NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, May 16, 2006

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"NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, May 16, 2006", NAPSNet Daily Report, May 16, 2006, https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-daily-report/napsnet-daily-report-tuesday-may-16-2006/

NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, May 16, 2006

NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, May 16, 2006

I. NAPSNet

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. NAPSNet

1. Inter-Korean Military Summit

Chosun Ilbo (“NO PROGRESS ON FIRST DAY OF INTER-KOREAN TOP BRASS MEET “, 2006-05-16) reported that a first day of talks between generals in the two Korea’s militaries on Tuesday again made little headway on the key issues of preventing accidental skirmishes in the West Sea and a guarantee of safe passage for cross-border railways and roads. The present round, the fourth, will last for three days at Peace House in the Panmunjom truce village in the demilitarized zone between the DPRK and the ROK.

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2. Inter-Korean Industrial Cooperation

JoongAng Ilbo (“NORTH’S FACILITIES ‘BETTER THAN EXPECTED'”, 2006-05-16) reported that a group of 72 ROK businessmen, government officials, academics and journalists toured a manufacturing company in the capital of the DPRK yesterday, the second day of their visit. The ROK visitors expressed surprise that the DPRK factory was better equipped than they had expected it to be. “There is still room for improvement, but the North’s manufacturing facilities are much more modernized than I thought,” said Hwang Eun-yeon, a manager with Posco. “With South Korea’s support and cooperation, the North will be able to make improved products.”

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3. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation

Yonhap (“KOREAS TO HOLD SECOND ROUND OF ECONOMIC TALKS”, 2006-05-16) reported that highlighting the increased exchanges and cooperation between the DPRK and the ROK, the countries are poised to begin yet another round of talks this month on ways to increase economic cooperation and start joint development of the DPRK’s natural resources, the Unification Ministry said Tuesday. “The North on Monday proposed holding a new round of working-level talks of the inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Promotion Committee on May 18-19,” a ministry spokesman told reporters

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4. Inter-Korean Red Cross Talks

Yonhap (“RED CROSS CHIEF VISITS PYONGYANG FOR TALKS ON MEDICAL COOPERATION”, 2006-05-16) reported that the ROK’s Red Cross chief Han Wan-sang was to embark on a five-day visit to Pyongyang from Tuesday to discuss ways to increase cooperation between the countries’ medical institutes, Red Cross officials said.

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5. Kim Dae-jung’s DPRK Visit

Yonhap (“KOREAS HOLD TALKS ON PLANNED VISIT OF FORMER PRESIDENT TO PYONGYANG”, 2005-05-16) reported that officials from the DPRK and the ROK opened talks in the DPRK’s Mount Geumgang on Tuesday to plan an upcoming visit by former ROK President Kim Dae-jung to the DPRK capital Pyongyang in June.

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6. Kaesong Industrial Complex

Yonhap (“GROUNDBREAKING FOR KAESONG ‘FACTORY APARTMENT’ DUE WEDNESDAY “, 2006-05-16) reported that the ROK’s state-run industrial complex operator said Tuesday it will break ground Wednesday for a combined factory and residential building in the DPRK that will house 40 labor-intensive firms from the ROK.

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7. DPRK Abduction Issue

Chosun Ilbo (“PARENTS OF ABDUCTION VICTIMS IN EMOTIONAL FIRST MEETING”, 2006-05-16) reported that nearly 30 years after the Japanese man’s daughter and the ROK woman’s son were abducted by the DPRK, the two gripped each other’s hands without a word on Tuesday. ”I saw you on TV many times. This is the first time we meet, but you seem so familiar,” Shigeru Yokota (73), the father of Japanese abduction victim Megumi Yokota, told Choi Kye-wol (82), the mother of ROK abductee Kim Young-nam.

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8. US DPRK Policy

Agence France-Presse (“IRAN, NORTH KOREA SEEN UNLIKELY TO FOLLOW IN LIBYA’S FOOTSTEPS”, 2006-05-16) reported that the US wants Iran and the DPRK to follow the Libyan path to redemption by ending their controversial nuclear programmes, but Washington has an entirely different kind of battle with the two remaining “Axis of Evil” renegades. Reclusive and nuclear-armed DPRK appears unshaken by the years of sanctions imposed by the US and other Western powers.

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9. ROK-Japan Relations

Kyodo (“S. KOREA PRESIDENT SEEKS JAPAN’S ‘SINCERE ATTITUDE’ ON HISTORY ISSUE “, 2006-05-16) reported that ROK President Roh Moo Hyun told UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Tuesday that Japanese leaders should take a “sincere attitude” to mend strained ties between Seoul and Tokyo, Roh’s chief spokesman said. Roh also said some Japanese politicians’ perception of history created the current strained situation between the ROK and Japan, Jung Tae Ho said in a press briefing.

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10. Yasukuni Shrine Issue

Kyodo (“ASO SEES PROBLEM WITH CURRENT SYSTEM OF HONORING JAPAN’S WAR DEAD”, 2006-05-16) reported that Foreign Minister Taro Aso speaks in a presentation at the Kyodo News head office in Tokyo on May 16. He said he sees problems in the current method of honoring Japan’s war dead at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, suggesting revising the system of having a single religious corporation be in charge of honoring the spirits of the war dead.

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11. PRC-Japan East Sea Gas Dispute

Kyodo (“JAPAN, CHINA TO HOLD E. CHINA SEA GAS TALKS ON THURS.”, 2006-05-16) reported that Japan and the PRC will hold talks aimed at solving their tow over gas and oil exploration rights in the East China Sea on Thursday in Tokyo, a PRC Foreign Ministry spokesman said. A large gap remains between the two countries over the issue, and while it is hoped the upcoming talks would help narrow the gap, the PRC does “not expect any major breakthrough,” Liu Jianchao told a regular press briefing.

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12. PRC on Iran Nuclear Issue

Reuters (“CHINA BACKS EU PLAN ON IRAN STAND-OFF “, 2006-05-16) reported that the PRC declared its support on Tuesday for a European plan to offer Iran sophisticated nuclear technology if it scraps uranium enrichment work that Western countries suspect is part of a quest for atomic bombs. “China approves of the Europeans’ important stance of striving to solve the Iran nuclear issue through peaceful negotiation,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.

(return to top) The Los Angeles Times (“IRAN MUST HALT ENRICHMENT EFFORT, CHINA OFFICIAL SAYS”, 2006-05-16) reported that Iran should halt its uranium enrichment activities and all related research and development, a senior PRC official said Monday, even as he advised the US to drop its push for sanctions in order to ease the nuclear dispute. Tang Jiaxuan, a member of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, called in an interview in Zhongnanhai, the country’s seat of power, for Iran to take a more accommodating line in United Nations discussions of its nuclear program. (return to top)

13. PRC Dissident Trial

The Associated Press (“CHINA DISSIDENT WRITER SENTENCED TO PRISON “, 2006-05-16) reported that a veteran PRC dissident writer was sentenced to 12 years in prison Tuesday on subversion charges, his lawyer said. Yang Tianshui was found guilty after a half-day closed-door trial, lawyer Li Jianqiang said. He said the prosecutor had sought to prove Yang acted in collusion with “hostile overseas forces” — a charge often linked to sending information to overseas human rights groups or posting essays on Web sites hosted abroad.

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14. PRC Journalist Trial

The Associated Press (“LAWYER: TIMES RESEARCHER INDICTED IN CHINA “, 2006-05-16) reported that prosecutors have filed a new indictment against a detained PRC researcher for The New York Times after a court dropped state secrets charges against him two months ago, his defense lawyer said Tuesday. It was not immediately clear if the latest indictment was based on new charges or the same charges that had been previously dropped against Zhao Yan, said his lawyer, Mo Shaoping.

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15. PRC Media

Agence France-Presse (“CHINESE MEDIA SILENT ON CULTURAL REVOLUTION ANNIVERSARY “, 2006-05-16) reported that the PRC’s national media have been silent over the 40th anniversary of the start of the tumultuous Cultural Revolution, still seen as a taboo subject that haunts the country. All mainstream state media — newspapers, television and radio stations — stayed mum on the subject as did popular websites, whose chatrooms are normally filled with lively discussions on topical issues.

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