Daily Report Archives

Daily Report Archives

Established in December 1993, the Nautilus Institute’s *N*ortheast *A*sia *P*eace and *S*ecurity *N*etwork (NAPSNet) Daily Report served thousands of readers  in more than forty countries, including policy makers, diplomats, aid organizations, scholars, donors, activists, students, and journalists.

The NAPSNet Daily Report aimed to serve a community of practitioners engaged in solving the complex security and sustainability issues in the region, especially those posed by the DPRK’s nuclear weapons program and the threat of nuclear war in the region.  It was distributed by email rom 1993-1997, and went on-line in December 1997, which is when the archive on this site begins. The format at that time can be seen here.

However, for multiple reasons—the rise of instantaneous news services, the evolution of the North Korea and nuclear issues, the increasing demand for specialized and synthetic analysis of these and related issues, and the decline in donor support for NAPSNet—the Institute stopped producing the Daily Report news summary service as of December 17, 2010.

NAPSNet

NAPSNet Daily Report 27 February, 1997

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

III. People’s Republic of China

I. United States

1. Hwang Defection: ROK-PRC Talks

Reuters (“S. KOREA-CHINA TALKS ON DEFECTOR BOGGED DOWN,” Beijing, 2/27/97) reported that ROK-PRC discussions Thursday over the fate of DPRK defector Hwang Jang-yop produced no progress. “It’s still going on,” ROK Embassy spokesman Chang Moon-ik said. When asked when Hwang might be able to leave the PRC, Chang said, “Not this month.” Chang declined to say what issues, if any, were holding up negotiations on Hwang. “It’s very hard to say when this case will be over,” he said. PRC Foreign Ministry spokesman Tang Guoqiang called for calm and said Beijing did not wish to see new tension on the Korean peninsula. “We hope that all sides concerned seek with a calm and objective attitude a solution to appropriately resolve the matter to maintain peace and stability in the Korean peninsula,” Tang told a news briefing. “We do not wish to see this matter giving rise to new tensions in the Korean peninsula. Whether the problem is resolved fast or slow hinges completely on when and under what circumstances (the) concerned sides find a way to appropriately resolve it,” he said.

2. DPRK Woman Defects to ROK

The Associated Press (“N.KOREAN WOMAN WALKS ACROSS DMZ,” Seoul, 2/27/97) reported that the ROK Defense Ministry said that on Thursday a DPRK woman walked across the Korean Demilitarized Zone to defect to the ROK. Lee Kyu Sun, 25, was spotted by ROK border guards near the east coast, t

Go to the article

NAPSNet Daily Report 26 February, 1997

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

III. US Official Statements to US Congress on Korean Policy

I. United States

1. Four Part Talks Briefing

US State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns (“STATE DEPT. NOON BRIEFING, FEB. 26,” USIA Transcript, 2/26/97) stated: “Next week, as you know, the Secretary announced in Seoul that we will be having the first briefing on the Four-Party Talks among the South Koreans and the North Koreans, including with the United States. That will be followed by a bilateral meeting with the South Koreans and the United States, and a bilateral meeting with the North Koreans. The briefing, among the three, will be on March 5. There is going to be photo opportunity for those of you who would like to cover it. There won’t be a speaking part to this. But for the first time, you’ll be able to record a meeting on camera with the North Koreans and the South Koreans and the United States.” Burns later added: “What the North Koreans should know is that the United States has a fundamental commitment to the security of South Korea; that our 37,000 troops in the Republic of Korea are dedicated to defending South Korea. That’s why we want to go to the Four-Party Talks: to reduce this climate of suspicion and distrust, to reduce the level of military tension along the 151 miles of the Demilitarized Zone, and to try to point towards eventually a peace treaty that would end effectively, after 46 excuse me, 43 years, the Korean War.” In response to a question noting that the DPRK agreed to attend the briefing after the US promised food aid, Burns said: “The

Go to the article

NAPSNet Daily Report 25 February, 1997

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1. US-DPRK Meeting

US Acting State Department Spokesman Glynn Davies (“REPORT ON STATE DEPARTMENT NOON BRIEFING, FEB. 25,” USIA Report, 2/25/97) said that US and DPRK officials will meet in New York on March 7. Among the bilateral issues the two sides will discuss is the possibility of opening liaison offices in each others’ countries. This meeting is in addition to the previously announced joint US-ROK briefing of the DPRK on the four-party peace talks proposal scheduled for March 5, also in New York.

2. Past DPRK Defector Dies from Shooting

Reuters (“N.KOREAN DEFECTOR DIES OF GUNSHOT WOUNDS,” Seoul, 2/25/97) and the Associated Press (“SHOT KOREAN DEFECTOR DIES,” Seoul, 2/25/97) reported that past DPRK defector Li Il-nam, known in the ROK as Lee Han-yong, died on Tuesday after being shot on February 15. Doctors at the Cha Hospital in Bundang, a suburb south of Seoul, said they could not remove a bullet in Li’s head because it was too deeply planted. He had been in a coma since the shooting and had not been expected to survive. Lee, 36, was the nephew of DPRK leader Kim Jong-il’s former wife. At the time of the shooting, police asserted that the assailants were DPRK agents. Although not abandoning that theory, police have since suggested the shooting might have been the result of a failed business deal or a personal dispute. On Monday, police distributed 300,000 copies of a photo of a man suspected in

Go to the article

NAPSNet Daily Report 24 February, 1997

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

III. Japan

IV. Text of Albright-Yoo Joint Press Conference

I. United States

1. DPRK To Attend Four-Party Talks Briefing

The Associated Press (“N. KOREA TO JOIN PEACE TALKS,” Seoul, 2/21/97) and Reuters (“N.KOREA TO ATTEND BRIEFING ON PEACE TALKS,” Seoul, 2/21/97) reported that on Friday the DPRK agreed to attend a joint US-ROK briefing on the four-party peace talks proposal. The DPRK’s official Korean Central News Agency, quoting an unidentified Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that the briefing session is scheduled to take place March 5 in New York. According to officials in Seoul, the delegations to the briefing will be led by US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Charles Kartman, ROK Assistant Foreign Minister Song Young-shik, and DPRK Assistant Foreign Minister Kim Kye-kwan. Attendance of the briefing would mark the first time DPRK officials have sat down for direct negotiations with ROK officials. The briefing is intended to explain to the DPRK the four-party Korean peace talks proposal first put forward by US President Bill Clinton and ROK President Kim Young-sam in April, 1996. The peace talks, aimed at achieving a permanent peace treaty to replace the armistice that ended the 1950-1953 Korean War, would be attended by the DPRK, the ROK, the US, and the PRC. The DPRK’s agreement to attend the briefing came after the US and the ROK announced earlier in the week that they would provide a combined US$16 million in food aid. The DPRK previously backed out of an agreement to attend the briefing in January after

Go to the article

NAPSNet Daily Report 20 February, 1997

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

III. People’s Republic of China

I. United States

1a. Hwang Defection: Effect of Deng’s Death

Reuters (“N. KOREA DEFECTOR TALKS PUT ON HOLD,” Seoul, 2/20/97) reported that ROK officials said Thursday that talks with the PRC to decide the fate of Hwang Jang-yop, the senior DPRK ideologue currently in the ROK consulate in Beijing, have been put on hold by the death of Deng Xiaoping. “China and the ROK share the same Asian tradition and you just don’t want to disturb mourning people,” a ROK foreign ministry official said. “We will refrain from raising Hwang’s issue with Chinese officials for the time being,” said the official, who asked not to be identified. He said a short-term delay in the talks over Hwang would not seriously affect his fate since his departure from Beijing was not imminent. “Delay in our negotiations over Hwang appears inevitable but that progress could be speeded up after Deng’s funeral,” the official said. The PRC on Thursday declared six days of mourning for Deng, who died late Wednesday. Another ministry official said Hwang had videotaped a confirmation of his intention to defect, and that this had been passed to the PRC government even before the DPRK began signaling Monday that it might be ready to accept Hwang’s evident choice. The official speculated that the PRC might have shown Hwang’s videotape to DPRK officials.

1b. Hwang Defection: Wall Street Journal Analysis

The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition carried an editorial (“WHO PULLED PYONGYANG’S STRING?,” 2/20/97) discussing the DPRK’s apparent change in position regarding the evident defection of t

Go to the article

NAPSNet Daily Report 19 February, 1997

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1a. Hwang Defection: Current Negotiations

Reuters (“TALKS ON NORTH KOREA DEFECTOR STALL,” Seoul, 2/19/97) reported that ROK Foreign Ministry spokesman Lee Kyu-hyung on Wednesday said talks were stalled on the fate of top DPRK ideologue Hwang Jang-yop, who sought asylum in Seoul’s Beijing consulate last week. Lee denied a Japanese newspaper report that the PRC and the ROK had agreed that Hwang could leave Beijing for the ROK as early as this week. “Unfortunately, we have not made any real progress in our talks with China and it is too early to talk about when Hwang could leave Beijing,” Lee said. Another Foreign Ministry official, who asked not to be identified, said: “He is not likely to leave within a few days. It could be weeks before Hwang can secure his departure.” Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper had reported that Seoul and Beijing had “basically agreed to transfer Hwang” to the ROK. The DPRK had earlier indicated it was softening its stance over Hwang, whose defection marks one of the greatest embarrassments for one of the world’s few remaining communist states. Meanwhile, Lee Hong-koo of the ruling New Korea Party said Hwang’s defection was pushing the DPRK’s leadership into desperation, and warned that Seoul’s policy of seeking reunification of the Korean peninsula by treating Pyongyang as an equal partner might have to be abandoned. “Severe food shortages and economic difficulties are driving the North Korean system to an irreversible

Go to the article

NAPSNet Daily Report 18 February, 1997

In today’s Report:

I. United States

I. United States

1a. Hwang Defection: DPRK Position Shift

The Associated Press (“N. KOREA EASES UP ON DEFECTOR,” Beijing, 2/18/97) reported that DPRK leader Kim Jong-il, in an apparent reference to Hwang Jang-yop, who sought asylum in the ROK consulate in Beijing last week, said Tuesday in statement read on a domestic radio broadcast monitored in Tokyo that “cowards” who wanted to leave the country should go ahead and do so. “As the revolutionary song says, Cowards, Leave If You Want To! We will defend the red flag of revolution to the bitter end,” Kim said. Kim’s statement came just one day after the DPRK indicated it could accept Hwang’s defection, and also appears to be the first official comment by Kim that could be construed as touching on the incident. However, the statement did not specifically mention Hwang and was not personally read by Kim. Shinya Kato, an editor at Radio Press, the monitoring service that reported the remarks, said the broadcast likely was aimed at the few high-ranking officials in the DPRK who may have learned of Hwang’s apparent defection. “It can be seen as a warning,” Kato said. Kato noted, however, that the vast majority of DPRK citizens have no knowledge of Hwang’s apparent defection.

The Associated Press (“N. KOREA EASES UP ON DEFECTOR,” Be

Go to the article

NAPSNet Daily Report 17 February, 1997

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1. Past DPRK Defector Shot in Seoul

Reuters (“S.KOREA ON ALERT FOR N.KOREA ATTACKS,” Seoul, 2/17/97) reported that ROK armed forces went on alert Monday for possible DPRK terrorist attacks, following the shooting of Lee Han-young, a prominent DPRK defector, by suspected DPRK agents outside the apartment building in which he was living in Seoul. Lee, known as Li Il-nam in the DPRK and nephew of DPRK leader Kim Jong-il’s alleged ex-wife, was in a coma with head and torso wounds and was said by doctors to be unlikely to regain consciousness. ROK Home Affairs Minister Suh Chung-hwa denounced the weekend shooting as “an assassination attempt by North Korean infiltrators.” A police officer was quoted as saying that, in response to the shooting, “We have drawn up a list of defectors, senior officials and politicians to provide tight security against any possible terrorist attacks by North Korea. Security around ports, airports and other public places has also been beefed up.” About 10,000 police and soldiers searched for the two suspected DPRK agents.

Reuters (“SHOOTING WORRIES KOREAN DEFECTORS IN SEOUL,” Seoul, 2/17/97) reported that the shooting of Lee Han-young has sent shock waves through Seoul’s community of DPRK escapees, many of whom live in fear for their lives, some of its members said Monday. More than 600 DPRK defectors live in the ROK. Lee’s shooting was the first assassination attempt on an escapee since the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War, a sen

Go to the article

NAPSNet Daily Report 14 February, 1997

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

III. Japan

I. United States

1a. Hwang Defection: Hwang’s Statements [Ed. Note: please see the Special Reports issued earlier to day for excerpts from various Hwang letters.]

Reuters (“N.KOREA DEFECTOR THREATENS TO DIE IN BEIJING,” Rome, 2/14/97) reported a statement from the ROK embassy in Rome (but datelined Seoul) that Hwang Jang-yop, the DPRK official seeking asylum in the ROK, has said he will die in Beijing if his request is not granted. The statement quoted him as saying, “I want to make it clear that South Korea is the place where I want to go, and I will not go to any third country.” The embassy report also said Seoul’s foreign ministry had issued a statement Thursday hand-written by Hwang. It quoted Hwang’s note as saying, “My remaining life will not be long. I am a failed man in politics.” It also quotes the note as saying, “I don’t have a slightest intention to take a share in any one side. I only wish to give help to south-north relations and unification until the last minute of my life.”

1b. Hwang Defection: Embassy Events

The New York Times (Patrick E. Tyler, “DEFECTOR FROM KOREA IS HOT POTATO FOR BEIJING,” Beijing, 2/14/97) reported that Hwang’s case is extraordinary not only because of his rank, but also as a result of the defection drama playing itself out in front of the ROK embassy in Beijing.

The Los Angeles Times (Rone Tempest, “CHINA GRAPPLES WITH DEFECTION DILEMMA,” Beijing, 2/14/97) quoted ROK embassy spokesman Chang Mo

Go to the article

NAPSNet Daily Report 13 February, 1997

In today’s Report:

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea

I. United States

1a. Hwang Defection: Current Diplomacy

The Associated Press (Renee Schoof, “KOREAS MANEUVER OVER DEFECTOR,” Beijing, 2/13/97) reported that the PRC, the DPRK and the ROK were involved in frantic diplomatic maneuvering Thursday in the wake of the apparent defection of Hwang Jang-yop, the 72-year-old high-ranking DPRK official and party ideologue who on Wednesday sought asylum in the ROK embassy in Beijing. Defecting with Hwang was Kim Duk-hong, 59, identified as the president of a DPRK trading firm in Beijing. The ROK pressed the PRC to allow the ROK to bring Hwang immediately to Seoul, and enable ROK officials to learn all Hwang knows about the DPRK’s secretive government. The DPRK continues to insist Hwang has been kidnapped, and DPRK nationals have made attempts to get past PRC police guarding the ROK embassy to reach him [Ed. note: see item below]. The DPRK urged the PRC to take “appropriate measures” and threatened unspecified retaliation if Hwang had been kidnapped. The ROK responded by putting its entire 650,000-member military on higher alert. The PRC Foreign Ministry issued a brief statement calling for calm. PRC media did not cover the story other than to report the statement. PRC officials appeared to be seeking a way to navigate through the situation without offending either the DPRK, a long-time ally, or the ROK, an important new trading partner. Ultimately, however, the PRC government will have to decide whether Hwang will go to Pyongyang or Seoul.

Go to the article