NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, November 30, 2006

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NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, November 30, 2006

NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, November 30, 2006

I. NAPSNet

II. CanKor

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. NAPSNet

1. Six Party Talks

Joong Ang Ilbo (“NO DATE SET YET FOR TALKS ON NORTH’S NUCLEAR ARMS”, 2006-11-30) reported that US envoy Hill is expected to return to Washington today in what is a move to give Pyongyang some time to ponder what was discussed between the two sides. A diplomatic source in Beijing said yesterday that a U.S. proposal to resume shipments of fuel oil to the DPRK in return for shutting down the Yongbyon nuclear reactor had been received positively. Although Washington has dangled the possibility of bilateral talks about the sanctions it has imposed to counter alleged money laundering and counterfeiting, Washington still considers those sanctions a matter unrelated to the nuclear talks.

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2. US Congressman Visit to DPRK

BBC (“US CONGRESSMAN SAID PLANNING VISIT TO N KOREA”, 2006-11-29) reported that US Rep Tom Lantos (D-California), a high-profile US congressman, soon to become chairman of a House International Relations Committee in the newly elected Congress, is trying to arrange a visit to the DPRK. Lantos had been to the DPRK last year as the ranking member of the committee. “If he does go, it would be a trip by the most influential figure since former US President Jimmy Carter’s visit to the North in June 1994,” said former ROK Minister of Unification Chung in a speech here at the US-Korea Institute. Although an ardent human rights advocate, Lantos has long argued that the DPRK nuclear issue takes precedence in urgency and pressed the US President George W. Bush administration to talk directly with Pyongyang.

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3. US-DPRK Peace Treaty

BBC (“US TO SIGN OFFICIAL END TO KOREAN WAR IF NORTH ABANDONS NUCLEAR AIMS – SOURCES”, 2006-11-29) reported that US President George W. Bush had said he has an intention to sign a document declaring the end of the Korean War with DPRK leader Kim Jong-il if Pyongyang abandons its nuclear ambitions. The 1950-53 Korean War ended with a cease-fire, not a peace treaty, between US-led United Nations forces and the DPRK. The Korean Peninsula remains technically in a state of war. Bush disclosed the intention during summit talks with ROK President Roh Moo-hyun on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting held in Hanoi in mid-November, said the sources, requesting anonymity. On 18 October, White House spokesman Tony Snow said that the list of what the US might do in return for the DPRK’s abandonment of its nuclear programme would include “a declaration of the end of the Korean War and moving forward on economic cooperation, cultural, educational and other ties.”

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4. US-ROK Security Alliance

Korea Times (“ALLIES HOPE TO FINALIZE USFK COST-SHARING TALKS”, 2006-11-30) reported that the ROK and the US resumed talks on how to share expenses for maintaining US soldiers here, with Seoul hoping to conclude the negotiations this time. After several months of discussion with Washington, Seoul agreed in April 2005 to allocate 680.4 billion won ($710 million) per year in 2005 and 2006 to pay for the presence of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). During the five rounds of talks in the past, Seoul wanted to reduce its burden further, as Washington is determined to cut US troop numbers.

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5. ROK Iraq Contribution

Chosun Ilbo (“RULING PARTY, GOV’T AGREE IRAQ TROOP PULLOUT NEXT YEAR”, 2006-11-30) reports that the ROK and Iraq’s ruling Uri Party have lined up behind a plan that amounts to a withdrawal of ROK troops in Iraq by the end of next year. In the discussions, the talk shifted to withdrawing the Zaytun unit by Dec. 31 next year, a party insider said. Party spokesman Noh Woong-rae, however, said, “The ruling party and the Defense Ministry all agreed on the idea of a withdrawal by the end of next year, but considering the other countries that have troops deployed, including the US, we decided to write the clause to allow some measure of flexibility.”

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6. Japan Defense Policy

The Associated Press (“JAPAN CAPABLE OF MAKING NUCLEAR WEAPON”, 2006-11-30) reported that Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso has asserted that the country’s pacifist constitution does not forbid possession of nuclear weapons. In addition, Japan has the technological know-how to produce a nuclear weapon but has no immediate plans to do so, the foreign minister said. “Japan is capable of producing nuclear weapons,” Aso told a parliamentary committee on security issues, “but we are not saying we have plans to possess nuclear weapons.”

(return to top) Agence France-Presse (“BREAKING TABOO, JAPAN VOTES TO CREATE DEFENSE MINISTRY”, 2006-11-30) reports that Japan’s lower house of parliament passed a bill to create a cabinet-level defense ministry for the first time since World War II. The reform would give the Defense Agency Director-General Fumio Kyuma the title of defense minister, although Japanese troops would still be called the “Self-Defense Forces.” While largely symbolic, the bill will help the military in domestic power wrangling by giving the defense minister a spot in cabinet meetings with the right to make budget requests. (return to top)

7. Taiwan-US Economic Relations

Agence France-Presse (“TAIWAN ASKS US TO SAVE IT FROM ECONOMIC ISOLATION”, 2006-11-30) reports that Taiwan has called on the US to save it from economic isolation by forging a model bilateral free-trade agreement. Taiwan’s top economic planner Hu Sheng-cheng said that many of its trading partners were reluctant to strike free-trade pacts with the island because of its political isolation and were waiting for the US to make the first move.

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8. PRC Religious Freedom

The New York Times (“CHINA EXECUTES AT LEAST 12 MEMBERS OF A SECRET CHRISTIAN SECT”, 2006-11-30) reports that the leader of a Chinese Christian sect and at least 11 of his subordinates have been executed for ordering the murder of members of a rival religious group, as the authorities seek to suppress big underground churches that they deem cults. The case exposed strife among underground churches as well as the determination of the PRC authorities to crush religious groups that do not abide by the rules imposed on officially sanctioned religious organizations

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II. CanKor

9. Report #268

CanKor (“CURRENT EVENTS”, 2006-11-30) Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay welcomes the DPRK’s agreement to return to the Six Party Talks, while announcing that Canada is fully implementing UN Resolution 1718 on arms transfers as well as assets freeze and embargo on the export of luxury goods. After two days of preparatory talks in Beijing, chief negotiators Christopher Hill (USA) and Kim Gye Gwan (DPRK) return to their respective capitals for consultations before setting a date for the resumption of Six-Party Talks. A diplomatic source in Beijing says that a US proposal to resume shipments of fuel oil to North Korea in return for shutting down the Yongbyon nuclear reactor had been received positively. A diplomatic source in Seoul says that during a meeting between US President George W. Bush and ROK President Roh Moo-hyun in Hanoi, Bush said that he is willing to sign a document declaring the end of the Korean War with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il if Pyongyang dismantles its nuclear programme.

(return to top) CanKor (“FOCUS”, 2006-11-30) This week’s CanKor FOCUS, “Humanitarian Fallout”, examines the prospect of further food shortages and possible famine in the DPRK in the wake of a poor harvest due to summer and fall storms and the reluctance of donors to assist a nation that tested its first nuclear device in defiance of the international community. (return to top) CanKor (“RESOURCES”, 2006-11-30) Two media reviews are featured in CanKor’s RESOURCES section. Reviewing the new musical stage production “Yoduk Story,” about life in a North Korean prison camp, John Feffer calls the production “a kind of anti-socialist realism.” The Washington Times gives the film “Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story,” about the kidnapping of a 13-year-old Japanese girl by North Korean agents three and a half stars out of four. (return to top)