|
Northeast Asia Peace and Security Network DAILY REPORT For Monday, May 18, 1998, from Berkeley, California, USA |
1. Remains of US MIAs
Reuters ("N.KOREA BLAMES US FOR FAILED REMAINS HANDOVER," Tokyo, 05/17/98) reported
that the DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency broadcast a statement on Saturday attributed to the
Korean People's Army which said that "unreasonable behavior" by the US was responsible for the DPRK's
failure to show up for the scheduled handover of the remains of what were believed to be two US soldiers
killed during the Korean War. The statement said, "The United States is inveigling the 'U.N. forces' in the
repatriation of remains, a humanitarian issue which should be solved between the DPRK and the United
States, apparently for an ulterior political purpose." The DPRK said it reached an agreement with the US
in December to turn over remains to US Defense Department officials, and that the agreement did not call
for UN participation. The statement added, "We are willing to render a sincere cooperation for the
discovery operations, taking into account their humanitarian nature. But we will never accept the
unreasonable demand prompted by a political purpose."
2. Food Aid for DPRK
The Associated Press ("U.N. AGENCY TO PRUNE AID TO NORTH KOREA; CITES POOR ACCESS,"
Rome, 05/18/98) reported that World Food Program (WFP) director Catherine Bertini said Monday that the
WFP will cut back relief aid to the DPRK after the government reneged on its promise to provide access to
the entire country. Bertini said that the WFP has only been granted partial access and has been refused
entry to 39 counties it specifically sought to enter. She added that WFP will scale back its operations by
55,000 metric tons of food, valued at about US$33 million. Bertini stated, "We take this action very
reluctantly. It means that about 765,000 people, mostly women and children, won't receive urgently
needed food from the international community." She said, however, that if entry to more areas is
eventually granted, the operations can be expanded. She added, "we are continuing our talks with the
North Korean authorities and we are hopeful that we will gain access in the upcoming months."
3. Benefit Concert for DPRK
United Press International ("'KING OF POP' PLANS BENEFIT CONCERTS," Los Angeles, 05/15/98)
reported that singer Michael Jackson said that he is planning to organize and headline a series of concerts
to benefit the World Peace Foundation for Children. The first concert is scheduled for October 11 in
Seoul, to raise funds for the Korean Peace Foundation for Children, which will distribute the money to
families affected by the DPRK famine.
4. Alleged Plot to Influence ROK Election
The Associated Press ("KOREAN LEGISLATOR AND EX-SPY INDICTED," Seoul, 05/16/98) reported
that ROK prosecutors on Saturday indicted Park Il-yong, former deputy director of the Agency for
National Security Planning, and Representative Chung Jey-moon, a member of the opposition Grand
National Party, on charges of plotting to smear Kim Dae-jung's during the presidential election campaign.
The action brought to 14 the number of former spy agents and politicians indicted in connection with the
case. Chung admitted to briefly meeting with DPRK officials but insisted it had nothing to do with the
election.
5. ROK Financial Crisis
The Associated Press ("EX-SOUTH KOREAN ADVISERS SUBPOENAED," Seoul, 05/18/98) reported
that former ROK Finance Minister Kang Kyong-shik and former presidential economic secretary Kim In-
ho were subpoenaed Monday to answer questions about their role in the ROK's financial collapse before a
three-judge panel. The judges will decide whether to indict the former officials.
6. PRC-Taiwan Economic Relations
Dow Jones Newswires (Baker Li, "TAIWAN COS STEP UP CHINA INVESTMENT DESPITE GOVT
POLICY," Taipei, 05/18/98) reported that, despite the Taiwanese government's efforts to induce Taiwanese
companies to invest in Southeast Asia, most companies still prefer investing in the PRC. Pin-kung Chiang,
chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, told a group of Taiwan executives that
Taiwanese companies "can't throw money onto the mainland. We have to diversify our investments." The
government recently said that it will not allow investment projects in the PRC totaling more than US$50
million and that for each local company, the amount of investments in the PRC cannot exceed 20 percent
of its paid-in capital.
7. Russian Ratification of START II
Reuters ("YELTSIN WANTS RUSSIA'S "BIG FOUR" TO MULL START-2," Moscow, 05/18/98)
reported that Russian presidential press secretary Sergei Yastrzhembsky said on Monday that President
Boris Yeltsin will summon his prime minister and two parliamentary leaders later this week to urge prompt
ratification of the START-2 nuclear disarmament treaty. Yastrzhembsky stated, "It's not the president who
needs the START-2 ratification, it's Russia which needs it."
The New York Times (Richard W. Stevenson, "CLINTON PRESSES YELTSIN ON START II
RATIFICATION," Birmingham, 05/18/98) and Reuters (Arshad Mohammed, "INDIAN N-TESTS MAY
SPUR U.S.-RUSSIA CUTS," Birmingham, 05/17/98) reported that US President Clinton on Sunday urged
Russian President Boris Yeltsin to press for the ratification of the START II nuclear arms reduction treaty.
Clinton drew a link between efforts to continue reducing the stores of nuclear weapons held by the US and
Russia and attempts to halt nuclear proliferation. Clinton also told Yeltsin that he would like to hold a
summit meeting in Moscow this year to discuss further arms-reduction talks between the US and Russia.
He argued that ratification of Start II and the beginning of negotiations on Start III would send a signal to
burgeoning nuclear powers like India and Pakistan that they were moving backwards while the rest of the
world was moving ahead. Yeltsin's spokesman, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, later said that Clinton's visit to
Russia would go ahead only if START II had first been ratified by the Duma.
8. PRC-Indian Relations
The Associated Press ("CHINA NO THREAT TO INDIA - PEOPLE'S DAILY NEWSPAPER," Beijing,
05/18/98) reported that the PRC's People's Daily said in a commentary released late Monday that India has
ignored recent improvements in relations with the PRC and dredged up old disputes to justify its nuclear
tests. It argued, "Finding themselves in difficulties, Indian leaders have found spreading the China-threat
theory very useful, but finding no real basis in this, they racked their brains and brought up old things to try
to confuse public opinion." It stated, "Nobody believes this type of lying logic and the falsehood of the so-
called `China-threat theory.'"
9. Indian Nuclear Tests
Reuters (Narayanan Madhavan, "INDIA HAILS N-TEST RESULTS, SILENT ON TREATY," New Delhi,
05/17/98) reported that the Indian Department of Atomic Energy and the Defense Research and
Development Organization said Sunday that India could now design a variety of atomic weapons. They
said in a statement, "The tests ... have provided critical data for the validation of our capability in the
design of nuclear weapons of different yields for different applications and different delivery systems."
10. Possibility of Pakistani Nuclear Test
Dow Jones Newswires ("PAKISTAN STILL MULLING WHETHER TO HOLD NUCLEAR TEST-
JAPAN," Islamabad, 05/18/98) reported that Japanese special envoy Seichiro Noboru said Monday that he
does not believe Pakistan has made a final decision on whether to test nuclear weapons in response to
India's tests last week. He stated, "They are at this moment considering all the factors so they can reach a
conclusion respecting Pakistan's national interest." Noburo said that Japan reiterated to Pakistan that it
does not see nuclear testing to be in Pakistan's overall national interest and told Sharif his government
hopes Pakistan will refrain from carrying out tests. He said that Japan would consider cutting off aid to
Pakistan if it conducts nuclear tests. He added that Japan would also work through the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund to reduce loans to India because of the tests and he expects the same could
happen to Pakistan if it undertakes nuclear testing.
The New York Times (Stephen Kinzer, "PAKISTAN SEEMS MIXED ON HOLDING NUCLEAR TEST,"
Islamabad, 05/18/98) and the Washington Times ("PAKISTAN PROMISES NUCLEAR TEST,"
Islamabad, 05/18/98) reported that Pakistan Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub Khan said Sunday that Pakistan
has decided to begin testing nuclear weapons in response to India's tests last week. He stated, "It's a matter
of when, not if, Pakistan will test. The decision has already been taken by the Cabinet." However, Prime
Minister Nowaz Sharif said on Saturday that, while Pakistan has "the capacity to respond effectively" to
India's tests, "The ideal thing would still be that Pakistan doesn't have to follow suit." On Sunday, Sharif
said that he would order tests only "if the international community takes no action against India." He
added, "The initial reactions from countries have either been nil or very mild." Information Minister
Mushahid Hussain said that no decision had yet been made. Meanwhile, Japan's Kyodo news agency
reported that Pakistan's army has cordoned off the Chagai area in Baluchistan province, which has been
reported as the site for any nuclear test.
The New York Times ("NO DECISION ON TESTING, U.S. IS TOLD," Islamabad, 05/16/98, A5)
reported that Pakastani officials told a high-level US delegation that Pakistan had yet to make a decision on
whether to conduct nuclear tests. Soon after meeting with the US officials, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif stated, "We are in no haste to test the bomb after India tested the bomb. I think we are a responsible
nation." An unnamed US official said that Pakistan "want[s] to see a continuing improvement in U.S.-
Pakistani relations in a number of areas, but there was absolutely no sense in any of our conversations
today of a wish list on their side in exchange for which they would not test." Meanwhile, Zafar Iqbal
Cheema, the chairman of the department of defense and strategic studies at Quaid-e-Azim University,
stated, "The Government must immediately work out a plan for a credible response, which should include
testing a fission nuclear device, a thermonuclear device, and a sub-kiloton test. If Pakistan prolongs its
response, this would create suspicion about its nuclear capability."
1. Light-Water Reactor Cost
The founders of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO)--the ROK, Japan, and
the US--have reportedly readjusted the total construction cost for the light-water nuclear reactors for the
DPRK from the current US$5.2 billion to US$4.5 billion. The three countries are also known to have
begun final negotiations on the volume of US burden-sharing in the project. Such moves are attributed
especially to Japan's changed attitude over cost-sharing. Japan has recently declared it will increase its
burden from US$800 million to US$1 billion, which accounts for 22 percent of the total expenditure.
Accordingly, the ROK, which had earlier promised to shoulder 70 percent of the total, will bear US$3.154
billion, and the US will be responsible for the remaining 8 percent, or $350 million. However, the US is
persistently taking a negative stance on burden-sharing, insisting it can only provide a minimal donation,
and cannot share the burden. KEDO will hold its executive council meeting at the end of this month or
early next month to discuss US cost-sharing, a ranking government official said. A solution to this issue
may then be ironed out, as the three nations share the opinion that the project should be completed as
originally scheduled in August, the official added. (Korea Times, "KEDO LOWERS NUKE REACTOR
COST TO $4.5 BILLION," 05/18/98)
2. ROK-DPRK Cultural Exchange
The DPRK has denied reports made earlier by some ROK news media that the two Koreas have reached a
final agreement on the opening of a joint photo exhibition in Seoul and Pyongyang. Rodong Sinmun, the
official daily of the DPRK's Workers' Party, said in its Friday edition that the DPRK has neither agreed to
such an event, nor invited ROK citizens to visit Pyongyang to attend a photo festival. A certain ROK
broadcaster made a false report, the newspaper insisted. ROK news media should not play into hands of
their authorities, who are trying to create an optimistic mood about the progress of inter-Korean exchanges
and cooperation, the daily alleged. (Korea Times, "NK DENIES REPORT OF INTER-KOREA PHOTO
EXHIBITION," 05/18/98)
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
[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
Return to the Top of this Daily Report
Go to the
Nautilus Institute Home Page