NAPSNet Daily Report 28 July, 2010
Contents in this Issue:
- I. Napsnet
- DPRK on Nuclear Program
- Russia on ROK Ship Sinking
- ROK-Libyan Relations
- Japan Defense Posture
- PRC-Russia Nuclear Cooperation
1. I. Napsnet
2. DPRK on Nuclear Program
Daily NK (Kim So Yeol, “NORTH KOREA REAFFIRMS ‘STRONGER DETERRENT'”, Seoul, 2010/07/28) reported that the DPRK’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland released a statement regarding the ROK and the U.S. joint military exercises and counter-measures against the Cheonan incident and asserted that, “We will confront firmly enemies’ military display with a stronger and more terrifying deterrent, which has been made even more powerful by the Military-first spirit.” According to the statement, which was issued by the Chosun Central News Agency (KCNA) on Tuesday, the Committee stated that, “Even though the U.S. and its puppets try to frighten us with an armed protest and warning, our people will not raise so much as an eyebrow at them. Trampling them with an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth is our nature and character.”
http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk01700&num=6635
3. Russia on ROK Ship Sinking
Hankyoreh (“RUSSIA’S CHEONAN INVESTIGATION SUSPECTS THAT THE SINKING CHEONAN SHIP WAS CAUSED BY A MINE IN WATER”, Seoul, 2010/07/28) reported that a document shows that the Russian investigation team that came to the ROK from May 31 to June 7 to conduct its own investigation into the sinking of the Cheonan concluded that the sinking resulted from an “indirect outside underwater explosion,” but that the blast was more likely from a mine than a torpedo. In particular, the Russian team raised doubts about the time of the explosion reported by the ROK investigation team, which announced that the blast to the Cheonan came from a DPRK torpedo attack at 9:21:58 p.m. on March 26. The Russian team’s conclusion was based on factors such as the last time indicated on the Cheonan’s closed circuit television footage, which was 9:17:03 p.m. on the night in question.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_northkorea/432232.html
4. ROK-Libyan Relations
Joongang Ilbo (Ser Myo-ja, “KOREAN SPYING IN TRIPOLI UPSETS LIBYA, STRAINS TIES”, Seoul, 2010/07/28) reported that officials in Seoul said Tuesday that an intelligence agent at the Korean Embassy in Libya was detained, questioned and deported last month. Tripoli informed Seoul on June 15 of its decision to declare the agent persona non grata. “The agent was collecting information on Libya’s defense industry’s ties with North Korea, but the Libyan authorities had some misunderstanding,” an official said. “There appears to be a difference in their assessment and interpretation of an intelligence activity than ours.”
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2923824
5. Japan Defense Posture
Asahi Shimbun (“PANEL URGES TOUGHER DEFENSE POSTURE, CITING CHINA, N. KOREA”, Tokyo, 2010/07/28) reported that an advisory panel to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has compiled a preliminary report that if implemented would see a more robust military and less reliance on a diminished United States. The draft rejects the long-held notion that Japan only needs a bare minimum defense capability and emphasizes a redeployment of Self-Defense Forces members within Japan to meet the nation’s most pressing defense needs. The report clearly lays out the threats posed by the PRC and the DPRK. It also proposes that Japan strengthen its role in order to deepen the alliance with the United States.
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201007270404.html
6. PRC-Russia Nuclear Cooperation
The Voice of Russia (Igor Denisov, “CHINA WANTS RUSSIA’S FAST BREEDER REACTOR”, Moscow, 2010/07/27) reported that Russia and the PRC are due to sign an agreement on the building in the PRC of fast breeder reactor on Russian technology before the end of the year. The agreement envisages preliminary design work for the construction of an Atomic Energy Station in the PRC, having two units of fast breeder reactors with a capacity of 800 mega-watts. An experimental fast breeder reactor has already been built in the PRC with Russian technical assistance, and it will begin to function this year.
http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/07/27/13578757.html