I. NAPSNet

1. ROK-US Summit on DPRK

Reuters (“BUSH, ROH PAPER OVER DIFFERENCES ON N.KOREA”, 2006-09-14) reported that President George W. Bush and ROK President Roh Moo-hyun on Thursday papered over differences over the DPRK while pledging to try to resume six-nation talks to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear program. Tempering his usually hardline tone toward the DPRK, Bush said Washington and its allies were “determined to resolve this issue peacefully but recognizes a threat posed by a country in the region armed with a nuclear weapon.” Roh did not repeat his government’s earlier criticism of the US approach. He stressed instead that the ROK had also taken measures such as suspending rice and fertilizer aid in response to the DPRK’s missile tests, but that it preferred not to label them sanctions “because we do not want to hurt inter-Korean relations.” However, when asked whether US threats of further sanctions jeopardized chances of bringing the DPRK back to the table, he said: “This is not the appropriate time to think about the possibility of a failure of the six-party process.”

(return to top) Yonhap (“KOREA, U.S. TO START DISCUSSION NEXT WEEK ON 6-PARTY TALKS APPROACH”, 2006-09-14) reported that the ROK and the US will begin next week to specify their joint approach to reviving the stalled DPRK nuclear disarmament talks, Seoul’s chief security adviser said Thursday. Briefing reporters after a White House summit, Song Min-soon said discussions will be on a “common, broad” approach to restarting and pushing forward the six-party talks. (return to top)

2. UN Sanctions on DPRK

JoongAng Ilbo (“U.S. ASKS UN COUNTRIES TO DETAIL THEIR SANCTIONS”, 2006-09-14) reported that what sanctions have you taken lately against the DPRK? That’s the message in a “non-paper” that the US State Department sent to every UN member nation, including the ROK, a Seoul Foreign Ministry official said yesterday. The document asks each country to say specifically how they’ve complied with the UN resolution adopted in response to the DPRK’s missile launches on July 5, the official said yesterday. The “non-paper” also contains Washington’s opinion on what measures it considers to be in line with the resolution.

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3. Japanese Sanctions on DPRK

Kyodo (“JAPAN EYES FINANCIAL SANCTIONS ON N. KOREA AS EARLY AS TUESDAY”, 2006-09-14) reported that Japan is considering releasing specifics of financial sanctions on the DPRK in line with a UN Security Council resolution as early as Tuesday and has begun final consultations on the matter with the US, sources close to the matter said Thursday. Earlier on Thursday, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Jinen Nagase admitted Japan is quietly going about preparing to launch the sanctions but said its details and timing are not yet decided. “At the moment, relevant government ministries and agencies are making preparations as to whom the sanctions will target and when the sanctions will be implemented but nothing concrete has been decided,” he said in a news conference.

(return to top) Bloomberg (“KOIZUMI SAYS NO JAPAN DECISION ON N. KOREA SANCTIONS “, 2006-09-14) reported that Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said no decision has been reached on whether to levy financial sanctions against the DPRK. Koizumi, speaking at a regular news conference today in Tokyo, was responding to a report in the Mainichi newspaper that Japan was preparing to impose the sanctions this month. Japanese officials are preparing to implement sanctions on the DPRK, Kyodo News reported, citing comments at a press briefing by Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Jinen Nagase. (return to top)

4. Japanese DPRK Policy

Agence France-Presse (“JAPAN’S ABE SIGNALS TOUGHER APPROACH ON NKOREA”, 2006-09-14) reported that Shinzo Abe, the front-runner to be Japan’s next prime minister, signalled he will take a tougher approach to the DPRK after replacing incumbent Junichiro Koizumi. Abe demanded that the DPRK, which is locked in a standoff with the US over its nuclear ambitions, cede ground in a row over its past abductions of Japanese civilians. “We should raise the pressure, warning that (the DPRK) cannot return to the international community without solving this problem,” Abe said in a campaign speech. “I want to make it clear that there is no compromise over the issue,” said the chief cabinet secretary, who first rose to political prominence by talking tough on the emotionally charged abduction dispute.

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5. Inter-Korean Cooperation

Associated Press (“NORTH KOREA GAME ON SALE IN SOUTH KOREA”, 2006-09-14) reported that another sign the DPRK and the ROK are getting along better these days: A computer game made by the DPRK has been released in the ROK. “Silver Star 2006” was written by programmers in the DPRK and is based on a chesslike board game called Baduk in the ROK and more widely known as Go. It can now be downloaded for $35 under an agreement between the DPRK and a ROK company, ForOneBiz. The DPRK will get some of the purchase price as royalties. ForOneBiz said it will share its technological know-how with the DPRK to improve the software.

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6. ROK-US Troop Control Handover

Chosun Ilbo (“TROOP CONTROL HANDOVER: WHAT OPTIONS REMAIN?”, 2006-09-14) reported that President Roh Moo-hyun and US President George W. Bush have agreed in principle that Washington will hand over wartime operational control of ROK troops to Seoul. That seems to seal the demise of ROK-US Combined Forces Command. There was no concrete discussion on the timetable, an issue the two left to the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) that US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will open in Washington in just about one month. It will hammer out a detailed roadmap on the issue. The two allies remain at odds over the date, with the ROK pressing for 2012 and the Pentagon for 2009.

(return to top) JoongAng Ilbo (“10 LAWMAKERS STAGE A HUNGER STRIKE”, 2006-09-14) reported that just hours before a summit meeting in Washington between the presidents of the US and the ROK, 10 Grand National Party lawmakers stopped eating to protest the planned transfer of wartime military control. The Grand National Party leadership welcomed the hunger strike. Party chairman Kang Jae-sup visited the lawmakers in the National Assembly to show support from the party. Park Yong-jin, a spokesman of the Democratic Labor Party, said the issue should be discussed with an eye toward the region’s long-term security needs and toward creating a multilateral security framework. Democratic Party spokesman Lee Sang-yeol said that the whole issue needs to be discussed from square one and that both sides should refrain from setting a date for the transfer. (return to top)

7. ROK-PRC Territorial Dispute

Korea Times (“SEOUL SNUBS CHINA’S CLAIM OVER IEO ISLET”, 2006-09-14) reported that the government said yesterday that there is nothing wrong with its operation of maritime observation facilities on Ieo Islet, a remote reef islet between the ROK and the PRC. “It shouldn’t be considered a territorial dispute between the two countries,” an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said. According to UN maritime law, a reef doesn’t allow a country to have both economic exclusive zones (EEZs) and continental shelf claims. The ROK’s claim to Ieo Islet is based on the fact that the reef and its adjacent waters are part of the ROK’s continental shelf, he said. The remarks came after PRC argued that it cannot recognize the ROK’s sovereignty over Ieo Islet.

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8. US on PRC Bio Weapons

Reuters (“US FAULTS CHINA ON GERM WEAPONS, IRAN, NORTH KOREA”, 2006-09-14) reported that the US fears the PRC may be violating international bans on chemical and biological weapons and is not doing enough to curb the spread of missile technology to sates like the DPRK and Iran, US officials said on Thursday. In testimony to the congressionally created US-PRC Economic and Security Review Commission, a senior official said the Bush administration believed the PRC was violating the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention by keeping a secret supply of biological weapons. “We also continue to believe that China maintains some elements of an offensive BW capability in violation of its commitments,” said Paula DeSutter, an assistant secretary of state responsible for verifying compliance with arms control commitments.

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9. US Trade Sanctions on PRC

Agence France-Presse (“US SENATORS THREATEN VOTE ON TRADE SANCTIONS ON CHINA”, 2006-09-14) reported that two US senators threatened to push for a vote on punitive tariffs against the PRC for “little progress” on reforming its currency regime. The move came ahead of a key visit to Beijing by US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson next week to discuss the currency and other bilateral issues. Senators Charles Schumer and Lindsey Graham said they had formally submitted a request to the Senate leadership Thursday for a vote on their bill seeking to slap a hefty 27.5 percent tariff on Chinese imports unless Beijing revalued its yuan currency. They claimed the yuan gives Beijing unfair trade advantage amid a galloping US trade deficit with the PRC, which has risen 12.6 percent to a whopping 121.3 billion dollars so far this year.

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10. PRC-Latin America Relations

Associated Press (“CHINA SEIZES OPPORTUNITY AT CUBA SUMMIT”, 2006-09-14) reported that the PRC hopes to expand its growing economic and political clout at the Nonaligned Movement summit, influence that analysts say will come at the expense of the US, which passed up a similar invitation to attend as an observer. Led by the PRC’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi, the Chinese delegation plans to hold bilateral meetings with a number of Latin American countries and strengthen the PRC’s ties to the region where its trade has soared. The PRC’s imports from Latin America quintupled to $20.3 billion and exports to the region tripled to $15.4 billion from 2000 to 2004, according to the International Monetary Fund.

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11. PRC-Australia Human Rights Conference

Xinhua (“CHINA, AUSTRALIA DISCUSS HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES”, 2006-09-14) reported that the first Sino-Australia Urban Community Construction and Human Rights Development Symposium opened in Wuxi, east PRC’ss Jiangsu province, on Wednesday, bringing together around 50 experts, scholars and government representatives from the two countries to discuss human rights issues. Over three days, experts will exchange views on how to develop democracy in urban communities and the community’s role in protecting human rights. The meeting is being co-held by the China Foundation for Human Rights Development, the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and the Information Office of the Jiangsu Provincial Government.

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12. PRC Economy

Agence France-Presse (“BLOW TO FOREIGN INVESTORS AS CHINA SUSPENDS BROKERAGE VENTURES”, 2006-09-14) reported that the PRC said it has suspended approvals for new domestic and foreign-invested security brokerages, a blow to overseas firms looking to get in on the booming Chinese markets. The securities regulator said it would also suspend expansion of domestic brokerages and would not issue new licenses, according to a statement carried in the official Shanghai Securities Journal. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said exceptions would be made only for deals judged to be capable of reducing risk.

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13. PRC Pollution

Xinhua (“250 KIDS HOSPITALIZED IN GANSU AFTER LEAD POISONING”, 2006-09-14) reported that two hundred and fifty children and a number of adults from Gansu Province remain in hospital with excessive amounts of lead in their blood and a number of them are suffering from severe lead poisoning, confirmed officials from the province in the northwest PRC. Residents of Xinsi and Mouba villages were poisoned by a lead smelting plant that continued to operate this summer after being told to cease production but has now been demolished.

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