NAPSNet Daily Report Monday, July 10, 2006
- 1. UN DPRK Sanctions Proposal
2. DPRK-PRC Relations
3. US on DPRK-PRC Communications
4. US-PRC Relations on DPRK
5. DPRK Missile Arsenal
6. Expert on DPRK Missile Tests
7. Criticism of ROK Response to Missile Tests
8. Inter-Korean Relations
9. DPRK-ASEAN Relations
10. ROK-US Trade Relations
11. PRC on US Export Controls
12. PRC Unrest
13. PRC Intenet Control
14. PRC Arrest
15. PRC Space Program
16. PRC Toxic Leak
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1. UN DPRK Sanctions Proposal
Associated Press (“JAPAN MAY POSTPONE NORTH KOREA RESOLUTION”, 2006-07-10) reported that Japan said Monday it was considering whether a pre-emptive strike on the DPRK’s missile bases would violate its constitution, signaling a hardening stance ahead of a possible UN Security Council vote on Tokyo’s proposal for sanctions against the regime. The vote itself could be delayed for several days, a news agency reported. The PRC asked Japan to postpone the vote until later this week and Japan is prepared to accept, Kyodo News agency said.
(return to top) Agence France-Presse (“UN VOTE ON NORTH KOREA PUT OFF TO GIVE MORE TIME TO DIPLOMACY”, 2006-07-10) reported that the UN Security Council has put off a vote on a draft resolution that would slap sanctions on the DPRK over its missile tests, to allow more time for PRC diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis. In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday the US had agreed with a Japanese proposal to postpone a vote on the Japanese draft, pending the results of the PRC initiative to the DPRK. (return to top) Korea Times (“SEOUL URGES TOKYO TO EXERCISE PRUDENCE”, 2006-07-10) reported that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade summoned Shotaro Oshima, Japanese ambassador to the ROK, on Monday to advise prudence regarding Tokyo’s move to impose a UN sanction on the DPRK for its recent missile fires. “Vice Foreign Minister Lee Kyu-hyung briefed the Japanese ambassador on Seoul’s position, regarding the resolution that was introduced to the Security Council,” a ministry spokesman said. The message Lee delivered through Oshima focused on urging Tokyo not to take a unilateral measure, such as pushing for a UN resolution, and underlining the necessity for the international community to take a gradual, unified step, according to another ministry official. (return to top)
2. DPRK-PRC Relations
Reuters (“CHINA DELEGATION VISITS NORTH KOREA AMID TURMOIL”, 2006-07-10) reported that a PRC leader visiting the DPRK days after its missile tests defied international opinion said on Monday that Beijing stood by its neighbor, adding to uncertainty about the PRC’s position in the standoff. Vice Premier Hui Liangyu’s “friendship delegation” arrived in Pyongyang earlier in the day for a six-day visit announced before the DPRK last week test-fired seven missiles. “The traditional friendship between China and North Korea has withstood the tests of history and its tribulations,” Hui said in a speech in Pyongyang, according to Xinhua news agency. Hui is accompanied by Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, who oversees diplomacy with DPRK.
(return to top) Yonhap (“N. KOREAN, CHINESE LEADERS EXCHANGE MESSAGES TO MARK 45 YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP”, 2006-07-10) reported that celebrating the 45th anniversary of a bilateral friendship treaty, DPRK leader Kim Jong-il and PRC leader Hu Jintao exchanged congratulatory messages on Monday, the DPRK’s state media reported. In the message sent to Hu, which was carried by the DPRK’s Korean Central News Agency in English, Kim said, “Over the last 45 years since the conclusion of the treaty, our two parties and governments have steadily developed the friendly and cooperative relations as desired by the two peoples.” “(We have been) supporting each other and closely cooperating with each other in the political, military, economic and cultural fields,” Kim was quoted as saying. (return to top)
3. US on DPRK-PRC Communications
Korea Times (“CHINA KNEW NORTH’S TEST PLAN IN ADVANCE, SAYS HILL “, 2006-07-07) reported that US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill arrived Friday in Seoul amid escalating diplomatic tension on the Korean Peninsula over the DPRK’s missile launches. In Bejing just before he departed for Seoul, Hill was quoted by Yonhap News as telling reporters that the DPRK had informed the PRC of its missile launch plan prior to firing them.
4. US-PRC Relations on DPRK
Yonhap (“U.S. ENVOY GOES BACK TO BEIJING TO DISCUSS NORTH KOREA”, 2006-07-10) reported that US envoy Christopher Hill will be going back to Beijing on Tuesday for further consultations on DPRK issues, a State Department official said Monday. Hill, Washington’s chief negotiator with the DPRK, was wrapping up a trip that included stops in Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo and Moscow.
5. DPRK Missile Arsenal
Korea Times (“NORTH COULD HAVE 250 TAEPDONG MISSILES”, 2006-07-10) reported that the DPRK is expected to stockpile up to 250 intermediate Taepodong-1 and long-range Taepodong-2 missiles by 2010, a ROK university said Monday. In a book titled “The Military of North Korea: A New Look,’’ the University of North Korean Studies said the DPRK will be able to produce 120-250 Taepodong-1 and Taepodong-2 missiles by then, Yonhap News Agency reported.
6. Expert on DPRK Missile Tests
JoongAng Ilbo (“EXPERTS SAY SEOUL AT CROSSROADS AFTER LAUNCHES”, 2006-07-10) reported that Seoul needs to reconsider its policy toward the DPRK after last week’s missile launches, experts here said yesterday. They said Washington and Tokyo are likely to push for the strengthening of their own militaries while Beijing will use the situation to its advantage. “Everybody is looking toward Beijing now,” said Professor Nam Sung-wook, a DPRK specialist at Korea University. “It’s another opportunity for Beijing to control the situation through the six-party talks and raise its standing.” He said Seoul was at a crossroads in regard to its policy on the DPRK, which he called a “failure.” “Seoul has tried hard to convince the North not to launch a missile while continuing its engagement with it. What happened is a clear indicator that change is needed.”
7. Criticism of ROK Response to Missile Tests
JoongAng Ilbo (“‘NO REASON TO MAKE A FUSS’ OVER MISSILES”, 2006-07-10) reported that President Roh Moo-hyun remained silent yesterday for the fifth consecutive day since the DPRK test-fired seven missiles. But in order to quell criticism of that silence, the Blue House released a statement yesterday which said that the situation is not a national security emergency and that the DPRK wasn’t targeting anyone with the missiles. The Grand Nationals reacted furiously. “The claim that the missiles were targeting no one is a de facto defense argument for the North,” said Lee Jeong-hyeon, vice spokesman of the party. “While remaining silent about the provocation that threatens the people’s lives, the Blue House decided to criticize the media and the opposition party instead.”
(return to top) Korea Times (“GNP SLAMS ROH’S MISSILE RESPONSE”, 2006-07-10) reported that the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) launched strong criticism against President Roh Moo-hyun Monday for his “security insensibility’’ as Chong Wa Dae defended its coolheaded approach to the DPRK’s missile tests on July 5 (KST). In a meeting at the party’s headquarters in Seoul, senior leaders of the main opposition party condemned Roh, questioning his determination to protect the safety and lives of the people. “If the North Korean missile provocation is not a security crisis, then what is a security crisis?’’ acting GNP Chairwoman Kim Young-sun said. “How could the head of state, or the supreme commander of the military, be so insensible?’’ (return to top)
8. Inter-Korean Relations
JoongAng Ilbo (“FLOWS OF AID TO STOP UNTIL CRISIS ABATES “, 2006-07-09) reported that the Roh administration yesterday started edging toward a tougher stance on the DPRK missile tests, announcing that it will directly challenge the DPRK about those tests at inter-Korean ministerial talks next week. A senior government official said that Seoul would withhold promised aid to the DPRK until the missile crisis is over. That decision did not include a delay in the provision of the last promised fertilizer shipment to the DPRK, however; a ship left port yesterday bound for the DPRK with the last 20,000 tons of that assistance.
9. DPRK-ASEAN Relations
Korea Times (“NORTH KOREAN MINISTER TO ATTEND ASEAN MEET “, 2006-07-09) reported that the DPRK’s Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun is expected to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) scheduled to take place in Kuala Lumpur later this month, according to Malaysia’s Bernama News Agency Sunday. The agency said Paek is expected to hold informal talks with other foreign ministers at the gathering, raising the possibility of a meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
10. ROK-US Trade Relations
Chosun Ilbo (“KOREA COULD DROP KAESONG GOODS IN FTA TALKS WITH U.S.”, 2006-07-10) reported that the ROK government could give up trying to persuade the US to recognize products from the inter-Korea Kaesong Industrial Complex as made in ROK in free trade negotiations. “It has become impossible to win Washington’s consent about the Kaesong issue because of North Korea’s sudden missile launches,” an official here said. “Depending on developments, we may insist, but at the moment we’re considering abandoning the issue in the free trade talks and instead later linking it with the resumption of six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue.”
(return to top) Agence France-Presse (“SCUFFLES ERUPT AS SOUTH KOREA, US RESUME FREE TRADE TALKS “, 2006-07-10) reported that protesters have scuffled with riot police as the US and the ROK opened fresh negotiations aimed at forging a free trade pact, officials and witnesses said. ROK farmers, unions and film industry workers are opposed to any market-opening measures that will include cheaper imports of US products. (return to top)
11. PRC on US Export Controls
Reuters (“CHINA CONCERNED OVER PROPOSED US TRADE RULES “, 2006-07-10) reported that the PRC expressed concern on Monday about rules recently proposed by the US that would subject a wider range of high-tech exports to the PRC to a licensing process. The rules, set out by the Commerce Department last Thursday, would require licenses for 47 product groupings with the aim of preventing high-tech exports from falling into the hands of the PRC military.
12. PRC Unrest
Reuters (“LAND SEIZURES PROVOKE GROWING ANGER IN CHINA “, 2006-07-10) reported that as breakneck urban development eats into the PRC’s countryside, arbitrary land grabs by officials making exorbitant profits by selling it on to developers have sparked resentment and, in some cases, major social unrest. Earlier in June, the Ministry of Land and Resources admitted that in some cities more than 60 percent of the commercial land acquisitions since September 2004 had been illegal. In some places, that proportion had reached 90 percent, it said.
13. PRC Intenet Control
South China Morning Post (“INTERNET CONTROLS TIGHTENED FURTHER”, 2006-07-07) reported that supervision of internet blogs will be tightened, the State Council has announced, while one of the mainland’s most popular liberal chat-room forums has been told to tone down comments on sensitive topics in further signs of increased control of the internet. Chat room website Cat898.com published a notice on Tuesday saying the outlet, which is based in Hainan, would not carry any political topics on its main page, except for “mainstream information”.
14. PRC Arrest
Reuters (“CHINA JAILS UNDERGROUND CHURCH HEAD “, 2006-07-10) reported that a court in the PRC’s Henan province has jailed the head of one of the country’s largest underground Christian churches for seven and a half years, Hong Kong’s RTHK radio reported on Saturday. Quoting the China Aid Association, a US-based group which monitors religious freedom in the PRC, RTHK said Zhang Rongliang had been convicted of fraudulently attaining a passport and crossing a border illegally.
15. PRC Space Program
Reuters (“CHINA TESTS NEW SPACE ROCKET ENGINE”, 2006-07-10) reported that the PRC has successfully tested a new rocket engine to power the country’s ambitious program of manned space flights and moon landings, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday. Tests of the liquid hydrogen- and kerosene-fueled engine were a “complete success”, a spokesperson from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation told Xinhua.
16. PRC Toxic Leak
BBC News (“CHINA TOXIC LEAK HOSPITALISES 160”, 2006-07-10) reported that a leak of chlorine fumes from a PRC chemical plant has left 164 people in hospital, according to state media. The incident, in a chemical factory in Yinchuan city in the north-west region of Ningxia, was blamed on a break in a rusty pipe, Xinhua news agency said.