NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, July 14, 2005
- 1. US on US Role in Return of DPRK to Six Party Talks
2. ROK, EU to Meet on Six Party Talks
3. Russia on Abductee Issue at Six Party Talks
4. Japan, US on Proposals to DPRK
5. US, Japan on ROK Energy Proposal to DPRK
6. ROK on Energy Proposal to DPRK
7. Defector, Journalist on Aid to the DPRK
8. ROK on US-DPRK Relations
9. DPRK-PRC Relations
10. ROK Ambassador on American Misconceptions of ROK
11. Families of Abductees Ask for Extradition of Kidnapper
12. Russia-Japan Relations
13. Sino-Japanese E. Sea Dispute
14. PRC on Japan Textbook Dispute
15. Cyberattacks on Japan
16. Sino-Australian Relations
17. PRC Nuclear Power
I. Unites States
1. US on US Role in Return of DPRK to Six Party Talks
New York Times (“RICE CLAIMS U.S. ROLE IN KOREAN ABOUT-FACE”, 2005-07-14) reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her aides said Wednesday that the DPRK’s decision to return to nuclear disarmament talks was a vindication of the Bush administration’s strategy and not solely the result of a ROK offer to provide the DPRK with electricity. Rice portrayed ROK aid as an elaboration of the offer that the US made in June 2004. “It was really a part of the June proposal that somehow North Korea’s energy needs would have to be dealt with,” she said, speaking to reporters on her plane. “And, of course, the South Korean proposal addresses it in a major way.”
2. ROK, EU to Meet on Six Party Talks
Yonhap News (“EUROPEAN, S. KOREAN LEGISLATORS TO HOLD TALKS ON N.K NUKES “, 2005-07-14) reported that a visiting European parliamentary delegation is scheduled to meet ROK lawmakers Friday to brief them on the outcome of their six-day visit to the DPRK. The European legislators are also scheduled to discuss ways to peacefully settle the dispute over the DPRK’s nuclear ambitions with a dozen of ROK legislators. The meeting is expected to be a good opportunity to indirectly gauge Pyongyang’s position on the six-party talks on the nuclear dispute and reaction to Seoul’s proposal for huge energy package.
3. Russia on Abductee Issue at Six Party Talks
Interfax (“RUSSIA AGAINST PUTTING ABDUCTIONS ON N. KOREA TALKS AGENDA”, 2005-07-13) reported that Russia opposes bringing the Japanese abductee issue into the six party talks. said on Wednesday. “We believe that issues related to the goal of denuclearizing the Korean peninsula should remain the main subject of the six-party negotiations,” Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev told Interfax. “As for other concerns of the participants, including humanitarian issues, they should be dealt with on a bilateral basis.”
4. Japan, US on Proposals to DPRK
Kyodo News (“JAPAN, U.S. READY TO AMEND PROPOSALS IN 6-WAY TALKS “, 2005-07-13) reported that according to officials, Japan and the US have agreed to take a ”flexible approach” in seeking results during a new round of six-party talks. The stance will include amending proposals made in the past three rounds of the talks. The two nations are also prepared to quickly respond to the DPRK’s expected questions and answers over the proposals by giving a greater mandate to their top negotiators.
5. US, Japan on ROK Energy Proposal to DPRK
Chosun Ilbo (“U.S., JAPAN BACK SEOUL’S ENERGY OFFER TO N.KOREA”, 2005-07-14) reported that the US and Japan have thrown their combined weight behind Seoul’s “important proposal” to supply the DPRK with massive amounts of free electricity if it scraps its nuclear program. The chief negotiators of Washington and Tokyo at six-party nuclear arms talks met with their ROK counterpart in Seoul and agreed to promote the deal during the talks. “We agreed to harmonize the plan with existing proposals and implement it at an appropriate time,” a Foreign Ministry official said.
6. ROK on Energy Proposal to DPRK
Joongang Ilbo (“WILL PYONGYANG ACCEPT SEOUL AT POWER SWITCH?”, 2005-07-14) reported that officials in Seoul tried yesterday to put to rest the sensitive issue of whether the DPRK will put half its future electricity supply under the control of the ROK. In a radio interview yesterday, Chung Dong-young, South Korea’s unification minister and the head of the National Security Council, said the offer will be backed by a multilateral accord and dismissed concerns that Pyongyang will not allow Seoul to command the switch for the power supply. “The project will be carried out based on trust between the two Koreas, thus building confidence is the most important aspect,” he said.
7. Defector, Journalist on Aid to the DPRK
Chosun Ilbo (“N. KOREAN DEFECTOR CALLS ON U.S. TO STAND TOUGH “, 2005-07-14) reported that according to DPRK defector and Chosun Ilbo journalist Kang Chol-hwan, US leaders should to reject any ROK requests for aid to the DPRK. In an article for the Wall Street Journal titled “Give Us an ‘Eclipse Policy,'” Kang said there were many signs that the DPRK is faced with imminent regime collapse. He said leader Kim Jong-il’s demise could come faster than expected, and a regime stripped of the outside aid that keeps it afloat might collapse.
8. ROK on US-DPRK Relations
Yonhap News (“PYONGYANG EAGER TO BECOME U.S. ALLY: UNIFICATION MINISTER”, 2005-07-14) reported that what DPRK leader Kim Jong-il really wants is to become an ally of the US. Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said that resolving the DPRK nuclear crisis would lead to the normalization of the Pyongyang-Washington relationship. “The core of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s message is his desire for a friendly relationship with the U.S.,” Chung said.
9. DPRK-PRC Relations
Korea Times (“BEIJING MENDS FENCES WITH PYONGYANG”, 2005-07-14) reported that according to a DPRK expert the PRC’s efforts to mend damaged relations with the DPRK ended successfully Thursday. PRC State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, President Hu Jintao’s special envoy to Pyongyang, returned home after a three-day stay in Pyongyang where he confirmed the PRC’s continuing support to the DPRK. “Improving ties between Beijing and Pyongyang is a steadfast, strategic policy of the Chinese Communist Party and its government,” Tang said.
10. ROK Ambassador on American Misconceptions of ROK
China Daily (“KOREA’S U.S. ENVOY FIGHTS AMERICAN MISCONCEPTIONS “, 2005-07-14) reported that, according to ROK Ambassador to the US Hong Seok-hyun, he must strive to correct misconceptions Americans have about the ROK, including that it is a hotbed of anti-American sentiment. Hong said despite evidence that the alliance between the two countries has been a success, some people cast doubt on the soundness of the two allies’ relationship. What emerged from them was a “surprising” depth of misunderstanding by intellectuals and the media, Hong said, and correcting them was one of his most important duties as ambassador.
11. Families of Abductees Ask for Extradition of Kidnapper
Chosun Ilbo (“JAPANESE FAMILIES WANT N.KOREAN KIDNAPPER EXTRADITED”, 2005-07-14) reported that families of Japanese citizens abducted by the DPRK have asked their government to demand the extradition of confessed kidnapper Shin Gwang-su. Shin, who was one of 63 long-term political prisoners in ROK, was repatriated to the DPRK in September 2000.
12. Russia-Japan Relations
RIA Novosti (“UPDATE: RUSSIA NOT CREATING PEACE TREATY PROPOSALS FOR PUTIN’S JAPAN VISIT”, 2005-07-14) reported that Russia is not assembling peace treaty proposals for President Vladimir Putin’s upcoming visit to Japan, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told readers of the daily newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta Thursday. Putin is scheduled to visit Japan on November 20, 2005 after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the ROK.
13. Sino-Japanese E. Sea Dispute
Kyodo News (“JAPAN GRANTS E. CHINA SEA DRILLING RIGHTS TO TEIKOKU OIL “, 2005-07-14) reported that the Japanese government said Thursday it has granted Teikoku Oil Co. concessions to conduct experimental drilling in the East China Sea near natural gas fields being explored by a PRC consortium, in a move expected to further intensify a bilateral dispute over the sea area. “We decided to give the rights as the firm’s application suited Japan’s national interests, international conventions as well as domestic law,” Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said at a hurriedly convened press conference.
14. PRC on Japan Textbook Dispute
Kyodo News (“CHINA SAYS JAPAN RIGHTIST TEXTBOOK WILL ‘POISON’ TEENAGERS”, 2005-07-14) reported that the PRC criticized a Japanese city Thursday for becoming the first municipal government to adopt a nationalistic history textbook for use by junior high school students, saying the textbook will “mislead and poison” teenage readers. “If this kind of book enters the classroom, it will inevitably mislead and poison teenagers,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said at a regular press briefing.
15. Cyberattacks on Japan
Donga Ilbo (“CHINESE HACKERS MIGHT HIT JAPANESE WEBSITES VIA KOREAN SERVERS”, 2005-07-14) reported that it is reported that PRC hackers might mount major attacks on Japanese websites via ROK servers on August 15. Hong Kong’s Wen Wei Po reported on July 2, “The Association of China’s Red Hackers, one of the world’s five hacking groups, plans to launch formidable attacks on the anti-Chinese websites in Japan between July and September.”
16. Sino-Australian Relations
Agence France-Presse (“AUSTRALIAN PM SHRUGS OFF CHINESE CRITICISM OF VISA FOR DISSIDENT DIPLOMAT”, 2005-07-14) reported that Australian Prime Minister John Howard has shrugged off PRC anger over his government’s decision to grant dissident diplomat Chen Yonglin a permanent visa, saying the case had been impartially handled and would not harm Canberra-Beijing relations. Chen was granted a permanent visa last Friday, six weeks after abandoning his post as first secretary at the PRC consulate-general in Sydney to seek political asylum.
17. PRC Nuclear Power
The Associated Press (“CHINA RACES TO EXPAND NUCLEAR POWER INDUSTRY”, 2005-07-14) reported that the shadows of Chernobyl and Three Mile Island no longer reach to the pine-crested hillsides of Hangzhou Bay, where the PRC is rushing to expand a nuclear power station to meet soaring demand for electricity for its economic boom. Driven by crushing fuel shortages, smog and ambitions to profit from its hard-won nuclear prowess, Beijing has embarked on a quest to more than double its nuclear power generating capacity by 2020.