were deployed, they would be a potential threat to our forces in South Korea as well as to other nations adjacent to the area” because of their 620-mile range, Prueher said. The DPRK military conducted exercises with trucks and several units of troops that would be necessary to maintain and fire such a weapon, he said, but since no missile was seen, it wasn’t clear whether the exercise actually used real equipment, or whether “dummy” mockups were used. Prueher would not say where in the DPRK or exactly when the movements were conducted, but one US defense official, who asked not to be identified, said the maneuvers came over the summer. The official added that the US had contingency plans to deal with any deployment of the No Dong, but refused to say whether they might involve a military reaction such as a pre-emptive strike against launch facilities. The DPRK tested the No Dong once in 1993 but apparently has not tested it since. “We stay concerned about it and we watch it closely,” Prueher said of the DPRK program, while noting that the lack of aggressive testing allows him to be “not as concerned as I might be” about the missile’s potential use.

2. Huang Comments on DPRK Army Size

The Associated Press (“REPORT: N KOREA HAS LARGER ARMY,” Tokyo, 9/25/97) reported that Japan’s Kyodo News agency, quoting unidentified Japanese officials, said that top-level DPRK defector Huang Jang-yop told Japanese Foreign Ministry officials and investigators from Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto’s Cabinet in secret briefings in Seoul in July and August that the DPRK has more troops than outside estimates indicate. According to Kyodo, Huang told the officials that the Pyongyang government has 1.7 million regular troops ready to fight, considerably higher than the earlier estimates of 1.05 million. Japan’s Foreign Ministry denied any knowledge of such a meeting. Huang also reportedly told the Japanese that DPRK leaders are seeking US$10 billion from Japan as reparations for the state’s suffering under Japanese colonial rule and during World War II, and that, although DPRK leaders expect that any remuneration will require them first to enter peace talks, DPRK leader Kim Jong-il believes he can get more money out of Japan if the DPRK appears to be threatening war.

3. Four-Party Peace Talks

US Deputy State Department Spokesman James Foley (“STATE DEPARTMENT BRIEFING

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