I. United States

1. US-ROK Summit on DPRK Nuclear Talks

Reuters (“BUSH AND ROH PRESS NORTH KOREA ON TALKS”, 2005-06-12) reported that U.S. President George W. Bush and ROK President Roh Moo-hyun urged the DPRK to return to talks and played down differences in their approaches to the problem. ROK Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said the two leaders emphasised a peaceful, diplomatic resolution to the problem and that the United States repeatedly affirmed it would not attack or invade the DPRK. “President Bush said it was hard to understand why North Korea is suspicious,” Ban said.

(return to top) The Washington Post (“U.S., S.KOREAN PRESIDENTS MEET TO PROD NORTH TO COOPERATE”, 2005-06-11) reported that President Bush and President Roh Moo Hyun yesterday stressed their common objective of getting the DPRK to return to disarmament talks, putting aside tactical differences on how hard to push the DPRK government to terminate its nuclear programs. The two men and their top aides met for 50 minutes in the Oval Office and then held a working lunch, where they exchanged detailed assessments of DPRK behavior and covered a range of bilateral and regional issues, US and ROK officials said. Roh told Bush that it was necessary to be firm and tough with DPRK, but it was important to resolve the impasse over the DPRK’s weapons through a six-nation negotiating process that has been stalled for a year, the officials said. (return to top) The Korea Herald (“ROH, BUSH THROW BALL TO N.K.’S COURT”, 2005-06-12) reported that the Washington summit between Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and George W. Bush surprised few but raised the hopes of many for an imminent positive development in the DPRK’s nuclear standoff by reaffirming the allies’ intention to solve the problem “peacefully.” Experts said the “working-level” summit between Roh and Bush leaves the DPRK with little room to further refuse to return to the negotiating table. “For the US, the summit was crucial in emphasizing its intention to solve the nuclear problem peacefully and diplomatically in order to counter the DPRK’s repeated claim that the US has been hostile toward the communist state,” said professor Kim Sung-han of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security. (return to top) Chosun Ilbo (“SUMMIT GIVES N.KOREA ‘ONE LAST CHANCE'”, 2005-06-12) reported that President George W. Bush avoided provoking the DPRK during Friday’s summit, steering clear of descriptions of the DPRK as an “outpost of tyranny” or any reference to sanctions. Observers interpret this as Washington giving Pyongyang “one last chance,” in the words of Prof. Je Seong-ho of Chung-ang University. Prof. Hyeon In-taek of Korea University said things could get difficult if the DPRK rejects even these signals. Former foreign minister Hong Soon-young called the summit “a grave moment in resolving the nuclear issue” but warned, “From now on, our government must prepare for all eventualities.” (return to top) Donga Ilbo (“CONVERSATION ON RELATIONS AT KOREA-US SUMMIT”, 2005-06-12) reported that at his summit meeting with President Roh Moo-hyun, President George W. Bush stated, “If North Korea makes the strategic decision to renounce its nuclear programs, a ‘more normal relationship’ between Pyongyang and Washington would ultimately be possible.” At a press conference right after the summit in Washington, Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said this was President Bush`s “positive expression that the North and the U.S. would have to ultimately establish relations of amity, but that Pyongyang and Washington could have more normal relations, which can be commonly found among nations, at the current stage, if there is progress in the nuclear issue.” (return to top)

2. ROK on DPRK Return to Nuclear Talks

Reuters (“S.KOREA’S ROH SAYS NORTH CAN EXPECT FLEXIBILITY”, 2005-06-12) reported that ROK President Roh Moo-hyun is optimistic about the DPRK returning to six-country talks on its nuclear ambitions and said on Monday Pyongyang would see more flexibility if it did go back to negotiations. “We are preparing comprehensive, very detailed and active measures” to aid the DPRK so that it can secure political stability and make economic progress, he said.

(return to top) Xinhuanet (“S.KOREAN PRESIDENT URGES DPRK BACK TO SIX-PARTY TALKS”, 2005-06-12) reported that President Roh Moo-hyun on Monday urged the DPRK to make a “strategic decision” to accept a security guarantee and hefty economic assistance in return for abandoning its nuclear program. “North Korea should lay the groundwork for regime stabilization and economic development,” he said. “We will actively support such an effort by North Korea in cooperation with the international community and we are preparing a comprehensive, concrete and active measure for that,” Roh was quoted as saying. (return to top) Associated Press (“SOUTH KOREA OPTIMISTIC ON NUCLEAR TALKS”, 2005-06-12) reported that the ROK’s president said Monday he was certain international nuclear talks with the DPRK would resume and called for more flexibility in offering incentives to convince Pyongyang to disarm. “The six-party talks are going to be resumed — I’m very sure about this,” he said. An ROK delegation is heading this week to the DPRK — contact Roh said he hoped would help resolve the nuclear standoff. “It’s time for North Korea to make a decision — by renouncing their nuclear program they have an opportunity to realize regional security and development,” he said. (return to top) Agence France-Presse (“SKOREAN LEADER TELLS NORTH TO STOP NUCLEAR DRIVE, START TALKS”, 2005-06-13) reported that ROK President Roh Moo-Hyun has appealed to the DPRK to give up its nuclear weapon ambitions in return for rewards and regime security. In his first public comments since summit with US President George W. Bush three days ago, the leader said the DPRK had no time to lose. “Now is the time for North Korea to make a decision,” Roh said in a speech to a seminar marking the fifth anniversary of a watershed inter-Korean summit on June 15, 2000. (return to top)

3. US on DPRK Nuclear Claims

Chosun Ilbo (“U.S. ANNOYED BY N.KOREAN CLAIMS”, 2005-06-10) reported that on Thursday, Washington reacted with irritation to claims by the DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye-gwan this week that his country was continuing to manufacture nuclear weapons. “The only effect of these types of statements is to further isolate North Korea from where they already are,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. McCormack also dismissed the DPRK’s demands to be recognized as a nuclear state, saying the stated goal of six-nation talks was the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. He urged the DPRK to unconditionally return to the talks and discuss US proposals in a constructive way.

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4. DPRK-Iran Nuclear Talks

Chosun Ilbo (“U.K. PAPER HAS N.KOREA IN ‘SECRET TALKS’ WITH IRAN”, 2005-06-12) reported that according to the UK’s Sunday Telegraph Iran and the DPRK held “secret talks” to build underground bunkers where the Islamic country could hide its nuclear weapons development projects. The paper claimed a DPRK technical team including construction specialists tasked with designing the DPRK’s underground bunkers had arrived in Tehran to survey Iranian requirements. Negotiations are focusing on whether the DPRK will build the bunkers or merely provide technical advice.

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5. DPRK on US-Japan Alliance

Yonhap News (“STRONGER U.S.-JAPAN ALLIANCE RAISES REGIONAL TENSION, N.K. SAYS”, 2005-06-12) reported that a stronger alliance between the US and Japan is straining relations around the Korean peninsula, the DPRK’s KCNA said Sunday. The US and Japan held a consultative committee meeting on security issues in February and announced a joint statement in which they pressed the DPRK to resume six-party talks. “A stronger military alliance between the US and Japan is straining regional affairs and is an obstacle to achieving peace and stability globally, as well as to bringing about economic development,” the newspaper said.

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6. DPRK on Japanese Abductee Issue

Kyodo News (“N.KOREA RAPS JAPANESE MAGAZINE SAYING YOKOTA STILL ALIVE”, 2005-06-13) reported that the DPRK on Monday criticized reports in a Japanese magazine that suggests that British intelligence has obtained pictures of Megumi Yokota, a Japanese abducted by DPRK agents, still alive despite Pyongyang’s denial of her survival. The reports from late January to February “are a childish conspiracy that tries to drive a wedge in smoothly developing relations between the DPRK and Britain,” a comment carried by the official KCNA said.

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7. Kim Dae-jung on Inter-Korean Summit Anniversary

Reuters (“HOPES SURVIVE FIVE YEARS AFTER LANDMARK KOREA SUMMIT”, 2005-06-13) reported that the hopes raised by a historic 2000 inter-Korean summit are still alive but unfulfilled promises and the DPRK nuclear crisis point to an arduous path ahead for unification. The June 15 2000, summit in Pyongyang changed the dynamics on the Korean peninsula, said former ROK President Kim Dae-jung at a seminar to mark his trip to the North five years ago, where he exchanged smiles, handshakes and hugs with DPRK leader Kim Jong-il. “There were many people in the South who opposed everything about the North, whereas now, South Koreans have a mature opinion, drawing a distinction between opposing communism and having love and support for their brethren,” Kim said.

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8. Tourism Expansion in DPRK

The Korea Times (“S-N TOURISM VENTURE PICKS UP STEAM”, 2005-06-12) reported that the DPRK is eager to keep its joint tourism project with the ROK on track, and is willing to offer various business concessions to its partners in the ROK. A large-scale construction project is underway at the foot of Mt. Kumang on the DPRK’s eastern coast to build attractions for ROK tourists. Trucks, construction equipment and busy workers are on site to build a family resort complex that will include an 18-hole golf course and hotels with DPRK soldiers on guard. Everyday, ROK workers go through checks by the soldiers to get to their jobsites, but there is little conversation.

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9. WFP on DPRK Food Shortage

Kyodo News (“HALF OF FOOD FACTORIES HALT OPERATIONS IN N.KOREA: WFP”, 2005-06-13) reported that 10 out of 19 local food production factories in the DPRK that are supported by the WFP have halted operations due to a lack of supplies. Without new contributions, the WFP said in a report on its website, biscuit production for primary school children will stop in September. The report comes at a time when the WFP is running out of its assistance stockpile for the DPRK, and has begun cutting the amount of food assistance distributed to people in the country.

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10. DPRK Industrial Complex Expansion

Chosun Ilbo (“‘N.KOREA PLANS SECOND INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX'”, 2005-06-10) reported that the DPRK wants to build a second industrial complex near the joint North-South Kaesong Industrial Complex by attracting foreign investment from China and Hong Kong. At a breakfast meeting hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Kyungnam University president Park Jae-kyu said DPRK wanted to attract foreign funds to build several more special economic complexes and also planned to develop the Shinuiju Economic Zone. Turning to the DPRK’s nuclear program, Park said Pyongyang seemed to have three to four nuclear weapons but it was not clear how destructive they are. But he added that considering its poor economy and food shortages, the DPRK would not be able to survive if it cuts itself off from the rest of the world completely.

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11. Japan on Yasukuni Shrine Issue

The Associated Press (“JAPAN’S PM UNDER PRESSURE OVER WAR SHRINE”, 2005-06-13) reported that the prime minister faced growing pressure Monday to scrap visits to a war shrine that anger neighboring Asian nations, and a poll showed dwindling public support in Japan for the trips. Tokyo’s relations with the PRC and ROK have hit a new low in recent weeks over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s annual visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan’s 2.5 million war dead, including convicted war criminals. Koizumi was cautioned this month over his Yasukuni visits by senior officials in his own party, a group of former prime ministers and a powerful conservative group representing families of the war dead. A new poll Monday showed more Japanese now oppose his visits than support them, said Nippon Television Network Corp.

(return to top) Kyodo News (“KOIZUMI REJECTS ASIAN DEMANDS TO STOP VISITING YASUKUNI”, 2005-06-13) reported that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday rejected demands from Asian neighbors that he stop visiting Yasukuni Shrine which honors Class-A war criminals as well as Japan’s war dead. “How to commemorate the war dead is a matter to be considered by Japan on its own,” Koizumi told reporters at his office. “I will make a decision appropriately.” As for the worsening bilateral ties with the PRC and the ROK, Koizumi said, “I am always saying friendly relations in a future-oriented manner between Japan and China, and between Japan and South Korea, are important.” (return to top)

12. Japan on Contaminated Soil Disposal

Kyodo News (“GOV’T BODY PLANS TO DISPOSE OF URANIUM-CONTAMINATED SOIL IN U.S.”, 2005-06-13) reported that a governmental nuclear research and development organization plans to ship soil contaminated with uranium from Yurihama, Tottori Prefecture, to the US for disposal, informed sources said Sunday. Of the 3,000 cubic meters of contaminated soil in the town’s Katamo district, 290 cubic meters, with a relatively high surface radiation level, will be shipped by the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute, the sources said. According to the institute’s plan, a US firm will dispose of the soil in the US at a total cost of more than 600 million yen, they said, adding it remains to be seen what will be done with the remaining 2,700 cubic meters of soil.

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13. EU on PRC Arms Ban

Bloomberg (“EU TO SCRAP PLAN TO END ARMS BAN ON CHINA, HANDING BUSH VICTORY “, 2005-06-13) reported that the European Union will shelve plans to lift a 16-year-old arms embargo against the PRC because of concerns about the nation’s human-rights record and Pacific rim stability, completing a policy shift that marks a US victory and a French defeat. The EU will scrap its end-June target date for ending the export curbs on weapons makers such as European Aeronautic, Defense & Space Co. and refuse to set a new deadline at a meeting of the 25-nation bloc’s foreign ministers today in Luxembourg. “There’s no consensus” on removing the restrictions, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer told reporters today in Luxembourg. “There’s no plan to act on the embargo this month,” said Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman of EU foreign-policy chief Javier Solana.

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14. PRC Rural Unrest

Washington Post (“FOR CHINESE, PEASANT REVOLT IS RARE VICTORY”, 2005-06-13) reported that the downpour leaked copiously into the ragged tents where elderly protesters had been camping for more than two weeks. Dozens of government cars and buses wound into Huaxi beginning at 4:30 a.m. on April 10, carrying an estimated 3,000 policemen and civilians assigned to destroy the tents. By the time dawn broke, up to 20,000 peasants from the half-dozen villages that make up Huaxi township had responded to the alarm, participants recounted, and they were in no mood to bow to authority. For four years, they had been complaining that industrial pollution was poisoning the land, stunting the crops and fouling the water in their fertile valley surrounded by forested hills 120 miles south of Hangzhou. A pitched battle erupted that soggy morning between enraged farmers and badly outnumbered police. By the end of the day, high-ranking officials had fled in their black sedans and hundreds of policemen had scattered in panic while farmers destroyed their vehicles. The confrontation was also a glimpse of a gathering force that could help shape the future of the PRC: the power of spontaneous mass protest. Peasants and workers left behind by the PRC’s economic boom increasingly have resorted to the kind of unrest that ignited in Huaxi.

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15. PRC Web Censorship

Agence France Presse (“MICROSOFT JOINS YAHOO!, GOOGLE IN CENSORING CHINA’S WEB”, 2005-06-13) reported that users of Microsoft’s new PRC-based Internet portal were blocked from using the words “democracy”, “freedom” and “human rights” in an apparent move by the US software giant to appease Beijing. Other words that could not be used on Microsoft’s free online blog service MSN Spaces include “Taiwan independence” and “demonstration”. Bloggers who enter such words or other politically charged or pornographic content are prompted with a message that reads: “This item should not contain forbidden speech such as profanity. Please enter a different word for this item”. Officials at Microsoft’s Beijing offices refused to comment Monday.

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16. PRC GM Food

The New York Times (“SIGNS OF ALTERED RICE AROUND CHINA “, 2005-06-13 ) reported that genetically altered rice, which has not been approved for human consumption anywhere in the world, has been found in the food supply in one of the PRC’s biggest cities, Greenpeace charged on Monday. Researchers for the environmentalist group said bags of rice that were purchased in April and May in Guangzhou had been tested by an independent laboratory and found to contain genetically altered rice, which it is illegal to sell on the open market in the PRC. The findings suggested that the PRC may have inadvertently become the first country where humans are consuming genetically modified rice even though safety testing has not yet been completed.

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17. PRC Bird Flu Outbreak

The New York Times (“NEW ASIAN FLU OUTBREAKS IN CHINA RAISE FEARS OF A MUTANT VIRUS”, 2005-06-11) reported that two reported new outbreaks of avian flu among birds in western PRC have raised fears that the virus is being spread widely by migrating birds and mutating rapidly. The regional director for the World Health Organization, Dr. Shigeru Omi, told reporters in Beijing yesterday that the two recent outbreaks in remote areas in which hundreds of birds died were worrisome because they involved migratory waterfowl and domestic geese, birds that until now had been fairly resistant to the disease. More than 13,000 geese were destroyed in Tacheng, in the Xinjiang autonomous region, after about 500 died of H5N1 avian flu, the PRC’s Agriculture Ministry reported.

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18. PRC AIDS Issue

Reuters (“AIDS DISCRIMINATION IN CHINA RIFE -VICE MINISTER”, 2005-06-13) reported that the PRC has drafted a new law to protect people infected with the AIDS virus in a country where discrimination against those suffering from the condition is rife, a senior PRC health official said on Monday. The PRC, for years criticized as being slow to recognize to the spread of AIDS in the country, has stepped up its public fight against the disease in the past two years, with senior leaders holding publicized meetings with victims. “Stigma and discrimination are still prevalent,” Wang Longde, vice health minister, told a forum in Shanghai. “It is one of the main stumbling blocks to preventing the spread of AIDS.”

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19. PRC Energy Shortage

Asia Pulse (“CHINA BRACES FOR SUMMER POWER SHORTAGES “, 2005-06-13) reported that the PRC saw an acute tension between electricity supply and demand last year with some regions even experiencing power outages and supply restrictions at peak times. With the arrival of summer – when power usage peaks due to air conditioner use – whether the PRC can ensure a secure, stable and reliable power supply has become a major focus for both the central government and society as a whole.

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II. CanKor

20. Report #209

CanKor (“US-ROK SUMMIT TRIES TO EASE RIFT ON TALKS WITH DRPK “, 2005-06-11) At a summit meeting in Washington, US President George W. Bush and ROK President Roh Moo Hyun try hard to patch up the growing rift in the alliance over the handling of the DPRK’s nuclear programme. Mr. Roh said he received assurances that the USA would not attack North Korean nuclear facilities, and Mr. Bush praised South Korea’s military aid in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both insist that the alliance remains very strong.

(return to top) CanKor (“DPRK SOLICITS VISITS BY US MEDIA GROUPS”, 2005-06-07) Surprising all observers, the DPRK invites several US media representatives to visit the country. The television network ABC has been broadcasting from within the country via satellite. Invitations have also gone to New York Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and columnist Nicholas Kristof. The DPRK government is attempting to curb negative coverage in the international media. (return to top) CanKor (“DPRK HINTS AT REJOINING NUCLEAR TALKS “, 2005-06-08) During a meeting in New York between DPRK representatives to the United Nations and American diplomats Joseph DeTrani and Jim Foster, the DPRK hints at returning to six-party talks, but without a firm date. Officials wonder whether the DPRK is serious about the talks, is trying to influence the US-ROK summit, or is merely trying to forestall the possibility of being threatened with United Nations Security Council sanctions. (return to top) CanKor FOCUS (“THE CURRENT SITUATION REGARDING THE KOREAN PENINSULA “, 2005-06-03) During two consecutive days last week, the University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies hosted Ambassador Pak Gil Yon, DPRK Permanent Representative to the United Nations headquarters in New York and concurrently DPRK Ambassador to Canada. In a rare public appearance, Ambassador Pak spoke to students, professors, members of the media and the general public about the current situation on the Korean Peninsula. Sponsors of the visit were the University of Toronto’s Asian Institute and East Asian Studies Department, the Asian Business and Management Programme of York University, and the Canada-DPR Korea Association. CanKor has obtained exclusive rights to publish the most relevant parts of Ambassador Pak’s speech. Appearing in this week’s FOCUS section is an unedited version of remarks on subjects covering recent developments within the DPRK, economic reforms and international cooperation, Korean reunification, foreign relations, DPRK-US relations, DPRK-Japan relations, and DPRK-Canada relations. (return to top)