I. NAPSnet

1. Christopher Hill’s Possible Visit to DPRK

Forbes (“TOP US ENVOY CONSIDERING NORTH KOREA VISIT NEXT MONTH – REPORTS “, 2005-09-22) reported that according to Chosun Ilbo, top US nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill is exploring the possibility of a visit to the DPRK next month to talk with Kim Jong-il. Hill is pushing for a trip before a new round of six party talks in early November.

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2. US Tourists To Visit DPRK

Reuters (“RECLUSIVE NORTH KOREA OPENS DOOR TO US TOURISTS “, 2005-09-22) reported that the DPRK will allow US tourists across its border next month for the first time in three years, in time to take in the spectacle of the country’s biggest-ever mass games, involving some 100,000 people. The tours got the green light after last week’s end to the latest round of six party talks. “With the six-party talks going better than a lot of people forecast, there is a general good feeling at the moment, a more friendly feeling,” Nick Bonner, founder of Beijing-based Koryo Tours, told Reuters by telephone.

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3. ROK-US Defense Talks on DPRK

The Korea Times (“ROK-US DEFENSE CHIEF’S TALKS DUE D”, 2005-09-22) reported that ROK and US defense chiefs will meet October 21 to discuss their countries’ combined deterrence against the DPRK. US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is scheduled to fly to Seoul for the annual ROK-US defense ministerial talks, called the Security Consultative Meeting. Rumsfeld and his ROK counterpart Yoon Kwang-ung will discuss how to bolster the combined war capability after reviewing the latest security situation on the Korean Peninsula, officials said. The one-day talks will also focus on a vision to improve the allies’ half-century alliance, pending issues surrounding the ties and cooperation on the global war on terrorism, they said.

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4. Inter-Korean Bilateral Talks

Yonhap News (“TWO KOREAS DEFER ECONOMIC TALKS TO NEXT MONTH “, 2005-09-22) reported that ROK and DPRK decided Thursday to postpone a new round of bilateral economic talks, originally slated for September 28 – October 1, to next month, the ROK’s Unification Ministry said. The two sides also agreed to change the venue from Pyongyang to Kaesong, a DPRK border town, it added. “The North proposed holding the 11th round of the South and North Korean economic cooperation promotion committee meeting late next month, and we delivered a message of agreement,” the ministry said in a statement.

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5. Inter-Korean Relations

Yonhap News (“SEOUL TO CONSIDER REPATRIATING 29 N.K. SPIES: UNIFICATION MINISTER “, 2005-09-22) reported that the ROK government will consider returning 29 former DPRK spies to the DPRK, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Thursday. “The government is willing to consider (repatriating) those who wish to return to the DPRK out of humanitarian consideration, ” Chung told a National Assembly committee on unification, foreign affairs and trade.

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6. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation

The Korea Times (“HYUNDAI ASAN MAY CALL BACK DISGRACED CEO “, 2005-09-22) reported that when Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun sacked Kim Yoon-kyu as CEO of Hyundai Asan, Hyundai’s DPRK business arm, she labeled him as a corrupt businessman who diverted corporate funds. But with the DPRK’s demands for Kim’s reinstatement, analysts say the chairwoman may bring Kim to the fore of management to avoid a deadlock in the tour projects.

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7. ROK Opposition on Future of Korean Peninsula

Yonhap News (“LAWMAKERS CALL FOR SECOND INTER-KOREAN SUMMIT “, 2005-09-22) reported that ROK ruling and opposition lawmakers Thursday called for a second inter-Korean summit following a six party agreement. Lawmakers of the Assembly’s Unification and Foreign Affairs Committee said the DPRK’s disarmament decision removed an obstacle to a summit and that it was now time to study ways for peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula. Some lawmakers called for inviting DPRK leader Kim Jong-il to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit slated for November in Busan or for ROK President Roh Moo-hyun to visit the DPRK.

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8. ROK Opposition on Food Aid to DPRK

The Korea Times (“CURRENT RICE AID DISTRIBUTION TO NK MISGUIDED: LAWMAKER”, 2005-09-22) reported that an opposition lawmaker Thursday criticized the distribution situation of ROK’s rice aid to DPRK, claiming that more of it was funneled to Pyongyang, a relatively well-fed capital city in the hunger-stricken nation. “This shows that while the rice aid may be helping to improve the dire shortage of food in the North, its original cause, urgent humanitarian aid, has been weakened,” said Rep. Chung Moon-hun of the largest opposition Grand National Party. “I think by distributing more rice to members of the favored in Pyongyang and Nampo, which are relatively rich cities, the rice aid from the South is used as a political means to maintain the current system.”

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9. Social Work Project on DPRK Human Rights

The Korea Times (“SOCIAL WORKERS TO HELP NORTH KOREAN CHILDREN “, 2005-09-21) reported that social workers in the Asia-Pacific region plan to help DPRK children who suffer from poverty and human rights abuses. The project, called “Asia Pacific Happy Children Family Echo (APPLE),” will be discussed during the 18th Asia-Pacific Social Work Conference in Seoul. More than 1,000 social workers from the Asia-Pacific region are participating in the conference that started yesterday for a four-day run, according to the organizers.

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10. USFK Force Strength

Chosun Ilbo (“USFK FIGHTING STRENGTH DWINDLES 23 PERCENT “, 2005-09-22) reported that the fighting strength of the US Forces Korea has dwindled by 23 percent since 1998, a lawmaker said. Thus it slashed the number of F-16s, the primary fighter jets deployed in the ROK, from 76 to 60. Song Young-sun, a member of the National Assembly’s Defense Committee, submitted materials that indicate USFK manpower has decreased 8.1 percent, ground forces 18 percent, air power 42.7 percent and ammunition 23.5 percent, over the last seven years, leading to an overall reduction of 23.1 percent.

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11. ROK-Russian Joint Sea Rescue Drill

Chosun Ilbo (“KOREA, RUSSIA IN JOINT SEA RESCUE DRILLS”, 2005-09-22) reported that the ROK Coast Guard is conducting counter-terrorism exercises with Russia’s border guard in seas 110 km southeast of Vladivostok. The third annual joint exercise between the two countries, it follows drills in Vladivostok and Busan.

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12. US-Japan Missile Defense Project

Sydney Morning Herald (“JAPAN TO BE PART OF US MISSILE PROJECT”, 2005-09-22) reported that Japan is ready to design a nosecone for an interceptor missile in a joint project with the US to develop a ballistic missile defense system, a news report said. The two nations are expected to soon decide on the matter and include it in a joint development agreement to be concluded possibly by the end of the year, Kyodo News agency said.

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13. Japan Postal Reform

The Associated Press (“JAPAN’S RULING PARTY OKS POSTAL REFORM “, 2005-09-22) reported that Japan’s ruling party approved a package of bills to privatize the country’s trillion-dollar postal service, the top item in the government’s reform agenda after its decisive election victory last week. Cabinet approval is needed before the plan can move to a special session of parliament that opened this week. The LDP’s coalition partner, the New Komei Party, also met to discuss the bills.

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14. US on US-PRC Relations

Washington Post (“U.S. SAYS CHINA MUST ADDRESS ITS INTENTIONS”, 2005-09-22) reported that Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick bluntly warned the PRC last night that it must begin to take concrete steps to address what he called a “a cauldron of anxiety” in the US and other parts of the world about PRC intentions. Zoellick said the US has worked hard to bring the PRC into the international system over the past three decades. Now, he said, the US will focus on ensuring that the PRC becomes a responsible player on the world stage.

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15. US on PRC Government

The Associated Press (“U.S. SAYS SYSTEM IN CHINA CAN’T LAST “, 2005-09-22) reported that the Bush administration urged PRC on Wednesday to begin a transition to democracy, contending the existing one-party system “is simply not sustainable.” Zoellick said the PRC “needs a political transition to make its government responsible and accountable to its people.”

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16. PRC on US-PRC Relations

The Associated Press (“CHINA TELLS U.S. TO RESPECT ITS SYSTEM “, 2005-09-22) reported that the PRC rejected a US call to adopt democracy, telling the US to respect its communist path and brushing off warnings of retaliation for its huge trade surplus with the US. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the US had no right to dictate political morality to the PRC. “The internal affairs should be handled by the government and people of each country,” he said. “We should respect another country’s right to chose its own development road.”

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17. Cross Strait Relations

Agence France Presse (“PRO-INDEPENDENCE TAIWANESE TO RALLY FOR 10 BLN DLR ARMS PACKAGE “, 2005-09-22) reported that Taiwan’s pro-independence activists will rally on Sunday to support a proposed 10-billion-US dollar arms purchase from the US aimed at strengthening defenses against the PRC. “We urge all Taiwanese citizens to join the rally to show their determination in defending our country, as China is targeting Taiwan with 800 missiles,” said Peter Wang, head of The 908 Taiwan Republic Campaign organizing the event.

(return to top) Kyodo (“CHEN URGES TOP-LEVEL TALKS BETWEEN TAIWAN, CHINA”, 2005-09-22) reported that Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian renewed Thursday his appeal for top-level talks with the PRC, saying the two sides of the Taiwan Strait should unconditionally reopen dialogue. Later Thursday, Taiwan’s opposition Nationalist Party denounced Chen’s latest olive branch to Beijing as “empty talk.” (return to top)

18. Sino-Russian Military Relations

Xinhua (“CHINA, RUSSIA HOLD MILITARY CONSULTATIONS IN MOSCOW”, 2005-09-22) reported that the PRC and Russia held the ninth round of military consultations in Moscow on Wednesday and Thursday, and exchanging views on regional security situation, terrorism combat and peace-keeping operations. During the two-day meeting, Xiong Guangkai, deputy chief of General Staff of the PRC People’s Liberation Army, discussed with his Russian counterpart Alexsandr Skvortsov a variety of international issues of mutual concern and ways of boosting the relations between the two armed forces.

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19. Sino-Indian Relations

New Delhi (“INDIA, CHINA TO HAVE MORE BILATERAL TRADE: INDIAN MINISTER”, 2005-09-22) reported that an Indian minister said Thursday that India’s relations with the PRC would touch a new high once border trading between the two countries through the famed Silk Route resumes next month. “We are confident that once trading through the Nathu La pass begins, relations between the two countries would further improve,” Indo-Asian News Service quoted Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee as saying.

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20. Sino-Indonesian Maritime Incident

Agence France-Presse (“CHINA ANGER AFTER INDONESIAN NAVY FIRES ON VESSEL “, 2005-09-22) reported that the PRC is “astonished and strongly dissatisfied” after an Indonesian warship opened fire on a PRC fishing boat, killing a crewman and wounding two others. The incident took place Monday when the KRI Tanjung Dalpele came upon four boats believed to be illegally fishing in the Arafura Sea between Indonesia’s Papua and Maluku provinces, the Indonesian navy said.

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21. PRC Income Disparity and Unrest

BBC News (“CHINA WARNS ON WAGE GAP ‘UNREST'”, 2005-09-22) reported that the gap between rich and poor in the PRC has reached dangerous levels and may create social unrest, state paper Study Times has reported. Growing wealth in cities like Shanghai has not been shared by rural areas. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security says “if it continues this way for a long time, the phenomenon may give rise to various forms of instability.”

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22. PRC Transparency

Reuters (“CHINA REVEALS LIMITS TO TRANSPARENCY ON DEATH TOLLS”, 2005-09-22) reported that the PRC published the death toll from this year’s natural disasters, until this month considered a state secret, but showed the limit of its new-found transparency by keeping details of past calamities under wraps. But officials said the PRC had no intention of revising death tolls from past calamities that critics say were not natural but the product of misguided politics. The worst was a famine that claimed as many as 30 million lives in the late 1950s and early 1960s that the Communist Party refers to as “three years of natural disasters”.

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