NAPSNet Daily Report
 
tuesday, august 24, 1999
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CONTENTS

I. United States

II. Republic of Korea
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New:
"Japan Under the US Nuclear Umbrella," by Hans M. Kristensen

New:
"The Nuclear Dimension of the US-Japan Alliance," by Morton H. Halperin


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I. United States


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1. US-DPRK Relations

US State Department Deputy Spokesman James Foley ("STATE DEPARTMENT NOON BRIEFING, AUGUST 23, 1999," USIA Transcript, 08/23/99) stated that, during his visit to the DPRK in May, former US Defense Secretary William Perry succeeded in establishing working relationships with senior officials who report directly to leader Kim Jong-il. Foley added, "it was believed that there would be continuing value and high-level dialogue that was begun in Pyongyang. Dr. Perry conveyed an invitation to his main interlocutor to visit at a convenient time. No visit has been scheduled yet but I think there have been news reports to that effect, which are incorrect. But we do hope that that can take place."

The Associated Press (David Briscoe, "STATE DEPT. WANTS N. KOREA VISIT," Washington, 08/23/99) reported that ROK officials said the DPRK official whom William Perry invited to Washington is Deputy Foreign Minister Kang Sok-ju. US congressional Republicans on Monday formed a team to examine "the North Korea problem." The team, made up mostly of House of Representative committee leaders, is to begin its review next month when Congress returns from its summer vacation. Representative Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y., chairman of the House International Relations Committee, who heads the team, said that they would focus on "the threat North Korea poses to the United States and our friends and allies." Representative Sam Gejdenson, Democrat-Connecticut, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said it was "simply outrageous" that Democrats had been excluded from the team. Gejdenson stated, "Rather than seek a sensible, bipartisan solution, the Republican leadership is making an attempt to embarrass the administration. But by excluding the other side of the aisle they are only making an embarrassment of the process."


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2. Light-Water Reactor Project

Reuters ("N.KOREA SAYS WILL RESPOND IF REACTOR PLAN DELAYED," Tokyo, 08/24/99) reported that the DPRK's Rodong Sinmun said on Tuesday that the DPRK military was calling for emergency measures if the light- water nuclear reactor project continues to be delayed. The paper stated, "Many government branches, starting with the military, are calling for emergency measures should the construction of the reactors be delayed indefinitely." It added, "Should positive moves not be taken to advance the building of the reactors, we will be forced to take moves in response." It stated, "We are not going to suffer this any more. We can't just sit here and wait as time passes. If the United States continues to delay the reactor construction, we will be forced to do what we decide."


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3. DPRK Missile Test

The Los Angeles Times carried an editorial ("SAY NO TO NORTH KOREA," 08/24/99) which said that the DPRK is trying to use threats to extort concessions from the US and its allies. The article argued, "That ploy has paid off handsomely in the past. This time it should be unequivocally rejected." It said that the DPRK's lack of response to the US offer of a comprehensive settlement "evidences Pyongyang's belief that it can squeeze still more out of Washington and its allies." It argued that, other than freezing the operation of its reactors in Yongbyon, the DPRK "has done nothing to ease tensions in northeast Asia." The article concluded, "Underlying the costly effort to buy North Korea's good will is the fear that to do less might push Pyongyang's unpredictable rulers into acting irrationally. But a policy based on that concern simply encourages unending brinksmanship and blackmail. Washington and its allies have been generous to Pyonyang [sic]. It's time to insist on something in return."


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4. US-ROK Talks

US State Department Deputy Spokesman James Foley ("STATE DEPARTMENT NOON BRIEFING, AUGUST 23, 1999," USIA Transcript, 08/23/99) said that former US Defense Secretary William Perry will meet with ROK Unification Minister Lim Dong-won in Northern California on August 27. Foley stated, "He's traveling privately -- Minister Lim -- and will meet with former Secretary Perry on the 27th. There are no plans, I'm told, for media coverage, and I don't have any further details at this point about their meeting." He added that Perry "remains seized of the whole issue of North Korea and he is preparing still his policy review. Undoubtedly, it's in that capacity that he'll be talking to the Unification Minister."


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5. ROK-PRC Talks

The Associated Press ("CHINESE DEFENSE MIN ACCEPTS INVITATION TO S. KOREA," Beijing, 08/24/99) reported that ROK officials said Tuesday that PRC Defense Minister Chi Haotian accepted an invitation from ROK Defense Minister Cho Seong-tae to visit the ROK next year. An official at the ROK Embassy in Beijing confirmed that Chi had accepted the invitation but provided no further information. The ROK's Yonhap news agency quoted Cho as saying that Chi's visit would contribute to closer defense ties and cooperation. Cho stated, "The biggest achievement of the meeting ... was China's acceptance of the invitation to South Korea." The report said that the visit would take place between April and June. It added that Cho had asked PRC Premier Zhu Rongji to help convey a message to the DPRK that the ROK did not intend to "absorb" the DPRK.


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6. DPRK Defectors

The Associated Press ("THREE N. KOREANS DEFECT TO S. KOREA," Seoul, 08/24/99) reported that the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said that three DPRK defectors arrived in the ROK Tuesday seeking asylum. The ministry said that the three escaped the DPRK between July and August in 1997 and have been living in hiding in a "third" country.


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7. DPRK Famine

Reuters (Paul Eckert, "TYPHOON SAID TO WORSEN N.KOREA FOOD WOES," Beijing, 08/24/99) reported that Kathi Zellweger, director of international cooperation for Caritas Hong Kong, said Tuesday that DPRK estimates of damage to 32,000 hectares (79,070 acres) of land from typhoon Olga pointed to significant crop loss. Zellweger stated, "Thirty-two thousand hectares is about 350,000 tons of food, so even if the floods are only in certain areas, localized, it still will have an impact on next year's food supply in such a fragile situation." She estimated that each hectare of land must feed 11 people. Zellweger, who just returned from a three-week tour of the DPRK, said, "People were still reluctant to say much about this year's harvest, but I believe it will not be much better than last year because of a lack of fertilizer." She cited UN estimates that the DPRK received only about a third of the 700,000 tons of fertilizer it required this year. She predicted that the DPRK would again be roughly a million tons of grain short of the 4.5 million tons it needs. She added that there were signs of "donor fatigue," as her agency had received only 40 percent of the US$6 million in donations it sought for 1999. She said that the DPRK's political disputes and lack of trade with the nations that give it aid are threats to the continuance of aid. She warned that a decision by the US, Japan, and the ROK to halt food aid if the DPRK test-fires its Taepodong-2 long-range missile "would bring back a famine situation within four, six or eight weeks." She stated, "Overall, the people are not fit and healthy, they are still weak, so if you cut off food it doesn't take much for them to fall back in a desperate situation."


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8. PRC Military Exercises

The Associated Press ("TAIWAN SEES FEWER CHINESE SORTIES OVER TAIWAN STRAIT," Taipei, 08/24/99) reported that PRC Defense Ministry officials said Tuesday that sorties by PRC military aircraft over the Taiwan Strait have declined for the first time since last month's remarks by Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui. The officials declined, however, to provide details on numbers or types of aircraft they have detected. Taiwan military spokesman Kung Fan- ding stated, "Chinese communist warplanes are pursuing scheduled military exercise preparations, and the number of sorties shows a declining trend." Kung added that the PRC's ballistic missile corps also showed no sign of unusual activity. He said that some of the PRC military flights may have been curtailed by Typhoon Sam.


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9. PRC-Russian Summit

The Associated Press ("CHINA'S PRESIDENT JIANG LEAVES FOR CENTRAL ASIAN SUMMIT," Beijing, 08/24/99) reported that the PRC's state-run Xinhua News Agency said that PRC President Jiang Zemin left Tuesday to attend a five-nation summit of Central Asian nations in Kyrgystan. The summit will focus on maintaining stability and increasing economic cooperation between Russia, the PRC, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Before leaving for the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, Jiang said that the PRC supported the creation of a nuclear-free zone in Central Asia. He also reiterated the PRC's resolve not to use or threaten use of nuclear weapons against the other four countries.


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10. Alleged PRC Espionage

The Los Angeles Times carried an opinion article (Sam Cohen, "SO CHINA HAS THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY? SO WHAT?" 08/24/99) which said that the alleged PRC nuclear espionage at Los Alamos Laboratory did not cause serious damage to US national security. The author argued, "Despite the very considerable technical progress we have made in the strategic nuclear warhead area, we have yet to come up with a credible strategy for waging nuclear war that allows our nation to fight and win a purely military war adhering to 'just war' principles intended to limit the war to the warriors, without what is euphemistically called 'collateral damage.'" He added, "Our profound weakness in military nuclear intelligence has denied us the ability to understand the overall nature of the enemy's strategic nuclear forces, particularly its intercontinental ballistic missiles." He continued, "Half a century into the Nuclear Age, we are left with our original immoral strategy of deterrence based on mutual assured destruction, or MAD, involving the decimation of the enemy's urban-industrial complex. In this context, knowing the precise performance and reliability of our thermonuclear warheads has little, if any, meaning." He argued, "If China has acquired the vaunted W-88 thermonuclear technology from Los Alamos computer files, there is no U.S. intelligence to indicate it could not have developed very acceptable warhead technology on its own." He concluded, "Even if it has acquired the W-88 technology, which still is debatable, by no means does this imply that it has acquired a meaningful advantage in its ability to wage nuclear war against us."

The San Jose Mercury News (Dan Stober, "WORKER: I READ NUCLEAR PAPERS," 08/21/99) reported that Kathie Harine, who worked as a researcher working for a Defense Department contractor in the 1980s, said that while working on an environmental impact statement she found classified documents at the Defense Nuclear Agency archive in Santa Barbara. Harine stated, "There are documents all over." According to Harine, during her research she found reports on Classified Nuclear Weapons Design Information. She stated, "They described each (nuclear) test, what the weapons looked like inside." She said that anyone with access to the archives, if they chose, could have provided information to the PRC. Sidney Drell, a Stanford physicist, said that the information that the PRC is accused of stealing "was widely available. There were manuals for the Department of Defense. They service [the nuclear weapons]; they have to use it. They have to have instructions. You can't just give it to them and say, 'Good luck.'"


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11. PRC Carrier Development

Navy News and Undersea Technology ("CHINA COMMITS TO CARRIER CONSTRUCTION WITH DAUNTING AIRCRAFT," 08/23/99, 1) reported that US intelligence community officials confirmed that the PRC has committed advanced funding to commence construction of its first aircraft carrier in 2001. The official said that the PRC appears to be starting a program to build a whole class of carriers. According to the officials, China estimates the cost of the first carrier at about 5 billion PRC renminbi. Long lead spending amounting to about 1 billion renminbi has already been approved. The aircraft support, weapons, and other electronic systems are believed to be of Russian origin. The PRC plans to have the first carrier operational by 2006, which would put the PRC on schedule to have a second carrier operational by 2007-2008 and the third 2010-2011, with subsequent ships following at a rate of up to two every three years. The air wing is expected to consist of about 36 PRC-produced, carrier-adapted versions of the Russian Su-27 "Flanker." An unnamed active duty US flag officer stated, "The Chinese only need carriers to fight carriers. Who else (other than the US) has carriers in the Pacific?" [Ed. note: This article was included in the US Department of Defense's Early Bird news service for August 23.]


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12. PRC Entry to WTO

Reuters ("CHINA WTO ENTRY 'SHOULDN'T BE FAR AWAY' - OFFICIAL," Beijing, 08/24/99) reported that the China Trade News on Tuesday quoted Long Yongtu, PRC vice minister of foreign trade and head of the PRC's WTO negotiations, as saying that PRC entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) "shouldn't be far away." Long stated, "Western countries led by the United States have already come to view China's (WTO) negotiations as a barometer of our economic reforms." He added, "objective analysis shows that the benefits outweigh the pain" of joining the WTO.


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13. Japanese Atrocities in World War II

The Los Angeles Times (Teresa Watanabe, "MEASURE URGES JAPAN TO APOLOGIZE FOR ATROCITIES," 08/24/99) reported that the California state Assembly on Monday approved a resolution urging Japan to apologize for its wartime atrocities and to offer individual compensation to US veterans, former sex slaves, and other victims. Assemblyman Mike Honda, Democrat-San Jose, who sponsored the measure, stated, "We are saying no to atrocities; we're saying yes to peace." The Japanese Consulate in San Francisco declined to comment until the measure is taken up in the State Senate. Ken Arimitsu, coordinator for a war victims group in Tokyo, stated, "We are overjoyed at the Assembly's action and think it will have a great impact on Japan, since it is not only the victims but now a California legislative body officially saying more needs to be done." The resolution calls on the Japanese government to issue a "clear and unambiguous apology," and calls on the US Congress and the president to also seek an apology and reparations from Japan.


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14. Alleged Israel-India Nuclear Cooperation

Agence France-Press ("ARAB LEAGUE ACCUSES ISRAEL, INDIA OF NUCLEAR COOPERATION," Cairo, 08/24/99) reported that the Arab League issued a report on Tuesday accusing Israel of "military and nuclear cooperation" with India. League deputy secretary general Mohammed Zakaria Ismail said that the Arab League had information to prove the alleged nuclear cooperation but refused to disclose it.


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15. Indian Nuclear Doctrine

The Associated Press ("INDIA'S CONGRESS PARTY PLAYS UP IMAGE, NOT POLICY DEBATE," New Delhi, 08/23/99) reported that Eduardo Faliero, liason officer for India's Congress Party, said Monday that the party would leave the details of its nuclear policy until a new Parliament is elected. Faliero stated, "Our nuclear policy doesn't have so many explosions." He stated that the government's nuclear test last year was unnecessary, although Congress was not ruling out nuclear tests.


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16. US Policy toward Asia

The Washington Times (Ben Barber, "CLINTON ASIA POLICY CRITICIZED," 08/24/99) reported that former Asia advisers to US President George Bush said that US President Bill Clinton has neglected Asia, contributing to regional instability. Karl Jackson, currently professor of Asian studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, stated, "What you have is an administration that from its early days adopted a style of foreign policy-making in response to domestic polls or in response to whatever today's crisis or events communicates to them." Patrick Cronin of the US Institute of Peace stated, "The administration would like to put a lid on crises in Asia. It is not interested in doing more than reacting to contain crises." Regarding the PRC, Cronin argued, "The administration has not built a strong basis of political support in this country -- especially when China seems to be threatening Taiwan and issuing antagonistic statements toward the United States." Douglas Paal stated, "Now, unfortunately, suspicions of China are too great. And Taiwan has moved so far toward democracy it's hard to keep papering over the conflict between our values and our strategic interest." White House spokesman David Leavy, however, said that "any effort to look at events in Asia this summer through the lens of blaming the administration is a stretch and belittles the dynamics of each of these issues. Fundamentally [Asian countries] are driven by their own national security concerns." Leavy said that the Clinton administration follows a 20-year-old "one China" policy that has allowed the US, the PRC, and Taiwan to prosper. He added that the administration also urged India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and engage directly on problems, and has brought the "good offices" of the US to bear. Regarding the DPRK, Leavy stated, "no one should doubt the administration has pursued our vital national interests." He also said the administration believes it has dealt successfully with the 1997 Asian economic crisis. [Ed. note: This article was included in the US Department of Defense's Early Bird news service for August 24.]


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17. US Security White Paper

The Washington Times (Rowan Scarborough, "WHITE HOUSE PLOTS DEFENSE FOR 21ST CENTURY," 08/24/99, 1) reported that the White House National Security Council staff has issued a paper which said that the odds of concerted attacks on the US by terrorists and rogue nations are growing. The paper stated, "Due to our military superiority, potential enemies, whether nations or terrorist groups, may be more likely in the future to resort to attacks against vulnerable civilian targets in the United States, instead of conventional military operations abroad." It added, "At the same time, easier access to sophisticated technology means that the destructive power available to rogue nations and terrorists is greater than ever. Adversaries may thus be tempted to use long-range ballistic missiles or unconventional tools, such as [weapons of mass destruction] or information attacks, to threaten our citizens and critical national infrastructures." The paper argued, "We must be prepared and willing to use all appropriate instruments of national power to influence the actions of other states and non-state actors, to exert global leadership, and to remain the preferred security partner for the community of states that share our interests." The document also said that the possibility of the US facing two simultaneous wars is unrealistic. It stated, "Rather, a second foe would need time to decide to take advantage of heavy U.S. military engagement in the first theater and then to mobilize and deploy its forces for an attack. Our strategy is to seek to halt the second aggressor's advance, while concluding operations in the first theater. Our focus would then shift to the second theater, including, if necessary, a counteroffensive." [Ed. note: This article was the top story in the US Department of Defense's Early Bird news service for August 24.]


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18. US Nuclear Posture

The International Herald Tribune carried an analytical article (William Pfaff, "NO NONPROLIFERATION WITHOUT NUCLEAR REDUCTION," Paris, 08/23/99) which said that the US refusal to consider nuclear disarmament is contributing to proliferation in places like South Asia. The author argued, "The problem has been that the United States exempts itself from the nonproliferation it presses upon others." The author stated, "The U.S. position is that the United States is entitled to possess and continually improve nuclear forces beyond all rational connection to existing or foreseeable threats. But others should not have them at all." He added that NATO's intervention in Yugoslavia undermined the US position that it was entitled to nuclear weapons as a law-abiding, status- quo country. He argued, "The affair provided a lesson in the utility of nuclear deterrence. Had Slobodan Milosevic possessed a nuclear deterrent, NATO would not have bombed his country." The author stated, "There will be no general halt to nuclear proliferation until the United States and the other nuclear powers take the lead in cutting their arsenals toward at least the level of minimum credible deterrence, and then open the debate on eventually going beyond that." He added, "A second debate worth opening concerns multilateral deterrence of 'first use' - an agreement among existing nuclear powers that any first use of nuclear weapons would bring multilateral retaliation, which would not have to be, but could be, nuclear." He concluded, "Without radical rethinking of the nuclear problem, the post-Kosovo world is on its way toward proliferation on a scale not yet seen."


II. Republic of Korea


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1. ROK-PRC Talks

Chosun Ilbo (Yoo Yong-win, "MINISTERS AGREE TO MILITARY EXCHANGE," Seoul, 08/23/99), Joongang Ilbo ("DEFENSE MINISTERS OF S.KOREA AND CHINA MEET FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER," Seoul, 08/23/99), The Korea Times ("ROK DEFENSE CHIEF SEEKS CHINA'S FOILING HELP IN AVERTING NK MISSILE TEST," Seoul, 08/23/99) and The Korea Herald (Lee Sung-yul, "KOREA, CHINA SEEK MILITARY EXCHANGES AND COOPERATION," Seoul, 08/24/99) reported that the respective defense ministers of the ROK and the PRC, Cho Sung-tae and Chi Haotian, agreed on Monday to the exchange of military personnel and expand high-ranking military contacts. It was reported that Cho asked Chi to use his influence with the DPRK to halt its planned ballistic missile test, and received a favorable response. The two sides agreed that a second Korean War should be prevented at all costs and that peace and stability should be the goal for Northeast Asia. Cho explained the ROK government's engagement policy and sought the PRC's cooperation. He proposed the exchange of visits of naval units and joint search and rescue exercises. Cho was scheduled to meet Prime Minister Zhu Riongji, on Tuesday, to discuss security matters on the peninsula and will visit army, navy and air force units in Beijing and other cities.


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2. ROK-Japan Talks

Chosun Ilbo (Park Joong-hoon, "FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET IN TOKYO," Tokyo, 08/23/99) and The Korea Herald (Shin Yong-bae, "SOUTH KOREA, JAPAN TO STRENGTHEN COOPERATION ON NORTH KOREAN ISSUES," Seoul, 08/24/99) reported that the ROK Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry said that the ROK and Japan agreed on Monday to enhance cooperation to prevent the DPRK from test-launching another long-range missile. The ROK and Japan also agreed to set up a hotline between their respective foreign ministries to maintain close consultations on pending diplomatic issues, it said. Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Hong Soon-young and his Japanese counterpart, Masahiko Komura, shared the view that perfect cooperation among the ROK, Japan and the US is important to deal with the DPRK's missile issue, the ministry said, quoting a report from Tokyo. At the talks, Minister Hong stressed the need for the continuation of aid for the construction of two light-water reactors in the DPRK despite the its missile threat.


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3. US Congressman to visit DPRK

The Korea Herald (Kim Ji-ho, "U.S. CONGRESSMAN TO VISIT PYONGYANG," Seoul, 08/24/99) reported that ROK officials said on Monday that US Representative Tony Hall will visit the DPRK August 26-29 to examine the food situation there and exchange opinions with DPRK officials on pending issues, while monitoring the distribution of the donated food. "Hall, who believes foreign countries must aid Pyongyang on purely humanitarian grounds, appears to have decided on another visit in order to check the deteriorating food situation caused by damage from the recent heavy torrential rains," the official added. Hall, who has long been interested in the world famine issue and is trusted by the DPRK government, will likely meet Kim Yong-nam, chairman of the DPRK Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, and First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok-ju. On his way home, he is scheduled to visit the ROK for three days, during which he will meet Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Hong Soon-young and debrief him on his visit to the DPRK.


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4. ROK Policy toward DPRK

The Korea Herald (Kim Ji-ho, "VICE UNIFICATION MINISTER SAYS KEEPING PEACE IS ESSENCE OF ENGAGEMENT POLICY," Seoul, 08/24/99) reported that ROK Vice Unification Minister Yang Young-shik said on Monday that the essence of the ROK government's engagement policy toward the DPRK is to "keep and establish peace" as an effective countermeasure against constant security threats. Yang stated, "The two biggest goals of the government's North Korea policy are peaceful management of the divided situation on the Korean Peninsula and inducing North Korea toward steady and gradual change." The engagement policy and "comprehensive approach" toward the DPRK, worked out jointly with the US, are like "two wheels of the wagon" pulling the government's DPRK policy, he told the advisory panel of the Council for Democratic and Peaceful Unification.


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5. Return of DPRK Soldier's Remains

The Korea Times ("UNC TO RETURN REMAINS OF NK SOLDIER WED.," Seoul, 08/23/99) and The Korea Herald ("BODY OF N. KOREAN SOLDIER TO BE RETURNED TOMORROW," Seoul, 08/24/99) reported that the United Nations Command (UNC) said on Sunday that it would return at Panmunjom on Wednesday the remains of a DPRK soldier who was thought to have been washed into the ROK after dying in the recent flooding. The deceased was found in a rice field next to the Hantan River, north of Seoul, on August 8. The UNC and the DPRK, however, reportedly have yet to reach an agreement on the return of an ROK dredging ship that strayed into DPRK territory during the flooding. In border talks last week, the two sides reached agreements on the return of the remains and the vessel.


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6. ROK-PRC Relations

Chosun Ilbo (Jee Hae-bom, "TIES TO CHINA HEADING FOR SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY," Beijing, 08/23/99) reported that on Tuesday, September 24, 1999 will mark the seventh anniversary of fully opened ties between the ROK and the PRC. Since 1992, the two countries' social, political, economic, and even military relations have developed immensely, but the PRC's relationship with the US and other matters are showing uneasy prospects as political forces surrounding the peninsula change. Most notable are the economic ties, as the PRC grew to be the ROK's third largest trading partner. The value of trade as of December 31, 1998 reached US$18.4 billion, which is more than four times the US$4.4 billion in 1991, before diplomatic relations were concluded. Exports increased twelve times from US$1 billion to US$12 billion. Imports doubled from US$3.4 billion to US$6.5 billion. The trade deficit that was US$2.4 billion in 1991, turned to a surplus from 1993, and marked a US$5.5 billion surplus last year.


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7. ROK President's visit to New Zealand

The Korea Herald ("PRESIDENT KIM TO ATTEND APEC SUMMIT TALKS IN NEW ZEALAND," Seoul, 08/24/99) reported that ROK President Kim Dae-jung's trip to New Zealand and Australia, arranged primarily for the APEC summit, has been set for September 10-18, Chong Wa Dae announced on Monday. Presidential spokesman Park Joon-young said that Kim's stay in New Zealand from September 13 to 15 would double as a state visit. Kim's state visit marks the first time in 31 years that an ROK head of state has made an official visit to New Zealand.


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8. ROK Pursues Candidacy in UN

Chosun Ilbo (Kown Dae-yeol, "MOFAT TO SEEK UN CHAIR," Seoul, 08/23/99) reported that the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) announced on Monday that the ROK would seek to become a chair for the 56th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2001. Following Monday's meeting of foreign ministers from the ROK and Japan, MOFAT said that Japan has expressed support for the ROK's candidacy. Former foreign minister Han Sung-joo is among the short list of names of persons who may be selected to act as ROK's candidate for the General Assembly. While the official start of the 56th General Assembly is September 2001, the role would be determined as early as autumn this year.


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