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Policy Forum Online: Ethical Governance Of Investment Biweekly Update
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I. United States1. DPRK Ship Inspections BBC News ("NORTH KOREA SHIPS FACE MORE SCRUTINY," 06/11/03) reported that the US, Japan and Australia are working together on ways to make it easier to stop DPRK ships suspected of carrying drugs and missile parts. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said officials from the three countries would discuss the possibility of seeking changes to international law so that DPRK vessels could be stopped on the high seas. Downer was speaking a day after Japan detained two DPRK cargo ships in Japanese ports for safety checks. An Australian diplomat, Ashton Calvert, is due to meet officials in Tokyo on Wednesday to discuss the proposals. He is also due to meet US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who is also visiting Tokyo. Downer stressed that the three countries were not discussing a blockade on DPRK ships. Pyongyang has warned that it would consider economic sanctions as an act of war. "First of all you have to get the countries through whose territorial waters ships might pass or across whose land planes may fly or whatever to do the interdiction themselves within their own sovereign territory," Downer told ABC radio. "Secondly you are confronted with a very real difficulty in terms of vessels that might be going through the high seas because international law requires that those ships should not be intercepted," he added. Downer noted there was "good international support" for discussion of changes to international maritime law, but stressed the need to include the PRC in future talks. 2. DPRK-ROK Relations The Associated Press ("NORTH KOREA WARNS SOUTH KOREA OVER BORDER," Seoul, 06/11/03) reported that the DPRK claimed ROK war ships violated its territorial waters on Thursday, and warned of "an unpredictable crisis." The ROK's Defense Ministry denied the charge. In recent weeks, the ROK and DPRK have exchanged accusations over a disputed western sea border, adding to tensions caused by the DPRK's suspected development of nuclear weapons. Two ROK clippers and one patrol boat sailed into DPRK waters and stayed there for several hours Thursday, following similar incursions by 10 warships Tuesday and 20 warships Wednesday, said Pyongyang's official news agency KCNA, citing an unnamed "military source." "If the South Korean military authorities misjudge the self-restraint of the North side and lead the situation in these waters to a tough-and-go situation, this will spark an unpredictable crisis," KCNA said. The DPRK has claimed the alleged violations were a "prelude" to what it calls US plans to invade the communist state. It has warned that a naval clash could led to war. 3. SARS Developments BBC News ("SARS EPIDEMIC 'TAILING OFF,'" 06/11/03) reported that the SARS epidemic which has infected more than 8,000 people around the world may be nearing its end, according to the head of the World Health Organization. Gro Harlem Brundtland said the number of new cases of the respiratory disease appearing each day was declining. "But it is very important that countries remain on their guard, that they do not become lax," she said at a health conference in Oslo. "We have several examples where we have seen the figures drop in one country before seeing a new wave," Brundtland warned. She pointed out that new cases in Singapore and Toronto - emerging after a decline in infections - showed health services needed to remain on alert. And she warned there could be a flare up again in a few months when the northern hemisphere turns towards winter. Compared with other contagious diseases such as flu which kills one per cent or less of carriers, SARS has a very high mortality rate. Of the more than 8,000 people infected worldwide, more than 700 have died. On Thursday, no new cases of SARS were reported in the PRC, but one new death was reported in Beijing. Taiwan reported two new cases but no deaths, while Hong Kong registered no new cases nor deaths. The PRC has borne about two-thirds of the registered cases. "They have learnt a lot," Brundtland said of the PRC authorities. 4. DPRK on Sanctions and Interdiction The Associated Press (Sang-Hun Choe, "NORTH KOREA SEES SANCTIONS AMID TOUCH TIMES," Seoul, 06/11/03) reported that the US halt shipments of fuel oil to the DPRK. The Japanese detain the DPRK's cargo ships for inspections. The Australians impound a DPRK ship carrying narcotics. For the DPRK, the noose is tightening at an especially bad time: Reforms, initiated a year ago, are wreaking havoc on the country's already shattered economy and its key industries are shrinking again after four years of growth, experts say. "What we see is a form of light containment on North Korea," says Yon Ha-chong, a DPRK expert at Seoul's Myungji University. "But the pressure will increase if things get worse." The United States and its allies are mustering pressure on the DPRK to give up its nuclear weapons programs. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Wednesday he is considering working with the US and Japanese navies to intercept DPRK smugglers. "North Korea's economy had received a death sentence long ago, but it keeps afloat thanks to international aid and the country's trading in weapons and illicit goods," said Yang Woon-chul, a North Korea expert at Seoul's Sejong Institute. US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said last week that the DPRK "is teetering on the edge of economic collapse," and that is "a major point of leverage" in regional efforts to use economic pressure to force it to halt its nuclear ambitions. "On the one hand, North Korea may be saying it wants economic help. On the other hand, it's saying it wants nuclear weapons. And as far as we're concerned, the two are incompatible," said US Ambassador to Seoul Thomas C. Hubbard. 5. PRC-Tibet Relations Reuters ("CHINA SAYS COMMUNICATION LINES WITH DALAI LAMA OPEN," Beijing, 06/11/03) reported that the PRC said on Thursday communication lines with the Dalai Lama were open after visits by envoys of Tibet's exiled Buddhist spiritual leader, another sign of a thaw in relations that have been deadlocked for a decade. Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said the Tibetans -- whom he did not call envoys -- had returned several times since last year for visits that would help them to understand better "changes that have occurred in the country". "This method proves that there is contact between the central government and the Dalai Lama. The lines of communications are open," he said after a four-member team returned to India from a two-week visit to China. "We hope this will help the Dalai Lama himself to correctly and comprehensively understand the situation in the PRC and make a correct choice," he said after the second visit by the Dalai Lama's representatives since September. But he added: "The central government's policy toward the Dalai Lama is consistent, clear and unchanged." 6. PRC WTO Violations? The Associated Press ("US TRADE OFFICIAL: CHINA VIOLATING WTO," Beijing, 06/11/03) reported that the PRC is failing to give promised access to US farm goods, in violation of its World Trade Organization commitments, a US trade official said Thursday. Allen F. Johnson, the chief US agriculture trade negotiator, was in Beijing for talks about China's quota system, which the US says is blocking imports of soybeans, corn and other crops. The US government is concerned about lack of transparency and other problems in the tariff-quota system, which limits the amount of goods that can be imported at low tariffs, Johnson said in a prepared statement. Negotiators made progress in talks Wednesday, but "serious concerns remain" about Beijing's compliance with its WTO obligations, Johnson's statement said. "China offers American agriculture huge opportunities, but right now American farmers are not getting the access the Chinese promised and which the WTO mandates," it said. The PRC bought US agricultural exports worth about $170 million last year under the tariff-quota system last year, Johnson said. The PRC promised to implement the quota system for bulk commodities such as wheat, cotton, corn and soybean oil when it joined the WTO in December 2001. 1. Increasing ROK Defense Fund for Purchasing New Arms Joongang Ilbo (Lee Chul-hee, Lee Young-jong, "MILITARY FUNDS REQUEST UP 28%," Seoul, 06/12/03) reported that ROK Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday that it would act more quickly than planned to buy US-built Patriot missiles and airborne early warning and control systems. That decision was reflected in the ministry's budget request for 2004, released publicly Wednesday. It said that last month it asked the Ministry of Planning and Budget to request 22.35 trillion won ($18.6 billion) for defense next year, 28 percent more than this year's spending. The request includes 8.15 trillion won for upgrading combat capabilities, up 42 percent from 2003. The ministry also asked for 14.23 trillion won administrative costs, up 21.5 percent. The request would be for an estimated 3.2 percent of the nation's gross domestic product. This year's budget allocated 2.7 percent of GDP for the military. Such spending has been below 3 percent of GDP for the past five years. The ministry originally planned to resume the project in 2006, but the new security environment and President Roh Moo-hyun's emphasis on independent defense allowed it to push the planned spending forward. Questions remain, though, about the suitability of the Patriots for the Korean environment. The threat, experts say, is from artillery and short-range missiles, against which the Patriot would be ineffective. 2. A Survey on Sentiment about US Joongang Ilbo (Ahn Boo-keun, "POLL SHOWS MORE SUPPORT FOR MILITARY TIES WITH U.S.," Seoul, 06/12/03) reported that Anti-American sentiment and the demand to revise the Status of Forces Agreement have abated over the past six months, a JoongAng Ilbo poll concludes. The survey was conducted nearly a year after an incident north of Seoul on June 13, 2002. Two teenage girls were killed by a U.S. armored vehicle in a road accident. According to a nationwide poll of 1,032 people conducted on Monday and Tuesday, 28 percent of Koreans say US is "bad" and 25 percent said they think it is "good." The other 47 percent said they had neutral feelings about US. A survey conducted by the Joong-Ang Ilbo on Dec. 15-16 showed that 36 percent of Koreans were negative about US; only 13 percent were positive. The polls had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Currently, 34 percent of Koreans want a "full revision" of the agreement governing US military presence here; 51 percent called for a "partial revision." In last year's survey, 64 percent demanded a full revision and 33 percent wanted a partial revision. Last year, 51 percent of Koreans said the United States should withdraw its military forces either immediately or gradually. Now the figure stands at just under 40 percent. In the current survey, more than three out of 10 respondents said the US-ROK alliance should be reinforced, up from 20 percent last December. Eighteen percent said they believed ROK should be independent and not influenced by US, down from 28 percent six months ago. Changes in opinion were most prominent among Koreans in their 20s and 30s, supporters of President Roh Moo-hyun and those who said they have a liberal political ideology. 3. Trilateral Check of DPRK Vessels Chosun Ilbo ("NK SHIPS FACE SCRUTINY," Seoul, 06/12/03) reported that US, Japan and Australia are working together on ways to make it easier to stop North Korean ships suspected of carrying drugs and missile parts, the BBC reported Wednesday. According to the BBC, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said officials from the three countries would discuss making changes to international law so that North Korean vessels could be stopped on the high seas. Downer spoke only a day after Japan detained two North Korean cargo ships in Japanese ports for safety checks. The issue follows the seizure in April by Australian authorities of a North Korean boat, the Pong Su, found to be carrying 50 kilograms of heroin. An Australian diplomat, Ashton Calvert, will meet with US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage in Tokyo to discuss the proposals. Downer stressed that the three countries were not discussing a blockade of North Korean ships. Downer told ABC radio that countries through whose territorial waters North Korean ships might pass or across whose land planes may fly must do the actual interdiction. He added that the countries are confronted with a very real difficulty, because international law requires that vessels that might be going through the high seas not be intercepted. 4. "Additional Steps" is not Military Action Joongang Ilbo ("US AIDE DISCOUNTS MILITARY MEASURES," Seoul, 06/12/03) reported that US ambassador to ROK, Thomas Hubbard, said Wednesday that the "additional steps" and "tougher measures" mentioned during US meetings with ROK and Japan did not directly suggest military action towards DPRK. In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting System Wednesday, US ambassador said that other steps and measures by US and other Asian countries must be taken, if talks with DPRK fail. "I wouldn't necessarily interpret the wording as implying military action," said the ambassador during the interview. "As I said earlier, no one believes that military action is a desirable course." On the relocation of the US Army 2d Division from Yongsan to a site south of the Han River, Mr. Hubbard said that it was not meant to clear the way for a preemptive strike on DPRK, but to defend ROK while respecting the wishes of the Korean people. 5. 1 year Commemoration of the Accident Chosun Ilbo (Yoo Yong-won, "USFK EVENTS TO HONOR MEMORY TO TWO GIRLS," Seoul, 06/12/03) reported that USFK Commander Leon J. LaPorte issued a statement Wednesday about the accident last year in which two middle school girls were run over and killed by US Army vehicles, as civic groups prepare demonstrations to mark a year since the incident. LaPorte apologized for the accident, saying that he fully realizes the responsibility of the USFK in the case. He added that he would convey his sympathy to the families of the two girls and his hopes that people would share his grief. LaPorte said that the USFK headquarters would hold an event at Yongsan base to honor the memory of the two girls and that the 2nd Infantry Division would hold events at 17 bases, halting all outside activities. Relatedly, Prime Minister Goh Kun expressed his "deep, sincere condolences" to the victims' families on the anniversary of the accident, but stressed that all commemorative activities be conducted peacefully in order to "develop Korea-U.S. relations into a more mature and balanced alliance." Goh stressed the importance of the alliance, saying it had been a base for ROK's economy and democracy for the past 50 years and will continue to be one in the future.
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