I. NAPSNet

1. US Sanctions on DPRK

Yonhap News Agency (“US LOOKING AT ADDITIONAL MEASURES ON N. KOREA: STATE DEPARTMENT”, 2006-08-02) reported that the United States is considering additional measures regarding DPR Korea’s multiple missile tests, but no specific action has been determined yet. “The most recent UN Security Council resolution talks about the responsibilities of member-states in that regard, but I don’t have any particular update for you at this point,” said Sean McCormack, a spokesman at the State Department.

(return to top)

2. DPRK Floods

Agence France-Presse (“RECKLESS DEFORESTATION BLAMED FOR FLOOD DAMAGE IN N KOREA “, 2006-08-02) reported that, according to experts, decades of reckless deforestation have stripped the DPRK of tree cover that provides natural protection from catastrophic flooding. Energy-starved residents have used every scrap of wood from the countryside to grow or cook food and heat homes through the bitter winters. This leaves the country vulnerable to flooding and landslides on a massive scale, says Kwon Tae-Jin, of Seoul’s state-funded Korea Rural Economic Institute. Those factors all contributed to flooding triggered by a July 10 typhoon.

(return to top) International Herald Tribune (“DEADLY FLOODS REPORTED IN NORTH KOREA “, 2006-08-02) Reported that, according to ROK aid group Good Friends, an estimated 10,000 people may be dead or missing. Officials with the ROK government, the Red Cross and the United Nations World Food Program declined to comment on the estimates. Pyongyang has rejected offers of help from outside aid agencies. “This may be almost a national crisis situation for the regime, but it may find it difficult to acknowledge the true scale of damage to its people,” Chung Se Hyun, a former ROK unification minister told reporters. “The regime may desperately want outside aid, but it cannot ask for it in public because it may cause instability.” (return to top)

3. Inter-Korean Trade

Xinhua (“INTER-KOREAN TRADE SOARS OVER 20 PERCENT IN FIRST HALF “, 2006-07-31) reported that trade between the Koreas soared 22.8 percent annually during the first half of this year to US$558 million. According to the Korea International Trade Association, ROK exports to the DPRK increased 15.1 percent to US$358.8 million from January to June while imports from the DPRK rose 39.9 percent to US$199.26 million. The expansion of inter-Korean trade is mainly driven by trade through the industrial complex in DPRK’s border city of Kaesong, the report said. There are 15 South Korean companies currently operating in the complex.

(return to top)

4. Inter-Korean Sports

Associated Press (“IOC AWARDS KOREAN TV RIGHTS TO SBS”, 2006-08-02) reported that the International Olympic Committee awarded broadcast rights to the ROK television network SBS, in a four-Games deal worth $72.5 million US. SBS, a privately owned commercial network, covers both South and North Korea for the first time. SBS will have all rights on any audiovisual medium in DPRK and the ROK.

(return to top)

5. US-ROK Security Alliance

Chosun Ilbo (“EX-DEFENSE CHIEFS URGE HALT TO COMMAND HANDOVER”, 2006-08-02) reported that a group of senior military experts including 13 former defense ministers have urged Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung to stop seeking the return of wartime operational control from the US. They said now is not the time to reclaim wartime operational control of troops but rather the moment to strengthen the ROK-US alliance.

(return to top)

6. Japan-ROK Territorial Dispute

Kyodo (“JAPAN TELLS S. KOREA OF SURVEY POLICY NEAR DISPUTED ISLETS”, 2006-08-02) reported that Japan has told the ROK it will conduct a radioactive waste survey from late August to early September in waters near two disputed islets in the Sea of Japan, a Japanese Foreign Ministry source said Wednesday. The Japan Coast Guard will conduct the survey to examine the effects of radioactive waste dumped in waters near Vladivostok in Russia’s Far Eastern region by the former Soviet Union. One or two of the sites to be covered in the survey are in the ROK-claimed EEZ, the source added.

(return to top)

7. ROK-Japan Relations

Kyodo (“S. KOREA FOREIGN MINISTER BAN TO MEET ASO IN TOKYO NEXT WEEK”, 2006-08-02) reported that ROK Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki Moon will visit Japan on August 7-9 to hold talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso over the DPRK’s missile launches and stalled six-party dialogue. Ban said at a press conference that he will hold talks with Aso when he visits Japan to attend the funeral of former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto on August 8.

(return to top)

8. Yasukuni Shrine Issue

Kyodo News (“HALF OF CHINESE SURVEYED WOULD NOT APPROVE OF YASUKUNI VISITS”, 2006-08-02) reported that half of the PRC people surveyed say they would not approve of Japanese politicians’ visits to Tokyo’s war-related Yasukuni Shrine even if Class-A war criminals are removed from enshrinement there, results of a joint survey by Japanese and PRC groups showed. While 30.4 percent of the PRC respondents said they would approve of Japanese politicians visiting the Shinto shrine if the 14 Class-A war criminals are no longer enshrined there, 51.1 percent responded they would not approve of the visits under any conditions.

(return to top)

9. Japan Military

Kyodo (“TANIGAKI EYES LEGAL CHANGE TO OK RIGHT OF COLLECTIVE SELF-DEFENSE”, 2006-08-02) reported that Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki, a prime ministerial-hopeful, suggested that Japan revise the Constitution so as to give the nation a clear right to exercise the right of collective self-defense. “It is desirable to cope with the issue through legislation, rather than interpretation (of the Constitution) alone,” said Tanigaki.

(return to top)

10. Japan Espionage Scandal

Agence France-Presse (“JAPANESE NAVY OFFICER QUIZZED OVER CHINA TRIPS”, 2006-08-02) reported that Japan’s navy has said an officer illegally copied classified documents and repeatedly visited the PRC to see a woman, in the latest twist in an espionage scandal between the Asian powers. In the latest case, the navy said the 45-year-old petty officer went to Shanghai eight times over a 15-month period without reporting his trips to his superiors. The officer also illegally copied classified documents on CDs and kept them at his home on Tsushima base in southwestern Nagasaki prefecture, said a navy spokesman.

(return to top)

11. Asia-Pacific Regional Trade Relations

Kyodo (“ABE EYES EAST ASIAN ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP “, 2006-08-02) reported that Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe indicated Wednesday he would promote an East Asian economic partnership encompassing not only Southeast and Northeast Asia but also Australia, New Zealand and India. Abe said at a press conference, “It is meaningful to consider ways to realize a region-wide economic partnership…in East Asia, and I think it is the stage to discuss various ideas to that end.”

(return to top)

12. Cross Strait Relations

The Associated Press (“CHINA: AFFAIRS OFFICIAL TO VISIT TAIWAN “, 2006-08-02) reported that the PRC’s top official for Taiwan affairs will travel to the rival island in October on what would be the highest-level visit yet by a mainland figure, the government said. But a Taiwanese official said his government knew nothing about such a trip.

(return to top)

13. PRC Militarization of Space

Agence France-Presse (“CHINA’S MILITARY LOOKS TO OUTER SPACE “, 2006-08-02) reported that outer space is reportedly emerging as a possible theater of operations for the PRC’s armed forces, an analysis said. The analysis from a group of unidentified researchers at the National Defense University, listed space as an area where the People’s Liberation Army must be equipped and prepared to defend the nation’s interests.

(return to top)