Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. Unites States

1. Date for Six Party Talks

Korea Herald (“SIX WAY TALKS LIKELY JULY 26 “, 2005-07-18) reported that the fourth round of six-party talks is likely to begin next Tuesday but no timetable has been drawn up yet, ROK government officials said yesterday. “The member countries are nearing an agreement to open the talks on July 26,” a ROK government official said.

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2. DPRK on Six Party Talks

Reuters (“N.KOREA SEEKS U.S. TRUST AT NUCLEAR TALKS”, 2005-07-18) reported that the DPRK said it wants to build trust and respect with the US at six party talks, its media reported on Monday. The DPRK also hinted at having the six party talks examine Washington’s deployment of its nuclear arsenal. Analysts said this echoed a demand Pyongyang made in March to turn the talks into a broad nuclear disarmament discussion.

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3. US on Six Party Talks

Chosun Ilbo (“FOURTH ROUND WILL BE LAST CHANCE FOR SIX PARTY TALKS”, 2005-07-18) reported that according to Asahi Shimbun, Washington has told Seoul and Tokyo it will end six-party talks if the fourth round produces no results. The paper said the three countries plan to keep the next round going until progress is made. They are looking at repeated bouts of intense negotiations interspersed with 10-14 day breaks. If that still produces no results, Washington will declare the six-party negotiations over and apply pressure.

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4. ROK on US Role in Six Party Talks

Korea Times (“US HOLDS KEY TO NORTH KOREA’S NUKES: ROH”, 2005-07-18) reported that President Roh Moo-hyun said it is the US that holds the key to ending the diplomatic impasse surrounding the DPRK’s nuclear weapons program. While meeting with former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, he placed much emphasis on the US attitude in the new round of six-party talks.

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5. ROK on Japanese Abduction Issue at Six Party Talks

Japan Today (“S KOREA OBJECTS TO JAPAN RAISING ABDUCTION ISSUE IN 6-NATION TALKS”, 2005-07-18) reported that the ROK objects to Japan raising the abduction issue at the upcoming six-party talks. “Clearly, the purpose of the six-way talks is to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue so that other issues can be consulted on through different channels, including bilateral ones,” said an ROK official.

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6. EU Role in Six Party Talks

Joongang Ilbo (“EU SEEKING TO HELP OUT 6-WAY TALKS”, 2005-07-16) reported that according to EU officials, the EU would be willing to pay for heavy fuel aid to the DPRK, if it helped resolve the nuclear standoff on the peninsula. The delegation said the EU was willing to play a role in seeing real progress in the negotiations and suggested funding heavy fuel aid as one way to do it.

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7. ROK on Cost of Energy Aid to DPRK

Joongang Ilbo (“SEOUL SAID READY TO PAY ‘COST OF PEACE'”, 2005-07-18) reported that responding to questions over how Seoul expects to cover the cost of doubling the DPRK’s electricity supply, the ROK’s top energy official said yesterday that the government would undertake to pay whatever was needed to maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula and reach a successful conclusion to the six-party nuclear negotiations. “Though we need more discussion with Pyongyang to decide how to cover the costs of supplying electricity to North Korea, we will consider the ‘cost of peace’,” Energy Minister Lee Hee-beom said yesterday in a briefing.

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8. Powell Visits ROK

Korea.Net (“PRESIDENT ROH TO MEET POWELL ON MONDAY”, 2005-07-17) reported that former US Secretary of State Colin Powell will meet President Roh Moo-hyun to discuss the DPRK’s nuclear arms program, officials said on Sunday. Powell, who recently joined a venture business firm in Silicon Valley, arrived in the ROK on Saturday at the invitation of an ROK business group. “Powell’s visit was organized to strengthen ties between key players in the US and South Korea,” said an official of the Federation of Korean Industries, a lobby group for ROK conglomerates.

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9. DPRK Defector on DPRK Nuclear Weapons Program

Reuters (“NORTH KOREAN LEGISLATOR SEEKING ASYLUM IN SOUTH”, 2005-07-18) reported that a DPRK lawmaker seeking asylum in the ROK says Pyongyang’s scientists are trying to develop nuclear warheads to mount on delivery systems such as ballistic missiles.

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10. US NGO Holds Conference on DPRK Human Rights

Joongang Ilbo (“HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCE INTERSECTS WITH NORTH TALKS “, 2005-07-16) reported that an international conference held by the Freedom House, a US-based human rights organization, will address the DPRK’s human rights situation. The conference titled “Freedom for All Koreans” will be the largest such conference on DPRK human rights held so far. The US government contributed nearly $2 million for the conference. “We will try to give various views of the North Korean human rights issue,” said Jae H. Ku, Freedom House’s DPRK director. “This event is not to criticize Kim Jong-il. The purpose of this event is to change the attitude of North Korea, not the North Korean government itself,” he said.

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11. Experts on DPRK Human Rights Conference

Korea Times (“NK HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCE COULD HURT MOOD FOR NUKE TALKS”, 2005-07-17) reported that a US government-funded conference in Washington condemning DPRK human rights abuse could renew tensions before the upcoming six-party talks, experts have warned. The international conference hosted by Freedom House, will feature speeches from defectors and prominent critics of the DPRK. Kenneth Quinones, a former State Department specialist on the DPRK, predicted Pyongyang will “raise hell” over the conference, and experts in Seoul agreed that it could undermine the positive atmosphere ahead of the nuclear negotiations.

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12. DPRK Sites Open to ROK

Korea.Net (“NORTH KOREA TO OPEN MT. BAEKDU TO S. KOREAN TOURISTS”, 2005-07-17) reported that Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun said that she has agreed with leader Kim Jong-il to develop tourist venues for RO Koreans at Mt. Baekdu and Gaeseong. “We received the go-ahead from the National Defense Committee chairman Kim Jong-il for the sightseeing of Mt. Baekdu and Gaeseong by the South Korean people,” the 50-year-old chairwoman told reporters. RO Koreans will be able to visit the DPRK sites as early as next month, Hyun said, adding that Kim also showed interest in opening Pyongyang for ROK tourists.

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13. Ceremony for Inter-Korean Family Reunions

Xinhua (“S.KOREA, DPRK LINK CROSS BORDER OPTIC CABLE “, 2005-07-18) reported that the ROK and DPRK held a ceremony Monday afternoon to connect a fiber optic cable link across the sealed inter-Korean border to facilitate video conference for separated families.

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14. DPRK Wants Observer Status at WTO

Korea Times (“NK HOPES TO OBSERVE WTO “, 2005-07-15) reported that according to an EU delegation, the DPRK aims at acquiring observer status at the WTO. A ministry official said that the possibility is “very low” that Pyongyang will gain observer status as there are too many hurdles the DPRK has to jump. “It will be very difficult for North Korea to get the status as the member states of the WTO will require Pyongyang to open its economic system,” he said, declining to be named. “If North Korea wants to get the status, Pyongyang would have to change its whole picture of society.’’

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15. ROK-Japanese Relations

Korea Times (“KOREA, JAPAN TO PURSUE JUDICIAL COOPERATION”, 2005-07-17) reported that the ROK and Japan are to sign a bilateral treaty for judicial cooperation next month, according to the leading Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun on Sunday. On signing the treaty, the two nations will directly assist each other in legal matters, including exchanging documents and critical information related to criminal investigations, thereby shortening the length of time it takes to complete inquests on international crimes by both sides.

(return to top) Korea Times (“ARMY CHIEFS OF S. KOREA AND JAPAN TO MEET”, 2005-07-18) reported that Army Chief of Staff Gen. Kim Jang-soo will meet his Japanese counterpart Mori Tsutomo at the Kyeryong military headquarters in South Chungchong Province today to discuss ways of boosting bilateral military exchanges. The two generals will also discuss international issues, including the DPRK nuclear problem and the dispatch of troops to Iraq, as well as joint anti-terrorism measures, the officials said. (return to top)

16. Japan-Russian Relations

Kyodo News (“JAPAN TO AID RUSSIA IN BUILDING STORAGE FOR DISMANTLED NUKE SUBS”, 2005-07-18) reported that the Japanese government will join hands with Russia to build a facility to store dismantled Russian nuclear submarines on the outskirts of Vladivostok, in hopes of preventing radioactive pollution in the Sea of Japan, government sources said Sunday. Bilateral discussions are expected to begin as early as in September and construction may start next spring for completion in 2009, the sources said.

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17. US-Japanese Relations

Agence France-Presse (“JAPAN, US REACH ACCORD ON AIRSPACE CONTROL OVER US BASE IN TOKYO: REPORT”, 2005-07-18) reported that Japan and the US have reached an agreement on the return of Yokota Air Base’s airspace control over Tokyo and its vicinity to Japan by 2009, a report said. Under the accord, Japan’s Air Self-Defence Force would take over the radar approach control from Yokota, one of the US Air Force’s three active airfields in Japan, the Yomiuri said.

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18. UNSC Expansion

The New York Times (“PLANS TO EXPAND SECURITY COUNCIL MAY BE FRUSTRATED FOR NOW”, 2005-07-15) reported that four countries that have mounted a joint diplomatic offensive to gain permanent seats on the Security Council – Brazil, Germany, India and Japan – are facing unexpectedly strong opposition from the US, the African Union and regional rivals, just days before a decisive General Assembly vote. Alarmed at the development, the four are sending their foreign ministers to New York this weekend to try to salvage the effort, which has been particularly threatened by a proposal introduced Wednesday by the 53-member African Union and by a harsher than expected rejection from the US.

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19. Japan Whaling Issue

The Age (“JAPAN ‘BOUGHT SOLOMONS WHALING VOTES'”, 2005-07-18) reported that former senior Solomon Islands officials have claimed Japan paid fees and fisheries costs for years in exchange for the country’s vote for a return to commercial whaling. The ABC’s Four Corners program quoted Solomons officials as saying Japan expected nothing in return for the aid assistance other than a pro-whaling vote at the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

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20. PRC on Sino-Japanese East Sea Dispute

Agence France-Presse (“SINO-JAPAN TEST-DRILLING DISPUTE COULD LEAD TO CONFRONTATION: NEWSPAPER”, 2005-07-18) reported that an intensifying row between the PRC and Japan over disputed energy reserves in the East China Sea could “lead to confrontation”, an editorial in the PRC’s state-run press said. “Japan has strayed from the path of dialogue. If a confrontation were to result, the blame would sit firmly with Japan,” the China Daily said.

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21. Sino-Australian Relations

The Christian Science Monitor (“CHINA CASTS LONG SHADOW OF US-AUSTRALIAN TIES”, 2005-07-18) reported that Australian Prime Minister John Howard arrives in Washington Friday, beginning a five-day US swing with a visit to one of his closet allies, President Bush. The trip comes at a time when Australia’s ever-closer relationship with the PRC is causing no small discomfort at the White House. Australia has recently inked multibillion dollar gas and coal deals with the Asian giant, and negotiations for a free-trade deal are under way. Experts say the warming ties could compromise Australia’s foreign-policy decisions – especially in matters relating to Taiwan’s independence from the PRC.

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22. Sino-US Relations on Cross Strait Issue

The New York Times (“US REBUKES CHINESE GENERAL FOR HIS THREAT OF NUCLEAR ARMS USE”, 2005-07-16) reported that a PRC general who said his country would use nuclear weapons against the US if the US military intervened in any conflict with Taiwan drew a sharp rebuke from the Bush administration. Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman, called the remarks “highly irresponsible”. The officer, Maj. Gen. Zhu Chenghu, said the PRC would “respond with nuclear weapons” if the US attacked the PRC because “we have no capability to fight a conventional war against the United States.” The general, considered a hawk, insisted that his comments reflected his personal views, not official policy.

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23. PRC on Cross Strait Relations

Agence France-Presse (“CHINESE STATE MEDIA BACKS TAIWAN OPPOSITION LEADER TO DEFEAT CHEN”, 2005-07-18) reported that official PRC media says it is crucial new Taiwan opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou reforms the Kuomintang (KMT) party to enable it to unseat Beijing’s reviled nemesis, President Chen Shui-bian. Ma, the Taipei mayor, was elected Saturday as chief of the nationalist KMT, which favors closer ties with the PRC, and immediately vowed to lead it back to power in 2008.

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24. Sino-US Relations

The Los Angeles Times (“BUILDING A BRIDGE TO CHINA”, 2005-07-18) reported that the US is preparing to open a new diplomatic front in its increasingly complex relationship with the PRC in an effort to reduce the danger of a major miscalculation between the two giants. Unlike current contacts that focus on specific economic, political and security issues, the new dialogue will seek to look at US-PRC relations in a larger framework, a recognition of Beijing’s growing importance. Senior State Department officials say they hope the new channel will develop into a deeper level of engagement, one that will be more conversation than negotiation.

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25. US on Central Asia Military Bases

The Washington Post (“RUSSIA AND CHINA BULLYING CENTRAL ASIA, U.S. SAYS”, 2005-07-15) reported that the top US general accused Russia and the PRC yesterday of “trying to bully” Central Asian nations into pressing for a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from their countries and said the Pentagon seeks to maintain military ties with Uzbekistan despite hundreds of civilian deaths in unrest there in May. Gen. Richard B. Myers was referring to this month’s call by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization — an alliance of Russia, the PRC and four Central Asian states — for the US to set a troop pullout deadline as operations in Afghanistan wound down.

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26. PRC Unrest

Washington Post (“A CHINESE RIOT ROOTED IN CONFUSION”, 2005-07-18) reported that a chaotic strike at Futai Textile Factory turned into a riot. The riot, on the morning of June 3, had its roots in the refusal of the PRC’s government to permit the establishment of any independent organization, including nongovernment labor unions, as a reliable, independent channel for workers’ grievances. Across the PRC there are thousands of such explosions every year — by farmers who lose their land, workers who get laid off and villagers who feel cheated by corrupt officials.

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27. PRC Property Rights

The New York Times (“WHOSE OIL IS IT? PROPERTY RIGHTS AT ISSUE IN CHINA”, 2005-07-18) reported that Mr. Gao did what tens of thousands of other folks were doing: collected his savings and contributions from every friend and relative he could, and drilled a well. It seemed worth it when the black crude began to flow – until the day in 2003 when the government seized Mr. Gao’s well and thousands of other private wells, paying a fraction of their value. What followed has been called one of the most important legal battles ever fought in modern PRC, as investors like Mr. Gao banded together in a class action to challenge the seizures.

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28. Hong Kong Media Freedom

Agence France-Presse (“FEARS GROW OVER HONG KONG CENSORSHIP “, 2005-07-18) reported that concerns about media censorship were heightened in Hong Kong Sunday when a delegate to the PRC’s legislature said the city’s public broadcaster should be clipped of its independence. The comments from National People’s Congress member Peter Wong came as the PRC territory’s Journalists Association accused the city’s new Beijing-appointed leader of paying lip-service to free speech.

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