NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, February 01, 2005

Recommended Citation

"NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, February 01, 2005", NAPSNet Daily Report, February 01, 2005, https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-daily-report/napsnet-daily-report-tuesday-february-01-2005/

NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, February 01, 2005

NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, February 01, 2005

I. United States

II. CanKor

III. Announcements

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. United States

1. US on DPRK Nuclear Talks

The Associated Press (“RICE REAFFIRMS U.S. WISH FOR KOREA TALKS”, 2005-02-01) reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reaffirmed on Monday a continuing US desire to restart suspended six-party talks to end the DPRK’s nuclear weapons program. In telephone calls, Rice talked with the foreign ministers of the ROK and PRC, both partners in the talks, about “the general idea of resuming talks and our desire to see talks resume,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. In confirming that resuming the talks were a part of Rice’s discussions with the ROK and PRC ministers, Boucher said “there was no news on North Korean willingness to show up to talks.”

(return to top) Chosun Ilbo (“U.S. HAS ‘SERIOUS PROPOSAL’ FOR NORTH KOREA”, None) reported that a senior member of the White House’s National Security Council said Monday that the US has a “serious proposal” for the DPRK and is ready to discuss it at the six-party talks, Reuters reported. After visiting the Japanese prime minister’s office on Monday, Michael Green, the council’s senior director for Asia, told reporters, “We are ready to go. We have a serious proposal. And we are ready to discuss it without preconditions.” (return to top) Financial Times (“BUSH COULD BREAK N KOREA NUCLEAR IMPASSE”, 2005-02-01) reported that the impasse over the DPRK’s nuclear disarmament could finally be broken this month if US President George W. Bush treads a cautious path in tomorrow’s State of the Union address. If Mr Bush avoids words such as “tyrant” and “evil” in tomorrow’s speech, some analysts are cautiously speculating that the final hurdle to resuming talks might fall. “North Korea needs some kind of face-saving measure before they can return to the talks,” said Park Young-ho of the Korea Institute for National Unification. “If President Bush avoids any bad remarks, they may interpret the US position as more flexible and come back.” (return to top)

2. US on DPRK Nuclear Issue

Korea Herald (“AMBASSADOR HILL HEADS TO WASHINGTON”, 2005-02-01) reported that US ambassador to the ROK Christopher Hill headed to Washington yesterday to discuss current issues on the Korean Peninsula with new Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. “I want to have the opportunity to brief her directly on some of the bilateral issues we’re interested in. Of course, we’re not just interested in bilateral issues, we’re interested in some regional issues, mainly the North Korean questions,” Hill told reporters after attending the ROK-US Business Climate Roundtable at the Foreign Ministry.

(return to top)

3. ROK on DPRK Nuclear Talks

Reuters (“N.KOREA TO RETURN TO TALKS AFTER BUSH ADDRESS–SEOUL”, 2005-02-01) reported that the DPRK will likely return to six-country talks on dismantling its nuclear programs some time after President Bush’s State of the Union speech this week, the ROK’s foreign minister said on Tuesday. The DPRK has said it would wait to see the shape of US policy toward it under the re-elected Bush administration before deciding whether to return to the talks, which have been stalled since September. Bush is due to deliver the key policy address on Wednesday.

(return to top) Agence France-Presse (“DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS ON NUCLEAR ISSUE INTENSIFY AHEAD OF BUSH SPEECH”, 2005-02-01) reported that diplomatic efforts were gathering momentum to bring the DPRK back to dialogue over its nuclear weapons drive ahead of a key policy speech by US President George W. Bush. The DPRK has made it known that it wants to return to dialogue and says it is ready to scrap its nuclear weapons ambitions in return for concessions from the US. Now it is awaiting a response to the offer from Bush who will lay out his second term foreign and domestic goals during his State of the Union address on Wednesday. (return to top) Korea Times (“SEOUL SEEKS EARLY RESUMPTION OF NUKE TALKS”, 2005-02-01) reported that the ROK hopes the DPRK will return to the negotiation table at a “proper time” to resolve the nuclear standoff once US President George W. Bush presents his policy direction in his State of the Union address, Seoul’s top diplomat said Tuesday. He reiterated that the DPRK, once it decides to give up its nuclear arms programs, will receive various rewards from other nations involved in the six-party talks, including economic aid and provisional security assurance in the initial stage. (return to top)

4. PRC on DPRK Nuclear Talks

The Associated Press (“CHINA PUSHES FOR WORKING-LEVEL TALKS ON NORTH KOREA NUCLEAR ISSUE”, 2005-02-01) reported that the PRC pushed Tuesday for low-level discussions on the DPRK’s nuclear ambitions, saying they were an effective way to restart formal six party talks that have been stalled since last year. “All parties can elaborate on their positions and solve their differences,” PRC Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said. “These kind of working group meetings are conducive to the resumption of talks.” He added: “We will exert our utmost efforts to promote this.”

(return to top)

5. DPRK Succession

The Associated Press (“REPORT: NORTH KOREA TO CONTINUE DYNASTY”, 2005-02-01) reported that DPRK leader Kim Jong Il will likely carry the DPRK’s dynasty into the next generation of his family, media reports said. Seoul’s mass-circulation JoongAng newspaper reported Monday that one of Kim’s three sons will likely take over, citing a DPRK radio broadcast. Kim has three sons, one from his second wife and two from his third. DPRK experts say Kim’s 24-year-old son, Jong Chul, is most likely to succeed as the DPRK’s next leader.

(return to top) The New York Times (“NORTH KOREA IS SAID TO PLAN FOR DYNASTY’S NEXT GENERATION”, 2005-02-01) reported that the DPRK’s leader, Kim Jong Il, plans to stretch the family dynasty into a third generation, handing over power one day to one of his three sons, the ROK media quoted the DPRK’s state radio as saying in a recent broadcast. “I will uphold Father President’s instructions,” a ROK newspaper, JoongAng Ilbo, said the DPRK’s state radio quoted Kim Jong Il as saying. His father, the founder of the DPRK, had “stressed that if he falls short of completing the revolution, it will be continued by his son and grandson,” the commentary said. (return to top)

6. US – ROK on DPRK Nuclear Issue

Korea Times (“US OFFICIAL ARRIVES FOR CONSULTATIONS ON NK NUKES”, 2005-02-01) reported that a senior US security official is scheduled to arrive in Seoul Wednesday to discuss the standoff over the DPRK’s nuclear weapons programs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Tuesday. Michael Green, senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council, will be the first Washington official to visit the ROK for consultations on the nuclear dispute since the inauguration of President George W. Bush’s second term in office late last month. He will deliver a letter from Bush to President Roh Moo-hyun outlining his views on issues of mutual concern, the US Embassy in Seoul said.

(return to top)

7. US – Japan on DPRK Nuclear Issue

Japan Today (“BUSH ASKS KOIZUMI FOR STRONGER COOPERATION ON NORTH KOREA”, 2005-02-01) reported that US President George W Bush has sent a personal letter to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi calling for stronger ties and cooperation between the countries on issues like the DPRK, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Tuesday.In the letter, Bush said he understands that the DPRK’s past abductions of Japanese citizens is a serious issue for Japan but called for tough negotiations at six-party talks to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, according to Hosoda.

(return to top)

8. DPRK on US-DPRK Relations

The Associated Press (“NORTH KOREA CLAIMS OVER 180 U.S. SPY FLIGHTS IN JANUARY”, 2005-02-01) reported that the DPRK accused the US on Tuesday of conducting 180 spy flights against the DPRK in January and said they show that Washington is preparing for a pre-emptive attack. “Such aerial espionage intensified by the US imperialists from the outset of the year goes to clearly prove that the moves of the warmongers to mount a surprise pre-emptive attack … have reached their height,” the DPRK’s official Korean Central News Agency said.

(return to top)

9. PRC on DPRK Sanctions

Agence France-Presse (“CHINA CAUTIONS JAPAN AGAINST IMPOSING SANCTIONS ON NKOREA”, 2005-02-01) reported that the PRC Tuesday cautioned Japan against imposing sanctions on the DPRK to pressure it to come clean about the status of Japanese citizens it abducted. “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Japan have some problems remaining from history. These problems left over from history have dragged on for a long time and are rather complicated,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan said. “We’ve all along advocated that the DPRK and Japan should properly handle these issues left over from history through dialogue and negotiations and jointly play a constructive and positive role to maintain regional peace and to promote the resumption of six-party talks.”

(return to top)

10. US on DPRK Sanctions

Donga Ilbo (“U.S. SUGGESTS FURTHER DISCUSSIONS ON JAPAN’S SANCTIONS AGAINST NORTH KOREA”, 2005-02-01) reported that Michael Green, senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council (NSC), was known to have said on January 31 that in relation to the issue of Japanese abducted by the DPRK, it would be more desirable for Japan to decide whether to impose economic sanctions against the DPRK after it goes through sufficient discussions with the US. Abe, widely known as one of the hardliners against the DPRK, said to Green that this issue could now no longer be handled in working level talks, which inevitably made Japan consider economic sanctions.

(return to top)

11. DPRK Agriculture

Donga Ilbo (“RICE PRICES IN PYONGYANG SOAR BY 40 PERCENT”, 2005-02-01) reported that the World Food Program (WFP) announced in a recent report, released on January 28, that the price of rice circulated at markets in Pyongyang, DPRK, has increased by up to 40 percent this year. The WFP explained that is because rice demand has surged as the DPRK government has reduced its per capita food ration per day from 300 grams to 250 grams since January. Meanwhile, the WFP expressed concern over the situation because the sales prices of grain in the DPRK are unbelievably expensive: as high as 10 times the price of rationed rice, so low-income inner city dwellers are not afford to buy it.

(return to top)

12. Inter – Korean Agricultural Cooperation

The Associated Press (“NORTH KOREA WELCOMES SOUTH KOREA’S PLAN TO BUILD JOINT FARM”, 2005-02-01) reported that the DPRK has welcomed an offer from a ROK province to build an unprecedented joint-venture farm in the DPRK to help ease its chronic food shortages, officials said Tuesday. The two sides will begin working-level discussions this month, said Sohn Hak-kyu, governor of Gyeonggi Province. “North Korea has welcomed such efforts by Gyeonggi Province and asked provincial representatives to visit the North within February for further discussions,” Sohn said in a news conference in Seoul.

(return to top)

13. Kaesong Complex Communications

Korea Times (“PHONE SERVICE FOR KAESONG DUE IN MARCH”, 2005-02-01) reported that telephone service will likely be available for ROK companies in Kaesong, DPRK, next month as the result of a recent working-level meeting in the border city, the Ministry of Unification said Tuesday. “The two sides agreed to use the optical cable made by North Korea for the northern section (of the communication line) because a performance test showed no problems with it,” Kim Hong-jae, the ministry’s spokesman, said. Electricity will likely be provided to ROK companies within this month as the construction for transmission facilities in the DPRK began on Jan. 24, Kim said.

(return to top)

14. Inter – Korean Summit

Donga Ilbo (““PRESIDENT ROH TO VISIT RUSSIA IN MAY, KIM JONG LL’S VISIT IS UNDER DOUBT””, 2005-02-01) reported that Cheong Wa Dae reported on February 1 that President Roh would participate in the Second World War victory memorial ceremony at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin of Russia. He further stated that President Roh’s visit to Russia would contribute to the settlement of peace on the Korea peninsula and in the northeast Asia region. The DPRK is also invited to the meeting. Although the leader of the DPRK’s participation remains to be seen, if he does attend, a summit between the ROK and DPRK will be realized in any forms.

(return to top) Yonhap (“CIVIC LEADERS OF TWO KOREAS MEET ON 2000 SUMMIT”, 2005-02-01) reported that civic leaders of the ROK and DPRK will meet this week to discuss reconciliation projects based on a joint declaration issued after the 2000 inter-Korean summit, Seoul officials said Tuesday. The sides will hold the talks, the first of their kind, at the DPRK’s scenic Mount Geumgang on the east coast from Feb. 4 to 5, the officials said. (return to top)

15. DPRK Festival

Yonhap (“NORTH KOREA TO HOLD ARIRANG FESTIVAL THIS YEAR”, 2005-02-01) reported that the DPRK’s Culture Ministry said it will hold a mass gymnastic and artistic performance this year, apparently aimed at earning much-needed hard currency. Yun Cheon-jin, the DPRK’s vice-culture minister, said this year’s version of the artistic performance, “Arirang,” will be a masterpiece displaying the DPRK’s spirit, according to the Choson Sinbo, a newspaper run by a Pyongyang-aligned organization of ethnic Korean residents in Japan.

(return to top)

16. US on Abducted Pastor

Chosun Ilbo (“U.S. CONGRESSMEN SEEK EXPLANATION ON ABDUCTED PASTOR”, 2005-02-01) reported that twenty US Congressmen from the state of Illinois, including House Speaker Dennis Hastert and House International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, have written to Pyongyang demanding to know the whereabouts of the Rev. Kim Dong-shik, who was kidnapped to the DPRK in 2000. In the letter, dated Jan. 28, the congressmen said that until Pyongyang gives a full account of Kim’s fate, the signatories could not support the removal of the DPRK from the US State Department’s list of states supporting terrorism.

(return to top)

17. Jenkins on DPRK

Chosun Ilbo (“USFK DESERTER SPEAKS OF TROUBLED LIFE IN N. KOREA”, 2005-02-01) reported that a former USFK soldier who deserted to the DPRK in 1965 and is now settled in Japan with his wife and family has said he lived “like a dog” during his first 15 years in the DPRK. About the DPRK system, he said, “It’s a socialist country’s system of exploiting and oppressing the people.”

(return to top)

18. Sino – ROK Economic Relations

Chosun Ilbo (“CHINA EYES TECH-SAVVY KOREAN FIRMS”, 2005-02-01) reported that the PRC companies are eyeing opportunities to boost their competitiveness by taking over tech-savvy ROK manufacturers. Prompting PRC acquisitiveness is a special law aimed at encouraging PRC companies to invest overseas. “It is a strategy designed to enhance the competitiveness of Chinese corporations through acquisition of foreign companies,” said Nam Young-sook, PRC team chief at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy.

(return to top)

19. Russo – ROK Energy Trade

Yonhap (“S. KOREA PROPOSES PREPARATORY GROUP WITH RUSSIA ON PIPELINE”, 2005-02-01) reported that the ROK has proposed forming a working-level group with the Russian government for ROK companies to join in a new pipeline project connecting Siberian oil fields with Japan, ROK officials said. The proposal, made by the ROK’s state oil company Korea National Oil Corp. came at a Monday economic forum between the ROK and Russia in Moscow. On Dec. 31 last year, the Russian government approved a Japan-proposed route that will link Taishet in Siberia’s Irkutsk region with Nakhodka on Russia’s Pacific coast.

(return to top)

20. Sino – Russian Economic Relations

Reuters (“CHINA LOANS RUSSIA $6 BLN FOR YUKOS DEAL”, 2005-02-01) reported that the PRC lent Russia $6 billion to help the Kremlin renationalize the key unit of oil major YUKOS, officials said on Tuesday, underpinning oil-hungry Beijing’s efforts to tap into Russia’s huge energy business. Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told a news conference that the PRC banks made the loan to Russian state bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) to help state oil firm Rosneft finance its purchase of YUKOS’s unit Yuganskneftegaz.

(return to top)

21. Sino – Russian Military Relations

Agence France-Presse (“CHINA, RUSSIA TO HOLD FIRST JOINT MILITARY DRILL”, 2005-02-01) reported that Russia and the PRC will conduct their first joint military exercises in August or September to better coordinate the fight against terrorism. Russian First Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Belousov confirmed the war games during talks in Beijing, the China Daily said. “We will hold our first joint command staff exercises with the Chinese army in August or September involving various forces to practice issues involving fighting our common enemy — international terrorism,” he said.

(return to top)

22. Sino – US Military Relations

Reuters (“CHINA SAYS RUMSFELD MAY VISIT THIS YEAR”, 2005-02-01) reported that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld may visit the PRC this year, his first trip to Beijing in four years in the post, a PRC newspaper on Tuesday quoted a Defense Ministry official as saying. “Defense Secretary Rumsfeld is willing to visit China this year, but the specific timing will be decided after further discussions between the two military sides,” the China Daily quoted Tu Qiming, the ministry’s head of American and Oceanian affairs, as saying.

(return to top)

23. Sino – US Relations

Agence France-Presse (“CHINESE FM LI IN FIRST PHONE TALK WITH RICE”, 2005-02-01) reported that the PRC Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing has held a telephone conversation with the new US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and both sides pledged to push forward their ties. They spoke yesterday evening following Rice’s swearing in last week, Xinhua news agency said, without detailing what they discussed. Earlier this month, Rice said the US was seeking a “candid, cooperative” relationship with the PRC that builds on common interests but recognizes differences in values.

(return to top)

24. Cross Strait Relations

The Associated Press (“CHINESE OFFICIALS ARRIVE IN TAIWAN”, 2005-02-01) reported that two PRC officials arrived in Taipei on Tuesday to attend a memorial service for Taiwan’s top negotiator with the mainland, in the first visit by senior Beijing officials in six years. The officials, Sun Yafu and Li Yafei, said they were only the “personal representatives” of Wang Daohan, the top PRC negotiator with Taiwan. Wang sent them to attend the memorial service Wednesday of his Taiwanese counterpart, Koo Chen-fu, who died of kidney cancer on Jan. 3.

(return to top) Los Angeles Times (“CHINA ENVOYS TO VISIT TAIWAN”, 2005-02-01) reported that high-level officials from the PRC are to visit Taiwan today for the first time in six years, part of a string of recent small, conciliatory steps by the two longtime adversaries. The PRC delegation is technically a personal one rather than official. The officials will attend the funeral of Koo Chen-fu, Taiwan’s longtime top negotiator with the mainland who died of cancer in January. Koo was instrumental in bringing about a warming of relations in the early 1990s, when both sides agreed to disagree on the tricky issue of sovereignty for Taiwan, paving the way for talks. (return to top)

25. Zhao Ziyang’s Funeral

Reuters (“ZHAO MOURNER IN CHINA BEATEN, CHARGED: RIGHTS GROUP”, 2005-02-01) reported that PRC police beat up a man who had traveled to Beijing to mourn the death of purged Communist Party leader Zhao Ziyang and charged him with trying to cause a disturbance in a public place, a prominent rights group said. Human Rights in China, based in New York, said in a faxed statement that Xu Zhengqing had been one of 22 people from Shanghai who came to Beijing to pay their respects to Zhao. They were detained in the capital as they set off for the funeral and later searched and put on a train back to Shanghai, the group said. Xu challenged the police, asking: “What is the crime in mourning Zhao Ziyang?,” but they responded by severely beating him, the rights group said.

(return to top)

26. US Arms Control Policy

Financial Times (“BUSH PROMOTES ‘NUCLEAR HAWKS'”, 2005-02-01) reported that a group of hardline officials known as “nuclear hawks” is being promoted in a shake-up of the Bush administration’s arms control and non-proliferation teams, according to officials close to the administration. The latest appointment, announced by President George W. Bush yesterday, saw Jack Crouch, the ambassador to Romania, become deputy national security adviser. Also entering the National Security Council is John Rood, a senior Pentagon official who replaces Bob Joseph as special adviser. Mr Joseph is expected to move to the State Department to replace John Bolton, undersecretary for arms control.

(return to top)

27. US Nuclear Development

The Washington Post (“RUMSFELD SEEKS TO REVIVE BURROWING NUCLEAR BOMB; BUSH BUDGET MAY FUND PROGRAM THAT CONGRESS CUT”, 2005-02-01) reported that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld sent a memo last month to then-Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham saying next year’s budget should include funds to resume study of building an earth-penetrating nuclear weapon designed to destroy hardened underground targets. An Energy Department official said yesterday that $10.3 million to restart that study is expected to be included in the Bush administration’s budget, which is to be released next week. The study, which had been undertaken at the Los Alamos, Sandia and Livermore national laboratories, was halted late last year after Congress deleted $27.5 million for it from the fiscal 2005 Omnibus Appropriations Bill.

(return to top)

II. CanKor

28. CanKor # 193

Canada-Korea Electronic Information Service (“RELIGIOUS LEADERS ENCOURAGE BUSH TO ACT ON KOREA”, 2005-02-01) Over one hundred religious leaders, parliamentarians and academics from across Asia, Oceania, Europe, and North America signed a letter, which was delivered to President George W. Bush on the occasion of his second term inauguration. 76 of the signatories were South Koreans, including 31 religious leaders of all faiths from Buddhists to Catholics, the latter of which included Cardinal Kim. The letter asks Bush to resist violent solutions on the Korean peninsula, and to engage in genuine negotiations with North Korea, in order to bring the nuclear threat to an end.

(return to top) Canada-Korea Electronic Information Service (“REPORT OF THE EU-DPRK WORKSHOP ON ECONOMIC REFORM”, 2005-02-01) One of the most under-reported yet significant events held in Pyongyang during the last year was a “Workshop on Economic Reform” (yes, they used the “R” word), organized by the European Commission and Germany’s Friedrich Naumann Foundation, and hosted by the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For North Korea, this was the first of its kind. European experts described the transformation processes in Eastern and Central Europe, and gave their views on transition economies in Asian countries, in particular China and Vietnam. North Korean officials outlined the economic measures taken by their government since July 2002. Local interest in the workshop was very high, with almost 100 North Korean participants. A strong desire to know more about economic transition and the rules of market economy (inflation, privatization, property rights, etc.) was evident in the discussions following each speaker. This edition of CanKor reproduces chapter 4 (“Detailed Report on the Presentations, Discussions and Conclusions”) of the 180-page document that has just been published by the EU delegation in Seoul. (return to top)

III. Announcements

29. The East Asia Institute Fellows Program

The East Asia Institute (“FELLOWS PROGRAM ON PEACE, GOVERNANCE, AND DEVELOPMENT IN EAST ASIA”, 2005-02-01) The “Fellows Program on Peace, Governance, and Development in East Asia,” established in 2005 with generous support from the Henry Luce Foundation based in New York, invites US-based East Asianists in the fields of political science, international relations, and sociology for scholarly exchange with the goal of moving East Asian Studies from country case studies toward a genuinely regional studies with an interdisciplinary and comparativist character. The EAI Fellows hold seminars and lectures based on an unpublished article submitted solely for the purpose of the Fellows Program at its Member Institutions: The East Asia Institute in Seoul, Fudan University in Shanghai, Keio University in Tokyo, Peking University in Beijing, and Taiwan National University in Taipei. Each of the Fellows receive a total of US$14,900 for the cost of travel and accommodation in East Asia for three weeks. Please do not hesitate to write us at fellowships@eai.or.kr if you have any questions.

(return to top)