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Northeast Asia Peace and Security Network DAILY REPORT For Thursday, September 10, 1998, from Berkeley, California, USA |
1. DPRK Alleged Satellite Launch
Reuters ("N KOREA TRIED TO LAUNCH SATELLITE-S KOREAN MINISTER,"
Washington, 09/10/98) reported that ROK Foreign Affairs and Trade
Minister Hong Soon-yung said on Thursday that last week's rocket launch
by the DPRK was probably a failed attempt to put a satellite into orbit.
Hong stated, "It looks more like a satellite." Hong said he was basing
his information on consultations between the ROK and the US, adding that
a satellite that failed to reach orbit "seems to be the indication of the
scientists of the United States." Hong said that whatever the DPRK
launched, it was a threat to regional security and the ROK would discuss
taking new "counter-measures" in talks later this month at the UN. He
added that he would meet the foreign ministers of Japan and the US to
discuss such measures, and there would also be discussion at the UN
itself.
2. US-DPRK Talks
US State Department Spokesman James Rubin ("STATE DEPARTMENT NOON
BRIEFING, SEPTEMBER 10," USIA Transcript, 09/10/98) announced that,
during bilateral talks in New York, the US obtained "important
commitments" from the DPRK on a range of issues. Rubin stated, "The
North Koreans have agreed to continue the discussion which began in New
York about our concerns with respect to the nature of certain suspicious
underground construction in North Korea." He added, "We intend to press
for access to clarify the nature of suspect construction; and we have
made the North Koreans aware that access will be necessary if our
concerns are to be clarified." Rubin also said that the DPRK has agreed
to resume missile talks on October 1. He announced that the DPRK will
resume the canning of the remaining spent nuclear fuel rods starting in
mid-December, and has agreed to attend a third plenary session of the
four-party peace talks in October. The DPRK has also agreed to restart
talks on steps they need to take in order to be removed from the US list
of state sponsors of terrorism. Rubin stated, "We have no illusions
about the difficulty of dealing with the North Korean Government and we
do not trust North Korea. But we have a system in place now ... in which
our concerns on the nuclear side and the missile side can be addressed if
the North Koreans so choose." Rubin said that the US reiterated its
determination to complete the delivery of the remaining 284,000 metric
tons of heavy fuel oil planned for this year and to provide the DPRK with
two light water nuclear reactors. Rubin said that, with the combination
of consultation with Congress and executive authority, the US believes it
will be able to provide the fuel oil.
3. Light-Water Reactor Project
Dow Jones Newswires ("U.S., N. KOREA AGREE TO START BUILDING 2 REACTORS -
KYODO," Tokyo, 09/10/98) reported that Kyodo News on Thursday cited an
anonymous top Japanese Foreign Ministry official as saying that the US
and the DPRK have agreed during talks in New York to start construction
of two light-water nuclear reactors in the DPRK in November. The
official said that the accord constitutes part of the comprehensive
agreement that the two sides tentatively reached in their recent high-
level talks. The report speculated that Japan is expected to come under
increasing pressure to sign a cost-sharing agreement with other members
of the Korean Peninsula Nuclear Development Organization (KEDO). The
official hinted that the Japanese government would take a flexible stance
in lifting the self-imposed ban on the KEDO project, noting it would be
"troublesome" if the DPRK resumed its nuclear weapons programs. He
added, however, that Japan still thinks the DPRK should take measures to
appease Japan on the missile issue as a precondition for going ahead with
the KEDO project. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said
Thursday that the Japanese government would carefully consider an earlier
US request that Japan sign a cost-sharing agreement by November.
US State Department Spokesman James Rubin ("STATE DEPARTMENT NOON
BRIEFING, SEPTEMBER 10," USIA Transcript, 09/10/98) said that the US
expects the light water reactor project for the DPRK to go forward as
agreed by all the parties. He stated, "In the just-concluded talks with
the North, we acknowledged that construction is behind schedule, and we
reaffirmed that the project should be implemented according to the Agreed
Framework. We will fully respect the position of the South Korean and
Japanese Governments on this issue and consult closely with them
regarding this implementation."
Nucleonics Week (Mark Hibbs, "DPRK THREAT TO SELL IRAN MISSILES SNARLS
EU-KEDO FUNDING AGREEMENT," Bonn, 09/10/98) reported that European
officials involved in decision making over funding for the DPRK reactor
program said September 7-8 that preliminary internal reports indicated
that there were Iranian experts present during last week's DPRK missile
launch. The officials said that the reports indicated that the DPRK
sought to stress that, unless the US agrees to pay US$500-million
annually, the DPRK "cannot give up its missile development program and
will have to sell missiles to Iran." One unnamed European official said
that the European Council of Ministers had been originally expected to
approve plans this fall to increase funding of KEDO, but in the aftermath
of the DPRK missile test the Clinton Administration "has a lot of
explaining to do first." Another European diplomat said that "it's
pretty clear right now that the US is being blackmailed" by the DPRK and
that, since Clinton is committed to the KEDO project, the DPRK is
"getting away with it." He added that the missile test "is not going to
make it any easier" for the European Council to approve more funding for
KEDO, but he was not willing to predict that the missile test would lead
the EU to decide not to fund reactor construction.
4. US Aid to DPRK
The New York Times (David E. Sanger, "U.S. TO SEND NORTH KOREA FOOD
DESPITE MISSILE LAUNCHING," Washington, 09/10/98) and the Associated
Press (George Gedda, "U.S. WEIGHS MORE N. KOREA AID," Washington,
09/10/98) reported that an anonymous US administration official said
Thursday that the US is considering providing an additional 300,000 tons
of food relief to the DPRK. He said that the food issue came up in
recent US-DPRK discussions in New York. He added that a final decision
on providing additional food relief would be made after an assessment of
the DPRK's food situation. ROK Foreign Minister Hong Soon-young said
Thursday in Washington that he supports additional US food shipments, but
that the aid needs to be "carefully and cautiously" separated from
overall policy toward the DPRK. Japanese officials, meanwhile, have
reportedly reacted negatively to the decision to go ahead with aid,
arguing that it rewards the DPRK for bad behavior.
US State Department Spokesman James Rubin ("STATE DEPARTMENT NOON
BRIEFING, SEPTEMBER 10," USIA Transcript, 09/10/98) said that the US
believes that it should continue to pursue humanitarian food aid to the
people of the DPRK regardless of differences between the US and the DPRK
in other areas. He stated, "We have important humanitarian objectives in
assisting the international community and preventing a famine in North
Korea. We provide food solely on humanitarian grounds." He added that
the US is currently working with the World Food Program on the possible
provision of additional food aid to the DPRK.
5. ROK Missile Development
The Associated Press (Sang-Hun Choe, "S. KOREA TO SPUR ROCKET
DEVELOPMENT," Seoul, 09/10/98) reported that Yoon Hun-joo, an official at
the ROK Science and Technology Ministry, said Thursday that the ROK plans
to speed up work on its own rocket technology. Yoon said that the
government had planned to launch a domestically developed rocket by 2010,
but was pushing up the schedule by five years. He stated, "After the
North Korean launch, we feel a public opinion growing that we should put
a spur on our space projects." Meanwhile, ROK officials on Thursday
reiterated their demand that the US allow the ROK to develop longer-range
missiles.
6. ROK Human Rights
The Associated Press (Pauline Jelinek, "S. KOREA RIGHTS ABUSES CITED,"
Seoul, 09/10/98) reported that Pierre Sane, secretary-general of Amnesty
International, on Thursday accused the ROK government of continuing to
commit human rights abuses despite the inauguration of a former dissident
as president. Sane said that ROK President Kim Dae-jung "says that the
National Security Law is not being abused ... (but) every week, new
prisoners of conscience are sent to jail. The president has lost touch
with the reality on the ground." He noted that, since Kim came to
office, there have been more than 240 arrests under the law's section
which makes it illegal to "praise or encourage" the DPRK. Kim's
spokesman said that the president, in a meeting with Sane on Wednesday,
repeated the assertion that the law is needed to protect the country
against continuing hostile DPRK tactics. Sane said he welcomed two
amnesties issued by Kim that freed about 150 political prisoners, but
noted that they did not include some of the longest-held prisoners.
1. DPRK Missile
A high-ranking ROK official announced Wednesday that the ROK government
plans to approach the US with a view to expanding the range of ROK
missiles to at least 300km. Under the current agreement, the ROK limited
the range of its missiles to 180km, but in light of the DPRK missile test
of a two-stage launch vehicle, the ROK wants an expansion. It is still
uncertain whether the rocket fired was a missile or a satellite launch as
claimed by the DPRK, but ROK officials said that it poses a clear and
present danger to the security of the ROK. The US Space Command said
that to date it had been unable to find any object on the trajectory
claimed, but that it would continue to search for it. ROK Presidential
spokesman Park Ji-won commented that there was no official position on
the test yet from the US, the ROK, or Japan. (Chosun Ilbo, "GOVERNMENT
TO SEEK EXPANDED MISSILE RANGE," 09/10/98)
2. DPRK Political Changes
ROK analysts said that the DPRK constitutional revision has created an
omnipotent National Defense Commission but, at the same time, it has set
the stage for an increased role for technocrats in economic policymaking
processes, with the return of a reform-minded former prime minister. The
rise of former prime minister Yon Hyong-muk is one of the most notable
developments in the recent reshuffle of key DPRK officials and Workers'
Party postholders, because he joined the defense commission, headed by
Kim Jong-il, general secretary of the Communist Party. "By joining the
commission, we believe Yon might exercise great influence over the DPRK
Cabinet's policymaking processes," an ROK Unification Ministry analyst
said. The Defense Commission, formerly an exclusive club of military
officers, accepted Yon, timed with its emergence as the nation's most
powerful organ. DPRK broadcasts defined the role of the Defense
Commission chief as the supreme leader, who spearheads the nation's
political, military, and economic organizations, safeguards the entire
state system of the socialist fatherland and the fate of its people, and
maintains the nation's defense capabilities. The 10-member commission is
composed of first vice chairman Cho Myong-rok, two vice chairmen, Kim Il-
chol and Lee Yong-mu and six members, Kim Yong-chun, Lee Ul-sol, Paek
Hak-lim, Chon Byong-ho, Kim Chol-man and Yon. According to ROK ministry
analysts, first vice chairman Cho is regarded as the DPRK's second most
powerful person, behind only Kim Jong-il. (Korea Times, "KIM JONG-IL ERA
(2) TECHNOCRATS' ROLE RISING IN NK," 09/10/98)
3. Japanese Aid to DPRK
Alarmed by the DPRK's missile launch last week, Japan's ruling party has
decided to study ways of stopping a regular flow of cash from reaching
the coffers of its reclusive communist neighbor, a party official said
Tuesday. In a meeting Monday, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party
discussed the DPRK missile threat and decided to start mulling legal
changes to halt cash transfers from Japan to the DPRK, said the official,
who spoke on condition of anonymity. Japan has no diplomatic ties with
the DPRK, but some ethnic Koreans living in Japan are believed to
regularly send money to the DPRK. About 640,000 ethnic Koreans live in
Japan, many of whom were born there. There is no official tally, but
about 180,000 are estimated to be loyal to the DPRK. The private flow of
funds to the DPRK has come under increased scrutiny since Japanese
officials announced the DPRK's ballistic missile test over Japan. On
Tuesday, Kyodo news reported that Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko
Komura said Japan would not lift sanctions imposed on the DPRK even if
the firing did launch a satellite into orbit as the DPRK claims. Japan
has stopped food aid, frozen its pledge to contribute US$1 billion to the
nuclear power plant project in the DPRK, and halted all charter flights
between the two nations in retaliation for the missile firing. Quoting
unidentified diplomatic sources, the ITAR-Tass news agency of Russia
reported Monday that the DPRK would test another missile on Wednesday.
(Korea Times, "JAPAN'S RULING PARTY WANTS TO STOP CASH FLOW TO NK,"
09/10/98)
1. 50th Anniversary of DPRK's Founding
Wen Hui Daily ("DPRK CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF FOUNDING," Pyongyang,
09/10/98, A3) reported that the DPRK held a mammoth military parade on
September 9 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the
country.
People's Daily ("CONGRATULATIONS TO DPRK," Beijing, 09/09/98, A1)
reported that PRC President Jiang Zemin sent a telegram to DPRK leader
Kim Jong-il on September 8, congratulating him on the 50th anniversary of
the founding of the DPRK. "The foundation of the DPRK opened a new era
in Korean history. The Korean people have since embarked on the road to
building a socialist country by maintaining their independence and
keeping the initiative in their own hand," Jiang said in his message to
Kim.
2. DPRK Political Changes
People's Daily ("KIM IL-CHOL APPOINTED AS MINISTER OF ARMED FORCES,"
Pyongyang, 09/09/98, A6) reported that Kim Jong-il named Vice Marshal Kim
Il-chol as minister of the People's Armed Forces on September 7. The
post had been vacant since the death of Marshal Choe Kwang in February
1997. Kim Il-chol, 68, was a navy commander and the first deputy
minister of the People's Armed Forces. He was elected as one of the Vice
Chairmen of the National Defense Commission at the first session of the
Supreme People's Assembly on September 5.
People's Liberation Army Daily ("CHAIRMAN JIANG SENT GREETINGS TO KIM,"
Beijing, 09/07/98, A1) reported that PRC President Jiang Zemin sent a
congratulatory telegram to Kim Jong-il, general secretary of the Labor
Party of the DPRK, on his re-election as the chairman of the National
Defense Commission (NDC) of the DPRK. In the telegram, Jiang said that
he is happy to learn that Kim has been re-elected as the NDC chairman of
the DPRK at the first session of the 10th Supreme People's Assembly.
According to Jiang, it is a consistent policy of the Communist Party of
China and the PRC Government to strengthen and further the traditional
friendship with the DPRK. The PRC Government will as always make
unremitting efforts to work for that goal in the future, Jiang said. He
believes that through the joint efforts of the two parties and
governments, the Sino-DPRK friendly and cooperative relations will be
further consolidated and developed.
3. ROK-DPRK Relations
People's Daily ("SOUTH-NORTH RELATIONSHIP ENTERS INTO NEW ERA, ROK
HOPES," Seoul, 09/10/98, A6) reported that when commenting on the
political changes in the DPRK, a spokesman for the ROK Unification
Ministry said that he hopes that the ROK-DPRK relationship will enter
into an era of peace, reconciliation and cooperation. The spokesman
expressed the hope that dialogue between the ROK and the DPRK will be
resumed as soon as possible. The spokesman called on the DPRK to make
earnest and sincere efforts to relax the tension on Korean Peninsula, and
maintain the peace on the peninsula, and even in Northeast Asia and in
the world.
4. DPRK Tourism Project
Jie Fang Daily ("DPRK, ROK JOINTLY DEVELOP TOURISM," Seoul, 09/08/98, A3)
reported that the ROK approved the Hyundai Group's tour project to the
DPRK's Kumkang (Diamond) Mountain, opening the way for ROK citizens to
visit the DPRK in the near future. It is expected that the first group
of ROK tourists can leave for the DPRK on September 25. According to the
report, the DPRK side will be responsible for all the reception work
after the tourists go ashore and will charge every tourist US$300.
5. PRC-DPRK Technology Protocol
People's Daily ("CHINA, DPRK SIGN PROTOCOL ON TECHNOLOGY COOPERATION,"
Pyongyang, 09/04/98, A6) reported that the PRC and DPRK governments
signed in Pyongyang on September 3 a protocol of the 36th meeting of
Sino-DPRK science and technology cooperation and exchanges. PRC Vice
Science and Technology Minister Li Xueyong signed the protocol on behalf
of the PRC Government.
6. Tumen River Program
China Daily ("JOINT MEETING," 09/08/98, A5) reported that five vice-
ministerial level officials--from the PRC, the DPRK, Mongolia, the ROK,
and Russia--will attend the fourth Intergovernmental Meeting of the Tumen
River Area Development Program, which will be held next month in Ulan
Bator, Mongolia. The five member countries of the Tumen Program, which
is one of the largest projects that the UN Development Program has ever
sponsored, will seek to coordinate their policies concerning issues of
trade, investment, and transportation in the Tumen River area.
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