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Northeast Asia Peace and Security Network DAILY REPORT For Wednesday, April 15, 1998, from Berkeley, California, USA |
1. ROK-DPRK Talks
Reuters ("NO PROGRESS IN KOREA TALKS," Beijing, 04/15/98) reported that an ROK embassy
official in Beijing said that the ROK and DPRK made sporadic contact on Wednesday but did not agree to
restart talks on fertilizer aid. The official stated, "There are no prospects today and no schedule for
tomorrow."
2. US Policy Toward DPRK
The Los Angeles Times carried an opinion article (Tom Plate, "NEXT ON THE DIPLOMATIC
AGENDA: KOREA," 04/14/98) which said that, now that US President Bill Clinton has helped broker a
peace agreement for Northern Ireland, he should turn his attention to the DPRK. The author argued,
"The global stakes involving North Korea are even more serious than those in Northern Ireland, and are at
least as intractable." He added that, while there are many impediments to a DPRK invasion of the ROK,
those might not prevent the DPRK from using chemical or biological weapons. The author quoted
Michael O'Hanlon as saying in the latest issue of International Security, "Initiating any kind of large scale
war would represent a desperation option for North Korea. If it chose to exercise such an option,
therefore, it might see little point in showing restraint, instead gambling that the allies would not escalate
to nuclear retaliation." The article also quoted Michael J. Mazarr as saying in the current National
Interest, "The ingredients are all in place for serious instability on the Korean peninsula, something that is
not to be welcomed in the most heavily militarized region on earth." The author agreed with Mazarr's
suggestion that a new initiative from the West is necessary to break the impasse with the DPRK. He
called on the US and its allies to offer "a major package deal" to the DPRK. He stated, "The offer might
include some formulation of a mutual pullback from the demilitarized zone, reduction in forces,
renunciation of terrorism, and easing of U.S. economic sanctions." The article quoted Hyun-ok Park, a
University of Michigan sociologist, as saying, "In recent months, North Korea has continually expressed a
desire for change, and it wants to get South Korea and the Americans to help." It also quoted an unnamed
senior US diplomat stationed in Asia as saying that, due to the ROK's economic crisis, "Not surprisingly
now, there is a lot less interest in South Korea, across the entire political spectrum, in seeing North Korea
collapse."
3. Separated Korean Families
The Washington Post (Mary Jordan, "AGING KOREANS HOPE TO SEE THEIR KIN," Seoul, 04/15/98,
A01) reported that national unification minister Kang In-duck announced Tuesday that the ROK will
amend national security laws to allow ROK citizens to send small amounts of money directly to relatives
in the DPRK.
4. ROK Food Aid for DPRK
The Associated Press ("S. KOREA DONATES FOOD TO N. KOREA," Seoul, 04/15/98) reported that an
ROK ship carrying 7,300 tons of wheat flour, rice, cooking oil, and other aid departed Wednesday from
Inchon and was scheduled to arrive in the DPRK on Thursday. The shipment was the first of 50,000 tons
of donated food which the ROK Red Cross had promised to the DPRK during talks in Beijing in late
March.
5. Reports on DPRK Famine
The Associated Press ("CANNIBALISM REPORTED IN NORTH KOREA," Beijing, 04/15/98) reported
that representatives from the French aid group Doctors Without Borders said in a report compiled from
interviews conducted with DPRK refugees in PRC border areas that some DPRK citizens are resorting to
cannibalism to survive the famine. The report also quoted PRC citizens who had been to the DPRK or
had relatives there as saying that food aid was not being distributed to the population. Marcel Roux, one
of the French aid workers who conducted the interviews, said that reports of cannibalism could not be
proved because the DPRK government is hiding the truth from foreign aid agencies. He stated, "Nobody
can prove anything in North Korea today because no one has access to reality, with the exception of those
who flee the country. We, for instance, are shown a few sick people or malnutrition cases: just what is
needed to justify aid." However, Catherine Bertini, executive director of the World Food Program, said
Sunday after returning from a four-day visit to the DPRK that she had seen no sign of cannibalism and
had no evidence of it occurring.
6. ROK Financial Crisis
Dow Jones Newswires ("FORMER KOREAN FINANCE MINISTERS BARRED FROM LEAVING
COUNTRY," Seoul, 04/15/98) reported that ROK government officials said Monday that former finance
ministers Hong Jae-hyong and Rha Woong-bae have been barred from leaving the country and are
expected to be summoned soon for questioning by prosecutors in connection with the financial crisis.
Hong and Rha are being asked to clarify whether they were pressured or bribed to license between 1994
and 1996 a number of merchant banks which were later held partly responsible for the ROK's financial
turmoil. Also on Wednesday, prosecutors raided the Korea Federation of Merchant Banks in downtown
Seoul and confiscated documents.
7. Russia-Japan Summit Meeting
The Associated Press (Yuri Kageyama, "YELTSIN, HASHIMOTO TO MEET IN TOKYO," Tokyo,
04/14/98) reported that Japanese officials said that Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and
Russian President Boris Yeltsin will continue the discussions begun last November in Siberia this
Saturday and Sunday in the seaside resort of Kawana, just south of Tokyo. The two nations have been
discussing cooperation on various large-scale projects, including the upgrading of the Trans-Siberian
railroad, construction of a pipeline from a Siberian gas field, and oil projects off Sakhalin Island. Despite
these agreements, the question of the disputed Kuril Islands remains central to the talks. Muneo Suzuki,
head of Japan's Hokkaido Development Agency, was quoted as saying, "Never have relations been better.
We have to start with what can be done. This is going to take time." However, Shigeki Hakamada, a
professor at Aoyama Gakuin University, warned that Yeltsin's domestic political difficulties make
concessions on the territorial issue difficult. He stated, "Yeltsin can't afford to become isolated at home.
Any agreement will leave plenty of gray areas."
8. US Missile Technology Transfer to PRC
Reuters (Yuko Inoue, "LORAL SPACE CHIEF DENIES WRONGDOING IN CHINA CASE," Tokyo,
04/15/98) reported that Gregory Clark, president and chief operating officer of Loral Space and
Communications Ltd, on Wednesday denied a report in the New York Times which said his company
provided the PRC with technical information that enabled it to improve the accuracy of its nuclear
missiles. He stated, "We feel (our) people involved in that behaved correctly. They did not divulge any
information that was inappropriate. We feel that very strongly." He added, "We're collaborating very
openly with government facilities investigating this." The Times report said that an expert panel headed
by Loral which was sent to the PRC to analyze the failure of a PRC rocket carrying a commercial US
satellite might have discussed sensitive aspects of rocket guidance and control with PRC officials.
The New York Times carried an editorial ("THE SANCTITY OF MISSILE SECRETS," 04/15/98) which
argued that, although relations with the PRC are improving, the time has not yet arrived to share US
missile guidance secrets with the PRC. The article stated, "Control of these sensitive technologies is too
important to sacrifice for commercial gain, much less campaign contributions." It concluded, "The
investigation of Loral and Hughes should be vigorously pursued. The White House should not relax
export control rules either to improve relations with China or to accommodate generous donors."
9. US Arms Sales to PRC
The Los Angeles Times carried an analytical article (Jim Mann, "ARMS TO CHINA: TINY DEAL OR
END TO BAN?," Washington, 04/15/98) which said that the Bill Clinton administration for several
months has been trying to decide whether to permit Sikorsky Aircraft to sell spare parts and equipment for
helicopters that the company originally sold to the PRC in 1984. Sales of any military-related equipment
from the US to the PRC have been prohibited since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. The author
argued that allowing a waiver of these sanctions could induce the European Union to lift its own
prohibition on arms sales to the PRC. However, the article quoted former US Defense Secretary William
Perry as saying, "Arms cooperation programs ... are not part of my vision of what we'll be doing with
China. I just don't see that it serves our national security interest to do that." It also quoted an unnamed
Defense Department official as saying recently that it was "impossible" and "inconceivable" that the US
would begin to sell military equipment to the PRC, noting that any such policy change would arouse
intense opposition in Congress. US Representative Christopher Cox (R-CA), chairman of the House
Policy Committee, said Tuesday that "changing the status quo on arms sales would be reckless." He
added that even a sale of spare parts would be "enormously significant." However, another unnamed
administration official said, "Over the long term, if the Europeans move in this area, there will be pressure
from [the U.S. defense] industry."
1. ROK-DPRK Talks
ROK and DPRK officials on Tuesday agreed to extend their landmark talks here as the two sides
wrangled over their different agendas, demanding concessions from each other. "We want some
reciprocity here. The North cannot go away with fertilizer only," said the ROK's chief delegate Jeong Se-
hyun. "What we want from the North is a clear guarantee on the issue of reuniting separated families,"
Jeong said. For a start, the DPRK could agree on a concrete timetable for establishing a meeting place
and a mail exchange center on the ROK-DPRK border in return for the shipment of fertilizer from the
ROK, Jeong said. Jeong's DPRK counterpart, Chon Gum-Chol, said that the DPRK wants the ROK to
ship half a million tons of fertilizer, while the ROK offered to supply no more than 200,000 tons. DPRK
delegates said that the DPRK had come to the meeting only because the ROK had signaled it would
provide fertilizer aid should the DPRK ask for it through official channels. The DPRK delegation had
planned to return home in time for the 86th anniversary of the birth of the late DPRK leader Kim Il-sung,
which falls on Wednesday. The PRC meanwhile on Tuesday announced it would donate 100,000 tons of
food and 20,000 tons of chemical fertilizer to the DPRK to help alleviate food shortages. (Korea Times,
"TWO KOREAS AGREE TO EXTEND TALKS AMID WRANGLING," 04/16/98)
The ROK National Assembly is considering proposing ROK-DPRK parliamentary talks to help improve
relations between the two halves of the Korean peninsula, a high-ranking official of the ruling camp said
yesterday. The envisioned politicians' talks among the two Koreas are being promoted by the ruling
coalition of the National Congress for New Politics led by ROK President Kim Dae-jung and the United
Liberal Democrats led by Acting Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil, he said. The Assembly is expected to
propose the holding of a preliminary meeting within the first half of this year to realize the parliamentary
talks, he added. The coalition partners have already agreed with the government to make an overture for
the meeting to the Supreme People's Congress of the DPRK. (Korea Times, "RULING CAMP
PROMOTES HOLDING OF S-N PARLIAMENTARY TALKS," 04/15/98)
1. World Day of Response to DPRK Famine
On Saturday, April 25, volunteers from the Bay Area will meet in Union Square, San Francisco, from
5:30 - 7 pm, to show concern for the famine in the DPRK, as part of the World Day of Fasting for the
People of North Korea. This event is being sponsored by the Bay Area Coalition for the World Day of
Fasting for the People of North Korea, whose members include the Korean American Sharing Movement,
the Hunger Relief Fund for North Korea, and the American Friends Service Committee. San Francisco
Mayor Willie Brown as well as other speakers and cultural performances will be featured. For more
information or to help, contact the Hunger Relief Fund for North Korea, phone: (415)565-0201 (ext.23)
email: nkrelief@supernews.com website: http://www.nkrelief.supernews.com/
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