NAPSNet Daily Report Monday, May 23, 2005

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NAPSNet Daily Report Monday, May 23, 2005

NAPSNet Daily Report Monday, May 23, 2005

I. United States

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. United States

1. DPRK on US Six-party Talks Policy

The Los Angeles Times (“REGIME SAYS U.S. REMARKS ARE CONFUSING”, None) reported that the DPRK said it was confused by US policy toward the DPRK, but it did not rule out returning to six-nation talks. In a statement, a Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed a May 13 meeting between US representatives and DPRK officials in New York. But it said differences between Washington’s public and private statements only confuse the US position towards the DPRK.

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2. DPRK on Six-Party Talks

Reuters (“N.KOREA SETS CONDITIONS FOR RETURN TO TALKS-DAILY”, None) reported that the DPRK has told the PRC it may announce next week a return to stalled six-way talks if Beijing agrees to a number of conditions, a Japanese newspaper said on Sunday. Pyongyang requested China provide economic aid and try to set up a direct meeting with the US within the six-party framework, the daily Sankei Shimbun said, quoting US diplomatic sources. The DPRK also wants Beijing to agree to back its position at the talks, rather than supporting Washington, the paper said.

(return to top) Reuters (“N.KOREA CONSIDERING NUCLEAR TALKS RETURN-ANALYSTS”, None) reported that the DPRK’s confirmation that its diplomats met US officials is a sign Pyongyang may consider a return to stalled six-country talks. The DPRK said it had spoken with the US on May 13 at the UN and would respond at “an appropriate time” to US efforts to revive multilateral talks. However, it was unclear whether its response would include a decision on returning to the talks. (return to top) The Korea Times (“NK WEIGHS TIMING OF RETURN TO NUKE TALKS”, None) reported that experts say June will be a crucial month for the Korean Peninsula as Pyongyang is considering to return to the negotiation table over its nuclear problem. While the ROK seeks summit diplomacy with Japan and the US, inter-Korean relations are also set to flourish amid heightened expectations that the DPRK might announce its decision soon to come back to the six-party nuclear talks by the end of June. One possibility is at the June 14-17 festival in Pyongyang where the two Koreas will jointly celebrate the fifth anniversary of the historic summit in 2000. (return to top)

3. ROK on DPRK-US Talks

Associated Press (“SOUTH KOREA: NORTH’S RESPONSE TO U.S. OFFER WILL BE “WATERSHED” IN NUCLEAR DISPUTE”, None) reported that a senior ROK official said Monday he expects the way the DPRK responds to Washington’s recent recognition of the country’s sovereignty to be a “watershed” in the nuclear standoff. Kim Sook, director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s North American Affairs Bureau, also said it was time the DPRK gave a “serious response” to issues discussed at the first meeting with US officials in almost a year.

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4. Russia on Six-party Talks

Reuters (“RUSSIAN ENVOY TO JAPAN PESSIMISTIC ON NKOREA TALKS”, None) reported that Russia’s ambassador Alexander Losyukov, former negotiator at the six-party talks, described the situation on the Korean peninsula at a symposium in Tokyo on Monday, as a “full-scale international crisis” that could worsen. He was pessimistic that the DPRK would return to talks.

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5. Russia, US on Six-party Talks

Interfax (“RUSSIA, U.S. TO BACK STEPS TO RE-START TALKS ON N.KOREA”, None) reported that the heads of the six-party delegations of Russia and the US met for consultations in Geneva on Sunday. Both parties confirmed a readiness to continue efforts to ensure the soonest possible resumption of the six-country process as the most optimal format to resolve “this key international problem taking the concerns of all the parties into consideration,” according to a Russian Foreign Ministry press release.

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6. Russia on DPRK Nuclear Test

Itar-Tass (“YURI BALUYEVSKY: NORTH KOREA NUCLEAR TESTS MUST NOT BE ALLOWED”, None) reported that, after his talks with Japanese counterpart Hadime Massaki on Monday, Russia’s military chief of staff Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky said “it is necessary to do everything possible in order not to allow North Korea to conduct (nuclear) tests, it is necessary to do everything for the resumption of the six-party talks on this problem. It is necessary to do everything in order the Korean Peninsula never becomes an arena of the use of nuclear weapons. We are united in this approach.”

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7. Inter-Korean Dialogue on Nuclear Talks

Chosun Ilbo (“JUNE INTER-KOREAN TALKS TO TACKLE POLITICS, MILITARY”, None) reported that Seoul will stress political and military issues at the next inter-Korean ministerial talks starting in Seoul on June 21. At a meeting with the ruling-party leadership to explain the outcome of the last inter-Korean talks, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said the DPRK “has a perception that it should resolve the matter with the United States.” But, he said, if a commitment to denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula is to be revived, the two Koreas “should discuss the nuclear problem sincerely” at the forthcoming ministerial talks. It remains to be seen, however, if that is acceptable to Pyongyang.

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8. June 15 Celebration Preparations

The Korea Times (“KOREAS MEET TO PLAN JUNE 15 CELEBRATIONS”, None) reported that ROK and DPRK officials will meet today at Kaesong to plan joint celebrations for the fifth anniversary of the June 15 inter-Korean summit. “We plan to discuss with the North the size of our official delegation and the programs that they will take part in,” Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hong-jae said.

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9. ROK Aid to DPRK

Reuters (“N.KOREAN SHIPS MAKE RARE VISIT TO PORTS IN SOUTH”, None) reported that three DPRK cargo ships began loading fertilizer on Monday in the ROK, marking the first time in more than two decades that vessels from the DPRK have visited ROK ports. The ships arrived on the weekend at three separate ports and are scheduled to leave on Wednesday, according to ROK Unification Ministry officials. The shipments are the first of 190,000 tons to be sent by sea before the end of June. Transport by road of the remaining 10,000 tons began on Saturday.

(return to top) Chosun Ilbo (“S.KOREA STARTS SENDING FERTILIZER AID TO NORTH “, None) reported that the ROK has started sending the 200,000 tons of fertilizer to the DPRK, as agreed during the inter-Korean vice-ministerial talks held earlier this week. The Unification Ministry said that it plans to truck 10,000 tons of fertilizer across the border and transport the remaining 190,000 tons by ship. This will be the first time for delivery of fertilizer aid via a land route since the ROK started sending provisions in 1999. (return to top)

10. US Aid to DPRK

The Los Angeles Times (“U.S. LOOKS AT FOOD AID FOR NORTH KOREA”, None) reported that the State Department said Friday that the US was considering whether to give the DPRK food aid this year, repeating its position that such aid is not tied to Six-party talks. “It’s wrong to say that we’ve halted it. We completed last year’s shipment of 50,000 tons and we’re considering what we might want to do this year,” spokesman Richard Boucher said.

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11. UNC Contingency Plan for DPRK Collapse

Joongang Ilbo (“PLANS FOR NORTH COLLAPSE DISCUSSED”, None) reported that according to JoongAng Ilbo, contingency plans for a military response to a collapse of the DPRK were quietly discussed by US and ROK officials this month at a three-day meeting of the UN Command in Seoul. No firm policy decisions were reached at the closed-door sessions, which took place May 10 to 12 at Yongsan Garrison, according to a participant in the meeting, who characterized it as essentially a brainstorming session. The meeting was titled the United Nations Command Special Operation Force Component Conference.

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12. ROK Opposition-PRC on DPRK Nuclear Issue

Yonhap News (“MAIN OPPOSITION LEADER LEAVES FOR VISIT TO CHINA”, None) reported that the head of the ROK’s main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) left Monday for a six-day visit to the PRC to discuss ways of resolving the dispute over the DPRK’s nuclear weapons program. Chairwoman Park Geun-hye is scheduled to meet with the PRC’s political and government officials and hold talks on the DPRK nuclear issue and other pending diplomatic issues between the ROK and the PRC, party officials said.

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