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I. United States1. Japan Soldier Bio-Warefare Admission Reuters (Jane Macartney, "JAPAN BIO-WARFARE SOLDIER SAYS HE COMMITTED WAR CRIMES," Tokyo, 07/31/02) reported that Yoshio Shinozuka, 78, a former Imperial Army soldier stated that a Japanese court should look to its conscience when it rules next month on the deaths of Chinese used as guinea pigs by a top secret Japanese biological warfare unit in World War Two, a veteran of the programme said on Tuesday. "I was a member of Unit 731 and I have done what no human being should ever do," said Yoshio Shinozuka who conducted experiments and vivisections on Chinese captives near the northern Chinese city of Harbin. Shinozuka has given testimony on the secret activities of Unit 731 on behalf of 180 Chinese who are suing the Japanese government for compensation and an apology for deaths of family members they say were killed in experiments at the world's first biological warfare laboratory. "These human beings were called logs. We said we have chopped one log, two logs," the slight, balding, bespectacled Shinozuka said in an address to foreign correspondents in Tokyo. The court is due to rule on August 27 in the case, which has brought to light details of Unit 731. Some 3,000 Chinese are believed to have died in experiments to mass produce diseases such as cholera, bubonic plague and anthrax as weapons of war. "This lawsuit... is to question the conscience of Japan as a whole," Shinozuka said. 2. PRC Presidential Succession Reuters (Jeremy Page, "CHINA MAY DELAY LEADERSHIP CHANGE UNTIL NOVEMBER," Beijing, 07/30/02) reported that the PRC's five-yearly Communist Party congress, at which top leaders are supposed to retire, could be delayed until after party chief Jiang Zemin's trip to the US in October, analysts and diplomats said on Tuesday. PRC leaders are meeting in the beach resort of Beidaihe to work out details of the leadership change, including when to hold the congress, which usually comes in September or October. Jiang had been expected to step down as party chief at the congress while remaining political head of the armed forces. Speculation is mounting, however, that he will cling on to both party jobs as well as to the state presidency which he must give up at a parliament meeting in March 2003 after completing a second term. Jiang's US visit is scheduled for October, most likely just before the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' meeting in Mexico on October 26-27, which he will also attend. If he intends to retire as party chief, Jiang would prefer to do so after visiting the US, some analysts say. The highlight of the visit is expected to be a visit to US President George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. "Many people suggest that doing this without also being party secretary would carry a tinge of being a lame duck and that Jiang himself might prefer to postpone the party congress until after APEC and the US visit are over," said one Western diplomat. 3. ROK-DPRK Relations Reuters (Paul Eckert, "SOUTH KOREA ACCEPTS NORTH'S CALL FOR TALKS," Seoul, 07/30/02) and the Associated Press (Christopher Torchia, "SOUTH KOREA ACCEPTS NORTH KOREAN PROPOSAL FOR DIALOGUE," Seoul, 07/30/02) reported that the ROK on Tuesday accepted a DPRK proposal for talks following an expression of regret from the DPRK for a deadly naval clash. The ROK Unification Ministry agreed to the DPRK's suggestion that talks to revive stalled reconciliation efforts be held in early August. In line with the proposal, the ROK ministry said it wanted to hold working-level talks August 2-4 at the Mount Kumgang resort. Cabinet-level talks in Seoul would follow at an undetermined date, it said. "We note your expression of regret over the clash in the west sea and your position that efforts must be made to prevent such incidents from happening again," the ROK ministry said in a statement. "We urge you to take all necessary measures so that in the future such a military clash does not happen again," it said. The message from Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun was relayed to Kim Ryong Song, the chief North Korean negotiator, in a telephone call at the border village of Panmunjom. The North responded hours later, saying it would send a five-member delegation to the talks this weekend, said Kim Jong-ro, a spokesman for the ROK ministry. 4. Taiwan on Cross-Straits Relations Reuters (Alice Hung, "TAIWAN PRESIDENT URGES CHINA TO ABANDON THREATS," Taipei, 07/03/02) and Agence France-Presse ("CHINA PUSHING TAIWAN AWAY: CHEN," 07/30/02) reported that Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian warned the PRC that its refusal to commit to peacefully resolving the dispute over Taiwan's sovereignty was pushing the island further away. Chen again urged the PRC to renounce any attempt to use force to resolve the dispute. "Under the precondition, we will not alter Taiwan's status quo," Chen said, referring to Taiwan's ambiguous status as a sovereign state but not a new and independent republic. Chen said that the PRC's commitment to the use of force, along with its continued efforts to squeeze Taiwan's international space, "is pushing the two sides further away." "Since I assumed the posting as the president in 2000, I have repeatedly delivered olive branches to Beijing on behalf of the government and people," he said. "But it's a pity the Beijing authorities have failed to understand the feeling of Taiwan people. Instead they have repeatedly harmed the feeling of Taiwan people and refused to renounce their threat of using force against Taiwan," he said. 5. PRC Japan on DPRK Asylum Seekers Agence France-Presse ("CHINA TELLS JAPAN TO STOP CONSULATE ROWS OVER NKOREANS," 07/30/02) reported that PRC Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan demanded Japan prevent any future rows over DPRK citizens seeking asylum in Japanese missions in the PRC. "Don't let any similar incidents happen in the future and don't let such incidences affect China-Japan relations," Tang said, reporting on his meeting with Kawaguchi on the sidelines of a gathering of ASEAN foreign ministers. Tang said he told Kawaguchi that Japan should deal with such incidents "calmly" and that it was important to "respect the facts." Tang, however, said he stressed that both countries should look to the future and invited Kawaguchi to visit the PRC at an early date. Kawaguchi, who has not visited the PRC since taking office, accepted the invitation, the official said. 6. PRC-ASEAN Territorial Disputes Reuters ("ASEAN VOWS TO WORK WITH CHINA ON TERRITORIAL DISPUTES," Brunei, 07/30/02) reported that Southeast Asian foreign ministers pledged on Tuesday to work closely with the PRC on a code of conduct to help resolve territorial disputes in the potentially oil-rich South China Sea. "We reaffirm that the adoption of a code of conduct in the South China Sea would further promote peace and stability in the region and agreed to work towards a declaration on the conduct of parties in the South China Sea," ASEAN ministers said in a communique at the close of a two-day meeting. After years of wrangling, talks on a code of conduct picked up speed at this week's Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings in Brunei. Ministers compromised with an agreement naming the South China Sea but leaving out any mention of the hotly contested Spratly or Paracel islands. It remained unclear whether the PRC would accept the agreement. "We have always supported ASEAN's efforts on a South China Sea code of conduct," Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting. He is to attend an Asia-Pacific security forum in Brunei on Wednesday. "I'm still not clear on what the latest content is and how they have revised it. So it's hard to comment because I haven't yet seen it," he said. 7. Japan Domestic Politics Reuters ("JAPANESE PM SURVIVES NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE," Tokyo, 07/30/02) reported that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi comfortably survived his first no-confidence vote submitted by opposition parties unhappy with his government's slow pace of economic reform. "The motion was supported by 185, opposed by 280," said an administrative official at the lower house of the Diet (parliament). "The motion was denied," he said. Koizumi bowed several times to the chamber after the vote, the first no-confidence vote against his cabinet since it came into power in April 2001. 8. Japan Red Army Return The Associated Press (Kenji Hall, "JAPAN HIJACKERS MAY LEAVE N. KOREA," Tokyo, 07/30/02) reported that the four members of the Japan Red Army Faction radicals have announced this month that they want to return to Japan - where they face certain arrest - by September, ending their exile in a suburb of the DPRK capital and closing a violent chapter of postwar Japanese history. The hijackers - Takahiro Konishi, 57, Shiro Akagi, 54, Moriaki Wakabayashi, 55, and Kimihiro Abe, 54 - said they decided to leave because they don't want to endanger their North Korean hosts. "We fear our presence could be used as a pretext to attack North Korea for being a terrorist-supporting regime," said the statement. Experts, however, say they're being kicked out as part of DPRK leader Kim Jong Il's attempt to show the world he doesn't support terrorists. "Pyongyang is effectively handing over the hijackers to try to bargain for what it really wants: help reviving its economy," said Pyon Jin-il, editor-in-chief of the Tokyo-based Korea Report, a monthly academic newsletter. 1. Inter Korean Talks Joongang Ilbo (Lee Yong-jong, "SEOUL WANTS TALKS TO START THIS WEEK," Seoul, 07/30/02) reported that the ROK government official said Monday that the ROK will reply on Tuesday to the DPRK's proposal for an inter-Korean ministerial meeting. The official said the message will be conveyed by the Unification Ministry to DPRK through the offices at Panmunjeom, the truce village on the border between the two countries. ROK wants those preparatory meetings to start this week, officials said. "The reply will include a list of delegates and a proposed schedule for the working-level talks," the ROK official said Monday. "The working-level meetings will probably take place in the North's Mount Geumgang resort for three days beginning Thursday." The ministerial talks would be the seventh round of such talks; they have been suspended since last November. The ROK delegation for the preparatory talks will be led by Rhee Bong-jo, assistant minister for unification policy at the Unification Ministry. 2. US-DPRK Relations Chosun Ilbo (Ju Yong-jung, "US-NK TALKS EXPECTED AT ASEAN FORUM," Washington, 07/30/02) reported that DPRK Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun and Secretary of State Colin Powell will arrive in Brunei Tuesday, to participate in the 9th annual ASEAN Regional Forum foreign ministerial talks. ROK Foreign Minister Choi Seong-hong arrived there, Monday night. At the ARF meeting, the two Koreas will hold ministerial talk with various nations, including the four neighboring countries. Secretary Powell told reporters that DPRK had made "some very positive statements" in the last several days. The Washington Post reported Saturday he was referring to the DPRK's apology for a deadly naval clash with South Korea late last month, a proposal to resume talks with ROK and remarks that DPRK is willing to accept the visit of a US special envoy. Powell said opening the door to dialogue is US's basic policy toward DPRK and given the change in situation, the US will take appropriate measures. ROK, PRC and Japan are expected to measure the direction for policy on DPRK and discuss ways of economic cooperation between the three, exchange human resources and cultural cooperation. 3. ROK Food Aid to DPRK Joongang Ilbo ("GOVERNMENT MIGHT EXTEND 300,000 TON RICE IF NORTH BEHAVES," Seoul, 07/30/02) reported that ROK government decided it might extend 300,000 metric tons of rice aid to DPRK depending on DPRK's attitude at inter-Korean ministerial meeting which the government hopes to resume early next month. The government sent a telephone message Tuesday that suggested a working-level contact take place from next August 2-4, five days after DPRK's fax that expressed regret over the naval clash that greatly disturbed the Korean peninsula and other nations of concern. The agenda would be centered on five major inter-Korean project known as railway project, Gaesong Complex, Geumgang overland route, reunion of separated families and military confidence. Depending on DPRK's response the government may promptly extend about 300,000 metric tons of rice aid. 4. DPRK's Economic Reform following PRC Joongang Ilbo (Ko Soo-suk, "NORTH PLANS FINANCIAL REFORM NEXT," Beijing, 07/30/02) reported that the DPRK is preparing a financial reform scheme in a second stage of its economic reform, according to DPRK analysts here. They said those reforms would be implemented after the price reforms now under way in DPRK are completed. Sources in Beijing and Dandong, a PRC city in Laoning province near the North Korean border, said authorities in DPRK plan to watch the effects of its price changes for about six months. DPRK officials have reportedly begun a final review of the financial reform plans. "Pyeongyang knows financial reform is inevitable, but it will be more careful than Beijing," said Hong Ik-pyo, a researcher at the Seoul-based Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. "The reforms will be carefully designed not to damage its planned economy and central control.
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