NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, June 13, 2006
- 1. DPRK Missile Test
2. Inter-Korean Diplomatic Tension
3. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation
4. Japanese DPRK Human Rights Bill
5. Kaesong Media Access
6. ROK-Japan Territorial Dispute
7. Japan Arms Sales
8. PRC Arms Sales
9. PRC, Russia on Iran Nuclear Program
10. PRC-India Nuclear Trade
11. PRC-Africa Diplomacy
12. PRC on Religious Freedom
13. PRC Journalist Trial
14. Taipei Leadership
I. NAPSNet
1. DPRK Missile Test
Reuters (“JAPAN SAYS NORTH KOREA MISSILE LAUNCH NOT IMMINENT”, 2006-06-13) reported that Japan does not expect the DPRK to conduct a ballistic missile test launch any time soon, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday, commenting after a US official predicted that a test could be imminent. “We understand that a missile launch is not imminent,” Abe told a news conference, reiterating Tokyo’s call on Pyongyang to maintain its promised moratorium on missile launches.
(return to top) Chosun Ilbo (“WILL N.KOREA REALLY LAUNCH A MISSILE?”, 2006-06-13) reported that a string of reports in the international press point to an imminent test of the DPRK’s new long-range Taepodong 2 missile, but the ROK government and military sources say there are no signs that is going to happen. So what is the true state of affairs? Reuters and the AFP ran reports on Tuesday that said the DPRK is preparing to test a ballistic missile that could reach the US and the test could take place next week. Intelligence experts are saying it is worth paying close attention to Japan’s movements in regard to the chances of a missile test. Japan is most sensitive to long-range missile launches and will be the first to react if there are actual signs of preparations. (return to top)
2. Inter-Korean Diplomatic Tension
JoongAng Ilbo (“PYONGYANG AIDE’S REMARKS STIR RARE REBUKE”, 2006-06-13) reported that a Unification Ministry spokesman grumbled yesterday about recent remarks from a DPRK official about ROK politics. Ahn Kyong-ho, who is scheduled to arrive in Gwangju today to lead a delegation commemorating the anniversary of the 2000 inter-Korean summit, said on Saturday that inter-Korean relations would be threatened if the conservative Grand National Party won next year’s presidential election in the ROK. The Grand Nationals reacted first, with outrage. Yang Chang-seok, the Unification Ministry’s spokesman, delivered a rebuke in more restrained tones. “The two Koreas have agreed on several occasions,” he said, “that they will not interfere in each other’s domestic affairs and would respect each other’s system. Despite those promises, the North did interfere, and that is inappropriate and regrettable.”
3. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation
JoongAng Ilbo (“NORTH EYES INTER-KOREAN PORT IN THE EAST”, 2006-06-13) reported that a senior maritime official in the DPRK told visiting journalists from the JoongAng Ilbo that his government wants to modernize and open Hungnam Port on the nation’s east coast to expand inter-Korean economic exchanges. Since 2000, a sea route connecting Incheon with the DPRK port of Nampo has been open for direct shipping along the west coast; Pyongyang evidently wants to replicate that success on the east coast, perhaps in a bid to increase investment or to reduce logistics problems in distributing aid shipments from the ROK.
4. Japanese DPRK Human Rights Bill
International Herald Tribune (“TOKYO WARNS NORTH KOREA ON ABDUCTEES”, 2006-06-13) reported that Japan’s lower house of Parliament passed a bill on Tuesday requiring the government to impose economic sanctions on DPRK if the DPRK does not help resolve a dispute over Japanese nationals it kidnapped decades ago. But the legislation does not specify exactly how Tokyo would measure progress on the DPRK’s human rights record and when the government should take punitive steps against Pyongyang. Pyongyang has said it would regard the imposition of sanctions as a “declaration of war.”
5. Kaesong Media Access
Yonhap (“U.S. REPORTERS VISIT KAESONG INDUSTRIAL PARK FOR AMERICAN TV PROGRAM”, 2006-06-13) reported that two reporters from the US-based Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) made a one-day visit to an inter-Korean industrial park in the DPRK’s border town of Kaesong Tuesday, a spokesman for the ROK Unification Ministry said. “The U.S. reporters visited Kaesong to make a special PBS program about the Kaesong industrial complex,” the spokesman said. The PBS program is expected to be aired next month on the weekly news series “This is America with Dennis Wholey.”
6. ROK-Japan Territorial Dispute
Chosun Ilbo (“JAPAN THREATENS ACTION IF KOREA SURVEYS DOKDO WATERS “, 2006-06-13) reported that in an ominous sign for already strained bilateral relations, Japan has made it clear that it will get tough on the ROK’s plan to conduct a hydrographic survey near the Dokdo islets in July. In two-day talks between the two countries on the demarcation of their exclusive economic zones in the East Sea that ended Tuesday, Tokyo said it will consider sending police ships there to discourage the attempt.
7. Japan Arms Sales
Agence France-Presse (“JAPAN BREAKS NEW TABOO WITH ARMS EXPORT TO INDONESIA”, 2006-06-13) reported that Japan has decided to donate three patrol boats to Indonesia to help fight terrorism and piracy, breaking the pacifist country’s decades-old taboo against exporting weapons. Japan, which is heavily dependent on Middle Eastern oil passing through the Malacca Strait, said the vessels can be used only to fight “terrorists” or pirates and not transferred to a third country.
8. PRC Arms Sales
Reuters (“US CITES CHINA FIRMS FOR SUPPORTING IRAN MILITARY “, 2006-06-13) reported that the US Treasury Department on Tuesday named one US and four PRC companies as supporters of Iran’s military and Iranian weapons programs. The designation, under an executive order issued by President George W. Bush in 2005, freezes those companies’ US assets and outlaws US firms or people from doing business with them. The PRC companies are Beijing Alite Technologies Co. Ltd., LIMMT Economic and Trade Co. Ltd., China Great Wall Industry Corp., and China National Precision Machinery Import/Export Corp.
9. PRC, Russia on Iran Nuclear Program
Agence France-Presse (“CHINA, RUSSIA REFUSE TO JOIN IRAN SANCTIONS STATEMENT “, 2006-06-13) reported that the PRC and Russia have refused to join with other big powers in threatening sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program during diplomatic jostling at the UN nuclear watchdog. In a further blow to US efforts to present a united front at the International Atomic Energy Agency talks, non-aligned nations prepared a statement reaffirming Tehran’s right to enrich uranium.
10. PRC-India Nuclear Trade
Reuters (“INDIA TO SEEK CHINESE HELP TO ENTER NUCLEAR CLUB “, 2006-06-13) reported that India plans to seek the backing of one-time rival the PRC as it bids to enter an elite club of nations allowed to trade in nuclear supplies, the defense minister said. New Delhi needs the approval of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to access atomic fuel and equipment as part of a landmark civilian nuclear cooperation deal agreed in principle with Washington last year. The PRC is a key member of the NSG, an informal group which regulates global nuclear trade and bars supplies to countries — like India — that have not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
11. PRC-Africa Diplomacy
Washington Post (“IN AFRICA, CHINA TRADE BRINGS GROWTH, UNEASE”, 2006-06-13) reported that as in much of Africa, the PRC’s reach into Zimbabwe’s economy is equally pervasive: The roads are filled with PRC buses, the markets with PRC goods, and PRC-made planes are in the skies. PRC companies are major investors in mining and telecommunications. The government in Beijing, meanwhile, is a crucial backer of Zimbabwe’s authoritarian president, Robert Mugabe. Such unease appears to be rising across Africa as PRC become powerful players — and, in some places, the dominant ones — in economies across the continent.
12. PRC on Religious Freedom
The Associated Press (“CHINA RIPS U.S. HOUSE BILL ON PERSECUTION “, 2006-06-13) reported that the PRC’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said a resolution by US lawmakers condemning Beijing for allegedly stepping up religious persecution was a “groundless accusation” that interfered in the PRC’s internal affairs. The House of Representatives on Monday approved the resolution condemning the PRC for rising persecution of religious believers. The resolution “constitutes a gross interference in China’s internal affairs,” said Jiang Yu, a PRC Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.
13. PRC Journalist Trial
The New York Times (“CHINA TO BEGIN TRIAL OF TIMES RESEARCHER”, 2006-06-13) reported that a researcher for The New York Times who is accused of disclosing state secrets and fraud will go on trial here on Friday, his lawyer said today. The researcher, Zhao Yan, 44, who worked in the Beijing bureau of The Times, has been in custody for 22 months without appearing before a court.
14. Taipei Leadership
The Associated Press (“TAIWAN LAWMAKERS AGREE ON RECALL HEARINGS “, 2006-06-13) reported that Taiwanese lawmakers agreed Tuesday to hold hearings on a possible recall of President Chen Shui-bian, whose family members have been plagued by corruption allegations that have sparked calls for him to resign. Legislators voted 113-96 to have a screening committee — including opposition and ruling party members — begin hearings on whether Chen should be recalled.