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I. United States1. US ABM Treaty Withdrawal Reuters (Carol Giacomo, "U.S. MAY ANNOUNCE WITHDRAWAL FROM MISSILE TREATY ON THURSDAY," Washington 12/12/01) and The Associated Press (Barry Schweid, "BUSH TO PULL OUT OF '72 MISSILE PACT," Washington, 12/12/01) that US President George W. Bush told congressional leaders Wednesday that he intends to pull out of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty. Bush may announce his decision as early as Thursday. US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher would neither confirm nor deny the reports, but stated, "If we are to allow our missile defense program to succeed, it will be necessary to move beyond the ABM treaty and [Bush] will decide when to move beyond the ABM treaty." Democratic Senate Leader Tom Daschle argued that abandoning the ABM pact would be a "slap in the face" to the many people who have worked for years on reducing nuclear weapons. Delaware Democratic Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph Biden said that unilaterally abandoning the treaty would be a "serious mistake." Biden also said, "The administration has not offered any legitimate rationale for why any missile defence test it may need to conduct would require walking away from a treaty that has helped keep the peace for the last 30 years." John Issacs of the Council for a Liveable World stated, "Withdrawing from the ABM Treaty now is both unnecessary and unwise. Unnecessary because virtually all scientific experts believe that the US can continue to test a missile defense system without breaking the ABM Treaty for many years to come. Unwise because it could start a chain reaction that jeopardizes the three decades of progress the United States has made in reducing the threat from nuclear weapons." After talks in Moscow this week, US Secretary of State Colin Powell reported that the two sides "still have disagreements" on ABM but would continue working on the issue. 2. ROK-US Missile Talks Reuters ("SOUTH KOREA POSTPONES MISSILE TALKS WITH U.S. FIRM UNTIL 2002," Seoul, 12/12/01) reported that the ROK has postponed negotiations with US defense contractor Raytheon regarding the procurement of 48 SAM- X missiles until next year. An unnamed Raytheon spokesperson declined to say why the talks between the ROK Ministry of National Defense and Raytheon broke down. He did not give a date for when negotiations would resume. The Korea Times quoted an unnamed ROK defense ministry official as saying that the talks broke up due to a dispute over the timetable of payments for the 48 surface-to-air missiles and over a disagreement in the price for the missiles. 3. DPRK-ROK Family Reunions Reuters (Paul Eckert, "SOUTH KOREA SEEKS RENEWED EXCHANGES WITH ANGRY NORTH," Seoul, 12/11/01), The Associated Press (Lee Soo-jeong, "KOREAS RED CROSS TALKS MAY RESUME," Seoul, 12/11/01) and Agence France-Presse ("SOUTH KOREA PROPOSES NEW REUNIONS OF SEPARATED FAMILIES," 12/11/01) reported that in a telephone message to his DPRK counterpart Jang Jai- Un, ROK Red Cross chief Suh Young-Hoon suggested that officials of the aid group meet on December 14 to discuss resuming ROK-DPRK reunions. The ROK Red Cross wrote to the DPRK, "The heartbreak of those anticipating reunions grows with the prolonged delays." Suh said in the message, "I believe there will be little difficulties in carrying out the fourth reunion of separated families by the end of this month as we have already completed detailed talks on preparations." There was no immediate response from the DPRK. 4. Chinese Taliban Fighters The New York Times ("THE CAPTIVES: BEIJING ASKS FOR THE RETURN OF ANY CHINESE AMONG TALIBAN," Beijing, 12/11/01) reported that the PRC government said that there are some Chinese among the captured Taliban fighters and requested they be returned to the PRC to face charges of terrorism. PRC's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue stated, "These Uighurs are East Turkestan terrorists. If these people are proved to be Chinese citizens the relevant side should hand them back to China to be handled according to law." Zhang repeated the government's assertion that such fighters numbered in the hundreds, although academics who study the Uighurs doubt the figure is that high. 1. ROK-EU Summit The Korea Herald (Shin Yong-bae, "SOUTH KOREA, EU AGREE TO HOLD REGULAR SUMMIT TALKS," Strasbourg, France, 12/12/01) reported that the ROK and the European Union (EU) agreed Tuesday to hold summit talks on a regular basis. The first meeting will be held during the fourth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Denmark in September 2002. Chung Tae-ik, ROK President Kim Dae-jung's top foreign policy adviser, said that the presidents of ROK, the European Commission and the EU would attend the future summits. President Kim asked for the EU's continuing assistance for peace on the Korean Peninsula and additional investments in the ROK. European Commission President Romano Prodi reaffirmed the EU's support for the ROK's engagement policy toward the DPRK, Chung said. 2. Red Cross Talks Proposed The Korea Herald (Kim Ji-ho, "RED CROSS PROPOSES TALKS WITH N.K. ON FAMILY REUNIONS," Seoul, 12/12/01) reported that the ROK's Red Cross proposed Tuesday that the two Koreas arrange a round of family reunions within the year. In a telephone message sent to its DPRK counterpart, the ROK's Red Cross also proposed that working-level officials from the two sides meet December 14 to renew a date for the reunions that were originally slated for October 16-18. 3. ASEAN Security Forum The Korea Herald ("TWO KOREAS IN SECURITY FORUM," Seoul, 12/12/01) reported that ROK and DPRK officials will attend an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum (ARF) meeting to be held in New Delhi December 18-21. The DPRK is expected to send diplomats from its embassy in India to the working-level meeting. The ROK will send officials from its foreign and defense ministries. Representatives of 23 ARF member nations will discuss regional security issues, preventative diplomacy, and cooperation against transnational crimes such as drugs, piracy and small arms smuggling. 4. DPRK Food Shortage The Korea Herald (Kim Ji-ho, "N.K. STRUGGLES WITH FOOD SHORTAGE, DESPITE GOOD CROP," Seoul, 12/12/01) reported that a senior ROK official said Tuesday that the DPRK's grain harvest increased by 400,000 tons this year, but due to chronic food shortages, the DPRK is struggling to raise funds in foreign countries for "gift food" on the two biggest national holidays in 2002. DPRK citizens will commemorate the 60th birthday of Kim Jong-il on February 16. The 90th birthday of Kim Il-sung, who died in 1994, will take place on April 15. The DPRK's official media have said that the country should make the two anniversaries the most magnificent events ever. The ROK official, however, said the DPRK could not afford a feast, despite the 400,000-ton increase in crop yield. 5. PRC on Korean Peninsula Joongang Ilbo (Kim Hee-sung, "N.K. ISSUE SHOULD BE RESOLVED THROUGH DIALOGUE - CHINESE AMBASSADOR," Seoul, 12/12/01) reported that the PRC's ambassador to the ROK commented Tuesday that disputes should be resolved through dialogue and never through military means. The ambassador stated, "People in the Korean Peninsula would get the worst in the case of a military clash and we don't need any worsening of the situation, particularly when the two Koreas are already in a state of tension." As for US forces stationed in the ROK, he pointed out that it has always been the PRC's position to oppose the presence of foreign troops in the ROK, but given the special history of the Korean Peninsula, the cause of tensions should not be overlooked and must be settled between the responsible authorities.
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