>Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 14:43:48 -0800
>From: NAPSNet@nautilus.org (NAPSNet)
>Subject: Daily Report
>
>
>NORTHEAST ASIA PEACE AND SECURITY NETWORK DAILY REPORT
>For Wednesday, December 10, 1997, from Berkeley, California, USA
>
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>In today's Report:
>I. United States
> 1. Four-Party Peace Talks
> 2. US-ROK Security Consultation Meeting
> 3. ROK Financial Crisis
>II. Republic of Korea
> 1. DPRK-ROK Relations
> 2. Light-Water Reactor Project
> 3. Allegations of DPRK Abductions
> 4. ROK Aid to DPRK
>III. Announcements
> 1. Appeal for DPRK Food Aid
>
>I. United States
>
>1. Four-Party Peace Talks
>
>Reuters ("NEW ROUND SET FOR HISTORIC KOREA TALKS," Geneva,
>12/10/97), United Press International (Jason Neely, "KOREA TALKS
>TO RESUME IN MARCH: REPORT," Seoul, 12/10/97), and the Associated
>Press (Geir Moulson, "KOREA TALKS TO RESUME IN MARCH," Geneva,
>12/10/97), reported that US Assistant Secretary of State for Asia
>and Pacific Affairs Stanley Roth said that four-party peace talks
>for the Korean Peninsula ended Wednesday with an agreement to
>return to Geneva in March. Roth stated, "The next plenary
>session will convene on March 16 in Geneva. I'd expect the
>session to go for a matter of some days." He described the
>atmosphere of the talks as "productive." A joint statement by
>the participants said that an ad hoc sub-committee would meet in
>mid-February in Beijing to prepare for the March round and to
>come up with recommendations for the parties. The ROK
>participant, Ambassador to France Lee See-young, said that he
>considered the Geneva negotiations "a success because we agreed
>to meet again." Moon Moo-hong, ROK deputy minister for national
>reconciliation, said that no agenda had been set for the next
>round of talks. PRC vice foreign minister Tang Jiaxuan stated,
>"This marks a very good beginning. We hope the establishment of
>a peace mechanism on the Korean Peninsula will not take another
>43 years." ROK diplomats reportedly said that the DPRK
>delegation raised the question of US troops withdrawal from the
>Korean peninsula on Tuesday. The DPRK also pressed for US to end
>the economic blockade against the DPRK, and for direct talks
>between the US and the DPRK.
>
>Reuters ("NORTH KOREANS REPORT PROGRESS IN PEACE TALKS," Geneva,
>12/10/97) reported that Li Gun, the DPRK ambassador to the UN,
>said on Wednesday that the four-party peace talks had so far been
>positive and were continuing in a good spirit. He stated, "We
>have a long way to go. But the talks are proceeding in a good
>atmosphere." He added, "We have our concerns, the South Koreans
>have their own concerns." Regarding the ROK negotiating
>position, Li said, "Sometimes they're tough, sometimes they're
>soft. But the talks have been positive."
>
>Reuters (Jane Lee, "KOREA PEACE TALKS FAIL TO QUICKEN PULSE IN
>SEOUL," Seoul, 12/10/97) reported that DPRK analysts in Seoul on
>Wednesday were skeptical that any progress would be made in the
>four-party peace talks. Lee Kyu-hyung, spokesman for the
>Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, "The word from Geneva is that
>the talks are constructive and sincere." He added that it was
>unfortunate that the DPRK had brought up the issue of the
>withdrawal of US troops stationed in the ROK, but that it was not
>unexpected. On Tuesday, a commentary carried by the DPRK's
>official Korea Central News Agency said that peace could never be
>ensured while US troops remained in the ROK. Park Young-ho,
>director of policy studies at the Korea Institute for National
>Unification, a think-tank of the ROK Unification Ministry,
>stated, "As expected, North Korea is attending the talks to help
>secure further food aid and improve relations with the U.S." He
>added that he thought the US would try to keep up the pace of the
>talks, but "I have little expectation that the talks will
>advance." Rhee Sang-woo, a leading DPRK specialist at Sogang
>University, stated, "They are merely mimicking talks. South
>Korea has no unified policy towards North Korea and no one in
>charge of North-South relations. North Korea is tightening its
>relations with the U.S. through the talks and we have lost the
>political game."
>
>2. US-ROK Security Consultation Meeting
>
>United Press International ("COHEN: NO SEPARATE TALKS WITH
>N.KOREA," Washington, 12/09/97) and the Associated Press (Susanne
>M. Schafer, "COHEN MEETS SOUTH KOREAN MINISTER," Washington,
>12/09/97) reported that US Defense Secretary William Cohen and
>ROK Defense Minister Kim Dong-jin, following the 29th US-ROK
>Security Consultation Meeting, issued a joint statement welcoming
>the beginning of peace talks for the Korean peninsula on Tuesday
>as the "most realistic means" of reducing tensions in the region.
>Cohen said that the US would not hold direct talks with the DPRK
>"unless it were in direct consultation" with the ROK. He added,
>"We are not going to have a policy of allowing North Korea to try
>to set up bilateral negotiations with the United States."
>Regarding the DPRK's military threat, Cohen stated, "We don't see
>at this point any act of aggression that would cause us to
>believe there is any imminent danger," but he added that the US
>is fully prepared to counter any military action by the DPRK. He
>also said, "I think the situation in the North remains
>unpredictable and unstable. Whether it is more unstable today
>than previously, I think is an open question." He said that the
>DPRK's food situation "has exacerbated their domestic problems,
>but that appears to have eased somewhat on a temporary basis.
>But the long-term outlook should not be improved based upon what
>we have seen to date." He added that despite these problems, the
>DPRK "still devotes considerable resources to their military and
>so it is, again, ironic and perhaps inconsistent that while
>people are starving, they're nonetheless devoting substantial
>resources to their military." [Ed. note: NAPSNet is
>distributing the text of the US-ROK joint statement today as a
>Special Report.]
>
>Reuters (Charles Aldinger, "SOUTH KOREA MAY CUT ARMS PURCHASES,"
>Washington,12/09/97)
>reported that ROK Defense Minister Kim Dong-jin said Tuesday that
>the ROK may be forced to delay some foreign arms purchases
>because of its economic crisis, but will not cut financial
>support for US troops in the ROK. He stated, "Because of the
>forthcoming tight budget, I feel there will be some restrictions
>on the purchase of foreign weapons and exchange of personnel
>between our countries." Regarding the proposed purchase by the
>ROK of four US AWACS early-warning radar planes and other
>weaponry, Kim said no decision had been made on any arms
>purchases.
>
>3. ROK Financial Crisis
>
>The AP-Dow Jones News Service ("S. KOREA ASST. MINISTER SAYS
>KOREA TO KEEP IMF AID TERMS," Seoul, 12/10/97) reported that ROK
>assistant minister of Finance and Economy Chung Duk-koo said
>Wednesday that the ROK government will abide by promises it made
>to receive a US$57-billion bailout package from the International
>Monetary Fund (IMF). Chung stated, ''There is no doubt that the
>implementation of the terms with IMF is the only tool to mend the
>country's foreign currency crisis." Regarding remarks by leading
>presidential candidates Kim Dae-jung and Lee Hoi-chang that they
>would try to re-negotiate the terms of IMF aid, Chung said, "It
>is proper to view remarks by some presidential candidates for
>possible renegotiating with IMF as moves designed to soothe
>public sentiment, thus to win more votes."
>
>II. Republic of Korea
>
>1. DPRK-ROK Relations
>
>The DPRK on Tuesday said it will not allow ROK workers in the
>Shinpo-Kumho area to cast absentee votes for the 15th
>presidential election, terming it an intolerable infringement of
>the DPRK's sovereign rights and a political provocation. It said
>the ROK should not play the presidential election game in the
>DPRK's own territory. The DPRK warned that it would take
>concrete action against the ROK's move, which it termed a
>violation of the agreement between the DPRK and the Korea
>Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO). (Korea Times,
>"NK WON'T ALLOW SOUTH KOREANS IN SINPO TO CAST ABSENTEE VOTES,"
>12/10/97)
>
>2. Light-Water Reactor Project
>
>Desaix Anderson, the new KEDO chief, said in New York that he
>believed that the light-water nuclear reactor project would go
>ahead despite the ROK's financial problems. Officials at the ROK
>Office of the Light-Water Nuclear Reactors Project also denied
>rumors that the IMF bailout will affect the project. Chang Sun-
>sop, chief of the office, said, "The cost of the reactors will
>peak after 2000, when crucial components for the reactors will
>start to be built. Till then, we will not need much money."
>(Korea Herald, "ECONOMIC CRISIS NOT TO AFFECT PROJECTS IN NORTH,"
>12/10/97)
>
>3. Allegations of DPRK Abductions
>
>ROK intelligence officials on Tuesday presented evidence on the
>case of two students missing for 20 years which pointed to their
>abduction by DPRK agents and showed that they are still alive in
>the DPRK. Officials identified the two as high school students
>Lee Min-gyo, then 17,and Choi Sung-min, then 18, who mysteriously
>disappeared while vacationing on an island in South Cholla
>Province in August 1977. The Agency for National Security
>Planning (NSP) said it has confirmed that the two students were
>abducted by DPRK agents and are now being forced to work for a
>spy organization. Agency officials said they substantiated the
>kidnapping by questioning detained DPRK agents and other
>defectors. The agency disclosed a similar case November 20,
>saying three high school students reported missing in 1978 were
>confirmed to have been forcefully removed to the DPRK by agents.
>(Korea Herald, "STUDENTS ABDUCTED BY NORTH KOREAN AGENTS: NSP,"
>12/10/97)
>
>4. ROK Aid to DPRK
>
>Having already sent 100,000 tons of grain aid to the DPRK, the
>ROK Korean National Red Cross (KNRC) has proposed another round
>of talks with the DPRK Red Cross for December 22 in Beijing to
>discuss additional aid. Officials at KNRC said that they have
>already procured the money, mostly from donations from the civil
>sector. The KNRC recently said it will provide winter clothes
>and medicine, mostly for children, in addition to food. The
>leading civic organization for DPRK aid, the Korean Sharing
>Movement, has already stockpiled clothes to be sent to the DPRK.
>The government is also expected to positively respond to appeals
>by the World Food Program (WFP) for aid to the DPRK. The WFP is
>likely to ask for 800,000 tons of food aid to the DPRK. "We have
>given food through international relief organizations on a
>humanitarian basis. We will maintain that line of policy," said
>Kim Hyung-ki, ROK assistant minister for unification policy
>planning at the Ministry of National Unification. (Korea Herald,
>"KOREAN RED CROSS PROPOSES MEETING ON AID TO NORTH KOREA,"
>12/10/97; Korea Herald, "ECONOMIC CRISIS NOT TO AFFECT PROJECTS
>IN NORTH," 12/10/97)
>
>III. Announcements
>
>1. Appeal for DPRK Food Aid
>
>The Internet Appeal for North Korean Flood Victims announced in a
>press release on December 9 that the US Treasury Department
>reversed an earlier decision to block an account in a Washington
>bank that had received donations to purchase food and drugs for
>DPRK flood victims. The Treasury Department ruled that a bank
>account may now be opened and transactions allowed if the
>activities utilizing such funds meet the US Commerce Department's
>definition of "goods to meet basic human needs" and are purchased
>in third countries. Bernard Krisher, chairman of the Appeal,
>stated, "As the Internet Appeal's donations are confined to the
>purchase of rice, corn, drugs, and medical supplies in third
>countries which are then shipped to North Korea and distributed
>by me or members of my family, these activities are in conformity
>with both the U.S. Treasury's and Commerce Department's
>regulations and should encourage more Americans to freely send
>their checks to the 'North Korean Flood Appeal' without any
>concern they may be violating U.S. regulations." Krisher is
>issuing a renewed appeal for donations this week on the
>organization's Home Page: http://www.northkorea.org
>
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