In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1. US Secretary of State on ARF Role in Korea

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in July 27 remarks at the fourth annual meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (“ALBRIGHT 7/27 REMARKS AT THE ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM,” USIA Transcript, 7/28/97), said that the US appreciates the support of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in efforts to reach a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. Albright stated, “Achieved with the help of our allies and partners, the US-DPRK Agreed Framework has frozen and will eventually dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program, thereby eliminating one of the most serious threats to regional security. Its implementation has reduced tensions, promoted North-South contact, and created a positive atmosphere for Four Party talks. At a preparatory session on August 5, the United States, South Korea, North Korea and China will determine the date, venue, agenda and procedures for the formal start of the negotiations. Our immediate goal will be to lower tensions and build confidence on the Korean Peninsula. The conclusion of an agreement would put a formal end to the Korean War and free the Korean people from the constant fear with which they lived with for the last half century.” Albright added, “The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization — established to implement the Framework — is facing great difficulties in funding its delivery of heavy fuel oil to North Korea. The oil is crucial, because it substitutes a safe energy source for the nuclear fuel with weapons potential North Korea was developing. I urge those of you that are not yet assisting KEDO to begin doing so in a significant and sustained manner.” Albright also stated, “The members of the ARF also must work together to advance the cause of arms control and non-proliferation in this region and around the world. A top priority is the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and I urge all ARF members to work for its entry into force as soon as possible. I urge you to support the opening of negotiations on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty at the Conference on Disarmament, and I hope those states that have not already done so will ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention. To prevent the spread of missiles and related technology, I encourage all ARF members to adhere to the guidelines of the Missile Technology Control Regime. President Clinton believes that in the next century nuclear arsenals can be cut even further, and perhaps ultimately eliminated. To that end, the United States will continue to work with the ASEAN countries on the treaty for a Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone, and we hope to resolve soon the remaining issues that stand in the way of our full ag

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

III. Japan

IV. Russian Federation

I. United States

1. US Seeks Southeast Asian Support for KEDO

The Associated Press (“U.S. SEEKS SE ASIA AID FOR N. KOREA,” Kuala Lumpur, 7/25/97) reported that US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Friday that the US will ask Southeast Asian nations to contribute “tens of millions” of dollars to help support the Korean Peninsular Energy Development Organization (KEDO) as it proceeds with construction of two new nuclear reactors in the DPRK under the terms of the 1994 US-DPRK Agreed Framework. “We want to see increased participation by other countries in KEDO,” Albright told reporters as she prepared for a meeting with leaders from Southeast Asia, China, Japan, Russia, Canada, the European Union and other nations at the ASEAN Regional Forum and Post-Ministerial Conference in Kuala Lumpur July 27-29. Presently, the ROK has agreed to pay most of the US$5 billion tab to build the 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactors, and Japan has been the only other Asian nation to contribute any significant financial help, US officials said. The US itself has been criticized for contributing too little to the nuclear program — US$22 million in 1996 and a budgeted US$25 million this year. The European Union has committed to US$20 million a year. Other KEDO members include Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Argentina and Chile. Officials did not disclose exactly how much it would ask ASEAN members to contribute to the DPRK nuclear plant project, saying only that the program is crucial for the stability of all Asia and that Albright will be looking for a five-year commitment.

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in July 25 remarks while en route to Kuala Lumpur for the July 27-29 ASEAN Regional Forum and Post-Ministerial Conference (“ALBRIGHT 7/25 REMARKS EN ROUTE TO KUALA LUMPUR,” USIA Transcript, 7/25/97), replied to a question concerning the current state of affairs on the Korean peninsula. Albright stated: “There are a number of encouraging signs in terms of North Korea. I am hopeful that they will come to the Four-Party talks and have no reason to believe at this time that they will not. In terms of the food aid, Catherine Bertini of the World Food Program has in fact, today, made a very clear statement about the fact that there is starvation in North Korea and that is the reason that we are providing food aid. I do not want to characterize, the way that you did, their approach. They have starving people and we believe its important for us to provide food through the World Food Program. We are the lead donor on it. We believe it is important to do for humanitarian reasons. Also, the private trip that Senator Nunn and former Ambassador Laney took, they have reported on h

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1. Former US Officials on Visit to DPRK

Former US Ambassador to the ROK James Laney and former US Senator Sam Nunn held a press conference in Seoul July 22 to discuss their recent trip to the DPRK (“LANEY-NUNN 7/22 PRESS CONFERENCE ON NORTH KOREA,” USIA Transcript, 7/23/97). At the press conference, Laney said that the participants on the trip, which included several US government escorts, “urged early and full participation by the DPRK in the Four Party talks to bring about lasting peace and security. We also emphasized that Four Party talks were the best vehicle to address increased economic cooperation with the US, the ROK, and the world community, including long-term solutions to the DPRK’s agricultural difficulties.” The group also stressed the importance of the 1994 Agreed Framework and its full implementation, and the need for early resumption of high-level dialogue between between the ROK and the DPRK, Laney said. Nunn commented on the lack of progress on inter-Korean talks. “There is no North-South dialogue in spite of the fact there was an agreement, a Basic Agreement in 1991, pledging both North and South to that dialogue,” he said. “After President Clinton made a proposal for Four Party talks, it has taken fifteen months for us to really even get a date to sit down and have preparatory talks. That is a matter of frustration.” [Ed. note: The full transcript of this press conference will be distributed in a separate Special Report. For a prior news item, see “Former US Officials Conclude Visit to DPRK” in the US section of the July 22 Daily Report.]

2. Russia Supports Four-Party Talks

The AP-Dow Jones News Service (“RUSSIA SUPPORTS PROPOSED PEACE TALKS FOR TWO KOREAS,” Seoul, 7/24/97) reported that Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeniy Primakov said Thursday his country supports the four-party peace talks proposal aimed at negotiating a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War. “Russia supports easing tension in Korea. So we support the peace talks,” Primakov told a news conference after his talks with ROK Foreign Minister Yoo Chong-ha. Primakov indicated Russia was not totally happy with the exclusion of Moscow from the process, saying Russia can play an important mediating role. Yet Yoo said Primakov promised a “constructive role” in bringing the DPRK to the peace talks, a goal the ROK has sought. Representatives from both Koreas, the US, and the PRC are scheduled to meet August 5 in New York in a preparatory session. Also Thursday, Primakov and Yoo signed treaties on opening a presidential hotline between Moscow and Seoul, and on exchanging land for new embassies in each other’s capitals.

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1. DPRK Grain Exports to Japan Disproved

The Associated Press (“N. KOREA DENIES RESELLING FOOD AID,” Beijing, 7/22/97) reported that both the DPRK and the ROK now say that the DPRK did not export food aid to Japan as had been earlier reported in the Japanese and ROK media. On Tuesday, the DPRK angrily denied that it had re-sold donated corn meant for its hunger-stricken people. Meanwhile, the ROK confirmed the DPRK’s version of the incident behind the media reports. [Ed. note: See “Alleged DPRK Grain Exports to Japan Disproved” in the ROK section of the July 21 Daily Report.] The story originated when a DPRK ship on July 14 unloaded 1,030 tons of feed corn at the Japanese port of Aomori, which was then reported by the right-wing newspaper Sankei Shimbun, and later by other Japanese media. [Ed. note: See “Alleged DPRK Grain Shipments to Japan” in the Japan section of the July 18 Daily Report. The story was also reported by the ROK’s Chosun Ilbo; see “Alleged DPRK Grain Shipments to Japan” in the ROK section of the July 18 Daily Report.] Choe Han Chun, a counselor at the DPRK Embassy in Beijing, said the grain originated in the PRC and that the seller shipped it to Japan through the DPRK for commercial reasons. Choe criticized the Sankei Shimbun for portraying the shipment “as if we exported the maize out of relief supplies.” “This is a dirty trick to mock our people and check the aid given out of an international humanitarian spirit,” Choe said in an interview. “We have never exported maize to Japan, and it is not the time to do it.”

2. Former US Officials Conclude Visit to DPRK

The AP-Dow Jones News Service (“S. KOREA: RETIRED U.S. OFFICIALS ARRIVE AFTER N. KOREA VISIT,” Seoul, 7/22/97) reported that former US Senator Sam Nunn and former US Ambassador to the ROK James Laney arrived in Seoul after concluding their visit to the DPRK from July 20 to 22. Laney and Nunn were scheduled to brief ROK Foreign Minister Yoo Chong-ha and other officials on their visit. The DPRK’s official Korean Central News Agency said in a statement that the two former US officials met with First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok Ju and agreed on “some important problems,” and also met with Lt. Gen. Ri Chan Bok, chief of the DPRK’s military mission in Panmunjom, the neutral border village between the two Koreas. [Ed. note: See also “Former US Officials to Visit DPRK” in the July 14 Daily Report.]

Reuters (“U.S. ENVOYS OFFER BENEFITS OF TALKS TO NORTH,” Seoul, 7/22/97) reported that former US Senator Sam Nunn and former US Ambassador to the ROK James Laney told a news conference in Seoul that they held “frank — sometimes tough — but useful discussions with key officials” from the DPRK’s foreign ministry and military during their two day visit there, and told them that the DPRK could bre

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1. DPRK Drought

The Associated Press (“NORTH KOREA NOW BATTLING DROUGHT,” Tokyo, 7/21/97) reported that the DPRK’s Korean Central Broadcasting Station said in a broadcast monitored in Tokyo Monday that the DPRK is now battling a drought that has spread to hundreds of thousands of acres. The drought, caused by sparse rainfall and recently aggravated by a heat wave, poses a new threat to this summer’s grain harvest. Farmers, soldiers, and even clerical workers are trying to bring water to the arid fields, but rivers, lakes and reservoirs are rapidly drying up, and rice paddies are so parched they are cracking, the broadcast said. Hardest hit are farms in the South and North Pyongan provinces, South and North Hamgyong provinces and North Hwanghae province, in the country’s central, east and northeast regions, the radio said. The DPRK usually receives large amounts of rain in July, just when crops need it the most, the broadcast said. In the previous two years, floods have aggravated the chronic food shortage in the isolated state.

2. DPRK Seeks Improved Relations with US, Japan

The Associated Press (“N. KOREA LOOKS TOWARD U.S., JAPAN,” Seoul, 7/21/97) reported that the DPRK’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Monday that DPRK leader Kim Jong-il wants to improve relations with the US and Japan, but believes relations can only improve if Washington and Tokyo end their “hostile” policy toward the DPRK. Kim reportedly made the comments in a letter to Mun Myong-ja, a Korean-American journalist who publishes “Asian News” in Washington and a frequent traveler to the DPRK who visited Pyongyang in early July. “In our relations with the United States, we will faithfully implement the agreed points in conformity with the idea and principle of our foreign policy,” Kim was quoted as saying. “This is our invariable stand.” However, many problems remain unsolved because of the “imperialists’ hostile activities,” the letter said. As for relations with Japan, Kim said: “Our position for establishing good neighborhood and friendship with Japan is also consistent.” “I think the settlement of the issues depends on the attitude of the United States and Japan toward us,” he said. Although Kim’s remarks were broad and communicated no new positions, the letter itself was notable, as Kim rarely comments openly on such issues.

3. Former US Joint Chiefs Chair Comments on DPRK

Reuters (“N. KOREA REFORMS SEEN ENDING STALINIST SYSTEM,” Seoul, 7/18/97) reported that Colin Powell, former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, on a four-day visit to the ROK, said Friday during a seminar abou

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

III. Japan

I. United States

1. DPRK-ROK Border Skirmish

The Associated Press (“NORTH KOREA CRITICIZES WASHINGTON,” Seoul, 7/18/97) reported that the DPRK on Friday denounced the US for blaming the DPRK for the border skirmish with ROK troops earlier in the week. A DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement carried on the DPRK’s official Korean Central News Agency that the US action raised suspicion over US intentions at the preliminary peace talks next month. The US “slandered the DPRK, alleging that the responsibility for the recent incident rests with the DPRK,” said the spokesman, who was not identified in the statement. The US-led UN Command lodged a complaint Thursday with the DPRK, accusing it of an armistice violation. The DPRK refused to accept the written protest letter. [Ed. note: see item below.]

The Associated Press (“KOREA BORDER SHOOTING PROTESTED,” Seoul, 7/17/97) and Reuters (“U.N. COMMAND IN S.KOREA PROTESTS TO N.KOREA,” Seoul, 7/17/97) reported that on Thursday the US-led UN Command in the ROK lodged a protest with the DPRK over the border skirmish at the demilitarized zone, charging the DPRK with an armistice violation. However, command spokesman Jim Coles said, the DPRK’s military officials refused to accept the written protest note. The refusal was in line with DPRK’s long-standing policy of trying to bypass official Korean armistice procedures and instead open a direct channel of dialogue with the United States. Coles said the protest was based on the findings of a UN military investigation into Wednesday’s clash. Meanwhile, the US Senate voted unanimously to approve an amendment to a foreign spending bill that orders the president to certify that

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1. DPRK-ROK Border Skirmish

The Associated Press (“KOREA-BORDER GUNFIRE EXCHANGED,” Seoul, 7/16/97) and Reuters (“ARTILLERY SHELLS FLY AT KOREAN FRONTIER,” Seoul, 7/16/97) reported that DPRK and ROK troops on Wednesday exchanged heavy gunfire in a relatively remote mountainous area in the central portion of the demilitarized zone separating the two countries. The DPRK said several of its soldiers were wounded in the exchange and accused the ROK of a “grave armed provocative act,” while the ROK called it an “intentional provocation” by the DPRK. The clash was considered the most serious incident between the two countries since last September’s DPRK submarine incursion incident. The ROK Defense Ministry said that ROK border guards spotted at least seven DPRK troops on the southern side of the demilitarized zone and ordered them to withdraw through a loudspeaker, subsequently firing some 200 warning shots into the air. The DPRK fired back at the ROK soldiers, who then directed fire at the DPRK soldiers with machine guns and rifles, at which point DPRK soldiers at a guard post across the border fired 10 mortar rounds and two more rounds of unidentified artillery, the ministry said. The DPRK’s official Korean Central News Agency issued a report that denied its soldiers had crossed the border and accused the ROK of obstructing its soldiers’ “routine patrol duty.” “The people’s army soldiers were compelled to take self-defensive measures under the grave situation,” the KCNA report said. “From this attack, several solders were injured and several guard posts were destroyed,” it added, giving no further details. The ROK said it will lodge a complain with the military armistice commission. The shooting occurred just three weeks before senior officials from the DPRK, ROK, PRC and US are to meet in New York to prepare for commenceme

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

III. Russian Federation

I. United States

1. New US Food Aid to DPRK

The Washington Post (R. Jeffrey Smith, “U.S. SAYS IT WILL DOUBLE FOOD AID TO NORTH KOREA,” Washington, 7/15/97, A15) reported Monday’s US announcement that the US will provide 100,000 metric tons of grain valued at US$27 million to help feed children and the elderly in the DPRK in response to the July 9 request by the UN World Food Program (WFP). The report noted that the US decision comes three weeks before the crucial four-party peace talks preliminary meeting in New York. Although US officials publicly denied any connection between the aid and forthcoming talks, the report said that officials have said privately that past US assistance has improved substantially the political climate for the negotiations. The new donation amounts to slightly more than half the $45.6 million sought by the WFP, and brings the total US food aid contribution for 1997 to US$52 million. However, the report quoted Andrew S. Natsios, formerly at the US Agency for International Development and now at World Vision, as noting that the US contributions to the DPRK to date amount to roughly 10 percent of the shortfall, considerably less than the 25 to 35 percent the US typically provides to alleviate foreign famines. Natsios added his opinion that the US administration’s response to the DPRK famine crisis has been too restrained because of opposition from some US lawmakers and pressure from the ROK, which he said “has consistently and openly opposed any significant food aid to their adversaries in the North.”

2. DPRK-ROK Food Aid Talks

The Associated Press (“NORTH KOREA OKS NEW FOOD AID TALKS,” Seoul, 7/15/97) and Reuters