Korean Peninsula

1. ROK-DPRK Summit
2. US-DPRK Talks
3. Light-Water Reactor Project
4. DPRK Famine
5. 1994 Nuclear Crisis
6. Korean War Massacre
7. Russian Policy toward Korean Peninsula

Korean Peninsula

The ROK will send a 30-member advance team to Pyongyang on May 31 to prepare for the June summit meeting. Reports said that the topic of separated families is likely to be prominent during the talks.
"Inter-Korean Talks" (Daily Report, May 26, ROK)
"Effects of Inter-Korean Summit" (Daily Report, May 26, ROK)
"Inter-Korean Summit" (Daily Report, May 24, ROK)
"ROK-DPRK Summit" (Daily Report, May 23, US)
"Inter-Korean Summit" (Daily Report, May 23, ROK
"ROK Public Opinion on Summit" (Daily Report, May 23, ROK)
"Inter-Korean Summit" (Daily Report, May 22, ROK)
"DPRK Summit Preparations" (Daily Report, May 24, ROK)

Robert Manning cautioned that for the ROK-DPRK summit to truly work, ROK President Kim Dae-jung must follow the principle of reciprocity. Tony Namkung said that the first order of business for the summit is to establish peace, after which the issues of security and economic reconstruction can be addressed.
"The Korean Summit--A Test of Both Kims" (Special Report)
"Prospects for Peace and Reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula" (Special Report)

The US and the DPRK resumed talks on Wednesday in Rome on a wide range of issues, especially the DPRK's missile program.
"DPRK-US Talks" (Daily Report, May 26, ROK)
"US-DPRK Talks" (Daily Report, May 24, US)
"US-DPRK Talks" (Daily Report, May 23, US)

The DPRK accused the US of causing the DPRK huge economic losses by delaying the construction of two light-water reactors.
"Light-Water Reactor Project" (Daily Report, May 26, US)

The World Food Program announced that it would ask donors next month for US$250 million to help the DPRK obtain food self-sufficiency by 2002. Japan began shipments of 100,000 tons of rice.
"DPRK Famine" (Daily Report, May 26, US)
"Japan's Rice Shipment to DPRK" (Daily Report, May 26, Japan)

Former ROK President Kim Young-sam revealed that, in 1994, he told US President Bill Clinton that he would not support US bombardment against the DPRK's nuclear facility at Yongbyon.
"ROK Role in 1994 Nuclear Crisis" (Daily Report, May 24, US)
"Korean War" (Daily Report, May 22, ROK)

US Korean War veteran Edward Daily recanted his earlier testimony regarding an alleged massacre of ROK civilians by US troops in the Korean War, but the Associated Press said that it still stood by its reporting on the massacre.
"Korean War Massacre" (Daily Report, May 26, US)
"Korean War Massacre" (Daily Report, May 23, ROK)

A Russian official said that Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit the ROK this summer, and would not rule out the possibility that Putin would also visit the DPRK. Russian Ambassador to the ROK Evgeny Afanasiev said that the DPRK's missile program does not pose a realistic threat to the US.
"Russian President's Trip to Korean Peninsula" (Daily Report, May 25, ROK)
"Russian View of US Missile Defense" (Daily Report, May 25, ROK)

Japan

The draft of Japan's 2000 Defense White Paper said that the DPRK regime appears stable.
"Japanese View on DPRK Regime" (Daily Report, May 26, Japan)

The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that Japan played a mediating role at the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review conference between the New Agenda Coalition and the nuclear weapons states. However, Corwin Vandermark argues that Japanese policymakers have sought to maintain the capability for the future development of nuclear weapons in a relatively short period of time.
"Japan's Role at NPT Review Conference" (Daily Report, May 26, Japan)
"Japanese Nuclear Potential" (NPP Weekly Flash, V. 2, N. 19)

The Japanese Defense Agency said that it was monitoring the passage of a PRC ship with intelligence-gathering capabilities through international waters in the Tsugaru Strait.
"PRC Intelligence-Gathering Ship" (Daily Report, May 26, Japan)
"Alleged PRC Spying in Japan" (Daily Report, May 25, US)

People's Republic of China

The US House of Representatives voted to grant permanent normal trade relations to the PRC.
"US Trade Bill on PRC" (Daily Report, May 25, US)
"US Trade Bill on PRC" (Daily Report, May 23, US)
"US Bill on PRC" (NPP Weekly Flash, V. 2, N. 19)
"Response to Lyuba Zarsky" (Policy Forum Online)

Opponents of the US trade bill on the PRC argued that US trade and investment was helping the PRC to build up its military, but other analysts argued that the PRC was unlikely to start a war with the US or its allies. A new US Defense Department planning document focuses on the rise of PRC military power as the main issue for US policy making in Asia.
"PRC Military Development" (Daily Report, May 26, US)
"US Security Policy toward Asia" (Daily Report, May 26, US)

Taiwan Straits

"Taiwan Presidential Inauguration" (Daily Report, May 22, US)
"Cross-Straits Relations" (Daily Report, May 26, US)
"Cross-Straits Relations" (Daily Report, May 25, US)
"The Taiwan Issue" (Daily Report, May 24, PRC)
"Cross-Straits Relations" (Daily Report, May 23, US)

The Washington Times reported that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation had classified Taiwan among the list of hostile intelligence threats to the US.
"US-Taiwan Relations" (Daily Report, May 24, US)
"US Policy toward Taiwan" (Daily Report, May 25, US)

Produced by the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable Development in partnership with:
International Policy Studies Institute Seoul, Republic of Korea
The Center for Global Communications, Tokyo, Japan
Center for American Studies,
Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China

Timothy L. Savage: napsnet@nautilus.org
Berkeley, California, United States

Gee Gee Wong: napsnet@nautilus.org
Berkeley, California, United States

Kim Hee-sun: khs688@hotmail.com
Seoul, Republic of Korea

Hiroyasu Akutsu: akutsu@glocomnet.or.jp
Tokyo, Japan

Peter Razvin: icipu@glas.apc.org
Moscow, Russian Federation

Chunsi Wu: dlshen@fudan.ac.cn
Shanghai, People's Republic of China

Dingli Shen: dlshen@fudan.ac.cn
Shanghai, People's Republic of China