I. United States

1. US-DPRK Talks
2. Exchange of Separated Families
3. US Missile Defense

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I. United States

1. US-DPRK Talks

Agence France Presse ("US AND NKOREA TO HOLD TERRORISM TALKS IN PYONGYANG," Seoul, 8/8/00) reported that the US and the DPRK are to hold talks this week in Pyongyang to draw up measures the DPRK needs to take to be removed from the US list of countries sponsoring terrorism. ROK foreign ministry officials said that a US delegation headed by US State Department counter-terrorism coordinator Michael Sheehan will take part in discussions on August 9-10. ROK officials quoted by Yonhap News Agency said that they did not expect much progress in this week's talks, but said the meetings were important to give momentum to DPRK's opening-up process.

2. Exchange of Separated Families

The Associated Press (Jae-Suk Yoo, "KOREAS EXCHANGE NAMES FOR REUNIONS," Seoul, 8/8/00) reported that the DPRK and the ROK on Tuesday exchanged the names of 100 people from each country for temporary family reunions. The lists were exchanged at the truce village of Panmunjom. Red Cross officials said that both sides also exchanged official notes guaranteeing the safe passage of those travelers. The reuniting families will be accompanied by 31 Red Cross officials and 20 journalists when they travel to the other side. The reunions will take place in Seoul and Pyongyang and travelers will not be allowed to visit their hometowns. Both the DPRK and the ROK have agreed to set up a permanent meeting place for future reunions, with one of the likely choices being Panmunjom. ROK Red Cross Secretary General Park Ki-ryun said, "In order to resolve this problem fundamentally, we must open a reunion office," adding that talks on opening the office will be held next month.

3. US Missile Defense

The New York Times (Steven Lee Myers, "COHEN DELAYS HIS FINDING ON BUILDING MISSILE RADAR," Washington, 08/08/00) reported that US Defense Secretary William S. Cohen on Monday postponed for at least a month his recommendation to President Bill Clinton on whether to proceed with a limited national missile defense. Cohen stated, "Components of the Department of Defense are currently completing their assessment of the program to develop a national missile defense system. A number of difficult issues remain to be resolved before they can report to me." Officials said that the US Defense Department and its Ballistic Missile Defense Organization had not reached a consensus on critical aspects of the program, including the costs of building the system, the building schedule and the need for new tests. The officials said that Cohen's recommendation has been complicated by the failure of a test last month. [Ed. note: This article was included in the US Department of Defense's Early Bird news service for August 8.]

II. Corrections

1. ROK Aid to DPRK

According to the response to PFO 00-05 by Mi-Kyoung Kim (http://www.nautilus.org/fora/security/0005I_Han_Discussion.html), the ROK government has given US$2.3 billion since 1995. That figure was a miscalculation. According to the ROK Ministry of Unification, the total ROK government aid to the DPRK amounts to US$3 million for the period of 1995-1999.

2. ASEAN Website

The url for the ASEAN Secretariat website given in the Special Report distributed on August 8 does not work. The correct url is: http://www.aseansec.org/

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