The Nautilus Peace and Security Network (NAPSNet) is a non-governmental information network launched by the Nautilus Institute in November 1993. NAPSNet covers the key areas of research and policy work of the Nautilus Institute nodes in San Francisco, Melbourne and Seoul, including Austral security, nuclear deterrence, energy security, climate change adaptation, the DPRK, governance and civil society and the links between these themes and the three regions in which our nodes are found—North America, Northeast Asia, and the Austral-Asia region.
The Weekly Report succinctly presents six items each week that we believe every reader should know about these fields.
Koreas 1. DPRK Biological Weapons The US on Monday accused Iraq, the DPRK, and possibly Iran of violating the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention banning weapons of germ warfare and said Syria and Libya might be able to produce biological weapons. ROK Defense Minister Kim Dong-shin said that the DPRK has amassed an arsenal of biochemical […]
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Koreas 1. Inter-Korean Relations Inter-Korean talks aimed at reviving reconciliation broke off without a deal on November 14, with the DPRK blaming the ROK of provoking it by putting its forces on alert. The ROK media on Thursday intensified their criticisms of ROK President Kim Dae-Jung’s policy and chastised the DPRK for the talks’ failure. […]
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Korea 1. Inter-Korean Ministerial Talks Inter-Korean minister talks opened Friday with the two countries showing a sharp divide over the ROK anti-terror security measures. The DPRK opened talks blaming the ROK for the stalemate. According to ROK media reports, ROK Unification Minister Hong Soon-young, head of a five-member delegation to the inter-Korean talks in Mount […]
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Korea 1. Inter-Korean Talks The ROK accepted a DPRK proposal for dialogue at Mount Kumgang. The DPRK earlier warned that military exercises near Seoul had made the atmosphere for talks “complicated.” The ROK proposed that the Cabinet meeting take place on November 9-12, but the DPRK has yet to respond. ROK Unification Minister Hong Soon-young […]
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Koreas 1. Inter-Korean Talks The DPRK notified the ROK that it would suspend the meeting until the ROK accepts the DPRK’s request to hold the sixth inter-Korean meeting in its resort mountain of Kumgang. The ROK made a compromise proposal to the DPRK saying the two sides could hold ministerial talks, scheduled for October 28-31, […]
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Korea 1. Reunion of Separated Families The DPRK on Friday postponed a scheduled reunion next week of 200 separated families in the two Koreas, citing ROK’s security alert following last month’s terrorist attacks in the US. ROK Unification Minister Hong Soon-young suggested on October 18 that fear of the aftermath of the family exchange might […]
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Koreas 1. Reunion of Separated Families ROK officials said the DPRK on Friday abruptly postponed a scheduled reunion of 200 separated family members until the ROK lifts its special alert status and creates a freer atmosphere for exchanges, citing a “warlike situation” in the ROK. They also called off a plan to send a taekwondo […]
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Koreas 1. Mount Kumgang Talks The ROK proposed to the DPRK Thursday that a road across the Demilitarized Zone into Mount Kumgang be opened by the end of the year. The ROK also urged the DPRK to honor its earlier promise to designate the Mount Kumgang resort as a special tourism zone where ROK businesses […]
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DPRK 1. DPRK and Anti-Terrorism US officials confirmed that the US may ask the DPRK to provide intelligence on terror groups in its probe into the recent attacks in the US. ROK officials said that the DPRK contacted the US immediately after the attacks, andthat the DPRK’s private communication was more strongly worded than its […]
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Responses to US Retaliation 1. World Response to US Retaliation Many world leaders expressed concern on Friday over US President George W. Bush’s appeal to support a new war on terror. In the Middle East, even close US allies among Arab states face a dilemma in choosing how to respond. The PRC offered no immediate […]
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