In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1. Kim Jong-il’s Ascension

Reuters (“A MERRY DAY IN NORTH KOREA,” Moscow, 10/9/97) said that Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency correspondent Alexander Valiyev reported that “North Korean people continue merrymaking” to celebrate the appointment of Kim Jong-il as head of the Wokers’ Party. “Dancing people are seen everywhere in Pyongyang,” he said. Valiyev said the main DPRK daily newspaper, Rodong Shinbun, filled most of its front page with a color photograph of Kim, and that television and radio stations were dominated by repeated broadcasts of the news. Tass also reported that the PRC’s ambassador to Pyongyang had presented “an appropriate official” with a basket of flowers and told a diplomatic gathering that Kim’s election had been a great inspiration to the PRC. Meanwhile Itar-Tass quoted a Russian Foreign Ministry official as saying, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia respects the choice of the North Korean people and considers the election of Kim Jong-il a purely internal matter for that country.”

The New York Times (Nicholas D. Kristof, “NORTH KOREAN RULER NAMED LEADER OF COMMUNIST PARTY,” Tokyo, 10/9/97) quoted Kim Myong Chol, who formerly edited a North Korea-affiliated newspaper in Japan and has ties with members of the leadership in the North Korean capital, “North Korea is now headed for a free- market economy,” adding, “In Kim Jong Il’s mind, not everything about capitalism is bad.” It also quoted a senior ROK government official as saying on Wednesday, “We’ve always been aware that North Korea was under the control of Mr. Kim Jong Il before this official announcement. But now that he will have the actual post of head of the party, the North Korean government may be more stable, more responsible and more predictable.” The Times also said that the DPRK’s New Korea News Agency press has reported “mysterious natural phenomena,” which indicate that “comrade Kim Jong Il is indeed the greatest of great men produced by Heaven and that flowers come into bloom to mark the great event.” The Times also noted that, in a major essay published in August, Kim wrote that “Improving the relations between the North and the South is an urgent requirement.” He called for putting into effect long-frozen accords between the two Koreas and expressed willingness to negotiate with the ROK and also improve relations with Japan and the United States. “We have no intention to regard the United States as our eternal sworn enemy,” Kim wrote. “We hope to normalize the Korea-U.S. relationship.”

The Washington Post (Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan, “NORTH KOREA’S KIM IS FORMALLY NAMED TO LEADERSHIP POST,” Tokyo, 10/9/97) quoted officials of the Chosen Soren, the largest DPRK residents’ association in Japan, as saying in a statement: “We have been waiting for a long time for this historic event. . . . We are full of enthusiasm and joy.” Meanwhile in Washington, an u

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1. Kim Jong-il’s Ascension

Reuters (“NORTH KOREA NAMES KIM JONG-IL AS PARTY CHIEF,” Tokyo, 10/8/97) and the Associated Press (Reid G. Miller, “KIM JONG IL NEW N. KOREA LEADER,” Seoul, 10/8/97) reported that the DPRK’s Korean Central News Agency issued a special communique announcing that Kim Jong-il has been elected general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea. Kim Jong-il “has strengthened and developed our party to be an invincible, veteran revolutionary party which enjoys full support and trust from all the people, has trained our people as an independent people with indomitable faith and will and has opened a new era of the Kim Il-sung nation’s prosperity, with tireless revolutionary activities over the past 30 odd years,” the communique said, adding that “the whole country raised cheers,” at the news. ROK President Kim Young-sam said he expected no immediate major changes in the DPRK, and his government called on Pyongyang to “open up … and build peace with the South.” Ryoo Kihl-jae, a political science professor at Kyung-nam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul, said, “The economy is [Kim Jong-il’s] primary concern,” adding that “North Korea will open more … roughly following the trail of China.” Ryoo said, “But I doubt North Korea will go as far as China has.” Park June-young, a political scientist at Ewha Woman’s University in Seoul, predicted, “Kim will try more aggressively to establish diplomatic ties with the United States and persuade Washington to remove the economic embargo against his country.” Park added, “In short, North Korea under Kim Jong Il will be more confident in leading its society to openness in a tightly controlled manner.” [Ed. note: See related item in ROK section below.]

Reuters (“CHINA CONGRATULATES N.KOREA’S KIM JONG-IL, Beijing, 10/8/97) said that PRC state radio reported that on Wednesday PRC Communist Party chief Jiang Zemin, in a message of congratulations to Kim Jong-il on his formal election to Secretary-General of the Workers Party of Korea, lauded the “historical and traditional friendship” between the PRC and the DPRK. The PRC’s official news agency quoted Jiang’s message as saying that Kim’s formal accession would help carry on the ideas of his father Kim Il-sung. “The North Korean people, tightly uniting around the North Korean Workers’ Party headed by you… will use firm will and determination to overcome all kinds of difficulties,” Jiang said. He added, “Strengthening friendly cooperative relations [between the PRC and DPRK] has great significance for realizing peace, stability and development on the Korean Peninsula.”

2. ROK-DPRK Aviation Pact

The AP-Dow Jones News Service (“KOREAS SIGN OPEN-SKIES PACT, SHORTENING AIRLINES’ ROUTES,” Seoul, 10/8/97) reported that ROK officials said that on Wednesday the ROK and DPRK signed a treaty in Bangkok, Thailand, to open their skies to each other’s commercial flights for the first time in half

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Russian Federation

I. United States

1. ROK Aid to DPRK

The AP-Dow Jones News Service (“S. KOREA PROVIDES ANOTHER $5.25 MLN IN AID FOR N. KOREA,” Seoul, 10/7/97) reported that the ROK government said Tuesday that it has provided US$4 million for the World Food Program (WFP) to buy nutritional supplements for starving children in the DPRK as part of a US$10 million package of food and other assistance that the ROK pledged in August. Separately, the ROK government said it also provided US$1.25 million for the WFP to finance its monitoring activities in the DPRK to ensure that aid reaches the needy. An ROK government report said that imports and international aid have reduced the DPRK’s food shortage from an estimated 1.3 million tons to 295,000 tons. The PRC will continue shipments and the WFP has pledged 130,000 tons of additional food, which will help the DPRK make it to this fall’s harvest, the report said.

2. ROK-DPRK Aviation Talks

The Associated Press (“TWO KOREAS NEAR DEAL TO OPEN SKIES,” Seoul, 10/7/97) reported that ROK Foreign Ministry officials said that the ROK and DPRK resumed aviation talks Tuesday in Bangkok aimed at opening their skies to each others’ flights. The DPRK accepted the ROK’s demand that the two sides’ air traffic control towers communicate through surface telephone lines crossing the border, the officials said, retracting its earlier insistence on using satellite connections.

3. Search for Remains of US MIAs

United Press International (“U.S. TEAM IN N. KOREA TO SEEK MIAS,” Washington, 10/7/97) and the Associated Press (“US SEARCHES N KOREA FOR MIA REMAINS, Washington, 10/6/97) reported that the US Defense Department said Monday that a Defense Department team has returned to the DPRK for its fourth attempt this year to find the remains of US servicemen missing from the Korean War. The search is focused in an area where US ground troops were routed by PRC forces in the fall of 1950. The US team plans to interview military officials and local residents to track down possible sites where US soldiers were buried. The DPRK has invited a small group of family and veteran’s organization officials to visit the joint operation site. The officials will leave the US Friday and are expected to stay in the DPRK for about four days. A repatriation ceremony for any remains excavated during the operation has been scheduled for Oct. 24 in Panmunjom.

4. ROK Presidential Candidate Accused of Slush Fund

Reuters (“S.KOREA’S OPPOSITION LEADER ACCUSED OF SLUSH FUND,” Seoul, 10/7/97) reported that Kang Sam-jae of the ROK’s ruling New Korea Party on Tuesday accused Kim Dae-jung, presidential candidate of the main opposition National Congress for New Politics, of amassing more than 67 billion won (US$73 million) in a “slush fund.” Kang told a news conference his party uncovered the funds deposited in 365 false and proxy name accounts. “Another shocking factor we foun

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

III. Japan

I. United States

1. Kim Jong-il Meets Russian Official

The Associated Press (“KIM JONG IL MAY INVITE FOREIGNERS,” Moscow, 10/4/97) said that the ITAR-Tass news agency reported Friday that Kim Jong-il met with Oleg Shenin, chairman of Russia’s Council of the Union of Communist Parties, on Sept. 2 in Pyongyang. [Ed. note: See related item in the ROK section, below] It was the first time for Kim to meet with a foreigner since 1983, when he visited the PRC. Shenin reportedly said that Kim was ready to invite foreign guests to celebrate his formal ascension to power. “I saw that Pyongyang is ready for contacts with the world and during the celebrations Kim Jong-il will, naturally, meet many foreigners,” Shenin said. He said that Kim was expected to become supreme leader of the DPRK’s ruling Workers Party around Oct. 10, the anniversary of the party’s founding. Shenin also said that Kim was expected to become state president, the other top post, when the DPRK celebrates the 50th anniversary of its establishment in September next year.

The New York Times reported (Reuters, “KIM SPEAKS TO FOREIGNER OF NORTH KOREAN FAMINE,” Moscow, 10/4/97) that Kim Jong-il told visiting Russian Communist Party official Oleg Shenin that the DPRK’s economic conditions are “complicated, especially the food situation, after two years of floods and this summer’s drought.” Kim reportedly said that this year’s rice harvest was good but the corn crop was poor.

2. DPRK Famine

Reuters (Andrew Browne, U.N. SAYS N.KOREA HAS ESCAPED FOOD CATASTROPHE, Beijing, 10/5/97) reported that Namanga Ngongi, the deputy executive director of the UN’s World Food Program (WFP), said that the food situation in the DPRK was getting visibly better as a result of international food aid. “People looked better, the children in particular looked better,” Ngongi said after a tour of western and southern parts of the DPRK by an international team, including officials from the US and Japan. The WFP has distributed 400,000 tons of food, and another 300,000-400,000 tons in foreign government aid has been pledged this year to help cover a shortfall of about 1.3 million tons, Ngongi said. A WFP appeal for US$136 million for the DPRK raised about 80 percent of the dollar total, but because the money was used to buy cheaper food more than 90 percent of the projected volume of aid had been delivered, he said. Ngongi estimated that North Korea would face a shortfall of 2.0-2.5 million tons of food in the year starting from the end of the latest harvest, which is now underway. However, depending on the volume of aid pledged for next year, DPRK citizens will experience “some pain” but will be able to struggle through the coming winter. He said there was no evidence that food aid had been diverted from those in need, and recipients all knew exactly the amount of aid to which they were entitled. Ngongi made clear he did not believe there had been mass starvation, but he added “It

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1. DPRK Nuclear Program

The Associated Press-Dow Jones News Service (“IRAQ, N KOREA COME UNDER FIRE FROM U.N.’S ATOMIC AGENCY” Vienna, 10/3/97) reported that the ROK delegate to the 41st annual conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Sook Il-Kwun, called on the conference to take a firm stance against the DPRK for withholding information on its nuclear program. Delegates were reportedly particularly concerned that the DPRK might be destroying documents about its program, without which an initial report on the country’s nuclear materials cannot be verified.

2. DPRK Missile Sales to Iran

The New York Times carried an opinion article (Thomas L. Friedman, “MISSILE MYOPIA,” 10/2/97) regarding Iran’s attempt to acquire long-range missiles. The article said that in 1993 the DPRK provided Iran with blueprints, and possibly a single copy, of the No-dong class of Scud missile. However DPRK aid to Iran has since tailed off.

3. Kim Jong-il’s Accession

The Associated Press (Robert H. Reid, “N. KOREA: KIM JONG [sic] WILL HEAD PARTY,” United Nations, 10/3/97) reported that DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Choe Su-hon told the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday that “the nomination process is going on in my country to elect the great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il as general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea.” Choe said that Kim’s elevation would demonstrate “the firm will and conviction of our people” to carry on the policies of his late father, Kim Il-sung. The vice foreign minister said the DPRK people were able to overcome their grief over the founder’s death “because they hold in high esteem another great leader, General Kim Jong Il, an iron-willed brilliant commander.”

4. DPRK Warns of Possible War

Reuters (“NORTH KOREA SAYS WAR POSSIBLE ‘AT ANY MOMENT’,” United Nations, 10/2/97) reported that DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Choe Su-hon told the UN General Assembly Thursday the situation on the Korean peninsula was tense, and “a war could break out at any moment due to the attempts of the U.S., Japan and South Korean authorities against our socialist republic.” He said that “In recent years alone, the United States introduced over $3 billion worth of war equipment into South Korea,” The US has also been conducting joint military exercises more frequently than ever before and “even directing the gunpoints of the U.S. forces in Japan and the Pacific Fleet” towards the DPRK, he added. To ease the tension and avert the danger of war, the US should “abandon its hostile policy against our republic and sign a peace agreement” with the DPRK, he said.

5. Land Mines on Korean Peninsula

The Washington Times (Willis Witter, “KOREA PREFERS LAND MINES TO INVASION BY NORTH,” Yonchon, ROK, 10/3/97) carried an article which said tha

In today’s Report:

I. United States

I. United States

1. ROK President Calls for Strong Defense

United Press International (“S.KOREA’S KIM CALLS FOR VIGILANT DEFENSE,” Seoul, 10/1/97) reported that ROK President Kim Young-sam, at a ceremony marking the ROK’s 49th Armed Forces Day, discussed issues relating to the ROK’s reunification policy and defense posture. “What we pursue is a peaceful reunification of the country and not a war,” Kim said. He called for a modern armed force capable of defending the nation against any attack from the DPRK, noting that the DPRK is “still bolstering their military force, even though we are giving them food aid and light-water nuclear reactors with brotherly love.”

2. Alleged DPRK Labor Camps

Nando (“SOUTH KOREA SAYS NORTH KOREA HOLDING 200,000 IN LABOR CAMPS,” Seoul, 10/2/97 reported that, according to a white paper on human rights in the DPRK published annually by the Korea Institute for National Unification, a think-tank of the ROK National Unification Ministry, the DPRK had more than 200,000 political prisoners in camps where many freeze or starve to death, and public executions and death through torture occurred in about 10 of the camps. The report to the National Assembly, based mostly on testimony from defectors up to 1989, said most of the detention centers were in remote mountain or mining areas. Philo Kim, a researcher at the think-tank, said conditions in the camps could be much worse than the report says because of famine that has ravaged the DPRK in the past two years. The report said political prisoners included those who opposed the political line of the DPRK’s ruling Workers Party, the late Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il. An official at the unification ministry said the government had difficulty confirming details and the exact number of prisoners. [Ed. note: This article is available at http://www.nando.net]

3. DPRK Famine

Reuters (“NEWSPAPER: STARVING NORTH KOREANS TURNING TO CANNIBALISM,” Hong Kong, 9/30/97) reported that the South China Morning Post quoted an unnamed former DPRK military officer who fled across the border to the PRC with his family as saying that he witnessed people being executed in his village for cannibalism. “People are going insane with hunger. They even kill and eat their own infants. This kind of thing is happening in many places,” the unnamed officer was quoted as telling the newspaper. A 25-year-old student, whose parents are senior figures in the DPRK’s Workers’ Party, was quoted as saying that at least a million people have starved to death in the country. “This is the figure I’ve seen reported in Communist Party documents,” he said.

4. Plight of DPRK Defectors

The Wall Street Journal (Michael Schuman, “CAPITALISM MIGHT NOT CURE ALL IF NORTH KOREA’S DEMISE PERSISTS,” Seoul, 10/2/97) carried an article which discussed the problems that many DPRK defectors have had in adjusting to life in the ROK, s

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1. Four-Party Peace Talks

Reuters (Carol Giacomo, “U.S. HOPES FOR KOREA PEACE MOVE NEXT MONTH,” Washington, 9/30/97) reported that US officials who met their DPRK, ROK and PRC negotiating partners in New York several weeks ago have concluded that the DPRK is stalling on peace talks until Kim Jong-il is formally vested as his country’s leader. The DPRK’s state media last week reported the start of a long-delayed process that could see Kim Jong-il finally assume power officially. One US official told Reuters that the DPRK may also be waiting to see how ROK elections set for December turn out, but he noted that such a strategy could be risky because a new government in the ROK may withdraw the peace talks proposal from the table, adding that the DPRK has been warned of this possibility. The US view has been colored by extensive discussions with PRC officials, including talks in New York last week between US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and PRC Foreign Minister Qian Qichen. One US official said that the most recent meetings on the four-party talks broke off after the DPRK negotiators made clear, “we have no flexibility on anything. We have no authority to reach any agreements. We want everything we ever said plus a little more.” While it remains possible that the DPRK wants to stall peace talks permanently, US officials believe it is more likely that the DPRK’s failing economic system will ultimately compel it to negotiate.

2. US Secretary of State on DPRK Policy

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: (“SECSTATE AT COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS SEPT. 30,” USIA Transcript, 10/1/97), commented on current US policy toward the DPRK. Albright stated: “North Korea is a dinosaur in the international system. The people are suffering there because of a government that is completely out of step with what is happening in the world. Clearly, the people there, large portions of them, are starving while, in fact, there continues to be support for their military. It has been our desire to try to do what we can to get reconciliation on the Peninsula and to move towards peace and a normal relationship with North Korea. There have been four-party talks in the works. As you know, last week the final preparatory talks that we were involved in did not succeed, mainly because the North Koreans are involved in trying to leverage food assistance from all of us in order to go on with the four-party talks. The United States is the largest contributor to alleviating their food problem, but we do it as a result of a response to a humanitarian appeal through the World Food Program, and not as a way to bargain into these talks. So we want these talks to go forward. We are waiting for Pyongyang to figure out that basically it is to their advantage to get back with the talks. Our policy is to try to get reconciliation as we can through the four-party talks on the Korean Peninsula.”

3. US Military Head to Visit

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1. DPRK Sought Perot Assistance

The Associated Press (Robert Burns, “NKOREA PROPOSES PEROT ROLE IN TALKS,” Washington, 9/30/97) reported that last December the DPRK proposed that US billionaire Ross Perot act as an intermediary to address US questions about US citizens living in the DPRK, some of whom may be captured US servicemen from the Korean War. The DPRK, in an unofficial setting in New York in the midst of negotiations about a public apology for the submarine incident, suggested that Perot travel to Pyongyang to discuss the issue. Robert Egan, a New Jersey businessman who has regular contacts with DPRK diplomats in New York, was reported as saying that DPRK officials told him they wanted to open the door to talks on US POWs in exchange for not having to publicly apologize for the submarine incident, and that they wanted to work through Perot. US officials concluded that the offer was an empty gesture that would not help answer questions about US citizens in the DPRK, and persuaded Perot not to get involved. Neither side made the offer public at the time. Contacted Monday, Perot refused comment on the report.

2. Kim Jong-il Ascension

The Washington Post (Kevin Sullivan, “KIM TAKES FIRST STEPS TOWARD POWER,” Tokyo, 9/29/97) reported that most outside observers now concur that DPRK leader Kim Jong-il’s ascension to the official leadership posts left vacant by the 1994 death of his father, “Great Leader” Kim Il-sung, is imminent. Most analysts now believe Kim has scheduled his coronation for on or around October 10, the anniversary of the Korean Worker’s Party founding. Among the indications, the DPRK’s official news media has said that the country is brimming with celebration. “The whole country is vibrating with a new enthusiasm,” and “a wave of jubilation and emotion is now sweeping Korea,” it has said. The report stated that many believe the younger Kim has taken so long in becoming the formal head of state because he needed to consolidate military power, and in the past year he has replaced many older military leaders with younger ones believed to be more loyal to him. The report quoted Moon Chung-in, a professor of political science at Seoul’s Yonsei University, as saying that “titles are important” in Korean society and so Kim may be a more confident leader when he takes formal control. Moon added that Kim may interact more with ROK President Kim Young-sam’s successor, to be elected in December, as the DPRK took deep offense to Kim Young-sam’s refusal to send condolences on the death of Kim Il-sung. The report also noted that the DPRK’s preparations are taking place even as the country suffers a deepening famine caused by widespread food shortages.

3. DPRK on US Television

The Associated Press (David Bauder, “NKOREA HOT TOPIC FOR AMERICAN TV,” New York, 9/30/97) reported that the DPRK appears to be slowly opening its doors to US television network news correspondents. C

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1. DPRK Named Threat to US

United Press International (“IRAN, IRAQ, N.KOREA TOP U.S. THREATS,” Washington, 9/29/97) reported that the US Department of Defense 1997 National Military Strategy assessment named the DPRK, along with Iran and Iraq, as the countries with “both the desire and means to challenge the United States militarily.” The document, the result of a year-long examination of the global strategic environment, warned that “numerous other regional powers” are emerging threats, but did not elaborate.

2. DPRK Nuclear Threat

The Associated Press (“IRAQ MAY STILL BE HIDING NUKES,” Vienna, Austria, 9/29/97) reported that Hans Blix, the outgoing head of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency, told the agency’s 41st annual conference Monday that it has been impossible to verify whether the DPRK has provided a complete inventory on its plutonium supplies. The plutonium inventories are monitored to try to determine whether nuclear material is being diverted from peaceful to military use. Delegates from the ROK, Japan and the European Union expressed concern over the DPRK’s refusal to comply with the agency. Only the US delegation, led by Secretary of Energy Federico Pena, spoke of any cooperation with DPRK. Blix also warned that Iraq may still be hiding nuclear weapons despite years of intensive inspections and monitoring.

3. Effects of DPRK Famine Conditions

Reuters (“U.S. AMBASSADOR CONCERNED ON NORTH KOREA,” Washington, 9/29/97) reported that US ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson said Sunday that massive starvation in the DPRK means its military forces are aggressive, and so the US must remain vigilant. “The situation is serious there. We have to watch it,” Richardson said on NBC television’s “Meet the Press” program. International relief organizations have documented “very, very massive starvation,” he said, adding that the food situation now was “desperate.” “We are concerned about aggressiveness on the part of the North Korean military,” Richardson said in response to questions. “But this is why we have four-party peace talks with us, the Chinese, South Korea, North Korea that would change the strategic outline in the Korean peninsula.” He added that despite the breakdown in the official four-party talks process, discussions continue “at a more junior level with the North Koreans” in New York.

4. ROK Position on Landmines

The Associated Press (“SKOREA TO EXTEND MINE MORATORIUM,” United Nations, 9/29/97) reported that ROK Foreign Minister Yoo Chong-ha, in a speech to the UN General Assembly Monday, announced that the ROK will extend indefinitely its moratorium on exporting anti-personnel mines, but added that the ROK cannot accept the international treaty banning those weapons because of tensions with the DPRK. Yoo said the ROK “has decided to extend for an indefinite period its moratorium on the export of anti-personnel land m