I. NAPSNet

1. DPRK on Missile Tests, Six Party Talks

Bloomberg (“NORTH KOREA WILL `STOP TESTS’ IF U.S. HALTS EXERCISES “, 2006-07-11) reported that the DPRK will stop testing missiles if the US ends military exercises in the Korean peninsula, Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hyong Jun said today. “If there are no more exercises designed to disturb the peace in the region, there could be no missile launches,” Kim told reporters in Pretoria after talks with South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad. The DPRK would resume talks on nuclear disarmament with the US, Japan, Russia, the PRC and the ROK if the US lifts financial sanctions on the country, Kim said.

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2. UN DPRK Sanctions Proposal

Agence France-Presse (“CHINA AGAIN REJECTS UN RESOLUTION ON NORTH KOREA”, 2006-07-11) reported that the PRC repeated its rejection of a proposed UN resolution on possible sanctions against the DPRK, dashing US and Japanese hopes for quick action over Pyongyang’s missile tests. French and British envoys in New York hinted that the PRC had threatened to veto the draft resolution. “When a permanent member of the Security Council says a resolution will not pass, things are clear,” French Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, the president of the council for July, said, in a reference to Beijing.

(return to top) Reuters (“CHINA DRAFTS STATEMENT ON NORTH KOREA”, 2006-07-10) reported that the PRC, backed by Russia, submitted its own draft UN Security Council statement on the DPRK on Monday, fearing a resolution imposing sanctions might be used to lay the groundwork for future military action. But the US, Britain and Japan opposed the statement as the Security Council put off council action to allow a high-level PRC delegation to talk to Pyongyang. The PRC’s UN ambassador, Wang Guangya, told reporters after another round of council consultations that a resolution branding the DPRK a threat to international peace and security “could be used by member states to take actions which could make the situation even worse.” Asked if he meant military force, Wang said, “certainly.” (return to top) Kyodo (“JAPAN STILL SEEKS U.N. RESOLUTION TO SANCTION N. KOREA”, 2006-07-11) reported that Japan said Tuesday it will continue to seek a UN Security Council vote as soon as possible on a draft resolution for sanctions against the DPRK after it was postponed Monday in New York and the PRC unveiled a nonbinding statement to counter the Japan-led binding resolution. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said, ”A vote was postponed because China’s efforts concerning North Korea have been continuing, but there has been no change in our basic policy of steadfastly seeking a vote.” Speaking later to reporters at his official residence, Koizumi said he hopes that the resolution is adopted as soon as possible, hopefully before the Group of Eight summit, hosted by Russia this weekend. (return to top)

3. DPRK-PRC Relations

Kyodo (“CHINA CONVEYS RARE MESSAGE OF CONCERN TO N. KOREA”, 2006-07-11) reported that the PRC, which is under pressure to defuse tensions triggered by Pyongyang’s missile test-firings last week, conveyed a rare message of concern to the DPRK on Tuesday, saying that Beijing opposes any action that may destabilize the Korean Peninsula. PRC President Hu Jintao made the remark to a visiting DPRK delegation led by Yang Hyong Sop, vice president of the DPRK’s Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, the PRC’s official Xinhua News Agency reported.

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4. Inter-Korean Ministerial Talks

Chosun Ilbo (“INTER-KOREAN MINISTERIAL TALKS OPEN DESPITE MISSILE TEST”, 2006-07-11) reported that the 19th round of Cabinet-level talks between the DPRK and the ROK opened in Busan on Tuesday despite the DPRK’s widely condemned missile test last week. In the four days of talks, attempts to persuade the DPRK back to the six-way talks on its nuclear program and the missile launches will top the agenda.

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5. US Law on DPRK Nonproliferation

Yonhap (“U.S. SENATE LEADER SEEKS LAW TO BAN TRANSFER OF WMD TECHNOLOGY TO NORTH KOREA”, 2006-07-11) reported that the Senate’s Republican leader said Tuesday he will seek a legislation allowing the US president to impose sanctions on any persons that transfer weapons material and technology to the DPRK. Sen. Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, said the time has come for the US “to treat transfers of these items to North Korea no less seriously than we already treat transfers of these items to Iran and Syria.” The legislation would add the DPRK to a nonproliferation act, passed in 2000, according to Frist.

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6. Japanese DPRK Preemptive Strike Threat

Bloomberg (“S. KOREA DENOUNCES JAPAN’S SUGGESTION OF STRIKE AGAINST NORTH”, 2006-07-11) reported that the ROK government said suggestions by Japanese officials that a pre-emptive strike on the DPRK is an option “endanger peace in northeast Asia.” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe and other officials have suggested in recent days Japan’s pacifist constitution may allow military action against the DPRK if a threat is perceived. “Japanese political leaders are making dangerous and reckless remarks invoking a `preemptive strike’ in an attempt to further intensify a crisis on the Korean Peninsula,” Chung Tae Ho, spokesman for ROK President Roh Moo Hyun, said in a statement today. The comments reveal “Japan’s nature of aggression so we cannot but be alarmed.”

(return to top) Agence France-Presse (“US DOWNPLAYS JAPAN COMMENTS ON NORTH KOREA “, 2006-07-11) reported that the US downplayed comments from senior Japanese officials who have warned that Tokyo has the right to make a preemptive strike on the DPRK under some circumstances. “I did not read this as a declaration of war,” White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters, adding that the warning had come with “a whole series of qualifiers.” But Snow said that Japan “has clearly not ruled out any options” in dealing with the potential missile threat from the DPRK — diplomatic language often attached to the principle that officials want to keep all options open. (return to top)

7. Inter-Korean Olympic Cooperation

Yonhap (“WAY TO SELECT ATHLETES IS KEY ISSUE FOR UNIFIED OLYMPIC TEAM: KOC HEAD”, 2006-07-11) reported that the chief of the ROK’s Olympic committee said Tuesday that the way of selecting athletes is a top agenda item of the inter-Korean talks to field a single team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Earlier, Seoul suggested that Pyongyang hold the talks, the third of their kind, at the DPRK’s scenic mountain resort of Mount Geumgang from July 20-21, but the DPRK has yet to reply, said Kim Jung-kil, president of the Korea Olympic Committee (KOC).

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8. DPRK Market Economy Training

Korea Times (“NORTH KOREAN OFFICIALS TO STUDY MARKET ECONOMY”, 2006-07-11) reported that a group of DPRK officials will receive training on multilateral diplomacy and market economy in Switzerland this summer, a Swiss research institute said Tuesday. The DPR Koreans, whose number was not immediately known, are slated to enroll for the training from Aug. 21 to Sept. 22 at the Geneva-based Center for Applied Studies in International Negotiations, center officials said.

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9. US-ROK Trade Relations

Agence France-Presse (“THOUSANDS STAGE SKOREA’S LATEST PROTESTS ON US TRADE PACT”, 2006-07-11) reported that more than 10,000 workers and activists rallied in the second day of demonstrations in the ROK aimed at blocking a free-trade agreement under discussion with the US. ROK farmers, unions and activists oppose any market-opening measures that would include cheaper imports of US products, while supporters counter that an FTA would boost growth and secure stronger ties with the US.

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10. US on ROK-Japan-PRC Relations

Agence France-Presse (“BUSH HOPES JAPAN-CHINA-SKOREA TIES IMPROVE “, 2006-07-11) reported that US President George W. Bush said he hoped Japan’s relations with the PRC and ROK would improve and that he had said as much to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. “It’s in American interests that we work closely with Japan. It’s also in our interests that Japan has got better relations with China and South Korea,” Bush told reporters Monday ahead of the Group of eight (G8) summit in Russia.

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11. ROK Defense Plans

Chosun Ilbo (“MEDIUM TERM DEFENSE PLANS COME WITH HEFTY PRICE TAG “, 2006-07-11) reported that subject to the vagaries of defense procurement, the ROK hopes to launch a midsize 3,500 ton submarine capable of launching missiles at land targets hundreds of kilometers away next year. The sub will be fitted with 500 km cruise missiles that will significantly boost the country’s attack capabilities, a Defense Ministry official said.

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12. Yasukuni Shrine Issue

Kyodo News (“TAIWAN’S MA CALLS ON JAPAN TO HONOR ASIAN FEELINGS ON YASUKUNI “, 2006-07-11) reported that Ma Ying-jeou, chairman of Taiwan’s opposition Nationalist Party and presidential hopeful, called on Japan to honor Asian neighbors’ feelings over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s visits to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine.

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13. PRC at G8 Summit

Agence France-Presse (“CHINESE PRESIDENT HU JINTAO TO ATTEND G8 SUMMIT IN RUSSIA “, 2006-07-11) reported that PRC President Hu Jintao will attend the G8 summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on July 17 at the invitation of his counterpart Vladimir Putin, the PRC’s foreign ministry said. Hu was expected to participate in discussions focusing on energy, security, prevention and control of epidemic diseases, African development and other topics, she said.

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14. PRC on US Export Controls

Agence France-Presse (“CHINA URGES US TO DROP ‘COLD WAR MINDSET’ ON HIGH-TECH EXPORTS “, 2006-07-11) reported that the PRC has urged the US not to pursue a “Cold War mindset” when it comes to more strategic controls on trade in high-tech products, state media said. “The United States should adopt constructive measures to promote bilateral high-tech trade in order to amend the imbalances in Sino-US trade and promote the healthy, comprehensive development of trade ties,” he said.

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15. PRC Trade Surplus

The New York Times (“CHINA POSTS A SURPLUS SURE TO STIR U.S. ALARM”, 2006-07-11) reported that the PRC reported a record trade surplus with the rest of the world on Monday, one of the largest monthly trade imbalances any country has ever recorded and one that is likely to heighten trade tensions, particularly with the US and Europe. Economists say the huge surplus is likely to compel officials in the US and Europe to increase pressure on the PRC government to allow its currency, the yuan, to appreciate against the dollar and other currencies as a way of reducing the trade deficits.

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16. PRC One Child Policy

The Los Angeles Times (“CHINA’S ONE-CHILD PROBLEM”, 2006-07-11) reported that when a self-taught lawyer and activist named Chen Guangcheng went public with reports of forced abortions and other abuses by family-planning officials in the PRC’s Shandong province, he became a local hero. He also became a state threat. Roughly a year later, despite international pressure, widespread support from lawyers and an acknowledgment from national officials that many of his disclosures were accurate, the 35-year-old Chen remains in custody.

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17. PRC Bird Flu Outbreak

Reuters (“CHINESE BIRD FLU WHISTLE-BLOWER JAILED: STATE MEDIA “, 2006-07-11) reported that a PRC court jailed a farmer who reported bird flu outbreaks to the central government to three-and-a-half years for fraud and blackmail, state media said on Tuesday. Qiao Songju, a goose farmer in the eastern province of Jiangsu, was arrested a month after he reported bird flu outbreaks in the nearby province of Jiangsu in October, Xinhua news agency said.

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18. Mongolia Anniversary

The Associated Press (“MONGOLIANS MARK 800TH ANNIVERSARY OF KHAN “, 2006-07-11) reported that Mongolians celebrated the 800th anniversary of Genghis Khan’s march to world conquest on Tuesday with festivities that mixed commercialism with appeals to nationalism. “We Mongolians must be united and have one goal: to develop our country. Remember Genghis Khan and his great deeds,” said President Nambaryn Enkhbayar.

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