NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, September 28, 2005
- 1. DPRK Nuclear Program
2. US on DPRK Nuclear Program
3. ROK on DPRK Nuclear Program
4. DPRK-US Relations
5. US-ROK Relations
6. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation
7. Inter-Korean Maritime Relations
8. Proposed Bill for Family Reunions
9. DPRK Mineral Development
10. DPRK Food Aid
11. DPRK Political Appointments
12. ROK-Russian Energy Cooperation
13. ROK-Russian Space Program
14. Russian-Japanese Territorial Dispute
15. Yasukuni Shrine Issue
16. PRC on Cross Strait Relations
17. PRC Energy Supply
18. Book Announcement
I. NAPSnet
1. DPRK Nuclear Program
The Korea Herald (“NUCLEAR FACILITIES, CAPACITIES IN NORTH KOREA”, 2005-09-28) reported that with the DPRK having agreed to dismantle its nuclear weapons programs, focus is now shifting back to what kind of nuclear facilities and activities it runs, and whether it does indeed have or is capable of possessing nuclear weapons. None of the governments involved in the six party talks have offered any clarification or figures, saying they lack intelligence information to estimate the exact number of nuclear weapons in the DPRK. The International Atomic Energy Agency also says in its report that it was not given enough opportunity to get a complete picture of the DPRK’s nuclear activities during its searches between 1992 and 2002, when it was forced to leave the country.
2. US on DPRK Nuclear Program
Yonhap News (“PARTIES SUSPECT HEU IN N.K., DISAGREE ON HOW ADVANCED IT IS: HILL”, 2005-09-28) reported that the chief US negotiator on DPRK nuclear disarmament said Wednesday there is no question the DPRK has purchased material related to suspected weapons development, but other negotiating partners disagree on how far it the DPRK nuclear program has progressed.
(return to top) Chosun Ilbo (“N.KOREA MUST COME CLEAN ABOUT URANIUM PROGRAM: HILL”, 2005-09-28) reported that the next thing DPRK needs to do is to tell the international community where its nuclear arms facilities are, Christopher Hill said Wednesday. Hill also told reporters there could be trouble ahead if DPRK refuses to admit to a uranium enrichment program in the next round of talks. Hill told the Chosun Ilbo the US was seeking not just a confirmation that materials needed for the enrichment program went into the country but clarification what exactly became of them. (return to top)
3. ROK on DPRK Nuclear Program
The New York Times (“WORK TO END N. KOREA’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM ON TRACK: SEOUL”, 2005-09-28) reported that five countries trying to end DPRK’s nuclear weapons programs have started working out the specific steps to dismantle Pyongyang’s atomic programs and the rewards to match completion, ROK said on Wednesday. An action plan was needed to follow up on the pledges made in the accord, ROK Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said at a press briefing. “We have launched preparations to set up specific steps and their sequence, focusing on nuclear dismantlement and corresponding measures,” Ban told reporters. “I look forward to related countries taking steps even before the next round of the talks in order to set a positive tone and to help accomplish an early resolution.”
4. DPRK-US Relations
Chosun Ilbo (“BUSH SENIOR COULD VISIT PYONGYANG”, 2005-09-28) reported that former US president George Bush may head a special mission to DPRK to ensure the success of the six party talks, the president of the Korea Society of New York Donald Gregg said Tuesday. Gregg, a former ambassador to the ROK, was speaking with members of Seoul’s UN mission and Korean lawmakers who were in New York for a government audit of the mission. He said DPRK was keen on a high-level US dignitary making a visit, which was a possible reason why there is so much talk about US chief negotiator Christopher Hill visiting the DPRK.
5. US-ROK Relations
The Korea Times (“‘S. KOREA PUSHED US TO GIVE IN TO NK’”, 2005-09-28) reported that the ROK allegedly threatened the US that it would have to rethink the two countries’ longstanding alliance if Washington refused to offer concessions to the DPRK in the recently concluded nuclear dismantlement negotiations, a US expert said. “South Koreans told (the U.S. delegation) . . . if you don’t follow through, get us to the next level, we consider this an alliance issue,” Derek Mitchell, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said at a news conference in Washington. He was referring to the negotiation process between the ROK and the US that eventually led Washington to sign onto a principle statement on resolving the nuclear standoff on Sept. 19. However, the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry in Seoul rebuffed Mitchell’s remarks as groundless.
6. Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation
Joong Ang Ilbo (“BIKES GIVEN TO WORKERS AT KAESONG “, 2005-09-26) reported that DPR Koreans working at the Kaesong Industrial Complex will be able to commute to work on bicycles provided by ROK’s Research Council on Unification Affairs. Until now, the workers have been commuting on seven buses provided by the complex’s management committee. The council said Seoul is reviewing plans to construct a 10-kilometer bicycle path between the complex and downtown Kaesong. The Council also added that it would continue to conduct further projects to aid the DPR Korean workers at the complex.
(return to top) Yonhap News (“SOUTH KOREANS INVITED TO TWO-DAY PYONGYANG TOUR IN OCTOBER”, 2005-09-28) reported that two ROK travel agencies said Wednesday that they will offer overnight tours to Pyongyang for the first time next month, thanks to a recent decision by the DPRK government. The two-day tour will be available between Oct. 4 and 15 and will include seats to the Arirang Festival, DPRK’s famous mass gymnastics performance, they said. (return to top) Chosun Ilbo (“JOINT NORTH-SOUTH KOREAN HANDSETS IN THE WORKS”, 2005-09-28) reported that mobile phones produced jointly by ROK and DPRK will make their debut in the world market next year. ROK mobile phone maker VK Corp. said Wednesday it agreed with DPRK’s Samcholli Technical Co. to jointly develop mobile phones and software. The handsets will become the first GSM phones with Korean-language software and are slated for release in DPRK and overseas markets early next year. (return to top)
7. Inter-Korean Maritime Relations
Yonhap News (“TWO KOREAS TO HOLD MARITIME TALKS THIS WEEK”, 2005-09-28) reported that ROK and DPRK will open a two-day meeting between their maritime authorities Thursday to discuss ways of promoting ties on sea transport, officials said on Wednesday. The talks, the first of their kind, will be held in the DPRK’s border town Kaesong. “A main agenda item will be the issue of operating a fixed-line communication network between the two sides’ maritime authorities,” said Lee Ha-na, an official at the Unification Ministry.
8. Proposed Bill for Family Reunions
Yonhap News (“LAWMAKER TO PROPOSE BILL ON SEPARATED “, 2005-09-28) reported that a ruling Uri Party lawmaker said Wednesday that she will submit a bill aimed at facilitating the reunion of families separated by the heavily armed border that divides the two Koreas. Millions of Koreans remain separated from their family members since the three-year Korean War ended in 1953. Rep. Lee Eun-young said during a press conference at the National Assembly that “the bill is to set the legal foundations and standard for the exchange of separated families and promote their reunions by simplifying related procedures.”
9. DPRK Mineral Development
United Press International (“GROWING INTEREST IN NORTH KOREA’S MINERALS”, 2005-09-28) reported that the US and Europe are interested in the DPRK’s mineral potential, particularly its tungsten supplies. Tungsten is in high demand for the manufacture of personal computers, while the US uses it in the manufacture of bombs and tanks. PRC currently has a global monopoly on tungsten, as it currently holds 62 percent of the world’s known deposits and, in 2004, 88 percent of the global market.
10. DPRK Food Aid
Yonhap News (“SEOUL BLAMED FOR PYONGYANG’S DECISION TO REJECT WFP FOOD AID”, 2005-09-28) reported that according to a Seoul-based civic group, the ROK’s “reckless” food aid to the DPRK’s is to blame for the impoverished state’s bluff that it is now able to meet its food needs without the help of the World Food Program (WFP). The group, which calls itself the Network for DPRK Democracy and Human Rights, urged Seoul to step up its monitoring of Pyongyang’s food distribution system. Human rights activists say many DPR Koreans are still going hungry. DPRK will continue to ignore the WFP unless the ROK addresses its loose monitoring of the food aid distribution, activists said.
11. DPRK Political Appointments
The Korea Times (“NK’S CHANG SONG-TAEK OUSTED COMPLETELY: INTELLIGENCE SOURCE”, 2005-09-27) reported that Pyongyang has described Chang Song-taek, former right-hand man of Kim Jong-il, as a “tree’’ that is now cut off, sources in Seoul said on Tuesday. Chang, Kim’s brother-in-law and a confidant until purged in late 2004 for an alleged bid to enhance his power, was predicted to return to the Workers’ Party because Kim Jong-il reportedly has a limited number of associates to rely on. But such a possibility looks slim now as Kim has apparently changed his mind, according to sources in Seoul. Now Ri Che-kang, new vice-director of the Organization and Guidance Department Department, is known to be in charge of removing Chang and his close allies from the political scene.
12. ROK-Russian Energy Cooperation
The Korea Times (“S. KOREA, RUSSIA TO JOINTLY DEVELOP NATURAL GAS”, 2005-09-28) reported that Seoul and Moscow have agreed to cooperate on developing natural gas reserves in Siberia, finance officials said. The two countries will work towards the construction of a pipeline to transport gas from Siberia to the ROK, officials said.
13. ROK-Russian Space Program
RIA Novosti (“MOSCOW, SEOUL TO COOPERATE IN SPACE EXPLORATION”, 2005-09-28) reported that the development of a space center in the ROK and the preparation of a ROK astronaut for 2007 mission to the International Space Station will be among the top priorities in scientific and technological cooperation between Moscow and Seoul, a bilateral protocol signed Tuesday said.
14. Russian-Japanese Territorial Dispute
Agence France Presse (“JAPAN REJECTS RUSSIAN CLAIM ON ISLANDS “, 2005-09-28) reported that Japan rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s insistence on sovereignty over four volcanic islands that remain a major issue of contention between the two countries. “From the objective standpoint, the four northern islands belong to Japan, and we will keep claiming our sovereignty over them,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told reporters.
15. Yasukuni Shrine Issue
Kyodo (“KOIZUMI SUGGESTS HE’LL VISIT YASUKUNI BY YEAR-END: PAPER”, 2005-09-28) reported that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made it clear that he would visit the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine before the year’s end in an interview carried Wednesday by the British newspaper the Times. Recently, he has been less explicit about his determination to make a pilgrimage this year but he made his intention clear, the paper said.
16. PRC on Cross Strait Relations
The Associated Press (“CHINA WARNS AGAINST U.S.-TAIWAN ARMS DEAL “, 2005-09-28) reported that a planned American weapons sale to Taiwan will damage relations between Washington and Beijing, a PRC official said, ahead of next month’s visit to the PRC by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the PRC could never accept the proposed $15.3 billion sale — involving eight diesel-powered submarines, 12 anti-submarine aircraft and six Patriot missile batteries — because it constituted interference in the PRC’s affairs.
17. PRC Energy Supply
Washington Post (“OIL EXPORTS LEAVE CHINA GRAPPLING FOR FUEL AT HOME”, 2005-09-28) reported that here in Guangdong province, the heart of the PRC’s industrial boom, many manufacturers cannot find enough gasoline and heavy oil to keep their operations going. Demand for gasoline and diesel in the PRC is propelled by the market, as factories expand and cars proliferate, yet the state controls retail prices to limit inflation. This has encouraged the PRC’s oil companies and refineries to export all they can to take advantage of higher prices elsewhere, even as the country remains a net oil importer.
18. Book Announcement
Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (“A TURNING POINT: DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION IN THE ROK AND STRATEGIC READJUSTMENT IN THE US-ROK ALLIANCE”, 2005-09-28) Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, Hawaii, has just published the book titled “A Turning Point: Democratic Consolidation in the ROK and Strategic Readjustment in the US-ROK Alliance” edited by Dr. Alexandre Y. Mansourov. The book’s fourteen chapters are divided into three parts: Part One – the 16th ROK Presidential Election in Historical, Comparative, and Policy Perspectives; Part Two – Implications of the 16th Presidential Election for South Korea’s Domestic Politics, Economy, and Society; and Part Three – Impact of the 16th ROK Presidential Election on the Inter-Korean Relations, the U.S.-ROK Security Alliance, and Korean Diplomacy. The aim of the book is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the experience of democratic consolidation in the ROK and its impact on the life and well-being of the Korean people, as well as on peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. This edited volume is a multinational product of the collaborative efforts of policy practitioners and academics from the United States, Republic of Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and Russia. This is a thought-provoking book with plenty of new ideas for a discriminate reader, who wants to gain a deeper understanding of the current and long-term developments on and around the Korean peninsula.