NAPSNet Daily Report Monday, August 15, 2005

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NAPSNet Daily Report Monday, August 15, 2005

NAPSNet Daily Report Monday, August 15, 2005

I. United States

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. United States

1. DPRK on Nuclear Program

Chosun Ilbo (“N. KOREA WILLING TO PROVE IT HAS NO URANIUM PROGRAM”, 2005-08-15) reported that according to the DPRK’s chief negotiator in six-party talks, Kim Kye-gwan, the DPRK could present evidence that it does not have a uranium enrichment program, as the US alleges. “We don’t have any uranium-based weapons program, but in the future if there is any kind of evidence that needs to be clarified we are fully prepared to do so” Kim told CNN Sunday.

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2. ROK-US Relations

International Herald Tribune (“US SEES NO RIFT WITH SEOUL OVER STAND ON NORTH”, 2005-08-14) reported that a statement from the an ROK policymaker that Seoul opposes Washington’s stand on DPRK’s civilian nuclear power prompted both governments yesterday to attempt to paper over what is seen as a deep division. “There’s no rift between the United States and South Korea,” Adam Ereli, a US State Department spokesman, said at a briefing Thursday in Washington. “We are close allies. We are close partners in a broad bilateral relationship and particularly in our common approach to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.”

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3. DPRK on ROK-US Military Exercises

Newsday (“N. KOREA WARNS AGAINST MILITARY EXERCISES”, 2005-08-13) reported that the DPRK criticized joint military exercises involving the ROK and the US, saying the maneuvers were a final preparation for an attack on the communist state. The DPRK also said high-level military talks between it and the ROK cannot resume because of the military exercises. The ROK-US military drills were a war rehearsal aimed at “finalizing preparation for pre-emptive attacks,” said a statement quoting an unidentified military spokesman and carried by the KCNA.

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4. Inter-Korean Liberation Day Celebration

Korea Times (“NK NUKE CRISIS TAKES A BACKSEAT”, 2005-08-15) reported that anxieties over the DPRK’s nuclear weapons programs took a backseat Monday as the two Koreas celebrated the 60th anniversary of liberation from Japanese colonial rule amid an atmosphere of reconciliation. President Roh Moo-hyun made little mention of the delicately poised nuclear negotiations during his Liberation Day address, instead focusing his speech on the need to resolve domestic political conflicts.

(return to top) Korea Times (“KIM JI MAY DELIVER MESSAGE ON SUMMIT”, 2005-08-15) reported that a DPRK official visiting Seoul will likely deliver messages from his leader, Kim Jong-il, on such key issues as the nuclear problem and inter-Korean summit, when he meets with the ROK President Roh Moo-hyun before returning home on Wednesday. Kim Ki-nam, 79, a secretary of the Workers’ Party, arrived in the ROK capital Sunday, leading a 182-member delegation to attend a joint Liberation Day event. (return to top)

5. Civic Response to Inter-Korean Liberation Day

Korea Times (“LIBERATION DAY CELEBRATIONS EVOKE MIXED MESSAGES”, 2004-08-14) reported that conservative and progressive civic groups staged separate rallies in Seoul on Sunday as DPRK delegates arrived in the ROK to mark the four-day joint celebration of the 60th liberation anniversary. Members of right-wing groups demonstrated against a visit by the northern delegates to the National Cemetery in Tongjak-dong, southern Seoul. They claimed that if the delegates are willing to pay tribute to ROK war dead, they should apologize for the Korean War and other provocative acts in the past against the ROK first before the visit. Meanwhile, about 1,000 university students from Hanchongnyon, or the left-leaning Confederation of Korean Students’ Unions, held an event to welcome the DPRK delegates near the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill Hotel in eastern Seoul.

(return to top) Korea Times (“JAPANESE LEADERS URGED NOT TO VISIT SHRINE”, 2005-08-15) reported that civic groups in the ROK and Japan urged Japanese leaders not to visit a controversial war shrine in Tokyo that honors its 2.4 million war dead, saying it would further strain ties between the two countries. (return to top)

6. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation

Korea Herald (“KT SEEKS US APPROVAL FOR INSTALLING TELECOM DEVICES IN N.KOREA”, 2005-08-15) reported that the ROK’s largest fixed-line telephone operator, has reportedly sought US approval on transporting telecommunication equipment to a pilot industrial park in the DPRK, as the act could violate a US export ban. If the US Department of Commerce affirms the act, KT will be able to proceed with its landmark project to enable DPRK-ROK telephone calls for ROK firms operating in the DPRK’s border city of Gaeseong.

(return to top) LA Times (“NORTH KOREANS OPEN FOR BUSINESS”, 2005-08-15) reported that as the DPRK inches open its economic doors and its citizens become more aware of the opportunities money brings, RO Koreans are increasingly finding an appetite for northern goods. At Buknam Trading in Ilsan, a trader imports more than 200 products from the DPRK. “The main purpose of this business is to encourage north-south civil exchanges and contribute to the reconciliation of these two countries,” Park said. “When political leaders meet every word is scrutinized for its political meaning, but business is just business.” Trade between the two Koreas totaled $453 million in the first six months of this year, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, up 40% from the same period in 2004. (return to top)

7. Inter-Korean Maritime Cooperation

Korea Times (“NK CIVILIAN VESSELS PASS CHEJU STRAIT”, 2005-08-15) reported that ROK authorities allowed two DPRK civilian vessels to pass through the waters of the Cheju Strait. It marked the first time for DPRK ships to penetrate ROK sea routes.

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8. Virtual Reunifiction of Korean Families

Yonhap News (“KOREANS REUNITED WITH LONG-LOST RELATIVES VIA WIDE-SCREEN TVS”, 2005-08-15) reported that emotions ran high as a group of elderly RO Koreans were virtually reunited with their long-separated family members in the DPRK on wide screen televisions on Monday. They were among a select group of 40 families in the ROK and DPRK for a historic reunion using high-tech video conferencing system.

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9. Kim Jong-il’s Visit to Russia

Xinhua (“DPRK LEADER MEETS RUSSIAN PRESIDENTAL ENVOY”, 2005-08-15) reported that Kim Jong-il met with Konstantin Pulikovski, Russian presidential envoy in the Far East, and his delegation on Monday. According to the KCNA, the two sides held warm and friendly talks. Pulikovski conveyed a personal letter and a gift of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the DPRK leader. Putin expected that “the traditional partnership between Russia and the DPRK would successfully develop in the future on the basic principle laid down in the treaty of friendship, good neighborliness and cooperation concluded in 2000.”

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10. New DPRK News Website

Reuters (“CALIFORNIA MAN CATALOGUES N.KOREA’S OVER-THE-TOP RHETORIC”, 2005-08-14) reported that a California graphic artist is now cataloguing KCNA’s newsbytes on a web site. Since there is no way search the archives of KCNA, Geoff Davis decided to hone his web design skills on a topic he had followed in news reports on the DPRK nuclear crisis. Launched in May, www.nk-news.net boasts of having nearly every KCNA article since December 1996.

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11. Koreas on WWII Anniversary

Chosun Ilbo (“NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA BLAST JAPAN ON LIBERATION DAY”, 2005-08-15) reported that the DPRK and ROK were united in condemnation of their former colonial oppressor on Monday, the 60th anniversary of liberation from Japanese rule. The delegations representing the DPRK and ROK at the celebrations announced a joint statement calling on Tokyo to “stop distorting the past and pay as a nation compensation for its past invasions and crimes.”

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12. Japan on WWII Anniversary

The Associated Press (“JAPANESE LEADER SORRY FOR WWII INVASIONS”, 2005-08-15) reported that Japan’s leader tried to salve wounds by apologizing for the “great damages and pain” it inflicted on its neighbors. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed “deep reflections and heartfelt apology” for the Tokyo’s wartime colonization and pledged that his country would never forget the “terrible lessons” of the war.

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13. China on WWII Anniversary

International Herald Tribune (“IN CHINA, TENSIONS INFLAME FESTERING WAR WOUNDS”, 2005-08-15) reported that it has been 60 years since Japan’s invading army of two million soldiers laid down its arms in the PRC, but Jiaozhuanghu and scores of other well-funded memorials and museums in the country play a part in nurturing widespread resentment over Japanese wartime aggression and atrocities. This enduring sense of grievance, inflamed by rising nationalism in Japan, remains the biggest obstacle to a stable, long-term relationship between East Asia’s traditional dominant powers.

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14. Yasukuni Shrine Issue

Kyodo (“KOIZUMI SKIPS YASUKUNI SHRINE VISIT ON WAR-END DAY “, 2005-08-15) reported that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi did not visit the war-related Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Monday, the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, although two members of his Cabinet and a group of other lawmakers did so amid strained ties with neighboring countries over issues related to the war.

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15. Japanese Textbook Issue

Agence France-Presse (“ANOTHER 23 JAPANESE SCHOOLS TO USE NATIONALIST TEXTBOOK”, 2005-08-15) reported that a district of Tokyo adopted a nationalist history textbook for its 23 schools, the third school board to opt for the book that has outraged the PRC and South Korea. The education board of Suginami, one of 23 wards in the Japanese capital, voted to use the controversial book from April 2006 at its junior high schools which have a total of about 6,300 students, a municipal official said.

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16. Japan Climate Change Network

Agence France-Presse (“JAPAN TO SET UP CLIMATE CHANGE MONITORING NETWORK WITH NEIGHBORS”, 2005-08-15) reported that Japan will set up a climate change monitoring and assessment network in cooperation with Asian neighbors to study how global warming affects developing countries in the region. The network, to be established in the year to March 2007, is part of the Japanese initiative on climate change which Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced at the Group of Eight summit in July.

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17. Japan Cyber-Attacks

Donga Ilbo (“CHINESE HACKERS COULD USE KOREA IN ATTACKS AGAINST JAPAN”, 2005-08-15) reported that PRC hackers have put the ROK on emergency alert as they will reportedly carry out a large-scale attack through the ROK against Japanese Internet websites. The ROK servers are highly likely to be chosen as routes for PRC hackers to avert Japan’s defenses.

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18. PRC on UNSC Reform

Agence France-Presse (“CHINA OPPOSED TO ANNAN’S YEAR-END DEADLINE FOR UN REFORM”, 2005-08-15) reported that the PRC reiterated its opposition to any hasty expansion of the UN Security Council, saying a new deadline of the end of the year urged by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was not appropriate. The PRC’s UN ambassador Wang Guangya said the fact that agreement will not be reached by September showed Annan had misjudged the complexity of the issue and he should not be setting new deadlines.

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19. PRC-African Union Relations

Xinhua (“CHINA VOWS TO FURTHER COOPERATION WITH AFRICAN UNION: HU”, 2005-08-15) reported that the PRC attaches importance to the role of the African Union, and would like to further the bilateral friendly relations, said PRC President Hu Jintao Monday in Beijing. Hu noted that “the two sides should strengthen consultation on regional affairs, peace-keeping operations, personnel training, and capacity building, so as to promote peace and development in Africa.”

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20. Sino-Russian Military Relations

Washington Post (“CHINESE, RUSSIAN MILITARIES TO HOLD FIRST JOINT DRILLS”, 2005-08-15) reported that Russia and the PRC will hold their first ever joint military exercises this week as the once wary neighbors demonstrate their willingness to cooperate in the face of the US military presence in Central Asia. The two countries will also do a little business on the side as Russia shops its hardware, including nuclear-capable strategic bombers, to its military-industrial complex’s best customer, Russian and PRC defense analysts said.

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21. Cross Strait Relations

Asia Pulse (“US, JAPAN SURE TO DEFEND TAIWAN: SECURITY OFFICIAL”, 2005-08-15) reported that the US and Japan are sure to come to Taiwan’s defense if the island is attacked by the PRC, because Taiwan’s security is their common objective, a security official said Saturday in Chiayi, southern Taiwan.

(return to top) Agence France-Presse (“TAIWAN BEGINS DEPLOYMENT OF CRUISE MISSILES”, 2005-08-15) reported that Taiwan has begun deploying home-made cruise missiles on mobile launchers and that they are capable of hitting major military targets in southeast PRC, a newspaper here reported. The China Times said the Hsiung Feng missiles, which have a range of 1,000 kilometers (600 miles), were deployed across the island by the defense ministry’s new missile command. (return to top) Agence France-Presse (“CHINA’S RISE MENACES BURGEONING TAIWAN DEMOCRACY: PRESIDENT CHEN”, 2005-08-15) reported that Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian rejected the theory of the PRC’s “peaceful rise”, saying its rapid arms buildup threatens not only his island but the whole region. Chen, speaking at the inauguration of an international organization called the Democratic Pacific Union, highlighted what he termed the risks hidden behind the PRC’s dynamic economic growth. (return to top) Agence France-Presse (“TAIWAN LEADER APPEALS FOR AUSTRALIAN DIPLOMATIC HELP”, 2005-08-15) reported that Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian appealed to Australia’s government to end its 33-year ban on Taiwanese leaders visiting the country. In an interview published in The Australian newspaper, Chen also called on Prime Minister John Howard to help Taiwan gain an invitation to next month’s summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ( APEC) forum in the ROK. (return to top)

22. PRC on Cross Strait Relations

Reuters (“CHINA SAYS TAIWAN U.N. BID AGAIN DOOMED TO FAILURE”, 2005-08-15) reported that the PRC, which views Taiwan as a breakaway province, said on Saturday the self-ruled island’s 13th successive bid to join the United Nations was doomed to failure. Taiwan has tried to join the United Nations every year since 1993, but each time the PRC and its allies, supporting Beijing’s “one China” policy, have kept the door shut.

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23. PRC Wind Power Complex

The Associated Press (“CHINA TO BUILD OFFSHORE WIND POWER COMPLEX”, 2005-08-15) reported that the PRC plans to construct its first offshore wind power complex next year in hopes of easing chronic electricity shortages, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday. The complex, to be built in the Bohai Sea off the northern province of Hebei, is designed to have a generating capacity of 1 million kilowatts when completed in 2020, Xinhua said.

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