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monday, november 17, 2003
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I. United States

II. People's Republic of China
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I. United States


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1. DPRK December Nuclear Talks

Agence France-Presse ("ROK OFFICIAL: NORTH KOREA NUCLEAR TALKS LIKELY TO OPEN DEC 17-18: OFFICIAL," Seoul, 11/17/03) reported that the ROK's top presidential security aide said Monday the second round of six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions would likely take place from December 17-18. Ra Jong-Yil, national security advisor for President Roh Moo-Hyun, also said that the new round of talks would open in Beijing. Asked if he could confirm a local media report about the opening of six-way talks on December 17-18, Ra told reporters: "Despite no official announcement, the general atmosphere is ripening in that way." When asked if the talks would be held in Beijing, he answered "Yes" ahead of a meeting with other presidential aides. In Tokyo, Washington's envoy for DPRK talks, James Kelly, met with Japanese officials to discuss a timetable for the resumption of six-way talks.


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2. DPRK Nuclear Development Program

Chosun Ilbo (Kim Yeon-kwang, "NK PREPARED NUKES BEFORE INK DRIED ON AGREEMENT," 11/17/03) reported that a report in the December edition of the Monthly Choson, to hit the shelves on Tuesday, is to reveal that the DPRK completed preparations for underground nuclear testing in 1994, when the Geneva Agreement was signed. Moreover, when asked five years later about nuclear inspections planned by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to see if the DPRK had fulfilled the agreement, DPRK leader Kim Jong-il, replied, "There is no way other than we declare our possession of nuclear weapons in five years and confront the US," the report says. According to the magazine, Hwang Jang-yop, former secretary of the DPRK Labor Party, made the revelations at a meeting on Oct. 29 with US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly and Undersecretary of State John Bolton. "All external affairs related to the development of nuclear weapons were under the responsibility of three people, including myself, when I was the international secretary of the party, and the director for foreign affairs and the secretary for ROK affairs." Before the conclusion of the Geneva Agreement in October 1994, Kim Jong-il called two meetings on the issue, Hwang is quoted as saying. At one meeting, Jeon Byeong-ho, then secretary of munitions, reported to Kim Jong-il that all preparations for underground nuclear testing were set, but there was no need to hurry the testing because nuclear bombs don't go bad," Hwang said. In response to the report by Jeon that the DPRK would have no choice but to undergo international inspections five or six years after signing the Geneva Agreement, Kim replied that the DPRK would then declare its possession of nuclear weapons and confront the US, Hwang said. He added that the DPRK began to push forward the development of nukes with enriched uranium around 1997. Hwang said that he didn't know how many nuclear weapons were actually produced in the DPRK, but that Park Song-bong, a high-ranking official of the DPRK Worker's Party who died in 2001, insisted that more must be manufactured.


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3. US DPRK Nuclear Material Removal Proposal

Chosun Ilbo (Choi Heup, "US to Propose Removal of NK Nuke Materials," Tokyo, 11/16/03) reported that the US will propose that North Korea remove nuclear-related material, such as processed plutonium or unprocessed nuclear fuel, and send it to Third World countries. The proposal is to be made in next month's second round of six-party talks and will be a top priority, Kyodo News and other Japanese media agencies have reported. As the DPRK has reactivated its nuclear activators, despite its promise to freeze its nuclear facilities at Yongbyon under the 1994 Agreed Framework, the US is planning to propose moving nuclear-related materials from the DPRK to Third World countries, in order to end the possibility of nuclear development, Japanese news agencies reported, quoting various sources in the US government. The materials to be removed will include plutonium, which had been detected before the 1994 agreement, and the handling of the materials will be most likely be done by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Japanese media said. he US is planning to present the specific details of the dismantling process in the next six-party talks, but to not demand the direct removal of the materials. The US will bring up the issue following the third round of six-party talks, but as previous plans to remove nuclear fuel failed in the 1994 agreement, it is still unknown whether the North will agree, the Japanese media reported.


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4. DPRK on EU Role in Nuclear Talks

Korea Times ("NK WANTS EU'S PARTICIPATION IN NUKE TALKS: EUROPEAN LAWMAKER," 11/17/03) reported that the DPRK would like to see the EU play a role in the six-way talks aimed at resolving the dispute surrounding its nuclear program, a European Union lawmaker has said. Glyn Ford, a European Parliament member who visited the DPRK from Oct. 7-14, commented Saturday that top DPRK officials told him Pyongyang wants the 15-member EU to join the talks. "I asked (North Korea's number two official) Kim Yong-nam about EU participation, the North Koreans said absolutely no problem," said Ford. This runs contrary to what the US has said, that the DPRK is against further expansion of the talks. But the EU will eventually have to join the talks, the lawmaker stressed. The EU is willing to contribute economic aid and other compensation which is unlikely to come directly from the US due to the US political climate if the North agreed to scrap its nuclear weapons program, said Ford, a member of the British Labor Party. "But the size of that contribution will depend on how much we are involved in the negotiations," he said.


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5. DPRK Dollar Diplomacy

Los Angeles Times (Barbara Demick, "SUNSHINE FROM N. KOREA HAS ITS SOURCE IN COLD, HARD CASH," Seoul, 11/17/03) when DPRK and ROK athletes gathered last month for a sports festival, it seemed a rare chance for citizens of the two nations to interact as real people instead of geopolitical rivals. They did taekwondo moves together, played soccer, ran marathons and, in a stirring finale, held hands in a traditional Korean folk dance. But behind this feel-good display of brotherly love was the reality of cold, hard cash. No sooner had the four-day festival on the ROK resort island of Cheju ended Oct. 27 than it was revealed that the DPRK organizers had been promised $2.2 million - about half in cash and the rest in gifts such as televisions and refrigerators - for their participation. The payoff became public only because journalists happened to overhear the DPRK and ROK festival organizers quarreling about the exact amount. The revelation has touched off a larger debate in the ROK about the wisdom of forking over large sums of cash to the DPRK in exchange for the smiles and hugs at the dozens of inter-Korean festivals, conferences, sporting events and meetings held every year. "It is the same if Michael Jackson or a Brazilian football club comes here. We give them a payment," insisted Kim Wong Wun, a ROK assemblyman who organized the festival. Critics charge that it's wrong to prop up the economically strapped DPRK regime with payments, especially while it is ramping up its nuclear weapons program. "None of this money will go to athletes and performers. It is directly supporting Kim Jong Il's regime," said Yoo Heung Soo, a lawmaker in the National Assembly who has opened an investigation into the practice. "We are paying the North Koreans, and for all we know they are using the money to buy guns that they aim at us." The scandal has been compounded by allegations that the ROK's unification minister, Jeong Se Hyun, perjured himself at an Assembly hearing last month when he said he knew nothing about the plans to pay the North Koreans for their participation in the Cheju festival. Still, $2.2 million is chump change by the standards of North-South relations. Earlier this year, a tremendous scandal erupted in the ROK when it was revealed that $500 million had been secretly delivered days before the historic 2000 summit between Kim Jong Il and then-ROK President Kim Dae Jung - a meeting that helped the ROK win the Nobel Peace Prize. Eight people are now under indictment in the so-called cash-for-summit scandal. "It is sad that even after this scandal, the practice continues," Yoo said.


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6. DPRK on US Policy

The Associated Press (Jae-Suk Yoo, "NORTH KOREA DECRIES 'HOSTILE' US POLICY," Seoul, 11/16/03) reported that the DPRK said Sunday that it is willing to abandon nuclear development when the US discontinues what it called a hostile policy and eliminates "threats" against the communist country, a ROK news agency reported. The vaguely worded remarks by an unnamed spokesman of the DPRK's Foreign Ministry were carried by the DPRK's official KCNA news agency, and were monitored by Seoul's Yonhap news agency. "North Korea is willing to realistically abandon nuclear development at the phase when the US hostile policy toward North Korea is removed and threats against North Korea is eliminated," the DPRK spokesman was quoted as saying. The spokesman said the solution to the standoff over the DPRK's nuclear weapons programs depended on whether the US is willing to accept its demand for "simultaneous actions." The DPRK's demand include that the US assured it would not attack Pyongyang, provide economic and humanitarian aid and open diplomatic ties. Pyongyang in turn would allow nuclear inspections, give up missiles exports and dismantle its nuclear weapons facilities.


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7. Rumsfeld on ROK-US Security Alliance

The Associated Press (Robert Burns, "RUMSFELD ASSURES SOUTH KOREA ON SECURITY," Seoul, 11/17/03) reported that US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld assured longtime ally South Korea on Monday that a planned pullback of US troops from the border area with the DPRK will strengthen the ability of the American military to respond to an invasion from the DPRK. Some in the ROK have worried that ending the US forces' role as a "tripwire" along the Demilitarized Zone might lessen the American commitment to defending against a DPRK attack. The Pentagon has portrayed the move as better positioning US troops to counterattack. "We understand that weakness can be provocative," Rumsfeld told a joint news conference with his ROK counterpart, Cho Young-kil, after a series of meetings at the Ministry of Defense. The 50-year-old US-ROK defense alliance has been successful, he said, because "we have had the ability to deter and defend and, if necessary, prevail. And that has been well understood. I can assure you it will be well understood in the years ahead and, needless to say, neither of our governments would do anything that would in any way weaken the deterrent and the capability to defend." The question of an eventual US withdrawal of troops from the ROK was not discussed, US officials said, although it is apparent that troop reductions are a likely consequence of the planned consolidation of US bases and the introduction of more efficiencies in the US military. Gen. Leon LaPorte, commander of all 37,000 US forces in the ROK, said in an interview later that a shrinkage of the US military on the Korean Peninsula "may be one of the payoffs" from a multi-year plan for consolidating forces and introducing new military capabilities. In his talks with defense officials, Rumsfeld won no specific assurances that the 3,000 troops ROK plans to send to Iraq at the US' request will play a combat role


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8. US-Japan on DPRK Nuclear Situation

The Associated Press (Gary Shaefer, "US, JAPAN DISCUSS DPRK NUKES," Tokyo, 11/17/03) reported that a senior US envoy held "intensive" discussions with Japanese officials as the two nations prepared Monday for a new diplomatic push to defuse the year-old DPRK nuclear crisis. US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly arrived in Tokyo on Sunday for a three-day visit to compare negotiating positions with Japan ahead of a second round of multilateral talks that officials have said could be held next month. Kelly told journalists Monday he hoped follow-up talks could take place in mid-December. "We hope so, but we do not know for sure," he said. The US envoy said his agenda in Tokyo was to sit down with Japanese officials and "carefully work our positions to have the best opportunity for a successful round and end the (standoff over) nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula." During four hours of discussions that a Japanese Foreign Ministry official described as "intensive," Kelly and his Japanese counterpart Mitoji Yabunaka discussed the DPRK's demand for written security assurances. The prospect of the US making new commitments has raised some concern in Japan that the US-Japan security alliance could be compromised, leaving this country more vulnerable to threats from across the Sea of Japan. The US has taken pains to reassure Tokyo it won't allow its hands to be tied. US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who was in Japan over the weekend, said Washington would not make any arrangements with any other country that would undermine the 43-year-old pact with Japan, under which the US has pledged to consider an attack on Japan as an attack on its own soil.


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9. Japan on al-Qaida Terrorist Attack

The Associated Press (Kenji Hall, "KOIZUMI: JAPAN WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED," Tokyo, 11/17/03) reported that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said on Monday that Tokyo would not be intimidated by threats of an attack purportedly made by the al-Qaida terrorist network in statements naming Japan and other US allies as possible targets. Two London-based Arabic-language newspapers received separate statements Sunday claiming responsibility for recent car bomb attacks in Turkey and Iraq and issuing a direct warning to President Bush. They also threatened to strike in Japan if Tokyo sent troops to Iraq to help with postwar reconstruction. The threats came after Japan said last week it would delay long-discussed plans to send peacekeepers because of deteriorating security in the wake of a deadly suicide bombing in southern Iraq. "Terrorist threats have been made all round the world. We should not give in to such threats," Koizumi told reporters. The London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi and weekly Al-Majallah said Sunday they received the statements from alleged al-Qaida sources. According to Al-Majallah, an alleged al-Qaida operative identified as Abu Mohamed al-Ablaj wrote in an e-mail: "If they (Japan) want their economic power destroyed and crushed under the feet of God's soldiers, then let them come to Iraq and they will see that our blows will reach the heart of Tokyo." Japanese officials said Tokyo was still verifying the authenticity of the messages, and had not issued an alert.


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10. US-Taiwan Air-to-Air Missile Delivery

Agence France-Presse ("US-MADE AIR-TO-AIR MISSILES DELIVERED TO TAIWAN," Taipei, 11/15/03) reported that the US has shipped advanced air-to-air missiles to Taiwan after the PRC acquired similar Russian-built technology, it was reported here. The AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missiles, which arrived here last month, are sufficient to counter the PRC's AA-12 missiles and will help maintain military balance in the Taiwan Strait, according to the Liberty Times. It said the air force is planning a live-fire test of the sophisticated missile next year -- the first such tests outside the US. The air force declined to comment on the report. Taiwan bought 120 AIM-120s from the US in 2000 on the condition they would only be delivered if the PRC acquired similar weaponry. The fact that the PRC had test-fired the Russian-made AA-12 missiles in June 2002 prompted Washington to deliver the AIM-120s to Taipei, the report said. Air force officials have earlier said the US-built missile, which has a range of 50 kilometres (31 miles) and is equipped with advanced guidance systems, would be used to arm part of Taiwan's fleet of 150 F-16 fighter jets. The US remains the leading arms supplier to Taiwan despite shifting its political recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.


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11. Cross-Straits Relations

Agence France-Presse ("CHINA AND TAIWAN STEP UP PRESSURE IN FIGHT OVER PACIFIC NATION," Majuro, 11/17/03) reported that a tiny Pacific nation has become the only place in the world where the embassies of Taiwan and the PRC both fly flags as they fight an increasingly bitter struggle for power and influence. Beijing's "One China" policy faces a key test in the remote island group of the Republic of Kiribati that has recognized Taiwan but is needed by the PRC for its space program. The PRC runs a satellite tracking station, built in the late 1990s on the tiny coral atoll of the capital Tarawa, that also supports its new manned space flights programme. The future of that base is now in jeopardy after Kiribati President Anote Tong recognized Taiwan on November 7. The PRC refuses to have any dealings with the 26 nations that recognize the government in Taipei under its rigid "One China" policy but Kiribati's strategic importance has ensured it is fighting hard to hold sway over the island. Late last week, PRC Ambassador to Kiribati Ma Shuxue distributed an open protest letter to the Kiribati public, to try to get the diplomatic recognition of Taiwan rescinded. The upshot of the struggle is that flags flutter over the nearby embassies amid feverish diplomatic manoeuvres. "It's an historical miracle," said Taiwanese foreign ministry Asia-Pacific bureau director Gary Song-huann Lin here on his return from Kiribati, who worked on the recognition agreement. "Never before have the two flags been flying together." If the PRC's embassy stays on, it "will reflect a flexible attitude" on Beijing's part, he said. "We're glad to see the two countries co-existing (in Kiribati)," Lin said. "I hope it will last." He said Taiwan had no intention to disrupt the PRC's space program. Ma said in his letter that the decision to forge diplomatic links was a "gross violation" of the "One China" principle that Kiribati had signed up to when it established ties with the PRC in 1980. Kiribati, a Micronesian republic of 96,000 people living on small atolls over 3.5 million square kilometres (one million square miles) of Pacific, is the site of a number of major aerospace projects. The "China Space TT and C Station" opened in 1997 and is 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) south of the US Army's Kwajalein Atoll strategic missile testing range in the Marshall Islands.


II. People's Republic of China


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1. PRC-US Relations

People's Daily (Ren Yujun, "BUSH MEETS FORMER CHINESE VICE PREMIER QIAN QICHEN," Washington, 11/14/03, P3) reported that US President George W. Bush said on November 12 that the Sino-US cooperation is of vital importance to the two countries and the world as well, according to officials from the Chinese Embassy. He said that the US is willing to work with PRC to raise the bilateral relationship to a new level. Bush made the remarks during a meeting with former Chinese vice premier Qian Qichen, who came to the US to take part in the Sino-US conference held in the Texas A&M University on Nov. 5-8. The US president said his administration and he himself have attached great importance to the Sino-US relationship and he is glad to see the progress made in the bilateral relationship over the past years. Qian said that a good relationship between PRC and the US is in the interest of the two peoples and the world as a whole. Both PRC and the US share extensive interests and have broad room for cooperation, he said, adding that the constructive relationship of cooperation between the two countries will be pushed forward through increased dialogue and exchanges, and the expansion of cooperation in various fields.


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2. PRC's Commentary on Relations with ASEAN

China Daily (Zhai Kun, "STRONGER CHINA-ASEAN TIES SIGNIFICANT," 11/14/03, P4) carried a commentary saying that the increasing integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members is taking place as the group's relations with PRC deepen in the post-Cold War era. This proves that closer co-operation between the two sides has created a win-win situation, the article said. Co-operation between PRC and ASEAN serves as the motor force of regional economic development. Booming bilateral relations have also progressed beyond the economic dimension. The "China threat" tone prevalent in Southeast Asia only two years ago is now on the wane in the region. At the same time, driven by PRC's initiatives, free trade programs, with ASEAN at the core, have already spread to Japan and the ROK. Co-operation between PRC and ASEAN also helps to stabilize the regional security situation. PRC's signing of the Treaty of Amity and Co-operation in Southeast Asia (TAC) at this year's PRC-ASEAN summit made PRC the first non-Southeast Asian country to sign the treaty. The best benefit of PRC's membership is that, the country, together with others, is willing to be bound by the treaty in the security field. Co-operation between PRC and ASEAN serves as a powerful catalyst for the good political relationships in the region. In the security field, PRC's TAC membership has contributed to India's entry. Russia and Japan are also actively making similar efforts. With East Asian nations extending their co-operation beyond the economic sphere to the political and security ones, basically within the 10+3 framework, the group, however, will still play a core role.


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3. PRC-Japan Relations

China Daily (Hu Xuan, "TRUST NEEDED TO SOLVE STAND-OFF," 11/14/03, P1) reported that diplomatic initiatives to push for a fresh round of multilateral negotiations to break the nuclear stand-off on the Korean Peninsula are gaining momentum. Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo is currently on a five-day visit to Japan after wrapping up his four-day visit to the ROK on November 12 to promote the second round of six-party talks. PRC and the ROK reiterated that peacefully resolving the Korean nuclear issue is their common goal and they are willing to push the progress forward. Japan's Asahi Shimbun on Wednesday reported that the US and the DPRK, the two major players in the issue, agreed to stage the next round of talks from December 10-13. This undoubtedly signals a positive step towards a peaceful settlement of the thorny issue on the peninsula. The easing of the stands of both the United States and the DPRK in recent weeks, coupled with active international involvement would seem a way to get the two sides out of the impasse. To carry forward the peace talks, it is imperative, in particular, to cultivate a sense of mutual trust between the US and the DPRK, said the report.


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4. US's Asian Forces

China Daily ("PENTAGON MAY DISCUSS RE-BASING ASIAN FORCES," Tumon, 11/14/03, P12) reported that the Pentagon is ready to "test various ideas" with Asian allies on changing the makeup and basing of American combat forces in Japan, ROK and elsewhere in the region, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on November 13 at the outset of a six-day Asia tour. In an interview en route to this US island territory, Rumsfeld declined to offer any specifics other than to say the Pentagon might want access to more or different locations in Asia and the Pacific. His trip, to include stops in Japan and ROK, is his first to Asia since becoming defense secretary in January 2001.


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5. ROK to Send Troops to Iraq

China Daily ("S. KOREA TO SEND 3000 TROOPS," Seoul, 11/14/03, P11) reported that ROK will not send more than 3,000 troops to Iraq, despite US's request for a larger deployment, President Roh Moo-hyun's office said on November 13. Roh instructed his government to send fewer than 3,000 troops to Iraq when he met Cabinet ministers on November 11, presidential spokesman Yoon Tae-young said at a news briefing on November 13. 6. PRC-ROK Relations

China Daily ("CHINA SOWS SEEDS FOR DIPLOMATIC ¡(r)HARVEST' IN KOREA," 11/11/03, P1) reported that PRC and the ROK hoped for a "good harvest" on November 10 as they discussed launching a new round of six-party talks on the stand-off over an alleged nuclear program on the Korean Peninsula. Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo met ROK Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan in Seoul as part of Beijing's efforts to arrange the fresh round of talks on the issue. Also that day, Dai met Prime Minister Goh Kun and Presidential Advisor for National Security Affairs Ra Jong-il and Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun. They agreed that PRC and the ROK, along with other concerned parties, should co-operate closely to help peacefully overcome the impasse. During the meetings, Dai exchanged views with ROK officials on PRC-ROK relations. They supported the consensus reached by leaders of the two countries earlier this year to enhance bilateral relations, said the report.


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7. DPRK-US Relations

China Daily ("DPRK CAN VALIDATE DESIGNS," Washington, 11/10/03, P11) reported that the CIA has concluded that the DPRK has been able to validate its nuclear weapons designs without a nuclear test, the agency has disclosed to Congress. The intelligence service believes conventional explosives tests, conducted since the 1980s, have allowed the DPRK to verify its nuclear designs will work. The agency believes the DPRK has one or two nuclear weapons similar to what the US dropped on Hiroshima during World War II. A minority of US analysts believe the country may already have made more. CIA officials do not describe the precise mechanism by which the DPRK could have verified their designs. The explanation to Congress provides the rationale behind the agency's conclusion that the DPRK already has a nuclear weapon.


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8. DPRK-Japan Relations

China Daily ("DPRK WANTS TALKS WITH JAPAN," Tokyo, 11/12/03, P11) reported that the DPRK called on November 11 for talks with Japan on compensating sex slaves and other victims of Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule. It said diplomatic ties would be impossible until compensation was paid. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, however, said he was not aware of the DPRK demand and said other issues should be dealt with first. The DPRK call came days before US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is due in Japan and the ROK for security talks, with DPRK's nuclear issue sure to be high on the agenda.


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9. US Relations with Japan, ROK on DPRK Nuke Issue

China Daily ("US DIPLOMAT TO VISIT JAPAN, ROK ON DPRK NUCLEAR ISSUE," Tokyo, 11/13/03, P11) reported that US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly will make a three-day visit to Japan starting on Sunday to discuss the nuclear weapons crisis with the DPRK, a senior Japanese government official said on November 12. Speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, he said Kelly would hold talks with Japanese officials to prepare for multilateral negotiations on the DPRK nuclear issue. Kelly will fly to Seoul on Tuesday for similar talks with the ROK officials, the Japanese official said. It remains unclear when the next round of talks will be held. But Japan's leading Asahi Shimbun newspaper on November 12 quoted ROK government sources as saying the US and the DPRK have agreed to hold a second round of nuclear talks from December 10 to 13 in Beijing. Asahi said PRC was trying to set agreed-upon dates with other countries involved in the six-way talks on halting the DPRK's nuclear arms plans in return for security guarantees. ROK's Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan also said that it is highly likely that a new round of multilateral nuclear talks will take place by the end of the year. Kelly said in Washington on November 10 he expected to make at least two visits to East Asia before the next round of talks takes place.


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10. Relations Across Taiwan Straits

China Daily ("CALLS START FOR DIRECT AIR LINKS DURING SPRING FESTIVAL," 11/15-16/03, P1) reported that Taiwan authorities should allow direct chartered flights across the Straits during the coming Spring Festival, the most important traditional festival in China, the government's aviation administrator said on November 14. Although the Taiwan authorities proposed some "new" ideas, they were in reality based on unilateral and indirect link. Mainland airlines would still be limited in their participation in cross-Straits chartered flights, said Pu Zhaozhou, director of the Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao affairs office under the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China. "We hope the Taiwan authorities will not create barriers and will not impose unrealistic and unfair preconditions to cooperation between the two sides," said Pu in the report.


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11. Japan-US Relations

People's Daily ("JAPANESE PM MEETS WITH RUMSFIELD," 11/15/03, P3) reported that the Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on November 14 talked with US Defense Secretary Rumsfield. Koizumi told the press after meeting that the US made no detailed requirement on the time issue for Japan sending troops to Iraq.



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