Special Reports

Special Reports are longer, often more technical, documents consisting of entire articles, government statements, and other documents relevant to security and peace in Northeast Asia.

NAPSNet, Special Reports

The Proposed South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA)

William H. Cooper, Specialist in International Trade and Finance in the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division at the Congressional Research Service, and Mark E. Manyin, Specialist in Asian Affairs in the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division of the Congressional Research Service, describe the impact of the US-ROK Free Trade Agreement on the Kaesong Industrial Park. They write, “according to the details of the agreement released thus far, it appears the United States backed away from the principle of not ever expanding the KORUS FTA to North Korea-made products…[however] the United States would be able to control the decision to and pace of any move to grant preferential treatment to North Koreamade products.”

Go to the article

The Kaesong North-South Korean Industrial Complex

Dick K. Nanto, Specialist in Industry and Trade in the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division of the Congressional Research Service, and Mark E. Manyin, Analyst in Asian Affairs in the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division of the Congressional Research Service, write, “The United States currently has a mixed policy with respect to the KIC. Since South Korea is a close ally of the United States, Washington has been supportive of efforts by South Korea to engage the North in inter-Korean projects that benefit South Korea. On the other hand, the United States has been firm in predicating any economic or other concessions on actions by the DPRK to curtail or eliminate its nuclear program.”

Go to the article

Missile Defence Response to the July 5, 2006 North Korean Missile Test by US Naval Vessels Home-Ported at Yokosuka

Umebayashi Hiromichi, Founder and President of Peace Depot, a non-profit organization for peace research and education in Japan, writes, “These operations by US naval vessels homeported in Yokosuka tasked with ballistic missile defence of the US itself is an absolutely new development, one not provided for under the Japan-USA Mutual Security Treaty. This matter must be fully discussed from the point of view of control of military activities by law in both the international and national spheres.”

Go to the article

The North Korean Economy: Overview and Policy Analysis

Dick K. Nanto, Specialist in Industry and Trade Foreign Affairs, Defense at the Congressional Research Service, and Trade Division, and Emma Chanlett-Avery, Analyst in Asian Affairs Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division at the Congressional Research Service, write, “U.S.-led financial sanctions on North Korea have disrupted that country’s trade. In the six-party talks, economic assistance (including fuel oil) is a major bargaining chip. Economic policy options include increasing or easing economic sanctions, preventing
shipments of illicit cargo, normalizing relations with Pyongyang, negotiating a trade agreement, allowing the DPRK to join international financial institutions, and removing the country from the terrorism list.”

Go to the article

Anticipating Six Party Energy Negotiations

Peter Hayes, Nautilus Institute Executive Director and David von Hippel, Nautilus Institute Senior Associate, write, “In the long run… it is critical that a substantial fraction of the energy aid agreed to at the Six Party Talks result in developmental outcomes for the people living in the DPRK. Falling short of this goal will leave the DPRK highly insecure, and one of the essential girders of a non-nuclear future for the Korean Peninsula, the social and political stability of the DPRK, will collapse.”

Go to the article

Fueling DPRK Energy Futures and Energy Security: 2005 Energy Balance, Engagement Options, and Future Paths

Peter Hayes, Nautilus Institute Executive Director and David von Hippel, Nautilus Institute Senior Associate, write, “This document is intended to provide a best estimate, given available data, of an internally-consistent year 2005 energy supply/demand balance for the DPRK, as well as balances for previous years prepared with similar methodologies… As this report is being finalized, the representatives of the countries participating in the Six-Party Talks on the DPRK’s nuclear program have come to an initial agreement on steps to be taken to address the differences between the parties. Provision of energy security is a critical element of a successful and robust resolution to the nuclear confrontation between the DPRK and the international community.”

Attachments are available here.

Go to the article

Open Minds, Open Futures: How will Asia-Pacific Communities respond to Global Insecurity?

The Global Scenarios Workshop was convened by the Nautilus Institute at RMIT and Australia 21. This report from the workshop summarizes the narratives of the four scenarios developed at the workshop and uses these conceptions of the future to draw conclusions about threat perception, insecurity, and resiliency in the face of critical uncertainty. The report concludes that NGOs, civil society groups, and corporations all have an important role to play in issues of global problem solving and that “security is not an issue that can be left to governments alone.”

Go to the article

The Forgotten Victims of the North Korean Crisis

Tessa Morris-Suzuki, Professor of Japanese History in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University and author of the forthcoming book Exodus to North Korea: Shadows from Japan’s Cold War, writes, “Today in Japan, relatives of those who “returned” to North Korea in the Cold War years watch the difficult process of nuclear diplomacy quietly but with intense concern? While the story of the Japanese kidnap victims has dominated news headlines, this tragic story of the 93,340 who were “returned” remains little known, and hostility to North Korea (as well as fears for the fate of relatives in the North) makes it difficult for the small group of survivors now living in Japan to raise their voices.”

Go to the article

North Korea’s Alleged Large-Scale Enrichment Plant: Yet Another Questionable Extrapolation Based on Aluminum Tubes

David Albright, President of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), writes, “Certainly, questions remain about North Korea’s gas centrifuge program that must be resolved if an agreement is to move forward and nuclear dismantlement is to occur verifiably. But the flawed 2002 assessment must not be allowed to undermine this agreement or distort our reactions to declarations North Korea may make once it fulfills its obligations to dismantle its nuclear weapons program.”

Go to the article

Initial Actions for the Implementation of the Joint Statement

The Third Session of the Fifth Round of the Six-Party Talks was held in Beijing among the People’s Republic of China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the United States of America from 8 to 13 February 2007. The delegations agreed on this joint statement on February 13th, 2007.

Go to the article