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Northeast Asia Peace and Security Network DAILY REPORT For Thursday, February 5, 1998, from Berkeley, California, USA |
1. Light-Water Reactor Project
The New York Times (David E. Sanger, "SEOUL SAYS IT WILL HAVE TROUBLE
PAYING FOR NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR PLANTS," Washington, 02/05/98) reported
that ROK officials have told the US that the ROK financial crisis has
left it unable to pay its full share of the cost of constructing nuclear
power plants in the DPRK. The ROK is expected to ask the US and Japan
to provide more for the early stages of the project when they meet to
discuss the nuclear accord in New York on Thursday. Last week the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Washington published in the Federal
Register a request from Combustion Engineering, a nuclear equipment
producer, for a license to export two reactors to the DPRK. US
officials said on Wednesday that they suspect that the ROK may be using
the financial crisis to test US and Japanese willingness to pay for a
larger share of the DPRK project. One anonymous senior US official
said, "We have made it clear that we do not think Congress is prepared
to fund the light-water reactor for the North under any conditions."
Gary Milhollin, director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms
Control, said, "The reactors are the quid pro quo for freezing the
nuclear program. If the reactors don't go forward, we will confront at
some point North Korean reluctance to do their part of the deal."
US State Department Spokesman James Rubin ("STATE DEPARTMENT NOON
BRIEFING," USIA Transcript, 02/05/98) said that the State Department
regards reports that the ROK is unable to pay for the light-water
reactor construction project as "incorrect." Rubin stated, "The Korean
Government and President-elect Kim Dae-jung have consistently stated
that the Republic of Korea will meet its obligations to KEDO." Rubin
said that KEDO already has funding for the first year of costs for the
project, although he pointed out that the project must sometimes incur
short-term debt to meet the delivery schedule for heavy oil shipments to
the DPRK. He added, "As far as the second year of funding is concerned,
early costs are relatively small and therefore manageable for both South
Korea and Japan, which will together fund most of the project's cost."
Rubin also said that the DPRK must convince the international community
that it is in full compliance with its safeguards agreement before any
nuclear components can be delivered. He stated, "North Koreans must
take all steps deemed necessary by the International Atomic Energy
Agency to verify the accuracy and completeness of their data. And those
verifications can include visits by the IAEA to any sites it deems
necessary."
The AP-Dow Jones News Service ("S. KOREAN AIDES IN N.Y. TO DISCUSS N.
KOREA ATOM PLANTS," New York, 02/05/98) reported that ROK government
officials arrived in New York Thursday for a two-day discussion about
cost-sharing for the DPRK light-water reactor project. Jason Shaplen, a
policy adviser at the Korean Energy Development Organization (KEDO)
stated, "This is on ongoing process and will continue to be an ongoing
process."
2. DPRK Food Aid
US State Department Spokesman James Rubin ("STATE DEPARTMENT NOON
BRIEFING," USIA Transcript, 02/05/98) made the following statement: "In
response to the UN World Food Program's announcement January 6 of an
appeal for some 650,000 metric tons of humanitarian food aid to the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the United States Government has
decided to provide humanitarian assistance in the amount of 200,000
metric tons of food aid, or about 30 percent of the appeal. This is
consistent with previous US responses to international appeals for
emergency food aid to North Korea. The US Government's food assessment
team which visited North Korea last year confirmed assessments by the
United Nations that North Korea's 1997 harvest fell well short of
meeting the minimum food needs of its people, and that substantial food
assistance would be needed to help avert serious food shortages during
this year. The US Government's assistance in the form of PL 480, Title
II Emergency Food Aid will be provided to the World Food Program in
three tranches during the one-year period from April 1998 to March 1999
that the WFP appeal covers. Our assistance will be targeted at North
Korean civilians who are most vulnerable to the effects of malnutrition
caused by the food crisis, including children in nurseries, schools and
orphanages; pregnant/nursing women; handicapped people; and hospital
patients. In order to ensure that the donated food is used for its
intended purpose, the program will nearly double its international staff
in North Korea to 46, including 26 food monitors, and add two new
regional offices."
3. DPRK Defector
The Associated Press ("REPORT: N. KOREA DIPLOMAT DEFECTS," Seoul,
02/05/98) reported that the ROK news agency Yonhap said Friday that Kim
Dong-su, a third secretary at the DPRK delegation to the Rome-based UN
Food and Agriculture Organization, has defected to the ROK Embassy in
Rome with his wife and son. In Joon-chung, an ROK embassy spokesman,
denied the reports, saying "there was no defector." However, another
embassy official later stated, "We refuse to make any comments."
4. ROK Financial Crisis
The Associated Press (Sang-Hun Choe, "KOREA LABOR GROUP WILL
COMPROMISE," Seoul, 02/05/98) reported that the ROK Federation of Korea
Trade Unions said Thursday it would compromise over legislation to
permit employee layoffs. The union's statement came shortly before
officials resumed negotiations to find a layoff bill acceptable to both
business and labor. ROK President-elect Kim Dae-jung's aides hoped to
present the new layoff bill to the National Assembly by Friday.
The Washington Times (Patrice Hill, "ASIAN CRISIS HAS LONG-TERM
EFFECTS," 02/05/98) reported that the rise in import prices and interest
rates in the ROK will cause a deep recession in the coming year. The
article said that about 17,000 ROK companies went bankrupt last year,
and analysts predict three times as many will fail this year, leaving as
many as 1 million unemployed.
5. PRC-Japan Relations
Reuters ("JAPAN: CHINA SAYS IT IS 'SENSITIVE' TO U.S. DEFENSE PACT,"
Tokyo, 02/05/98) reported that a Japanese Foreign Ministry official
quoted PRC Defense Minister Chi Haotian as saying on Thursday in a
meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi that the PRC remains
sensitive to the new US-Japan defense arrangement because it involves
Taiwan. Obuchi said that Japan would explain the arrangement if the
necessity arose, and that enhanced Japan-PRC bilateral defense ties
would be a good opportunity to remove any possible misunderstanding. On
Wednesday, the PRC and Japan agreed to boost bilateral defense ties
during a meeting between Chi and Japanese Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma.
1. Kim Dae-jung to Visit US
ROK President-elect Kim Dae-jung will visit the US March 5-12.
According to his itinerary, he will meet President Bill Clinton on March
9 and deliver a speech at the Congress March 10. Kim will also visit
Wall Street in New York upon arriving in the US to appeal for foreign
investment in the ROK. The president-elect will be formally inaugurated
on February 25. (Korea Herald, "PRESIDENT-ELECT TO VISIT US MARCH 5-
12," 02/04/98)
2. ROK-DPRK Relations
The Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI) said on February 4 that
the two Koreas would be able to cut their military expenditure by US$2
million per year if they increased bilateral trade and economic
exchange. However, in predicting the immediate future of inter-Korean
economic relations, the SERI said that inter-Korean trade and economic
exchange programs are likely to shrink because of economic difficulties
in the ROK aggravating the DPRK's shortage of foreign currency. (Korea
Herald, "REPORT ADVOCATES INCREASED INTER-KOREAN CONTACTS," 02/04/98)
3. KEDO Environmental Assessment
The Korea Atomic Energy Development Organization (KEDO) will carry out
an environmental survey on the DPRK seas surrounding the light-water
reactor construction site, announced a KEDO official. The official
added that a seasonal survey throughout the year is necessary to obtain
an accurate environmental impact assessment of the reactors. The survey
team will be comprised of 35 people, including 17 ROK researchers.
(Kyonghyang Shinmun, "KEDO TO PREPARE EIA FOR NUCLEAR REACTORS,"
02/05/98)
4. ROK-Japan Fisheries Talks
The ROK and Japan are expected to resume their fisheries talks after a
meeting between ROK President-elect Kim Dae-jung and Japanese Prime
Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto scheduled for April in London. Kim and
Hashimoto will be in London to attend the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM)
summit April 2-4. Meanwhile, ROK and Japan foreign ministers are
expected to meet in March to discuss preparations for the summit talks.
(Korea Herald, "SEOUL, TOKYO TO RESUME FISHERIES TALKS IN APRIL,"
02/04/98)
5. PRC-Japan Relations
Japanese and PRC defense ministers agreed February 4 to allow warship
visits to each other's ports, a Japanese official said. The agreement
was reached during talks between visiting PRC Defense Minister Chi
Haotian and his Japanese counterpart, defense agency director-general
Fumio Kyuma. Japan already has reciprocal agreements for warship visits
with the ROK and Russia in an effort to open a new page in relations
with the rest of Asia. (Korea Times, "JAPANESE, PRC DEFENSE HEADS AGREE
ON RECIPROCAL WARSHIP VISITS:AFP," 02/04/98)
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