NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, October 26th, 2004

Recommended Citation

"NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, October 26th, 2004", NAPSNet Daily Report, October 26, 2004, https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-daily-report/napsnet-daily-report-tuesday-october-26th-2004/

NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, October 26th, 2004

NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, October 26th, 2004

I. United States

II. ROK

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. United States

1. US on DPRK Nuclear Issue

Associated Press (“POWELL URGES NORTH KOREA TO RESUME NUCLEAR TALKS; SOUTH KOREA CALLS FOR GREATER FLEXIBILITY AMONG PARTICIPANTS”, 2004-10-26) reported that Secretary of State Colin Powell urged the DPRK on Tuesday to rejoin nuclear disarmament talks if it wants international aid. The ROK, meanwhile, called on the US and other participants in six-nation talks to show more flexibility in resolving the nuclear standoff – comments that appeared to distance Seoul from US proposals. Powell said the US has no intention of changing its DPRK policy soon, but would work to resolve the nuclear dispute.

(return to top) Los Angeles Times (“POWELL URGES NORTH KOREA TO RESUME TALKS”, 2004-10-26) reported that on what might be his last official visit to Asia as secretary of State, Colin L. Powell made a plea today for the DPRK to rejoin six-nation negotiations aimed at eliminating its nuclear weapons program. But he was adamant that the Bush administration would not sweeten its proposal to lure Pyongyang back to talks. “Let’s get going,” he said in the ROK capital. “This is the time to move forward and bring this matter to a conclusion and ? to help the North Korean people get a life.” (return to top)

2. DPRK on Nuclear Talks

Korean Central News Agency of the DPRK (“RESUMPTION OF SIX-PARTY TALKS DEPENDS ON US ATTITUDE”, 2004-10-26) reported that the DPRK has made every possible effort to settle the nuclear issue at the talks with utmost flexibility and magnanimity. But the US side came out to the talks from a wrong stand that dialogue is possible but negotiation is impossible. It only read out the scripts written by the White House, deliberately scuttling the talks. It is clear to everyone that it is impossible to open the talks now that the US is becoming evermore undisguised in its hostile policy towards the DPRK. The resumption of the six-party talks entirely depends on the US attitude.

(return to top)

3. US on DPRK Nuclear Talks

Reuters (“POWELL SEES ATOMIC TALKS ON NORTH AFTER U.S. ELECTION”, 2004-10-26) reported that Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Tuesday he expected the six-party talks on the DPRK’s nuclear ambitions to resume after the presidential election in the US. “If North Korea comes to the table, it will be able to get a lot of things,” Kim quoted Powell as saying.

(return to top)

4. PSI Drill

The New York Times (“THEATRICAL DRILL IN PACIFIC MEANT TO SEND SIGNAL TO NORTH KOREA”, 2004-10-26) reported that part training exercise, part political theater, this international naval interdiction drill, code-named Team Samurai, had a clear audience: the DPRK. “We are sending a signal to everybody who wants to traffic weapons of mass destruction that we have zero tolerance for that, ” John R. Bolton, United States Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, told a group of 50 reporters standing in light rain on the Japan Coast Guard Patrol Boat Izu.

(return to top) Agence France Presse (“‘WEAPONS’ SEIZED IN JAPANESE WATERS IN 19-NATION DRILL ENRAGING NORTH KOREA”, 2004-10-26) reported that nineteen countries took to the waters near Tokyo Tuesday to practice how to capture smuggled weapons, in what the US called a signal to the DPRK and other alleged proliferators. Ships and a total of nearly 900 troops from the US, France, Australia and host Japan and observers from 15 other countries were taking part in the drill, the first of its kind held in Asia. (return to top)

5. Japanese – DPRK Relations

Donga Ilbo (“JAPAN CONSIDERS DEVELOPING OFFENSIVE CAPABILITIES AGAINST THREATS OF N. KOREA “, 2004-10-26) reported that on the issue of the DPRK?s movement to launch missiles, Japan`s Council on Security and Defense Capabilities, a private advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, is creating a great stir by claiming the possibility of taking the offensive posture, the Los Angeles Times reported on Monday. According to the paper, the Japanese government is rewriting its defense policy in consideration of the PRC?s strengthening of its forces and the DPRK?s attempt to develop nuclear weapons.

(return to top)

6. ROK, Russia, US on DPRK Nuclear Talks

Xinhua News (“S KOREAN, US, RUSSIAN CHIEF DELEGATES TO SIX-PARTY NUCLEAR TALKS TO MEET IN SEOUL”, 2004-10-26) reported that chief delegates of the ROK, the US and Russia to the six-party nuclear talks are to meet here on Wednesday, reported the ROK national Yonhap News Agency. Alekseyev was quoted by Yonhap that he did not expect his meeting with his US and ROK counterparts to produce any formal agreement or written documents but said it would help them exchange opinions on the stalled six-nation talks.

(return to top)

7. Russia on DPRK Nuclear Issue

Yonhap (“N.K. AGREED TO ‘EVENTUAL’ NUKE DISMANTLEMENT: RUSSIAN DIPLOMAT”, 2004-10-26) reported that a ranking Russian diplomat on Tuesday claimed the DPRK agreed in June to eventually dismantle at least its nuclear arms program. “In the third round (of six-way talks), everybody agreed it should be a step-by-step process, and everybody agreed that it should result in full denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” said Alexander Alekseyev in an interview with Yonhap News Agency in the ROK’s resort town of Pyeongchang, located some 170 kilometers east of Seoul.

(return to top)

8. Russia on DPRK Economic Exchange

Korea Times (“TOP RUSSIAN ENVOY CALLS FOR JOINT PROJECTS WITH NK”, 2004-10-26) reported that Russian Ambassador to the ROK Teymuraz O. Ramishivili yesterday called for multinational economic projects involving the DPRK as part of efforts to resolve the ongoing stalemate over Pyongyang?s nuclear weapons programs. “What the North needs is international economic projects, including inter-Korean ones, to help the country out of its extreme poverty,” the top Russian envoy said at the sixth Korea-Russia Forum held in Pyongchang, Kangwon Province.

(return to top)

9. Russian – DPRK Relations

Donga Ilbo (“RUSSIA ARRESTS 45 NORTH KOREAN LABORERS ESCAPING FROM WORK “, 2004-10-26) reported that it was reported October 26 that Russian immigration authorities arrested 45 DPRK laborers working in the Maritime Provinces of Siberia for escaping from their workplace and entering the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Far East. Immigration authorities of the Kamchatkan Ministry of Home Affairs announced on the day that ?We arrested 45 North Koreans who trespassed onto our territory, and we will send them back to Siberia.?

(return to top)

10. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation

Joongang Ilbo (“GAESONG IS FORECAST AS NORTH KOREA BOON “, 2004-10-26) reported that following US Ambassador Christopher Hill’s recent comment that the inter-Korean Gaesong project would fail to solve the DPRK’s economic problems, Moon Chung-in, chairman of the Presidential Committee on Northeast Asian Cooperation Initiative, expressed a different view. In an interview with the Peace Broadcasting Cooperation yesterday, Mr. Moon said that if ROK companies can be attracted to the industrial complex and bring profits to the DPRK, the complex could become a showcase for other DPRK sites.

(return to top)

11. Inter – Korean Infrastructure

Joongang Ilbo (“THE FUTURE OF THE DMZ RESTS ON CLEARING MINES “, 2004-10-26) reported that one promise of a unified Korea is the reconstruction of a North-South road network that will link the lower half of the Korean Peninsula to Russia and to Europe beyond. It would be a long trip, but Koreans might someday be able to drive from Busan to London. Historians and engineers foresee the reopening of main roads that will link Seoul with Pyeongyang. One big hassle to be dealt with for inland traffic, however, is the Demilitarized Zone, a no man’s land lying between the two Koreas. The chief question is what to do about the mines.

(return to top)

12. DMZ Incursion

The Associated Press (“S.KOREA ON ALERT FOR POSSIBLE INFILTRATION”, 2004-10-26) reported that the ROK went on high alert over possible infiltration by DPRK agents Tuesday after border guards found a hole cut in a fence. ROK border guards found a hole in a wire fence at the buffer zone that has separated the two Koreas. The 16-inch by 12-inch hole, which was cut through two layers of wire fence yards apart, was discovered early Tuesday. “We are conducting our military operations in case there is an infiltration by an enemy,” Hwang told a news conference. He declined to elaborate.

(return to top)

13. ROK on DMZ Incursion

The Associated Press (“SOUTH KOREA: BREACH IN BORDER FENCE WAS USED BY SOUTH KOREAN DEFECTOR, NOT COMMUNIST INFILTRATOR”, 2004-10-26) reported that mysterious holes found in a wire fence along the tense border with the DPRK were most likely used not by communist infiltrators but by a ROK defector to the DPRK, the ROK’s military said Tuesday. “After investigating the way the fence was cut and the foot prints in the scene, we have concluded that an unidentified person crossed into the north,” said Brig. Gen. Hwang Joong-sun.

(return to top)

14. Inter – Korean Relations

Yonhap (“N. KOREA LASHES AT S. KOREA’S MILITARY BUILDUP “, 2004-10-26) reported that the DPRK criticized the ROK Tuesday for seeking a military budget expansion and arms buildup, arguing that this could seriously destabilize the Korean Peninsula. “The South’s evil schemes for arms and military buildup will intensify tension on the peninsula,” the Rodong Sinmun, the North’s official newspaper, said in a report carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

(return to top)

15. ROK on Nuclear Guard

Financial Times (“SEOUL SETS UP NUCLEAR GUARD AFTER SECRET EXPERIMENTS “, 2004-10-26) reported that ROK yesterday announced the establishment of its own nuclear watchdog, a body designed to ensure that the country’s scientists will not be able to conduct any further secret nuclear experiments. The step comes as International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors prepare for their third visit to the ROK, with a report into the country’s clandestine uranium enrichment program expected at the end of next month. The Ministry of Science and Technology said it was establishing the National Nuclear Management and Control Agency to monitor “nuclear energy-related activities”.

(return to top)

16. ROK on Nuclear Experiments

The Associated Press (“SOUTH KOREA RECONFIRMS NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS AMBITIONS”, 2004-10-26) reported that the ROK told US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Tuesday that it has no intention of developing nuclear weapons despite recent revelations about its past atomic experiments. “We didn’t intend and will not intend to develop nuclear weapons,” Unification Minister Chung Dong-young was quoted by his spokesman, Kim Hong-jae, as saying during a meeting with Powell in Seoul.

(return to top)

17. US on ROK Nuclear Experiment

Channel News Asia (“POWELL SAYS SOUTH KOREA NUCLEAR EXPERIMENTS “NOT SERIOUS”: MINISTER “, 2004-10-26) reported that US Secretary of State Colin Powell has been quoted as saying there is no comparison with the secret nuclear experiments previously carried out by the ROK and ongoing atomic programmes in the DPRK and Iran. “The (ROK) nuclear experiments are not something serious,” he was quoted as saying.

(return to top)

18. Inter – Korean Summit

Yonhap (“URI PARTY URGES N. KOREAN LEADER TO COME TO TABLE”, 2004-10-26) reported that floor leader of the Uri party, Chun Jung-bae, called Tuesday on President Roh Moo-hyun and DPRK leader Kim Jong-il to meet to discuss resolving the protracted dispute over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons ambitions. He also expressed his willingness to visit Pyongyang to seek a breakthrough to the halted inter-Korean talks.

(return to top)

19. DPRK Food Aid

Kyodo News (“WFP CHIEF CONFIDENT FOOD FOR N. KOREA REACHING INTENDED RECIPIENTS”, 2004-10-26) reported that World Food Program Executive Director James Morris expressed confidence Tuesday that the food aid provided to DPRK through the UN agency is reaching its intended recipients there. “We’re confident that the food in North Korea is going where it’s intended to go,” Morris said at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan in Tokyo.

(return to top)

20. DPRK Defectors

Donga Ilbo (“CONSULAR OFFICE OF KOREAN EMBASSY IN BEIJING CONSIDERS SUSPENDING OPERATIONS “, 2004-10-26) reported that the consular Office of the ROK Embassy in Beijing decided on October 25 to consider halting general consular services, owing to a recent flow of DPRK defectors crossing into the PRC and overpopulating the consulate?s temporary housing facilities. A consulate official said, ?The number of North Korean refugees we are currently accommodating is over twice our normal capacity, and we have no choice but to think about suspending regular consular activities, including the issuing of passports and visas, for the time being.?

(return to top)

21. PRC on DPRK Defectors

The Associated Press (“CHINA CALLS ON FOREIGN EMBASSIES TO STOP GIVING REFUGE TO NORTH KOREAN ASYLUM-SEEKERS”, 2004-10-26) reported that the PRC called on foreign embassies on Tuesday to stop giving shelter to DPRK asylum-seekers, complaining that they are really illegal migrants led by activists with “ulterior motives.” Zhang didn’t say whether The PRC wants the dozens of DPRK defectors currently in the Canadian Embassy and other foreign facilities turned over to the government. She didn’t answer when asked whether the PRC would promise to send the DPRK defectors to the ROK.

(return to top)

22. US – ROK Troop Redeployment

Korea Times (“ROK, US SIGN DEAL ON YONGSAN BASE RELOCATION”, 2004-10-26) reported that top officials of the ROK Defense Ministry and the United States Forces Korea (USFK) signed agreements regarding the relocation of the US base in Yongsan Tuesday, which will be submitted to the National Assembly for ratification next month. “The agreement on amending the LPP enables earlier return of some US bases located at the city centers to South Korea, which we expect will contribute to effective use of the land and improve the combined deterrence by strengthening the preparations of USFK,” the defense ministry said in a statement.

(return to top)

23. US – ROK Security Relations

Korea Times (“SEOUL ASKS FOR REVIEW OF FUNDING REQUEST FOR C4”, 2004-10-26) reported that the ROK government conveyed its official position to the US that their recent request to include the cost for upgrading joint military facilities to the list of bilateral defense costs would be somewhat difficult to accept, according to the Defense Ministry Tuesday. Rumsfeld reportedly gave a positive response, saying, “I fully understand Korea?s position, and I will let my officials review your suggestion involving the expense of C4.”

(return to top)

24. US – ROK Relations

Korea Times (“ALLIES SEEK VISA WAIVER PACT”, 2004-10-26) reported that the ROK and the US will discuss adopting a visa exemption agreement in the future to boost exchanges between the two traditional allies, Seoul?s top diplomat said Tuesday. “We agreed to further enhance our cooperation in various security, economic, social and cultural areas,” Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki-moon said in a joint news conference after holding talks with US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

(return to top)

25. ROK Capital Relocation

Yonhap (“PRESIDENT ROH COMPLAINS ABOUT RULING ON CAPITAL MOVE “, 2004-10-26) reported that President Roh Moo-hyun expressed strong regret Tuesday about last week’s court ruling on the nation’s capital relocation, saying it has undermined the parliament’s legislative power. The Constitutional Court ruled last Thursday that a special law on the capital relocation is unconstitutional, killing a government plan to move the country’s administrative capital out of a Seoul to a rural area.

(return to top)

26. ROK Wetland Conservation

Yonhap (“SEOUL & UNDP-GEF VENTURE TO PRESERVE KOREA’S WETLANDS “, 2004-10-26) reported that the ROK is launching a campaign to save its wetlands with the help of the UN. The ecosystem is a haven for migratory birds that has come under severe pressure from rapid economic development in past decades. Domestic participants acknowledged that biodiversity conservation has essentially been ignored here for decades. To this end, Seoul’s Environment Ministry, the UNDP and the Global Environment Facility have launched an ambitious US$6.5 million project to prevent further destruction of Korea’s wetlands, which cover three percent of the peninsula.

(return to top)

27. Japan Quake

The Associated Press (“KOIZUMI SURVEYS JAPAN’S EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE “, 2004-10-26) reported that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi surveyed the earthquake damage in northern Japan on Tuesday, meeting people camped out in a high-school gymnasium after the nation’s deadliest earthquakes in nearly a decade killed 31 people and injured as many as 2,900. A chilly downpour and a 4.1-magnitude aftershock that rocked the area just before dawn hobbled relief efforts.

(return to top)

28. Sino – Japanese Gas Dispute

The Associated Press (“CHINA INSISTS ITS GAS EXPLORATION IN EAST CHINA SEA IS WITHIN ITS TERRITORY”, 2004-10-26) reported that the PRC said Tuesday its gas exploration in the East China Sea is within its territory, following Japanese complaints that Beijing isn’t providing enough information about its activities near disputed waters. PRC Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said Beijing was entitled to “exercise sovereignty” in its portion of the continental shelf and said it provided “necessary explanations” in the talks with Japan.

(return to top)

29. PRC on US Troop Realignemnt

Kyodo News (“CHINESE OFFICER CAUTIONS JAPAN OVER U.S. MILITARY REALIGNMENT”, 2004-10-26) reported that a senior PRC People’s Liberation Army officer asked Japan on Tuesday to be cautious in ongoing Japan-US talks on US military realignment, Japanese officials said. Gen. Xiong Guangkai, deputy chief of the army’s General Staff, told Takemasa Moriya, vice minister at Japan’s Defense Agency, that the PRC hopes Japan will take a judicious approach on the matter and consider the maintenance of peace in the region, they said.

(return to top)

30. US on Cross Strait Relations

Reuters (“POWELL SPEAKS OF CHINA, TAIWAN ‘REUNIFICATION'”, None) reported that Secretary of State Colin Powell on Monday spoke of the eventual “reunification” of the PRC and Taiwan, a comment likely to annoy Taiwanese officials who regard the island as an independent nation. On a tour of Asia, Powell also said Taiwan does not enjoy “sovereignty as a nation” — a long-standing but quietly held US view whose blunt expression may irk independence-minded Taiwanese officials.

(return to top)

31. PRC on Cross Strait Relations

Washington Post (“BEIJING REBUFFS POWELL ON TAIWAN U.S.-CHINA DIALOGUE ON RIGHTS TO RESUME”, 2004-10-26) reported that PRC officials rebuffed Secretary of State Colin L. Powell’s suggestion that they use a possibly conciliatory speech by Taiwan’s president, Chen Shui-bian, to restart cross-strait discussions, telling him in strong terms Monday that they are not impressed by Chen’s words and are worried about his actions.

(return to top)

32. PRC Human Rights

The New York Times (“CHINA TO CONSIDER RESUMING HUMAN RIGHTS TALKS”, 2004-10-26) reported that Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said Monday that PRC had agreed to discuss the US request for a new dialogue over the detention of PRC citizens without due process and other human rights violations. The talks broke off earlier this year because of PRC objections to US criticism of its practices. Speaking to reporters after a morning of meetings with top PRC leaders, Mr. Powell said the agreement to discuss a possible resumption of the human rights dialogue came as he again expressed American concern to the foreign minister, Li Zhaoxing, about the arrest of a research assistant working for The New York Times.

(return to top)

33. Cross Strait Relations

The Associated Press (“TAIWANESE LEADER DISAGREES WITH POWELL ON TAIWAN INDEPENDENCE ISSUE”, 2004-10-26) reported that US Secretary of State Colin Powell has angered Taiwanese officials and lawmakers by making unusually strong comments denying that the island is an independent nation and suggesting that Taiwan should unify with rival PRC. In reaction to Powell’s comment, Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian told visiting former ROK President Kim Young-sam Tuesday that the island was a separate nation.

(return to top) The Associated Press (“POWELL DISCUSSES HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA”, 2004-10-26) reported that Secretary of State Colin Powell won agreement from top PRC officials Monday to resume joint discussions on human rights issues. Powell told reporters after high-level discussions here that the two countries “will start talks about resuming our human rights dialogue.” He said he wants official discussions to touch on US concerns about the detention of journalists and restrictions on civil liberties, among other issues. (return to top)

34. Hong Kong Pro-democracy Movement

Agence France-Presse (“HONG KONG RIGHTS GROUP SNUBS BRITISH OFFICIAL OVER FREE SPEECH ROW”, 2004-10-26) reported that a Hong Kong rights group has boycotted a meeting with a visiting British official, accusing London of failing to speak up in support of pro-democracy politicians in the territory. Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor said it had snubbed a round-table meeting with foreign office minister Bill Rammell because of comments by Britain’s consul general which it said had harmed its efforts to protect freedoms in the city.

(return to top)

35. Sino – US Trade Relations

The Associated Press (“CHINA PROTESTS U.S. LIMITS ON SOCK IMPORTS”, 2004-10-26) reported that the PRC on Tuesday protested a US decision to impose a quota on sock imports, warning it might take “further steps” under World Trade Organization rules to protect its own rights. The US decision to limit the increase in sock imports from the PRC, announced Friday, is the latest round in increasingly bitter trade spats with Beijing.

(return to top)

36. PRC Trade Relations

The Associated Press (“CHINA, ASEAN AGREE TO END TARIFFS”, 2004-10-26) reported that the PRC has reached agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on completely removing tariffs on merchandise goods by 2010 as part of a proposed free trade agreement, the PRC Commerce Ministry says. The agreement on ending most tariffs was reached during a meeting last week in Beijing and will be signed at a PRC-ASEAN leaders’ summit next month, the ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site Tuesday.

(return to top)

37. PRC Smuggling

The Associated Press (“CHINA: SMUGGLING STILL THREAT TO ECONOMY”, 2004-10-26) reported that smuggling of goods ranging from oil to frozen food is costing the PRC’s treasury billions of dollars each year, threatening the national economy and possibly even communist rule despite a marathon crackdown, officials said Tuesday. Customs officials vowed to apply more sophisticated technology and methods against smugglers who they said are getting shrewder and taking advantage of freer trade across the PRC mainland’s frontier with Hong Kong to evade tariffs.

(return to top)

38. PRC Energy Demand

Kyodo News (“WORLD ENERGY DEMAND TO RISE 60% BY 2030 ON USE BY CHINA, INDIA: IEA”, 2004-10-26) reported that world energy demand is expected to rise by some 60 percent by 2030, two-thirds of which will come from developing countries such as the PRC and India, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday. Mandil said surging oil and gas prices, an increasing vulnerability of energy supply routes and ever-growing carbon dioxide emissions are “symptoms of a considerable malaise in the world of energy.”

(return to top) II. ROK

39. DPRK Defectors

Chosun Ilbo (“29 ALLEGED N.KOREAN TAKE REFUGE AT S.KOREAN SCHOOL IN BEIJING”, 2004-10-26) reported that ROK embassy officials in Beijing said they have asked PRC authorities not to arrest 29 alleged DPRK people who barged into a ROK school in Beijing Friday in a desperate attempt at defection. Embassy officials said that Seoul will request that Beijing help bring the asylum-seekers to ROK if they are identified as DPRK people and they wish to defect.

(return to top) Chosun Ilbo (“14 N.KOREAN ASYLUM SEEKERS ENTER KOREAN CONSULATE”, 2004-10-26) reported that there are reports of yet another break-in by alleged DPRK people at ROK consulate in Beijing. This time, a group of 18 apparent asylum-seekers tried to enter the consulate building Monday morning but only three of them succeeded. (return to top)

40. DPRK Defectors in the PRC

Chosun Ilbo (“GROWING NUMBER OF NORTH KOREANS SEEKING ASYLUM THROUGH CHINA”, 2004-10-26) reported that Groups of DPRK defectors have made numerous attempts to break into foreign facilities in Beijing to come to ROK. The rising number of DPRK asylum seekers poses a test for ROK-PRC relations, who have dealt with the issue through diplomatic negotiations so far. A diplomatic source said that it is highly possible that PRC government will consider the recently arrested DPRK asylum seekers as illegal foreigners and repatriate them to Pyongyang in order to prevent DPRK defector issue from being aggravated.

(return to top)

41. ROK on DMZ Incursion Reports

Chosun Ilbo (“FOREIGN NEWS AGENCIES JUMP ON ANNOUNCEMENT OF POSSIBLE NK INFILTRATION”, 2004-10-26) reported that immediately after the announcement that portions of the wire fence along the DMZ were cut, foreign broadcasters and newspapers linked it to a possible DPRK spy infiltration and reported the ROK’s strengthened security measures. Despite its urgent domestic situation caused by a massive earthquake, Japanese media companies have shown keen interest in the cutting of the wire fence along the DMZ.

(return to top)