Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. United States

1. US, PRC on DPRK Nuclear Talks

The Associated Press (“U.S., CHINA CONFIDANT OVER N. KOREA TALKS”, 2004-10-01) reported that the US and PRC expressed confidence that six-nation talks aimed at convincing the DPRK to give up its nuclear program would succeed, despite missing a September target for holding a new round of meetings. US Secretary of State Colin Powell and his PRC counterpart, Li Zhaoxing, said diplomacy should concentrate on bringing the DPRK back to the negotiating table. “I think it will work,” Powell said. “I think that the six-party framework is what we should be concentrating on, and not any other means of dealing with this right now.” Li said the “entire international community” agrees that the six-nation approach is the best way to deal with the problem.

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2. DPRK on Nuclear Talks

Reuters (“N.KOREA SAYS SOUTH HAS NUCLEAR ARMS, REJECTS TALKS”, 2004-10-04) reported that the DPRK Saturday dashed the ROK’s hope of quickly resuming bilateral talks between the two old Cold War enemies, declaring there is no hope for progress unless the ROK’s nuclear experiments are fully investigated. The DPRK said “the clandestine nuclear development pursued for over 20 years helped South Korea acquire basic criteria for nuclear armament such as extraction of nuclear substance, production of nukes, access to means for nuclear delivery and preparations for a nuclear war and put all this under a perfect system.”

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3. DPRK on Uranium Enrichment Program

Yonhap (“N. KOREA ACCUSES U.S. OF FABRICATING URANIUM ENRICHMENT STORIES “, 2004-10-02) reported that the DPRK Saturday accused the US of fabricating information about its alleged uranium enrichment program and urged it to withdraw the “groundless claims” if it truly wants to solve the dispute over Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions. “The uranium scheme allegation was intentionally fabricated by the US administration to isolate our nation in the international community,” the state-controlled Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary, which was carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

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4. PRC on DPRK Enriched Uranium Program

Korea Herald (“CHINA SAYS N.K. TRIED TO ENRICH URANIUM: REPORT”, 2004-10-04) reported that for the first time since the DPRK nuclear standoff began nearly two years ago, the PRC has confirmed Pyongyang’s intention to conduct uranium enrichment, a Japanese media report says. According to the report, carried by the Tokyo-based Kyodo News Agency, the PRC has told fellow participants in the six-party talks that the DPRK has tried to enrich uranium. Quoting a source involved with the multilateral dialogue, the agency reported out of Washington that the PRC “apparently changed its stance” and informed other members of the talks, including Japan and the ROK, that it believes the DPRK “at least attempted to enrich” uranium.

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5. DPRK – US Relations

Chosun Ilbo (“NORTH KOREA STEPS UP PROPAGANDA OFFENSIVE AGAINST U.S. “, 2004-10-04) reported that the DPRK’s condemnation of the US has been growing stronger recently. The DPRK’s Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said Sunday in a report entitled, “US Human Rights Offensive to Isolate and Smother the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” that it was the “common US invasion strategy” to apply pressure on countries it didn’t like by seizing on human rights issues and then militarily invading them. “The US tried to cause a commotion with the nuclear issue,” said the KCNA, “but as that didn’t work, it is now applying pressure by making human rights issues an international problem.”

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6. US Missile Defense

Reuters (“PENTAGON TAKES KEY STEP IN MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM”, 2004-10-01) reported that a US Navy destroyer with long-range missile-tracking equipment has begun patrols in the Sea of Japan, officials said on Friday, in a key step toward forming a missile-defense system intended to guard against attack by nations like the DPRK. The Japan-based USS Curtis Wilbur began patrols this week as the Pentagon moved closer to turning on a system championed by President Bush and intended to shoot down enemy missiles long before they hit their targets, Navy officials said. “I can confirm our ships are there and we do have our capability operational,” Navy Secretary Gordon England told reporters at the Pentagon.

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7. DPRK on Relations with the US

Yonhap (“N.K. VOWS TO INCREASE NUCLEAR DETERRENT FORCE “, 2004-10-04) reported that the DPRK threatened on Monday to bolster its nuclear deterrent force a “thousand times” as long as the US sticks to what Pyongyang calls a hostile policy. “We will not never accede to Bush’s unilateral coercion to abandon our nuclear weapons program but will boost our nuclear deterrent force a hundred times and a thousand times as long as the US imperialists stick to the hostile policy,” said the DPRK’s Central Broadcasting Station, monitored here.

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8. KEDO on DPRK Nuclear Issue

The Associated Press (“REPORTS ON N. KOREA NUKES MAY LACK PROOF”, 2004-10-01) reported that the DPRK may have only a single nuclear weapon and there is no proof that the reclusive country has actually produced any, the head of a group trying to disarm the DPRK’s atomic program said in an interview Friday. “When you get into this discussion about the numbers, it quickly sort of becomes people seeking facts,” said Charles Kartman, the executive director of the New York-based Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization. “There is a maximum amount of plutonium that could have been reprocessed, and if that is true, then depending on the state of North Korean technology, it would have been sufficient for one, or at most, two (weapons),” Kartman said. Now when you get to the number two, you are really applying the worst case scenario. Everything has to run right,” Kartman said.

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9. IAEA on ROK Nuclear Experiment

Reuters (“U.N. NUKE CHIEF ELBARADEI HEADS TO S.KOREA, JAPAN”, 2004-10-04) reported that the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Mohamed ElBaradei, flies to the ROK Saturday to discuss revelations about Seoul’s undeclared atomic research and to launch his campaign for a third term at the agency. After completing talks with ROK officials, the 61-year-old head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) departs for Tokyo Wednesday, an IAEA spokeswoman said.

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10. DPRK on ROK Nuclear Experiment

The Associated Press (“S. KOREA TOLD NOT TO CONDUCT NUKE TESTS “, 2004-10-04) reported that the DPRK warned that the ROK experiments had disrupted a dialogue between the two Koreas. “It will be impossible to expect any development of inter-Korean relations unless the truth about South Korea’s secret nuclear experiments is probed,” the DPRK news agency KCNA said Saturday, citing an unidentified Pyongyang official.

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11. ROK on Nuclear Experiment

Yonhap (“SEOUL SAYS IT HAS NEVER PURSUED NUCLEAR WEAPONS “, 2004-10-04) reported that the ROK’s President Roh Moo-hyun reiterated Monday that his country has never pursued any nuclear program for military purposes, saying that the policy will remain unchanged. The ROK has supported international efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation and honored its obligations, Roh said in a written interview with The Times of India.

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12. Inter Korean Summit

Yonhap (“SEOUL TO PUSH FOR INTER-KOREAN SUMMIT: OFFICIAL”, 2004-10-04) reported that the ROK will push for a summit with the DPRK “at an appropriate time and in an appropriate manner,” Seoul’s unification minister said Monday. Chung Dong-young made the remark during a parliamentary audit of his ministry in response to a lawmaker’s question on whether the government is willing to push for a second inter-Korean summit as a way to break the deadlock in bilateral ties.

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13. DPRK on Japanese UNSC Bid

Yonhap (” N. KOREA OPPOSES JAPAN’S BID FOR UN SECURITY COUNCIL SEAT “, 2004-10-04) reported that the DPRK criticized Japan on Sunday for pursuing a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council, calling for Japan to be held accountable for its past war crimes. The criticism in which the Korean Central News Agency quoted the Minju Joson, the official newspaper of the DPRK Cabinet, came after Japan said at the 59th UN General Assembly in September that it wanted to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

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14. Inter-Korean, Russian Infrastructure Cooperation

Yonhap (“SOUTH, NORTH KOREA, RUSSIA TO MEET IN PYONGYANG ON RAILWAYS “, 2004-10-01) reported that the ROK and DPRK and Russia will meet in Pyongyang to discuss building railways that connect Siberia and the Korean Peninsula, Russia’s Railways Minister Gennady Fadeyev said Friday in a local radio interview. Foreign Ministry officials and transportation workers from the three countries will discuss connecting the Trans-Korean Railway and the Trans-Siberian Railway in a roundtable discussion in the DPRK capital, the minister told the Voice of Russia, a state-run station for international audiences.

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15. DPRK Cyber-attacks

Agence France-Presse (“NORTH KOREA READY TO LAUNCH CYBER WAR — DEFENSE MINISTRY REPORT”, 2004-10-04) reported that the DPRK has trained more than 500 computer hackers capable of launching cyber warfare against the US, the ROK’s defense ministry says. In a report to the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee, the ministry said that hackers from the DPRK were among the best in the world. “North Korea’s intelligence warfare capability is estimated to have reached the level of advanced countries,” the report said, according to Yonhap news agency.

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16. DPRK Defectors

Donga Ilbo (“RUMORS SAY KIM JONG-IL’S DOCTOR SOUGHT REFUGE IN BEIJING”, 2004-10-01) reported that according to rumors from Beijing, DPRK leader Kim Jong-il’s physician, who had defected from the country, was arrested by PRC`s state security police. A DPRK expert from Beijing on Friday revealed, “Rumors are spreading that a former doctor in his 60s who used to work for Kim Jong-il recently fled from North Korea and sought refugee at a place in suburban Beijing until his arrest by the state security police.” However, other diplomatic sources denied the rumor and doubted the credibility of the story. Another source said, “I personally heard the story and tried to confirm it, but I concluded that the rumor was groundless.”

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17. DPRK – Brazil Relations

Yonhap (“N. KOREA LIKELY TO OPEN EMBASSY IN BRAZIL: REPORT “, 2004-10-02) reported that the DPRK is expected to open an embassy in Brazil soon as the two countries improve political and economic ties, a ROK government agency said Saturday, quoting the Brazilian government. Several DPRK officials visited Brazil last month and are reportedly planning a second trip in preparation for the opening of the embassy, said the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).

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18. Bush, Kerry on DPRK Talks

The Associated Press (“BUSH, KERRY DIFFER ON N. KOREA DIPLOMACY”, 2004-10-01) reported that President Bush and Sen. John Kerry agreed in their debate Thursday that the US must talk to the DPRK to resolve concerns over its nuclear activity, but they differed sharply over how to do it. Bush defended his administration’s participation in six-nation talks on the DPRK’s suspected nuclear weapons development, while Kerry said a bilateral track would bring more progress.

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19. Pugwash on DPRK Nuclear Issue, US Elections

Yonhap (“BUSH’S REELECTION MAY LEAD TO ARMED CONFLICT IN KOREA; PUGWASH HEAD”, 2004-10-03) reported that the US President George W. Bush’s reelection may eventually lead to an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula because of his hardline policy toward the DPRK, a prominent nuclear nonproliferation organization official warned Sunday. “If Bush is reelected, this may create a catastrophe because Bush may push North Korea a little too far,” Joseph Rotblat, the honorary chairman of the Pugwash Conference, said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency.

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20. ROK Terror Threat

Chosun Ilbo (“GOV’T AGENCIES AGREE KOREA TERRORIST TARGET “, 2004-10-04) reported that the government held a meeting Monday, presided over by Government Administration and Home Affairs Minister Huh Sung-kwan, to discuss counter-terrorism measures regarding the Al-Qaida terrorist threat. The meeting concluded that the audiotape broadcast by al-Jazeera television Friday is the first direct threat targeting the ROK and that the country was in substantial danger as a result of recent international terrorist movements.

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21. ROK Security Law

The Associated Press (“S. KOREANS PROTEST SECURITY LAW CHANGE”, 2004-10-04) reported that police scuffled with hundreds of protesters in central Seoul Monday as an estimated 100,000 people rallied against calls for the abolition of a security law crafted a half-century ago to fight communism. Protesters converged on the Seoul City Hall Plaza in a protest against moves to scrap the National Security Law. “Those who are afraid of the National Security Law should leave this country!” the protesters chanted, waving small ROK and US flags.

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22. ROK Emergency Plans

Joongang Ilbo (“PLAN TO COPE WITH FALL OF NORTH DIVULGED “, 2004-10-04) reported that an opposition lawmaker disclosed details yesterday of ROK plans for coping with the possible collapse of the DPRK regime and for handling a mass defection from the DPRK, including a contingency for dealing with insurrection. Under the plan, code-named “Chungmu 9000,” the ROK will establish an emergency administrative headquarters in the DPRK, which will work to liberalize the economy and society. Another plan, called “Chungmu 3300,” details the ROK’s preparation for any mass defection and includes contingencies for a possible civil war.

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23. US Troop Realignment

Chosun Ilbo (“U.S. TO DELAY TROOP CUTS UNTIL 2008 “, 2004-10-04) reported that the ROK and the US have agreed to gradually withdraw 12,500 troops by 2008 in a new agreement, it was learned Sunday. The US had originally planned to withdraw 12,500 troops by the end of this year. The US has accepted Korea’s request to cancel the withdrawal of the US multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) unit. As a result, the two battalions responsible for the MLRS unit will remain in the demilitarized zone. The US will also delay as late as possible the withdrawal of core combat units like the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter unit.

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24. ROK on US Troop Realignment

Yonhap (“SEOUL TO COLLAPSE WITHIN 15 DAYS OF OUTBREAK OF WAR AGAINST N.KOREA: LAWMAKER”, 2004-10-04) reported that Seoul would fall to the DPRK within 15 days from the outbreak of a war with the DPRK, if the ROK has to defend itself without US troops, an opposition lawmaker claimed Monday. “In the event the South Korea-US alliance deteriorates to the extent that the South Korean military alone has to guard against an enemy attack, the defensive lines of the capital Seoul would collapse within 15 days,” said Park Jin of the opposition Grand National Party.

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25. ROK – Indian Relations

Donga Ilbo (“KOREA-INDIA SUMMIT MEETING “, 2004-10-04) reported that President Roh and Mrs. Gwon Yang-sook visited India as state guests on October 4 on a two-day schedule. President Roh will have a summit meeting with Manmohan Singh, the prime minister of India, on October 5. The two leaders will discuss on issues such as organizing the Joint Study Group (JSG) to expand economic and trade cooperation between two countries, ROK corporate advances in the field of construction such as roads, dams, and plants, and reinforcing cooperation with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) during this meeting. The two countries will also conclude a treaty on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters and an extradition treaty at the meeting.

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26. US – Japan Military Relations

Reuters (“JAPAN TO ASK U.S. TO REMOVE SOME OKINAWA BASES -PAPER”, 2004-10-03) reported that Japan plans to ask the US to move some US marine bases from its southernmost prefecture of Okinawa to a location outside Japan, the daily Yomiuri Shimbun said on Monday. In return for the removal of the 2,600 marines, Japan would offer the US extra storage facilities for weapons, fuel and other military equipment, the Yomiuri said. Tokyo was also considering allowing US troops to use domestic military bases and civilian airport and port facilities, something currently only permitted in emergencies, the Yomiuri said.

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27. Japanese Nuclear Program

Donga Ilbo (“KYODO NEWS: JAPAN EXAMINED POSSESSION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN EARLY 80S “, 2004-10-03) reported that it has been revealed that an affiliated institute of Nippon Defense, a former Japanese National Defense Institute, reviewed the possibility of possessing nuclear weapons in 1981. According to Kyodo News on October 2, the institute wrote a report that Japan could possess rudimentary nuclear weapons within three to five years concerning the state of Japanese nuclear technology at the time. Kyodo News, however, added that it had judged that Japan required US technological aid in order to equip plutonium separation equipment and atomic reactors for submarines and concluded that it was impossible for Japan to develop nuclear weapons completely without US aid.

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28. Japan on Whaling

Reuters (“JAPAN MAKES STRATEGIC MOVE TO CUT WHALE PROTECTION”, 2004-10-03) reported that at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting from Oct. 2 to 14, Japan will propose that some stocks of minke whales be shifted from a list of most-endangered animals, in which international trade is banned, to a less-endangered category, where trade would be possible. If the Bangkok meeting approves the move, it will build pressure on the International Whaling Commission to drop its moratorium on the hunting of minkes and all whale species that can be sustainably hunted, a term some environmentalists dismiss.

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29. Cross Strait Relations

Reuters (“TAIWAN CHEN PLANS NATIONAL DAY SPEECH ON CHINA”, 2004-10-04) reported that Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian said on Monday he will make an important policy statement in his National Day address on Oct. 10 that aims to soothe tense relations with the PRC. His speech will come as analysts voice concerns that the Taiwan Strait has become one of the most dangerous flashpoints in Asia with the PRC convinced Chen aims to push Taiwan toward formal statehood — a move that Beijing has said would lead to war.

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30. Singapore on Cross Strait Relations

Agence France-Presse (“TAIWAN “BOOGER” SLUR IS EXTREME AND PAINFUL: SINGAPORE FM”, 2004-10-04) reported that Singapore has issued its strongest response to Taiwan Foreign Minister Chen Tan-sun’s description of the city state as a “booger”, saying the comments were “extreme” and “painful”. “This recent outburst is a source of some pain and sadness to us that it should come to this,” Foreign Minister George Yeo said in comments published by the Straits Times. While refusing to apologize, Chen has since explained he had dropped his diplomatic language in a bid to express his emotions to a group of Hokkien-speaking independence activists in terms they would be familiar with.

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31. PRC Weapons Embargo

The Associated Press (“TAIWAN NERVOUS THAT CHINA EMBARGO MAY END”, 2004-10-04) reported that Taiwan is getting jittery about a new push within the European Union to lift a 15-year embargo on weapons sales to the PRC. The Taiwanese argue that dropping the ban would shake up the delicate military balance in Asia and increase the threat of war with Taiwan, a conflict that could drag in America and spark a Japanese military buildup. They also insist that the EU embargo should continue until the PRC improve their dismal human rights record.

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32. Sino – Japanese Relations

United Press International (“CHINA TIGHTENS RULES ON JAPAN REPORTING”, 2004-10-04) reported that the PRC is moving toward tighter controls on media reporting on Japan to silence both anti-Japan views and those with forward-looking views toward Japan. Zhao Qizhen, head of the PRC’s State Council Information Office, recently told Japanese reporters in Beijing that there would be no anti-Japan reporting by major news organizations, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Monday.

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33. Sino-US Trade Relations

Reuters (“REPORT: U.S. TO CRACK DOWN ON PIRATED MATERIAL”, 2004-10-04) reported that US officials are expected to announce on Monday a coordinated crackdown on the theft of US intellectual property such as pirated compact discs and knockoff auto parts, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, According to officials cited by the Journal, the targeted items amount to 7 percent of global trade. The new initiative will be called Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy, or Stop, for short. It will be comprised of a number of legal and administrative changes to be made in coming months. The newspaper said that rampant piracy of copyrighted or patented US goods — particularly in the PRC — is depriving American companies of billions of dollars in revenue.

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34. PRC Economy

Reuters (“CHINA: EFFORTS TO COOL ECONOMY WORKING”, 2004-10-04) reported that the head of the PRC’s central bank said on Sunday Beijing’s efforts to curb excessive credit growth were bearing fruit, increasing chances the country’s booming economy would achieve a “soft landing.” “China’s macroeconomic management measures have played an important role in lowering credit and investment growth, leading to brighter prospects for a soft landing,” Zhou Xiaochuan told a meeting of top finance officials here.

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35. PRC Currency Issues

Washington Post (“CHINA AT G-7 MEETING FOR FIRST TIME U.S. STICKS WITH PATIENT APPROACH ON CURRENCY ISSUES”, 2004-10-02) reported that the PRC made its debut last night in the club of the world’s leading economic powers, as international pressure mounts to change a decade-old currency peg that critics accuse of giving PRC products an unfair competitive edge. Hours before the PRC’s top economic policymakers sat down with their G-7 counterparts, they addressed the currency issue by pledging to “push ahead firmly and steadily” toward a flexible exchange rate for the yuan, which has been fixed at about 8.3 per dollar since 1995. But the statement, issued after a meeting with US officials, contained no timetable for allowing the yuan to float. PRC officials have issued similar declarations in the past, but they have held the yuan’s exchange rate constant.

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36. PRC AIDS Issue

Xinhua (“CHINA TAKES ACTIVE MEASURES TO CONTROL HIV/AIDS “, 2004-10-04) reported that a group of drug users gather at the Center of Disease Control (CDC) in Jiele, a small township in Ruili City, southwest PRC’s Yunnan Province. A doctor is teaching them how to do artificial respiration. The class offered by the local CDC to intravenous drug users (IDUs), in Mandarin and in languages of several ethnic minorities inhabiting the area, is part of a program to promote condom use and other methods to prevent the spreading of HIV/AIDS and reduce the hazard of drug using. “Our aim for the time being is not to have them quit the drug, but to prevent them from contracting HIV/AIDS,” says Duan Yijuan, a doctor at the CDC branch.

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37. PRC Human Trafficking

United Press International (“CHINA PUNISHES HUMAN TRAFFICKERS”, 2004-10-04) reported that the PRC Monday announced sentences ranging from minor fines to the death penalty for a gang found guilty of human trafficking in Yunnan province. State-run Xinhua said the Intermediate People’s Court of Honghe Hani and Yi Nationalities Autonomous Prefecture, Saturday made public verdicts handed down to a 36-member gang that had kidnapped and sold 22 children and 74 women between 1991 and May 2003.

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38. CanKor # 181

(“CANADA-KOREA ELECTRONIC INFORMATION SERVICE”, 2004-10-01) While the editors of CanKor wrap up a luncheon appointment in Beijing on Wednesday, 29 September, 44 refugee-defectors climb over the walls of the Canadian Embassy several blocks away, using ladders and wearing workers’ uniforms and hard hats. This is the largest single storming of an embassy in Beijing to date. China demands that the trespassers be turned over to Chinese authorities. South Korean diplomatic officials pay a visit to the Canadian Embassy. Canada’s ambassador Joseph Caron assures the press that the men, women and children now housed in the Embassy compound would be treated humanely, and processed according to Canadian procedures. The US Senate approves a human rights bill that will authorize up to US$24 million annually over the next four years in support of NGOs aiding North Korean refugee-defectors. Another US$2 million is to be used for broadcasts to the DPRK. In South Korea, opinions are divided on the wisdom of the bill, with some experts predicting it will sharpen tensions. Before it becomes law, the bill requires additional congressional approval and a presidential signature. In a keynote speech before the UN General Assembly in New York, DPRK Vice-Foreign Minister Choe Su Hon states that US hostility has destroyed efforts to negotiate the dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear arms program. The main factor undermining international peace and stability is unilateralism, according to Choe, who challenges the UN system to strengthen fairness in international relations, based on multilateralism. Full text of the speech is found in the current edition of CanKor. International aid agencies and NGOs involved in assistance to the DPRK try to assess the significance of recent statements by DPRK authorities indicating that North Korea wishes to reduce short-term food aid in favour of longer-term development aid. This comes amid signs that this year’s crop may show a significant decrease in yield because of adverse climatic conditions. A UN crop assessment mission is currently touring the country. http://www.cankor.ca