Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. United States

1. PRC, ROK on US – DPRK Relations

The Associated Press (“U.S. POLICIES ON NORTH KOREA CRITICIZED”, 2004-11-01) reported that the Bush administration’s tactics for disarming the DPRK are not working, two key US supporters of talks with Pyongyang told Secretary of State Colin Powell this week. With Powell standing at his side in Seoul on Tuesday, ROK Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon said the US and fellow negotiators “must come up with a more creative and realistic proposal” to lure the DPRK back to the talks. A day earlier in Beijing, PRC Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing met with Powell and then called for a “more flexible and practical” US attitude toward the DPRK.

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2. US on PRC, ROK, Role in DPRK Nuclear Issue

The Associated Press (“WHITE HOUSE SAYS NATIONS AGREE ON KOREA”, 2004-11-01) reported that pledging flexibility in trying to get the DPRK to end its nuclear weapons programs, the Bush administration on Wednesday said there was “a remarkable similarity of views” among nations joined with the US in the effort. “The differences are being exaggerated,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said of reports of discord with the ROK and PRC over tactics being used in trying to reopen joint negotiations with the DPRK.

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3. Kim Hee-sang on DPRK Nuclear Issue

Reuters (“END TO N.KOREA CRISIS UNLIKELY UNDER KIM–GENERAL”, 2004-11-01) reported that a permanent solution to the DPRK nuclear crisis is unlikely until Pyongyang’s system gives way to democracy, a prominent former ROK general said on Friday. Kim Hee-sang told a seminar on security in Northeast Asia the prospects for the six-way talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear programs were not bright and there was no guarantee the DPRK would not concoct another crisis even if it negotiated an end to this one.

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4. Kissinger on DPRK Nuclear Talks

Agence France-Presse (“SET DEADLINE ON NUCLEAR TALKS, KISSINGER WARNS: IRAN, NORTH KOREA: RISKS ARE BECOMING TOO GREAT, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE SAYS”, 2004-11-01) reported that Henry Kissinger, the former US secretary of state, said yesterday a time limit should be set on nuclear weapons talks with the DPRK and Iran because the proliferation risks are becoming too great. Mr. Kissinger said the US must not embark on bilateral talks with the DPRK, which has been proposed by Democratic presidential contender Senator John Kerry. Mr. Kissinger said in an article for Newsweek magazine that a bilateral initiative “would leave America as the sole enforcer of any accord at the borders of China. And it would invite Pyongyang to use the new agreement for future blackmail.”

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5. ROK – Russia on DPRK Nuclear Issue

Yonhap (“RUSSIAN PARLIAMENTARY LEADERS TO DISCUSS NUKE ISSUES IN SEOUL “, 2004-11-01) reported that a delegation from the Russian parliament will arrive in the ROK Monday afternoon to discuss ways to resume the stalled negotiations on the DPRK nuclear arms issue, members of the ROK National Assembly said Monday. Konstantin Kosachev, deputy chairman of the State Duma (the lower chamber of the Russian parliament) Commission for International Affairs, and three other representatives will stay in the ROK until Friday for talks with ROK parliamentarians over the prospects of the six-nation talks on the DPRK’s nuclear program, they said.

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6. DPRK – Japan Abduction Talks

Kyodo News (“JAPAN, N. KOREA TO HOLD ABDUCTION TALKS NOV. 9-12”, 2004-11-01) reported that Japan and the DPRK will hold four days of upgraded working-level talks Nov. 9-12 in Pyongyang as the third round of talks on the DPRK’s past abductions of Japanese citizens, Japanese government sources said Monday. By having Pyongyang agree to upgrade the talks to bureau-chief-level, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said earlier that Japan can expect major progress as the two sides will be able to negotiate the issue more effectively than in the past two rounds of working-level sessions.

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7. DPRK on US Reconnaissance

The Associated Press (“NORTH KOREA SAYS U.S. CONDUCTED 190 SPY FLIGHTS IN OCTOBER”, 2004-11-01) reported that the DPRK accused the US of conducting 190 spy flights against the DPRK in October, according to a news report. The DPRK’s Radio Pyongyang, citing an unnamed military source, said various reconnaissance planes such as U-2 and RC-135 planes carried out the flights, the ROK’s Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday.

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8. ROK on US Troop Realignment

Reuters (“U.S. TROOPS TAKE BACKSEAT ON FRONTLINE WITH N.KOREA”, 2004-11-01) reported that the US has relinquished its last outpost in the Demilitarized Zone to the ROK and cut troops there as part of a deal to give Seoul more responsibility for guarding the tense border with the DPRK. The change, which took effect at midnight on Sunday, is part of a much bigger picture in which the US is cutting its forces on the divided peninsula by a third from 37,500 and moving bases further south away from the border.

(return to top) Chosun Ilbo (“BIG CHANGES IN JSA AS USFK TRANSFERS DUTIES TO KOREAN MILITARY “, 2004-11-01) reported that the JSA, now solely under the protection of South Korean troops for the first time in half-a-century, looks as different from the outside as it has been transformed on the inside. @The US and ROK decided in November last year that JSA patrol duties were to be completely handed over to ROK troops, and on Monday, those duties were officially transferred. US forces have totally evacuated from two camps, leaving the management of the system to ROK troops. (return to top)

9. DPRK on US Troop Realignment

Reuters (“N.KOREA ARGUES U.S. FORCE CUTBACK MEANS WAR IMMINENT”, 2004-11-01) reported that the US decision to cut and relocate its troop contingent in the ROK while bringing in high-tech armaments is a madcap ploy that shows a second Korean War is imminent, the DPRK said on Friday. “The US madcap arms build-up of an unprecedented scale now under way in South Korea under the pretext of the cut down of its troops and their relocation is a dangerous military action,” said the DPRK’s main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun.

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10. Inter – Korean Maritime Border Violation

Agence France-Presse (“SOUTH KOREAN NAVY FIRES WARNING SHOTS AT NORTH’S VESSELS”, 2004-11-01) reported that ROK naval ships fired warning shots to drive away DPRK vessels violating their border in the Yellow Sea, the joint chiefs of staff (JCS) office said. Three DPRK patrol boats intruded into southern waters near Yeonpyeong Island at 10:54 am (0154 GMT) despite radio warnings, the office said. It said the boats sailed back only after the warning shots were fired. The border breach lasted 83 minutes and the standoff ended without casualties, the office said.

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11. ROK on Maritime Border Violations

Yonhap (“KOREAN ANALYSTS SAY NORTH MAY BE TESTING READINESS OF SOUTH’S NAVY”, 2004-11-01) reported that three DPRK Navy patrol boats briefly violated the western sea border with the ROK on Monday, the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. “The North may have sent three boats nearly simultaneously to violate the NLL in an apparent scheme to examine the South Korean navy’s readiness,” another JCS officer said. “The violations are also seen as an intentional act to invalidate the NLL.”

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12. Inter – Korean Trade

Asia Pulse (“S. KOREAN SHIP TO BE USED FOR COMMERCIAL TRADE WITH N. KOREA”, 2004-11-01) reported that a ship with ROK registry will be used for commercial trade with the DPRK for the first time, officials said Sunday. According to the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, a sand carrier from the domestic transportation company “Yusung Goljae” will pick up coastal sand from Heungnam port in the DPRK and deliver it to the ROK port cities of Busan, Donghae and Gwangyang.

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13. DPRK on Kaesong Project

Yonhap (“N.K. CRITICIZES U.S. ENVOY OVER REMARKS ON KAESONG INDUSTRIAL PARK “, 2004-11-01) reported that the DPRK criticized Saturday a top US envoy over his recent remarks warning the ROK against having rosy expectations for an inter-Korean economic project. Uriminzokkiri, an official DPRK Internet site, said in its editorial on Friday that US Ambassador to Seoul Christopher Hill gave a “nasty” speech on the industrial complex for ROK firms under construction in the DPRK’s border town of Kaesong.

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14. ROK on Kaesong Project

Yonhap (“SEOUL REJECTS ALLEGATIONS OF U.S. OBSTRUCTION OF KAESONG PROJECT “, 2004-11-01) reported that the ROK on Monday dismissed allegations that the US is trying to interfere with an inter-Korean project for building an industrial zone in the DPRK by restricting the inflow of certain ROK products into the area. “The US side understands the meaning and the importance of the Kaesong industrial complex project and has a position that it will provide active support (for the project),” the Unification Ministry said in a report.

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15. DPRK Defector on US Human Rights Act

Yonhap (“FORMER SECRETARY OF N. KOREAN WORKERS’ PARTY PRAISES U.S. HUMAN RIGHTS LAW “, 2004-11-01) reported that former secretary of the DPRK’s powerful Workers’ Party on Monday praised the recently-signed US law aimed at improving human rights conditions and promoting democracy in the DPRK, claiming it will deal a serious blow to pro-DPRK organizations. “The North Korean Human Rights Law will be critical to those close to the North Korean government,” said Hwang Jang-yop.

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16. ROK on DPRK Human Rights

Joongang Ilbo (“FORUM ASKS FOR STRESS ON NORTH RIGHTS “, 2004-11-01) reported that following the passage of a DPRK Human Rights Act in the US last month, scholars here have called for the ROK government to set a systematic and practical human rights policy towards Pyeongyang. During a seminar hosted by the DPRK Democratization Forum yesterday, Jhe Seong-ho, a professor at ChoongAng University said, “The government must reflect upon its neglect of North Korean human rights issues in pursuing a peace and prosperity policy. Unless the human rights conditions in the North improve, it is impossible to achieve North-South coexistence in the truest sense.”

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17. UN on DPRK Human Rights

Joongang Ilbo (“UN CRITICISM REBUTTED BY NORTH’S AMBASSADOR “, 2004-11-01) reported that the UN’s independent investigator into human rights in the DPRK has urged Pyeongyang to give more freedom to its citizens and to allow international relief agencies to work freely in the country. The DPRK flatly rejected the criticism, boasting about what it called zero unemployment and a perfect social welfare system.

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18. ROK on Inter – Korean Relations

Chosun Ilbo (“SOUTH KOREA’S DELAYED WHITE PAPER COULD CHANGE VIEW ON NK”, 2004-11-01) reported that the ROK’s 2004 defense white paper will be published and distributed in mid-January next year, three months later than originally scheduled. The paper was supposed to be published this month. The Defense Ministry is considering replacing its definition of the DPRK as a “main enemy.”

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19. DPRK on Inter – Korean Relations

Yonhap (“N. KOREA ACCUSES U.S. OF BEING S. KOREA’S ‘MAIN THREAT’ “, 2004-11-01) reported that the DPRK on Sunday reiterated its criticism of the ROK for branding it a “main threat,” urging Seoul to shift the designation to the US which has a military presence on the peninsula. “As long as the U.S. military is present in South Korea, it is impossible for the South Korean people to free themselves from the ever-present war threat and for all Koreans to achieve their wish for reunification,” Uriminzokkiri.com, a state-run DPRK Web site, said.

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20. IAEA ROK Visit

Associated Press (“UN NUCLEAR WATCHDOG TO SEND INSPECTORS TO SOUTH KOREA”, 2004-11-01) reported that the UN nuclear watchdog will send a group of inspectors to the ROK this week to investigate Seoul’s secret nuclear experiments, a ROK official said Sunday. Cho Chung-won, director-general at South Korea’s Ministry of Science and Technology, said a five-member inspection team from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency will make a six-day visit beginning Tuesday.

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21. IAEA on DPRK Nuclear Issue

Reuters (“ELBARADEI PRESSES N.KOREA, IRAN ON NUCLEAR THREAT”, 2004-11-01) reported that the director of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said on Monday that the DPRK posed a “serious challenge” to attempts to limit nuclear weapons in the world and Iran should suspend uranium enrichment activities. On the DPRK, ElBaradei said the DPRK “continues to pose a serious challenge to the nuclear nonproliferation regime” and that the IAEA could not “provide any level of assurance about the non-diversion of nuclear material.”

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22. DPRK Defector

Joongang Ilbo (“ASYLUM-SEEKER ENTERS U.S. OFFICE “, 2004-11-01) reported that a man who claimed to be DPRK defector has sought political asylum at the US Consulate General in Vladivostok, Russia, the American mission said yesterday. This is the first time a DPRK defector has sought refuge at a foreign mission in Russia, although such attempts have taken place frequently in the PRC.

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23. DPRK Aid

Donga Ilbo (““ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND TONS OF ARTIFICIAL FERTILIZERS TO N. KOREA,” SAYS KOREAN NATIONAL RED CROSS “, 2004-11-01) The Korean National Red Cross reported on October 29 that it will send 100,000 tons of artificial fertilizers to the DPRK, and urged for an early opening of the Red Cross Conference between the DPRK and ROK to solve the issue of the dispersed families. On a telephone notification to Jang Jae-eon, chairman of the DPRK Red Cross, the Korean National Red Cross said, “As soon as the internal formalities are finished, the artificial fertilizers will be sent to North Korea.”

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24. DPRK Food Aid

Associated Press (“JAPAN TO SEND TEAM TO N KOREA TO MONITOR FOOD AID”, 2004-11-01) reported that Japan will send a monitoring team to the DPRK next week to check whether Tokyo’s recent shipments of food aid are reaching those in need, the Foreign Ministry said Friday. Human rights groups have expressed concern that food donations are being diverted to the DPRK’s black market.

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25. DPRK Biosphere Reserve

Korea Times (“NK MOUNTAIN BECOMES UNESCO’S BIOSPHERE RESERVE”, 2004-11-01) reported that Mt. Kuwol in the DPRK has been declared a Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Ministry of Environment said Sunday. It is the second biosphere reserve in the DPRK following Mt. Paekdu, which was chosen in 1989. The ROK also has two biosphere reserves, Mt. Sorak and Cheju Island, which were designated in 1982 and 2002, respectively.

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26. Jenkins Case

Kyodo News (“JENKINS TO BE COURT-MARTIALED WED., MAY BE SENTENCED SAME DAY”, 2004-11-01) reported that accused US Army deserter Charles Jenkins will be court-martialed at the Army’s Camp Zama near Tokyo on Wednesday, with some experts expecting a sentence to be passed within the day. Jenkins is also charged with aiding the enemy, encouraging disloyalty and soliciting other personnel to desert, the US Army said.

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27. ROK Missionaries

The New York Times (“KOREAN MISSIONARIES CARRYING WORD TO HARD-TO-SWAY PLACES “, 2004-11-01) reported that the ROK has rapidly become the world’s second largest source of Christian missionaries, only a couple of decades after it started deploying them. In the PRC, ROK missionaries concentrate on converting the Chinese, as well as the ethnic North Koreans living in northeastern PRC. After they are smuggled out of the PRC to the ROK, though, only about a third of the DPRK defectors continue practicing Christianity, missionaries said. Other ROK citizens train DPRK Christians to return to the DPRK to spread the Gospel.

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28. US – ROK Trade Relations

Chosun Ilbo (“KOREA MUST CHOOSE BETWEEN FTA AND SCREEN QUOTA: U.S. AMBASSADOR”, 2004-11-01) reported that US ambassador to Korea Christopher Hill said at a lecture on the roadmap to a free trade agreement (FTA) at Korea University on Monday that the ROK government and people had to choose between an FTA and the ROK’s screen quota system. Ambassador Hill said the US considered the ROK’s screen quota system devoting 40 percent of annual screening time at movie theaters to local movies unnecessary when the ROK movie industry was booming. The ROK could not have the screen quota system and FTA at the same time, said the ambassador.

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29. US – ROK Relations

Joongang Ilbo (“HILL SAYS U.S. VOTE WON’T CHANGE TIES”, 2004-11-01) reported that US Ambassador Christopher Hill said yesterday that no matter who wins the US presidential election today, US-ROK relations would remain strong. In a lecture to 400 students at Korea University, Mr. Hill said the ROK was a medium player on the international stage and needed an alliance to safeguard its interests. Mr. Hill said that efforts by the ROK to improve relations with other countries did not have to come at the expense of its ties to the US.

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30. Japan on Iraq Hostage Death

Reuters (“IRAQ HOSTAGE KILLING REOPENS JAPAN DEBATE ON TROOPS”, 2004-11-01) reported that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appeared on Monday to have won public backing for his refusal to pull Japanese troops out of Iraq despite the weekend beheading of a Japanese hostage. But the killing of 24-year-old backpacker Shosei Koda has re-ignited debate over whether Tokyo should extend the troops’ mission when their mandate expires in December.

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31. Sino – US Relations

Associated Press (“CHINA CRITICIZES BUSH AHEAD OF ELECTION”, 2004-11-01) reported that on the eve of the US presidential election, the PRC accused President Bush of trying to “rule over the whole world,” saying the invasion of Iraq destroyed the global anti-terrorism coalition and worsened religious and ethnic conflicts. The strikingly pointed criticism from a government that the US calls a key anti-terrorism ally was a departure from the PRC’s past refusal to comment on the US presidential candidates.

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32. Sino – US Trade Relations

Washington Post (“U.S. TO CONSIDER LIMITING PANTS IMPORTS FROM CHINA”, 2004-11-01) reported that the Bush administration, sending another signal that it intends to limit imports of clothing from the PRC next year, announced yesterday that it will consider a request by the US textile industry to maintain caps on shipments of PRC-made cotton trousers to the US.

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33. PRC Ethnic Rioting

The Associated Press (“RIOTING IN CHINA TOWN KILLS SEVEN PEOPLE”, 2004-11-01) reported that violent clashes in a village in central PRC killed seven people and injured 42, the government said Monday, as police imposed martial law on the area after the fighting between hundreds of members of two rival ethnic groups. Some 400 to 500 rioters from the Han ethnic majority and the Hui Muslims clashed in the area, burning several houses, residents said.

(return to top) The New York Times (“MARTIAL LAW DECLARED AS NEARLY 150 DIE IN CLASHES IN CENTRAL CHINA”, 2004-11-01) reported that ethnic clashes between majority Han Chinese and Hui Muslims left almost 150 people dead and forced the authorities to declare martial law in a section of Henan Province in central PRC, journalists and witnesses in the region said Sunday. The fighting flared Friday and continued into the weekend after a Hui taxi driver’s car hit and killed a 6-year-old Han girl, prompting recriminations between different ethnic groups in neighboring villages, the journalists and witnesses said. (return to top)

34. PRC Labor Unrest

The Associated Press (“STRIKE ENDS AT CHINESE TEXTILE MILL”, 2004-11-01) reported that a nearly seven-week strike by about 7,000 workers at a textile mill in northern PRC has ended after the factory’s Hong Kong managers agreed to improve employment conditions, a labor monitoring group said Monday. More than 20 worker organizers have been detained in recent days over the almost seven-week strike at the Huarun Xianyang factory in Shaanxi province, and wanted notices have been issued for three others, Hong Kong-based PRC Labor Bulletin reported.

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35. PRC Corruption Charges

Washington Post (“PARTY CENSORS LEAVE A CHINESE CITY TO SPECULATE ON CORRUPTION SCANDAL”, 2004-11-01) reported that when a corruption scandal swept through this northern PRC city several weeks ago, leading to the dismissal of five high-level officials, the Communist Party tried to keep it secret from the people. Newspapers and broadcast stations, under strict censorship, were allowed to report only that the five had resigned, without saying why, and even that came two weeks after the fact. Many people in Harbin and the surrounding Heilongjiang province, based on experience in a region with a long history of official malfeasance, assumed bribery and influence-peddling were involved.

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36. PRC Internet Cafe Shut Down

The Associated Press (“CHINA SHUTS DOWN 1,600 INTERNET CAFES”, 2004-11-01) reported that the PRC has closed 1,600 Internet cafes and fined operators a total of $12 million for letting children play violent games and for other violations, the government said Saturday. The announcement came amid a campaign launched in March to reduce or eliminate sex and violence in Web sites, video games and other material that Communist leaders consider harmful to public morality.

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37. PRC Energy Supply

The Associated Press (“REPORT: CHINA CO. SEEKS YUKOS COMPENSATION”, 2004-11-01) reported that the PRC’s biggest petroleum company plans to demand compensation from Russian oil giant Yukos for losses resulting from Yukos’ suspension of crude shipments, state media reported Monday. The Russian government earlier pledged to get the CNPC shipments resumed by Oct. 20, but they are not coming in, said the newspapers 21st Century Business Herald and Beijing Youth Daily.

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38. PRC Economy

The Associated Press (“CHINA SAYS TIGHTER CONTROLS ARE NEEDED”, 2004-11-01) reported that PRC needs to do more to control spending on construction, factories and other “fixed assets” to curb growth and cool inflation, state media reported Monday, citing top government officials. The comments followed others by top economic planners over the weekend suggesting Beijing believes that past measures, including interest rate hikes that took effect Friday, might not be enough to curb surging investment.

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39. Hong Kong Pollution

Agence France-Presse (“GREENPEACE CHALLENGES HONG KONG’S SAFE AIR CLAIM”, 2004-11-01) reported that environmentalists have handed Hong Kong’s government a damning report which claims the government lied about the city’s air pollution. Greenpeace said official measurements of smog in the southern PRC autonomous region were misleading and their own studies showed pollution in some districts was as much as three times the level accepted in other cities. “Hong Kong air quality has exceeded international safety levels by 200 percent over the past nine days,” a statement from the organisation said.

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