Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. Unites States

1. US-DPRK Relations

Chosun Ilbo (“NEW YORK CONTACTS BETWEEN KOREAN AND U.S. OFFICIALS END WITH NO CLEAR BREAKTHROUGH”, 2005-07-03) reported that a series of contacts between officials from the US and DPRK, have ended without a clear breakthrough regarding the stalled talks on DPRK’s nuclear weapons program. While the US side is saying that DPRK has not produced a date for the next round of talks, the DPRK side is saying it will wait for the next move by the US.

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2. ROK on US-DPRK Relations

Donga Ilbo (“”EXTREME DISTRUST BETWEEN NORTH KOREA AND THE U.S.,” SAYS UNIFICATION MINISTER CHUNG “, 2005-05-05) reported that Minister of Unification Chung Dong-young is said to have failed to draw an agreement on a new message to DPRK from US Vice President Dick Cheney and other high level officials of the US administration. Chung indicated that he was not able to ease the distrust between the DPRK and the US, saying, “North Korea holds extreme fear and distrust towards the U.S., while the U.S. holds extreme distrust and concern towards North Korea.”

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3. US on DPRK Weapons

Chosun Ilbo (“U.S. OFFICIAL SAYS NORTH KOREA MAY POSSESS MORE NUCLEAR WEAPONS”, 2005-07-05) reported that a US official who heads an advisory committee for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says DPRK may possess more nuclear weapons than previously thought. The chairman, however, adds an attack on the DPRK’s nuclear facilities is not the best option. He added that Pyongyang does not necessarily need to conduct a nuclear test as it can secure necessary blueprints through information acquired through the camp of Abdul Qadeer Khan, known as the father of Pakistan’s nuclear program.

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4. DPRK on US Nuclear Stance

China Daily (“NORTH KOREA CRITICIZES BUSH OVER NUCLEAR STANCE”, 2005-07-05) reported that DPRK criticized US President Bush on Tuesday for expressing deep concern about Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program but said it was still not against six-party talks. “The U.S. chief executive was reported to have expressed deep concern about the DPRK’s declaration of its access to nuclear weapons at a recent U.S.-EU annual summit in the White House,” the DPRK daily newspaper Rodong Sinmun said.

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5. ROK on Six Party Talks

Chosun Ilbo (“UNIFICATION MINISTER STRESSES SEOUL’S ROLE IN NUKE ISSUE”, 2005-07-04) reported that Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Monday said ROK must focus on getting six-party talks restarted in July. Chung said Seoul will have a crucial role to play in finding a creative solution to the problem, once the talks are back on track.

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6. ROK, US on Six Party Talks

Korea Times (“S. KOREA, US TO PRESENT JOINT PROPOSAL TO NK”, 2005-07-03) reported that ROK and the US are ready to combine their proposals to convince DPRK to give up its nuclear weapons program. Wrapping up his five-day visit to Washington on Friday, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said the two allies agreed to combine the proposal the US has presented in the third round of six-way talks with the ROK’s new “important proposal”. Experts believe the “important proposal” includes calls for simultaneous concessions by the US and the ROK and a large amount of economic aid to the DPRK in return for its denuclearization.

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7. DPRK on Nuclear Weapons Program, Six Party Talks

Associated Press (“NORTH KOREA SAYS IT WILL NOT DISARM NUCLEAR WEAPONS BEFORE TALKS “, 2005-07-05) reported that the DPRK restated its rejection of a US demand that it disarm its nuclear weapons before a new round of six-nation talks. There would be no progress at the talks if the US did not change its “high-handed” stance, said the DPRK news outlet, Rodong Sinmun. “If the US persists in demanding the DPRK dismantle its nuclear program first without honoring its commitments, this will get it nowhere,” it said.

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8. Japan on Six Party Talks

Reuters (“JAPAN SAYS PATIENCE RUNNING THIN ON N.KOREA TALKS”, 2005-07-04) reported that patience is running out for the DPRK’s return to stalled talks on its nuclear arms program, Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said on Monday, adding that Tokyo was neither optimistic nor pessimistic about the likelihood the negotiations would resume soon. “In some quarters there is a very optimistic view and they probably have their basis for that, but the Japanese government is neither extremely optimistic nor extremely pessimistic,” Machimura told Reuters in an interview.

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9. DPRK on Japan Role in Six Party Talks

Kyodo News (“N. KOREA SAYS ‘POLITICAL DWARF’ JAPAN DOESN’T BELONG IN 6-WAY TALKS”, 2005-07-04) reported that according to the KCNA, Japan should be excluded from future multilateral talks on the DPRK nuclear weapons program. “The nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula is not a matter for such an insincere and clumsy political dwarf as Japan to deal with,” said the KCNA. “So it is desirable that Japan may step aside to see the settlement of the (nuclear) issue,” it said.

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10. DPRK Security Threat to ROK

Reuters (“N.KOREA A SECURITY THREAT: SOUTH’S TOP SPY-TO-BE”, 2005-07-05) reported that the DPRK is still a security threat to the ROK despite improved relations according to an ROK spy. Seoul must maintain a firm defence to keep Pyongyang in check, the ROK’s next spy chief said on Tuesday. “We continue to be under the security threat of the North,” Kim Seung-kyu told a parliamentary hearing.

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11. Monsoons in DPRK

Reuters (“NORTH KOREA SEVERELY HIT BY MONSOON RAINS, STRONG WINDS “, 2005-07-02) reported that heavy monsoon rains and strong winds have hit central and western parts of the DPRK, causing severe damage, the government’s official news agency said. “The torrential rain coupled with strong winds … has brought severe damage to various economic sectors and people. The damage was serious as there was heavy rain at night,” it said.

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12. Japan on G8 Summit

Mainichi Daily News (“JAPAN TO PUSH NORTH KOREA, U.N. ISSUES AT G8”, 2005-07-04) reported that Japan is determined to push two issues close to its heart — DPRK and the UN at the G8 Summit. Japan, the only nation to suffer a nuclear attack, considers itself particularly vulnerable to the threat of DPRK, which has said it is making nuclear weapons.

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13. Kim Jong-il’s Change in Companions

Joongang Ilbo (“KIM JONG-IL CHANGES TRAVEL COMPANIONS”, 2005-07-05) reported that for the last six months, Kim Jong-il, at least in his public duties, appears to have changed his traveling companions. According to an analysis by the JoongAng Ilbo’s Unification Research Institute on the DPRK media reports, Mr. Kim now prefers the company of government technocrats more often than his once usual coterie of military officials.

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14. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation

International Herald Tribune (“KOREAS IN TALKS ON COAL PROJECT”, 2005-07-04) reported that Seoul and Pyongyang have had working-level talks about jointly mining DPRK’s coal reserves, and will discuss the possibility further in two days of talks that will begin in Kaesong tomorrow. In Kaesong, officials are to negotiate the scope of the project and a possible timeline. Reportedly, the DPRK wants to fix the time period and the ROK’s financial investment beforehand, while the ROK wants to conduct a small pilot program before making such decisions.

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15. TOFEL Tests in DPRK

Yonhap News (“NUMBER OF N. KOREANS TAKING TOEFL TEST INCREASES”, 2005-07-05) reported that the number of North Koreans taking TOEFL tests has more than tripled over the past 10 years, test administrators said Tuesday. More than 4,700 North Koreans took the English proficiency test between July 2003 and June 2004, according to the U.S.-based Educational Testing Service.

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16. ROK Coalition Government

Chosun Ilbo (“PRESIDENT DISCUSSED COALITION GOV’T”, 2005-07-04) reported that President Roh Moo-hyun has been discussing a possible coalition government with opposition parties as one way out of the ruling Uri Party’s minority status in the National Assembly, Uri sources said. “The government and ruling party face an emergency,” the sources quoted Roh. “We may have to form a coalition government with the [minor opposition] Democratic Labor Party or Millennium Democratic Party.”

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17. New PRC ambassador to ROK

Joongang Ilbo (“DIPLOMATS PERCEIVE SNUB IN BEIJING’S ENVOY CHOICE”, 2005-07-03) reported that PRC’s apparent choice to be its next ambassador to ROK has revived old discontent in Seoul about what’s seen as a PRC policy of sending lower-ranking envoys to Seoul. Diplomatic sources said yesterday that Ning Fukui, who currently serves as a special Chinese envoy on Korean Peninsula affairs, is expected to replace Ambassador Li Bin in August. In turn, Mr. Li is to fill Mr. Ning’s Beijing-based post, whose duties are focused on DPRK nuclear issues.

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18. ROK Missile Purchase

Agence France Presse (“SOUTH KOREA REVIVES MILITARY PROJECT TO BUY PATRIOT MISSILES”, 2005-07-05) reported that the ROK has revived a project to buy US Patriot missiles aimed at intercepting DPRK missiles and aircraft, military officials said Tuesday. From next year, the ROK will replace its ageing ground-to-air Nike missiles, introduced 40 years ago, with Patriot missiles, the defense ministry said. A decision on whether to buy new missiles directly from the US or second-hand ones from Germany has yet to be taken, it added.

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19. US on UNSC Expansion

The Japan Times (“U.S. EYES BRIDGE ROLE, WANTS CHINA TO BACK JAPAN IN UNSC”, 2005-07-02) reported that the US intends to serve as a bridge between the two opposing camps on UN Security Council reform with a “flexible” approach and to press the PRC to back Japan’s bid to become a permanent member, a top US State Department official said Thursday. But the US wants to see “more serious attention” to overall UN reforms instead of focusing only on overhauling the council, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said in an interview with a small group of Japanese reporters.

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20. PRC, Russia on UNSC Expansion

Kyodo News (“RUSSIA, CHINA JOINTLY OPPOSE 4 NATIONS’ PLAN FOR UNSC REFORM”, 2005-07-05) reported that Russia and PRC issued a joint statement Sunday opposing a proposal by Japan and three other countries to expand the UN Security Council. In the statement, Russia and PRC warned against the attempt of the so-called Group of Four nations to have their proposal adopted by the UN General Assembly in September, saying they are opposed to an effort to advance any tentative framework designed to resolve an issue that lacks a consensus among the UN membership.

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21. Russia – Japan Oil Pipeline

Agence France-Presse (“JAPAN CONSIDERING NINE-BILLION-DOLLAR AID TO RUSSIA IN PIPELINE BID: REPORT”, 2005-07-05) reported that Japan is considering extending up to nine billion dollars in aid to Russia to help finance a pipeline from Siberian oil fields if Moscow gives Tokyo preference over Beijing in the project, a news report said. The bulk of the sum being considered — between 900 billion yen and one trillion yen (eight billion to nine billion dollars) — would be in the form of low-interest loans and trade insurance, the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper said.

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22. Sino – Russian Security Talks

Agence France-Presse (“RUSSIA AND CHINA-LED ANTI-TERROR GROUPING TO MEET IN KAZAKHSTAN”, 2005-07-05) reported that the leaders of Russia, the PRC and four Central Asian republics were to meet in Kazakhstan for security talks over a region that has in recent months seen a regime toppled and an uprising bloodily suppressed. The summit brings together members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Russia and PRC anchored talk-shop that has styled itself as a counterweight to US global dominance. Talks will cover issues of “regional and global security and the creation of peace and stability as well as countering new challenges and threats,” the SCO said in a press release.

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23. PRC Economy

The Los Angeles Times (“CHINESE CITY’S ALLURE FADES FOR SOME FIRMS”, 2005-07-05) reported that amid rising wage and pension costs, energy shortages, tighter government regulation, traffic bottlenecks and other concerns, some of them are starting to look elsewhere. Their restlessness reflects a dark side to the PRC’s economic boom, as growth pains and other issues prompt companies to reconsider starting up or expanding in the PRC.

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24. US on PRC Economy

The New York Times (“O.K., JAPAN ISN’T TAKING OVER THE WORLD. BUT CHINA”, 2005-07-05) reported that not even 20 years have passed since the apparently unstoppable Japanese economic juggernaut struck fear in the hearts of Americans, and now the PRC has emerged to be seen as the new economic menace threatening the nation’s vital strategic interests. “In retrospect I probably did overstate the nature of the Japanese challenge,” said Chalmers Johnson, a prominent expert on Asia who in the early 1990’s argued that Japan was “the only nation with real leverage over the United States.” But, he added, “China is several orders of magnitude different from Japan.”

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25. PRC on Unocal Bid

Washington Post (“CHINA TELLS CONGRESS TO BACK OFF BUSINESSES”, 2005-07-04) reported that the PRC government on Monday sharply criticized the US for threatening to erect barriers aimed at preventing the attempted takeover of the American oil company Unocal Corp. by one of the PRC’s three largest energy firms, CNOOC Ltd. Four days after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a resolution urging the Bush administration to block the proposed transaction as a threat to national security, the PRC’s Foreign Ministry excoriated Congress for injecting politics into what it characterized as a standard business matter.

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26. Sino – Russian Energy Trade

The Associated Press (“CHINA HOPES TO INCREASE RUSSIA OIL IMPORTS”, 2005-07-05) reported that the PRC said Tuesday it hopes to increase oil imports by rail from Russia by 50 percent next year as it looks for foreign energy to fuel its booming economy. The statement by the PRC Foreign Ministry came after President Hu Jintao visited Moscow last week and discussed possible joint development of oil and gas fields.

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27. PRC Energy Reserves

Agence France Presse (“CHINA HAS ONLY TAPPED A FRACTION OF ITS NATURAL RESOURCES: OFFICIAL”, 2005-07-04) reported that the PRC has vast untapped energy reserves but needs the expertise and investment to locate the new resources, state press said even as the PRC expands its search for energy overseas. Zhang Hongtao, deputy director of the China Geological Survey, an institute with the Ministry of Land and Resources, said thorough geological surveys have only been conducted over a small part of the PRC’s territory, the China Daily reported.

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28. Hong Kong Media Freedom

The Los Angeles Times (“SELF-CENSORSHIP SHIFTS HONG KONG MEDIA ROLE”, 2005-07-05) reported that as Hong Kong marks the eighth anniversary today of its return to PRC rule, its news media are struggling to preserve the independence that set them apart from the mainland’s tightly controlled government presses. Critics say that Beijing has been curbing the media’s freedom so gradually that it’s easy to miss and that Hong Kong’s fears of losing its identity are starting to be realized.

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29. US on PRC Activist Arrest

The Los Angeles Times (“U.S. OFFICIALS PROTEST AMERICAN’S DETENTION”, 2005-07-05) reported that US officials lodged a protest with the PRC government after the detention of an American human rights activist who had been taking part in a dialogue between the PRC and the European Union, the US Embassy in Beijing said. Sharon Hom, the executive director of New York-based Human Rights in the PRC, was detained in a Beijing hotel by security officers for five hours on June 21, she said in a commentary that was published Friday in the Asian Wall Street Journal.

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30. PRC Unrest

Agence France-Presse (“ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES TRIGGERING VIOLENT UPRISINGS IN CHINA”, 2005-07-05) reported that the PRC risks serious social instability unless it quickly tackles widespread discontent over worsening pollution and officially-backed land requisitions that have sparked major public demonstrations, analysts and environmentalists say. Violent public protests throughout the PRC are happening with increasing regularity as anger erupts at what is seen as the ruling Communists party’s inability to enforce laws and guarantee basic rights.

(return to top) The Associated Press (“REPORT: THOUSANDS OF CHINESE STUDENTS RIOT”, 2005-07-02) reported that thousands of students rioted on a campus in southern PRC to protest high university fees, overcrowded dorms and unappealing cafeteria food, a Hong Kong newspaper reported Saturday. More than 4,000 students overturned cars, threw bottles from windows and torched banners on June 25 at the Jiujiang Institute, a university jointly run by the military, the Chinese-language Oriental Daily News reported. (return to top) Agence France-Presse (“THOUSANDS OF FARMERS PROTEST LAND EVICTION IN GUANGDONG PROVINCE “, 2005-07-05) reported that thousands of farmers demonstrated against a land eviction in the PRC’s southern Guangdong province, with clashes erupting after police detained some protestors, a rights group said. Four villagers were rounded up by police on Thursday after the farmers tried to block bulldozers from levelling about 670 hectares of land near Sanshangang village, the Empowerment and Rights Institute said. (return to top)

II. CanKor

31. Report #211

CanKor (“GRADUATION AT CANADIAN GRAPHICS DESIGN SCHOOL “, 2005-06-27) The first class at a Canadian NGO-sponsored Canada-Korea Computer Graphics Design Institute (CKCGDI) in Pyongyang graduated after a three-year course taught by Canadian teachers. A capacity-building development project of the Canadian NGO Global Aid Network (GAiN), the school was inaugurated in the fall of 2002.

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32.

CanKor (“42% OF KOREANS SAY ANOTHER WAR IS POSSIBLE”, 2005-06-24) A recent survey shows that 42% of South Koreans believe that war is possible on the Korean peninsula, although 41% have no intention of going into battle if a war broke out. Younger respondents were found to be less sensitive to war, while older Koreans put their confidence in economic development.

(return to top) CanKor (“FILM STRIKES RARE BALANCE ON DPRK”, 2005-06-10) A British documentary on two North Korean female gymnasts whose purpose in life is to glorify their country’s leader Kim Jong Il will open in 12 US cities in August. The film “A State of Mind” treats its subjects with a striking balance of Western and North Korean perspectives. Critics call it part of Pyongyang’s “charm offensive” that also includes unprecedented access by top American and other Western media to DPRK venues. (return to top) CanKor OPINION (“REFRAMING THE US-DPRK CONFLICT”, 2005-06-27) CanKor Editor Erich Weingartner writes about the need to “re-frame” the Korean conflict in order to create movement in negotiations on the nuclear issue. (return to top) CanKor OPINION (“A MOMENT TO SEIZE WITH NORTH KOREA”, 2005-06-23) Donald Gregg and Don Oberdorfer believe that there is currently a rare opportunity for the USA to regain momentum by sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Pyongyang. (return to top) CanKor OPINION (“JAPAN AND NORTH KOREA: BONES OF CONTENTION “, 2005-06-27) The International Crisis Group encourages Japan to normalize relations with the DPRK as an incentive to end its nuclear programmes. (return to top)