Korean Peninsula
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1. DPRK Multilateral Talks
Six-nation talks on the DPRK nuclear crisis ended in acrimony with the DPRK threatening to strengthen its nuclear arsenal unless the US met its demands for a resolution of the standoff. While envoys reached consensus on the need to address the DPRK’s security concerns and agreed that more talks were necessary, they failed to set a timetable. The DPRK said its expectations at the three-day talks also involving the PRC, Japan, Russia and the ROK had been “betrayed” by the “hostile” US policy and that a new round of negotiations was endangered. “If our reasonable proposal is turned aside at the talks, we will judge that the US does not intend to give up its attempt to stifle the DPRK by force at an appropriate time,” said a statement carried by the DPRK’s official KCNA mouthpiece as talks wound up. “In this case the DPRK cannot dismantle its nuclear deterrent force but will have no option but to increase it.”
“DPRK Multilateral Talks” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 29, 2003, US)
“US on DPRK Nuclear Sentiments” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 29, 2003, US)
“DPRK Multilateral Talks” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 28, 2003, US)
“DPRK Multilateral Talks” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 28, 2003, ROK)
“DPRK-US Sidetalks” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 28, 2003, ROK)
“Six-Way Talks over DPRK Nuke Issue” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 28, 2003, Japan)
“DPRK Multilateral Nuclear Talks” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, US)
“DPRK-US Side Meeting” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, US)
“Intense diplomatic pressure on DPRK” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, ROK)
“DPRK-US Relations on Nuke Issue” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, PRC) |
2. DPRK ROK US Explanation Request
The DPRK held a bilateral meeting with the ROK after failing to fully understand parts of the US keynote speech to six-party talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear program, an official said. “There were some parts of the US keynote speech North Korea could not understand properly,” said ROK foreign ministry spokesman Shin Bongkil on Thursday. He said the DPRK asked ROK delegates to help out and they met for 30 minutes late Wednesday after a dinner hosted by PRC Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. “Our side explained it to North Korea and they said they understood that,” said Shin, who did not go into details of exactly what the North had trouble comprehending.
“DPRK ROK US Explanation Request” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 28, 2003, US)
“ROK Role in DPRK Diplomacy” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 28, 2003, US) |
3. DPRK on US Enriched Uranium Accusation
The DPRK has denied US charges that it is running a clandestine nuclear program based on enriched uranium at multilateral talks in Beijing, ROK reports said. Yonhap news agency said the DPRK’s denial was contained in a keynote speech from the DPRK’s chief negotiator, Kim Yong-Il, on the first day of talks in Beijing on Wednesday aimed at working out a compromise to the 11-month nuclear standoff. “Through its keynote speech, North Korea denied it has admitted to developing nuclear weapons based on enriched uranium, saying it was merely a US allegation,” an unnamed government official in Seoul was quoted as saying on Thursday. Russia’s ITAR-TASS reported that the DPRK told the meeting it had no nuclear weapons, although this was swiftly denied by both ROK and Japanese delegates.
“DPRK on US Enriched Uranium Accusation” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 28, 2003, US) |
4. DPRK Nuclear Test Threat
Rejecting US disarmament demands, the DPRK said Thursday it will prove to the world that it possesses nuclear weapons by carrying out a nuclear test, a US government official said. At a six-nation meeting in the PRC that included the US, DPRK Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Yong Il also said, according to the US official, that his country has the means to deliver nuclear weapons, an apparent reference to its highly developed missile program. The State Department declined comment on the deliberations in Beijing except to reiterate that the US goal at the conference is to focus on “the complete, verifiable and irreversible elimination” of the DPRK’s nuclear weapons program. There was speculation here that the DPRK could carry out a nuclear test on September 9, the anniversary of the formation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, as the country is known officially.
“DPRK Nuclear Test Threat” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 29, 2003, US)
“DPRK on US Enriched Uranium Accusation” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 28, 2003, US)
“DPRK Nuclear Weapon Possession” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, US) |
5. ROK-DPRK Direct Trade
The ROK and DPRK agreed Thursday to increase direct inter-Korean trade and to open an office in Kaesong or Pyongyang to help ROK small and midsize companies deal with cross-border trade issues. Specific dates and locations for the plans will be discussed by letters in the future. The two sides also agreed that each would send economic delegation teams to the other’s side. ROK team will be inspecting three of DPRK’s food distribution centers in September. The agreements were included in the nine-point joint minutes released after the sixth inter-Korean economic cooperation meeting, which wrapped up three days of talks in Seoul on Thursday.
“ROK-DPRK Direct Trade” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 28, 2003, ROK) |
6. ROK on Anti-DPRK Protests
The ROK said it would take action to prevent any further anti-DPRK protests during the World Student Games in Daegu after the DPRK repeated its threat to pull out of the games. Minister of Culture and Tourism, Lee Chang-Dong, said at a press conference that the government would “strongly cope with” protests by right wing groups which he said had undermined the spirit of the games. “We deplore a series of acts by some groups which have got on the nerves of athletes participating in the games,” Lee said on Wednesday. The North Koreans had said they would withdraw from the games unless the ROK took action over the protests, which have continued since a demonstration erupted in violence between DPRK journalists and protestors over the weekend.
“ROK on Anti-DPRK Protests” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, US) |
7. World Student Games
The DPRK claimed its first gold medal of the World Student Games as it backed down from repeated threats to walk out of the event on security grounds. Nineteen-year-old Hong Ok-Song crowned a positive day for the North Koreans with her victory in the women’s 57kg judo, while compatriot An Gum Ae was overpowered by Audrey La Rizza of France in the 52kg final. The DPRK agreed to stay in the tournament after the ROK promised to crack down on anti-Pyongyang protests.
“World Student Games” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, US)
“DPRK-ROK Relations” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, PRC) |
People’s Republic of China
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1. PRC-US on DPRK Multilateral Talks
PRC Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told Secretary of State Colin Powell Friday that the DPRK nuclear crisis talks must continue so as to achieve a peaceful solution, the official Xinhua news agency said. Li and Powell spoke by telephone after the end of three-day talks on the crisis in Beijing involving six countries — the ROK, the DPRK, the US, Russia, the PRC and Japan, Xinhua said. Both sides agreed that the talks had been beneficial and that the process should continue so as to promote a peaceful resolution to the Korean nuclear issue through dialogue, it said. Li and Powell also exchanged views on the Iraq situation, but it did not elaborate.
“PRC-US on DPRK Multilateral Talks” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 29, 2003, US)
“PRC’s Hope to Progress in 6-way talks” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, ROK) |
2. PRC Preparing for DPRK’s Collapse
The PRC People’s Liberation Army has elaborate plans to deal with DPRK in case of its collapse, the Washington Times reported Wednesday, quoting its PRC military sources. “Government-backed scholars in Beijing now speak of regime change in DPRK in hopeful terms,” the report said, and “some PRC academics have started arguing that DPRK’s collapse would actually not be harmful to PRC’s long-term interests.” The newspaper also said that Shi Yinhong, a specialist on PRC security, wrote in an unpublished paper that “PRC could benefit in the long-term from DPRK’s collapse.
“PRC Preparing for DPRK’s Collapse” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, ROK) |
3. PRC-ROK Relations
PRC President Hu Jintao and President of ROK Roh Moo-hyun on August 21 exchanged views via phone conversation on the nuclear issue of the Korean peninsula and the six-party talks to be held in Beijing next week. Roh expressed appreciation and gratitude for PRC’s unremitting efforts to make the six-party talks possible. Hu said the six-party talks represent an important step towards a peaceful solution to the Korean nuclear issue.
“PRC-ROK Relations” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, PRC) |
4. DPRK-PRC Relations
Leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong Il, expressed his hope on August 20 that the relations between his country and PRC and the two armies will keep developing smoothly. Kim Jong Il made the remarks while meeting with a Chinese high-level military delegation led by Xu Caihou, a member of the Secretariat of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and a member of the Central Military Commission and director of the PLA General Political Department. In spite of the complicated situation around the Korean Peninsula, the DPRK and PRC have maintained a friendly relationship, said Kim Jong Il.
“DPRK-PRC Relations” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, PRC) |
5. PRC-Russian Ties
PRC President Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir Putin have called for more efforts to strengthen cultural ties between the two countries. In a message to the “Week of China” which opened Wednesday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Hu said that strengthening Sino-Russian cultural exchanges is conducive to enhancing the understandings between the two peoples and promoting the enrichment and development of the two cultures. Putin, in his message, said that cultural exchanges are a way leading to better understandings, which, in turn, help expand common grounds for friendly cooperation between the two sides.
“PRC-Russian Ties” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, PRC) |
6. PRC Hong Kong Leader Support
PRC state councillor Tang Jiaxuan reiterated Beijing’s strong support for Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, despite his mounting unpopularity in the wake of the worst political crisis since the territory’s 1997 handover. “I can clearly tell you that we firmly support Tung and his government,” Tang said on Friday during a meeting with a delegation from the Heung Yee Kuk — a rural Hong Kong community organization. “We support him as he makes new contributions to further economic recovery in Hong Kong,” said Tang, in charge of Hong Kong affairs for Beijing.
“PRC Hong Kong Leader Support” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 29, 2003, US)
7. PRC Falun Gong Torture Accusations
An Australian member of the Falun Gong spiritual movement who claims she was tortured in the PRC is to mount a case in the UN Commission on Human Rights against former PRC president Jiang Zemin, her lawyers said. PRC artist Zhang Cui Ying, 41, says she was tortured and abused after being arrested and jailed because of her beliefs by PRC authorities. Brisbane solicitor Chris Nyst has briefed London-based Australian human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson to mount the case against the former PRC president over his alleged role in human rights violations.
“PRC Falun Gong Torture Accusations” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 29, 2003, US) |
8. Report: Clinton PRC False Nuclear Non-proliferation ‘False Certification’
Senior defense-intelligence analysts have stated that the Clinton administration falsely certified the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a nuclear non-proliferator despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Clinton officials went so far, sources say, as threatening to fire a senior defense analyst unless he changed his analysis, which was based on the overwhelming preponderance of all available intelligence sources that Beijing was proliferating nuclear technology and materials to rogue nations. A copy of an analysis written by Jonathan Fox, arms-control specialist for the Defense Special Weapons Agency, dated Oct. 23, 1997, which states: “This assessment concludes that the proposed arrangement presents real and substantial risk to the common defense and security of both the US and allied countries.”
“Report: Clinton PRC False Nuclear Non-proliferation ‘False Certification'” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 28, 2003, US) |
9. Hong Kong Domestic Economy
Hong Kong is likely to head into a recession due to the impact of SARS, but officials and economists expect a quick turnaround for the economy in the second half of the year. Analysts said the gross domestic product figure – to be released Friday – would be sharply hit by a collapse of consumer spending, air travel, hotel and restaurant businesses during the SARS outbreak from March to May. “It would be the worst quarter of GDP figure since Hong Kong was returned to China” in 1997, said Francis Lun, general manager of Fulbright Securities. “But there’ll be a rebound in the second half of the year.”
“Hong Kong Domestic Economy” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 29, 2003, US) |
10. PRC Space Program
The PRC, not content with the closest views of Mars man has glimpsed since the Stone Age, is hoping to launch a space probe to the red planet by 2020, state newspapers said on Friday. The probe would orbit Mars and conduct tests on the planet’s makeup and atmosphere, the Beijing Youth Daily quoted Liu Zhenxing, a fellow at the PRC Academy of Sciences’ Space Science and Applied Research Institute, as saying. The PRC is planning to send an astronaut into space for the first time later this year and become the third country to accomplish that feat, after the former Soviet Union and the US. Eventually, the PRC plans to land a person on the moon.
“PRC Space Program” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 29, 2003, US) |
11. PRC Domestic Economy
The PRC has become a ship line executive’s dream. It is importing huge and growing quantities of oil, iron ore, coal and other bulky raw materials from the Persian Gulf, Australia, Brazil and Canada, and exporting rising quantities of furniture, consumer electronics, toys and other finished goods to American and European markets. At a time of rising trade friction between the PRC and the US, the newfound prosperity of ship lines illustrates how a big global industry can become dependent on the PRC economy in just a few years.
“PRC Domestic Economy” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 28, 2003, US) |
12. PRC on Dalai Lama US Trip
The PRC protested over the Dalai Lama’s scheduled trip to the US next month, asking the US not to allow the Tibetan spiritual leader to go ahead with it. “The PRC side expresses grave concern over this matter,” a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement on Thursday. “We have made representation to the American side over this matter, and have requested the US government strictly abide by its promise to recognize Tibet as a part of China, to not support ‘Tibet independence,’ and to not allow the Dalai Lama to go to the US to engage in activities to split China.”
“PRC on Dalai Lama US Trip” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 28, 2003, US) |
13. PRC Administrative Licensing Law
The Standing Committee of the 10th National People’s Congress (NPC), the PRC’s top legislature, adopted a law essential to the country’s government reforms while concluding its five-day Fourth Meeting yesterday. According to a Presidential Decree issued by President Hu Jintao, the law on administrative licensing, with 83 articles in eight chapters, will come into effect as of July 1, 2004. “This is a very important law,” said Wu Bangguo, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, after an overwhelming majority of the legislators voted in favor of passing the law.
“PRC Administrative Licensing Law” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 28, 2003, US) |
14. PRC-Hong Kong Anti-Smuggling
PRC authorities have blocked a tunnel suspected of being built by smugglers to link a border town in the southern city of Shenzhen with neighboring Hong Kong, it was reported Wednesday. Police in Shenzhen had filled in the 25-meter (82.5-foot) long tunnel with cement and gravel after contacting the owner of an apartment unit in the town of Sha Tau Kok earlier this month, Wen Wei Po newspaper reported. The report said the tunnel was first discovered at the end of 2001, and it was sealed off again in November last year after police found works were being carried out in the tunnel.
“PRC-Hong Kong Anti-Smuggling” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, US) |
15. PRC Central Asia Influence
The PRC has shown surprising “agility and creativity” in building influence in Central Asia, and the US and Russia must engage leaders in Beijing to head off future clashes in the region, a US think tank said. In a major new report, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) examined the PRC’s post-Cold War drive to expand its weight in the energy-rich region and issued recommendations to US policymakers on how best to deal with its emergence. “China’s interest in building relations with Central Asia is not startling given its long history in the region, but the agility and creativity it has exercised in doing so has taken many by surprise,” the report said.
“PRC Central Asia Influence” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, US) |
Japan
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1. DPRK-Japan Abduction Issue
Japan conferred with the DPRK on Thursday during nuclear-weapons talks in the PRC capital, the top issue wasn’t bombs. The demand was more emotional: Tell the truth about all the Japanese suspected of being held captive in the DPRK. In talks totaling 40 minutes at the PRC’s guest house, Japan demanded that the five victims’ seven children still stuck in Pyongyang be allowed to join their parents. The delegates also demanded a full accounting of other missing Japanese.
“DPRK-Japan Abduction Issue” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 28, 2003, US) |
2. DPRK-Japan Relations
The DPRK warned on August 17 it will not tolerate Japan’s moves for militarization, including the visit to Yasukuni war shrine. The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a commentary that the visit to Yasukuni shrine Friday by Japanese high-ranking officials indicates that the “Japanese reactionaries” still seek to realize their ambition for the re-invasion of Asia at any cost by “calling back the departed souls of militarists, oblivious of a lesson taught by history.” The visit to the shrine can not but be a “criminal move to revive militarism,” which arouses the doubt of the Asian people about the Japanese politicians’ political intention to redeem Japan’s aggression of Asia and all other crimes it committed against Korean and other Asian people in the past century, the commentary said.
“DPRK-Japan Relations” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, PRC) |
3. Japan’s Security Measures
Prompted by alleged threats from the DPRK, Japan’s Defense Ministry is set to make a budget request of more than US$1 billion for the next fiscal year to introduce a missile defense system. The ministry also plans to boost its air-to-surface attack capability by ordering a GPS guidance system from the US to convert its air force’s existing bombs into “smart bombs,” the report said.
“Japan’s Security Measures” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, PRC) |
4. Japan Permanent Security Panel
The Japanese government decided to set up a permanent panel that will study emergency situations and hold strategic discussions on security issues to reinforce national security. The government will request funds from fiscal 2004 budget allocations to establish the secretariat, and intends to launch the body during that fiscal year, government officials said. One official said he hopes the secretariat will boost the role and functions of the Security Council of Japan to make it the “Japanese version of the United States’ National Security Council.” The body will function within a committee of the Security Council of Japan that deals with emergencies, the officials said. The secretariat, which will be comprised of Cabinet councilors, is intended to advise the prime minister over national defense policies.
“Japan Permanent Security Panel” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, Japan) |
5. Japan Iraq Troop Deployment
Security in Iraq can only be restored by its people, not by a foreign military, so the international community should instead provide technical assistance, according to a UNICEF officer based in Baghdad. Yuji Taketomo, 37, oversees the purchase of goods and services as a UNICEF logistics officer under the UN-administered Oil for Food Program in Iraq, which started in 1996 as a means to ease the hardships of ordinary Iraqis caused by economic sanctions. Taketomo does not think foreign troops should lead the effort to restore security, because the Iraqis are a proud people who have a high level of education and a nation rich in natural resources. He thus believes it is unwise for Japan, the No. 2 donor for UNICEF’s emergency relief efforts in Iraq, to send the SDF.
“Japan Iraq Troop Deployment” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, Japan) |
6. Tokyo Governor on DPRK Economic Sanctions
Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara urged the Japanese government to impose economic sanctions against the DPRK to speed up negotiations over the issue of Japanese citizens kidnapped by Pyongyang. Unless Japan takes a hardline approach, the DPRK will not compromise, Shintaro Ishihara said Friday. “The government should stand firm and should impose economic sanctions,” said Ishihara.
“Tokyo Governor on DPRK Economic Sanctions” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 29, 2003, US) |
7. Japan on PRC Currency
The PRC should let its currency float freely, Japanese Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Friday, reiterating his opposition to the yuan’s peg to the dollar ahead of a meeting of Asia Pacific finance ministers next week and US Treasury Secretary John Snow’s visit to Tokyo Monday. “I would like to tell China to let (the yuan) float according to market principles,” Shiokawa told a regular press conference.
“Japan on PRC Currency” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 29, 2003, US) |
8. Japan Domestic Economy
For the fifth time in 10 years, the stagnant Japanese economy is showing signs of life. Economic output burst ahead in the three months from April to June, growing at a 2.3% annual rate three times what forecasters expected. Exports provided another pleasant surprise by expanding 5.6% in July. Investors are buoyant. The Nikkei 225, Japan’s benchmark stock average, touched a 13-month intra-day high Wednesday before closing at 10,308.99. The Nikkei has stormed back since skidding to a 20-year low in April.
“Japan Domestic Economy” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 28, 2003, US) |
9. US Bases in Okinawa
Prosecutors demanded five years in prison for a US Marine accused of raping and beating a woman in Okinawa Prefecture in May. The Naha District Court heard the demand in the case of Jose Torres, a 21-year-old lance corporal stationed at the Marine Corps’ Camp Hansen in the town of Kin. Torres admitted to the charges during the first session of the trial last month. Torres is the third serviceman the US military has agreed to turn over to Japanese police prior to indictment in line with a request from Tokyo.
“US Bases in Okinawa” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, Japan) |
10. Japan WWII War Memorial
The Japanese government has decided not to earmark funds in fiscal 2004 for a national facility to honor the war dead due to strong opposition from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), government sources said. The creation of a secular memorial was proposed in December by an advisory panel to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda. The plan was intended to quell the anger stirred in Asia by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Class-A war criminals along with the war dead.
“Japan WWII War Memorial” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27, 2003, Japan) |
11. Japan War Contingency Plan in 1994
The Japanese Defense Agency in 1994 compiled the draft of basic security legislation that stressed the need for the nation to have war-contingency plans and for Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to actively take part in UN-mandated peacekeeping operations, government sources said. The document was never submitted as a bill to the Diet. The draft was apparently intended as a rebuttal to calls for the Defense Agency and SDF to be scaled down, the sources said. The document contains five chapters and 19 articles. As the basic policy, it says Japan “shall actively cooperate in activities of international organizations” and cites “peacekeeping operations led by the United Nations” as possible SDF missions. It says Japan’s security is “founded on the Japan-US security arrangement” but says nothing about whether the SDF should expand its operations abroad on the grounds of the alliance.
“Japan War Contingency Plan in 1994” (NAPSNet Daily Report, August 27,
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