In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

III. Japan

IV. Press Releases

I. United States

1. US-DPRK MIA Agreement

US Department of Defense Spokesman Ken Bacon (“PENTAGON SPOKESMAN’S REGULAR BRIEFING,” USIA Transcript, 5/15/97) issued the following statement: “I’d like to announce that the United States and North Korea have reached agreement on two important measures to allow us to continue with our efforts to sort out what happened to prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action from the Korean War. As you know, meetings were held in New York last week, and they ended without agreement. But after those meetings, we were able to reach agreement on two of the three issues we had raised with the North Koreans. Those issues are joint recovery operations for remains in North Korea. Both sides have agreed that the U.S. will be able to conduct three joint recovery operations. U.S. teams working with North Koreans in North Korea will be able to conduct three recovery operations this year. Second, U.S. researchers will be able to go to the archives in Pyongyang to look for archival information that may be left over from the Korean War. They also will work in a joint team with the North Koreans. The third issue was our request that we be allowed to interview American defectors in North Korea. We believe that six Americans defected to North Korea in the 1960s, and we believe that four of those are still alive in North Korea. We’ve asked for permission to go interview them in order to

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

III. People’s Republic of China

I. United States

1. US Military Leader’s Views of DPRK Threat

General John Shalikashvili, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a speech at the PRC’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) National Defense University May 14 (“SHALIKASHVILI 5/14 SPEECH AT CHINA DEFENSE UNIVERSITY,” USIA Transcript, 5/14/97), said that the DPRK currently poses the greatest threat to US interests in East Asia. Shalikashvili stated, “It is fair to ask: what specific threats do the United States and our friends and allies see in the Asia-Pacific region? First, and most threatening, is the unpredictable regime in Pyongyang, which poses a major threat to peace on the Korean peninsula and in the surrounding area. This threat is magnified by the regime’s current economic problems and its apparent inability to feed its population. This is a sad situation. Today, the security situation on the Korean peninsula is worse than it was 25 years ago, when I served there as a military planner.” Shalikashvili continued, “Let me add that we continue to welcome China’s active participation in the four power talks and its bilateral efforts to help reduce tensions on the Korean peninsula. And we appreciate China’s efforts to help us keep nuclear weapons off of the Korean peninsula.” Shalikashvili also cited as threatening the “nuclear, chemical, and missile technology proliferation both in the region and coming from the region,” and the “significant territorial disputes concerning Japan’s Nor

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

III. Commentary

I. United States

1. DPRK-Taiwan Nuclear Waste Deal

The AP-Dow Jones News Service (“TAIWAN NUCLEAR WASTE OF HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVITY -GREENPEACE,” Hong Kong, 5/13/97) reported that the environmental group Greenpeace charged Tuesday that Taiwan’s national power company has “deliberately misrepresented” the radioactivity of up to 200,000 barrels of nuclear waste it plans to ship to the DPRK for storage. Taipower said it was shipping only low-level radioactive waste, but was actually sending “some of the most dangerous substances produced by nuclear reactors,” Greenpeace said in a statement. Taipower spokeswoman Chung Ching-chung said Greenpeace was “mistaken,” and that all the waste intended to be shipped to the DPRK was of low-level radioactivity, mainly gloves, clothes, nuts and bolts and tools exposed to radiation during servicing of Taiwan’s three nuclear power plants. But Greenpeace said an investigation it carried out in Taiwan with a British nuclear engineering firm shows the waste is actually “a soup of highly radioactive poisons,” and that it has visual documentation of its claims. Taiwan reportedly will pay the DPRK about US$230 million to store the waste, with the DPRK receiving the first deliveries in June.

The AP-Dow Jones News Service (“S. KOREA: ENVIRONMENT GROUP TO PROTEST NUCLEAR WASTE PLAN,” Pusan, ROK, 5/13/97) reported that the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, an ROK environmental group, said Tuesday it will stage a rally aboard some twenty ships this Friday to protest Taiwan’s plans to ship nuclear waste to the DPRK for stora

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1. US-DPRK MIA Talks

The US Department of Defense (“DOD 5/10 STATEMENT U.S.-NORTH KOREA MIA TALKS,” USIA Report, 5/12/97) released a statement on May 10 expressing disappointment that talks between the US and the DPRK on missing US servicemen (MIAs) from the Korean War ended in New York May 9 with no formal agreement and with no progress shown in resolving the issue. The statement, entitled “U.S. And North Korea Talks On Missing Servicemen End,” read: “Talks between the United States and North Korea on missing servicemen from the Korean war ended in New York, Friday night, with no formal agreement. The negotiations began on Sunday, and focused on the fullest possible accounting of American servicemen in three broad areas: the question of live sightings of alleged Americans living in North Korea; access to North Korean military archives; and establishment of a schedule of joint operations to recover the remains of Americans buried in North Korea. James W. Wold, leader of the U.S. delegation, expressed disappointment that the talks ended with no agreement and with no progress shown in resolving the issue. ‘Despite assurances in advance of the talks with the North Koreans that we would deal conclusively with all issues, their delegation was unable to respond constructively to U.S. proposals in any of the three areas,’ Wold said. ‘I know that our family members and veterans are as disappointed as I am.’ At the request of the Departm

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1. Hwang Assertions of DPRK War Threat

Reuters (“DEFECTOR: N. KOREA MOST LIKELY NUKE CAPABLE,” Seoul, 5/9/97) reported that Kwon Young-hae, head of the ROK Agency for National Security Planning (NSP), told a parliamentary committee Friday that DPRK defector Hwang Jang-yop says he presumes the DPRK has nuclear weapons but cannot prove it. Hwang, the highest-ranked official ever to flee the DPRK, has told Seoul investigators he could provide no details about any nuclear capability because he did not have access to military secrets. “Mr. Hwang said he presumed North Korea possessed nuclear weapons as it withdrew from the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) in 1993 while refusing inspections of atomic sites by the IAEA,” Kwon said. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, has never been able to confirm that the DPRK has a nuclear device, but said again in April that it had yet to account for an amount of nuclear-grade plutonium that experts say it possesses. A crisis over Pyongyang’s suspected nuclear weapons program led to the landmark accord signed in Geneva in 1994, under which the DPRK agreed to dismantle its nuclear facilities in return for safer reactors promised by the United States. Upon arrival in the ROK on April 20, Hwang, the architect of the DPRK’s guiding ideology of self-reliance or “juche,” said Pyongyang’s leaders had abandoned hope for their impoverished, famine-stric

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

III. People’s Republic of China

I. United States

1. US Optimism on Peace Talks

The AP-Dow Jones News Service (“U.S. OPTIMISTIC ABOUT KOREA PEACE TALKS,” Tokyo, 5/8/97) reported that a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US is optimistic that the DPRK will soon accept the four-party peace talks proposal, in order to bring both lasting peace to the Korean Peninsula and emergency food aid to its people. The ROK has said large-scale aid will follow commencement of peace efforts, but the DPRK is seeking a commitment to food aid prior to joining the peace talks. Last month, the DPRK backed out of the proposed peace talks, in part due to differences over the timing of food aid. Experts have said the DPRK is on the brink of famine after two years of flooding that has devastated farmlands.

2. US-DPRK MIA Talks

The AP-Dow Jones News Service (“U.S., N. KOREA ARE ON TRACK TO REACH MIA AGREEMENT BY FRIDAY,” Tokyo, 5/7/97) reported that Larry Greer, spokesman for the US Defense Department’s office for prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action, said Wednesday that the US and the DPRK are on track to reach an agreement on accounting for US soldiers captured or killed during the 1950-53 Korean War. Delegates from the two countries are aiming to reach agreements on tracing individuals who went missing during the war, the return of remains of US soldiers who died there, and access for US researchers to DPRK military archives. “We’

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1. US-ROK-Japan Meeting on DPRK Issues

Reuters (“U.S., JAPAN, S.KOREA OFFICIALS BEGIN N.KOREA TALKS,” Tokyo, 5/7/97) reported that the US, the ROK and Japan began talks in Tokyo on Wednesday to coordinate policies regarding the DPRK. ROK officials said that the one-day discussions at the Japanese Foreign Ministry were to focus on food shortages in the North and ways to encourage the DPRK government to join peace talks. The trilateral discussions are being led by Charles Kartman, US deputy assistant secretary of state, Yu Myung-hwan, director-general for North American affairs at the ROK Foreign Ministry, and Ryozo Kato, Yu’s Japanese counterpart. At talks in New York two weeks ago, the US and the ROK failed to get the DPRK to accept their proposed four-party peace talks proposal.

Reuters (“FOOD AID TO NORTH KOREA TIED TO PEACE TALKS,” Tokyo, 5/7/97) reported that Japanese officials involved with the Tokyo talks said Wednesday that the US and the ROK do not plan to give large-scale food aid to the DPRK until the Pyongyang government agrees to open peace talks. The officials said Japan did not plan to give any aid at all until ties with the DPRK were normalized. All three viewpoints were reiterations of previously held positions. “We basically agreed it was important to keep a cautious eye on the food situation in North Korea,” a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said.

The AP-Dow Jones News Service (“1997 S. KOREA, JAP

In today’s Report:

I. United States

I. United States

1. US-DPRK Missile Talks Postponed

The Associated Press (“PYONGYANG POSTPONES MISSILE TALKS,” Washington, 5/6/97) reported that the DPRK, citing “technical reasons,” has called off talks scheduled for next week that were to deal with US concerns over DPRK missile technology development and export. Agenda items were to include reports that the DPRK is preparing to deploy long-range Rodong I missiles that may be capable of hitting the ROK and much of Japan, and US concerns that the DPRK has sold long-range Scud missiles to Iran and Syria. The talks were due to be held in New York May 12-13. US State Department spokesman John Dinger said that on Monday the DPRK requested a postponement but also requested alternative dates, indicating it was still interested in the talks. “We will recommend dates and hope they will be held soon,” Dinger said. In a first round of talks, held last April in Berlin, the US sought a freeze on DPRK missile exports and production, and encouraged the DPRK to join an international agreement to restrict exports of such weapons.

2. DPRK Comments on Food Talks Breakdown

Reuters (“NORTH KOREA HITS SOUTH FOR TALKS FAILURE,” Seoul, 5/6/97) reported that on Tuesday the DPRK’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) criticized the ROK for the deadlock in Red Cross talks on food aid. “No agreement was reached at the contact due to the South side’s eccentric and incomprehensi