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Northeast Asia Peace and Security Network DAILY REPORT For Friday, January 30, 1998, from Berkeley, California, USA |
1. Political Situation in DPRK
US State Department Deputy Spokesman James Foley ("STATE DEPARTMENT NOON
BRIEFING,"
USIA Transcript, 01/29/98) stated that it was difficult to analyze the
internal situation in the DPRK "with a high degree of confidence." He
added, however, "The country has been in some kind of political
transition over the last two years, which may be coming to an end." He
said that the US believes that economic reforms are essential to
salvaging the current economic situation in the DPRK. He concluded,
"Whether Kim Jung Il is in a position and is willing to move in that
direction, I think very much remains to be seen."
2. US-DPRK Economic Relations
US State Department Deputy Spokesman James Foley ("STATE DEPARTMENT
UPDATE ON NORTH KOREA CLAIMS SURVEY," Washington, USIA Text, 01/29/98)
announced that the US Office of Foreign Assets Control is amending the
Foreign Assets Control Regulations to require the reporting, no later
than March 9, 1998, of all outstanding financial claims held by US
nationals against the DPRK. The Department of State had announced in
September, 1997 that the US government would launch a survey of all
outstanding claims held by US citizens against the DPRK, and the
Department of the Treasury began the survey on December 9, 1997. The
information thus obtained is expected to be used in future claims
settlement negotiations between the US and the DPRK.
3. ROK Financial Crisis
The Washington Times (Patrice Hill, "BANKS GIVE SEOUL SWEET DEAL ON
LOANS," 01/30/98) reported that ROK President-elect Kim Dae-jung said
Thursday that his country got a good deal in renegotiating US$24 billion
worth of loans. The deal clears the way for US$8 billion of loans from
the US, Japan, and Western Europe to supplement aid from the
International Monetary Fund.
The New York Times (Timothy L. O'Brien, "INTRIGUE SWIRLS AROUND KOREAN
DEBT TALKS," New York, 01/30/98) reported that on January 8, J.P. Morgan
& Co. notified several big investors via e-mail about how talks on
restructuring ROK debts were proceeding. Bond traders said that the
bank had decided to brief investors because Goldman, Sachs & Co., a
financial adviser to the ROK government, had told its own clients the
negotiations were going poorly. Goldman, Sachs denied those
allegations.
US Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin ("STATEMENT BY TREASURY SECRETARY
ROBERT E. RUBIN ON KOREA," USIA Text, 01/29/98) gave the following
statement about the agreement between the ROK and its international
creditors: "I welcome the agreement announced last night between Korea
and its major international creditors on a proposal to refinance a
significant portion of Korea's debt coming due this year. Since
December, Korea has taken a series of actions to implement its IMF-
backed reform program with the full support of the President-elect. As
a result of these steps and voluntary efforts by major international
banks to roll over their short term claims on Korean financial
institutions, financial stability and confidence have begun to return to
Korea. Korea must now sustain this effort as it confronts the
challenges that lie ahead in restructuring its economic system.
Yesterday's agreement represents an important step toward promoting a
durable solution to Korea's financing situation. A satisfactory
conclusion of a comprehensive agreement to refinance and extend existing
claims, together with a successful effort to raise new money, will move
Korea significantly forward on the road to financial viability."
4. PRC-Taiwan Battle for Diplomatic Recognition
Reuters ("TAIWAN SEVERS TIES AFTER AFRICAN ALLY RECOGNIZES BEIJING,"
Taipei, 01/29/98) reported that the Taiwan Foreign Ministry confirmed on
Thursday that the Central African Republic had switched diplomatic
recognition back to the PRC. The ministry also announced that Taiwan
severed its ties with the Central African Republic effective immediately
and suspended all bilateral cooperation, including aid.
5. Global Land Mine Ban
Reuters ("LAND-MINE FOE SAYS JAPAN CAN HAVE IMPACT ON CAMPAIGN," Tokyo,
01/30/98) reported that Jody Williams, coordinator of the Nobel Prize-
winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines, said Friday that Japan
would be a major influence on nations that had not yet signed the global
land mine ban treaty. Williams stated, "We see the fact that Japan
changed its policy ... as very important in moving the recalcitrance of
the world to sign." She added, "The fact that Japan signed the treaty,
and almost all of the Western Hemisphere has signed the treaty, will
bring the United States on board. It needs the combination of domestic
and international pressure."
1. Four-party Peace Talks
A diplomatic source in Seoul said on January 25 that the DPRK has
recently proposed postponing an interim meeting of the four-party peace
talks, scheduled for February 12 in Beijing, until after the new
government is inaugurated in the ROK. Through its diplomatic channel in
New York, the DPRK offered to hold the meeting in Geneva in early March,
days before a plenary session of the four-way talks opens in Geneva on
March 16. If the DPRK proposal is accepted, the Geneva meeting will
become more of a preliminary meeting for the main talks. The ROK and
the US, however, have not decided how they will respond and are
assessing the DPRK's intentions, the source said. They also need to
consult the PRC to make a decision. (Korea Herald, Kim Kyung-ho, "DPRK
OFFERS TO POSTPONE BEIJING TALKS; UNTIL AFTER NEW GOVERNMENT IS
INAUGURATED IN SOUTH," 01/26/98)
2. ROK-Japan Relations
ROK Foreign minister Yoo Joong-hwa said on January 26 that the Japanese
government is responsible for paying compensation to Korean comfort
women. This is in direct opposition to Japan's insistence that all
matters relating to the occupation of Korea had been comprehensively
settled in the ROK-Japan normalization agreement signed in 1965. At the
ROK's trade and foreign affairs committee, Yoo stated that at the
conclusion of those talks, the comfort women issue was unknown to the
ROK government, and thus Japan's insistence that compensation has been
concluded has no legal basis. The Japanese government denied any
connection to the matter until 1992, when it was forced to admit to it
after documents were revealed showing government complicity. Some
observers suspect the ROK's protest to be a result of the degradation of
ROK-Japan relations after Japan's nullification of the 1965 fisheries
agreement, but the ROK government announced earlier that all retaliation
for Japan's action will be confined within the fisheries sector.
(Chosun Ilbo, "FOREIGN MINISTRY DEMANDS COMPENSATION FOR COMFORT WOMEN,"
01/27/98)
After an initial outpouring of criticism against Japan's unilateral
scrapping of a 1965 fisheries pact, ROK officials have begun to
emphasize prudence in dealing with the issue. President-elect Kim Dae-
jung told his aides on January 24 that they should deal with the issue
sensibly. Kim also conveyed the same message to government officials.
Kim's remarks may reflect his hope that ROK-Japan ties will not be
damaged by the fisheries dispute at a time when the ROK needs Japanese
help to overcome its financial crisis. Soon after Japan's notification
of its decision on the fisheries pact, the ROK government declared the
suspension of its self-imposed regulation of ROK fishing boats operating
near Japan's territorial seas. (Korea Herald, Kim Kyung-ho, "PRESIDENT-
ELECT CALLS FOR CAUTIOUS APPROACH TO SOLVING FISHERIES DISPUTE WITH
JAPAN," 01/26/98)
Following Japan's scrapping of its fisheries agreement with the ROK,
resentment towards Japan on two other major areas are growing. The
issue of comfort women and the issue of Japan's permanent membership at
the UN Security Council are now being addressed. (Chosun Ilbo, "OTHER
ISSUES RAISED AFTER JAPAN DISCARDS ACCORD," 01/26/98)
1. ROK-Japan Relations
People's Daily ("ROK AND JAPAN IN FISHERIES DISPUTES," 01/26/98, p. 6)
reported that diplomatic friction between Japan and the ROK has been
aggravated since Japan unilaterally scrapped a 1965 fisheries pact. The
newspaper said that ROK citizens are resentful of Japan's decision.
However, under the current conditions that the ROK's new administration
has not formally taken power and the ROK needs Japan's financial
support, the ROK will not over-exacerbate its relations with Japan.
China Daily ("S. KOREAN TRAWLERS SAIL INTO JAPAN SEAS," 01/26/98, p. 11)
said that the progress in Japan-ROK relations hit a bump on January 23
when Japan unilaterally decided to canceled a 1965 fisheries pact with
the ROK. ROK President-elect Kim Dae-jung on January 25 expressed
embarrassment over Japan's decision, which rekindled anti-Japanese
sentiment. Aides quoted Kim as saying that ROK citizens might suspect
that the former colonial master was taking advantage of the ROK's
economic crisis. A Japanese newspaper reported that Kim might postpone
a summit in Tokyo with Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto.
2. PRC-Taiwan Relations
China Daily ("POLITICAL TALKS DESIRED: QIAN," 01/27/98, p. 1) reported
that PRC officials urged Taiwanese authorities to begin political
discussions with the PRC as soon as possible. During a forum marking
the third anniversary of the landmark eight-point proposal on the Taiwan
issue made by PRC President Jiang Zemin in 1995, PRC Vice-Premier and
Foreign Minister Qian Qichen said that promoting political talks is the
key to enhancing overall cross-Straits relations at the current stage.
He said that ending PRC-Taiwan hostilities under the "one China"
principle is a must for furthering cross-Straits relations. For the
first step, both sides should make procedural arrangements for cross-
Straits political talks. During his speech, Qian stressed that the "one
China" principle must be upheld while promoting PRC-Taiwan relations.
The "one China" principle, Qian added, means adhering to the concept
that there is only one China in the world, Taiwan is part of China, and
China's sovereignty and territorial integrity cannot be separated. The
PRC suspended semi-official negotiations between the Association for
Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and its Taiwan counterpart,
the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), due to Taiwan President Lee Teng-
hui's visit to the US in mid-1995. It is still unclear when the semi-
official talks will resume. Chen Yunlin, director of the Taiwan Affairs
Office of the State Council of the PRC, said during the forum that his
office will authorize ARATS to begin procedural negotiations for
political talks with SEF, provided Taiwan authorities make clear their
sincerity.
3. PRC-Taiwan Battle for Diplomatic Recognition
People's Daily ("CHINA AND CENTRAL AFRICA RESUME DIPLOMATIC
RELATIONSHIP," 01/30/98, p. 1) reported that the PRC and the Republic of
Central Africa signed a joint communique on January 29 to resume their
official diplomatic relations. According to the communique, Central
Africa acknowledges that there is only one China in the world, and
Taiwan is a province of the People's Republic of China.
4. US-Japan Defense Cooperation
Jie Fang Daily ("US AND JAPAN ESTABLISH SPECIAL AGENCY TO COORDINATE
JOINT OPERATIONS," 01/22/98, p. 3) reported that during talks between
the US and Japanese defense ministers on January 20, the two countries
decided to establish an agency in charge of the coordination of their
joint operations. The two sides also agreed that they will carry out
research to find out whether Japan can provide technical cooperation for
the US ballistic missile defense programs.
5. PRC-US Relations
According to People's Daily ("APPROPRIATELY SOLVE SINO-US TRADE
PROBLEM," 01/22/98, p. 7), Long Yongtu, the PRC's chief trade
negotiation representative and Vice-Minister of Foreign Economic
Relations and Trade, said on January 20 during a symposium held by the
Asian Foundation of the US in Washington, that the PRC and the US should
closely cooperate to carefully and skillfully handle the issues of trade
imbalance and other disputes between the two countries. Long said that
it is important to compile trade statistics in a scientific way. He
said that the PRC can understand US concerns about its trade imbalance
with the PRC. The PRC will take positive and practicable measures to
increase its imports from the US. At the same time, he also hopes that
the US will loosen its limits on the export of high-tech products to the
PRC and create conditions for the healthy and stable development of PRC-
US trade and economic relations.
China Daily ("EXPERT APPLAUDS SINO-US TIES," 01/25/98, p. 2) said that
despite frequent friction, the Sino-US trade and economic relationship
developed strong momentum in 1997, and 1998 will witness a new
progressive phase in economic cooperation between the two countries. In
1997, bilateral trade between the PRC and the US surged to US$49
billion, up 14.36 per cent from 1996's US$42.84 billion. According to
Zhou Shijian, vice-president of the PRC Chamber of Commerce of Metals,
Minerals, and Chemicals Importers and Exporters, the PRC and the US
should solve permanently the issue of the PRC's Most Favored Nation
(MFN) trading status in 1998. Last July, he said, the US Senate voted
down a right-wing proposal to withdraw MFN status from the PRC by an
overwhelming 77 votes to 22. "This was the best result in the US Senate
on this issue since 1990." This showed that prolonging the PRC's MFN
status on an unconditional basis has become the consensus of the
mainstreams of both the Democratic and Republican parties of the US. As
for the issue of the PRC's entry into the World Trade Organization
(WTO), Zhou said that the Clinton administration should rule out the
influence of political factors and make real efforts to accept the PRC
into the WTO.
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