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I. United States1. DPRK-US Relations Reuters (Paul Eckert, "U.S. ENVOY IN S.KOREA AMID SIGNS NORTH WANTS TALKS," Seoul, 04/11/02) reported that US envoy Jack Pritchard met ROK security officials Thursday ahead of a planned visit to the DPRK, a trip that the ROK hopes will improve relations. Before the meeting, Pritchard told local reporters that he plans to hold contacts with DPRK officials in New York next week. When asked whether he plans to visit the DPRK as early as next month, Pritchard said he "hoped that would be," Yonhap reported. Pritchard will be the most senior US official to visit the DPRK since Bush took office last year. The date of the visit has yet to be decided. 2. DPRK-US Relations The Associated Press (Yoo Jae-suk, "N. KOREA UNREADY FOR U.S. TALKS," Seoul, 04/11/02) reported that the DPRK said Thursday it does not believe that the right "environment" presently exists to start diplomatic talks with the US. But the DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesman acknowledged those talks were "necessary" and said they "will be resumed any time when conditions are created," the DPRK's state news agency KCNA reported. US officials say any talks with the DPRK must address concern over the DPRK's missile programs and heavy deployment of conventional troops near the ROK border. The DPRK has said it cannot accept such conditions. 3. Taiwan-US Military Relations Agence France-Presse ("US HELPS WITH MAJOR TAIWAN DRILLS: PRESIDENT CHEN," 04/11/02) reported that Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian confirmed for the first time that the US has offered advice to the island's biggest annual military exercises in another sign of closer military ties between Taiwan and the US. The comments came after a Pentagon spokesperson said a US military team was to travel soon to Taiwan to discuss the sale of up to eight submarines, to make good on a promise by President George W. Bush last year. "The United States has provided us with a lot of directives in the ongoing Hankuang 18 (Han Glory) military drills. We're really grateful for this," Chen said without elaborating. Details of the drills were not officially available. But reports have said they are aimed at reviewing Taiwan's military command system after a new law redefining the powers of the defence minister and the chief of the General Staff was enacted on March 1. The new law stipulates that the defense minister is entitled to order a "first strike" once a war breaks out, with follow-up military operations to be led by the General Staff chief. The exercises are also designed to evaluate the coordination and combat capability of the armed forces following a recent modernization drive involving new fighter jets, ships and weapons systems. 4. PRC-US Military Relations Agence France-Presse ("CHINESE MILITARY DELEGATIONS HOLD TALKS IN SHANGHAI," 04/11/02) reported that US and PRC military officials began three days of maritime military consultations in Shanghai on ways to avoid incidents on the high seas or international air space, a Pentagon spokesman said. "The Military Maritime Consultative Agreement talks are taking place in Shanghai today," said Lieutenant Commander Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesperson. He said the talks were scheduled to continue through Friday. Rear Admiral William Sullivan is leading the US delegation to the talks, which were last held in Guam on September 13. The PRC delegation is led by the deputy chief of staff of the Peoples Liberation Army's navy, he said. The US and the PRC signed the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement in 1998 with the aim of discussing "rules of the road" at sea to avoid incidents between US and PRC naval forces. 5. PRC Human Rights Reuters ("CHINA WELCOMES UN SILENCE ON RIGHTS RECORD," Beijing. 04/11/02) reported that the PRC welcomed on Thursday the absence of UN criticism of its human rights record at an annual rights meeting this week, saying the lack of a censure showed increasing international recognition of the PRC's stand on rights. Unlike previous years, no country came forward with a resolution critical of the PRC at the annual meeting of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva. In past years, the US had sponsored motions critical of the PRC for its policies towards Tibet and religious minorities. But this year no other country came forward to take on that role. 6. Russia Nuclear Plant Development Reuters ("RUSSIA AIMS TO BUILD VIETNAM NUCLEAR POWER PLANT," Hanoi, 04/11/02) reported that Russia has offered to build Vietnam's first atomic power plant, a senior Russian executive said on Thursday, in a long-term project which could take about a decade to materialize. The executive from Atomstroyexport, an affiliate of Russia's Ministry of Atomic Energy, told Reuters Russian nuclear experts gave presentations to Vietnamese officials, including some from state utility Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), on Thursday. "We are interested in building such a plant in Vietnam and Russia is ready to do it," the executive said at a business meeting on the sidelines of an international trade fair in Hanoi. The Russian executive said Russia was not concerned about competition given its experience in the field. He said it was currently building plants in Iran, the PRC and India. 7. DPRK-Japan Abductions Reuters ("JAPAN PARLIAMENT URGES ACTION OVER 'ABDUCTIONS,'" Tokyo, 04/11/02) reported that Japan's parliament on Thursday passed a resolution urging the government to be unbending towards the DPRK on the sensitive issue of Japanese allegedly abducted to the DPRK. The Lower House of the Diet unanimously adopted the non-binding resolution, which concerns Japanese nationals Tokyo believes were abducted by DPRK agents. "The issue of the alleged abductions is an extremely serious problem that involves national sovereignty, basic human rights and humanity," the resolution said. It calls on the Japanese government to take a "resolute stance" when it holds talks with the DPRK on establishing diplomatic ties. 8. Russia-US Summit The Associated Press (Barry Schweid, "POWELL MAKES SUMMIT PLANS WITH RUSSIA," Madrid, 04/11/02) reported that US Secretary of State Colin Powell is trying to wrap up an agreement with Russia to slash long-range nuclear weapons arsenals. Powell's meeting Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov was focused on the strategic framework that Presidents Bush and Vladimir Putin hope to announce at their talks in Russia next month. The agreement will be legally binding, as urged by Moscow, will require congressional approval and will have provisions of earlier treaties with the Soviet Union that provide for monitoring to ensure that the deal is being kept. "It will be short, to the point," Powell said. 9. Inter-Korean Family Reunions Agence France-Presse ("SOUTH KOREA PROPOSES INTER-KOREAN TALKS ON FAMILY REUNIONS," 04/11/02) reported that the ROK proposed Red Cross talks with the DPRK to discuss procedures on holding family reunions. The proposal from the ROK's Red Cross chief Suh Young-Hoon followed talks last week between DPRK leader Kim Jong-Il and ROK presidential envoy Lim Dong-Won in Pyongyang. Lim has said that the ROK and the DPRK agreed to resume reunions of separated families, at Mount Kumgang on April 28. "There should be quick negotiations to discuss details on how to proceed with the fourth round of family reunions," Suh said in a message to his DPRK counterpart Jang Jae-On. Suh called for inter- Korean Red Cross contact on Friday at the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone, which divides the peninsula. The ROK plans to send a Red Cross delegation to Kumgang next week for an inspection of facilities to be used for a 100-member family group from each side. Family delegations were to be exchanged last October, but the DPRK cancelled the plan, after the September 11 terrorist attack in the US triggered a security alert in the ROK. 10. ROK President Recovery Reuters ("SOUTH KOREA'S KIM IMPROVING BUT ADVISED TO REST," Seoul, 04/11/02) reported that the ROK President Kim Dae-jung had recovered slightly from the fatigue that landed him in hospital but was advised to cancel official duties for the rest of this week, his spokesperson said on Thursday. Kim was admitted to a military hospital on Wednesday for treatment for fatigue and digestive problems, cancelling engagements for two days, including those connected to the DPRK and the soccer World Cup finals. "The president slept well last night and has improved," presidential spokeswoman Park Sun-sook told reporters. She said the 77-year-old was eating rice supplemented by intravenous feeding on his doctors' orders. 11. Russia CIA Accusations The Associated Press (Vladimir Isachenkov, "RUSSIANS: CIA USED DRUGS TO RECRUIT," 04/11/02) reported that according to details of Russian security service allegations published by the Russian daily newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, US spies used drugged cookies and drinks to break the will of a Russian defense employee and recruit him as an agent. According to the newspaper, in April 2001 Viktor went to the US Embassy in the unidentified ex-Soviet republic to seek information about a relative that had gone missing abroad. After leaving the embassy, he was found by local police sitting on a garden bench in shock and amnesia. Viktor was brought to Moscow where the FSB concluded that the US Embassy officers had slipped him psychotropic drugs to get information out of him. The newspaper said that David Robertson, the Embassy official who met with Viktor, treated him with drinks and cookies while asking him "in-depth" questions about his work. "Within minutes, Viktor felt weakness and light trance," an apparent reaction to drugs, the newspaper reported. In the two-page report Thursday in Komsomolskaya Pravda, the FSB elaborated on details of the allegations. It identified the Russian expert as Viktor, 58, a worker of a defense ministry facility near Zhukovsky air base, the Russian air force's top flight test center near Moscow.
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