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Northeast Asia Peace and Security Network DAILY REPORT For Tuesday, August 11, 1998, from Berkeley, California, USA |
1. ROK Political Prisoners
The Associated Press ("HUMAN RIGHTS GRPS ASK S. KOREA TO FREE POLITICAL
PRISONERS," Seoul, 08/11/98) reported that human rights groups urged ROK
President Kim Dae-jung on Tuesday to unconditionally release an estimated
500 political prisoners. They urged the government to abandon the
condition that the prisoners first sign a statement swearing to abide by
ROK laws. Human rights group said that, as of Tuesday, none of the 17
political prisoners who have been behind bars for more than 30 years have
signed the statement.
2. ROK Labor Unrest
Reuters ("WORKERS ATTACK 10 HYUNDAI MOTOR MANAGERS," Seoul, 08/11/98)
reported that Min Kyung-hwan, a Hyundai Motor spokesman, said that a
hundred ROK autoworkers on Tuesday attacked 10 managers attempting to
operate a factory during the ongoing strike. He claimed that several of
the workers wielded steel pipes. Kim Kwon-soo, a senior union official,
said that the managers had started the fight when the union asked them to
leave a factory. Kim stated, "We had never used the steel pipes as the
company insisted but instead we fought back by snatching timbers with
which the managers tried to hit us."
3. ROK Floods
Reuters (Paul Barker, "S. KOREAN FLOODS KILL 247," Seoul, 08/11/98)
reported that ROK officials said on Tuesday that heavy rains eased on
Tuesday after floods had killed 247 people with 80 others missing and
feared dead. The Korea Meteorological Administration canceled a heavy
rain alert issued for the southern regions of the peninsula. An official
with the national disaster agency stated, "It would be highly improbable
to find many survivors among the missing." ROK soldiers on Tuesday used
metal detectors and probes to search for seven tons of live ammunition
lost in the sludge in Changheung. An anonymous ROK Unification Ministry
said that the DPRK has been unaffected by the flooding, saying, "To our
knowledge, North Korea has received less rainfall during its rainy season
this year compared to past years."
4. ROK Currency Reserves
Dow Jones Newswires (Chang Woo-hyuk, "S.KOREA TO BUILD UP RESERVES IN
CASE YUAN DEVALUED -OFFICIAL," Seoul, 08/10/98) reported that the ROK
Ministry of Finance said Tuesday that it would further build up its
foreign currency reserves to guard against instability that may be caused
by a possible devaluation of the PRC yuan. The government hopes to
increase usable reserves, which reached an all-time high of US$39.26
billion at the end of July, to US$41 billion by the end of this year. A
manager at the Finance Ministry stated, "If the yuan is devalued, the
Korean currency will also have to be depreciated to keep its exports
competitive with those from China."
5. PRC Currency Crisis
Associated Press (Christopher Bodeen, "CHINA PROMISES TO DEFEND
CURRENCY," Beijing, 08/11/98) and the New York Times (Seth Faison, "EVEN
AS ASIANS WORRY, CHINA IS UNLIKELY TO DEVALUE," Shanghai, 08/11/98)
reported that Liu Mingkang, deputy governor of the People's Bank of
China, said Tuesday the government will defend its currency for the sake
of the domestic economy. An unnamed investment banker in Shanghai was
quoted as saying, "The political advantages of maintaining the currency
far outweigh the temporary advantages of devaluing." John Pinkel,
director of China research at Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong, argued, "It's
much more likely that the Chinese currency will gradually weaken. Demand
for the renminbi will fall. But there is no question of a sudden 30
percent devaluation."
6. PRC-Japan Relations
Reuters ("CHINA'S PRESIDENT TO VISIT JAPAN," Tokyo, 08/10/98) reported
that the Japanese Foreign Ministry said Monday that PRC President Jiang
Zemin will make an official visit to Japan from September 6 to 11, the
first PRC president to do so. The visit will mark the 20th anniversary
of the normalization of relations. During his visit Jiang will have an
audience with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko and hold talks with
Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi.
7. Indian Missile Development
Agence-France Presse ("INDIA STARTS WORK ON LONGER-RANGE BALLISTIC
MISSILE," New Delhi, 08/11/98) reported that Indian Defense Minister
George Fernandes announced Tuesday that India has begun developing a new
and more powerful version of its current medium-range ballistic missile.
Fernandes stated, "The government's approval for the second phase of
'Agni' follows the successful completion of the first phase demonstrating
its re-entry technology." The planned range of the Agni-II is reported
to be around 1,240 miles, but military experts say its payload will be
the same as the first phase model.
8. Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty
The Associated Press ("ISRAEL AGREES TO JOIN TALKS ON NUCLEAR MATERIALS
BAN TREATY," Jerusalem, 08/11/98) reported that Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Tuesday that Israel has agreed to join
talks on a treaty banning the production of material used to make nuclear
weapons. Israel had been the only member of the 61-nation UN Conference
on Disarmament that had not agreed to join negotiations on the proposed
treaty.
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