NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, July 12, 2006

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NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, July 12, 2006

NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, July 12, 2006

I. NAPSNet

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. NAPSNet

1. UN DPRK Sanctions Proposal

Reuters (“US STANDS BY UN DRAFT ON NORTH KOREA”, 2006-07-12) reported that before heading to a meeting with PRC Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, US diplomat Christopher Hill stood by a UN draft resolution proposed by Japan to slap sanctions on the DPRK, calling it a “very good resolution.” “We continue to be guided by the need to make a strong united statement to the North Koreans,” Hill told reporters.

(return to top) Kyodo (“JAPAN, FRANCE AGREE ON NEED FOR SECURITY COUNCIL UNITY OVER N. KOREA”, 2006-07-12) reported that Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and his French counterpart, Philippe Douste-Blazy, agreed Wednesday the UN Security Council should be united in dealing with the DPRK’s test-firing of missiles last week, Japanese officials said. Aso was quoted as telling Douste-Blazy in a phone conversation that the process of voting on a draft resolution to impose sanctions on the DPRK should be resumed immediately if the PRC’s diplomatic efforts to diffuse tensions over the DPRK’s missile launches fail. (return to top) Yonhap (“CHINA TO SUBMIT ALTERNATIVE UNSC RESOLUTION, U.S. TO CONSIDER IT”, 2006-07-12) reported that the PRC was to submit its own UN Security Council resolution Wednesday on the DPRK’s missile launch last week that drops sanctions mentioned in the draft drawn up by Japan, according to envoys at the UN. US Ambassador John Bolton said earlier he was told Beijing was prepared to present a compromise draft resolution and said he would consider it. (return to top)

2. US-PRC Relations on DPRK

Associated Press (“U.S. ENVOY: NORTH KOREA NOT COOPERATING”, 2006-07-12) reported that the US nuclear envoy accused the DPRK on Wednesday of refusing to cooperate in efforts to end the uproar over its missile and nuclear programs — a sign that Pyongyang had rebuffed lobbying by ally the PRC. US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill met with PRC Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing to assess Beijing’s effort to persuade the DPRK to stop missile tests and return to six-party nuclear disarmament talks. Hill said he had “very good” discussions with Li but reported no progress. “China’s really trying. We’re trying. Everyone is trying except, unfortunately, the DPRK,” Hill told reporters.

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3. PRC on DPRK-US Relations

Associated Press (“CHINA ASKS U.S., NORTH KOREA TO SETTLE”, 2006-07-12) reported that the PRC appealed Wednesday to the US and the DPRK to settle a dispute over US financial sanctions that prompted the DPRK to boycott nuclear disarmament talks. “We hope this issue could be resolved quickly. In fact, it has already affected the progress of the six-party talks,” PRC Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters. “We hope the issue could be clarified and resolved quickly.” Asked what specific steps Beijing wanted to see, Liu said, “You should ask the U.S. side.”

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4. ROK on DPRK Missile Tests

JoongAng Ilbo (“ON THE SEVENTH DAY, ROH FINALLY SPEAKS ABOUT MISSILE CRISIS”, 2006-07-12) reported that President Roh Moo-hyun finally broke the silence regarding the DPRK missile launches Tuesday night, almost a week after they occurred. “No matter how hard I try, it just eludes my understanding,” Mr. Roh told a meeting Uri Party leaders, according to his spokesman, Jung Tae-ho. He said he felt the need to speak about the crisis after a series of high-profile Japanse politicians mentioned the possibility of a “pre-emptive strike” against the DPRK. Mr. Roh said such talk from Japan might “aggravate the situation.”

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5. Japan on DPRK Preemptive Strike Threat

Kyodo (“ABE REJECTS S. KOREAN CHARGE, SAYS NEVER MENTIONED FIRST-STRIKE IDEA”, 2006-07-12) reported that Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe on Wednesday dismissed ROK claims that discussion in Japan of the possibility of attaining first-strike capability will worsen current tension with the DPRK, saying he never made such remarks.

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6. Inter-Korean Ministerial Talks

JoongAng Ilbo (“NORTH CALLS ITS MILITARY SOUTH’S BULWARK AS WELL”, 2006-07-12) reported that the DPRK’s chief delegate to inter-Korean talks here said yesterday that the ROK should be grateful for the DPRK’s emphasis on military preparedness. He then asked for more rice and raw materials. Briefing reporters after the day’s meetings, Lee Gwan-se, the Unification Ministry’s public relations chief, quoted the DPRK’s Kwon Ho-ung as saying the DPRK’s military first policy “makes South Korea safe, and a large number of South Korean people benefit from it.” Opening yesterday’s meeting, Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok said the DPRK’s missile salvo was destabilizing, and urged Pyongyang to return to the six-nation nuclear talks as soon as possible to settle missile and nuclear-weapons issues through dialogue.

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7. DPRK Missile Capacity

Chosun Ilbo (“N.KOREA HAS EIGHT MEDIUM-RANGE MISSILE PADS: NIS”, 2006-07-12) reported that the secret service says it has spotted eight launch pads for medium range missiles in the DPRK. National Intelligence Service Director Kim Seung-gyu told a parliamentary committee Wednesday the launch pads were believed to be for Rodong-2 or Scud missiles. Asked if the DPRK is likely to test another Taepodong-2 missile, he said trailers carrying parts were spotted around the assembly and maintenance building at the Musudanri missile base in Taepodong, from where the first was launched, and support vehicles are constantly going in and out of the site.

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8. Indonesian-Korean Relations

Yonhap (“INDONESIAN PRESIDENT POSTPONES TRIP TO KOREAS”, 2006-07-12) reported that Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono indefinitely postponed his trip to the ROK and the DPRK slated for next week due to the “new geopolitical situation,” officials at the Indonesian Embassy in Seoul said on Wednesday. The president was scheduled to visit Pyongyang for two days from Tuesday and Seoul for three days till Friday in a bid to help resolve the DPRK nuclear tensions on the divided peninsula.

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9. US-Korean Religious Cooperation

JoongAng Ilbo (“U.S. PASTOR TO MEET ROH, THEN TRAVEL TO NORTH”, 2006-07-12) reported that a well-known US pastor said yesterday he will talk with ROK President Roh Moo-hyun before heading to the DPRK Monday. “I am looking forward to a personal and private conversation with (President Roh),” Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Orange County, Calif., said in a press conference at a Seoul hotel. Warren will travel Monday to the Mount Kumgang resort in the DPRK to meet DPRK religious officials. The pastor was invited to visit by the North Korean Christian Federation to talk about preaching in March of next year.

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10. US-ROK Trade Relations

Chosun Ilbo (“KOREA, U.S. DEADLOCKED OVER DRUGS, AGRICULTURE”, 2006-07-12) reported that the ROK and the US were stuck in negotiations over pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and agricultural products as a second round of bilateral free trade talks went into its third day. In the key agriculture sector, the ROK is determined to resist US demands to open markets at all cost. Scheduled talks on pharmaceuticals and medical equipment never reconvened on Wednesday after the US team walked out on Tuesday, when Seoul would not budge on coverage of new drugs by its national health insurance.

(return to top) Agence France-Presse (“SKOREAN ACTIVISTS, POLICE CLASH OVER US TRADE DEAL “, 2006-07-12) reported that ROK riot police used water cannons to repel stick-wielding activists here during a massive protest rally aimed at torpedoing ongoing US- ROK talks on a free trade agreement. Police said some 70,000 people, including 13,000 farmers, rallied in a plaza in downtown Seoul on the third straight day of anti-FTA demonstrations. (return to top)

11. ROK Satellite

Chosun Ilbo (“KOREA TO LAUNCH HIGH-RES. OBSERVATION SATELLITE”, 2006-07-12) reported that the ROK will launch the multipurpose satellite Arirang 2, which can track objects the size of a car, from Russia on July 28. Airiang 2 will watch the environment, disasters and resources, and will also be put to use in the construction of the National Geographic Information System.

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12. UNSC Secretary General Candidate

Joongang Ilbo (“BAN WILL SOON SEND A LETTER TO UN SAYING HE’S A CANDIDATE FOR TOP JOB”, 2006-07-12) reported that Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon plans to send a letter soon to the UN Security Council saying that he is a candidate to lead the United Nations, a government source said yesterday. The council is expected to hold a straw poll later this month in order to get a rough idea of where each secretary general candidate stands with the other nations.

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13. PRC-Japan Relations

Agence France-Presse (“CHINA SAYS NO PLAN TO MEET WITH JAPAN AT G8 SUMMIT”, 2006-07-12) reported that the PRC says it has no current plan to meet with Japan at the upcoming Group of Eight (G8) summit in Russia, amid recent political disputes between the two historical rivals. Assistant Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said President Hu Jintao would take part in a series of bilateral meetings at the G8 summit but there was no plan yet for a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

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14. PRC-Japan Chemical Weapons Disposal

The Associated Press (“EXPERTS RECOVER OLD JAPANESE BOMBS IN CHINA “, 2006-07-12) reported that a joint PRC-Japanese team of experts has retrieved 210 abandoned Japanese poison gas bombs from World War II that were buried near a school in northeastern PRC, a news report said Tuesday. A total of 689 shells and bombs were unearthed in Ning’an, a city near the Russian border, and 210 were found to contain mustard gas, lewisite, phosgene and other toxins, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

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15. PRC ICBM

Donga Ilbo (“CHINA MAY DEPLOY NEW LONG RANGE ICBM “, 2006-07-12) reported that the PRC has also been reported to be planning to deploy a new ICBM next year with enough range to cover all of the US and Europe. Defense News, a US weekly on security issues, reported on July 10 that the PRC plans to deploy starting 2007 the ICBM Dong Feng-31A, the first nuclear-capable missile of its kind with a range of 7,000 miles.

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16. Hong Kong Government Surveillance

Agence France-Presse (“HONG KONG COURT STRIKES DOWN SNOOPING LAW “, 2006-07-12) reported that Hong Kong’s supreme court struck down a ruling that allowed police to carry out controversial government wiretaps, a move activists hailed as a victory for freedoms in the PRC city. The wide-ranging wire-tapping rules were pushed past the city’s legislature by the Beijing-appointed political leader Donald Tsang, who invoked rarely used emergency powers.

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17. PRC Domestic Unrest

Agence France-Presse (“HUNDREDS RIOT IN SOUTHWEST CHINA “, 2006-07-12) reported that hundreds of people have rioted in southwest PRC’s Yunnan province, overturning and smashing several police vehicles, state media and an official said. The riot occurred late Monday in Guiyang city, shortly after a man was allegedly beaten by officers hired by police for not possessing a temporary residence permit, Guiyang Metropolitan newspaper reported.

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