I. NAPSNet

1. Six Party Talks

Yonhap (“BUSH WANTS 6-PARTY TALKS TO RESUME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, NAMES OFFICIALS TO GO “, 2006-11-01) reported that US President George W. Bush said Wednesday he wants to see six-party talks resume as soon as possible to resolve the DPRK’s nuclear problem. In an interview with Western news agencies, Bush said two senior State Department officials, Undersecretary Nicholas Burns, in charge of political affairs, and Undersecretary Robert Joseph, who handles non-proliferation, will travel to Asia ahead of the talks to coordinate a joint strategy.

(return to top) Kyodo News (“U.S. DELEGATE SAYS PROGRESS NEEDED IN NEXT 6-WAY TALKS”, 2006-11-01) reported that the US chief delegate to the six-party talks on the DPRK’s nuclear programs said Wednesday that substantial progress must be made in the grouping’s next meeting, while the DPRK confirmed it will be returning to the negotiations that have stalled for almost a year. ”This next session has to be very carefully planned because we must achieve progress,” Christopher Hill, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told reporters at Beijing’s airport. (return to top) Kyodo News (“N. KOREA SAYS WILL RETURN TO NUKE TALKS TO DISCUSS U.S. SANCTIONS”, 2006-11-01) reported that the DPRK said Wednesday it will return to the six-party nuclear talks on the ”premise” that US financial sanctions will be discussed. ”The DPRK decided to return to the six-party talks on the premise that the issue of lifting financial sanctions will be discussed and settled between the DPRK and the U.S. within the framework of the six-party talks,” the DPRK’s official Korean Central News Agency reported, quoting a Foreign Ministry spokesman. (return to top) Yomiuri Shimbun (“NORTH KOREA MAY TAKE EVEN HARDER LINE DESPITE RETURNING TO TALKS “, 2006-11-01) reported that although the DPRK has agreed to return to the table for the six-nation talks on its nuclear ambitions, negotiations will surely be hard going if they actually resume after a hiatus of about a year. This is because the DPRK, which claims it has become a nuclear power after its nuclear test last month, will raise the bar on conditions for every concession it makes. The DPRK nuclear problem may be further complicated if the going gets tough during the talks, as this would allow Pyongyang more time to develop its nuclear weapons. A source in Seoul said the DPRK’s agreement to resume the talks was “a calculated action.” (return to top)

2. US on Inter-Korean Relations

Associated Press (“US ENVOY PANS S KOREA’S CONCERNS OVER INSPECTIONS”, 2006-11-01) reported that the top US diplomat in the ROK dismissed as “absurd” concerns that an initiative to halt and inspect ships leaving DPRK ports could provoke armed clashes between the two Koreas, according to an interview published yesterday. The ROK has been hesitant to fully participate in the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative, or PSI, for fear it could spark violent confrontations with the DPRK and spoil efforts to persuade the state to give up its nuclear ambitions through diplomacy.

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3. Japan on DPRK Sanctions

Sydney Morning Herald (“JAPAN TO KEEP UP SANCTIONS DESPITE N KOREAN U-TURN”, 2006-11-01) reported that Japan will maintain its sanctions on the DPRK despite Pyongyang’s agreement to return to stalled six-party talks on its nuclear program. “Basically, we will continue [them],” the Foreign Minister, Taro Aso, told a parliamentary panel yesterday. “It is truly welcome that the talks are set to be resumed soon, but we cannot merely celebrate, saying, ‘That’s great’,” he was quoted as saying by the Kyodo news agency. “We will continue to demand that North Korea give up all its nuclear weapons and its existing nuclear programs.”

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4. ROK on DPRK Secret Cities

JoongAng Ilbo (“LAWMAKER: NORTH HAS SECRET CITIES “, 2006-10-29) reported that the DPRK is operating two to three secret cities exclusively geared toward the production of nuclear weapons, a Grand National Party lawmaker claimed yesterday. Lawmaker Song Young-sun said during a Defense Ministry inspection hearing that 9,000 people directly involved in the DPRK’s nuclear development projects live in the cities. Ms. Song based her assertion on open sources, as well as intelligence sources whom she could not identify. She said that detecting such cities was hard because they look just like ordinary cities. Ms. Song claimed the DPRK’s Worker’s Party was in charge of these cities, while the core nuclear program personnel trained in the former Soviet Union.

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5. ROK Poll on US’ DPRK Policy

Korea Times (“US POLICIES ON NORTH KOREA OUT OF FAVOR”, 2006-11-01) reported that more than half of RO Koreans still oppose the US’ policies towards the DPRK even though Pyongyang apparently crossed Washington’s ambiguous “red line” by conducting a nuclear test on Oct. 9. According to a poll conducted by The Korea Times, 39.6 percent of the respondents said they support Washington’s DPRK policy in general, but 52.6 percent said they do not. Political experts in Seoul, however, interpreted the result as being “natural,” saying many RO Koreans think Washington’s DPRK policies are “unilateral” and lean “excessively” toward punitive measures.

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6. DPRK Human Rights

Chosun Ilbo (“NAZI DEATH CAMP SURVIVOR IN REPORT ON N.KOREA RIGHTS”, 2006-11-01) reported that the Nobel Peace Prize-winning author and peace activist Elie Wiesel, together with former Czech President Vaclav Havel and former Norwegian prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, have called on the UN Security Council to adopt a non-punitive resolution as a first step in improving the DPRK’s human rights record. In a report published Monday, the three say the UNSC should demand that the DPRK gives access to human rights workers, frees political prisoners and admits UN human rights inspectors. “Nowhere else in the world today is there such an abuse of rights, as institutionalized as it is in the DPRK,” Bondevik said in an interview with AP. The authors stressed that the DPRK’s nuclear tests should not eclipse the human rights issues.

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7. ROK Ministerial Appointments

Financial Times (“S KOREA’S ROH RESHUFFLES SECURITY TEAM”, 2006-11-01) reported that the ROK’s president on Wednesday reshuffled his top security team, appointing Song Min-soon, a fierce advocate of engagement with the DPRK, as foreign minister as Seoul continues to wrangle with how to respond to last month’s nuclear test. Roh Moo-hyun’s government has been shaken by the resignations of its foreign, unification and defence ministers and the spy chief – the equivalent of President George W. Bush losing Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, John Negroponte and another top ideological ally in one fell swoop. But analysts say policy changes are unlikely as the new line-up comprises staunch advocates of engagement with the DPRK and independence from the US.

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8. ROK Air Force

Chosun Ilbo (“LOCKHEED MAY PROVIDE KOREA’S NEXT BATCH OF FIGHTERS”, 2006-11-01) reported that the US-made F-35 fighter jet is a strong candidate to be the ROK’s next-generation fighter, it was recently announced. Lt. Gen. Kim Eun-ki, the deputy chief of the Air Force, responded to inquiries in a National Assembly audit of the Defense Ministry and Joint Chiefs of Staff, “We are considering the F-35 fighter.” Kim said order volume for the F-35 has been extremely high, so purchasing the craft now would be difficult. “But as the next generation of fighters is to be put into action around 2010, it may be possible by that time,” he added.

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9. ROK Economic Growth

Reuters (“S.KOREA OCT EXPORT GROWTH BELOW EXPECTATIONS”, 2006-11-01) reported that ROK exports grew a slower-than-expected 11.5 percent in October from a year earlier, data showed on Wednesday, underlining worries that a slowdown in the US economy is blunting demand for the country’s goods. Analysts had expected annual exports growth to slow in October to 12.0 percent, the median forecast in a Reuters poll shows, partly because a holiday reduced the number of working days compared with a year earlier.

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10. Japan-US Summit

Kyodo News (“ABE, BUSH TO HOLD 1ST SUMMIT ON NOV. 18 IN HANOI”, 2006-11-01) reported that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President George W. Bush are set to hold their first bilateral talks on Nov. 18 on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Hanoi, Japanese government sources said Wednesday.

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11. Japanese Navy Fleet Review

Associated Press (“JAPANESE NAVY HOLDS ANNUAL FLEET REVIEW”, 2006-11-01) reported that Japan’s navy held its annual fleet review yesterday, with destroyers lining the seas and missiles roaring through the air in a major display of this country’s military power. “Our country’s Self-Defense Forces are being called upon to play a more crucial and varied role,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in an address to the sailors aboard the Kurama, a destroyer that served as flagship during the maneuvers. Abe singled out the DPRK as a major threat to Japan, saying its recent ballistic missile test launches and its claim to have exploded a nuclear device on Oct. 9 are “grave and unforgivable.” “I believe this is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate our readiness,” Abe said in his address.

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12. Japan on Constitution Reform

Associated Press (“DEFENSE CHIEF SAYS JAPAN SHOULD CHANGE CONSTITUTION’S WAR-RENOUNCING CLAUSE”, 2006-11-01) reported that Japan’s defense chief said Wednesday that it is time for Japan to change a clause in its pacifist constitution to give the military a bigger role in international security. “To keep the article as it is now would likely create great misunderstanding and I doubt if Japan, as a member of the United Nations, can do things similar to what other member countries can do,” Defense Agency Chief Fumio Kyuma told a parliamentary committee on security issues. Opposition lawmakers and pacifist activists have said that the government has stretched the interpretation too far and the Japanese defense forces’ actual capability and role has now gone beyond what’s written in the constitution.

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13. Japan-IAEA Nuclear Security Seminar

Associated Press (“JAPAN, IAEA TO CO-HOST SEMINAR ON HOW TO STRENGTHEN NUCLEAR SECURITY IN ASIA”, 2006-11-01) reported that Japan and the UN nuclear watchdog will host a seminar next week in Tokyo to discuss measures against nuclear terrorism in Asia, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. Government officials from the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, as well as the ROK, the PRC, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will meet at a Tokyo hotel on Nov. 8 and 9, the ministry said in a statement. Academics and officials from Australia, Brazil, Canada, the US and Spain will also attend the seminar, the ministry said.

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14. PRC-ASEAN Relations

International Herald Tribune (“ASEAN HAILS THE BENEFITS OF FRIENDSHIP WITH CHINA”, 2006-11-01) reported that from the announcements of a $25 billion contract to import liquefied natural gas from Malaysia to a $1 billion investment in a Philippines nickel mine, the PRC this week has been flaunting its growing economic and political might with its near neighbors in Asia. The rhetoric of the 10 leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations is that the PRC’s rise presents a historic economic opportunity rather than a security threat. Chinese and Southeast Asian leaders at the PRC-Asean Business and Investment Summit spoke effusively of a relationship based on “mutual trust in politics and economic integration.”

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15. PRC-Romania Military Cooperation

People’s Daily (“CHINA, ROMANIA PLEDGE TO ENHANCE MILITARY TIES”, 2006-11-01) reported that the PRC armed forces are ready to consolidate and develop relations with the Romanian armed forces, said Xu Caihou, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, on Wednesday. Xu was speaking in a meeting with visiting Romanian secretary of state and chief of the Department for Armaments Ioan Ion. He said the PRC armed forces are willing to make joint efforts with the Romanian side to consolidate and develop military ties. Xu said he appreciated the Romanian government’s adherence to the one-China principle.

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16. PRC-Africa Relations

People’s Daily (“BOTSWANIAN PRESIDENT ARRIVES IN BEIJING FOR CHINA-AFRICA SUMMIT”, 2006-11-01) reported that Botswanian President Festus Mogae arrived here on Wednesday evening for the Beijing Summit of the Forum on the PRC-Africa Cooperation. The two-day summit is scheduled to commence on Nov.4. A total of 48 African countries having diplomatic relations with the PRC will send delegations to the summit. Describing the relations between the PRC and Botswana as “excellent”, the president hoped to promote bilateral trade through this visit to the PRC.

(return to top) People’s Daily (“ANGOLA-CHINA COOPERATION CONTRIBUTES TO RECONSTRUCTION, ANGOLAN PRIME MINISTER”, 2006-11-01) reported that Angolan Prime Minister Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos said here on Wednesday that he hoped Angola-PRC cooperation could contribute to the post-war reconstruction of Angola. He said in a meeting with Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng that his country had only recently emerged from a civil war that severely damaged its economy, telecommunication facilities and infrastructure. He hoped the PRC’s success in economic development and the close bilateral cooperation could help Angola to restore its national economy. (return to top)

17. PRC-Iraq Oil Exploration

XFN-Asia (“CHINA SEEN REGAINING EXPLORATION RIGHTS TO IRAQ’S AL-AHDAB OILFIELD”, 2006-11-01) reported that China National Petroleum Corp is expected to obtain new exploration rights to the al-Ahdab oilfield in Iraq, the official Shanghai Securities News reported, citing CNPC sources. After the PRC won exploration rights to al-Ahdab in 1997, activities at the field were suspended due to UN sanctions on Iraq and postwar security problems. The report said Iraqi oil minister Hussain al-Shahristani, during a visit to the PRC, called on Oct 28 for negotiations for a new contract beginning November.

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18. PRC Oil Spill

Associated Press (“TOXIC SPILL IN CHINA CUTS WATER SUPPLY”, 2006-11-01) reported that water supplies to 28,000 people in the northern PRC have been cut after an overturned truck spilled 33 tons of toxic oil into a river, state media said Wednesday, the latest mishap involving the country’s already polluted waterways. The overloaded truck was carrying br oil, also known as creosote, when it overturned and dumped its contents into a river in Shanxi province, Xinhua News Agency reported. The spill occurred Oct. 26, Xinhua said, but did not say why it was reported a week later.

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