|
Northeast Asia Peace and Security Network DAILY REPORT For Wednesday, April 22, 1998, from Berkeley, California, USA |
1. ROK-DPRK Talks
The Associated Press ("EDITORIAL ROUNDUP," 04/22/98) reported that Tokyo's Mainichi Shimbun
carried an editorial Tuesday which said that the recent ROK-DPRK talks in Beijing were designed to allow
both sides to get a feeling for each other's strategies and capabilities before beginning discussions in
earnest. The article argued that the DPRK's famine and its desire to normalize relations with the US and
Japan will force it to come back to the bargaining table. It predicted that the DPRK "will devise a new
posture after it grasps the policies of the Kim Dae-jung administration," and it called on the ROK to "take
measures to prevent the polarization of public opinion at home and ensure that North Korea will not begin
to harbor false expectations."
2. Opening of DPRK Airspace
The Associated Press ("AIRLINES TO USE N. KOREAN AIRSPACE," Seoul, 04/22/98) reported that
ROK aviation officials said Wednesday that Delta, United, and six other airlines have registered to use
DPRK airspace after it opens to international flights beginning Thursday. A Singapore Airlines jet flying
from Hong Kong to San Francisco on Thursday morning is the first scheduled flight through DPRK
airspace. Other international airlines that have registered to use the new route are Korean Air and Asiana
Airlines of the ROK and Vladivostok Airlines, Aeroflot, and Sakhalin Airlines of Russia.
3. Compensation for ROK Comfort Women
The New York Times (Stephanie Strom, "KOREA WON'T SEEK JAPANESE REPARATIONS FOR
WWII'S 'COMFORT' WOMEN," Tokyo, 04/22/98) reported that ROK President Kim Dae-jung vowed
Tuesday that, despite its plan to provide compensation to former comfort women, the government would
continue to seek an apology from Japan for the sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War
II. A spokesman for Kim said Tuesday, "This does not mean the abandonment of demanding from Japan
an apology and acceptance of its historical and moral responsibilities. The government will not interfere
with continued demands by the former comfort women and nongovernmental organizations for
compensation from the Japanese government." Meanwhile, the ROK Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry
issued a statement saying, "We reiterated that a true future-oriented and mutually beneficial relationship
between Korea and Japan can be achieved only if Japan recognizes past history and remorsefully reflects
on its deeds." Yang Mi-kang, spokeswoman for the Korea Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual
Slavery in Japan, said Tuesday, "Our welcoming of our government's decision to provide financial support
does not mean the automatic annulment or postponement of our demands for compensation from the
Japanese government." Yang also rejected any compensation from Japan's privately financed Asian
Women's Fund, saying, "The fund has been a scheme of the World War II aggressor, Japan, to avoid legal
responsibilities for its actions." However, Shinichi Harada, spokesman for the Asian Women's Fund, said
that the fund has raised US$3.26 million from businesses to provide medical and welfare expenses for the
women, although he stressed that the money was not to be regarded as compensation. He added that more
than 70 women, primarily from the Philippines, had received money from the fund, although he declined to
give a more detailed breakdown by country, claiming that opposition groups had harassed the recipients.
At least seven women from the ROK have received money from the fund.
4. ROK Labor Unrest
Dow Jones Newswires ("S. KOREA LABOR LEADERS SNUB PRESIDENT'S APPEAL FOR PEACE,"
Seoul, 04/22/98) reported that Lee Kap-yong, head of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, on
Wednesday rejected ROK President Kim Dae-jung's appeal for peace at work sites. Lee stated, "We are
seriously disappointed by the government. They want workers to shoulder all the pain." He added that the
chaebol "want an easy way out and are plotting mass layoffs." Meanwhile, a union of one-fifth of the
nation's 150,000 taxi drivers said its members will go on strike Thursday for higher pay. President Kim
told labor leaders Wednesday that labor unrest was causing difficulties in attracting foreign investment.
The ROK Finance Ministry said that foreign investment in the first three months of this year dropped by 74
percent to US$328 million.
5. Taiwan-PRC Talks
The Associated Press ("TAIWANESE HOPEFUL OF CHINA TALKS," Beijing, 04/22/98) reported that
Taiwanese negotiator Jan Jyh-horng arrived in Beijing Wednesday and expressed optimism that his
discussions with PRC officials would lead to the reopening of dialogue. He stated, "If from this day forth
both sides can work together with the utmost sincerity, we will be able to bid farewell to the cold of winter
and usher in a new spring." Sheu Ke-sheng, vice chairman of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, said that
Jan's visit is "the inevitable result of both sides realizing the need to face and solve the problems that
concern the people on both sides of the strait."
6. US-PRC Relations
The New York Times (Steven Erlanger, "U.S. MAY LIFT SOME SANCTIONS ON CHINA IF
CONDITIONS ARE MET," Washington, 04/22/98) reported that the US is offering to lift some sanctions
imposed on the PRC after the 1989 crackdown in Tiananmen Square, if the PRC makes additional
concessions on human rights, trade, and exports of dangerous technologies before US President Bill
Clinton's summit meeting in late June in Beijing. US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will visit the
PRC on Sunday and press the government to limit further its exports of sensitive missile, chemical, and
nuclear technologies and expertise to countries like Pakistan and Iran. US officials say they remain
extremely concerned about PRC help for the Pakistani and Iranian missile programs. An unnamed senior
US official said, "We'll always get intelligence reports about Chinese officials' talking to the Iranians and
others about all kinds of deals, but what really matters is what they do and whether they react to stop any
deals." However, he added, "there is no question that they treat proliferation questions differently now
than before.... What we worry about now are dual-use items, which require sometimes very technical
discussions."
7. PRC-Japan Relations
Reuters (Mure Dickie, "CHINA VICE PRESIDENT MEETS JAPAN POLITICIANS," Tokyo, 04/21/98)
reported that PRC Vice President Hu Jintao held a breakfast meeting with Japanese politicians on
Wednesday as part of his visit to Japan. A PRC embassy official said that Hu's trip would also pave the
way for a state visit to Japan by PRC President Jiang Zemin later in the year. The official stated that Hu
held brief talks with Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto on Tuesday evening, at which the two
avoided discussion of historical issues to focus on the future prospects for Sino-Japanese ties. Meanwhile,
Japan's Kyodo news service reported that there was a high chance Hu would meet Tetsuzo Fuwa, chairman
of the Japan Communist Party, at a Foreign Ministry welcome dinner on Wednesday night, which would
be the first meeting between leaders of the two communist parties since they severed relations in 1967
during the PRC's Cultural Revolution.
8. US-Russian Nuclear Nonproliferation Talks
The Associated Press ("U.S., RUSSIAN OFFICIALS DISCUSS IRAN-RUSSIA NUCLEAR PACT,"
Moscow, 04/22/98) reported that, during a series of meetings Wednesday, US officials pressed Russia on
nuclear cooperation with and the suspected transfer of missile technology to Iran. The Russian Foreign
Ministry said in a statement that Robert Gallucci, US special representative on nuclear non-proliferation
issues, met with Yuri Koptev, head of the Russian Space Agency, but it provided no details of the meeting.
The US State Department said Gallucci was sent to Moscow to examine Russia's compliance with its
pledges to end nuclear cooperation with Iran and to look at specific companies that might be involved. In a
separate meeting Wednesday, US Under-Secretary of State John Holum received assurances from Yevgeny
Adamov, Russia's atomic energy minister, that Russian nuclear projects in Iran were of peaceful nature.
9. Costs of US Nuclear Arsenal
Reuters (Jim Wolf, "STUDY: PENTAGON UNDERESTIMATES NUCLEAR COST," Washington,
04/21/98) reported that a study by Brookings Institution released Tuesday said that the US Defense
Department is underestimating the cost of the US nuclear arsenal by nearly two-thirds. The study found
that the US would spend an estimated US$35.1 billion on nuclear weapons and weapons-related programs
in fiscal 1998, while the Defense Department's estimate was only US$13 billion. Stephen Schwartz,
director of the US Nuclear Weapons Cost Study Project at Brookings, stated, "Were this to occur with
almost any other government program, I submit that Congress would be jumping up and down about it.
But when it comes to military spending, and nuclear weapons in particular, it appears that the normal
standards of oversight and accountability do not apply." The department countered that its estimate did not
include "many costs not directly related to our nuclear forces," which it suggested were wrongly included
in the Brookings study. It stated, "We estimate approximately $13 billion for our nuclear forces and this
includes DOE (Department of Energy) costs." The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) figured that the
cost of "current U.S. nuclear forces and supporting activities" totaled about US$20 billion in the fiscal 1998
budget, but would need to rise to US$22 billion to allow for force modernization at existing levels of
strength. Factoring in such additional costs as US$5 billion for missile defenses and strategic air defenses
and US$6 billion for Energy Department cleanups, CBO Director June O'Neil estimated total US spending
at US$33 billion a year.
1. Compensation for ROK Comfort Women
The ROK government yesterday decided to offer 38 million won to each of 152 registered ROK "comfort
women" as part of efforts to put an end to the prolonged controversy over whether Japan is responsible for
making state-level compensation to them. The ROK's decision, made at a Cabinet meeting, is designed to
financially assist the former "wartime sex slaves'' for Japanese soldiers during World War II, who are poor
and in their advanced years, and seek to establish a future-oriented relationship with Japan. As Japan has
failed to make state-level compensation, the official said that the ROK government decided to offer
humanitarian aid to them in an effort to wrap up "fruitless debates'' between the two countries. However,
Moon Bong-joo, director-general of the ROK Foreign Ministry's Asian-Pacific Affairs Bureau, noted that
the ROK's action would be burdensome to Japan because the ROK government did what the Japanese
government should do. (Korea Times, "SEOUL DECIDES TO OFFER 38 MILLION WON TO
COMFORT WOMEN," 04/22/98)
ROK President Kim Dae-jung said yesterday that the ROK has not scrapped its official demand that Japan
make a formal apology for its past mistakes of kidnapping ROK women and making them sex slaves
during World War II. Kim promised that the beneficiaries of state assistance will also be entitled to receive
financial compensation from Japan following its voluntary apology. But the ROK government will
prohibit the ROK comfort women from receiving compensation from the Japanese private fund, called the
Fund for Asian Women. (Korea Times, "PRESIDENT KIM SAYS SEOUL HAS NOT SCRAPPED
DEMANDS FOR JAPANESE APOLOGY," 04/22/98)
2. Forum on DPRK
A group of US experts on Korea will come to the ROK Friday to attend a forum aimed at mapping out a
new DPRK policy with the launching of the Kim Dae-jung government, a spokesman for the Seoul Forum
said yesterday. The two-day meeting, organized by the Seoul Forum and the New York-based Council on
Foreign Relations (CRA), will focus on the future of the DPRK, the ROK's responses to the DPRK's
options on its future, and policy coordination between the ROK and the US on the DPRK, the spokesman
said. (Korea Times, "US EXPERTS ON KOREA TO ATTEND FORUM ON NORTH KOREA,"
04/22/98)
3. ROK Policy on DPRK
The Kim Dae-jung administration's bargaining strategies turned out nightmarish for DPRK delegates to the
Beijing talks on fertilizer aid because it stuck to transparent dialogue and the observance of principles
throughout the week-long talks. "(DPRK chief delegate) Chon Gum-chol might face a sacking upon
returning to the DPRK because he failed to secure fertilizer which the DPRK desperately needs to promote
its agricultural production," said a senior ROK Unification Ministry official. In addition, the DPRK had
been negative about the possibility that Kim Dae-jung would be elected the ROK President because Kim,
once portrayed as a sympathizer with Communist ideologies, would have less maneuvering room in his
policies regarding the DPRK. At the same time, Kim has been regarded as an astute strategist who strictly
takes into consideration the general trend of public opinion. (Korea Times, "NEW GOVERNMENT GETS
FIRMER ON NK POLICIES," 04/22/98)
The NAPSNet Daily Report aims to serve as a forum for dialogue
and exchange among peace and security specialists.
Conventions for readers and a list of acronyms and
abbreviations are available to all recipients.
For descriptions of the world wide web sites used to gather
information for this report, or for more information on web
sites with related information, see the collection of
other NAPSNet resources.
Produced by the Nautilus Institute for Security and
Sustainable Development in partnership with:
Wade L. Huntley: napsnet@nautilus.org
Timothy L. Savage: napsnet@nautilus.org
Shin Dong-bom: dongbom_shin@wisenet.co.kr
Choi Chung-moon: cily@star.elim.co.kr
Hiroyasu Akutsu: akutsu@glocomnet.or.jp
Peter Razvin: icipu@glas.apc.org
Chunsi Wu: dlshen@fudan.ac.cn
Dingli Shen: dlshen@fudan.ac.cn
Return to the Top of this Daily Report
[Next Item][Contents]
[Prev. Item][Next Item][Contents]
[Prev. Item][Next Item][Contents]
[Prev. Item][Next Item][Contents]
[Prev. Item][Next Item][Contents]
[Prev. Item][Next Item][Contents]
[Prev. Item][Next Item][Contents]
[Prev. Item][Next Item][Contents]
[Prev. Item][Next Item][Contents]
[Prev. Item][Next Item][Contents]
[Prev. Item][Next Item][Contents]
[Prev. Item][Contents][Credits]
We invite you to reply to today's report, and we welcome
commentary or papers for distribution to the network.
The Center for International Studies,
Yonsei
University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
The Center for Global Communications, Tokyo,
Japan
Center for American
Studies,
Fudan University, Shanghai, People's
Republic of China
Berkeley, California, United States
Berkeley, California, United States
Seoul, Republic of Korea
Seoul, Republic of Korea
Tokyo, Japan
Moscow, Russian Federation
Shanghai, People's Republic of China
Shanghai, People's Republic of China