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In today's Report:
1. US Statement on Peace Talks and Food Aid
US State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns ("STATE DEPARTMENT NOON
BRIEFING, APRIL 21," USIA Transcript, 4/22/97) commented on the
failure of the DPRK to agree to the proposed US - ROK four-party peace
talks, and on the food aid issue that emerged as the chief stumbling
block. Burns stated that the US has "responded successfully, quite
vigorously" and "with some compassion" to the DPRK's wish for food
assistance with $25 million proposed by the US in the last two months.
Burns added that the US has responded to every request for food aid to
the DPRK by the UN's World Food Program over the last two years, and
that the US has been the leading contributor. At the same time Burns
reiterated that the US does not "link food aid to these political
talks for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula." The food aid
is strictly humanitarian, not political, Burns said. Burns also
stated that "the offer of four-party peace talks is still on the
table." [Ed. note: Excerpts from Burns' extensive comments on DPRK-
related issues at this briefing will be distributed in a separate
posting.]
2. Hwang Jang-yop Arrives in Seoul
The Associated Press ("PAPER: N. KOREA SAID TO HAVE NUKES," Seoul,
4/22/97) reported Hwang Jang-yop arrived in Seoul from the Philippines
on Sunday, 67 days after defecting to the ROK Embassy in Beijing.
Hwang is being held in seclusion, and on the third day of his stay is
said to be more psychologically stable following a medical check-up.
The Agency for National Security Planning quoted a secret report, said
to have been written by Hwang in August, as saying, "North Korea is
capable of scorching South Korea with nuclear weapons, chemical
weapons and rockets." The Agency did not say whether the report was
written for the ROK government or how it obtained the report. The
article reported that Hwang stated on Sunday that he defected to warn
the world that the DPRK army was preparing to unleash a suicidal war.
General John Tilelli, commander of US troops in the ROK, said that the
threat to peace remained "real and dangerous".
Reuters ("NUKE WAR REPORT RATTLES SEOUL AS TALKS CRUMBLE," Seoul,
4/22/97) reported that the Chosun Ilbo daily published excerpts of the
report said to have been written by Hwang Jang-yop last August. The
story reported that Hwang's writing includes assertions that Kim Jong-
il "worshipped Hitler and often used the German word 'blitzkrieg',
meaning lightning attack" and that the DPRK has a vast network of
spies in the ROK. The ROK, the US and Japan were most drawn to the
assertion that the DPRK could turn the ROK into a "sea of flames" and
that the DPRK believes that if it wages war it will win. Hwang's
report also mentions that if the US intervenes, the DPRK plans to
attack Japan.
The Washington Post ("US TO INTERVIEW DEFECTOR, COHEN SAYS,"
Washington, 4/21/97, Page A12) reported Defense Secretary William S.
Cohen as saying that the ROK will allow the US to interrogate Hwang
Jang-yop. Cohen also said that the DPRK is "one of the most
dangerous flash points in the world." The article also reported a
statement by Hwang as saying, "The North Korean economy is almost
paralyzed. People are suffering from starvation and the government
has no choice but to beg from international agencies".
3. Peace Talks Postponement and DPRK Food Aid
The Associated Press ("N. Korea Stalls Peace Talks," New York,
4/21/97) reported that the ROK delegation to the peace talks returned
to Seoul after the DPRK did not agree to the four-party peace talks
proposed as had been anticipated. Although the DPRK said they could
not accept the negotiations offer unless food aid was assured, the US
and ROK continue to insist that food aid not be a precondition for the
peace negotiations. The report stated that the failure to gain
agreement is clearly a setback for the yearlong effort, but that the
offer of peace talks remains and that contacts would continue at the
consular level. Speaking on CNN, former US Ambassador to ROK Donald
Gregg commented that the DPRK is playing "hardball" and that the DPRK
knows that they need to reach out to the ROK for food aid. Gregg adds
that this acknowledgment is "extremely painful for them" and that they
want to get as much as they can from the US before they "sit down with
their brothers in the South." State Department spokesman Nicholas
Burns described the situation as a "diplomatic muddle", and added that
the US "can't wait for ever" for the DPRK to make up its mind [Ed.
note: Please see the summary of Burns' comments below. Excerpts from
Burns' extensive comments on DPRK- related issues at this briefing
will be distributed in a separate posting.]
Reuters ("NUKE WAR REPORT RATTLES SEOUL AS TALKS CRUMBLE," Seoul,
4/22/97) reported Tuesday that ROK diplomats left New York, after
failing to get an agreement from the DPRK to join the proposed peace
talks. ROK officials remain hopeful that the DPRK will eventually
agree to talks. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lee Kyu-hyung expressed
regret that the DPRK did not accept the proposal, but that "it was not
a big disappointment." The proposal failed due to the DPRK demand for
immediate large-scale food aid, which was not met by the US and ROK.
4. Japanese Seize DPRK Drug Shipment
Reuters ("NUKE WAR REPORT RATTLES SEOUL AS TALKS CRUMBLE," Seoul,
4/22/97) reported that Japanese police arrested the captain of a DPRK
freighter last week after finding 70 kg (154 lb) of amphetamines with
a street value estimated at 11.9 billion yen (US$95 million) in the
ship's hold. This event, in addition to suspicions that DPRK agents
kidnapped Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s are reportedly
leading Tokyo to be reluctant to provide aid to the DPRK according to
Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiroku Kajiyama.
The ROK's Red Cross said Monday it would ship 200 tons of potatoes to
help alleviate near-famine conditions in the DPRK this week. Most of
the funds for the potatoes, worth an estimated US$112,000, were raised
in a private donation drive launched by the former conductor of the
Paris Bastille Orchestra, Chung Myon-Hun, the Red Cross said. The
shipment, in 5,000 40-kilogram (88-pound) bags, would leave the
western port of Inchon on Friday, it said. The Red Cross is currently
awaiting the government's green light to meet with representatives of
the DPRK's Red Cross in Beijing on May 3rd to discuss ways to speed up
private aid shipments. The meeting was proposed by the ROK's Red Cross
on Friday to take place at the truce village of Panmunjom, and agreed
to by the DPRK on Saturday. But the DPRK asked that the venue be
changed to Beijing, and suggested May 3rd as the date. (Korea Times,
"RED CROSS TO SHIP POTATOES TO N.KOREA," 04/22/97)
Japanese and DPRK Foreign Ministry officials met unofficially in
Beijing last week for the first time in four months, a report said
Monday. The director of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Northeast Asia
bureau, Koro Besho, met a DPRK Foreign Ministry official in charge of
Japan on Saturday, Jiji Press quoted sources as saying. The talks were
unofficial as Tokyo and Pyongyang do not have official diplomatic
ties. "We cannot comment on it (the meeting)," an official at the
Northeast Asia bureau in Tokyo said. A similar working-level contact
was reportedly made in December last year. Talks on normalizing
bilateral relations have been suspended since 1992 following Japanese
allegations that the DPRK abducted a Japanese woman, named Li Un-hye,
to help train its spies. Earlier this year, a former DPRK agent who
defected to the ROK reportedly said he had knowledge about a 13-year-
old Japanese girl who was reported missing in 1977, raising suspicions
that the DPRK has abducted Japanese nationals. Relatives of people
suspected of being abducted by the DPRK, including the parents of the
girl, have since formed a group to urge the government to investigate
the issue. Despite U.N. appeals for assistance to the famine-hit DPRK,
Japan's government has remained reluctant to send food. (Korea Times,
"JAPANESE, NK OFFICIALS HAVE CONTACT IN BEIJING: REPORT," 04/22/97)
The DPRK is still not ready to reply to a ROK-US joint proposal for
peace talks, according to a US State Department official after
informal talks among the three parties here Sunday. "There is still no
meeting scheduled" for Washington and Seoul to formally receive
Pyongyang's reply, the official -- who requested anonymity -- said
after the three-hour working-level meeting. After talks ended
Saturday, officials had hoped the DPRK would answer by Sunday to the
year-old US and ROK offer to hold four-party negotiations on a peace
treaty that would replace the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean
War. Asked whether the problem was that the DPRK was still not ready,
the official said "we and the South Koreans are still waiting to have
a meeting." ROK Foreign Ministry spokesman Lee Kyu-hyon told AFP in
Seoul that the meeting, which lasted for three hours from 5 a.m. KST,
"was held at the sudden request of North Korea." But the session ended
inconclusively, he said, with the DPRK repeating its request for
pledges of food aid before clarifying its position on the peace talks.
Under the peace proposal offered by President Bill Clinton and ROK
President Kim Young-sam, the two Koreas would be joined by the US and
the PRC as intermediaries at the peace table. The PRC, the DPRK's
ideological ally and now an economic partner with the ROK, accepted
the proposal in November. But after predicting "good results" from
talks on Wednesday, DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye-gwan, who heads
Pyongyang's delegation, refused to resume discussions. (Korea Times,
"NK STILL NOT READY TO REPLY TALKS OFFER," 04/22/97)
Tension surrounding Hwang Jang-yop's defection has subsided with his
safe arrival in Seoul on Sunday. However, much of his 67-day odyssey
remains a mystery. Hwang, in a speech upon his arrival at a military
airport south of Seoul, dropped a bombshell by declaring he decided to
defect to the ROK to head off war on the Korean peninsula. He even
claimed that the DPRK had chosen the path of armed aggression, using
the military forces it has built during the past several decades.
Hwang added that he could not help but defect to the ROK to save the
lives of 70 million compatriots. So far, Seoul and its Western allies
are of the belief that the DPRK, though a formidable military power,
has apparently opted for dialogue to get out of its economic
hardships, including an imminent famine.
Questions have been raised about the authenticity of Hwang's arrival
speech and several letters, allegedly written by him prior to his Feb.
12 defection. Nobody denies the possibility that Hwang had been in
contact with the ROK's intelligence agency before deciding to defect
to Seoul. Hwang's aide, Kim Duk-hong, is believed to have played a key
role in Hwang's defection by working side by side with the ROK
intelligence agency. In a letter allegedly written by Hwang on Jan.
2, the secretary of the DPRK Workers' Party, stressed the necessity of
strengthening the role of the Agency for National Security Planning if
Seoul wants to unify the Korean peninsula as soon as possible. At that
time, the Kim Young-sam administration was being rocked by widespread
strikes by workers opposing the revision of labor-related laws.
At the same time, the government's plan to strengthen the NSP's
investigation power faced stiff opposition from citizens. The top
intelligence agency has been suspected of using DPRK issues to divert
citizens' attention from controversies involving Seoul's ruling
circle. Earlier, many speculated that Hwang would arrive in Seoul in
time for the parliamentary hearing on President Kim Young-sam's son,
Hyon-chol. In fact, Hwang flew into Seoul days before Hyon-chol's
hearing which is slated for Friday. There is speculation that the NSP
might be involved in "crafting" Hwang's arrival speech and letters.
However, others believe that Hwang, architect of the DPRK's ruling
ideology of juche (self-reliance), might have written the speech and
letters out of his own conviction. "Hwang is believed to have defected
to South Korea because he was disenchanted with the North Korean
system with which he had lost all hopes. With the South Korean
government facing deep trouble with the labor strikes and other
concerns early this year, he might have realized that Seoul's disarray
could invite aggression from North Korea," a government official said.
However, there are a few mysterious inconsistencies. First, many
people still raise questions on how Hwang could have handed over his
letters to the intelligence agency and a local newspaper before his
defection, which, by DPRK standards, was a suicidal act. Second, the
DPRK apparently remained idle in preventing Hwang from defecting to
the ROK, despite the fact that the high-ranking figure might reveal
the inner workings of the DPRK's ruling circle and other top secrets
to the ROK intelligence community. For example, the DPRK seemed to
move to tolerate Hwang's defection, at first saying that Hwang had
been kidnapped by ROK agents but later conceding that a "renegade may
go if he wishes." Moreover, officials here believe that the several
attempts by DPRK agents to infiltrate the ROK mission in Beijing where
Hwang stayed were a limited show of force. The DPRK also refrained
from commenting on Hwang's transfer to the Philippines en route to
Seoul. Third, one of the key mysteries surrounding Hwang's defection
is whether President Kim's son, Hyon-chol, contacted Hwang to bring
him to Seoul. After learning of Hwang's intention of defecting to
Seoul, Hyon-chol or his aide Park Tae-jung allegedly visited Beijing
last September to meet Kim Duk-hong, who arrived in Seoul along with
Hwang. Hyon-chol is believed to have intervened in a wide range of
state affairs. Therefore, it is possible that the President's son
might also have attempted to play a secret channel of contacts with
the DPRK. (Korea Times, "HWANG'S ODYSSEY RAISES MYSTERIES," 04/22/97)
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1. US Statement on Peace Talks and Food Aid
II. Republic of Korea
2. Hwang Jang-yop Arrives in Seoul
3. Peace Talks Postponement and DPRK Food Aid
4. Japanese Seize DPRK Drug Shipment
I. United States
II. Republic of Korea
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