NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, July 1, 2004

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NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, July 1, 2004

NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, July 1, 2004

United States

II. Japan

III. Republic of Korea

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. United States

1. DPRK Nuclear Freeze

Kyodo News (“N. KOREA TO LIMIT FREEZE TO POST-2003 PLUTONIUM: AMBASSADOR”, 2004-07-01) reported that the DPRK’s ambassador to the PRC said Thursday that a freeze on plutonium the DPRK proposed last week as part of its plan to solve the nuclear crisis only covers the substance that was reprocessed after January 2003. Choe Jin Su told Kyodo News in an interview that the DPRK explained the plan at six-party talks its nuclear programs held last week in Beijing. The freeze would involve plutonium reprocessed after Jan. 10, 2003, when the DPRK announced its withdrawal of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Choe said. The comments mean that enough plutonium to produce one to two nuclear weapons would not be part of the deal. That plutonium is believed to have been reprocessed before a 1994 nuclear accord between the US and the DPRK. Choe also said the DPRK’s return to the NPT and the resumption of inspections of its facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency could be discussed within the six-party framework if participants agree to the DPRK’s proposal for resolving the impasse.

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2. ROK – DPRK Relations

Dong-A Ilbo (“URI LEADER CHUN CALLS FOR BIPARTISAN VISIT TO NORTH KOREA “, 2004-07-01) reported that Uri Party floor leader Chun Jung-bae yesterday suggested leaders of the ruling and opposition parties should visit the DPRK together to meet with DPRK officials and discuss options for various exchanges between the two Koreas, including a possible inter-Korean parliamentary meeting. “We will form a working group as soon as possible,” Chun told the National Assembly. Regarding Chun’s proposal to visit the DPRK, the Grand National Party leader, Park Geun-hye, stated, “It’s a matter to be discussed at the special committee on improving the inter-Korean relationship, which the ruling and the opposition parties had agreed to create last May.”

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3. Inter-Korean Relations

Chosun Ilbo (“FOREIGN MINISTERS OF TWO KOREAS ADOPT JOINT PRESS STATEMENT”, ) reported that ROK Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon and DPRK Foreign Minister Baek Nam-sun met Thursday and issued a joint press statement during the 11th ASEAN Regional Forum. This marks the second time that the foreign ministers of the two Koreas have issued joint statement. The first one occurred in 2000, on the sidelines of the security forum after the two sides held the first-ever summit earlier that year. The statement also said both sides understand the need to activate cooperation and exchanges based on the spirit of the June 15 Joint Declaration. The two countries also agreed to cooperate in the United Nations and other international arenas. The two sides reaffirmed that the June 15 Joint Declaration is the fundamental building block upon which to realize intra-Korean reconciliation and cooperation and peaceful unification. They also shared the understanding that a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue through the six-party talks would contribute to not only to the stability on the Korean Peninsula, but also the advancement of inter-Korean relations, the statement said.

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4. Inter-Korean Communications

Yonhap (“SEOUL TO PROPOSE PERMANENT DIPLOMATIC DIALOGUE CHANNEL WITH P’YANG “, 2004-07-01) reported that the ROK’s foreign minister said Thursday he would propose setting up a permanent diplomatic dialogue channel with the DPRK. Ban Ki-moon made the comments hours before talks with his DPRK counterpart, Paek Nam-sun.

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5. US – DPRK Relations

Reuters (“POWELL LEAVES OPEN CHANCE OF MEET WITH N.KOREAN “, 2004-07-01) reported that Secretary of State Colin Powell left open the possibility he would meet the DPRK’s foreign minister Friday in what would be the highest-level contact for two years between two nations locked in a nuclear standoff. Powell also said Thursday he would assure Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sum, during a larger meeting of nations in Jakarta, that the US will carefully study a DPRK proposal to freeze its nuclear activities. “It remains to be seen what other discussions he and I may or may not be participating in,” Powell told a news conference, when asked if he would meet his DPRK counterpart one-on-one Friday.

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6. APEC Invitation for DPRK

Chosun Ilbo (“S. KOREAN FOREIGN MINISTER INVITES KIM JONG-IL TO APEC SUMMIT”, 2004-07-01) reported that ROK Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon met with DPRK Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun on Thursday and invited DPRK leader Kim Jong-il and other DPRK delegates to the summit for ministerial talks of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), which is scheduled to be held in Busan, ROK, in November 2005. Ban is on a trip to Jakarta to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum. It is the first time for the ROK government to officially invite the DPRK leader to the APEC.

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7. Pacific Maritime Security

Agence France-Presse (“ASIA SAILS AHEAD IN IMPLEMENTING MARITIME ANTI-TERROR CODE”, 2004-07-01) reported that key Asian shipping nations have met a deadline to implement anti-terrorist measures for ports and vessels, easing fears that a delay could disrupt maritime traffic, industry officials and experts said. Hong Kong and Singapore, two of the world’s busiest ports, have reported 100 percent compliance with the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code which went into effect globally on Thursday. The ROK and Japan also said they have cleared the hurdles, while Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand said between 68 and 85 percent of ships flying their flags have complied with the rules, imposed by the UN watchdog International Maritime Organization (IMO). While no figures were available for the PRC, shipping authorities in Beijing said they would comply.

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8. DPRK – Japanese Relations

The Associated Press (“ALLEGED U.S. ARMY DESERTER TO LEAVE KOREA”, 2004-07-01) reported that an alleged U.S. Army deserter living in the DPRK will travel to Indonesia to be reunited with his Japanese wife, who was among the abductees released by the communist nation nearly two years ago, Japan’s foreign minister said Thursday. Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said she received the message in a meeting with her DPRK counterpart, Paek Nam Sun, in Jakarta on the sidelines of a regional conference. Hitomi Soga, 45, has been living apart from her husband, Charles Robert Jenkins, 64, and their two daughters since she was allowed to return to Japan in 2002. DPRK agents abducted her 24 years earlier to teach spies the Japanese language and culture. But Jenkins, a North Carolina native who allegedly deserted his Army unit in 1965 and defected to the DPRK, and their two daughters refused to come out of fear he might be extradited to the US to face desertion charges. Indonesia has no extradition treaty with the US.

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9. DPRK World Heritage Sites

BBC News (“NEW WORLD HERITAGE SITES DECLARED”, 2004-07-01) reported that a complex of ancient tombs across the DPRK and the PRC has been recognized by the UN’s World Heritage List. Two sites from the Koguryo dynasty – one in each state – are recognized for their special cultural value. It is the DPRK’s first entry on the list. The UN’s cultural body, Unesco, says it is trying to balance the bias towards Western sites on the list so far. The Chinese and Koreans have argued over their claims to the Koguryo dynasty, which reigned from 277 BC to 668 AD in an area that straddles the modern border between the PRC and the Korean peninsula.

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10. DPRK Diplomats

The Associated Press (“LIVES OF NORTH KOREAN DIPLOMATS RESTRICTED”, 2004-07-01) reported that when DPRK diplomats venture out of their new embassy compound in a leafy, residential neighborhood here, they rarely do so alone. At official functions, they don’t mingle much. “They go out in pairs because they’re policing themselves,” said Ken Conboy, author of “Intel: Inside Indonesia’s Intelligence Service.” The same goes for DPRK envoys in the roughly 50 countries that host DPRK diplomatic missions, which are usually bare-bones operations because funding from the DPRK is scarce. As much as they keep to themselves, diplomats from perhaps the most reclusive country in the world are easy to spot. On the lapels of their dark suits, they wear pins bearing the image of Kim Il Sung.

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11. ROK Labor Unrest

The Associated Press (“UNION ENDS 5-DAY STRIKE AT HYUNDAI MOTOR”, 2004-07-01) reported that workers ended on Thursday a five-day strike at Hyundai Motor Co., the ROK’s largest auto maker, after management agreed to a wage hike. The 41,000-member labor union staged walkouts from last Friday to Wednesday, demanding a 10.48 percent wage increase. The workers had planned to stage a partial walkout Thursday as well, but canceled that plan after the union and management settled on a 6.18 percent wage increase. The deal is subject to a vote by union members on Monday.

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12. ROK Hostage Death

Agence France-Press (“COMPANY BOSS SAYS TROOP DISPATCH SEALED FATE OF KOREAN BEHEADED IN IRAQ”, 2004-07-01) reported that the employer of a ROK hostage beheaded in Iraq said that Kim Sun-Il’s captors would have freed him but changed their minds when the ROK announced it was sending more troops to the country. Kim Chun-Ho, president of Cana General Trading Co., a Jordan-based ROK supplier for the US military, said Thursday he was negotiating with the kidnappers through third parties including a lawyer until June 18, the day the ROK said it was sending 3,000 additional troops to Iraq. “Then things went wrong all of a sudden. I was told by the Iraqi lawyer that things were getting worse, and that it appeared to be related to the troops dispatch,” he said. “At first, I was told the captors were not making any demands and they would release him soon,” he said at a press conference here. “I don’t think the captors had intended to capture a Korean.”

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13. ROK – PRC Relations

Joongang Ilbo (“KIM AND JIANG CONFER ON NORTH BY KANG KAP-SAENG”, 2004-07-01) reported that Former President Kim Dae-jung, who is touring the PRC, met with Jiang Zemin, chairman of the PRC’s central military commission, in Beijing yesterday. During the meeting, Mr. Kim said, “Even after North Korea’s nuclear issue becomes solved, the six-nation talks should continue as a permanent cooperative body for the peace of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia” is needed. Mr. Kim showed eagerness in the progress of negotiations to solve the nuclear crisis, saying, “As a former president, I will make efforts for the success of the six-nation talks.” He added, “In the past, the opposition party in Korea was against the policies towards the North but now they are showing a cooperative attitude. I believe in the success of the six-party talks.”

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14. PRC Pro-Democracy Movement

Reuters (“HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS MARCH IN HONG KONG FOR DEMOCRACY “, 2004-07-01) reported that hundreds of thousands of people in white shirts poured onto the streets of Hong Kong on Thursday to challenge Beijing’s refusal to allow them to elect their own leaders and to vent their frustration at PRC rule. Hundreds were treated for heat exhaustion as temperatures soared to 36 degrees Celsius (97 degrees Fahrenheit). “I am here to tell Beijing that we want democracy, we want to elect our own chief executive,” said construction worker Chan Sum Kee, 54, who like many others was protesting for the first time. The demonstration, on the seventh anniversary of the former British colony’s return to the PRC, gave Beijing a taste of what it fears most, a mass show of public dissent. But pro-democracy activists were quick to stress that what Hong Kong people wanted was more freedom under PRC rule. “We are here today to fight for democracy,” said veteran campaigner Martin Lee. “Not a single person here wants independence.”

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15. PRC Emissions Standards

Agence France-Presse (“CHINA TO TIGHTEN VEHICLE EMISSIONS REGULATIONS”, 2004-07-01) reported that the PRC adopted tougher vehicle emissions standards in an effort to clean up a suffocating air pollution problem amid a nationwide wave of car purchases. The new emissions regulations are equivalent to Europe’s Euro II standards, which regulate vehicular emission in terms of the weight of pollutants such as carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen and suspended particulate matter, Xinhua news agency said Thursday. “Euro II marks a new epic of China’s efforts to reduce auto emissions, but it is never the end of the road,” Wang Jirong, vice director of the State Environmental Protection Agency was quoted as saying. The new standards will regulate a 30 percent cut in carbon monoxide, and 55 percent cuts in hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide from the Euro I standards adopted by China in 2001, the report said. China will adopt Euro III standards nationwide in 2008.

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16. Sino-Japanese Relations

Interfax (“CHINA GRAVELY CONCERNED ABOUT JAPAN’S GAS SURVEY OF


17. PRC CDC Resignation

The Associated Press (“CHINESE DISEASE CONTROL CHIEF RESIGNS “, 2004-07-01) reported that the director of the PRC’s main disease center resigned Thursday to take responsibility for a small outbreak of SARS that started at a research lab and killed one person, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Li Liming “has resigned for mismanagement” of the Center for Disease Control in Beijing following the April outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, Xinhua reported. Two lab workers were infected, and the mother of one of them died. The last patient was declared recovered in May. Four other center staff also were disciplined, Xinhua said, without giving any details.

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18. PRC Flooding

Agence France-Presse (“REPORT: SOUTHWEST CHINA RAINS KILL 15 “, 2004-07-01) reported that floods and mudslides triggered by torrential rain killed 15 people in the PRC’s southwestern province of Sichuan, the government said Wednesday. Some areas received 4 inches of rain in the four days ending Wednesday, according to provincial authorities cited by the official Xinhua News Agency. A landslide in the city of Yibin killed six people and left seven missing, Xinhua said.

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19. PRC – New Zealand Trade Relations

Agence France-Presse (“NEW ZEALAND AIMING FOR FIRST FREE TRADE DEAL WITH CHINA”, 2004-07-01) reported that New Zealand is jostling to be at the head of a queue of nations wanting to finalize the first free trade agreements (FTA) with economic powerhouse the PRC. A consultation with businesses, unions and the public on a deal was recently launched here and a joint PRC-New Zealand study will follow, with talks due to start next year. While the stakes are high for New Zealand in the David and Goliath scenario, the PRC’s risks are modest and this could work to the advantage of the South Pacific nation, one official said. “They see us as a useful model,” said the diplomat. “If they make a mistake with us, it will not be the end of their world.”

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20. IAEA Visit to Russia

Pravda (“IAEA AND RUSSIA COOPERATING WELL”, 2004-07-01) reported that the Russian government considers efforts to enhance the nonproliferation regime one of its top priorities, a diplomatic source told RIA Novosti after IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) Director General Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei completed his visit to Moscow. The official reason for Dr. ElBaradei’s trip to Russia was to attend a conference on the 50th anniversary of the world’s first nuclear power plant being put into operation in Obninsk. Conference delegates discussed the history and the future of the nuclear power industry. This theme was also examined during Dr. ElBaradei’s talks with Russian officials. Russia and the IAEA agree that the nuclear power industry has a future and that everything possible should be done to ensure that nuclear power is used peacefully. Dr. ElBaradei negotiated with high-ranking Russian officials, such as Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, who also attended the conference; Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov; Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov; and President Vladimir Putin. Moscow’s unchanging position is that both the DPRK and Iran have the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, if they cooperate closely with the IAEA.

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21. Mongolian Election Controversy

Reuters (“MONGOLIA OPPOSITION BRIEFLY TAKES OVER STATE TV “, 2004-07-01) reported that Mongolia’s opposition, angry about being denied air time during disputed elections, took over state television briefly on Thursday and demanded on air that the election results be recognized. After the broadcast was over, democratic leaders came out of the building and urged the hundreds of supporters, demonstrating peacefully outside, to go home, a witness said. The crowd dispersed without incident. The ruling Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) and the Motherland Democratic Coalition (MDC) were neck and neck in Sunday’s election with 36 seats each, according to preliminary results, but the coalition claimed victory with the support of three independents. “We plan to speak to the people later tonight through direct broadcasts by the television,” said fiery opposition MP Gundalai before the broadcast. “Because we haven’t been allowed to do so officially, we had to storm the building.”

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22. Japan Iraq Troops Dispatch

The Japan Times (“CABINET OKS MULTINATIONAL FORCE ROLE”, 2004-06-19) reported that the Japan’s Cabinet on June 18 endorsed the government’s decision to have the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) participate in a US-led multinational force that will be formed in Iraq after the June 30 handover of sovereignty to the Iraqi people. The government insisted that SDF troops, currently engaged in a humanitarian mission in Samawah, southern Iraq, would merely continue with the same operations despite their membership in the US-led force. Opposition lawmakers argued that the decision would expand the scope of the SDF’s activities overseas by stretching too far the government’s official view of what the forces are able to do under the war-renouncing Constitution. “The government does not have such an intention,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told a news conference the same day. But he did not explain how the government will ensure that the SDF does not move beyond the framework of the Constitution, which prohibits Japan from using force as a means of settling international disputes. During the Diet session, opposition lawmakers demanded that the government disclose documents showing how the US and Britain agreed — as the government has claimed — to Japan’s policy of not putting the SDF under the command of the multinational force. Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi refused to disclose documents pertaining to this agreement, stating only that the two countries have agreed that the SDF may carry out activities under Japan’s own chain of command. Earlier in the day, Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba told a news conference that the government will not specifically disclose what the Air Self-Defense Force is carrying on its transport airplanes to help other countries in the multinational force.

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23. Japan Constitutional Revision

The Japan Times (“62% RUNNING FOR UPPER HOUSE SUPPORT CHANGING CONSTITUTION”, 2004-06-21) reported that about 62 percent of presumptive candidates in the July 11 House of Councilors election either call for or condone changing the Constitution. Kyodo News surveyed 265 people who had announced by May 24 that they will vie for 121 seats in the Upper House election, of which 254, or 96 percent, responded. The respondents included 71 Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) candidates, 72 Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) candidates, 10 New Komeito candidates, 51 running for the Japanese Communist Party and 14 Social Democratic Party candidates. All those planning to run on the tickets of the LDP or its coalition partner, New Komeito, said they approve of a constitutional revision. Some 77 percent of those intending to run for the DPJ, the largest opposition force, likewise said they support a revision. Of those who favor revising the Constitution, the majority said they support revising Article 9, which says the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation. However, most of those supporting a revision of the article were LDP candidates, with 90 percent saying such a change is necessary. But only 10 percent of those running as a candidate from New Komeito said they want to rewrite the war-renouncing Article 9, suggesting a large gap within the ruling coalition on how specifically the Constitution should be amended. Among DPJ candidates, 35 percent said they want to see a revision of Article 9. On the sensitive issue of collective defense, 83 percent of the prospective LDP candidates said Japan should be allowed to exercise its right to collective defense with its allies. However, 80 percent of New Komeito candidates replied that Japan should not be allowed to engage in collective defense.

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24. Proposed Sites for ITER

Kyodo (“DECISION ON SITE FOR FUSION REACTOR PUT OFF AGAIN”, 2004-06-20) reported that Japan, the European Union and four other nations failed on June 18 to forge an accord on whether to build the world’s first prototype nuclear fusion reactor in France or Japan. In a meeting of sub-Cabinet officials from the six parties involved in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, both Japan and the EU remained adamant about their proposals to host the reactor, conference sources said. Japan has proposed that it host the project in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, while the EU has selected the southern French town of Cadarache as its candidate venue. The six parties agreed in previous negotiations that the successful bidder will shoulder 48 percent of the reactor’s 10-year construction costs estimated at 570 billion yen. In the Vienna meeting, Japan expressed its readiness to raise the share to 50 percent and also proposed shouldering half of the 92 billion yen construction costs for an ITER-related facility to be hosted by the party failing to host the reactor. But the EU made similar proposals and the meeting came to a standstill, the sources said.

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25. US Panel on 9/11

Kyodo (“JAPAN WAS TARGET OF AL-QAEDA: PANEL”, 2004-06-18) reported that Al-Qaeda terrorists in 1999 planned to carry out large-scale attacks in Japan, the ROK and Singapore, according to a report released on June 16 by an independent panel investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The plot to hijack commercial planes and crash them into US targets in these countries represented an alternate to a plan to hijack commercial US airliners on Pacific routes from Southeast Asia and blow them up in midair. “By April or May 2000, however, (Osama) bin Laden had decided to cancel the Southeast Asia part of the planes operation because he believed it would be too difficult to synchronize the hijacking and crashing of flights on opposite sides of the globe,” observes the staff report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. The report specifies no exact targets in the three countries, though they are believed to have included US military bases in Japan.

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26. Japan Opinion Poll

The Asahi Shimbun (“SUPPORT FOR KOIZUMI CABINET DIVES TO 40%”, 2004-06-22) reported that the approval rating for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s Cabinet has plummeted to 40 percent, down from 54 percent in May, according to an Asahi Shimbun poll. Asked whether they approved of the government’s plan to have the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) join the UN-endorsed multinational force in Iraq, 58 percent said they opposed such a move, while only 31 percent expressed support. More than 40 percent of those opposed cited “the possibility of using force” as the reason for their opposition. About 30 percent of those opposed said “because the issue has not been debated sufficiently in the Diet.” On the other hand, about half of those supporting the move said they did so because “it was in the interest of Iraq.”

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27. DPRK Rejects U.S. Nuclear Proposal

Chosun Ilbo (“NORTH KOREA REJECTS U.S. NUCLEAR PROPOSAL”, 2004-06-29) reported that DPRK has described last week’s talks on its nuclear weapons program as “positive,” but said a U.S. proposal to defuse the issue was unacceptable. But Pyongyang said the wide differences that remain between it and Washington still stand in the way of real progress. While praising U.S. negotiators for their flexibility, the statement said an U.S proposal that DPRK shut down and seal its nuclear facilities over a three-month period lacked a “scientific and realistic nature.” The statement said Washington had still not responded adequately to Pyongyang’s demands for energy aid and security guarantees, and again called on the Bush administration to drop its “hostile” policy towards DPRK.

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28. DPRK Defector

Chosun Ilbo (“SHOOTING DEATH OF N. KOREAN DEFECTOR NO ACCIDENT: NGO”, 2004-06-29) reported that The Durihana Missionary Foundation held a press conference Tuesday to release recorded testimonies of an incident in which a 19-year-old defector named Jeong Choel-hoon was shot to death by a PRC soldier (reported on April 14) while he was attempting to cross the Sino-Mongolian border along with 23 other defectors. The testimonies revealed that the incident was not accidental, but the result of indiscriminate shooting. At the time, the Foreign Ministry said, “PRC government informed us that some DPRK defectors attempted to seize the weapons of PRC troops who were trying to arrest them and in the process, a defector in his twenties was shot and taken to the hospital, where he died.” Through records released today, however, Jeong’s father said, “We did not resist or struggle with PRC army. We were just running in the direction of Mongolia when they started to shoot us in the back. Then, my son Cheol-hoon suddenly fell down five meters ahead of me and there was blood all over his head and waist. They shot more than 200 bullets, and even after we were captured, they kept beating us with their guns.” The Foundation said, “Whether Jeong was killed by accident or on purpose will show how PRC views DPRK defectors. Thus, the government should clearly determine how he was killed.”

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29. DPRK Market Growth

Joongang Ilbo (“NORTH IS SEEN EMBRACING PROFIT MOTIVE”, 2004-06-29) reported that ROK government officials say DPRK’s economy is steadily showing more signs of becoming market-oriented. While capitalism is not breaking out all over DPRK, DPRK has permitted the rapid growth of small private markets for individual profit around the country. It is estimated there are about 300 of them, with 40 in Pyongyang. Moreover, the amount of farmland that individuals may privately cultivate has increased from between 30 to 50 pyeong (96 to 161 square meters) to 400 pyeong. ROK’s Unification Ministry released a report yesterday covering the reforms, which began roughly two years ago. The study pointed out other notable steps in economic reform in DPRK, including the ability of factories now to produce goods other than items designated by the government. The sale of surplus goods from the factories has also been allowed. The largest market is the Unification Market in Pyongyang, where taxes on net profit amount to 25 percent. The government in some ca! ses is allowing sellers to set prices. Vendors have set up shop on Pyongyang’s streets to sell red-bean ice flakes and sweet potatoes. Sung Nam-ki, a senior Unification Ministry official, said, “In the streets of Pyongyang, one can see large billboard advertisements of automobiles that are a joint venture of ROK & DPRK.” Last year, a total of 300 DPRK bureaucrats visited Europe, Japan, and Southeast Asia to learn about economic reform. This is a major change from the few dozen officials who were able to travel for that purpose in the 1990s.

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30. ROK – US Relations

Chosun Ilbo (“FOR YOUNG KOREANS, U.S. ‘MAIN ENEMY'”, 2004-06-30) reported that A recent survey showed that ROK people’s anti-communism has decreased while anti-Americanism has notably increased. Prof. Koh Sang-doo of Yonsei University cited the joint questionnaire report on ROK’s policy toward DPRK and the U.S., which is produced by Research & Research and Gallup Korea in coming up with the above analysis. In 2004, Research & Research carried out a survey to find out which country is the key enemy of ROK. And according to Koh, people aged 20 to 40 picked the U.S. (57.9 percent in their 20s, 46.8 percent in their 30s and 36.3 percent in their 40s) as ROK’s biggest enemy, but people over 50 said DPRK (52.5 percent) is the key enemy. All generations agreed that National Security Law must be reformed (72.4 percent in their 20s to 30s, 70.2 percent in their 40s and 49.8 percent in those over 50s). In addition, Gallup ROK ran a survey in 2001 and 2003 to investigate what people thought about the possibility of DPRK invading ROK, and that there was no big change in the reply for people over the age of 30 (30.6 percent to 31.1 percent in their 30s, 32.6 percent to 32.0 percent in their 40s and 26.8 percent to 30.5 percent in those over 50), but there was a significant decrease in younger generations (52.3 percent to 30.9 percent in their 20s). “ROK people’s structure of consciousness has become very flexible so that it cannot be identified with the concept of anti-communism and many ROK people treat the U.S. as the number one enemy, which tells us that anti-Americanism is notably increasing,” added Prof. Koh.