NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, November 22, 2005

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NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, November 22, 2005

NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, November 22, 2005

I. NAPSNet

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. NAPSNet

1. Iranian Exile on DPRK Nuclear Program

Reuters (“‘NORTH KOREA AIDING IRAN MISSILE NETWORK'”, 2005-11-21) reported that an Iranian exile released details on Monday about what he said was Teheran’s extensive network of underground tunnels to conceal nuclear-capable missile production and the DPRK’s role in the project. Alireza Jafarzadeh, who’s National Council of Resistance of Iran disclosed Iran’s clandestine nuclear program in 2002, said “I am also revealing details on the involvement of North Korea in hiding Iranian missile construction,” he said.

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2. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation

Yonhap News (“INTER-KOREAN TRADE JUMPS ALMOST 60 PCT IN FIRST 10 MONTHS”, 2005-11-22) reported that inter-Korean trade surged nearly 60 percent this year on increased shipments of goods to and from an industrial park in the DPRK city of Kaesong, a trade body said Tuesday. Trade between the ROK and the DPRK jumped 59.7 percent from a year ago to US$875.65 million in the January-October period, according to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). The ROK shipped $130.97 million worth of goods to the complex, while bringing in $11.1 million worth of goods from the Kaesong complex.

(return to top) The Korea Times (“KIM’S DISMISSAL LEAVES HYUNDAI WITH NO ONE TO TALK TO NK”, 2005-11-22) reported that Hyundai Asan completed the dismissal of former vice chairman Kim Yoon-kyu, for his involvement in an alleged embezzlement scandal, in an emergency shareholders’ meeting in Seoul Tuesday. Kim’s dismissal, however, leaves Hyundai with few to succeed Kim as chief negotiator with the DPRK over a number of inter-Korean projects. With Kim’s dismissal, the number of registered board members of the company fell to four. While the DPRK’s Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, the organization which is responsible for the Mt. Kumgang tourism project, refused to allow president Yoon Man-jun’s visit to the DPRK, the issue remains who would lead with chairwoman Hyun in the inter-Korean business ventures. There is a possibility that vice president Shim, in charge of Kaesong Industrial Complex business in the DPRK, will take over the role formerly held by Kim. (return to top)

3. Inter-Korean Relations

Yonhap News (“KOREAS DISCUSS JOINT EXCAVATION OF REMAINS OF ANTI-JAPAN PATRIOT”, 2005-11-22) reported that the ROK and the DPRK agreed to make joint efforts Tuesday to locate the remains of a prominent Korean independence fighter believed to be buried in the PRC, Seoul officials said. Working officials of the two Koreas made the agreement after discussing the possible burial site of the remains of Ahn Joong-geun, said officials at the Unification Ministry.

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4. Inter-Korean Family Reunions

The Korea Times (“S-N VIDEO FAMILY REUNIONS DUE “, 2005-11-21) reported that the ROK and the DPRK are about to hold a new round of exchanges between their separated families this week, officials at the ROK’s Unification Ministry said Monday. Members of 40 families from each side will be reunited with their long lost relatives from the other side via video conferencing on Thursday and Friday. Video conferencing rooms will be set up at Red Cross offices in Seoul and other parts of the country.

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5. DPRK Human Rights

Agence France Presse (“ANGRY NORTH KOREA THREATENS TO BUILD UP DETERRENT OVER UN VOTE”, 2005-11-22) reported that the DPRK’s foreign ministry has threatened to multiply its deterrent force a thousand times in an angry response to a UN vote expressing serious concern about Pyongyang’s human rights record. The ministry dismissed the UN General Assembly vote as an “absurd attempt” by Washington to topple the DPRK.

(return to top) The Korea Times (“STUDENTS CONDEMN NK FOR RIGHTS ABUSE”, 2005-11-21) reported that recently an increasing number of RO Korean college students are joining conservative groups condemning the DPRK human rights violations and advocating a market-oriented economy. A university students’ union comprising about 20 universities nationwide and advocating improved DPRK human rights was launched on Nov. 3. Its members plan to take part in the Seoul Summit for Promoting Human Rights in the DPRK slated for Dec. 8-10 in Seoul. (return to top)

6. DPRK Defectors

The Korea Times (“ALLEGED NORTH KOREAN DISSIDENT UNDER PROBE IN SEOUL”, 2005-11-22) reported that according to an NGO official in Seoul, the DPRK defector whose secretly taped scenes showed what he claimed were budding anti-regime activities in the DPRK entered Seoul last week and is currently under interrogation by the ROK authorities. The defector had secretly taken images of the DPRK’s inside realities through tech-savvy equipment such as digital cameras, and part of the footage has recently aired on CNN, under the title “Undercover in the Secret State.’’ The defector, who was first hiding in the PRC after some of the footage he smuggled out of the DPRK began being released earlier this year, had reportedly moved to Thailand for security reasons. He came to Seoul after an attempt to seek refugee status in the US failed.

(return to top) Chosun Ilbo (“‘INTERNS ALL FAILED REFUGEES IN CAMPS’”, 2005-11-22) reported that DPR Koreans caught attempting to flee the country are all sent to concentration camps for political dissidents, according to one who got away. The charge comes from a 43-year-old defector going by the alias Kim Soo-cheol, who was interned at a camp in Yodeok, South Hamgyeong Province from early 2000 to April 2003 and escaped to the ROK May last year. Kim told reporters he there saw ROK prisoner of war Choi Sang-soo, his son Choi Seong-il and seven failed defectors who were arrested in Mongolia while trying to cross the border with Russia. (return to top)

7. Aid to DPRK

Joongang Ilbo (“SEOUL SETS ASIDE CASH FOR POWER TO NORTH”, 2005-11-22) reported that the Unification Ministry announced yesterday that it had set aside 68 billion won ($64.8 million) from next year’s budget for inter-Korean cooperation efforts for a project to send electricity from the ROK to the DPRK. The ministry said the funds would be used to examine routes for power lines and plans for the necessary infrastructure. A ministry official said yesterday that the money earmarked for the electricity plan would only be spent after the talks in Beijing hammer out plans to implement the September accord and both Koreas agree on specifics of the electricity proposal.

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8. DPRK Bird Flu

Agence France Presse (“NORTH KOREA STEPS UP BIRD FLU CAMPAIGN”, 2005-11-21) reported that the DPRK has stepped up its campaign to prevent bird flu from reaching the country, as neighboring PRC reported 21 outbreaks had hit it this year. “Quarantine has been intensified at the border and other terminals of (North Korea) in an effort to prevent bird flu,” the Korean Central News Agency said Monday. The DPRK has reported no outbreaks of bird flu this year, with its leader Kim Jong-Il himself issuing a public call earlier this month for concrete precautions to prevent the disease.

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9. Japan on Government Reform

Asahi Shimbun (“‘MIRACLE’ REFORMS NOW THE LDP’S MAIN MISSION”, 2005-11-23) reported that the Liberal Democratic Party marked the 50th anniversary of its founding Tuesday and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told a celebratory convention the party’s mission now is to implement structural reforms on a par with the Meiji Restoration and the postwar economic miracle to cope with a changing world.

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10. Japanese Military

Washington Post (“REVISED CONSTITUTION STRENGTHENS JAPAN’S MILITARY”, 2005-11-22) reported that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party Tuesday formally unveiled a revised draft of Japan’s pacifist constitution that would allow the country to possess an official military for the first time since World War II and give the armed forces a more assertive international role.

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11. USFJ Relocation

Yomiuri Shimbun (“GOVT MUST HEED LOCALS ON BASES”, 2005-11-22) reported that the interim report on the realignment of US forces in Japan has caused strong resentment from communities requested to host US military forces. How can the discontent be appeased? The interim report, released late last month, says the US Army will station a new Asia-Pacific command headquarters at Camp Zama in Kanagawa Prefecture, with the Ground Self-Defense Force to establish the headquarters of its Central Readiness Force at the same base.

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12. Russo-Japanese Territorial Dispute

Yomiuri Shimbun (“NO SOLUTION TO TERRITORY ROW/ KOIZUMI PUTIN FAIL TO MAKE ANY PROGRESS ON NORTHERN ISLES”, 2005-11-22) reported that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin did not see eye-to-eye on a territorial dispute during their meeting in Tokyo on Monday, but they agreed to continue negotiations to find a resolution acceptable to both sides.

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13. PRC on Yasukuni Shrine

Asahi Shimbun (“HU RAISES YASUKUNI ISSUE DURING TALKS WITH BUSH”, 2005-11-22) reported that PRC President Hu Jintao told US President George W. Bush on Sunday that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s recent visit to Yasukuni Shrine has blocked the development of Tokyo-Beijing relations, sources said. Bush responded by urging the PRC to push for future-oriented dialogue with Tokyo.

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14. Japan on Fujimori Case

Yomiuri Shimbun (“FUJIMORI’S EXTRADITION NOT SIMPLE LEGAL MATTER”, 2005-11-22) reported that former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who was arrested in Chile on Nov. 7, is waiting for a decision on whether he will be transferred to Peruvian custody. As extradition is an issue of national sovereignty, various problems remain in the procedure.

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15. PRC-Japan Relations

Xinhua (“CHINA DENOUNCES DESTRUCTION TO ITS CONSULATE IN JAPAN: FM”, 2005-11-22) reported that the PRC strongly denounces a Japanese right-wing activist’s act of destruction to its PRC Consulate General in Nagoya and lodges a serious representation with the Japanese government, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said here Tuesday.

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16. PRC Human Rights

BBC News (“CHINA ‘MORE AWARE’ OF TORTURE USE”, 2005-11-22) reported that Manfred Nowak told the BBC he had been promised the freedom to see prisoners and investigate claims of torture. Mr. Nowak will spend nearly two weeks in Beijing, Tibet and the troubled western province of Xinjiang. Beijing outlawed torture in 1996, but human rights organizations report it is still used to extract confessions.

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17. Natural Resources in PRC

BBC News (“WATER SHORTAGE PANICS CHINA CITY”, 2005-11-22) reported that the announcement that water supplies would be cut off from Tuesday has sparked panic-buying of bottled water and other drinks at local supermarkets. There is confusion over why the authorities are cutting off the water. Xinhua agency cited fears it had been contaminated by a chemical blast, but the PRC Daily quoted the government as saying it was for mains maintenance.

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18. PRC on Environment

Xinhua (“CHINA PLANS TO CHECK SEVERE BIODIVERSITY LOSS IN FIVE YEARS”, 2005-11-22) reported that the PRC has mapped out a plan to reverse the trend of the severe loss of its biological resources in the country in the next five years. The plan, dubbed the National Program on the Protection and Sustainable Use of Biological resources, has been adopted at a meeting jointly held here Tuesday by more than a dozen of government departments with the State Environmental Protection Administration SEPA) at the chair.

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19. PRC Railway

International Herald Tribune (“SIEMENS LEADS IN RACE FOR CHINA’S RAILS”, 2005-11-22) reported that A $788 million contract to build 60 high-speed trains for the PRC has put the German engineering giant Siemens on track to win further lucrative orders as Beijing begins a massive expansion of the country’s railway network.

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20. PRC on Foreign Investment

Australian News (“GREAT STALL OF CHINA SEES JAPAN GAZUMP THEM FOR GORGON LNG”, 2005-11-23) reported that for a second time in less than a month PRC’s national energy company CNOOC has been gazumped by a Japanese utility prepared to pay the price for a share of the output and, potentially, the equity of Australia’s $11 billion Gorgon LNG project.

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21. PRC-Central African Republic Alliance

Xinhua (“CHINA TO ENHANCE MILITARY CO-OP WITH CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC”, 2005-11-22) reported that the PRC is ready to enhance military cooperation with the Central African Republic, said PRC Defence Minister Cao Gangchuan here Tuesday. In a meeting with Antoine Gambi, chief of the General Staff of Central African Republic, Cao said the people of the two countries have maintained traditional friendship since they forged diplomatic ties in the 1960s, despite some setbacks in the past.

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22. PRC Bird Flu

China Post (“CHINA ORDERS TIGHTER BIRD FLU MEASURES AFTER NEW OUTBREAKS”, 2005-11-22) reported that the PRC ordered already strict anti-bird flu measures tightened on Monday following two new outbreaks in poultry, while Romania said it would destroy 2,000 farm birds after finding the virus in hens and DPRK tightened border controls. “There is a growing threat to human health,” Yin Chengjie, a deputy PRC agriculture minister, said at a news conference.

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23. Bird Flu

Washington Post (“BIRD FLU EXPERTS WARN AGAINST VACCINES”, 2005-11-22) reported that as the PRC prepares to inoculate billions of birds against avian influenza, international animal health specialists are warning that improper vaccination of chickens and ducks in East Asia may be helping to spread the virus, increasing the risk of a human outbreak.

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24. Taiwanese Government

Financial Times (“TAIWAN INDICTS OFFICIALS ON CORRUPTION CHARGES”, 2005-11-22) reported that Taiwan prosecutors have indicted 22 incumbent and former officials for suspected corruption in a public transport project in Kaohsiung, the island’s second-largest city. The move brings to a climax a series of scandals that has unfolded over the past three months, exposing the extent of systemic corruption in Taiwan. It adds to the woes of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in the fiercely-fought race for local elections on December 3.

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25. Mongolian-US Relations

Taipei Times (“MONGOLIA READY FOR VISIT FROM ITS THIRD NEIGHBOR”, 2005-11-21) reported that the Mongols base their relations with the US on what they call their “Third Neighbor” policy. Today, the leader of that “Third Neighbor,” US President George W. Bush, is scheduled to make a brief but symbolic visit to Mongolia, the first sitting US president ever to travel to the Inner Asian nation. Last month, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was the first in his office to go there.

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