Pyongyang desk

UN official says 300,000 homeless, 58,000 houses destroyed, 83 dead in North Korea floods

2007-08-16T15:19:00.000-07:00

In this photo released by China's Xinhua news agency, North Koreans repair a damaged road in flood-stricken South Pyongan Province, southeast of Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday that downpours along some areas of the Taedong River were the 'largest ever in the history' of measurements taken by the country's weather agency. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Xia Yu)

UN official says 300,000 homeless, 58,000 houses destroyed, 83 dead in North Korea floods

The Associated Press
IHT
Thursday, August 16, 2007

UNITED NATIONS: Severe floods in North Korea have left 300,000 people homeless, killed 83 people and destroyed 58,000 houses and more than 90,000 hectares (222,390 acres) of farmland, a senior U.N. official said Thursday.
U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Margareta Wahlstrom, the deputy emergency relief coordinator, said about 60 people are missing in the storms which have also destroyed hundreds of bridges and a number of public buildings and affected pumping stations and power supplies.
The heavy rains and flooding have "very badly affected" four southern provinces where the country's agricultural production is based, she said.
This week, U.N. staff in Pyongyang visited the province of North Hwanghae, European relief organizations visited South Pyongan, and the International Federation of the Red Cross visited North and South Hwanghae, South Pyongan, Kangwon and South Hamgyong for preliminary assessments, the U.N. said.
U.N. World Food Program representatives will travel Friday to 10 hard-hit counties to assess immediate needs.
"There are approximately 300,000 people who are homeless," according to assessments by the U.N., the government and relief organizations, Wahlstrom told reporters on Thursday.
"About 58,000 houses (are) destroyed," she said. "We've seen over 90,000 hectares of farmland which is flooded and about 60 missing, 83 dead so far."
Wahlstrom said "about 10 percent of the population in the provinces in the south are affected."
In North Hwanghae, she said about 70 percent of arable land has been affected and 50 percent of the health clinics destroyed.
According to an overview by U.N. relief officials in the region, more than 800 public buildings, 540 bridges, 70 sections of railway and more than 500 high voltage towers were destroyed, and more than 30 reservoirs and 450 agricultural structures were damaged.
In addition, the heavy rains have ruptured river banks in more than 800 places and dikes in 10 places, the U.N. said.
Wahlstrom said the flooding is as severe as last year and 2004, and U.N. and government officials are trying to assess whether it is of the same magnitude as the mid-1990s.
In 1995, the North said floods had displaced 5.4 million people, but international aid agencies found 500,000 homeless.
The North is especially vulnerable to the annual heavy summer rains that soak the Korean peninsula because its people remove natural vegetation from vast hillsides to grow more food to make up shortfalls from the official rationing system, increasing the risk of erosion and floods.
As a result of crop losses in last year's floods, Wahlstrom said, the U.N. had already calculated there would be a one million metric ton deficit of food crops in North Korea, and with the destruction caused by the current flooding "it will get worse."
The U.N. team that visited North Hwanghae was able to give out some medical supplies and shelter materials, but the flood victims need more resources, she said.
Luckily, Wahlstrom said, the U.N. World Food Program had been preparing to expand its operation in North Korea because it had been given a donation of $20 million (€14.9 million).
"What U.N. has in country will immediately be put at the disposal of the relief operation," she said.
The U.N. and the North Koreans are now "defining what the needs will be," Wahlstrom said.
"The most obvious, the most urgently needed will be food, will be medical support, and probably emergency shelter for many of the people," she said.
Once North Korea's needs are known, Wahlstrom said the U.N. will tap into a fund to provide relief in emergencies.
U.N. officials will also meet representatives of potential donor countries on Friday for initial consultations on mobilizing additional financial support for North Korea, Wahlstrom said.

Seoul-Pyongyang Private Phone Links Possible

2007-08-16T15:15:00.000-07:00

This picture taken 14 April 2007 shows dancers performing for the Arirang festival at the May Day studium in Pyongyang, to celebrate the 95th birth anniversary of late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung. North Korea Thursday claimed a world record for its annual Arirang mass performance -- and said Dear Leader Kim Jong-Il deserves the credit.(AFP/File)

Seoul-Pyongyang Private Phone Links Possible

AUGUST 17, 2007 03:02

The South Korean government, as part of an IT cooperation plan that will be discussed at the second inter-Korean summit meeting, will try to establish direct, private telephone links between Seoul and Pyongyang.
There are telephones for direct communications for talks between the two governments and for military purposes, but the private sector has had to use services provided by a Japanese firm via communications satellite.
A government insider said yesterday, “The number of Korean tourists visiting Pyongyang is increasing every year, and economic cooperation between the two is booming. That’s why we are considering the idea of connecting Seoul and Pyongyang by phone in order to boost the level of communications convenience.”
The government discussed this matter in a meeting earlier this month with the Ministry of Unification, National Intelligence Service, Ministry of Information and Communication, KT (Korea Telecom), and other communications organizations.
At the meeting, according to an official, it was said, “There are optic cables installed between Munsan in the South and Gaesong in the North that were used for video-meetings between separated families in 2005, which means there are no technical barriers to direct phone service. Security issues, however, need to be resolved.”
According to KT, optic cables will be used between Munsan and Gaesong, and when a switchboard is installed in Seoul and Pyongyang, millions of people will be able to talk on the phone simultaneously.
Copyright 2002 donga.com.All rights reserved.

Almost 300 dead or missing in N Korea floods

2007-08-16T15:13:00.000-07:00

North Korean passersby make their way through a flooded street in Pyongyang, North Korea, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007 , in this image made from television. Severe floods caused by days of heavy rains in North Korea have left at least 200 people dead or missing and will hamper the country's ability to feed itself for at least a year, an international aid group operating in the country said Tuesday. (AP Photo/APTN)

Almost 300 dead or missing in N Korea floods

Almost 300 people are dead or missing in floods in North Korea, an aid agency said, as the communist state painted a grim picture of inundated crops and homes, flooded mines and washed-out roads.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said 214 were killed and 80 are missing in what it has called the worst floods to hit the impoverished country in a decade.
The acting head of the IFRC delegation in Pyongyang, Terje Lysholm, told AFP by phone that the figures - the first detailed casualty count - came from the government.
Official data says some 300,000 people are homeless and 11 per cent of the grain harvest - equivalent to some 450,000 tons - was lost in a country which already needs foreign aid to feed its people.
In the latest unusually detailed report from the reclusive state, an official broadcasting station said main roads, including one linking the capital Pyongyang to the eastern city of Wonsan, were badly damaged.
"Korean People's Army soldiers are also out in force to stage hectic struggles to restore roads," it said, as quoted by Seoul's Yonhap news agency.
Some 46,580 homes of 88,400 families were destroyed or damaged, 400 commercial plants and 20 mines were flooded and landslides cut railways in 43 places, official media said.
It said the showpiece capital was hit from August 7-11 by record rainfall which swelled the Taedong River to danger levels and left some streets under two metres of water.
Traffic, electricity and communications networks were disrupted, parks were buried under silt and the homes of 6,400 families in the city were inundated, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said.
The IFRC has said at least 100,000 hectares of farmland were inundated nationwide but it reported improved weather on Thursday (local time).
"There is no rain today and the Taedong River level has decreased a lot," Mr Lysholm said.
Food shortfall
North Korea faced a food shortfall this year of one million tonnes, or 20 per cent of its needs, even before the floods hit. It suffered a famine in the mid- to late 1990s which killed hundreds of thousands.
The World Food Program (WFP) said it has proposed an emergency program to feed 500,000 people for a month and is awaiting Pyongyang's response.
If the North approves this, the WFP will immediately launch an international appeal for funds to avoid having to cut back on its existing program, its regional spokesman Paul Risley said.
The UN agency currently feeds 750,000 people, mainly children and pregnant or nursing women, and plans to expand this to 1.9 million by next month.
Mr Risley told AFP the speed with which Pyongyang publicised damage could indicate the severity of the situation.
"Political developments may also have increased the government's willingness to work more closely with international organisations," he said, citing the North's commitment to denuclearise and the upcoming inter-Korean summit.
But some analysts say the North may have exaggerated damage to secure aid.
"North Korea in recent years has tended to exaggerate losses from natural disasters to obtain as much outside aid as possible," Professor Nam Sung-Wook of Korea University told AFP.
Lee Young-Hoon, an expert on North Korea at the central bank, could not say if damage had been exaggerated but added that flooding was largely man-made.
"Since the North reached out to the outside for help following the disasters in the mid-1990s, it has been pretty open about any damage from natural disasters, apparently being conscious of outside aid," he said.
"Much of the blame for the damage should be put on the disastrous failure in policies, especially in agriculture.
"Because of the silt from deforested mountains and terraced rice paddies, riverbeds are rising every year."

- AFP

N. Korean Floods Evict Thousands

2007-08-16T15:11:00.000-07:00

Reuters. Video footage showing flooding in the streets of North Korea on Tuesday.

N. Korean Floods Evict Thousands
Reuters

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korean authorities have indicated flooding may have left up to 300,000 people homeless, a United Nations aid agency spokesman said Wednesday, while the communist state warned of a poor harvest this year due to the heavy rain.
North Korea said hundreds were dead or missing after flooding over the past several days that washed away thousands of structures and ruined crop land in the country's agricultural region.
The country's official KCNA news agency quoted an agricultural ministry official Wednesday as saying the damage to farm crops was heavier than in previous floods, with more than 11 percent of paddy and maize fields submerged, buried or swept away.
"Unprecedented torrential rains have poured down in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for days in succession from August 7, throwing a shadow over the prospect of the agricultural production," the agency said.
Paul Risley, Asia spokesman for the UN World Food Program, said a UN assessment team has visited one area near Pyongyang, and added that North Korea was seeking international help.

DPR Korea: Floods OCHA Situation Report No. 1

2007-08-16T15:08:00.000-07:00

Flooding in a Pyongyang neighborhood caused by heavy rains is pictured in this photo distributed by the Korea News Service on August 14, 2007. North Korean authorities have indicated flooding may have left up to 300,000 people homeless, a U.N. aid agency spokesman said on Wednesday, while the communist state warned of a poor harvest this year due to the heavy rain. REUTERS/Korea News Service (NORTH KOREA) JAPAN OUT

DPR Korea: Floods OCHA Situation Report No. 1

Floods
Democratic People's Republic of Korea
OCHA Situation Report No. 1
15 August 2007

This report on the floods in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is based on information from the OCHA Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP), UN Agencies and the International Federation for the Red Cross (IFRC).

SITUATION

1. Heavy seasonal rains have caused severe floods throughout DPRK since 5 August. The floods have had the greatest impact on the southern Provinces, including the capital city Pyongyang and key agricultural production regions. Affected provinces include Kangwon, North Hwanghae, South Hwanghae, Sotuh Hamgyong and South Phyongan and low-lying areas in the centre of the capital city of Pyongyang.

2. According to initial reports from 12 – 15 August, the floods have left as many as 300,000 people homeless, according to DPRK authorities. The Korean Central News Agency reports 30,000 houses damaged and tens of thousands of hectares of farmland flooded. Over 800 public buildings, 540 bridges, 70 sections of railway and more than 500 high voltage power towers were destroyed. Five large-capacity electric power sub-stations and more than 10 transformers were inundated or severely damage.

3. DPRK’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on 12 August that In North Hwanghae Province, more than 3,400 houses have been destroyed; more than 9,100 houses were flooded; and more than 13,000 hectares of farmland was submerged under water. In South Hamgyong Province, the MFA reported that more than 8,000 houses have been destroyed and more than 9,000 hectares of farmland was flooded.

4. Weather forecasts indicate continued heavy rains until 17 August.

NATIONAL RESPONSE

1. Government authorities have mobilized civilian and military resources to assist people affected by the floods. The People’s Committees are providing temporary shelter, clothing and food.

2. The DPRK Red Cross Society (DPRK RCS) dispatched staff to conduct assessments, as well as assist with rescue, evacuation, first aid and distribution of relief items.

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

1. The Government of DPRK invited UN Agencies (UNFPA, UNICEF, WFP, WHO and UN Resident Coordinator a.i.) based in Pyongyang to participate in a needs assessment in the North Hwanghae Province on 14 August. The assessment noted the extent of damage in this Province to be as follows: approximately 10 per cent of the population displaced, 70 per cent of the total arable land flood-affected and 50 per cent of health clinics destroyed. The assessment team identified immediate needs of food, shelter and medicines and noted that temporary health facilities were in the process of being established.

2. On 14 August, the Secretary-General met with DPRK Permanent Representative Pak Gil Yon and assured the latter that the UN will be prepared to help the DPRK government and people to combat the effects of the floods. The DPRK Ambassador notes his appreciation of the UN offer.

3. Following, OCHA’s ASG/DERC met with the DPRK Permanent Representative on afternoon of 14 August to receive a briefing of the humanitarian situation in the country and to offer OCHA, as well as the UN humanitarian system’s, assistance in working with the government to provide relief to the disaster-affected population. OCHA has personnel on standby for deployment to assist the UN Office of the Resident Coordinator a.i. in coordinating the UN system’s response to the humanitarian emergency.

4. WFP Asia spokesman, Paul Risley, stated on 14 August that “if the figures are borne out by our own assessment, then we are very concerned that this is a significant emergency crisis…” Moreover, he noted that the primary need will be for emergency food rations, shelter material and medicine.

5. UNICEF has pre-positioned supplies in Government warehouses, including 100 essential medicine kits (each kit contains medicines for a population of 4,000 for a period of three months); 500 UNICEF family water kits (containing jerry cans, water purifying, tablets and soap for 5,000 families for one month), and 20 school in a box kits. UNICEF is concerned about the situation of children and women and their specific vulnerability in the flood-affected areas.

6. Almost 6,000 Red Cross volunteers are engaged in evacuation and relief and IFRC has pre-positioned 23,000 household kits in 6 locations. IFRC Headquarters is considering an appeal to assist some 1.2 million beneficiaries.

7. Humanitarian partners currently responding to the disaster include Concern, German Agro Action and the ECHO.

8. On 16 August, the UN, NGOs and ECHO will hold a meeting in Pyongyang to amalgamate assessments and determine the way forward.

9. This situation report, together with further information on ongoing emergencies, is also available on the OCHA Internet Website at http://www.reliefweb.int.

MAP - DPR Korea: Floods - Location Map

If you're going to Pyongyang, take some cigs

2007-08-16T15:05:00.000-07:00

CANCUN CHU/Getty Images

If you're going to Pyongyang, take some cigs
Blake Hounshell | BLOG.FOREIGNPOLICY.COM

FP contributor Andrei Lankov reports from the China-North Korea border, which is more porous than you might think. And like in many a U.S. prison, cigarettes are often the coin of the realm:

Corruption in North Korea is shocking even to Chinese visitors, who are not exactly used to a clean government.
A Korean-Chinese who occasionally goes to visit his relatives described his usual experience: "They are so greedy. Officials take bribes in China, too. But perhaps nowhere in the world are the officials so hungry for bribes as they are in North Korea. At customs, they slowly go through the luggage and sometimes put aside a few things they like, and then they say that those things are not allowed into North Korea. This is the hint, and I have no choice but to tell them to take those things, some clothing or small items. And it is a tradition that everybody who checks you should be given some foreign cigarettes. Last time I took five cartons of cigarettes with me, and only one carton reached my relatives. All others I had to give away to the officials."

Lankov's real point, though, is that information about China, which looks to North Koreans "like a perfect paradise," is seeping back across the border. And those North Koreans lucky enough to make it to the promised land—be it as refugees or businessmen known as chogyo—soon learn that South Korea isn't the hell on Earth they've been taught to hate, but is even richer than China. This can't be a sustainable situation.

North Korea Opens Up Over Flooding

2007-08-16T15:01:00.000-07:00

A street in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, is flooded by heavy rain August 11, 2007. North Korea is seeking international help after it reported massive flooding had left hundreds of people dead or missing and washed away many buildings, a U.N. aid agency spokesman said on Tuesday. Picture taken August 11, 2007. JAPAN OUT REUTERS/Korea News Service (NORTH KOREA)

North Korea Opens Up Over Flooding
By Jennifer Veale / Seoul

Pyongyang, the world's most reclusive capital, prefers to keep the outside world in the dark about the country's misfortunes. It's part and parcel of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung's ideology of juche, or self-reliance, that has helped keep the country isolated from the outside world for much of the past 50 years. But this rainy season, North Korea has thrown the international community a curveball, announcing it had been hit extremely hard by floods after a solid week of torrential rains, and that it desperately needed assistance from the outside world.
It isn't the first time North Korea has gone cap in hand to international aid groups for relief. In 2006, when torrential rains in July left hundreds if not thousands dead, Pyongyang officials appealed to Seoul for aid that was subsequently held up following the North's nuclear test in October.
But this week's request was different. For starters, Pyongyang has reacted quickly to the latest disaster, requesting help while the waters are still high — rather than keeping silent as long as possible, as it has done in the past. After last year's floods, for example, government ministries waited nearly a month before they sought help from the outside world. "It's remarkable," says Paul Risley, a spokesperson for the World Food Program, of the change in attitude.
Unlike in past floods, North Korea has not tried to veil the extent of the damage. Television footage from the North showed citizens in Pyongyang wadding in knee- and waist-deep waters along the capital's grand boulevards — an extraordinary concession of weakness to the outside world. Government officials invited foreign diplomats in Pyongyang to venture out to the countryside to view first-hand the devastation wrought by the relentless rains. "This is definitely rare," says Professor Ryoo Kihl Jae, at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. On Tuesday, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported that hundreds were dead or missing, 30,000 homes had been destroyed and more than a tenth of the country's farmland inundated. The agency said at least 800 public buildings and 540 bridges were also destroyed.
So what's with Pyongyang's new upfront approach? Some analysts say that the country is starting to realize that secrecy may not always be the best option. "North Korea is learning the best way of winning support from the outside is to be candid and open," says Professor Moon Chung In, a Professor of comparative politics at Yonsei University. Pyongyang could be trying to be more straightforward, encouraged by the current thaw in relations with its neighbors and the international community. North Korea recently allowed United Nations inspectors to verify it had shut down its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, and continues to take part in six-party talks aimed at the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun, meanwhile, will be driving up to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, for a three- day summit with Dear Leader Kim Jong Il at the end of this month.
It probably helps, too, that the North Koreans are likely in serious trouble. The hermit state's ability to feed its own people is limited at the best of times; even before the flooding, it carried a food deficit approaching a million tons of cereal. The destruction of vast swathes of farmland only worsens the situation, and has sparked fears of looming famine.
Finally, there's the cynical view: that Dear Leader Kim Jong Il is desperate for aid and savvy enough to understand that showing his cards — for now — is the best way to get it. It is still far too early to know how much international aid will flow into the stricken North. But donors will be apt to dig deeper if Kim Jong Il appears to be reading from the same page.

* Find this article at:
* http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1653130,00.html

NKorea says flood has hit rice, maize crops

2007-08-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

People work to rebuild a flood-damaged riverside road outside Pyongyang, capital of North Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007. Floods caused by the largest rains ever recorded in parts of North Korea have destroyed more than one-tenth of the impoverished country's farmland at the height of the growing season, official media reported Wednesday. (AP Photo/APTN)

NKorea says flood has hit rice, maize crops

[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/ra/news/stories/s2006264.htm]

Last Updated 15/08/2007, 22:42:34

North Korea says more than 10 percent of its rice and maize crops are damaged by flooding.
The country's ministry of agriculture, says unprecedented torrential rains have caused heavier damage than previous floods.
The statement underlines concerns about worsening food shortages in a country which relies on foreign aid to feed its 23 million people.
The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has ordered a full evaluation of the situation after talks with Pyongyang's Ambassador to the U-N.
"When he said he was grateful for United Nations assistance and willingness to provide, I could assume that he was receiving our offer."
Aid agencies says up to 300,000 people are believed hit by the worst floods in a decade, which would worsen already severe food shortages in the impoverished communist nation.
Official media has said torrential rains from August 7-12 caused "huge human and material damage."
The North has reported hundreds dead or missing and more than 30,000 houses for over 63,300 families destroyed, along with at least 800 public buildings and more than 540 bridges and sections of railway.
"Unprecedented torrential rains ... are throwing a shadow over prospects for agricultural production," agriculture ministry director Ri Jae-Hyon said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.
© 2007 Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Aid to children and families affected by severe floods in DPR Korea

2007-08-16T14:56:00.000-07:00

People work to clear flood debris off a road outside Pyongyang, capital of North Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007. Floods caused by the largest rains ever recorded in parts of North Korea have destroyed more than one-tenth of the impoverished country's farmland at the height of the growing season, official media reported Wednesday. (AP Photo/APTN)

Aid to children and families affected by severe floods in DPR Korea

By Dan Thomas

NEW YORK, USA, 16 August 2007 – Many children may have drowned and many more are seriously affected by severe flooding in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
According to assessments conducted by the government, the UN Country Team and other humanitarian agencies based in DPR Korea, 221 people have died, 518 have been injured and 82 are missing.
“A significant number of casualties are reported to be children,” said Michel Le Pechoux, UNICEF's Deputy Representative in DPR Korea, adding that UNICEF is already providing assistance to help survivors of the flooding that has resulted from heavy downpours since 7 August.
Damage to infrastructure
More than 350,000 people have seen their homes destroyed or damaged and some 88,500 families are affected by the floods, Mr. Le Pechoux said in a telephone interview today from the capital, Pyongyang, after returning from a visit to the county town of Sohung in North Hwanghae Province on 14 August.
“What we saw confirms government reports in the sense that a lot of infrastructure has been destroyed, roads washed away, bridges destroyed, telephone poles down. We saw several neighbourhoods of the county town flooded with about one metre of water, and the water had just receded. The worst flooding in some neighbourhoods was over two metres,” he said.
Farmland has also been badly affected. Reports suggest that up to 150 hectares of crops could have been destroyed. In some locations, people have started to harvest unripe maize before it rots. A poor harvest could lead to food shortages later in the year.
'Deeply worrying' food situation
"Our biggest concern is the damage caused to the crops and to infrastructure,” Mr. Le Pechoux said. “In many areas, the floods have destroyed not only entire harvests, but also roads and bridges. In Pyongyang, electricity is unreliable and is often cut off for long periods.
“From what I saw, the floods are seriously affecting the lives of women and children. In a country where the food situation is already critical, the consequences of these floods is deeply worrying," he added.
“Children are being affected at the moment mostly due to displacement of their families having lost their homes and are living in precarious conditions,” Mr Le Pechoux said. “They are affected by lack of water because most of the water sources have been submerged and contaminated. They are also affected by a precarious food situation which was already precarious before the floods and is only getting worse.”
Medical care and safe water
Despite the power cuts and washed out roads, UNICEF is working with the government to provide:
- Essential medical supplies to treat diseases that children and adults face living in flooded conditions; Mr. Le Pechoux explained that these medical kits had been pre-positioned in the country for just such an emergency
- Family water kits for 5,000 households; the kits had also been pre-positioned and will go out to families next week
- Water-purification tablets and chlorine to help towns disinfect their water systems when the floods recede.
In the medium term, UNICEF is also planning to work with the Ministries of Health and Education to help health centres and schools damaged by the floods, Mr. Le Pechoux explained. Schools are currently closed for the summer holidays but will re-open in September.
Impact on children
“We didn't get a chance to talk to displaced families but we could see some of the hardships met by both families who have had their houses damaged and the general population,” Mr Le Pechoux said of his visit to North Hwanghae Province. “The children that I saw were going about their normal lives but instead of playing in dry streets they were playing in 30, 40 or 50 cm of water.”
Some children seemed to be cold after being rained on for some time and from the damp conditions, he added.
Having worked in DPR Korea since 1985, UNICEF opened a permanent office there in 1997. UNICEF supplies equipment and training to the country's doctors and nurses to ensure that children are growing and developing normally. Prevention of malnutrition is key and requires UNICEF to target both families and child-care institutions.
Contributions to UNICEF's programme in DPRK are mostly used to procure essential supplies. International UNICEF staff monitor distribution and provide valuable technical assistance.

In pictures: North Korean floods BBC

2007-08-16T14:53:00.001-07:00

In pictures: North Korean floods BBC

North Korea has made a rare plea for outside help after large parts of the country were submerged by some of the worst floods in years.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

NY Philharmonic considers North Korean invitation

2007-08-16T14:50:00.000-07:00

NY Philharmonic considers North Korean invitation
Mon Aug 13, 2007 4:54PM EDT

By Michelle Nichols

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Philharmonic is considering an official invitation from the North Korean government to perform in Pyongyang, the United States' oldest symphony orchestra said on Monday.
"We have just very recently received an inquiry about the possibility of the New York Philharmonic performing in Pyongyang," said orchestra spokesman Eric Latzky.
"It came from an independent representative as an official invitation of the Ministry of Culture," he said. "We appreciate any invitation to the New York Philharmonic and will explore the possibility of this as we would any other invitation."
South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Sunday that U.S. envoy Christopher Hill and his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye-gwan had discussed the possibility of civilian exchanges between the two countries in a bid to improve ties.
Tensions between Washington and Pyongyang over North Korea's nuclear ambitions softened in February when the reclusive Communist state agreed to a disarmament deal, which led to bilateral meetings between Hill and Kim Kye-gwan.
Latzky said the New York Philharmonic has performed in 418 cities worldwide since it began international tours in 1930, including several shows in South Korea.
It has never played in North Korea.
The orchestra was founded in 1842 by a group of local musicians and plays some 180 concerts a year. In late 2004 the Philharmonic gave its 14,000th concert -- a milestone unmatched by any other orchestra in the world.
(Additional reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Seoul)

© Reuters 2007

Heavy rainfalls render 17,000 North Koreans homeless

2007-08-16T14:48:00.000-07:00

People walk down a flooded street in Pyongyang, 11 August 2007. Almost 300 people are dead or missing in floods in North Korea, an aid agency said Thursday, as the communist state painted a grim picture of inundated crops and homes, power cuts and washed-out roads.(AFP/KCNA/File)

Heavy rainfalls render 17,000 North Koreans homeless

SEOUL, Aug. 15 (Yonhap) -- Hundreds of people were killed or missing in North Korea in heavy downpours that battered the impoverished communist country last week, a North Korean official said in a report on Wednesday.

혻 혻 The downpours, which flooded even the center of its capital, Pyongyang, and wide sections of the country's western region, also left about 17,000 people homeless, said the official from Pyeongan Province in a report carried by Pyongyang Radio.

혻혻 "Almost all areas in the province were affected by big floods. Not a few residents were reported dead or missing and we estimate that around 17,000 people were left displaced," the unidentified official said in the report, monitored in Seoul.

혻혻 Roads, railways and bridges were destroyed, while electricity and other social infrastructure got affected, he said.

혻 혻 Video footage on North Korean television showed parts of the center of the country's capital, Pyongyang, submerged, forcing pedestrians to walk through knee-deep flood waters.

혻혻 According to North Korean media reports, torrential rainfalls which started last week left "hundreds of people" dead or missing and more than 63,000 families displaced across the country. One international news report put the death toll at about 200.

혻혻 The communist state is appealing for outside assistance of food and other daily necessities. The United States earlier said that it was considering humanitarian aid to the North.

혻혻(END)

UN's Ban Meets with N. Korean Rep, Access for Audit Not Raised, Secret Message Conveyed

2007-08-16T14:46:00.000-07:00

Messrs. Ban and Kim and South Korean soliders in UNIFIL (Messrs. Nambiar and Pak not shown)

UN's Ban Meets with N. Korean Rep, Access for Audit Not Raised, Secret Message Conveyed

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, August 14 -- On a slow news day in August, Ban Ki-moon summoned to his office the Permanent Representative of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Pak Gil Yon. There was little to no notice to journalists.

There were, Inner City Press is told, not one meeting but two. In the first, from 9:45 to 10:30, Amb. Pak met with Ban, his titular chief of staff Vijay Nambiar, his ostensible deputy Kim Won-soo, and two others. Afterwards, Ban and Pak met one-on-one.

Korean insiders muse of the meeting that Ban was delivering a message for U.S. President George W. Bush, that if relations between South and North Korea improve at their summit meeting later this month, then U.S. - North Korean relations will also improve.

Behind closed doors, these sources surmise, Ban may have discussed his plan to visit North Korea (though not during the summit, and maybe not this year) or, less probably, to invite Kim Jong-il to the UN. North Korea is said to prefer that Bush visit Pyongyang first. Ban told the press on Tuesday afternoon

"I am not supposed to attend the South-North summit meeting, because this is a summit meeting between the leaders of both ROK [Republic of Korea] and DPRK...I expressed my sincere hope, as Secretary-General of the United Nations, and as the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, as I come from Korea, to see the best result."

In the UN's own highlights of Tuesday's noon briefing, sent by email rather than put online due to the recent anti-war hacking of the UN's website (click here for that), the meeting and floods in North Korea are summarized. Not included is a question that Inner City Press asked: in the meeting, did Mr. Ban raise to Amb. Pak the issue of the UN Board of Auditors' access to North Korea?

On January 19, Ban ordered an audit of UN funds and programs in North Korea by the Board of Auditors. After North Korea refused to allow the auditors in, the Ban administration, through Deputy Secretary General Asha-Rose Migiro, reiterated to the Board of Auditors that it should travel to North Korea.

In response to Inner City Press' question of if the issue was raised Tuesday by Mr. Ban, his spokesperson said she would look into it. Since then, other questions but not this one have been answered. We surmise that Ban did not even raise it. The issue has become inconvenient.

In fact, one of the agencies that the UN is sending to North Korea in the wake of recent flooding, the World Health Organization, has apparently not been subject to any audit in North Korea, and has refused to answer direct questions about its operations in the DPRK, put to three separate WHO spokespeople for three weeks now.

The director of another UN agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization, was asked by Inner City Press on August 1 if any audit had been completed or even begun of FAO in North Korea. FAO Director Jacques Diouf said no, and that what FAO has done in North Korea is entirely in line with the applicable "legal framework." Video here, from Minute 36:32.

Previously, however, FAO answered Inner City Press' question by belatedly disclosing that

"Staff are paid in Euro by the UNDP on behalf of FAO. UNDP charges FAO for every transaction it carries out on behalf of the Organization. As to the Assistant FAO Representative, upon instruction from FAO Headquarters, with copy to FAO-China, the UNDP Pyongyang releases the money directly to the staff member, in cash. As to seconded staff, FAO China prepares Agency Services Requests (ASRs) for payment of the two seconded staff, and send them to the Regional Office in Bangkok, which in turn, forwards them to the UNDP in Pyongyang."

Six months after his agency acknowledged using and paying staff seconded from the government in North Korea, FAO's Jacques Diouf said "we do not get government giving us staff and saying we pay them... we do not do that." But that's what seconded staff are. FAO back in January also told Inner City Press:

"The salaries of the two seconded staff are composed of two lines: service charge and 'meal allowances.' I am informed that UNDP in Pyongyang releases the amount related to the meal allowances directly to the staff members in cash, while paying the service charge to the GSB by check."

In late July, in response to Inner City Press questions, the FAO spokesman stated that "The information provided to you earlier this year on FAO's activities in DPRK remains valid. I have no information regarding any audit."

Ban's UN and North Korea -- increased speechifying, but transparency still lacking.

North Korea's Kim looking to ensure survival in summit with South: official

2007-08-16T14:44:00.002-07:00

North Korea's Kim looking to ensure survival in summit with South: official

The Associated Press
Monday, August 13, 2007

SEOUL, South Korea: North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is seeking to ensure the stability of his authoritarian regime in agreeing to meet South Korea's president and wants to improve relations with his capitalist neighbor, the last high-ranking official from Seoul to meet Kim said Monday.
Former South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young also said he believes North Korea will abandon its nuclear programs as it has pledged to do amid warming relations with Washington, because Kim made clear at their June 2005 meeting in Pyongyang that his motivation for building bombs was solely because of deep-seated fears of the United States.
Kim "feels very threatened and is very afraid of the United States," Chung told foreign journalists. The North Korean leader "said he felt he was being watched by the United States all the time," he said.
Kim "will take full advantage of this opportunity to confirm the stability of the regime," Chung said.
Officials from the two Koreas are to meet Tuesday in the North Korean border city of Kaesong to set the agenda of the Aug. 28-30 summit in Pyongyang, Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Nam-shik said Monday.
The current lack of an agenda has drawn criticism that the summit is a political ploy aimed at boosting the liberals aligned with South President Roh Moo-hyun ahead of December's presidential vote — including Chung, a candidate with a newly formed pro-government party.
But Chung argued that summits between the Koreas were unlike other meetings of heads of state where every step is choreographed and agreed ahead of time, and said there had also been no preset agenda for the first-ever such meeting in 2000.
During his meeting with Kim, Chung said he had discussed a summit between the Koreas to take place in September 2005.
Kim was agreeable and said "South and North Korea must not lose more time," according to Chung.
But the arrangements were put off as international negotiations on North Korea's nuclear program came to a standstill after Washington blacklisted a bank where Pyongyang had accounts for alleged complicity in money laundering by the government.
The U.S. reversed its policy earlier this year to encourage progress on the nuclear issue, and North Korea shut down its sole operating reactor last month — setting the stage for the second meeting between leaders of the Koreas since they were divided in the wake of World War II.
Chung said Kim displayed an acute awareness of the outside world and in particular how he is viewed by the United States, even noting the exact date he claimed former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld called him an "idiot."
Kim said he pursed his nuclear program because of fears that "a big superpower like the United States would like to step on a small country," according to Chung.
"If the United States recognizes our sovereignty, we have really no need to maintain nuclear weapons," Chung quoted Kim as saying.
Chung predicted the two current Korean leaders would find an easy rapport at their meeting as they both have reputations for being frank and clear-cut.
"They will not beat about the bush but will get started with talks directly," Chung said.

Roh aims to create unified Korean economic zone

2007-08-16T14:44:00.001-07:00

Roh aims to create unified Korean economic zone

President Roh Moo-hyun said Tuesday that the formation of a unified economic zone will be the eventual goal of his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il slated for Aug. 28-30 in Pyongyang.
"Preparations for a unified economic zone, as well as the formation of a common economic bloc, on the Korean Peninsula will be the most important factors for inter-Korean peace," Roh was quoted by his spokesman Cheon Ho-seon as saying at a Cabinet meeting.
"The government is well aware of public concerns that the North Korean nuclear weapons issue and inter-Korean peace should not be neglected," he said. "But mutual interdependence in economy is the most critical factor to guaranteeing peace on the Korean Peninsula."
Analysts forecast Roh will propose significantly expanding inter-Korean economic cooperation during the upcoming summit talks, while Roh's office, Cheong Wa Dae, has already indicated that the summit is expected to intensively tackle measures to upgrade cross-border economic cooperation and exchanges in both quality and quantity.
In this regard, former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, a key political ally of Roh, said that the two Korean leaders may reach an agreement on large-scale economic cooperation projects aimed at creating an economic boom in North Korea.
"North Korea has expressed a wish to build new industrial complexes across the country, including in Nampo, Wonsan, Sinuiju and Rajin. The North also wants to start new sightseeing businesses for South Korean tourists at its other scenic mountains, like Mount Paektu, Myohyang and Kuwol," Lee said at a recent regional peace forum.
He also said that massive construction of social and industrial infrastructure in North Korea would serve as a locomotive for the growth of the North's economy. SEOUL, Aug. 14 (Yonhap News)

Koreas Hold Video Family Reunions

2007-08-16T14:42:00.000-07:00

Koreas Hold Video Family Reunions

By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
Korea Times

Video reunions for 80 families split by the division of the Korean Peninsula following the Korean War were held Monday before the anniversary of Korea's liberation from the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule, the Ministry of Unification said.
The two-day link-ups between Seoul and Busan in South Korea, and Pyongyang in North Korea involved a total of 563 Koreans from the two Koreas, it said. This was the sixth video reunion session of its kind.
Tens of thousands of Korean families were separated when the peninsula was divided into two at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Since the first inter-Korean summit in June 2000, more than 13,000 people have taken part in the family reunion sessions.
Facilitating the family reunions is expected to be an item on the agenda to be discussed at the summit between President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il from Aug. 28-30 in Pyongyang.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr

Seoul to Unveil Investment Plan in NK Infrastructure

2007-08-16T14:38:00.000-07:00

» Unification minister Lee Jae-jung(far right) chairs preparatory meeting for the second inter-Korea summits scheduled for Aug. 28-30 on Aug. 9 at the conference hall of Office of Inter-Korea Talks

Seoul to Unveil Investment Plan in NK Infrastructure

By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
Korea Times

South Korea is expected to propose a large-scale investment plan in social overhead capital (SOC) in North Korea in the inter-Korean summit late this month to help the impoverished state revive its economy, according to officials on Thursday.
Officials in Seoul said that the package proposal will likely include the provision of electricity, renovation of the Pyongyang-Gaeseong highway, improvement of facilities in Nampo port and establishment of a fertilizer factory.
President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il are set to meet in Pyongyang Aug. 28-30, seven years after Roh’s predecessor, Kim Dae-jung, met with the reclusive North Korean leader.
While the Roh administration finds itself in a difficult position to give direct assistance to the North, such as provisions of rice and fertilizer -- not to mention cash -- it appears to have opted for ``indirect’’ SOC investment, according to the sources.
Former President Kim Dae-jung won the Nobel Peace Prize for the first-ever summit in June 2000, but his achievement was partly tainted by later revelation that Seoul had secretly transferred $500 million to Pyongyang to foster the historic summit.
Roh, who has put more weight on transparency in North Korea affairs, often stressed the need to help North Korea repair its devastated economy with its own hand and get out of its economic slump.
In February, the Unification Ministry drew up a roadmap for a large-scale economic cooperation, focusing on ``what the North really wants.’’ Seoul will likely make some offers to Pyongyang in the upcoming summit, according to government sources.
Dubbed ``Roadmap to Hope,’’ the ministry plan includes as many as 16 items such as the provision of 2 million-kilowatt electricity, worth some $900 million every year, and renovation of the 170-kilometer Pyongyang-Gaeseong highway ($307.7 billion).
Other items include the improvement of facilities in Nampo port, the construction of a 330,000-ton fertilizer plant and installation of tree nurseries in Pyongyang, Gaeseong and Hamheung.
``We are sorting out items that could be offered,’’ a high-profile government official said on condition of anonymity. ``I think our proposal for the SOC investment could be discussed in the working-level preparatory talks in Gaeseong next week.’’
Experts estimated that the aid package could reach 9 trillion won to 13 trillion won ($9.7 billion to $14 billion) in the coming several years, if major items such as the highway renovation are included on top of the ongoing supply of heavy fuel oil.
Seoul is expected to demand the establishment of liaison offices across the border and the regularization of military talks headed by the defense ministers from the two sides in return for the economic incentives, according to the sources.
But the large-scale economic assistance is expected to trigger fiery debate in the South, as conservatives, represented by the opposition Grand National Party (GNP), have often lashed out at the government’s ``single-handed’’ assistance amid the nuclear standoff.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Kwon O-kyu, who is to accompany Roh to Pyongyang, stressed on Thursday that the aid package would be offered ``transparently’’ in close coordination with the international community.
``South-North Cooperation Fund, operated under the endorsement of the National Assembly, could be used first,’’ he told reporters. ``I think we should also try to create a favorable environment for the inter-Korean economic projects in close cooperation with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.’’

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr

Seoul considers comprehensive economic package for Pyongyang

Along with Wednesday’s announcement of the second-ever summit between President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il later this month, the government said that the summit would aim for a “new Korean peninsular plan” that will make progress in inter-Korean economic cooperation projects in terms of quality and quantity. In fact, the government seemed as though it wanted to make it clear that it considers inter-Korean economic cooperation as its top priority in the upcoming summit. Before the Aug. 28-30 meeting, the government is expected to draw up a set agenda on inter-Korean economic cooperation, based on pending economic issues.
While the government’s agenda will be publicized throughout the preparatory meetings with the North and the summit, you can guess some of the agenda. Major issues about inter-Korean economic cooperation expected to be on the summit table include: regular cross-border train service in return for energy aid, development of an industrial zone that matches the Kaesong industrial complex and infrastructure investment as well as industrial cooperation.
To begin, the regular service of cross-border trains is directly linked with the government’s plan for a north-bound economy. President Roh, in a speech on July 19, said, “The stage for our economy will be extended to the Eurasian continent and it will provide all economic sectors, including trade and finance, with a new turning point.”
Reconnecting with North Korean roads and rail lines is essential for South Korea, so that it can easily make inroads into the country. However, analysts say it is highly unlikely that the two leaders would agree on regular service for a cross-border railway that would run from Busan to Seoul to Shinuiju during the summit. North Korea considers railways to be military facilities. In addition, there is another problem for North Korean roads and rails: aging. A possible scenario is that the two leaders may agree on regular service for a shorter railway between Munsan and Kaesong, which was recently reconnected on a trial basis. And then, the two sides may gradually expand the coverage after the summit.
If North Korea agrees to use South Korea’s power plant for regular service of cross-border railways, South Korea is likely to offer energy aid. Because North Korea’s industrial sectors have been crippled by a lack of electricity, South Korea might also revive a plan to transfer electricity to the North. North Korea could also ask South Korea to upgrade or fix its thermal power plants. What’s more, South Korea may consider providing coal to the North, a plan once explored by the South in 2000. At that time, South Korea had pushed a plan to help failing coal mines in the South stay afloat, while offering coal to the energy-hungry North.
If you focused on the words “new plan,” you would guess that the two leaders might agree on the development of a new industrial zone modeled after the Kaesong industrial complex. Some analysts say Wonsan or Shinuiju may emerge as potential sites for the new industrial zone, instead of Nampo, which had previously been proposed but is a concern for North Korea because of its politically sensitive location.
Investment in the ports, roads and rails that make up the North’s infrastructure is another potential item for the agenda. After the two Koreas issued a joint statement on Sept. 19, 2005, the Ministry of Unification and the Ministry of Finance and Economy co-authored a report in November of that year, titled “Economic plan for the Korean peninsula,” by order of President Roh. The plan is believed to contain comprehensive schemes to revive the North Korean economy. However, with President Roh’s single, five-year term set to end next February, it may be difficult for Roh to make an agreement with the North Korean leader about the plan because it will require a huge budget that he will not be around to oversee.

Seoul, Washington Differ Over Summit Agenda

2007-08-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

North Korean delegate Ri Gun, left, sits with South Korean counterpart Chun Yung-woo upon arrival for a bilaterial meeting with Zhang Wenyue, Governor of Liaoning province after their 2nd working group meeting on North Korea's nuclear program at the Liaoning Friendship Convention Center in Shenyang, northeastern China, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007. Envoys to talks on North Korea's nuclear program met Thursday in northeast China to discuss the next steps in ridding Pyongyang of its atomic ambitions. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Seoul, Washington Differ Over Summit Agenda

By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
Korea Times

With preparations for the second-ever inter-Korean summit underway in Seoul, South Korea and the United States have shown a different point of view on the focus of the landmark talks in Pyongyang from Aug. 28-30.
No agenda has been fixed yet. But Seoul officials hinted that the meeting between President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will mainly address large-scale cross-border economic projects, centered on the South's investment in the North, beyond business projects pursued after the 2000 summit.
Washington, however, is concerned that such big-budget programs from the South will detract from the six-party talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear ambitions by giving the Stalinist state ``immunity'' to possible economic sanctions from the international community.
``I think the center of gravity of everybody's diplomatic efforts here really is in the six-party talks,'' U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Thursday. ``That isn't to say that… South Korea should not pursue this engagement with North Korea.''
Analysts are more skeptical about the outcome of the Roh-Kim talks. Most of them say Pyongyang probably saw the summit as its last chance to secure a promise of large financial assistance from the liberal-minded Roh administration, whose five-year term is nearing its end.
Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, was quoted as saying by Yonhap, ``South Korean officials assured Washington that its engagement efforts would remain `one step behind the six-party talks process,' but now appear to be at least five steps ahead.''
On Thursday, former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, Roh's political adviser, said South Korea would propose several joint projects to help boost North Korea's economy.
Lee, who visited Pyongyang as the de facto presidential envoy to arrange the summit earlier this year, referred to building an industrial park in the North's port city of Nampo, similar to that in Gaeseong, as one of the proposals that Seoul is considering.
He also said South Korea is likely to propose launching South Korea-backed tourism projects in Mts. Baekdu, Myohyang and Guwol, modeled on the ongoing Mount Geumgang project operated by Hyudai Asan.
Analysts anticipate that Seoul is seeking to divert criticism over a possible cash-for-summit scandal, seen after the first summit, by focusing on large-scale investment plans in public infrastructure projects.
The 2000 summit between former President Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il was historic but tainted by the later revelation that Seoul had secretly transferred $500 million to Pyongyang for the summit.
A list of Seoul's offers will include the provision of two million-kilowatts of electricity, renovation of the 170-kilometer Pyongyang-Gaeseong highway, improvement of facilities in Nampo port, the establishment of a 330,000-ton fertilizer plant and the installation of tree nurseries in major cities, government sources said.
In return, Seoul is to demand the establishment of liaison offices across the border and the regularization of defense ministers' talks, they said.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr

Stepping inside North Korea

2007-08-16T13:09:00.000-07:00

The Grand People's Study House, Pyongyang's national library, spans 10 blocks and is said to house "millions" of books "where all people can study."

Stepping inside North Korea
A rare tour of the world’s most closed society
By Nancy Jean
Forbes Traveler.com
Updated: 1:27 p.m. ET Aug 12, 2007

My husband Mike and I recently returned from a visit to North Korea, aka the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. It was what you might think of as a getaway — we stayed 4 days and 3 nights, the maximum allowed for U.S. citizens. We flew first to Beijing, not knowing if our DPRK visa would issue. (Our attempt last year to visit was aborted when massive flooding and nuke testing combined to cause the DPRK to ban most visitors.) Visas have been issued only rarely to Americans and usually to coincide with the Mass Games (more on the games below). By good fortune, we were among a small group of U.S. tourists permitted to visit the DPRK this year. The first such opportunity for Americans was in 1995, and then only during a two-week window, followed by brief periods in 2002 and 2005, each coinciding with the Mass Games.

Arrival
We were told to leave computers and cell phones behind in Beijing; neither would be operative in DPRK: no signal and no ability to receive e-mail in any event. As we prepared to board our flight to Pyongyang, I bought a duty-free Hermes scarf. It was an impulse — I have never bought any Hermes product, but I felt compelled to have a frivolous capitalistic moment before entering the Communist “hermit kingdom.”

Despite promises of denuclearization, North Korea remains on the Dept. of State’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, together with Iran, Cuba, Sudan, and Syria. The North Korean bombing of a South Korean airliner 1987 is the last of the cited acts. The new list no longer cites the North's abduction or detention of 485 civilians since the 1950-53 Korean War. Being on the list subjects North Korea to a web of economic and financial sanctions.

Our Koryo Air seats were covered in starched, linen mats. The airsickness bag said “For Your Refuses.” The in-flight magazines in English included one devoted entirely to a 2002 visit to Russia by DPRK Leader Kim Jong Il. It reported that jubilant workers in the DPRK increased production by 17 percent and danced in the street the day he returned. (It was not apparent how they could increase production with all that dancing.)

Lunch on the plane consisted of two small pickles, two tiny tomatoes, one miniature ear of corn, two types of thinly sliced, fatty sausage, one hard roll, a sliced hard-boiled egg filled with oily/fishy orange “caviar,” three tiny cold meatballs, and a hot entree, served TV dinner style in an aluminum container, consisting of rice, boiled potato, and a tiny piece of chicken. I selected a soft drink the color of lemons; Mike made the mistake of selecting a can of something that was emerald green. We weren’t even in first-class; the service was for business class.

© Nancy Jean
Bronze sculpture detail at Mansudae Grand Monument, Pyongyang. A monumental statue of Kim Il Sung is flanked by two bronze sculptures 22.5 meters high (nearly 70 feet) depicting the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle and the socialist revolution and construction.

Guided tours
We were accompanied by a dozen Americans, and all of us were broken into “groups”, each of which would have a personal guide. My husband and I toured as a group of two; a wealthy man from Oahu, who wore aloha shirts every day, was a group of one; the remainder comprised a third group. We were accompanied every moment by our guides, who were more like minders. They met us at the airport (no taxis there or at the hotel), stayed at our hotel, and were always waiting for us in the lobby when we came down for breakfast. They never left our side from then until we returned to our room late at night. If we lingered in the hotel lobby for a beer, they joined us.

No one stands out
All Koreans (referring hereafter to North Koreans) were dressed in plain dark clothing — suits for both men and women. Sensible pumps or low-heeled shoes on the women. No short skirts or short sleeves. All adults wear a little red pin over their heart, bearing a picture of the late President Kim Il Sung, father to the present-day Leader. In three days we did not see a civilian adult anywhere without the pin.

Thinking the pin was like the souvenir Che Guevera pin I purchased in Cuba, I asked our minder where I could get one. She paused for a moment, looked down while she contemplated the extent of my ignorance, and then explained that the pins are not purchased, they are presented to those who show loyalty to Korea, an achievement apparently earned by all sentient Korean grownups. She furrowed her brow and said she did not think I could make the requisite showing in three days.

We never saw a Korean pedestrian wearing jeans and T-shirts, and saw almost no color. Schoolchildren all wear uniforms as do traffic control cops (a curious job given there's basically no traffic), and people working at the souvenir shops, restaurants, and monuments we visited. It was Orwellian. The only color we noticed was on toddlers, uniformed waitresses and local guides wearing traditional, long Korean silk gowns in pink, red, or lime green. The women wore no make-up, and the hairdos are straight and simple. (The exception is Dear Leader Kim Jong Il, whose pictures suggest he teases and sprays his bouffant 'do).

Koreans do not have many cars and by the looks of things not many bicycles, either. The wide boulevards and the roads out of Pyongyang are empty. Koreans get around the city on foot, a few on bicycles, and crowd onto old electric street cars. We saw orderly lines of Koreans three blocks long (really) patiently and quietly waiting to board. Despite the absence of cars, many intersections have a smartly dressed traffic cop who stands ramrod straight, looks left and right, then makes a quarter turn and repeats the move over and over as she rotates in the intersection. She’ll be ready if a car ever comes.

The two subway stops we saw were clean, cavernous, and elegantly illuminated from above by massive chandeliers. The walls were covered with huge propaganda posters of fertile farms (Western reports say that “fertile” is a grievous overstatement) and both the Dear Leader and his father in heroic poses surrounded by happy civilians and/or the brave army. The subway doubles as a bomb shelter. The 200-meter (!) escalator ride from the street to the subway cars is so long and steep that many sit down. No graffiti down here.

At night a dark hush falls over Pyongyang. To conserve energy, the street lights are not lit and, to conserve fuel, the few cars are forbidden to drive at night and all day Sunday. Our car was stopped more than once at night by a uniformed guard who needed to see our permit. So: utter darkness and total silence. Spooky.

Our minders made sure we had minimal interaction with Koreans. What little we had (e.g. at the subway stop), was less than warm. Some eye contact but no smiles were returned. I continued to flash my warmest all-Americans-are-not-evil-imperialists smile but to no avail. Unlike our experience in China or South Korea, not one North Korea ever approached us to say hello or to practice their English. No one was playful, animated, or even smiling.

We were not allowed to photograph people in the streets or on farm communes, even from the car. The only explanation? "They don't like it." If we wanted to take any pictures at all, we had to ask the minder. We could snap the monuments, propaganda billboards (no commercial advertising anywhere), and the Mass Games. But not people going about their daily life. Later on, when we visited the Demilitarized Zone, and I inquired about taking shots of border guards, the policy was put in simple terms: “The border guards have guns."

The mass games
On our first night, we were driven to the huge May Day Stadium to see "Arirang," a mass gymnastics and artistic performance by 100,000 gymnasts and dancers. The 90- minute extravaganza started with waving banners and countless marchers depicting the military and occupation by the Japanese sixty years ago. It then switched to themes of bunnies and rainbows representing the plentiful harvest, and the hoped-for reunification of the Korean peninsula, presumably under benevolent North Korean rule. A card section of 20,000 students provided a backdrop depicting animals, landscapes, waterfalls, slogans, and even a portrait of Kim Il Sung. The field was crowded with costumed dancers, gymnasts and aerialists moving in unison. Between segments the stadium went dark for a minute, and about 80,000 people somehow got off the field in total darkness, then replaced with just as many in under a minute. How I don’t know. Imagine the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games, then multiply by a hundred. A brochure in our hotel said, “The optimistic outlook of the Korean people is depicted well in the work. It is a performance that grasps the hearts of the audience for its philosophical profundity and truthfulness and its strong national character."

A little background
KIM IL SUNG ("KIS"): "The Eternal President." The Great Leader. He lived from 1912 and died in 1994 at the age of 82. Seventy-five years ago, in his late 20's, KIS's legend began when he fought with the Korean revolutionaries to defeat the Japanese who occupied the peninsula. KIS is credited with defeating the U.S., “a ferocious imperialist,” during the Korean War. As such, Koreans are taught that KIS "ushered in the dawn of a great, prosperous, and powerful nation."

KIM JONG IL ("KJI"): The Dear Leader. The son of KIS is General Secretary of the Workers' Party and Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army. Since KIS is the eternal President, KJI is referred to as General, the Commander, or simply the Leader.

Respect for the President and his fluffy-haired son is visible everywhere. There are photos of both leaders in all the buildings we visited. Reportedly, a special cloth is used to dust the framed photos. Billboards around the country carry painted or ceramic images of father or son (most often KIS) in heroic poses. Military might and bountiful harvests are recurring themes.

Kim Jong Il is said to be "exactly" like his late father. His leadership is needed, because, according to the Dear Leader’s speech quoted in the daily paper (always folded so as not crease his photo), "the danger of war still hovers over the country due to the continued attempts of the U.S. imperialists to stifle the DPRK. If they dare infringe upon DPRK's sovereignty and right to existence the Korean People's Army will destroy them at one stroke and achieve the historic cause of national unification, the greatest desire of the nation."

The newspaper also reported on the 1948 meeting of representatives from the North and South at a time when "the U.S. was instigating the South Korean reactionaries to hold separate elections for setting up a puppet regime in a bid to perpetuate Korea's division and make the south its colony." At the time, KIS hosted a meeting in Pyongyang in favor of "his just and correct policies of reunification." Since then KIS worked to reunify while the US "is bringing the dark clouds of confrontation and war." Yet another article blasts the other DPRK enemy — Japan — for their use of Korean "comfort women" during World War I. It is as if time stopped in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Of all the grievances we read about in translation, few were about events more recent than 1953, the end of the Korean War. In DPRK, that is referred to as the "Fatherland Liberation War" in which “the U.S. invaders" were defeated by forces led by KIS. The DPRK, and KIS in particular, thus "built a solid foundation for national prosperity" and "world-startling changes."

Homage
After visiting the giant statue of KIS, where we were strongly urged to buy a $4 sprig of flowers to lay at his feet, the next stopover was KIS’s birthplace. It is set on a hill in a park with “a thousand views.” It is a small thatched hut “left as it was when he lived there.” Elsewhere, every restaurant we visited, without exception, showed televised tributes to father or son. A few translated excerpts:

“The current yearning [for the leader] will flow forever down through the generations ... KIS is the first and eternal President ... Anti-Japanese veterans are loved by KJI ... Another great father [KJI] exactly like KIS is guarding the future ...Our country is solid as a bell ... We will continue to fight against the Imperialists and carry on KIS’s effort to make the army invincible. The greatest all-around happiness is to see KJI close at hand.” It is said that young and old weep when in the presence of the Dear Leader.

Cuisine
Each day, our breakfast consisted of toasted crustless white bread, a cold little omelet, and instant coffee with powdered milk. Lunch was usually soup of broth and vegetables, rice, and seven or eight bowls of boiled cabbage, dried fish, bean sprouts, bean paste, tofu, and some items that defied standard culinary nomenclature. Dinner one night was a Korean version of sukiyaki heated over a Sterno can. Another night we went to a duck barbecue restaurant where we grilled thinly sliced pieces of roasted duck and duck fat. The guide asked me if Korean duck is as good as Chinese Peking duck. With my quest for a red pin in mind, I choked down a piece of grilled fat and said, "It’s better." Ever the optimist, I asked the waitress if white wine was available. She said “white?” and I said yes. She left and returned a bit later with a glass of hot milk. She got the white part right.

The DMZ (Demilitarized Zone)
We passed four checkpoints on the two-and-a-half-hour drive to the border with South Korea, and at each, a uniformed soldier stopped us and demanded to see our papers. The guides complied, showing them our yellow permit. Yellow is apparently reserved for sensitive visits such as ours. When we arrived at the final checkpoint, we were, for some reason, told to get out of our car and walk through the guarded gate. Our car met us on the other side at which point a soldier climbed into our car “to protect us from the U.S.” as we drove the final stretch to the border. He used the short drive to fire questions at me such as “What do you think of Bush and the war? Do you realize that the U.S. aggression started the Fatherland Liberation War? ... We did not so much as throw a stone at them ... Why doesn’t the U.S. leave Korea and allow us to reunify?”

We drove to the building where the armistice was signed in 1953. Since peace was never formally declared, both sides stand guard at the border and watch each other day and night. The South Korean guards face North, obviously, but so do the North Koreans — presumably to watch over their own people, and any stray impulses to flee southward.

Famine
In the course of our trip to the DMZ, we spoke (in hushed tones) to an Australian World Food Agency representative posted in North Korea. He said that more than one million North Koreans have died of famine in recent years. Chinese and Russian subsidies ended in the 1990s and the DPRK ran out of food and fuel. Because eighty percent of North Korea is mountainous, every square inch of arable land is cultivated. And because the DPRK does not let the fields lay fallow for even one season, the land is exhausted from overuse and lack of proper fertilizer. The Australian official told us that despite its desperate need for help feeding its people, the DPRK expelled many of the food aid workers so as not to let the world think it needed them. The food shortage is apparently compounded by the lack of machinery and fuel to assist with planting and harvesting. We saw perhaps three tractors in ten hours of driving out in the country, and the occasional skinny ox pulling a wooden plow. Most farming is done by hand. City residents and soldiers are brought to the fields to help out. We saw hundreds of such "volunteers" in one area. Also a few small herds of goats and ducks, but otherwise, no farm animals.

The U.S.S Pueblo
The U.S.S. Pueblo, the American “spy ship” captured by the North Koreans in 1968 when it allegedly strayed into DPRK waters (the U.S. insists it was in international waters) lies at anchor on the bank of the river that flows through Pyongyang. The captain and 82 crew members were captured. President Lyndon Johnson at first said the Pueblo was on a research mission but intelligence found in the ship by the North Koreans, later shared with the Soviets, showed it was on a military intelligence mission. The crew was tortured by the Koreans and signed confessions of spying. After eleven months of wrangling, the crew was allowed to return to the United States but the Pueblo was kept as a “trophy.” Upon boarding, we were shown a video of the story to make sure we understood the “lies” President Johnson told and the “espionage” practiced by the U.S. We listened quietly and without comment.

Stamps
They come without glue. The hotel postal desk kindly glued my stamps to my postcards. I was told they will also read all the postcards before sending them on. I wrote messages accordingly.

Popular culture
The DPRK film festival shows films from China and Russia as well as some local fare. Our minder told me she has seen American movies at the university: “Gone With The Wind,” “The Sound of Music,” and “Love Story.” She asked if Clark Gable is still alive.

Departure
I was never given that red pin.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20113529/

Koreas' summit: Handshakes and handouts

2007-08-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (L) and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung embrace as they bid farewell at Sunan airport, outside Pyongyang in this June 15, 2000 file photo. The leaders of the divided Koreas will hold a summit on August 28-30 in the North Korean capital Pyongyang, South Korean media reported on August 8, 2007. (Pool/Files/Reuters)

Koreas' summit: Handshakes and handouts
By Donald Kirk

NEW YORK - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will be able to put a high price tag on every move he makes to reduce the threat of his huge military establishment when he meets South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun at the second inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang this month.
The government of South Korea, thrilled to have been able to get Dear Leader Kim Jong-il to agree to the summit, plans to propose a vast new economic program far beyond the scope of the six-nation agreement in February for North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons.
The program, under the rubric of South Korea's "Korean Peninsula vision", includes plans for an infusion of billions of US dollars' worth of aid to open up new economic zones in North Korea, expand tourism, and build up the North's decrepit infrastructure. In return, South Korean officials are hoping that Kim will not only fulfill the terms of the nuclear agreement but also scale down his armed forces and eventually pull troops and weapons from above the Demilitarized Zone that has divided the two Koreas since the Korean War ended in 1953.
Analysts worry, though, that Roh, in his eagerness to appear as a peacemaker before his people in the last months of his presidency, may return from Pyongyang with little to show in return for the enormous infusion of aid and expertise that he'll propose to Kim at the summit.
"I'm a big fan of North-South dialogue," said Evans Revere, president of the Korea Society, a prestigious forum supported largely by South Korean government and corporate funds. "There is an opportunity for President Roh to engage in serious North-South diplomacy."
The question, however, is whether Roh will be willing to display the toughness needed to obtain firm guarantees of a reduction of military tensions while holding out the promise of rebuilding the North Korean economy during three days of talks from August 28-30. "I think it will be viewed with concern if he doesn't carry critical messages that relate to the six-party talks," said Revere.
The most important message, according to this logic, is that North Korea, having shut down its 5-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon as the first step in fulfilling the February agreement, should itemize all its facilities for developing nuclear weapons and, finally, get rid of the dozen or so nuclear warheads that it is believed to have fabricated, all in accordance with the agreement.
The fear, however, is that Roh sees the summit as his last and best chance to shore up his diminished popularity before December's presidential election. "It seems to be a question of legacy," said Donald Gregg, Korea Society chairman and a former US ambassador to South Korea.
Although Roh cannot run again under South Korea's constitution, he would like to bring about the election of a candidate who shares his left-of-center views and will perpetuate his efforts at reconciliation with the North. Roh himself has carried out the Sunshine Policy initiated by his predecessor, Kim Dae-jung, who flew to Pyongyang in June 2000 for the first inter-Korean summit.
Kim Jong-il, for his part, is seen as agreeing to a second summit in part to undermine the conservative Grand National Party. North Korea has frequently criticized possible conservative presidential candidates, notably Lee Myung-bak, former Seoul mayor and front-runner for the nomination.
Roh himself appears anxious in the run-up to the summit to want to touch on all the basic issues while members of his government enumerate the financial bonanza that North Korea is likely to receive in return for an appearance of willingness to cooperate.
He was quoted as telling a meeting of his National Security Council to "make preparations for the summit so that substantial progress can be made in the fields of denuclearization, inter-Korean peace, arms control and economic cooperation".
It seems unlikely, however, that South Korea will want to give up a program for modernizing its armed forces while the US is pulling most its forces to a base south of Seoul and reducing the number of its troops in South Korea from the current level of 29,000, down from 37,000 at the start of Roh's term in 2003.
It's also unlikely, moreover, that Roh will go along with North Korean demands for complete withdrawal of all US troops.
Nor is Kim Jong-il at all likely to agree to a deal that would call for North Korea to reduce the size of it armed forces of more than a million troops, 400,000 more than the size of the South's military, much less to jettison its stockpile of nuclear warheads. Kim, whose power resides in his position as chairman of the National Defense Commission, has been visiting military units in recent days, encouraging preparedness for war.
Kim, at the summit, may well mention unhappiness with North Korea's presence on the US State Department's list of terrorist countries - a status that keeps foreign financial institutions from wanting to deal with his country. The State Department, said Jack Pritchard, the department's former envoy on North Korea, could easily accede to the North Korean plea. But Japan has protested against removal of North Korea from the list, citing the kidnapping of Japanese citizens by North Korean agents.
Pritchard blamed the hardline US position for setting back efforts at reconciliation with Pyongyang after gains during the Bill Clinton administration. It was after the breakdown of the 1994 Geneva agreement on North Korea, he noted, that the country built a number of nuclear warheads.
Author of a new book, Failed Diplomacy, reflecting his years with the State Department, Pritchard said he doubts the summit will persuade US President George W Bush to move toward real reconciliation. Bush, he said, does not want to be remembered as "the guy who perpetuated the regime" of Kim Jong-il.
While Kim will be reluctant to give up his nuclear warheads, he is expected to be in favor of economic programs under which billions of dollars in South Korean funds would pour into the economy.
Indeed, the scope of the South Korean economic proposal suggests that Seoul officials view the program as a payoff reminiscent of the US$500 million that moved from South Korean coffers to the North before the June 2000 summit. The money moved through Hyundai Asan, the Hyundai Group company responsible for two special zones in North Korea - the industrial zone at Kaesong next to the truce village of Panmunjom and the economic zone at Mount Kumkang near the east coast.
"South Korea is going to give North Korea a lot of gifts," said Thomas Byrne, vice president of Moody's, for which he regularly rates the economy of South Korea and other Asian countries.
Byrne, however, said he is "skeptical" about the summit producing other substantive results. "It would be good if things turned out for the best," he said, "but North Korea has yet to change its economic policies."
Byrne said North Korea now "has a big chance to embrace the South Korean economic model but shows no propensity for serious reform".
"The problem with North Korea is there is no reformer," there's no one in North Korea to compare to Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese leader who revamped his country's economy in the 1980s, or the Vietnamese leaders who moved away from rigid theory and policies and revitalized their economy.
Journalist Donald Kirk has been covering Korea - and the confrontation of forces in Northeast Asia - for more than 30 years.

(Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd

Pyongyang Cancels Liberation Activities With South Korea Over Annual U.S. War Games

2007-08-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

An undated picture shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Il (2nd-R) visiting the Hamhung wood processing factory in Riwon county, South Hamgyong province. South Korea said Wednesday its upcoming surprise summit with North Korea will speed up international efforts to shut down the communist state's nuclear programme.(AFP/KCNA via KNS)

Pyongyang Cancels Liberation Activities With South Korea Over Annual U.S. War Games

August 5, 2007 8:08 a.m. EST

Komfie Manalo - AHN News Writer

Seoul, South Korea (AHN) - North Korea has cancelled a joint celebration with South Korea to mark the anniversary of Korean liberation from Japanese colonial rule. It did so to protest this year's joint war games between South Korea and the United States, a South Korean event organizer said.
Lee Jae-kyu, the South Korean organizer said both Koreas were scheduled to commemorate their liberation on Aug. 15 in Busan.
The cancellation comes on the heels of a statement last week from Pyongyang condemning the scheduled war exercises between the U.S. and South Korea, describing it as an "unacceptable provocation."
The North said the Ulchi Focus Lens drill scheduled from Aug. 20 - 31 was a rehearsal for an invasion.
"We cannot overlook the U.S. and South Korea's move to go ahead with the joint military drills," Lee quoted the North's organizer as saying in a fax message to its South Korean counterpart.
This is the third time that the North refused to participate in the joint celebration of Liberation Day since 2001.
But North Korea has usually issued such protests of the annual war games, which South Korea and the U.S. say are merely defensive.

Copyright © AHN Media Corp - All rights reserved.

Mr Kim has the neighbours in

2007-08-16T12:33:00.000-07:00

Mr Kim has the neighbours in

Aug 9th 2007
From The Economist print edition
By all means sup with Kim Jong Il. But use a long spoon—and don't spend the night

IF YOU don't entertain much, your guests may be unreasonably chuffed when you do ask them round. Kim Jong Il, the ruler of North Korea, must recall the euphoria he helped generate in South Korea seven years ago when he met its then president, Kim Dae-jung, for the first and only summit between the two countries. Having waited long enough for his invitation to regain its scarcity value, the tousle-haired dictator is at it again.
As before, the outside world has nothing to lose and much to gain from hearing what Mr Kim has to say—even more so since in the interim he has acquired a few nuclear weapons. But the South's current president, Roh Moo-hyun, would be well-advised to play down expectations about his summit with Mr Kim in Pyongyang at the end of the month. The meeting will rekindle dreams of a Korean peninsula free of nuclear weapons and perhaps even reunified as one country. But Mr Kim's only aim is to keep his dreadful regime in power.
Even so, the moment is more propitious than for some years for achieving the limited goals a summit should set itself: of easing tensions on the peninsula, where the war of 1950-53 has never formally ended (just this week seemingly pointless gunfire was exchanged across the border); and of coaxing North Korea out of isolation. In February, after talks between the two Koreas, America, China, Japan and Russia, Mr Kim agreed to close down his plutonium-producing nuclear reactor at Yongbyon and some other plants in exchange for international aid in the form of fuel oil. Long stalled by a squabble over about $25m of North Korean funds frozen in a bank in Macau, that deal is at last moving. Last month the nuclear plants were closed down—if not yet irreversibly. The International Atomic Energy Agency praised this co-operation. The six-country talks resumed, meaning their five working groups—covering, for example, denuclearisation and normalising relations with America and Japan—also start work again.
It is far too early, however, to believe that North Korea is really ready to come in from the cold. Mr Kim's outbreak of hospitality may stem from two cynical political calculations. He knows that a visit to Pyongyang, giving Mr Roh something to show for his conciliatory approach to North Korea, will help his standing at home. Mr Roh's term ends in December, and polls suggest that the opposition—which favours a harder line—will win the presidential election. Not for the first time, Mr Kim may want to meddle in the South's politics.
No time for another Mulligan
Second, Mr Kim's real skill—overshadowing even his fabled golfing talents (an 18-hole course in 19 strokes)—lies in sowing dissension among his negotiating partners. The unity of the other five countries in dealing with Pyongyang is a rickety structure built of conflicting aims. For obvious reasons, South Korea, occupying the now-rich half of a country arbitrarily sliced in two by a bloody war, is the softest touch of the five. Japan, outraged at the abduction by North Korea of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, hangs tougher. China, Mr Kim's only foreign friend, wants to avoid the collapse of his government and the flood of refugees it might bring. America, too, does not want the region to become another global crisis. But it badly wants to stop Mr Kim from making bombs.
North Korea's regime, despite its manifest failures (even to provide enough to eat), has survived in the cracks in the international system: the Sino-Soviet split; the suspicion between America and China; Seoul's fraught relations with Tokyo. The most important message Mr Roh can take to Pyongyang is that those cracks have narrowed, and no amount of wheedling or bluster from Mr Kim will allow them to widen.

===========================

EDITORIAL

Why Kim Jong-il is Meeting a Lame-Duck President
The North and South Korean governments announced jointly that their leaders will hold a summit in Pyongyang on Aug. 28. The summit was widely expected. It is a well-known fact that South Korean officials, from the former prime minister to a close aide of the president and even lawmakers on his side, traveled to Pyongyang and China, begging North Korea to agree to a summit. Recently, there were even forecasts that the summit would take place in August.

Given the Roh Moo-hyun administration’s obsession with a summit with North Korea, it may have been a foregone conclusion that a visit to Seoul by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, as promised during the 2000 inter-Korean summit, would never happen. President Roh said he would pave the way for regular summits between North and South Korea. But as long as every South Korean leader goes cap-in-hand to Pyongyang to seek an audience with the North Korean leader, the value of regular summits will diminish.

It is highly desirable for the leaders of North and South Korea to meet and talk. There are hopes that the summit could have more impact than any other meeting to help North Korea dismantle its nuclear program. At present, the six-country nuclear talks face the crucial stage of reporting North Korea’s fissile materials and disabling its nuclear facilities.

But until now, North Korea has strictly excluded South Korea from discussion of its nuclear program. North Korea has been saying that issue is something it wants to discuss with the United States. For North Korea, its nuclear program is its main bargaining chip in getting the U.S. to open diplomatic channels and normalize relations. It has been North’s consistent policy to demand only financial concessions from South Korea depending on the results of talks with the U.S. There is no evidence that North Korea has changed this policy, and it may think of this summit as another means of opening a path to the U.S. If North Korea sticks to the policy, then the U.S. and North Korea will play the key roles in bringing about changes in the Korean Peninsula, while South Korea may risk seeing itself relegated to a supporting role. If that happens, then this summit would merely be a venue for lip service to the grand unity of the Korean people, while all South Korea ends up with is a huge bill.

In an interview with the Hankyoreh Shinmun daily in June, Roh said the incoming CEO is the one who pays for the bills drawn by the outgoing CEO. He said regardless how few months he has left in office, if he makes agreements with the North Korean leader, his successor would not be able to reject them. In other words, he’s saying that nobody can mess with the things he does during his final months in office. This is how Roh thinks. If the summit is held this way and sidesteps the nuclear dilemma, whose resolution would mark the beginning of normalization in the Korean Peninsula, then the meeting could end up causing great harm for South Korea.

Realistically, President Roh has about three months left in office when he attends the summit. This goes against common sense. It is highly suspicious that the North Korean leader has now agreed to a summit he had been turning down over the past four years at a point when the lifespan of the Roh administration has almost run out.

The summit was announced at a time when the opposition Grand National Party is in the midst of a primary to select its presidential candidate. The summit will take place exactly eight days after the GNP announces its presidential candidate. And after that, the liberal ruling camp will hold its primary and then the presidential election will take place. The timing is perfect to pour cold water on the GNP’s momentum, while supporting the rise of the ruling camp. The previous summit in 2000 was announced just three days before Koreans hit polling stations to vote for National Assemblymen. It is impossible not to point out the political nature of the summit, considering how their announcements took place so close to South Korean elections.

Starting this year, North Korea appeared notably impatient about the results of South Korea’s presidential election, even warning that a war would break out if the GNP came to power. Even South Korea’s progressive ruling camp, whose mass defections and name change failed to boost its popularity, has been betting everything on the summit.

North Korea will inevitably demand repayment for helping the South Korean government by agreeing to a summit. Pyongyang collected US$500 million under the table for agreeing to hold the 2000 summit. When the next administration steps into office, it will get the lowdown on the events that led to this summit. There is a strong possibility that massive aid for North Korea has already been offered and incredible amounts of money will end up coming from South Korean taxpayers. This administration cannot unilaterally strike deals that could burden the next administration.

After the inter-Korean summit was announced, a majority of South Koreans expressed apprehension, as postings in cyberspace show. They saw right through the true intentions of the North and South Korean governments. In a survey by Gallup Korea on June 23, only 20 percent of Koreans felt an inter-Korean summit should take place during President Roh Moo-hyun’s term in office, while 69.8 percent said it should happen after the presidential election considering its impact on voters. Roh must remember when he travels to Pyongyang that Korean people are watching him.

Ex-Prime Minister Predicts Large-Scale Economic Cooperation Between Koreas

2007-08-16T12:31:00.000-07:00

Ex-Prime Minister Predicts Large-Scale Economic Cooperation Between Koreas

Former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter

Presidential hopeful Lee Hae-chan of the pro-government Uri Party said Thursday that the two Koreas may agree on large-scale economic cooperation during the second inter-Korean summit slated for Aug. 28-30 in Pyongyang.
Lee, 55, who served as prime minister between 2004 and 2006, made a four-day trip to Pyongyang in March to discuss matters of mutual concern.
``The North wants to establish industrial complexes in its port cities, including Nampo and Wonsan, as well as develop tourism in its scenic mountains,'' Lee said. ``There is a high possibility that the two sides will agree on economic cooperation that can boost the North's economy.''
Lee, a confidant to President Roh Moo-hyun, stressed the importance of the Gyeongui railway, which connects Seoul and North Korea's border city of Gaeseong, for economic cooperation in the future.
``The railway, once completed, will be an axis for cooperation,'' he said. ``The South can help the North's economic growth by expanding its infrastructure through the railway.''
As exports and imports would be delivered to China, Japan and Europe through the rail line, the two sides could also stand to collect a great amount of toll fees, he added.
Rep. Lee Hwa-young of the Uri Party, who accompanied Lee on his North Korea visit in March, hinted that the two Koreas agreed to hold the second summit because they felt the need to encourage more economic cooperation.
Former President Kim Dae-jung, the 2000 Nobel Peace laureate, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il held the first-ever inter-Korean summit meeting from June 13-15, 2000, in Pyongyang.
On Wednesday, the two Koreas simultaneously announced that they had agreed to hold a second summit between Roh and Kim Jong-il also in Pyongyang.

ksy@koreatimes.co.kr

S.Korea Puts off Military Drills for Summit

2007-08-16T12:27:00.000-07:00

South Korean War veterans march during a rally against the planned two Koreas summit on Korea's Liberation Day in Seoul, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on Wednesday vowed that his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il will facilitate the six-nation talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. The Korean letters read ' Opposed North Korea's nuclear program'. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

S.Korea Puts off Military Drills for Summit

Seoul, Aug 13 (Prensa Latina) A South Korean military exercise slated for late August was postponed to create a good atmosphere of the next Inter-Korean Summit in Pyongyang, sources from the Foreign Affairs Ministry reported Monday.
The South Korean and US combined command will go on with the military drills Ulchi Focus Lens, to be run on August 20-31 attended by over 10,000 Pentagon soldiers.
Meanwhile, delegation from Seoul and Pyongyang will examine Tuesday the agenda and details of the August 28-30 Summit in that capital.
Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Nam Shik told press in Seoul that "the People's Democratic Republic of Korea aims to hold tomorrow the first working negotiations round in Kaesong and the South Korean part accepted the proposal."
Pyongyang and Seoul announced last week the second top-level Inter-Korean Summit between South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, first encounter of this kind in the last seven years.
The historic summit held in June 2000 between entre Kim Jong Il and Kim Dae Jung began a process of reconciliation between the North and South of the Korean peninsula.
In the August meeting, both presidents will analyze denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, inter-Korean peace, control of weapons, trans-bordering economic cooperation, transportation, communication and media, among other protocol and security affairs.
sus iff mne
PL-14

Why North Korea continues to defy the world

2007-08-16T12:19:00.000-07:00

This undated picture released 15 August, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Il acknowledging applause from soldiers as he inspects the Korean People's Army Unit 1286. North Korea painted a grim picture Thursday of crop losses, power cuts and washed-out roads following severe floods, saying troops are struggling to restore key highways.(AFP/KCNA via KNS)

Why North Korea continues to defy the world

By Stephen Rademaker

Published: August 12 2007 19:41 | Last updated: August 12 2007 19:41

Most of the recent diplomatic news on North Korea is encouraging. After protracted delays, Kim Jong-il last month honoured the promise he made in February to shut down his nuclear reactor at Yongbyon. This paved the way for the announcement last week of the first summit between leaders of the two Koreas in seven years. It will be held this month.
The summit almost certainly will result in warmer relations between Seoul and Pyongyang. North Korea undoubtedly expects material benefits as well. After the last summit in 2000, it emerged that North Korea had successfully demanded the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars in cash as a precondition to participating. South Korea has made clear that no money will change hands this time, but North Korea certainly does not expect to leave the meeting empty-handed.
The closure of Yongbyon has also led to resumption of the six-party talks on nuclear disarmament. But no matter what incremental progress is made in coming months, it would defy experience to believe that a permanent diplomatic resolution to the nuclear stand-off is at hand. After 15 years of negotiations over its nuclear programme, the main lesson North Korea has drawn is that obstruction, delay and non-compliance will elicit additional concessions. It therefore must be expected to obstruct, delay and not comply.
The international community never set out to reward North Korea for bad behaviour, but over the past 15 years that is precisely what it has done. In 1993 North Korea triggered an international crisis by announcing its withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). Its reward was the Agreed Framework . Under that agreement, North Korea took back its withdrawal from the NPT and committed to freeze and eventually dismantle its plutonium-based nuclear weapons programme. In exchange, North Korea was promised two light water nuclear reactors worth about $4.5bn, plus 500,000 tons of fuel oil each year.
North Korea liked this bargain so much that it decided to set up a parallel, uranium-based nuclear weapons programme to see what price it might fetch. The Bush administration suspended implementation of the Agreed Framework over this violation in 2002, so again the North Koreans upped the ante. First, they again announced their withdrawal from the NPT. When that did not work, they geared up their nuclear weapons programme, testing a nuclear weapon in October 2006.
Despite years of warnings to North Korea that a nuclear weapons test would cross a “red line”, the principal consequence of the test was to jump-start negotiations. By February 2007, agreement was reached on a Denuclearisation Action Plan. Under this agreement, North Korea again promised to freeze its nuclear facilities at Yongbyon. In exchange, it was promised 1m tons of fuel oil, plus the initiation of an energy dialogue in which the US has promised “to discuss, at an appropriate time, the subject of the provision of light water reactor [sic] to [North Korea]”.
No sooner was this agreed than North Korea threw on the brakes, refusing to do anything until it received $25m that had been frozen in a Macao bank. The Bush administration acquiesced in order to preserve the February agreement, even though that agreement contained no such precondition and the administration had long insisted that the issues were unrelated. Notwithstanding that the US Treasury considered the funds in question so dirty that it had sought to shut down the Macao bank that held them, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York ultimately was enlisted to transfer the funds back to North Korea.
Meanwhile, two UN Security Council resolutions adopted in 2006 immediately following North Korean weapons tests have been shelved. These resolutions had required more responsible behaviour by North Korea and imposed limited international sanctions. A late-June missile test by North Korea in plain violation of the resolutions elicited barely a whisper of protest.
Having got its way on the frozen funds and on implementation of the Security Council resolutions, North Korea is sure to make additional demands. It has already said it will take no further steps to implement the February agreement until the US ends the trade embargo and removes it from the US list of terrorism sponsors.
Assuming they receive satisfaction on these issues, two much more serious sticking points can be expected to emerge. First, they will not want to reveal the full extent of their nuclear weapons programme – most importantly their uranium enrichment activities – as required under the February agreement. Second, they will make further progress conditional on the resumption of the $4.5bn light water reactor project begun during the Clinton administration.
If the North Koreans can prevail on both issues, they effectively will have reinstated the Agreed Framework – except that now they have additional nuclear weapons, have tested them, and will have been given a pass on their uranium enrichment programme. And, as under the Agreed Framework, they will insist that we do not get what we want – dismantlement of their nuclear weapons and related infrastructure – until construction of the light water reactors is complete. This will afford them another decade during which to present additional demands.
Alternatively, if the North Koreans do not prevail on both issues, they will put the diplomatic process on indefinite hold. Then, at a propitious moment, they will plunge it into another crisis to bully others into meeting their demands.
Either way, it is safe to assume that diplomacy is unlikely to end the North Korean nuclear weapons threat for the foreseeable future.
The writer is a former US assistant secretary of state responsible for international security and non-proliferation, and vice-president at Barbour Griffith & Rogers

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

Expert: Summit may have negative impact on Japan

2007-08-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

A South Korean protester burns a portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il during an anti-North Korea rally against two Koreas summit near the President House in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007. South Korea insisted Thursday that this month's summit with North Korea would help efforts to rid the communist nation of nuclear weapons, while Washington said the international focus on disarming the North remained with six-nation talks that include the U.S. and regional powers. The Korean letters read 'Oppose two Koreas summit.' (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Expert: Summit may have negative impact on Japan

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Wednesday's announcement of a planned North-South Korea summit meeting has sparked concern over a possible rift between Tokyo and Seoul over policies related to Pyongyang.
The summit talks between South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il are scheduled to take place at a time when Roh's party faces a presidential election in December and the president's term ends in about six months.
Keio University Prof. Masao Okonogi, a specialist in Korean politics, said holding the summit meeting in Pyongyang could draw censure.
"During the previous North-South Korea summit talks, the countries decided to hold the next summit meeting in Seoul. It would be excusable if they have [the summit] in [the demilitarized zone at] Panmunjom, but [Roh's] visit to Pyongyang likely will cause criticism," he said.
Okonogi has speculated that the South Koreans will not have high expectations for the talks, unlike Roh's administration, which has high expectations of a positive impact on the upcoming presidential election.
"With the visit by the president, South Korea probably wants to set the stage so it can play a key role in denuclearizing North Korea before steps to denuclearize a North Korean facility are discussed at a plenary meeting of six-party talks, which likely will be held in early September. I think North Korea, for its part, intends to let South Korea take the credit," Okonogi said. "But this means the policy gap between Japan and South Korea on North Korea would expand further."
The widening gap is likely to deal a fresh blow to diplomatic efforts by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration.
"The Abe administration, which has prioritized resolving the abduction issue, is unlikely to change its policy toward North Korea. More and more differences with countries seeking a conciliatory policy [on Pyongyang] likely will become clear," Okonogi added.
(Aug. 9, 2007)

Koreas' summit: Kim terms talks as vital

Associated Press
Saturday, August 11, 2007 (Seoul)
Holding the first talks in seven years between the leaders of the two Koreas is more important than the actual agenda of the upcoming summit, South Korea's former president Kim Dae-jung said on Saturday.
Kim's ''sunshine policy'' of engagement with North Korea led to the historic meeting with its leader Kim Jong Il in 2000.
The summit was the first between the two countries' leaders after more than 47 years of hostilities, and was widely considered a success.
Current South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun is set to travel to Pyongyang, the North's capital, for the second summit from Aug 28-30 with Kim Jong Il.
The leaders of the two Koreas ''will be able to produce good results if they have heart-to-heart talks,'' Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung quoted former president Kim as saying after their 20-minute meeting Saturday.
Lee visited Kim's residence to seek advice on how to prepare for the summit.
No agenda
Kim said he had not fully set the agenda ahead of the summit in 2000, adding the meeting produced a good outcome simply through dialogue, said Lee.
No agenda has yet been established for the upcoming talks.
A meeting is expected between officials from both countries next week at Kaesong on the summit's arrangements.
Kim Dae-jung also said the upcoming summit was important considering the ''political situations in Northeast Asia,'' Lee told reporters.
Lee did not elaborate on Kim's comments. It may have been a reference to the recent progress in ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Pyongyang shutdown its sole functioning nuclear reactor in July in return for energy aid, the first tangible step toward the North's disarmament in years.
The 1950-1953 Korean War ended in a cease-fire that has never been replaced with a peace treaty leaving the two Koreas technically at war.

North Korea postpones meeting to set summit agenda

2007-08-16T12:09:00.000-07:00

A South Korean riot policemen pin down a protester on the ground and seize a North Korean flag during a rally against the planned two Koreas summit on Korea's Liberation Day, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on Wednesday vowed that his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il will facilitate the six-nation talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

North Korea postpones meeting to set summit agenda
Sun Aug 12, 2007 5:02AM EDT

SEOUL (Reuters) - Preparations for the second ever summit meeting between the leaders of North and South Korea suffered a setback on Sunday when North Korea said it would not attend the first formal planning session proposed for Monday.
Last week the two announced that South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun will visit North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang on August 28-30, leaving officials little time to prepare for their first summit since June 2000.
"North Korea said that tomorrow it will inform us of a new date," a South Korean Unification Ministry official said, adding the ministry was unsure why the North did not want to meet the South's call to hold the meeting on Monday.
The governments of the two Koreas, still technically at war, hailed the summit as a chance to bring peace to the last frontier of the Cold War, which is watched over by close to two million troops and batteries of missiles.
But the summit has been greeted with a heavy dose of skepticism in the South with the unpopular Roh, who has six months left in office, accused of quickly arranging the meeting for domestic politicking.
Setting the agenda for the summit looks to be a formidable task and could include issues such as having North Korea live up to a six-country agreement to scrap its nuclear weapons. The two sides could also discuss a peace regime for the peninsula and whether to redraw a border set after the 1950-1953 Korean War.
© Reuters 2006.

North cautions S. Korea

2007-08-16T12:06:00.000-07:00

VOCIFEROUS PROTEST: War veterans during a rally denouncing the decision to hold the Korean summit, in Seoul on Thursday. — Photo: AP

North cautions S. Korea

P. S. Suryanarayana
The Hindu, India

SINGAPORE: In the lively atmospherics of a planned inter-Korean summit scheduled for August 28 to 30, North Korea on Friday expressed solidarity with its southern ethnic neighbour. Pyongyang made common cause with Seoul by denouncing the United States over the unresolved hostage crisis involving South Korean aid workers in Afghanistan.
However, an altogether different tune was also sounded by North Korea. It warned not only Washington but also Seoul of a political fallout in the nuclear domain, if they were to hold their annual military exercise to coincide with the prospective summit.
The state-of-the-art command-and-control exercise was decided upon before the summit announcement.
Pyongyang’s Korean People’s Army (KPA) said, in a statement monitored in Seoul, that the military exercise, if held as planned, could affect the movement towards de-nuclearisation of the peninsula. The KPA would fine-tune its “powerful striking means” to face the consequences of “the large-scale war manoeuvres to be staged.” The U.S. would be held responsible for “the catastrophic impact” of the exercise on the ongoing implementation of the February 13 accord on de-nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. De-nuclearisation, pan-Korea peace and stability, and arms control are among the likely issues on the summit agenda.
North Korea’s National Reconciliation Council, which addresses the possibility of reunification with the southern neighbour, described the hostage crisis as “a tragic incident.” The crisis “would not have happened,” if only the U.S. had “not driven” Seoul into “a war of aggression” in Afghanistan.
The U.S. should, therefore, “take prompt measures to relieve the innocent South Korean civilians of the pain and misfortune” that were caused by Washington’s actions.

Kim Jong Il invited the New York Philharmonic to play in Pyongyang

2007-08-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

In this undated photo taken by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency and released by Korea News Service in Tokyo Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, center, acknowledges Korean People's Army soldiers during his inspection of KPA Unit 1286 in the country. (AP Photo/Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service)

US Department of State, DC

Daily Press Briefing
Sean McCormack, Spokesman
Washington, DC
August 14, 2007

INDEX:

MIDDLE EAST
No Update on Assistant Secretary Welch’s Travel to the Region
Under Secretary Burns Travel to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem
Burns to Discuss the Proposed $30 Billion Agreement with the Israelis

SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA
Assistant Secretary Boucher Travel to the Region / Next Couple Days

NORTH KOREA
Assistant Secretary Hill in Beijing for Bilateral Discussions with the Chinese
Future Six-Party Talks Working Group on Denuclearization
Hill Does Not Plan to Travel to North Korea on Current Trip
Invitation to the New York Philharmonic Travel to Play in Pyongyang
North Korean Contact with the UN Regarding Severe Flooding
U.S. Looking at Possible Humanitarian Aid for Flooding Through UN Channels

DEPARTMENT
Rough Numbers of U.S. Foreign Service Officers in Baghdad and Kabul
Internal Study on Unaccompanied Tour Effects on Foreign Service Officers / PTSD
Study Done in Context of Whether Employees Need Help, Counseling, or Support
Secretary Rice Expects Foreign Service and DOS to be More Expeditionary
Three People from DOS Named GQ’s Most Powerful People in Washington

TURKEY
Foreign Minister Gul’s Re-Nomination is Matter for Internal Domestic Politics
U.S. Has Full Faith in Turkey’s Secular Democracy

KOSOVO
U.S. Position Continues to be Independence Based on the Ahtisaari Plan

IRAN
Iranian President Rejects U.S. Claims they Have Been Supplying Arms to the Taliban

PAKISTAN
If There is Actionable Intelligence on High-Value Targets, U.S. Will Act

SOMALIA/ETHIOPIA
Human Rights Watch Accusations of Severe Human Rights Abuses

TRANSCRIPT:

View Video

12:30 p.m. EST

MR. MCCORMACK: Good afternoon, everybody. We can jump right into your questions, whoever wants to start off.

QUESTION: I've forgotten what I was going to -- (laughter).

MR. MCCORMACK: We'll start with someone else. (Laughter.) Oh, my goodness. I wish I could use that, Matt. (Laughter.) God, I forgot. I knew it. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Can you update us on Under Secretary Burns' travel plans, Assistant Secretary Welch's travels plans and, you know, all the questions we asked you this morning?

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: And then is there anything to -- are there any additional meetings planned between either Assistant Secretary Hill and the North Koreans or some other U.S. team and the North Koreans other than the working group talks that we know about this week?

MR. MCCORMACK: All right.

QUESTION: That was my question. (Laughter.)

MR. MCCORMACK: Nick is going to be traveling, I think -- I don't know exactly when he's going to be leaving, but the 15th through the 17th he's going to travel to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. He's going to be talking to the Israelis about the proposed $30 billion agreement that we have, talk about the terms of that. I'm sure he's also going to discuss some other strategic issues in the bilateral relationship as well as to talk about issues in the neighborhood.

David's travel -- David Welch's travel -- I don't have an update for you.

Who else were you asking for an update?

QUESTION: Hill.

MR. MCCORMACK: Hill? He is currently -- he's currently in Beijing. He had more bilateral discussions with the Chinese concerning the six-party talks. I think he's going to be traveling to Shenyang for the denuclearization talks. Let me get the dates here -- 16th -- August 16th through 17th. So he'll be up in Shenyang. I think it might take a -- take him a day to get there, so probably tomorrow will be a travel day for him.

Then what else were -- what else were we talking about?

QUESTION: Any --

QUESTION: Boucher?

QUESTION: Any -- well, actually, let's just finish up with -- any other U.S.-North Korean talks planned?

MR. MCCORMACK: Not outside the six-party talks. So in Shenyang it's going to be a denuclearization working group with, I assume, the North Korean representatives there. Chris had previously met -- I think it was yesterday -- met with Kim Gye Gwan, his six-party talk counterpart, in Beijing. I don't think Kim Gye Gwan is going to be in Shenyang. I think they're going to have somebody else there.

He plans from the Shenyang meeting to come back here to the United States, no onward --

QUESTION: He will not go to North Korea on this trip?

MR. MCCORMACK: No, no onward travel plans. Come right back here.

And then, Charlie, you have Richard?

QUESTION: Boucher?

MR. MCCORMACK: Richard -- Richard is heading for the region. I don't have a schedule for you, but he should be in his area of responsibility over the next couple of days.

QUESTION: His area of responsibility is huge, obviously, so can you --

MR. MCCORMACK: We'll try to make --

QUESTION: -- can you try to make an inquiry if it's South Asia or Central Asia, whether it's --

QUESTION: Google Earth.

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah, we'll try to -- that's right. Yeah, we'll try to refine that for you. Yeah.

QUESTION: Can you talk about Nick's onward travel from Tel Aviv?

MR. MCCORMACK: No, he's just going to come back here.

QUESTION: When the Chris met with Kim Gye Gwan, North Korean delegation, yesterday in (inaudible), does the -- is there any particular issue, such as like peace treaty issue, he raised?

MR. MCCORMACK: I think he -- well, you know -- you know what I know from reading the transcripts. I haven't spoken with him. But if you look -- if you take a look at his public comments about his meetings with Kim Gye Gwan, they talked about the next phase of the agreement, which involves a full declaration by North Korea of all their nuclear programs as well as disablement of the Yongbyon facility. So that is really the focus of their discussions. I'm not sure what the North Korean side brought up. I'm sure that they brought up some issues, as well. But the focus really is on that next phase: disablement and full declaration.

QUESTION: Thanks.

MR. MCCORMACK: Yep.

QUESTION: North Korea?

MR. MCCORMACK: We'll get back to you. Yeah, mm-hmm.

Go ahead, Param.

QUESTION: Kim Jong Il invited the New York Philharmonic to play in Pyongyang, and basically they are mulling this invitation. And where do you see this leading? They can go to Pyongyang?

MR. MCCORMACK: I don't know. I don't know if there are any particular restrictions on the Philharmonic’s travel there. It's a technical question. I'd have to look into it. I think it'd be fully up to them whether or not they accept such an invitation. As for the details of being able to go there and whether there's any compensation, that sort of thing, those are probably technical details that I'd have to get you an answer on if you're interested in it.

QUESTION: But do you believe this could help strengthen ties?

MR. MCCORMACK: No -- I'm not sure, Param. (Laughter.) Look, you know, the focus -- you know, the focus of our efforts are really on the six-party talks. I'm not sure either -- whether or not your average North Korean gets an invitation if the New York Philharmonic's in Pyongyang. I have my doubts about that. So I think, you know, it's really up to the Philharmonic whether or not they accept such an invitation.

QUESTION: Have they talked to you about it? I know -- could you check? I can't imagine that they would --

MR. MCCORMACK: Oh, I'll check, yeah.

QUESTION: Why don't you check? I can't imagine that they would even consider it without first talking to the State Department to --

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah, I'll be happy to check.

QUESTION: Could you also check to see if the -- you might have any suggested pieces that they would play? (Laughter.) 1812 Overture or that kind of thing?

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah, yeah.

QUESTION: Are there many devotees of classical music in Pyongyang?

MR. MCCORMACK: You know, I don't know. Don't know; didn't hear much of the -- much classical music when I was there.

QUESTION: First of all, the North Korean Government continue to say denuclearization issue is only, you know, reserved with the U.S. and North Korea issues. How did you think about that?

MR. MCCORMACK: I'm not sure I get the point. You're talking about the Trading with the Enemy Act and all of that?

QUESTION: Yes.

MR. MCCORMACK: What we have said about that is, that's part of the discussion in the U.S.-North Korea bilateral working group, and we will work on those issues in their own right, on their own merits. Certainly, our actions and our movement on those issues, which I know are of interest to North Korea, will be informed about how overall progress is going in the six-party talks. So I don't think you can neatly separate those things out inasmuch as they -- those discussions are taking place within the context of the six-party talks.

Yep, Elise.

QUESTION: Sean, also on North Korea.

MR. MCCORMACK: Mm-hmm.

QUESTION: Have you reached out to the North Korean Government, or have they reached out to you, through the New York channel or any other channels about the floods and what the U.S. could or would be prepared --

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: -- to do to help out?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, I know that they have contacted the UN, and there have been some reports of severe flooding in North Korea, and a number of North Koreans have lost their houses or are in dire humanitarian straits. We'll take a look at what we might do with respect to humanitarian assistance through UN channels. I don't know that our folks have yet been in contact with the UN about that. But we'll certainly take a look at it as a humanitarian gesture. I don't know if there's a need for anything that we might be able to provide, but we'll take a look.

Yeah, Matt.

QUESTION: Did you -- were you able to look into the Lebanon question, the question of the military assistance?

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah. Did we -- Gonz, did we get an answer?

MR. GALLEGOS: Not yet.

MR. MCCORMACK: We didn't get an answer?

QUESTION: Hmm.

MR. MCCORMACK: We will endeavor to post an answer for you.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Did you get an answer on the rough numbers of U.S. Foreign Service officers in Baghdad and Kabul?

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah, Baghdad, it's about 200; and Kabul, it's about 100. Right around there, give or take.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Turkey's ruling party has re-nominated Foreign Minister Gul as presidential candidate. Any comments?

MR. MCCORMACK: A matter for their internal domestic politics, for -- I guess, at this point, the Turkish parliament to decide upon who will be the next Turkish president. We have full faith in Turkey's secular democracy, but it's going to be a decision for them to take.

QUESTION: Just for clarification, going back to the Baghdad-Kabul question. The 200, and I believe you said Kabul was 100 --

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah.

QUESTION: -- is specifically related to -- what's the exact question?

MR. MCCORMACK: Oh, okay. We can go through it -- we can go through all this again. There was a -- there was a story that I think came out yesterday about a internal State Department study that looked at the effects of unaccompanied tours on our Foreign Service officers as well as their families. And this is done in the context of whether or not we have employees that are in need of any additional counseling or help or support who have done these unaccompanied tours. That's not exclusively to Iraq and Afghanistan. There are a number of other posts and I don't have the complete list here, where people serve unaccompanied.

So the idea is, it's the second part to a study that the State Department has undertaken. The first part was done by our Family Liaison Office, trying to take a look at what are the effects on families, spouses as well as children, of having loved ones serve and serve abroad alone for a year or more.

This took a look at the employee side of it. And the survey was done over the course of several weeks back in June. And the findings were that roughly about 2 percent of the people who had served at accompanied posts have suffered from what our medical folks would describe as post-traumatic stress disorder, and possibly an additional 15 percent might. So you have a universe there of potentially about 17 percent of the people that served in these unaccompanied tours suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Now, we're trying to tease out of all that data the statistics for individual posts and we've hired some statisticians to do that, to take a look at the methodology and make sure that it is -- the methodology is rigorous and that we have an accurate picture of our folks serving overseas and what kind of stresses are involved in serving in these unaccompanied posts.

The Secretary's bottom line is if our people need additional help or support or counseling as a result of serving in these kind of very difficult posts, then they're going to get it. And that has been -- and that has -- we have taken a number of different steps in terms of our counseling employees, both prior to going out to these posts as well as coming back. We have now a mandatory outbrief with people that have served at these unaccompanied posts and talking to them, talking to them about the services, counseling services that are available, the support group services that are available to them.

This is something, by the way, that has been available to folks since, I think, about 2004, is -- it is out there for them to take advantage of, if they wanted to. Now it's mandatory. And we are also taking a look at how we might find a more formal program that involves counseling, support, support groups, advice to folks and families that are both outgoing and inbound from these posts.

Now I know that -- I know and I've seen the reports that there have been some from AFSA. The American Foreign Service Association have cited a number of 40 percent of people in -- I believe it was Iraq that are suffering from PTSD. You know, I can't confirm those numbers. I mean, what we want to do is make sure that we have a rigorous methodology in making sure that we are sure of our numbers. Certainly, you know, I don't -- I have no idea what their methodology was and what -- on what basis they came up with that figure. I know that was sworn testimony, so you might ask them where they got those numbers, but we're going to make sure that -- and they may or may not be right. I don't know. But we really want to make sure that we get accurate numbers.

QUESTION: Sean, do you --

QUESTION: So, coming full circle, the 200 in Baghdad were the number that participated in the survey.

MR. MCCORMACK: I don't have the numbers of people that have participated in the survey. I can't tell you. Baghdad and Kabul were a subset --

QUESTION: Right.

MR. MCCORMACK: -- of the overall survey of people that served at unaccompanied posts.

QUESTION: Sean, do you --

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah.

QUESTION: -- attribute -- I know these are unaccompanied posts, but these are also posts where -- you know, obviously, there's a larger level of violence and trauma on the ground, so are you attributing the post-traumatic stress disorder to the fact that they're unaccompanied and not living with their families for a long time or the fact that they're seeing a lot more of violence and -- you know, their colleagues being killed or things like that --

MR. MCCORMACK: Well --

QUESTION: -- on the ground?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, you know, first of all, I'm not a medical professional. I can't tell you -- I can't tell you the various sources of stresses. And again, we have to understand what, in each of the posts, the kinds of stress at each of the posts and what the results are. You know, I can't tell you. I can't tell you, Elise.

I can tell you that Secretary Rice expects that this Foreign Service and this State Department, under her leadership, is going to be more expeditionary. And I think we've seen that. We've seen people get out from -- get out from behind their desk in embassies more and more. Not to say that folks writing cables or reports aren't doing valuable work; they are. But she also wants to make sure that people are out beyond the wire, that they're out doing, not just writing about what others are doing. And along with that sometimes will come additional needs in terms of supporting those people.

And she has also made the commitment that Department resources are going to be placed in support of those people. And if -- and there are a lot of people who serve in these very difficult positions who don't need counseling, don't need to go to support groups afterwards. Some do. And if they need to and if that's what they want, then that's what they're going to get.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Mr. McCormack, on Kosovo, despite the fact that yesterday, you made a lot of statements, I was wondering, how do you respond to bunch of Albanian reports that somehow, U.S., Serbia, and Kosovars agreed on partition of Kosovo?

MR. MCCORMACK: I can't account for it. I don't know. I can tell you what our position is. You know, I would steer you away from that being the takeaway from the troika meeting.

QUESTION: So in other words, you are insisting on the Ahtisaari plan?

MR. MCCORMACK: Our position continues to be independence for Kosovo based on the Ahtisaari plan.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. MCCORMACK: All right. Param.

QUESTION: The Iranian President is in Afghanistan again rejecting U.S. claims that they have been supplying arms to the Taliban and --

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: -- contrary to what the Pentagon had said, the President had said.

MR. MCCORMACK: Right. Also -- he also seemed to be a bit confused. He didn't seem to be aware of what was going on in his own government. I don't know if that's good or bad. But our folks who have done the analysis, the folks in the military, are pretty sure -- they are sure of their facts and they wouldn't have come out and said the things they did without being sure of their facts. So if he doesn't know what's going on in his government, he might want to check out to see what is going on in his government. And if he's just dissembling in public, well, not much I can say about that.

Yeah.

QUESTION: It's a bit late in the day for this question, I apologize, but the Obama comments on speaking to the leaders of --

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: -- rogue states, can I have --

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: -- a reaction to that?

MR. MCCORMACK: In speaking to the leaders --

QUESTION: To the leaders of rogue nations without precondition.

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, that's all taken place in the context of a presidential campaign. I am not going to, at this point or any later date, dive into presidential politics. In terms of engaging states around the world, you know our policies. We can go through one by one.

With respect to Iran, we've made an offer. We'll see if they meet the conditions that have been laid out not only by us, but by others. With respect to North Korea, which is another state that often comes up in this context, we are engaged in a multilateral discussion with North Korea. You can go down the list. We have diplomatic relations with Syria. We have diplomatic relations with Venezuela. We'd like to have good -- better relations with those states, merely moving beyond the formality of having diplomatic relations. And we've made it clear to them that we want to do that, but you also have to have an overlap in interests as well as an overlap in action. I think we have gone quite a ways in engaging many of these states, including Syria, in the interest of furthering our foreign policy goals. In many cases, we just haven't seen an answer either in words or action from these states.

QUESTION: What about the comments on Pakistan? Do you --

MR. MCCORMACK: This is --

QUESTION: -- think those kind of comments are dangerous, you know, that the U.S. would act if Musharraf --

MR. MCCORMACK: You know, again, that's -- you know, that's presidential politics. I can tell you how we view the situation. We view the situation as one in which if there is actionable intelligence on high-value targets, wherever they may be, that we are going to do everything that we can to act on that information. And we are confident that we will be able to do that in such a way that we don't harm our relations with any states that may be in question, whether that's Pakistan, Afghanistan or some other state.

QUESTION: But do you think, in general, these kind of comments are ill-advised by any presidential candidates who think -- they're out there --

MR. MCCORMACK: Like I said -- like I said before on this question, there's a thing called free speech in presidential campaigns in the United States. There's also a thing called the Executive Branch and we have responsibility for the foreign policy of the United States, and I don't think anybody's going to confuse those two things.

Yeah.

QUESTION: I was wondering if you have anything to say on the Secretary being named the most powerful person in Washington on GQ's list? Has she seen it? Any comments about it?

MR. MCCORMACK: (Laughter.) I guess -- you know, I guess GQ feels as though she can sell a few magazines. I don't have any. These lists come out all the time. I would note, however, that the State Department, out of the top 50, had three people placed on that list: Gamal Helal, Nick Burns, and Secretary Rice.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Gamal was on there?

QUESTION: Gollust.

QUESTION: Human Rights Watch this week accused --

MR. MCCORMACK: Maybe we should have taken that. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Okay. Human Rights Watch this week accused Ethiopia and the interim authorities in Somalia of severe human rights abuses in the conflict there, and I'm wondering whether this is something that's on the U.S. agenda with either or both of them.

MR. MCCORMACK: I haven't seen the report, Dave. I'm happy to track down an answer for you.

Yeah, all right.

(The briefing was concluded at 12:50 p.m.)

DPB # 144

Released on August 14, 2007

N. Korea condemns military drills

2007-08-16T11:57:00.000-07:00

US and South Korea plan joint maneuvers next week

N. Korea condemns military drills
Mon, 13 Aug 2007 06:47:20
PRESS TV, Iran
Source: Agencies

North Korean Military blasts the joint military maneuvers by the US and South Korean militaries due to start next week.
North Korea calls on the US military to halt military maneuvers with South Korean forces, saying that such drills could undermine the recent arrangement, which seeks to freeze Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.
In one of the meetings of senior North Korean military officials and US forces in South Korea, North Koreans warned their American counterparts that it "cannot remain a passive onlooker to the drills, doing nothing," Korean Central News Agency reports.
US army officials said that the drills were defensive in nature and were not directed against North Korea.
Pyongyang has many times expressed dissatisfaction with joint military exercises by the US and South Korean armies and considers such drills as directed against itself. It previously warned that the drills have forced it to boost its deterrence capabilities.
A communiqué by the North Korean military said, "The US will be held wholly responsible for the catastrophic impact the above-said saber rattling will have on the implementation of the Feb.13 agreement and the six party talks."
The government in Pyongyang has been at loggerheads with the US and South Korea since the armistice that ended 1950-53 Korean War.
MAK/KB

N Korea leader admits food 'problem'

2007-08-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

In this photo taken by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency and released by Korea News Service in Tokyo on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, left, holds a doll made by disabled soldiers, as Kim inspected the Hamhung Disabled Soldiers' Plastic Daily Necessities Factory, South Hamgyong, northern North Korea. The date of his visit wasn't mentioned in the original caption supplied by the Tokyo-based news agency while KCNA reported this visit on Aug. 14. Others are unidentified. (AP Photo/Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service)

N Korea leader admits food 'problem'
12 Aug, 2007, 1114 hrs IST, AGENCIES
economictimes.indiatimes.com

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has called for efforts to boost fertiliser production, state media reported, amid concerns of increasing starvation in the impoverished country.
In a rare admission of a "problem" with food supplies, the reclusive leader issued a directive during a trip to a fertiliser complex in the northeastern port of Hungnam, the Korean Central News Agency said late Saturday.
"In order to solve the problem of food (production), a key point in the issue of clothing, food and housing, it is necessary to actively develop agriculture and increase the supply of fertilizers for successful farming," Kim was quoted as saying.
He underscored "the need to focus efforts on the fertilizer production, always bearing in mind the (late) president's proposition that fertiliser immediately means rice and rice, socialism," the agency said.
South Korea has been delivering 400,000 tons of rice aid since the North began shutting down its nuclear programme under a six-nation disarmament pact.
But aid groups here say the shipment will not stop starvation, which has increased since late June due to reduced rations and insufficent foreign food aid.
North Korea suffered famine in the mid- to late 1990s which killed hundreds of thousands, and the country still faces persistent food shortages.
The trip to the fertiliser complex was Kim's 11th public activity this month.
South Korean analysts say Kim has increased public activities in an effort to strengthen his rule on the regime and dispel concerns about his health.
A team of German doctors visited Pyongyang in May, sparking rumours that Kim, 65, might have had a heart operation. This has never been confirmed.
South Korea's intelligence officials say Kim has long been known to be suffering from diabetes and heart problems, but there are no signs of his health seriously worsening.

Two countries, two systems, one porous border

2007-08-15T15:08:00.000-07:00

North Korean soldiers carrying the North Korean flag and shovels march Monday along a fenced border near the Chinese city of Dandong. By Ng Han Guan, AP

Two countries, two systems, one porous border
By Andrei Lankov
Asia Times

The border between North Korea and China is more than 1,000 kilometers long. For most of its length the border goes along two rivers: the Tumen (Tuman in Korean pronunciation) and the Yalu (Amnok for the Koreans). Last month I made a trip along the border, and it was a very instructive undertaking indeed.
I was not alone. The borderland areas are popular with tourists, largely from South Korea. Chinese, usually from those parts of the country adjacent to Korea, come there too. Both Chinese and South Korean visitors love to ride boats that pass just a few meters from the North Korean shore, so people can throw cigarettes to North Korean patrols. Telescopes can also be rented for a few yuan to look across the river and get a glimpse at the neighbors.
It seems that Chinese often perceive these trips as a reminder that their country, in spite of manifold problems, is doing very well, and that there are places that look like a hell even compared with the provinces of northeastern China, which are relatively poor. Generally speaking, many Chinese see North Korea as a bizarre curiosity, a sort of living fossil reminiscent of China under Mao Zedong.
Actually, the borderland areas of both countries can be seen as relatively backward. For North Koreans, the far north of their country has always been the place of exile for people deemed politically unreliable. With the exception of some mines, Pyongyang did not invest much there, and it is no coincidence that the Great Famine of 1996-99 hit the area hardest; the authorities decided to sacrifice the local population as least useful and most expendable.
On the Chinese side, the borderland areas of Liaoning and Jilin provinces are also seen as underdeveloped - to an extent that this is seen as a political issue. However, it becomes clear from the first hours that the difference between what are considered poor regions might be as instructive as the difference between areas that embody success and prosperity.
The largest Chinese town on the Tumen River is small and sleepy Tumen, but this township presents a striking contrast with the impoverished lands across the border.
However, a few decades ago, within living memory, the situation was the complete opposite. Until the early 1970s, North Korea was seen from China as a land of relative prosperity, so during the Chinese famine of the 1960s and the subsequent madness of the Cultural Revolution, ethnic Koreans from China often moved illegally across the border for the relative stability and affluence of Kim Il-sung's North Korea. There, at least, people were certain to receive 700 grams of corn every day.
Things have changed much since then: Deng Xiaoping's reforms in China launched an economic boom while North Korea stagnated and then began to slide backward, and by now the Chinese borderland areas have left North Korea far behind. Local Koreans who frequently visit their relatives on the other side of the border tell me that the situation in North Korea reminds them of China in the late 1960s, just after the failure of the Great Leap Forward.
Nowhere else is the difference as easy to see as in Dandong, a booming Chinese city just across from the North Korean city of Sinuiju. Dandong, with a population of some 2.4 million, is much larger than Sinuiju, which has 300,000 inhabitants. Dandong and Sinuiju are connected by a single bridge across the Yalu River sparsely used by both cars and trains. While more popular with tourists who like to go on it to snap pictures of North Korea, the bridge also serves as a transportation link between North Korea and outside world.
Back in the 1970s, the two cities looked much the same, but now the difference is truly striking. The Dandong riverfront presents a spectacular picture of the post-socialist economic boom: highrise apartment complexes and office towers are being built everywhere, and a large river island is being turned into a resort development. The riverfront has been completely taken over by restaurants and hotels, as well as piers for small cruise boats (the thrill of going near the foreign shore seems to be irresistible to many Chinese).
However, the Korean riverbank is empty and bare, with only the roofs of few derelict buildings, three or four stories high, to be seen behind the trees. An abandoned Ferris wheel serves as a reminder that leisure activities can take place in North Korea, too. The Korean riverbank is also a resting place for few rusty boats that probably have not touched the water for years, but otherwise it is empty. There have been reports about some construction going on in Sinuiju. This indeed might be the case, but no traces of any economic activity can be seen from the Chinese side of the river.
This contrast becomes even greater at night. Compared with Beijing and Shanghai, Dandong is not brightly lit, but it still has its share of city lights. The other shore is in complete darkness, and only some distant lights hint at a place where the local statue of Kim Il-sung is located (the Dear Leader's statues are brightly lit until late evening). The bridge that connects two cities looks surreal: at night it appears as if it abruptly ends in the middle of the river, since the Chinese half is lavishly decorated with colored lights, while the North Korean half of the bridge is unseen in darkness. One can only wonder what the inhabitants of Sinuiju think when they look at the other side, seeing bright lights in night and mushrooming buildings at daytime. After all, most of the new apartment complexes in Dandong look luxurious even compared with the government quarters in Pyongyang, let alone the buildings in the city of Sinuiju.
So it comes as no surprise that many North Koreans illegally move across the border to find work and refuge in China. Around 1999, when the disastrous famine stuck North Korea, the number of such refugees reached an estimated 200,000-300,000. Nowadays, the number has shrunk considerably, even though old figures are often uncritically cited by the world media. It is believed that some 30,000-50,000 North Koreans are currently hiding in China.
Why did their numbers go down recently? There are few reasons for that. To start with, a remarkable improvement of the domestic situation in North Korea played a role, but most of people with whom I talked in China last month agreed that the major reason for this change is the revival of North Korean border security in recent few years. Until 2004 or so, North Korean authorities usually turned a blind eye to the mass exodus of their people to China. Perhaps they believed that the border acted as a security valve by letting some people out. It is also clear that at the height of famine and economic disruption, they had no resources to control the border at the necessary level.
It seems, however, that most policies are initiated by the North Korean authorities, not by their Chinese counterparts. For most of its length, the border is in essence unguarded on the Chinese side. There have been reports about Chinese patrols or even fences being erected in the area, but it seems that such measures are taken only occasionally and in some relatively small areas. I traveled 300km along the border, and only once saw a military patrol (four or five uniformed men were sitting in the shadows near a small truck, obviously having fun). Marked police cars were encountered four or five times, and no checkpoints were ever seen.
Local Koreans insist that the Chinese authorities generally ignore border issues. According to them, a North Korean refugee has some chance of being arrested only if he or she is unlucky or does not know how to keep a low profile, but the overall probability of arrest is not very high.
The physical obstacles for a trespasser are not too formidable either, since the border waterways are both shallow and narrow. The Yalu in its lower sections is broad, but the Tumen remains a narrow stream for nearly its entire length, and the upper parts of the Yalu do not form an impressive obstacle for any border-crosser. For most of the border's length, both waterways can be easily waded over in many spots even by old or infirm people.
This creates an ideal environment for smuggling. Indeed, the area is frequented by North Korean traders. Until a few years ago, most of them were illegal border-crossers. In most cases they did not try too hard to avoid detection, since bribing the border guards was a better strategy. North Korean guards are ready to receive 800 yuan (US$105), an equivalent of their annual salaries, from professional smugglers to allow them to move bulky merchandise almost openly.
However, since about 2003 some North Koreans have been allowed to apply for permission to visit China regularly and come back with merchandise. On the other hand, all ethnic-Korean residents in Yanbian autonomous prefecture, home to many of the Korean-Chinese in Jilin province, now can go to North Korea any time they wish. Ostensibly, the goal of such trips is to meet relatives on the other side of the border, but it is an open secret that nearly all trips are, first and foremost, trading expeditions.
Of course, customs officials expect their fair share of both legal fees and bribes. Corruption in North Korea is shocking even to Chinese visitors, who are not exactly used to a clean government.
A Korean-Chinese who occasionally goes to visit his relatives described his usual experience: "They are so greedy. Officials take bribes in China, too. But perhaps nowhere in the world are the officials so hungry for bribes as they are in North Korea. At customs, they slowly go through the luggage and sometimes put aside a few things they like, and then they say that those things are not allowed into North Korea. This is the hint, and I have no choice but to tell them to take those things, some clothing or small items. And it is a tradition that everybody who checks you should be given some foreign cigarettes. Last time I took five cartons of cigarettes with me, and only one carton reached my relatives. All others I had to give away to the officials."
A particular role is played by the chogyo, North Korean citizens who permanently reside in China. This is a relatively small group, some 5,000-10,000 people (well below 1% of the ethnic-Korean community in China), but their economic and social role is out of proportion to their numbers. Their unusual legal standing allows movement between China and North Korea almost at will, and this means that they have great opportunities for very profitable trade.
A similar group, known as hwagyo, consists of Chinese citizens who are allowed to live permanently in North Korea. Hwagyo is a Korean pronunciation of Chinese characters that are read as huaqiao in Mandarin and used to describe overseas Chinese. There are also only a few thousand hwagyo, and in North Korea they enjoy a number of privileges, including the right to go overseas with relative ease. Nowadays, as my interlocutors never failed to stress, the hwagyo have become the most prosperous social group in North Korea. Being a hwagyo means to be rich, and this wealth comes from involvement in lucrative cross-border trade, both legal and illegal.
In a shopping mall in Dandong, I came across a shop that bears the proud name of a "joint Korean-Chinese venture". This is an excessively grandiose name for a small operation jointly run by two women in their 50s. One of the two owners is a chogyo while another is a hwagyo. This makes a perfect partnership. They can go back and forth to North Korea, even visiting Pyongyang when necessary.
The shop trades in paintings by North Korean artists who are willing to sell their works very cheaply. The buyers are overwhelmingly South Koreans who are happy to pay for the North Korean exotics. The works might look kitschy, but there is no doubt that they were produced with remarkable technical skill. The entrepreneurial ladies visit major fine-arts academies and state-sponsored institutions in Pyongyang, placing orders there.
Next to their shop one can see a number of others, also run by North Korean petty capitalists (often with hwagyo or chogyo backgrounds), that also sell North Korean souvenirs to South Korean visitors. It is remarkable, however, that the topics are quite non-political. Only after some explicit demand can a sales clerk produce something more politically charged - say, a Kim Il-sung badge (probably not a real thing, but a Chinese imitation).
Both Dandong and Yanji have shops that specifically cater to the tastes and demands of North Korean merchants and visitors. Usually, such shops are clustered on the same street, creating a sort of North Korean market area. The shop signs tell what the North Korean wholesalers usually buy: household goods such as refrigerators or television sets, calculators, notebooks, pens and other stationery items, mechanics' tools, fans and telephones, as well as small power generators and batteries - in recent years a measure of self-reliance for power supplies has become an important sign of an affluent household in North Korea. They also sell fashionable clothing and footwear, often to be copied by North Korean manufacturers.
Another major item of the illegal trade is the videotapes and discs with foreign movies and shows that are increasingly popular in North Korea. The North Korean authorities try to restrict the inflow of foreign, especially South Korean, movies, but the profits are too high. The North Korean population wants entertainment, and has had enough of biopics depicting the great deeds of the Dear Leader, Great Leader and their august family. In most cases, entrepreneurs in China record the South Korean serials that are shown by the local TV networks almost daily, and then sell the recordings to the smugglers.
The border is also a major source of information for North Koreans. Since the 1960s, the North Korean authorities have exercised information control that is exceptional even by communist standards. North Koreans can go to prison if they are discovered to possess radios with unlocked tuning. All foreign publications (including those from "fraternal" communist regimes) are sent to the closed sections of the libraries, to be accessed only by the carefully selected owners of special permits, and even a trip outside one's native county is impossible without formal permission. Until recently, this system held, but changes in the borderland areas brought about a gradual disintegration of the North Korean information blockade.
Throughout the past decade, an estimated 500,000 North Koreans have been in China, overwhelmingly in the borderland regions, both legally and illegally. They have seen Chinese reforms, and they do not buy the official North Korean propaganda anymore. They are also skeptical about statements by Beijing ideologues who still describe China as a "socialist society". For them, modern China is an embodiment of capitalism, pure and simple, and also a demonstration of capitalism's efficiency and success.
A representative of a small non-governmental organization who has worked in the area for a decade told me how North Korean low-level officials typically react to China during their first visit: "They literally do not sleep their first night. They are overwhelmed by this prosperity, these lights, this abundance of food, this relaxed behavior of people." One has to keep in mind that this particular NGO operates in Tumen, a city that is clearly poor and underdeveloped by Chinese standards.
In many cases, North Koreans can see signs of Chinese success even without crossing the border. At nighttime, the bright sky over the Chinese towns is seen for dozens of kilometers, and in daytime one can easily see the many construction sites on the banks of the border rivers.
What is more important, the Chinese borderland serves as a conduit of information about South Korea. The South Korean presence in the area is remarkable, and at any given moment one out of 10 Korean-Chinese is in South Korea, working, studying or doing business there. Therefore, the border-crossers soon learn that South Korea, routinely depicted in the official Northern media as a living hell, is actually richer than China, which looks to them like a perfect paradise. They sometimes buy and secretly watch "subversive" South Korean movies and shows that are frequently broadcast by the local Chinese stations. This new information is penetrating the North, and recently it has become clear that even the notoriously shameless and inflexible North Korean propaganda machine has had to change its tune somewhat to adjust to this new knowledge.
The border is not really sealed anymore. The difference in living standards is large and growing, and this can be easily seen. We can only surmise when the effects of this new situation will be felt, but there are good reasons to believe that the borderland areas will play a major role in the future of what is now known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Dr Andrei Lankov is an associate professor in Kookmin University, Seoul, and adjunct research fellow at the Research School of Pacifica and Asian Studies, Australian National University. He graduated from Leningrad State University with a PhD in Far Eastern history and China, with emphasis on Korea. He has published books and articles on Korea and North Asia.
Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd.

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A Chinese farmer rides a bicycle Monday beside the fence along a dam, which borders China and North Korea, in the Chinese city of Dandong. By Liu Jin, AFP/Getty Images

China erects fence along N. Korea border

Updated 10/16/2006 2:52 PM ET
USA Today

HUSHAN, China (AP) — China has been building a massive barbed wire and concrete fence along parts of its border with North Korea in the most visible sign of Beijing's strained ties with its once-cozy communist neighbor.
Scores of soldiers have descended on farmland near the border-marking Yalu River to erect concrete barriers 8 to 15 feet tall and string barbed wire between them, farmers and visitors to the area said.
Last week, they reached Hushan, a collection of villages 12 miles inland from the border port of Dandong.

VIDEO: China erects fence along North Korean border

"About 100 People's Liberation Army soldiers in camouflage started building the fence four days ago and finished it yesterday," said a farmer, who only gave his surname, Ai. "I assume it was built to prevent smuggling and illegal crossing."
Though the fence-building appears to have picked up in the days following North Korea's claimed nuclear test last week, experts said the project was approved in 2003. Experts and a local Hushan official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the project, said the military was in charge of the building.
A Defense Ministry spokesman, Ye Xing, declined comment, saying he was not authorized to release information on border security.
The countries share an 880-mile border, over which China sends most of the trade and aid North Korea depends on, including up to 90% of its oil.
The fence marks a noticeable change in China's approach to North Korea. In the decades following their shared fight against U.S.-led U.N. forces in the Korean War, China left their border lightly guarded, deploying most of its forces in the northeast toward its enemy, the Soviet Union.
But the border became a security concern for Beijing in the past decade, as North Korea's economy collapsed and social order crumbled in some places. Tens of thousands of refugees began trickling across the border into northeast China, fording the Yalu and Tumen rivers or walking across the ice in winter.
Professor Kim Woo-jun, of the Institute of East and West Studies in Seoul, said China built wire fences on major defection routes along the Tumen River in a project that began in 2003, and since September this year, China has been building wire fences along the Yalu River.
"The move is mainly aimed at North Korean defectors," Kim said. "As the U.N. sanctions are enforced ... the number of defectors are likely to increase as the regime can't take care of its people. ... I think the wire fence work will likely go on to control this."
But he said he also believes that Beijing wants to firmly mark its border with the North along the two rivers.
Kim said China and the North drew their border in a secret treaty. That treaty wasn't reported to the United Nations and therefore does not apply to a third country, such as South Korea. China is concerned that South Korea may claim a different border after absorbing or unifying with the North.
Reporters who visited the border area in the past week saw about 1,600 feet of newly erected barbed wire fence north of Dandong, mainly along river banks and occasionally broken up by mountain areas or military guard posts.
A duck farmer in Hushan, who would only give his surname Han, said that soldiers began putting up the fence near his farm on Oct. 9 — the same day that North Korea claims to have carried out an underground nuclear test.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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For the two Koreas, cautious steps toward rapprochement

2007-08-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

For the two Koreas, cautious steps toward rapprochement

Edward M. Gomez
San Francisco Chronicle

It's going to be a lovefest!

Well, maybe not quite. (Can anything related to dour North Korea ever be fun?) However, the diplomatic tête-à-tête that officials from the cash-strapped, communist North and from booming, capitalist South Korea have announced they have scheduled in Pyongyang later this month may advance by a few steps the complex pas de deux the uneasy neighbors have been performing in recent years with the aim of maybe, somehow, someday putting aside their differences and reuniting.

Reuters/Pool photo, file photo

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il (left) and South Korea's former president, Kim Dae-jung, met in Pyongyang in June 2000. Now it's South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's turn (see photo below) to meet his big-haired, communist, northern neighbor

Yonhap, South Korea's primary news agency, recalls that the two Koreas "held their first summit in June 2000 between then [South Korean] President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, leading to unprecedented inter-Korean rapprochement and reconciliation. But North and South Korea are still technically in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. In the first summit, Kim Jong-il agreed to visit South Korea at an appropriate time, but has yet to make good on his promise."

Now, looking ahead, South Korea's current president, Roh Moo-hyun (Uri Party), is scheduled to meet North Korea's Stalinist-style dictator, Kim, for three days of talks starting on August 28. The heads of the national intelligence agencies of each of the Koreas, working behind the scenes, played key roles in setting up the forthcoming powwow.

What's in it for each side? North Korea could benefit from better relations with its prosperous southern neighbor, from which it would love to receive desperately needed aid of all kinds. South Korea hopes closer ties with the North may convince big-haired Kim to drop his big nuclear ambitions and dismantle his ominous nuke-development program. A statement issued by President Roh Moo-hyun's office said: "The second inter-Korean summit is expected to contribute to peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula. The talks will also provide momentum to settle the North Korean nuclear problem." Of the imminent Roh-Kim talkfest, the U.S. State Department observed: "This is the result of efforts and discussions that have been going on for some time, and the United States was advised in advance by [South Korea[ about this meeting...." (Yonhap; see also the Korea Times)

Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun reports that some political observers in the region "believe the two Koreas agreed to hold the [forthcoming bilateral] talks" because South Korea's Roh "wants to make a major political achievement before his term...ends in February, and because Pyongyang wants Seoul to continue after Roh its conciliatory approaches [toward] North Korea...." Roh's rapprochement efforts have not gone down well with all of his countrymen, however, and have cost him considerable popular support. Some of his political opponents have come out against his soon-to-be-held talks with Kim. In South Korea, a spokesperson for the Grand National Party said: "We oppose the South-North summit talks, whose timing, venue and procedures are all inappropriate....We have doubts over whether it is proper to hold the summit talks at this moment. It's highly likely a gambit to shake the presidential race and prevent a regime change at a time when the election is only four months away." (Yonhap)

AP file photo

Kim, out for a stroll with one of his generals and some soldiers from North Korea's Korean People's Army

In an editorial ("Summit of Folly"), the South Korean daily, Joong Ang Ilbo, observes: "The [Roh] government had denied any possibility of a summit meeting with North Korea, but this has now been revealed as a lie. The...meeting may record some positive achievements if North Korea agrees to give up all its nuclear weapons and programs. But a meeting could also create a dangerous aftermath that might threaten the foundation of our society....[T]his summit meeting inspires anxieties rather than expectations....In order to assuage these worries, [it] must produce tangible achievements. Otherwise, we will face a serious security crisis, because it will appear that we endorse North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons by holding a summit meeting."

Pyongyang’s envoy smiles

2007-08-15T15:02:00.000-07:00

North Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Pak Ui Chun, right, raises the hands of Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, left, during the 14th ASEAN Regional Forum retreat at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila on Thursday Aug. 2, 2007. (AP Photo/ Aaron Favila)

Pyongyang’s envoy smiles

By Kwang-Tae Kim

NORTH Korean diplomats have a well-earned reputation as glum technocrats who spout the reclusive communist country’s official line and little else.
Its new face to the world isn’t any more likely to stray from policy and hasn’t been any more forthcoming about North Korea’s inner workings. But in his first appearance on an international stage, new Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun is showing that he knows how to smile and even recognizes a good photo opportunity.
The 74-year-old Pak, making his first overseas trip since becoming North Korea’s top diplomat in May, is in Manila to attend the Asean Regional Forum, Asia’s largest security grouping. His visit comes amid renewed optimism that his country will eventually abandon its nuclear weapons program in return for economic aid and other political concessions.
Paek Nam Sun, who had been North Korea’s top diplomat since 1998, died of lung cancer on Jan. 2 at age 78. Looking like his face might break if he cracked a smile, he sported a pin of North Korea’s national founder, Kim Il Sung, on his lapel during public appearances and wasn’t exactly known for his love of the foreign media.
At last year’s Asean Regional Forum, he couldn’t wait for the end of a photo opportunity at the start of a meeting, looking at journalists and dismissively waving toward the door.
“Just take pictures, and get out,” Paek said.
Pak has the same lapel pin of Kim, but he showed some media savvy on Sunday as he held a joint news conference with Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo. When Romulo stuck out his hand for a congratulatory shake after the two men announced an agreement on joint cooperation, Pak smiled widely, grabbed the hand and raised it high in triumph as camera flashes erupted.
The bespectacled Pak also grabbed the hand of a Filipino military officer after he laid a wreath Monday in front of a monument honoring Filipino National Hero Jose Rizal. He smiled when he met Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
But Pak showed there was a limit to his interaction with the media. He did not say a word to reporters as he walked out of his hotel.
Pak has had more experience outside North Korea than virtually all of his countrymen, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry.
He was born in 1932 and graduated from Pyongyang’s University of International Relations, a school that grooms the country’s future diplomats. An elite loyalist, he rose steadily through the Foreign Ministry over the decades.
He became acting ambassador to Cameroon in 1973, then ambassador to Algeria in 1980 and Syria and Lebanon in the 1990s, according to the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs.
Pak was recalled from Syria in 1996 for unclear reasons and became vice foreign minister later that year. He then served as North Korea’s ambassador to Russia for eight years before becoming foreign minister in May, the ministry said.
In 2002, Pak accompanied reclusive leader Kim Jong Il on a train trip to Russia’s Far Eastern region.
Pak’s appointment as foreign minister likely came as “a courtesy” to honor his long service in the Foreign Ministry and is not likely to lead to any change in North Korea’s foreign policy, according to the Unification Ministry. AP

KDB: $ 64 Billion needed for NKorean infrastructure

2007-08-15T14:58:00.000-07:00

South Korea's Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung (R) presides over a meeting to prepare for inter-Korean summit as South Korea's nuclear envoy Chun Young-woo (3rd L) and vice Defence Minister Kim Young-ryong (2nd L) listen at the Office of the South-North Korea Dialogue in Seoul August 9, 2007. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won

Korea summit means massive aid for North - analysts
Fri Aug 10, 2007 3:26PM IST

By Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea may be ready to offer billions of dollars to rebuild the failing North Korean economy when leaders meet for only the second ever summit between the enemy states later this month, analysts said.
Leaders from the two countries, technically at war for more than half a century, will meet in the North Korean capital Pyongyang on Aug. 28-30.
Analysts said the South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's government has been trying to put together a massive aid package.
North Korea wants help to rebuild the port of Nampo that serves Pyongyang and build at least four industrial complexes, former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, told local media.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will also likely push for more tourism ventures to attract South Koreans, said Lee, who went to the North earlier this year and served as premier under Roh.
South Korea has made clear that a major focus of the summit will be revival of its communist neighbour's destitute economy, but has not yet said what might be on offer.
Officials from the two sides were expected to meet on Monday to agree an agenda for the Roh-Kim talks.
Paik Hak-soon of the Sejong Institute, a North Korea expert, said there was no question the two will discuss a dramatic boost in economic cooperation.
"It is what South Korea wants to do, and it's something that the North is upset that the South has not done already despite its earlier promises," he said.
Economic relations are largely limited to two enclaves -- one industrial and the other for tourism -- the South's Hyundai Group operates just inside North Korea and large amounts of aid from Seoul.
Paik headed an advisory committee that in 2005 approved a government blueprint on modernising the North's railway network and power grid, expanding its port facilities and building more resorts for South Korean and foreign tourists.
An expert on the North's economy at the state-run Korea Institute of National Unification, Lee Suk, said that while Roh and Kim were unlikely to sign specific deals this time, they could agree in principle on infrastructure projects.
"As far as infrastructure is concerned, they need a complete overhaul," Lee said.
REFURBISHING COST
A study by the state-run Korea Development Bank estimated the cost of refurbishing the North's infrastructure would top 60 trillion won ($64 billion) over 10 years.
Some in South Korea argue it makes sense to get a head start and avoid a bigger financial burden when unification occurs and the South has to absorb its neighbour.
The Roh government has been criticised for being too accommodating to what many consider a renegade state.
But officials argue that South Korea's economy would buckle under the strain if the North collapsed and its poorly trained population fled south in search of work, and it is far safer to gradually bring the country out of its primitive economic state.
Roh is under strong pressure at home to win concessions from the North, especially greater commitment to nuclear disarmament, and resolving the highly-emotional issues of South Koreans kidnapped decades ago and still held in the North and reunions of families divided at the end of the 1950-53 war.

© Reuters 2007.

Nuclear-tipped summitry

2007-08-15T14:54:00.000-07:00

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, front left, and his wife Kwon Yang-sook cheer during a ceremony marking the 62nd anniversary of the country's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, at Seoul's Sejong Cultural Center, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007. (AP Photo/Lee Jae-Won, Pool)

Nuclear-tipped summitry

August 12, 2007
Washington Times

Richard Halloran - The wily leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il, appears to have taken a giant step toward getting his nation accepted as a nuclear weapons state.
When the North and South Koreans announced last week that South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun was granted a summit meeting in Pyongyang late this month, immediate speculation held Mr. Roh would try to persuade Mr. Kim to abandon his nuclear ambitions.
Skeptical South Koreans, Americans, and Japanese experienced in analyzing North Korea contended that, instead, Mr. Kim would urge Mr. Roh to acknowledge that North Korea had become a nuclear weapons state, like India and Pakistan.
Former South Korean Foreign Minister Han Sung-joo said at an academic conference in Honolulu that despite the apparent progress in negotiations to end Kim Jong-il's nuclear ambitions, "North Korea is on the way to being recognized as a nuclear weapons state."
Mr. Han said the critical question for South Korea, Japan, the U.S., China and Russia, which have been negotiating with North Korea in the Six-Party Talks, was to determine "how we can live with a North Korea that has nuclear weapons."
Kim Jong-il has sought for years to have nations represented in the negotiations agree that North Korea had been armed with nuclear weapons. India and Pakistan disclosed they had acquired nuclear weapons by testing them in 1998. North Korea tested a nuclear device in October 2006. As agreed in February 2007, North Korea has shut down its nuclear plant in Yongbyon, but nothing more.
In Asia, the political leader who travels to see another is often considered a supplicant before a superior in a position to demand concessions. Mr. Kim is expected to urge Mr. Roh to concede North Korea's right to retain nuclear arms, estimated at 10-12 weapons, in return for a pledge of peace.
That was underscored when Mr. Roh agreed to go to Pyongyang though Mr. Kim had promised, during a summit in Pyongyang with President Kim Dae-jung in 2000, that he would make a return visit to Seoul. He has not kept that pledge, and Mr. Roh has brushed it aside.
A Roh concession to Mr. Kim on nuclear arms would most likely crack the unity of the five nations bargaining with North Korea in talks hosted by China in Beijing. Both Korean and American sources said the United States was given only a few hours notice that the summit would be announced. Presumably, Beijing, Tokyo and Moscow were given similar short notice.
Moreover, Mr. Han said, allowing North Korea to have nuclear arms will make South Korea and Japan, against which North Korea has aimed hundreds of missiles, even more dependent on the United States for security, especially the "nuclear umbrella." That would require an American retaliatory strike if North Korea attacked either South Korea or Japan.
In addition to concessions from South Korea, the summit is intended to shore up Mr. Kim's standing at home. Repeated rumors have wafted out of the hermit kingdom that Mr. Kim is either ill or a group of dissenters have become dissatisfied with his rule, especially mismanagement of the economy.
Mr. Kim has sought to dispel those rumors by visiting army posts and factories. Last week, he gave "on-site guidance' to workers at the Songjin Steel Complex. The official Korean Central News Agency said Mr. Kim urged them to display "revolutionary enthusiasm and creative ingenuity under the difficult situation," an oblique reference to the crumbling economy.
Further, Mr. Kim evidently seeks to influence South Korea's presidential election in December so a candidate favoring concessions to North Korea is elected. Similarly, Koreans said Mr. Roh hopes to influence the campaign to help elect a candidate who would follow his policies. Mr. Roh is limited to one five-year term.
Choson Ilbo, a newspaper generally critical of Mr. Roh, opposed the summit meeting, asserting, "This is a presidential election scheme." The paper continued: "There's no national consensus, no transparency in the way it was arranged, and no justification."
The South Korean government said a senior intelligence officer had set up the summit in two secret trips to Pyongyang recently. A presidential spokesman contended: "The spirit of the upcoming summit is reconciliation and transparency."
Choson Ilbo further asserted: "There's no way of knowing what kind of political deal has been struck under the table." That referred to reports of secret payments by Kim Dae-jung to North Korea for his summit in 2000.
Richard Halloran is a freelance writer and former New York Times correspondent based in Honolulu.

Japanese Defense Chief Questions Nuke Talks Progress at Summit

2007-08-15T14:48:00.000-07:00

Japan's Minister of Defense Yuriko Koike listens to a question during a discussion U.S.-Japan alliance at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, August 9, 2007. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

Japanese Defense Chief Questions Nuke Talks Progress at Summit

The Japanese defense chief said Thursday her government will closely watch the outcome of the inter-Korean summit later this month, especially how much progress will be made on the North Korean nuclear issue, Yonhap News reported in Washington.
"I think that in the course of dialogue, various arguments will be presented," Yonhap quoted Defense Minister Yuriko Koike as telling the audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies during her visit to Washington.
"I am not sure how far these discussions will actually lead to the solving of the nuclear issue," she said through a translator.
"The question is how, to what degree there will be fruitful dialogue that will lead to the solution."
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun will travel to Pyongyang Aug. 28-30 to meet North Korea's top leader, Kim Jong-il, the second inter-Korean summit since the national division at the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War. The first was held in June 2000 between Roh's predecessor, Kim Dae-jung, and the North Korean
leader.
The two Koreas are technically still at war, having signed only an armistice.
Japan is a member of the so-called six-party process, a multilateral forum aimed at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. The two Koreas, the U.S., China and Russia are the other participants.
North Korean-Japanese relations are the most strained among the six countries as Tokyo presses Pyongyang to account for Japanese citizens it admitted to kidnapping in the past to train spies.
Japan says it will not contribute to any aid package to the North unless the abduction issue is first resolved.
Koike described the inter-Korean summit as within the context of the six-party talks, an emphasis also made by the U.S.
Coming out of talks with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Koike quoted the secretary as saying that the U.S. would also be closely watching the results of the Korean summit.
Rice hopes that the summit will contribute to and have a positive influence on the six-party talks, Koike told reporters.
Rice also said she wants to see the abduction issue resolved, according to Koike.

Businesses Expect Summit to Reduce Economic Risks

2007-08-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

Businesses Expect Summit to Reduce Economic Risks

By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
Korea Times

Leading business lobby groups and conglomerates welcomed the sudden announcement of a second inter-Korean summit and hoped that the talks will produce meaningful results in opening more business opportunities in North Korea.
Five major business organizations said the summit will help South and North Korea strengthen their economic cooperation, particularly in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex. They also hoped that regular train services between the two Koreas will start and South Korean firms will be allowed to participate in developing natural resources in the North.
``We hope the summit will open a new phase in the South-North relationship,'' the Federation of Korean Industries said in a statement. ``If this summit succeeds in bringing peace to Korea, it will reduce the geopolitical risk in investing in the peninsula and will enliven the economy.''
``This summit is expected to give a new impetus to the Gaeseong industrial complex,'' said the Korean Federation of Small and Medium Business whose members include companies operating in the industrial zone. ``We hope that the two Koreas will make progress in other projects, including the reconnection of cross-border railway and road links.''
Big firms, however, responded less enthusiastically than they did seven years ago, when former President Kim Dae-jung met his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang.
Samsung, LG, Hyundai Motor and SK praised the announcement of the second summit on Wednesday in brief statements to the media that they did not elaborate on.
``We have no plans or anything regarding the summit at this moment,'' an LG spokesman said.
One of the most enthusiastic firms was Hyundai Asan, the operator of inter-Korean tour programs.
``Together with the smooth progress of the six-nation talks, the South-North summit will greatly improve our business environment. We expect that it will spur the Geumgangsan tourism project and the Gaeseong Industrial Complex project,'' the firm said.
Businesses were far more cheerful when the two countries had their first summit meeting in 2000. LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Yun Jong-yong, then Hyundai Group Chairman Chung Mong-hun and SK Group Chairman Son Kil-seung joined President Kim's entourage to Pyongyang. Lee Kun-hee, the Samsung Group chairman, also had a private meeting with President Kim in Seoul regarding inter-Korea cooperation issues though he didn't cross the border.
The first meeting didn't bring much benefits to the conglomerates' businesses and it actually became a curse for some. Chung, the Hyundai chairman, committed suicide in 2003 after he was indicted for his alleged role in paying the North millions of dollars in return for the summit.
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics began to give subcontract orders to North Korean firms after 2000. But their production volumes are insignificant and the contracts are rather symbolic deals, the firms have said.
indizio@koreatimes.co.kr

=============================

NKorea set to get major investment pledges at summit - report
08.09.07, 11:40 PM ET
SEOUL (Thomson Financial) - South Korea is likely to offer North Korea major long-term investment in its crumbling infrastructure at their summit late this month, the Korea Times reported Friday.
The package proposal will probably include providing electricity, renovating the Kaesong-Pyongyang highway, upgrading Nampo port and setting up a fertiliser plant, the newspaper quoted unidentified officials as saying.
President Roh Moo-Hyun will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il on August 28-30 in Pyongyang in only the second-ever summit between the communist North and the capitalist South.
Seoul's Unification Ministry, which handles relations with the North, in February drew up a list of possible major joint projects. Seoul will likely offer to go ahead with some of these at the meeting, the report said.
afp/mb
Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

NKorea nuclear envoy arrives in Beijing for consultations

2007-08-15T14:41:00.000-07:00

North Korean chief negotiator Kim Kye-gwan waves as he leaves Beijing International Airport, August 14, 2007. (David Gray/Reuters)

NKorea nuclear envoy arrives in Beijing for consultations

11.08.2007, 08.10

TOKYO, August 11 (Itar-Tass) - Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, chief representative of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) at talks with the United States, arrived in Beijing on Saturday for closed-door consultations with his American counterpart Christopher Hill on matters aimed at eliminating Pyongyang's nuclear programme. Mr. Hill is expected to arrive in the Chinese capital on August 13, the Kyodo news agency reports referring to diplomatic sources.
Mr. Hill, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and Kym Kye Gwan also intend to hold consultations with the officials of China, which coordinates the talks on Pyongyang's nuclear programme. It is reported that these meetings will precede a session of the working group on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. The working group session is to be held in the city of Shenyang in the northeast of the People’s Republic of China from August 16 to 17.
Earlier Pyongyang shut down all its main nuclear facilities, including the country's only operating reactor, thereby terminating the production of materials that could be used for the development of nuclear weapons.
In exchange, the DPRK received compensation in the form of 50 tonnes of fuel oil. A second phase is now on the agenda. It is connected with putting all those facilities out of operation. In exchange for that, a promise has been made that Pyongyang will get 900,000 tonnes of fuel, security guarantees and normalization of relations with the US and Japan. In particular, there have appeared reports that Washington expressed preparedness to exclude the DPRK from the list of terrorism-sponsoring countries if it makes energetic steps to eliminate its present nuclear potential.

UN cameras set up at N.Korea atom complex - diplomat

2007-08-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

A satellite image taken September 11, 2005, of the five-megawatt reactor site at Yongbyon nuclear facility in North Korea. U.N. monitors have set up surveillance cameras needed to help verify a continued shutdown of N.Korea's nuclear weapons programme, a diplomat close to the IAEA said on Thursday. REUTERS/DigitalGlobe-ISIS

UN cameras set up at N.Korea atom complex - diplomat
Thu Aug 9, 2007 10:50PM IST

By Mark Heinrich

VIENNA (Reuters) - U.N. monitors have set up surveillance cameras needed to help verify a continued shutdown of North Korea's nuclear weapons programme, a diplomat close to the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Thursday.
Half-a-dozen IAEA monitors will exit the Stalinist state this weekend after completing the installation of cameras and be replaced by a smaller team of two to keep watch, the diplomat said in Vienna, where the U.N. agency is based.
"It will be an ongoing verification process now, a regular rotation of monitors with cameras and seals on the equipment, minding the store. We're not aware of any difficulties."
An initial team of 10 IAEA monitors confirmed last month that Pyongyang had shut its Yongbyon nuclear complex, the source of weapons-grade plutonium used in a nuclear test explosion last October that shocked the world.
North Korea had expelled IAEA inspectors in 2002 after a 1994 disarmament deal fell apart.
Last February, Pyongyang agreed with five powers to mothball its nuclear infrastructure in return for a first instalment in massive energy aid to the impoverished state. The five are the United States, South Korea, Japan, China and Russia.
But they face an uphill battle in planned negotiations to get paranoid North Korea to carry out full nuclear disarmament by disabling its atomic facilities, accounting for all its nuclear devices and materials and doing away with them.
The United States said on Monday there could be a ministerial meeting as early as September between North Korea and four other countries to advance the disarmament process.
But a potential stumbling block to the disarmament-for-aid deal arose on Wednesday when North Korea called on regional powers to give it 50,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil a month.

© Reuters 2007.

=====================================

Second IAEA team arrives in Pyongyang
Posted July 28th, 2007 by Tarique

By Xinhua

Pyongyang : A second team of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in the North Korean capital Saturday to continue the inspection on nuclear facilities at Yongbyon.
Ryszard Zarucki, head of the six-member IAEA team, said on arrival that they would continue monitoring and verification at Yongbyon, 90 km north of Pyongyang.
Zarucki also said they would exchange views with the first IAEA team at Pyongyang for a couple of days before the team took over part of the work. Then, they would go to Yongbyon directly.
In mid-July, North Korea said it had shut down its Yongbyon nuclear facilities after it had received the first shipment of heavy oil from South Korea to be used as fuel for its power plants. The shutdown had been confirmed by the IAEA later.
The first IAEA team was dispatched to North Korea earlier this month and would leave Tuesday.

South Korea's Roh may take rail or road to North

2007-08-15T14:34:00.000-07:00

North Korean dancers perform during the Arirang Grand Mass gymnastics and artistic performance at the May Day stadium in Pyongyang, Monday. The leaders of North and South Korea will meet this month for the second time since the peninsula’s division after World War II. / AP-Yonhap

South Korea's Roh may take rail or road to North
Thu Aug 9, 2007 5:02 AM EDT

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's president may use a newly built rail link with North Korea or lead one of the biggest convoys of civilian vehicles from Seoul to Pyongyang for a summit this month, a South Korean official said on Thursday.
North and South Korea announced on Wednesday that President Roh Moo-hyun will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il from Aug 28-30 for only the second summit of the two countries in more than 50 years.
"We plan to request that the president and delegates travel by land," Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung told reporters. "I believe the North will be able to accept our request."
The two countries are technically still at war.
South Korea proposed to the North that preparatory talks to discuss the mode of travel as well as the agenda, security and protocol for the summit begin on Monday in Kaesong, just north of the border, a ministry official said.
For the first summit, in June 2000, then President Kim Dae-jung flew to Pyongyang, where he was greeted by wild cheers and a beaming Kim Jong-il at the airport.
After that summit, the two Koreas pledged to punch holes through the razor-wire fences that stretch across their heavily mined and guarded border by building road and rail links.
South and North Korea sent the first trains across their border since the 1950-53 Korean War on a test run in May. Seoul, which has been pressing for regular train runs, reconnected the lines and was only able to secure the one-off crossing after pledging some $80 million in aid for the North's industries.
Lee declined to say whether Roh and delegates would use the newly opened rail link, which in theory makes it possible for a train to travel from the southern end of the peninsula through the North and up to the Chinese border.
South Korea has also built highways into North Korea that run parallel to the two rail links -- one northwest of Seoul and the other on the east coast.
In one of the more unusual crossings, the South's Hyundai Group sponsored a convoy of vehicles carrying 1,000 people and 100 head of cattle to North Korea on aid and reconciliation mission in 2003.

© Reuters 2007.

==================

Who Will Accompany Roh?

By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter

Following the announcement of an inter-Korean summit, attention is being given to who will accompany President Roh Moo-hyun to Pyongyang.
Considering the delegation with former President Kim Dae-jung at the first inter-Korean summit in 2000, Roh's retinue is expected to be similar in scope, with figures from politics, business, culture and sports fields taking part.
The accompanying members are likely to be divided into the government's official delegation and special delegation, like the first summit.
In 2000, then-chief presidential secretary Han Kwang-ok, Unification Minister Park Jae-kyu, senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs and security Hwang Won-tak accompanied former President Kim in the official delegation. Then Culture and Tourism Minister Park Jie-won and National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Lim Dong-won, who arranged the meeting as presidential envoys, were also included.
The official delegation this time is likely to include Moon Jae-in, Roh's chief of staff; Baek Jong-chun, chief presidential secretary for unification, foreign and security policy; Lee Jae-Jeong, unification minister; Yun Byung-se, senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs and security; and Kim Man-bok, the NIS chief who arranged the summit.
For the special delegation, leaders of political parties and figures from other social fields may accompany the president. In 2000, Lee Hae-chan, then-chief policymaker of the Millennium Democratic Party,; Rep. Lee Wan-gu of United Liberal Democrats; Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Yun Jong-yong; Korea Sports Council head Kim Un-yong; and Association of Writers for National Literature adviser Ko Un visited Pyongyang for the summit.
People are also interested in whether the North's dear leader himself would greet Roh at the airport or railway station on his arrival. In 2000, Kim Jong-il came to meet former President Kim at the airport and they drove to the latter's hotel together by limousine.
What food and drink they will have is also at the center of attention. The North Korean food former President Kim enjoyed had became popular in the South at that time. The two leaders drank wine in 2000, and it is to be seen whether Kim and Roh will have wine or traditional Korean alcohol.
Roh is likely to stay at Baekhwawon, where North Korea's national guests usually stay. The summit may be held there as well.
About 10-12 bodyguards are expected to guard the leaders of the two Koreas, as in the first summit.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr

==============================

(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Aug. 11)

A working summit

The upcoming inter-Korea summit should aim to be different from the previous one, at least in one crucial respect. It should pay due attention to practical issues, rather than focus on a grand design for a reunified Korea, as the first summit did seven years ago.
South Koreans had high expectations for peace when former President Kim Dae-jung went to Pyongyang for the first inter-Korea summit in June 2000. Many believed that they would be freed from the threat of another Korean War if Kim Dae-jung agreed on reconciliation and cooperation with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
To his surprise, Kim Dae-jung was received by Kim Jong-il himself at the airport, and was greeted by thousands of flag-waving well-wishers apparently mobilized to line the road to Pyongyang. He and his delegation were also better treated than required by protocol at banquets and other gala events.
Pomp and extravaganza found their way into the Joint South-North Declaration as well, which reads in part that the two leaders had a historic summit, "true to the noble will of all the fellow countrymen for the peaceful reunification of the country."
The two leaders focused on grand ideas -- peaceful reunification and balanced economic development. But they did not pay due attention to such practical issues as the repatriation of South Koreans held in the North against their will.
Such a lapse may be excused, given that the first summit was indeed an unprecedented, if not epoch-making, event for the mutually hostile halves. But the cold reality is that the Korean Peninsula has not been made more secure since the first summit. On the contrary, the South is under threat from the North, which tested a nuclear device last year.
Given that no agenda item is of greater importance than issues of war and peace, President Roh Moo-hyun will have to concentrate on denuclearization when he visits Pyongyang on Aug. 28-30 for talks with Kim Jong-il. Under the 1992 inter-Korean joint denuclearization declaration, Roh has every right to demand the North scrap its nuclear weapons program.
But nuclear discussions should not overshadow the plight of South Koreans held in North Korea. Roh will have to demand the repatriation of South Korean soldiers taken as prisoners of war during the 1950-53 Korean War and South Korean civilians abducted during and after the war.
The South Korean government estimates the number of prisoners of war still alive at 1,743 and that of the kidnapped at 489. But Pyongyang denies the existence of prisoners of war and claims that the others defected to the North of their own volition.
Kim Dae-jung failed to address the issue adequately for fear of disrupting the first summit, as acknowledged by a leading member of his entourage. But Roh is well advised to press hard for concessions from the North, instead of following in his predecessor's footsteps.
If necessary, Roh will have to use future aid as leverage in settling the issue. He will have to listen to a growing number of disaffected South Koreas who, awakened from the illusion about rosy inter-Korean relations, are now asking why Seoul should continue to provide food, fertilizer and other items when Pyongyang refuses to reciprocate the favor.
Quid pro quo should apply to economic areas as well. Roh cannot commit himself to the provision of huge aid for nothing in return in the name of economic cooperation, because cooperation demands reciprocity.
Roh will have to be prepared to forgo much of the ceremony accorded to Kim Dae-jung and roll up his sleeves for a hard bargaining session with Kim Jong-il. Simply put, he will need a working summit in Pyongyang.

(END)

A North Korean crossroad for Asian politics

2007-08-15T14:31:00.001-07:00

A North Korean crossroad for Asian politics
Francesco Sisci
La Stampa, Italy

Pyongyang is the meeting point for the U.S. and China, as diplomacy may pay more that warfare
The six party talks have entered unchartered waters. The International Atomic Energy Agency said in mid-July that North Korea has shut five main nuclear facilities in its Yongbyon complex, completing the first stage of the deal.
The situation has returned to where it was before the election of President Bush, when it was sensitive but not as dangerous as it became in the following years when Pyongyang went on a bomb-toting rampage. Now the next goal is to disable the Pyongyang reactor and declare all its past atomic activities, something that is without precedent for North Korea.
All the steps have been agreed upon: Completing the dismantling and declaration of activities within the year would make it possible to meet the end-2008 targets for removing North Korea's nuclear weapons, including the plutonium stockpiles thanks to which it possessed the capacity to test an atomic device last October.
The North is to receive energy aid for these actions. If the North doesn’t comply there is the hidden threat that Washington might try to seize some of the money caches that Pyongyang has scattered around the world.
The seizure last year of some 25 million dollars of laundered North Korean money from the Banco Delta Asia, in Macao, triggered first an angry reaction from Pyongyang then capitulation to the combined pressures of the Americans, Chinese, South Koreans and Japanese.
However, the North Koreans at the moment are again dragging their feet and raising the issue of a receiving a light water reactor in return for the closure of Yongbyon.
U.S. Ambassador Joseph DeTrani, one of the architects of the talks, is guardedly optimistic. He thinks that the second phase of the North Korean program will start “soon,” late this year or early next year.
“It will be a major change for North Korea. They are talking of economic reforms and improving the living standards of people. It will move forward”, he said.
The second phase will provide economic assistance and political concessions, but “Pyongyang will have to disable Yongbyon and fully declare their nuclear programs, to include their uranium enrichment program”, said DeTrani.
It seems the normal North Korean way: After offering a major concession, become obstructive once more, hoping that “the enemies” could cave in to some concessions of their own. This is an old pattern for Pyongyang, but there may be more to come.
The concessions and the changes they would bring to North Korea will take the country into a new domestic and international situation; it may also be something completely new personally for the Dear Leader, Kim Jong-il. He looked pale and frail in his last appearance on Chinese television during the visit of a Chinese delegation in Pyongyang.
Moreover, there are rumors that he was seriously ill in the past months and it is a known secret that he would be keen to announce that his last son, Kim Jong-chol, born in 1981, will be his heir to the leadership. The announcement has been so far de facto forbidden by Chinese intervention, but Kim may want a future for his family in 20 or 30 years, following his demise—something rather difficult to discuss with a few ambassadors of foreign countries.
Kim’s family future is also a tiny fragment in a much bigger picture of what the Americans call the future “regional security architecture.” The prospect of a reunified Korea brings a new dimension to North Asia. South Korea bears old wounds from Japan, guilty of decades of occupation, but it also means to settle scores with China.
Two years ago it changed the Chinese name of its capital, Seoul, which previously could be read as “Chinese city,” and it has strongly advanced the “Koreanness” of the ancient Kogyuro kingdom, formerly stretching between modern Korea and Manchuria. The nationalistic sentiments in South Korea could be enhanced further by reunification with the North, which could in turn ignite new nationalist sentiments among the 2.5 million ethnic Korean citizens of the PRC.
A new, reunited Korea would have to be “cased into” a new regional security framework lest it cause trouble with both Japan and China. Conversely, within a new security framework, a reunited Korea could be the political and physical bridge between China and Japan, stabilizing the whole region.
From this perspective, the real linchpin of the Korea peace process is not Pyongyang but Beijing. China has been a driving force in the talks, the one that has managed to bring North Korea to reason and will also be the keystone of the future East Asian regional architecture.
In fact, the biggest gain of the process was in building greater trust between the U.S. and China on an issue of mutual concern. After this positive bilateral cooperation the two countries could start cooperating on many other issues: Burma could be the next one. Beijing is growing dissatisfied with the junta’s erratic behavior and is pressing for some reforms. China has many domestic troubles because of Burma. For one thing, most of the drugs—particularly methamphetamine—sold in China are manufactured in Burma.
Moreover, as China’s territory stretches deep into the heart of Asia, enlisting its support in a process of stabilizing Central Asia and the Middle East could be a trump card for America. The U.S. is experiencing great difficulties in its fight against Islamic extremists in the region and China could provide both the manpower and the geographic proximity necessary to turn the tide.
On the other hand, there might also be lessons for America to learn in the six party talks on North Korea. Pyongyang had the military capability and the political will to launch a missile against Tokyo and trigger a world crisis. North Korea was in theory much more dangerous than Iraq, which did not have the missiles, the fissile fuel and probably even lacked the political will to launch a new attack on Saudi Arabia or any other of its neighbors.
For a number of reasons, the U.S. intervened with force in Iraq, while choosing diplomacy with North Korea. The results nowadays are clear: In Iraq the US squandered trillions of dollars and the situation is possibly worse than before the war. The North Korean peace process cost a few million in all and the outline of a great Asian peace looms closer.
Perhaps from this experience America might draw the necessary lessons to overhaul the foreign policy doctrine it has clung to for the past seven years.

North Korea Groping for Timesaving Tactics

2007-08-15T14:29:00.001-07:00

North Korea Groping for Timesaving Tactics
[Analysis] Inter-Korean matters have been dwarfed by the hostage crisis
Email Article Print Article Lee Byong-chul (merrycow)
In inter-Korean relations, it's frequently said that good news and bad news often coexist. Pyongyang's refusal to participate in an annual inter-Korean event to mark Liberation Day on Aug. 15 in Busan, the second largest city in South Korea, was surely bad news. It will likely now become extremely difficult to establish the so-called institutionalization of inter-Korean dialogue that began to work in a full manner following the South-North summit meeting of 2000.

Firstly, North Korea was politically quick to strike an ideological chord again by claiming that it does not want lawmakers from the conservative Grand National Party to take the main seats and deliver speeches at the ceremony. Apparently, the North did not hide its uneasiness over the highly possible victory of the GNP in the December presidential election. The GNP's recent change of policies toward North Korea -- despite the political backlash from traditional conservatives -- did not seem to satisfy the North at all.

Secondly, North Korea's boycott reflects its attempt to distance Seoul from Washington by demanding a stop to the upcoming annual Ulji Focus Lens military exercise. The North wanted to lend an element of anti-Americanism to South Korean liberals' calculations so they would protest against the exercise.

Thirdly, North Korea should be very satisfied with what it has so far obtained from South Korea and the United States for shutting down its nuclear facilities -- for example, rice and heavy oil. In other words, it goes without saying that North Korea has successfully garnered what it wanted, and thus has found it unnecessary to respond hastily to South Korea.

Lastly, the North seemed to take into consideration the South Korean hostages being held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Obviously, inter-Korean matters, including the nuclear issue, have been relatively dwarfed by the hostage crisis. It is thus estimated that the event could run counter to the liberal faction's wishes unless the hostages are successfully released before it starts. The North Korean delegation could become "unwanted guests" while causing some sharp conflicts between the conservatives and the liberals.

Pyongyang was adroit enough to offer the mid-September inter-Korean ministerial talks one day before it notified Seoul of its Busan event boycott. North Korea fully remembers that the past inter-Korean talks worked wonders in terms of garnering economic assistances from South Korea. Its expectations may be misplaced now as the people are sick and tired of the South Korean government's seemingly one-way assistance.

2007/08/08 오전 12:57
© 2007 Ohmynews

Another false dawn?

2007-08-15T14:26:00.000-07:00

AFP

Another false dawn?

Aug 8th 2007
From Economist.com
North and South Korea will meet

THERE is every reason to be sceptical. On Wednesday August 8th the governments of North and South Korea announced what, on the face of it, seems to be a breakthrough between two countries that have been at war with each other, at least technically, for over half a century. At the end of this month the president of the South, Roh Moo-hyun, will fly north to Pyongyang for a meeting with his reclusive counterpart, Kim Jong Il. The summit will be only the second bilateral get-together between leaders of the two countries.
In the context of recent developments in North Korea, including the closure of its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon in July following months of diplomatic consultations and the offer (and first deliveries) of fuel aid, one might reasonably conclude that this is something to cheer. Optimists may hope that this meeting represents a significant step towards the ending of North Korea’s isolation, ridding the peninsular of nuclear weapons and developing a needlessly poor country.
A South Korean spokesman said on Wednesday that the meeting will “help inter-Korean relations and provide fresh momentum to improve North Korea’s international relations.” North Korea’s official news agency made similarly warm comments, talking of a meeting of “weighty significance in opening a new phase of peace”. Officials from China and America are also cautiously hopeful that talks might prove helpful.
The possibility of progress should not be ruled out. But there is also a whiff of opportunism about the surprise announcement of the summit. The South’s Mr Roh has at least one eye on his dismal popularity ratings at home. He is nearing the end of his term in office and has little to show for a friendly “sunshine” policy towards the northern neighbour. The opposition Grand National Party is expected to win a presidential election in December and has been pushing for a less accommodating approach to the North. Assuming that Mr Kim would prefer his southern neighbour to keep offering aid and to refrain from confrontation, it would seem that both he and Mr Roh would like to give the impression of diplomatic progress in the next few months, even if nothing were likely to be achieved.
Optimists might counter that international conditions are particularly encouraging at the moment. Perhaps most important is that China is taking a stronger interest in bringing North Korea in from the cold. The long-running six-party talks (involving the two Koreas, China, America, Russia and Japan) have at last produced results, not only with the closure of Yongbyon, but with the release of funds to North Korea from a bank in Macau, with promises of warmer relations with the United States, and with visits to the North by inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The trouble is, the world has been here before. The previous meeting, seven years ago, coincided with enormous optimism that the North was finally giving up its isolated status. America’s government pushed a missile deal with North Korea. The secretary of state at the time, Madeleine Albright, even visited Pyongyang in a symbolic effort to end American-North Korean hostility. After the previous meeting joint economic programmes were started at the border and meetings were organised to allow family reunions. The South’s leader, Kim Dae-jung, was handed a Nobel peace prize for his efforts (although he later had to apologise after admitting that northern leaders had been bribed with cash to take part in talks). Yet North Korea soon reverted to its old hostile position, pushing ahead with the development and even, in 2006, the testing of nuclear devices.

North Korean Citizens' Opinions on the Inter-Korea Summit Talks

2007-08-15T14:25:00.000-07:00

North Korean Citizens' Opinions on the Inter-Korea Summit Talks

By Kwon Jeong Hyun, of China
[2007-08-09 16:13 ]

Regarding the news of President Roh Moo Hyun and Kim Jong Il having the second North-South Korea Summit Talks from August 28th to the 30th in Pyongyang, local North Korean residents and North Korean citizens staying in China have held conflicting opinions.
North Korean citizens have not heard the news of the Summit Talks yet.
Chosun [North Korea] Central News Agency, before the beginning of the press conference with the Blue House at 10AM on the 8th reported, "According to the agreement between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's National Chairperson Kim Jong Il and Republic of Korea's President Roh Moo Hyun, President Roh is supposed to visit Pyongyang from August 28th to 30th. However, most of North Korean citizens, as of the mid-8th, do not seem to know the news of the Summit Talks."
Kim Sung Gyu (pseudonym), in a phone conversation with a reporter this morning said, "This is the first time I am hearing about the South Korean president visiting Pyongyang for the first time." Mr. Kim added, "The Chosun Central News Agency airs at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, so no one has heard the news of the Summit Talks as of yet. Channel 3 (Domestic Cable Network for Residents’ notification of national orders or teaching) has not officially reported anything."
One source in Shinuiju of North Pyongan, in a phone conversation with a reporter, also explained, "News of the Inter-Korean Summit Talks is quickly spreading among municipal party member leaders, but average citizens have not heard. Only when the Party issues an order about the civilian education project will the news disseminate among the residents."
The source relayed, "Even if President Roh visits North Korea, he will only stay in Pyongyang and return, so people in provinces will not have a special interest in this national event."
If North Korean politics does not change, there will not be progress in the Inter Korean Summit Talks."
Defector Park Soon Shim (pseudonym, 49), who is residing in Yanji in China, said, "I heard through the south Korean satellite broadcast about the the Inter Korean Summit Talks taking place in Pyongyang, but I honestly do not have expectations."
Mr. Park explained, "When President Kim Dae Jung came to Pyongyang in June 2000, all civilians in North Korea had huge expectations, saying, 'The March of Suffering has finally ended' and 'Unification is not far off.' However, after that, our living situations did not improve at all, the state only emphasized 'military-first politics,' and word started circulating that 'Even the South Korean President cannot change North Korean politics."
Also, Park added, "I could not help but be surprised in China in 2006 that President Kim Dae Jung handed over an enormous sum of money to Kim Jong Il in 2000. If Kim Jong Il had not received that money, the North Korean authorities would have opened the country at least dozens of times.
Defector Kim Sung Su (pseudonym, 29), who had crossed Tumen River in April, 2007 to get to South Korea, said, "If the South Korean government continues to pour energy into negotiating with the North Korean government, I am worried that the footing of defectors like us will become more perilous."
Mr. Kim appealed, "I heard from the South Korean government that the policy of protection regarding defectors are increasingly being curtailed, but if the North Korean government threatens the South Korean government to 'Not receive defectors anymore,' I am worried about what kind of an attitude the South Korean government will adopt. The unification affair between the two governments is important, but I hope that the South Korean government will carefully consider the plight of average citizens like us."
"Through this opportunity, if the 38th parallel could be removed."
On one hand, North Korean trader Choi Chul Hyuk (pseudonym, 36), whom we met in Dandong, expressed huge expectations regarding the Summit Talks to take place in Pyongyang.
Choi said, "North Korea is currently surviving by economically leaning on China, but if it is to survive in the future, economic cooperation with South Korea is a necessity. Through the Summit Talks this time, if a bigger North-South Collaborative Zone is decided on than the industrial complex in Shinuiju or in Nampo, than it will greatly help the North Korean economy."
Mr. Choi explained, "It appears that China is helping North Korea behind the scenes, but in actuality, Chinese people have not invested in resurrecting the North Korean economy, but only deals with North Korea for their immediate gain, so it is the hope of all North Korean people that even more developed capital enters North Korea from the South."
Further, he added, "The North Korean government cannot leave the economy as it is anymore, so it will actively step forward in cooperation with the South Korean government. Through this opportunity, I hope that the 38th parallel can be lifted and that North and South Korea will push through an economically beneficial collaborative."

Envoys to Discuss Detailed Revelation of N. Korean Nuclear Programs

2007-08-15T14:23:00.000-07:00

Envoys to Discuss Detailed Revelation of N. Korean Nuclear Programs

Daniel Schearf reports from the Chinese capital.
U.S. and North Korean diplomats are meeting in Beijing to discuss North Korea's agreement to declare and dismantle all of its nuclear programs.
Washington's chief negotiator at the North Korean nuclear disarmament talks, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, arrived in Beijing Monday for talks with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye-Kwan.
At the top of the agenda for their Monday meeting is the next stage of a denuclearization agreement reached in February. The agreement calls for North Korea to provide details of all its nuclear programs, and eventually to dismantle them.
Hill says he hopes to have Pyongyang's list by late August or early September, when negotiators are scheduled to meet for the next round of six-nation talks.
"We want a clear idea on what's involved in disablement, what's involved in the declaration, so that when we have our meeting, the six-party meeting…we can make real progress," Hill said.
That could prove tricky. Washington says that in addition to a weapons program based on plutonium, which Pyongyang acknowledges, the North also has a secret program to enrich uranium.
Pyongyang has denied in the past that the uranium program exists. Hill says the parties to the talks expect a definitive answer this time.
"We have to have clarity on that issue," said Hill. "We have to have a resolution of that issue. So, obviously it's very much a part of any declaration that's finally submitted."
The talks will not focus only on what the U.S. and other parties to the talks want. North Korea expects concessions in return.
It agreed in February to declare and dismantle all its nuclear programs in exchange for aid, security guarantees, and political incentives. It has already shut down its main nuclear facility.
In return, it has begun receiving shipments of food, fertilizer and fuel oil. But Pyongyang says it wants at least two light-water nuclear reactors if it gives up its nuclear programs altogether.
The North is also likely to want more than that. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is scheduled to meet South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun in Pyongyang at the end of August. Chung Dong-young, South Korea's former unification minister, said in Seoul Monday that Mr. Kim's main concern is security.
"For chairman Kim and for the North Korean regime, their objective is their [own] survival, and secondly, their economic survival," Chung said.
Chung says he believes Mr. Kim will use the summit to try to secure these guarantees. But such assurances could not be given by South Korea alone. They would require input from all six nations involved in the nuclear negotiations, which also include the U.S., Korea, China, Japan and Russia.
Hill and Kim Kye-Kwan are due to continue their discussions during two days of working group meetings beginning Thursday in China's northeastern city of Shenyang.

VOA News

The Path to Pyongyang

2007-08-15T14:19:00.000-07:00

The Path to Pyongyang
Updated: July 17, 2007

Prepared by:	Lee Hudson Teslik

Pyongyang hopes to secure substantial increases in oil aid through nuclear negotiations. (AP Images/Ahn Young-joon)

Mistrust pervades Washington’s dealings with Pyongyang so thoroughly that any deal, however seemingly straightforward, prompts a double-take. Even as UN inspectors confirmed (Korea Times) North Korea had turned off its primary nuclear reactor under terms agreed following February’s Six-Party Talks, U.S. and international officials remain cautious. While hailing the Yongbyon shutdown, Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, reiterated that other facilities still needed to be inspected and that steps remain toward the ultimate goal of fully decommissioning the reactors (FT).

A new round of talks opens July 18 in Beijing (Xinhua), but even assuming the current wave of shutdowns proceeds as planned, many questions remain unanswered. The Economist argues there is good reason to doubt Pyongyang will easily agree to the next demand: fully disclosing its nuclear activities and moving toward a complete disarmament of the Korean peninsula. For starters, negotiators have been here before, and with little to show for it. The July 2007 developments simply return negotiations to where they were in 1994, after a deal reached by President Clinton stemmed North Korea’s plutonium production. But as this CFR.org Crisis Guide explains, Pyongyang is believed to have gone ahead with uranium enrichment, a different path toward developing nuclear weapons, the 1994 pact notwithstanding. Pyongyang only restarted the Yongbyon reactor in 2002 after President Bush confronted Kim Jong-Il over these separate enrichment activities.

Now talks will likely turn back from sticks to carrots, examining whether some form of economic incentives—food and energy aid top the list—might convince Kim to change course, moving negotiations beyond the Clinton-era stalemate. South Korea on July 12 dispatched 6,200 tons of fuel aid to its northern neighbor, but the Asia Times notes Pyongyang may seek major increases in energy aid, perhaps demanding up to 950,000 tons of oil as part of a denuclearization package. Kim Myong Gil, the head of North Korea’s UN delegation in New York, told the Associated Press that Pyongyang would seek major concessions from the United States and would only move forward if Washington acts “in parallel.” Private investment concerns also loom. The Wall Street Journal profiles one Egyptian businessman who is investing $115 million in a North Korean cement plant, one of the largest infusions of foreign investment the country has ever received, but lingering sanctions draw larger-scale foreign investment into question.

For all due caution, however, most evidence seems to support U.S. envoy Christopher Hill’s assessment that Yongbyon’s shutdown is “a good start” (IHT), even if a quick fix isn’t in the works. North Korea on July 13 revived its calls for direct military talks (NYT) with the United States, raising hopes that agreement over Yongbyon could prompt an eventual peace accord, replacing the armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War. The FT says any such negotiations would likely center on the normalization of bilateral ties and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea.

Seoul's Impetuous Summit Initiative

2007-08-15T14:16:00.000-07:00

South Korean men watch a television screen with pictures of South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun (R) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il (L)

Seoul's Impetuous Summit Initiative
by Bruce Klingner
WebMemo #1584

Seoul's agreement to hold an inter-Korean summit is premature because North Korea has made insufficient progress in its denuclearization to justify any reward. South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun's attempt to secure his legacy and influence coming presidential elections risks undermining multinational efforts to denuclearize North Korea and could strain Seoul's relationship with Washington, in the long term undermining the U.S.-South Korean military deterrent to the North's lingering threat. A North-South summit could boost South Korean public approval for unilateral aid to Pyongyang, weaken support for the conservative opposition party in December's presidential election in South Korea, and reduce domestic support for the presence of U.S. troops. The Bush Administration should counsel Seoul that unilateral, uncoordinated diplomacy benefits Pyongyang and increases suspicion of Roh's motives.

A Secret from Washington

Seoul announced on August 8 that President Roh would engage in a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il from August 28 to 30. Although Kim Jong-Il is obligated under the terms of the 2000 inter-Korean summit joint statement to visit South Korea for the second summit between the nations, Roh acquiesced to travel to Pyongyang. It is indicative of Roh's eagerness that he failed to insist on holding the summit in the Kaesong special economic zone in North Korea to highlight the flagship initiative of Seoul's engagement policy.

South Korea informed the U.S. only a few hours prior to the announcement, signaling that Seoul is freelancing on peninsular issues and not coordinating with its key ally. The head of the National Intelligence Service, South Korea's intelligence agency, traveled twice to North Korea in secret to engage in preparation negotiations. This is consistent with South Korean actions prior to the 2000 summit, when the Kim Dae-Jung administration alerted the U.S. Embassy in Seoul only one day prior to announcing that summit.

The Bush Administration had cautioned Seoul not to give benefits to Pyongyang without imposing conditions. South Korean officials assured Washington that its engagement efforts would remain "one step behind the Six-Party Talks process," but they now appear to be many steps ahead. U.S. officials have privately commented that restraining Seoul from getting too far ahead of its allies is a concern and a challenge.

It is unlikely that Seoul made a secret cash payment to induce Pyongyang to the meeting, given the scrutiny that followed revelations that the Kim Dae-Jung administration paid at least $500 million to secure the 2000 summit. But Kim Jong-Il does not cooperate for free; thus the Roh Moo Hyun administration probably offered some inducement, such as new developmental aid or expansion of existing South-North economic projects. President Roh has talked of a "Marshall Plan" for North Korea, overlooking the fact that the U.S. program to rebuild post-World War II Europe was initiated after the demise of the totalitarian Third Reich.

A High-Stakes Game

President Roh's typically high-risk political maneuver appears designed to alter South Korea's political landscape, which currently favors the conservative opposition's presidential candidate. Although relations between Roh and the ruling Uri Party have become frosty, he wishes to prevent a conservative successor from countermanding his progressive policies. A summit is unlikely to affect the outcome of the election but could shift the vote by several percentage points--a significant move if the election proves close. According to some polls, up to 25 percent of the electorate is undecided in its support for a political party and presidential candidate.

The perception of progress conveyed by a Roh-Kim summit could match the unrealistic euphoria which gripped South Korea after the 2000 summit. This would increase pressure on Washington to prematurely normalize relations with Pyongyang and remove North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism before it has fulfilled its obligations under the Six-Party Talks' Beijing Agreement.

Seoul announced that the two Koreas' leaders will hold serious discussions on establishing a permanent peace regime on the peninsula to serve as a "stepping stone for the establishment of a peace framework on the Korean Peninsula." Washington should remind its ally that a peace treaty must be negotiated by all the relevant parties, including the U.S. and China.

Although there may appear to be little reason to delay a formal end to the Korean War, the threat that North Korea's conventional forces pose to South Korea should be addressed first. This could be accomplished by requiring a thinning out of North Korea's massive array of artillery and maneuver units close to the demilitarized zone and by implementing other confidence- and security-building measures.

But Roh's tactics risk backfiring with a South Korean electorate that has become more skeptical of North Korea since Pyongyang's missile and nuclear tests last year. Public opinion polls show that while support for engaging North Korea remains high, South Koreans want greater reciprocity from Pyongyang. A lack of tangible concessions would play into the prevalent perception that Roh is engaged in a self-serving political gambit.

Conclusion

If Roh presses for a North Korean commitment to tangible progress toward denuclearization by the year's end, then a North-South summit will be a useful adjunct to the Six-Party Talks. It is more likely, however, that the meeting will provide only a patina of progress, and it could actually endanger multilateral efforts to pressure Pyongyang to divest itself of its nuclear weapons. Moreover, a summit could pressure the U.S. to ease its stance on North Korea's compliance prior to receiving diplomatic benefits. On the other hand, resistance by Washington could lead to a resurgence of anti-American emotion amongst the South Korean populace, which already considers the U.S. indifferent to the fate of South Korean hostages in Afghanistan. Washington will have to tread carefully to rein in Roh's initiatives without alienating the South Korean populace.

Bruce Klingner is Senior Research Fellow for Northeast Asia in the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation.

Koreas to hold first summit for seven years

2007-08-15T14:09:00.000-07:00

A North Korean soldier, left, looks at South Korean soldier. Photograph: AP

Koreas to hold first summit for seven years

Staff and agencies
Wednesday August 8, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

North and South Korea today announced their first summit in seven years amid continuing international efforts to make the north abandon nuclear weapons.
But political commentators said the landmark meeting - only the second between the two countries since partition after the second world war - was more about internal politics than the push for Pyongyang's nuclear disarmament.
North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, will host the summit, from August 28 until August 30, according to a security adviser for the South Korean president, Roh Moo-hyun.
Outwardly, both sides were full of optimism about the meeting. "[It] will help inter-Korean relations and provide fresh momentum to improve North Korea's international relations," a spokesman quoted Mr Roh as saying.
The two countries have yet to agree a formal peace treaty over the Korean war, which ended in a ceasefire in 1953 after three years of fighting.
The first north-south summit, in June 2000, led to economic cooperation projects and to reunions of thousands of relatives separated by the world's most heavily fortified border.
Steps to bring the Koreas closer together have faltered because of political deadlock since 2002 over North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
The summit comes as the first progress is made on disarmament since the crisis began, with North Korea agreeing last month to shut down its sole operating nuclear reactor in exchange for oil aid.
The US and regional powers are negotiating with the north, hoping to agree a timeline for it to declare all its nuclear programmes ended and facilities disabled.
But North Korea has refused to engage South Korea on the issue. Pyongyang views the nuclear issue as a dispute with Washington, which means the new summit is unlikely to end in much more than a bland declaration.
"The summit is not going to contribute to the resolution of the nuclear issue in any way. But be prepared for another wave of unification euphoria in the south," Brian Myers, associate professor of international relations at Dongseo University and a North Korea specialist, told Reuters.

=================================

The Koreas talk of talking again

SEOUL - North Korea confirmed on Wednesday that the leaders of the two Koreas will hold summit talks in Pyongyang this month to promote reconciliation on the divided Korean Peninsula.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) confirmed the announcement by the South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae (the Blue House) that President Roh Moo-hyun will travel to Pyongyang to meet his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-il from August 28-30.
"The meeting between the top leaders of the North and the South will be of weighty significance in opening a new phase of peace on the Korean Peninsula, co-prosperity of the nation, and national reunification by expanding and developing the inter-Korean relations on to a higher stage in accordance with the historic June 15 North-South Joint Declaration and in the spirit of 'By our nation itself'," the KCNA said in a report monitored in Seoul.
The first inter-Korean summit in 2000 between then South Korean president Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il led to reduced military tension and an unprecedented range of economic, social and cultural cooperation.
South Korea's top business organization hailed Wednesday's announcement. "Businesses hope the summit becomes a touchstone for eventual reunification of the Korean Peninsula," the Federation of Korean Industries said in a statement.
The summit is expected to allay geopolitical concerns on the Korean Peninsula and positively affect the recovery of South Korean economy, the federation said.
South and North Korea are still technically in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice instead of a peace treaty.
However, the two sides have made great strides in reconciliation projects and cross-border economic exchanges since the 2000 summit.
South Korean citizens and civic groups gave various reactions on Wednesday to the news of the summit.
"We welcome the announcement. The summit is necessary to ease the continuing nuclear tension on the Korean Peninsula," said Park Byung-ok, secretary general at the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice, a major civic group in Seoul.
"As the summit is being held before the presidential election, it might cause an unnecessary dispute over whether or not the summit has a political purpose," Park said. "The summit should be fruitful in order to dispel all the doubts." (See Roh gropes for a graceful exit, Asia Times Online, July 6.)
"I did not expect it to come, but I am glad to hear the news," said Park Jung-eun of the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, another leading Seoul-based civic organization. "The two Koreas must discuss establishing a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula."
Conservative civic groups, however, were skeptical on the motivation for the summit, given that the South Korean presidential election is only four months away.
"It is doubtful what the summit can bring when a resolution of the nuclear issue is being stalled," said Je Sung-ho, leader of the conservative New Right Union. "The incumbent president is only trying to to strengthen his support base ahead of the presidential election in December."
Shin Ji-ho, an official at the Liberty Union, also expressed concern that the summit was being arranged "with haste".
"We are not against the summit itself, as it can help improve the relationship between the North and the South," he said. "However, the fact that the announcement came only 20 days before the summit makes me doubt that proper preparations have been made."
(Yonhap/Asia Pulse)

===================================

08-08-2007 16:07
Summit Less Likely to Pump Up Stocks

By Park Hyong-ki
Staff Reporter

The summit between the leaders of the two Koreas slated for the end of August helped boost general sentiment in stocks Wednesday but analysts said that the news is less likely to boost the market in the long term.
They said it's obviously good news but any positive impact will most likely to be short-lived.
Cheong Wa Dae announced Wednesday that President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will hold a summit from Aug. 28-30 in Pyongyang.
``It's symbolic, and the meeting could excite investor sentiment. But it will be short-lived as we experienced in the past with the first landmark meeting,'' said Lee Woo-hyun, an analyst at Kyobo Securities.
Lee stressed that the market will be more susceptible to what the summit produces rather than the summit itself.
But the market is already expecting that there will be little chance for it to produce any solid substance that gets both sides to further strengthen bilateral economic ties.
He said the meeting will contribute to spurring stocks related to North Korean business such as construction and tourism though.
Chi Ki-ho, an analyst of Seoul Securities, echoed Lee's words saying that such an event won't hype Seoul stocks up as much as last time.
``Seoul stocks have been and always will be driven by fundamentals, and since the summit is more of a political play, I believe its influence on the market will be lot less than the first time around,'' said Chi.
Kang Moon-sung, an analyst of Korea Investment and Securities, also said, ``The market's momentum lies with strong fundamentals rather than special political events.''
Given the 2000 landmark summit which proved to have less of an impact on the main bourse, Kang said the August meeting is highly likely to have the same effect since the market has gradually become immune to politics over the years.
``The stock market has shown little sensitivity toward issues concerning North Korea, including the nuclear crisis, since the 2000 summit,'' said Kang. ``What this means is that politics and the economy are separating.''
In April 2000 when the presidential office announced that it would hold a summit in Pyongyang, Seoul stocks climbed 11 percent up to June, according to Daewoo Securities.
However, on June 15, the day of the summit in 2000, stocks plunged 6 percent, and foreign investors' stock purchasing started to slow down. Since the summit, stock prices only rose 5 percent for a month before undergoing corrections for the rest of 2000.
``This shows that sound fundamentals draw the broader market picture,'' said Kim Sung-joo, an analyst at Daewoo.
Shares of Hyundai Elevator and its sister firms posted strong gains on expectations that they will benefit from Hyundai Group's North Korean business projects.
Hyundai Elevator closed up 6.1 percent at 156,000 won and Hyundai Merchant added 9.1 percent to close at 51,400 won. Hyundai Securities also added 3.3 percent, up to 31,400. Unlisted Hyundai Asan is leading tourism and other business projects in the North. The benchmark KOSPI closed up 2.34 percent at 1,903.41.
phk@koreatimes.co.kr

===========================================

Two Koreas agree on peace talks

Jun Kwanwoo, Seoul
August 9, 2007

NORTH and South Korea have agreed to hold their first summit for seven years to promote peace on the peninsula, divided for 60 years by minefields and barbed wire.
President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will meet in Pyongyang from August 28 to 30.
South Korea said the meeting was proposed by the North, which tested its first nuclear weapon last October but is moving towards shutting down its atomic program under a six-nation agreement.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency said the meeting would be important "in opening a new phase of peace".
A Seoul presidential office statement said Mr Roh and Mr Kim would discuss a formal peace treaty.
"The two leaders, through this summit, will be able to expand military trust-building measures and pave the way for establishing a peace regime on the Korean peninsula," it said.
"The talks will also provide momentum to settle the North Korean nuclear problem."
The US State Department gave its backing to the talks.
"We have long welcomed and supported North-South dialogue and hope that this meeting will help promote peace and security on the Korean peninsula, fulfilling the goals of the six-party talks," spokeswoman Joanne Moore said.
The only previous summit was in June 2000, when then-president Kim Dae-jung met the North's Kim in Pyongyang and ushered in a new era of reconciliation after half a century of hostility.
The two countries have remained technically at war since 1953, when the Korean conflict ended without a peace treaty.
The North last month shut down its Yongbyon reactor, which produced plutonium for its nuclear bombs, and has pledged to disable its atomic programs permanently.
That move was rewarded with 50,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil from the South.
If it permanently disables all its nuclear plants, it will receive another 950,000 tonnes of oil or equivalent aid.
The North will also get diplomatic and security benefits, such as normalised relations with the US and Japan.
Kim Man-bok, chief of the National Intelligence Service, said he visited the North twice this month to arrange the talks.
Brian Myers, associate professor of international relations at Dongseo University and a North Korea specialist, said the talks were "not going to contribute to the resolution of the nuclear issue. But be prepared for another wave of unification euphoria in the South."
Lee Dong-bok, from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Seoul, also questioned the talks.
"This summit will do little to boost the six-party talks because South Korea has no leverage in the process," he said. "It should have come after a breakthrough in the nuclear talks. Now it's the other way round.
"Therefore, the summit appears to have more to do with South Korea's presidential election in December."
AFP, REUTERS

Iran, N. Korea Stress Expansion of Economic Ties

2007-08-07T13:47:00.000-07:00

File photo shows a massive statue of Kim Il-Sung in Pyongyang. North Korea has publicly executed a trade official for chopping down and smuggling cherished "slogan trees" on which founding leader Kim Il-Sung reputedly carved anti-Japanese messages, a report said Sunday.(AFP/File/Charles Whelan)

Iran, N. Korea Stress Expansion of Economic Ties

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian and North Korean commerce ministers underlined the need for the pavement of the required grounds for the enhancement of trade activities and economic ties between the two countries.
The issue was raised during a meeting between Iran's Commerce Minister Masoud Mir Kazemi and North Korea's Foreign Trade Minister RIM Kyong Man on Tuesday, where Mir Kazemi noted the two countries' proper potentials and underlined the need for the optimized use of potentials as well as enhanced efforts to further bolster economic relations.
He pointed to Iran's trade exchanges with 160 world countries, and said that North Korea's enhanced knowledge of the existing potentials would play an effective role in the expansion of Tehran-Pyongyang economic ties.
The minister reminded that a major part of Iran's economic exchanges normally take place through private companies and sector, and called for a detailed plan about the two countries' desired grounds for boosting economic activities.
He also voiced Iran's enthusiasm for making investment in North Korea and importing that country's products, and pointed out that expansion of the two countries' relations necessitates encouragement of the Iranian private sector to increase activities in North Korea.
To end his remarks, Mir Kazemi called for the arrangement of expert meetings, and stressed the need for the two countries' cooperation in housing, dam and road construction as well as food, construction, medicine and medical equipment, machine-manufacturing and agricultural processing industries.

North Korea's Camp 22...

2007-08-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

North Korea's Camp 22 prison

North Korea's Camp 22...and what the meaning of "all" is...
By Claudia Rosett, Rosett Report
Monday, August 6, 2007

Sipping soda and chatting away to the press, one of the most indefatigable briefers on the international scene is the U.S. envoy to the six-party talks on North Korea, Chris Hill. Part of Hill’s diplomatic art includes ladling out a certain amount of merriment in his endless rounds of morning walkthroughs, evening walkthroughs, airport interviews, statements, q and a’s, and full-bore press briefings. On July 23rd, having just returned from Beijing, Hill gave a briefing for which the State Department’s transcript includes seven instances of mirth so pronounced that the transcribers took the trouble to note, in parentheses, the “laughter” soundtrack.
Humor is a fine thing, in its place. But the words that punctuate this gaiety are disturbing in the extreme. The subject here is North Korea, and a regime that has starved to death an estimated one to two million of its own people (possibly more), cheated on its 1994 nuclear freeze deal, indulged in criminal rackets that according to the U.S. government include counterfeiting U.S. currency, and last year set horrifying and dangerous precedents for rogue states by testing an intercontinental ballistic missile and a nuclear bomb. In response to the deal struck by Hill in February, North Korea’s totalitarian government has already engaged in its usual tactics of insult and delay, while ratcheting up its demands. So far, Pyongyang has extorted a host of concessions, including bilateral talks, arrangements for free fuel and other aid, and, at Hill’s urgent behest, the unfreezing and transfer to Kim, with the help of the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve, of some $25 million in allegedly crime-tainted funds. In exchange, Kim has shut down the same Yongbyon reactor that he shut down in the mid-1990s as prelude to cheating on the Agreed Framework nuclear freeze deal conceived by Jimmy Carter and signed on to by President Clinton. But there is no sign yet of North Korea providing the promised full accounting for all its nuclear ventures.
So what has Hill been saying about that, amid the comic by-play? Well, one disturbing development is that it gets ever harder to tell from his language whether he is negotiating on behalf of the U.S., or of North Korea. From that same July 23rd briefing, here’s his “big thing” rationale for why North Korea has not yet provided that nuclear accounting:
“Bear in mind, they just did a big thing last week. They shut down an entire complex, and sometimes when you’ve just done a big thing, you don’t want to wake up the next day and go on and do another big thing.”
(Note: In his linguistic flip, above, from “they” to “you,” the “you” with whom he apparently wants us to identify, or at least sympathize, is … Kim Jong Il).
Later in the briefing, a reporter asked if Hill had any sense that North Korea is about to provide the promised nuclear accounting. Hill’s reply belongs to the genre of “what the meaning of ‘is’ is,” except here it’s the meaning of “all”:
“Well, you know, we’re not going to talk about what they’re prepared to do. I mean, let me just talk about what we’re prepared to do and when we look at a declaration, it has to — and all means all and we’re not prepared to look the other way and pretend that a partial declaration is all, so — I mean, we, I think, owe it to ourselves, owe it to our citizens to be very vigilant and to insist on all meaning all.”
Somehow, this is not a locution that inspires confidence. It conjures visions of Hill sitting at the negotiating table with Pyongyang’s emissaries and trying to gentle them along with this brand of vaguely imploring diplomatic baby talk, while they speak for a regime that lives off slave labor, narcotics peddling, counterfeiting, and nuclear extortion. But OK, let’s cut Chris Hill some slack. It’s a long flight between Beijing and Washington, and that time zone change is a doozy.
Except now we get to where the bottom drops out. Hill wends his way to the subject of human rights in North Korea (which, in keeping with Pyongyang’s preferences, he refers to not as North Korea, but as the DPRK — short for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea). He starts off sounding pretty good, noting that even if North Korea scraps its nuclear program,
“That doesn’t mean that we end our problems with the DPRK. We will continue to have issues. We have human rights concerns in DPRK.”
But from there, it’s straight downhill:
“I mean, there are certain standards, international standards. We don’t think the DPRK is quite up to those. And that’s going to be a continuing issue. But unless we can solve this nuclear issue, I don’t think we can even get to those.”
This statement —chilling in its implications — comes in between laugh lines involving Hill’s chipper relations with the press. What Hill has just said is that in all his talks with North Korea (the big-thing-doing DPRK), human rights are not even on the table.
That’s not funny. It’s horrifying. This grotesque version of diplomatic etiquette, including Hill’s toadying description of North Korea as “not quite up to” international standards, is more likely to aggravate the threat from North Korea than to end it. The message to Pyongyang, and to anyone else listening in, is that Hill is so eager to produce a deal — no matter how false — that he doesn’t dare upset Kim Jong Il.
For a serious test of the value of these talks with North Korea, here’s something worth tabling while Kim Jong Il recovers from the exertions of switching off Yongbyon (again). Why not demand that Kim open up North Korea’s Camp 22 to a snap visit by the international press? That would be far more informative than this endless flow of merry briefings from Chris Hill. It would also be a bargaining chip far more in keeping with our own democratic principles than the rotten old habit of trying to buy peace by sending tribute — which we call aid — to Kim’s regime.

What is Camp 22? You can read about it and take a satellite-photo tour, on Joshua Stanton’s One Free Korea blog. It’s a labor camp in northeasten North Korea, believed to hold about 50,000 men, women and children — part of a North Korean gulag that for cruelty rivals the labor camps of Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union. These camps are the dark core of the Kim dynasty’s long reign of hideous secrets, duplicity and terror. Until they are opened and dismantled, no promises from Pyongyang at the bargaining table will be worth trusting. Until Hill starts negotiating from that premise, it doesn’t matter how many chortles he gets at his press briefings. The last hideous laugh will be Kim’s.
Claudia Rosett is a journalist-in-residence with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

SEE ALSO:
========

Joshua Stanton’s One Free Korea blog
Holocaust Now: Looking Down Into Hell at Camp 22

Claim: North Korea gassing citizens
Rights group says regime possibly has experimental chambers
Posted: April 29, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

North Korea's hardline communist regime is using deadly nerve gas on its own citizens and possibly is operating experimental gas chambers, according to a Jewish human rights group.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told WorldNetDaily he went to Asia to talk with North Korean defectors who said they witnessed gruesome experimentations.
Cooper began the investigation after learning of a BBC documentary in February 2004 based on interviews with a former North Korean official who had defected. The rabbi interviewed that man and two others, who confirmed the claims.
The Rabbi interviewed a 55-year-old chemist who said he was in charge of an experiment to test the effect of deadly nerve gas on political prisoners.
"He said he was involved in the killing of two people – one who did not expire for two and a half hours, and the second didn't die till three and a half hours had passed," Cooper told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for a documentary that aired last night on the radio program "Dispatches."
Soon Ok Lee, a North Korean now living in the United States, escaped from a political prison camp where she says she witnessed chemical testing on humans at least once or twice.
Cooper said the Simon Wiesenthal Center intends to pursue action against the North Korean regime for possible crimes against humanity.
The rabbi told WND that after talking with U.S. officials in Washington, President Bush indicated to him his personal interest during a brief encounter at a White House Hannukah celebration in December.
"The president was very animated and emotional about this issue," Cooper said.
While admitting the political situation is complex amid tension over North Korea's nuclear program, Cooper believes international pressure can produce "behavioral changes" in Pyongyang.
"We need to send a message to North Korean officials that you are going to be held accountable personally for this kind of behavior," he said.
As WorldNetDaily reported, South Korea officially has ignored the charges, fearing a confrontation that might hurt relations between the two countries.
Yesterday, human rights activists in Asia, Europe and North America staged North Korea Freedom Day, with rallies in a number of cities to protest Pyongyang's human rights violations.
In the BBC report, a witness described watching entire families being put in glass chambers at a North Korean prison camp and gassed while scientists took notes.
Kwon Hyuk, who has changed his name, was the former military attaché at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing and the chief of management at the prison, known as Camp 22.
"I witnessed a whole family being tested on suffocating gas and dying in the gas chamber," he said. "The parents, son and and a daughter. The parents were vomiting and dying, but till the very last moment they tried to save kids by doing mouth-to-mouth breathing."
Hyuk drew detailed diagrams of the gas chamber.
"The glass chamber is sealed airtight. It is 3.5 meters wide, 3 meters long and 2.2 meters high. [There] is the injection tube going through the unit. Normally, a family sticks together and individual prisoners stand separately around the corners. Scientists observe the entire process from above, through the glass."
According to the report, estimates of the number of prisoners held in the North Korean gulag could be as many as 200,000 in 12 or more centers. Camp 22 is thought to hold 50,000 people, including critics of the regime and Christians.

North Korea has publicly executed a trade official

2007-08-07T13:38:00.000-07:00

Visitors line up to visit the birthplace of North Korea's founder Kim Il-Sung in Mangyongdae, a suburb of the North Korean capital Pyongyang, in April. North Korea has publicly executed a trade official for chopping down and smuggling cherished "slogan trees" on which founding leader Kim Il-Sung reputedly carved anti-Japanese messages, a report said Sunday.(AFP/File)

The Arirang Festival 2007

2007-08-07T13:30:00.000-07:00

In this photo released by Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service in Tokyo, North Korean perform 'Arirang' at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2007. The Korean in the background reads 'Long Live with rare patriot Kim Jong Il.' (AP Photo/Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service)

US tourists prepare to 'invade' N Korea
By Sunny Lee

BEIJING - Hurry if you're in the mood to travel to one of the least traveled countries on the planet. North Korea says it will admit foreign tourists this year only until October 10.
That's the latest schedule Walter Keats received from Pyongyang. Keats heads Illinois-based Asia-Pacific Travel, the only travel company in the United States authorized by Pyongyang. The reclusive country opens itself to foreign tourists only for a limited period of the year. Restrictions on Americans are even stricter. In fact, Americans are allowed into North Korea only during the Arirang Festival, a birthday party for the late leader Kim Il-sung.
As a US citizen who is not part of a diplomatic or humanitarian aid mission on North Korea, Keats has had the rare experience of visiting the secretive country 10 times in the past 12 years, starting in 1995. During the period, Keats saw the country "definitely" changing.
"I don't know if that's the question of being closed or open. Things are still very restricted. But the people we deal with, at least, are more flexible, more friendly, and more open now," Keats said in an interview in Beijing before he was to fly with Pyongyang-bound American tourists last weekend.
North Koreans' flexible attitude is reflected, for example, in the tour scheduling. In the past, the North Koreans decided every itinerary. But Keats told them some places are not really interesting for Americans, while some are more interesting. Now they are more willing to listen.
Besides, the North Korean guides are more willing to accommodate impromptu requests from foreign tourists now such as visiting a local elementary school, even if that was not part of the original travel itinerary.
The changes are also noticeable in the North Korean tour guides themselves as well. They used to be rather solemn and less spontaneous, but these days they even crack jokes in English. Keats sees it as a "nice" change.
"One of the purposes of this tour is to break down the barriers to show that we are human beings and they are also human beings. We're not both devils fighting each other. So it's nice to see the humanity in both sides. Humor is a good medium," Keats said.
North Korea and the US are still technically at war with each other as a legacy from the Korean War. However, today American tourists in North Korea are not subject to any of the anti-American sentiment and rhetoric that Keats experienced during some of his previous visits.
However, all foreign tourists to the Stalinist nation must go on guided tours and must have their tour guides with them at all times. Photography is strictly controlled, as is interaction with the local people. Besides, tourists holding US passports are not usually granted visas. But exceptions were made in 1995, 2002, 2005 and this year.
Some observers are inclined to view the timing of these exceptions as coinciding with a softening in US relations with North Korea. But that actually may not be the case, because North Korea gave the green light for US tourists in 2002 - just after President George W Bush lumped it in with a group known as the "axis of evil".
On his part, Keats has to remind his fellow American tourists that visiting North Korea is "very different" from visiting any other country in the world and tells them to be mindful of following a few rules. These include refraining from attempting to strike an unauthorized conversation with local people.
In general, the North Korean people would not appreciate foreign tourists coming up to them because "frankly, it endangers them", Keats said. Somebody could later ask them why they talked to the foreigners, what they said to the foreigners, what the tourists gave to them.
"So I advise our people to refrain from such approach. Of course, you'd like to talk to somebody there. But most of them don't speak English anyway. So, if you do so, you'd be putting them at risk for no reason."
Unfortunately, Keats observed, it's not just the country that has changed over the years, but the tourists themselves have shown some changes as well. In the early days, tourists came with some research, reading about the society before they visited North Korea. The early tourists were more knowledgeable and inquisitive. But "today's tourists are more interested in making sure that they've been to this place", Keats said.
Keats believes the idea of going to North Korea as merely going on an "exotic tour" should be discouraged. "We get phone inquiries from people who say they don't want to be in a group, want to go out and meet local people in North Korea. If you're so ignorant about how the society there works, you'd think you can just go and talk to somebody on the street. That's very dangerous.
"I don't think you have a right to create a situation where somebody there might get into trouble because of your need to go back home and brag that you talked with North Korean people. I think it's immoral for somebody, particularly from our [US] culture, to do so."
Keats said no American on his tour so far has been rejected an entry visa to North Korea, but added that people with certain professions would have difficulty getting in. He took an example of journalists. He said he was specifically told by the North Koreans that he would be fined a minimum of US$1,000 per journalist, if found.
For him, however, that's not the only business risk he has to bear in dealing with the North Koreans. Last year, he suffered a financial setback after the scheduled trip was abruptly canceled after more than 200 Americans had signed up for it.
Understandably, he was not very happy about it. "The problem is that they make changes all the time," he said. In fact, the travel-permit dates for this year were already a third revision.
Keats said the North Koreans would simply change the dates for foreign visitors and say the foreigners needed to change their arrival dates. "They don't seem to understand that in some peak travel seasons, changing dates on the air tickets could cost additional money. I don't think people at the top [in North Korea] really understand how the market works."
These days, a tour to North Korea usually comes as a four-day-three-night package. That may sound reasonable for a country that is roughly half the size of Minnesota. But the devil is in the details. The first day counts from the day the tourists' airplane departs from Beijing to Pyongyang. (Foreign travelers usually arrive in Pyongyang via Beijing.) And on the last day, the foreigners have to leave the country at 8am. But that is still technically counted as "one day".
So, to save time, once arrived, going to the hotel usually becomes the last itinerary of the first day. After stopping by a few places on the way from the airport, tourists go directly to see the Arirang performance, which starts at 7pm.
The Arirang Festival, the high point of any visit to North Korea, is a performance by 100,000 synchronized gymnasts inside the world's largest stadium, occasioned for a celebration of the birth of the late "Great Leader" Kim Il-sung. It depicts two separated lovers, symbolizing the two Koreas, culminating with their reunion.
In North Korea, among the lists of "must-sees" is Mansu Hill, where a Korean War memorial and statue of Kim Il-sung is located. Others include the Arch of Triumph, Geumsu-san Memorial Palace and Kim Il-sung Mausoleum, a film studio in Pyongyang, and the Korean Central History Museum. Keats has found that these are the places American tourists find particularly interesting.
He said it's also worth watching how the local people pay their respect to Kim Il-sung at his mausoleum, who is regarded as a deity there. "From a foreigner's eye, that would be quite a cultural experience."
Last year, the reclusive country accepted about 20,000 visitors from abroad. The majority were Chinese and South Koreans. Fewer than 2,000 Westerners visited North Korea last year.
So, at the end of having the rare opportunity to see the secretive country, "people are pretty amazed", Keats said.
"North Korea is a unique system. I think most of the visitors leave with a positive view of the tour, which doesn't necessarily mean that they get to have a positive view of the country. But they learn more about the country by being there. Seeing it first-hand gives them a much better sense of what is going on there."
Sunny Lee is a writer/journalist based in Beijing, where he has lived for five years. A native of South Korea, Lee is a graduate of Harvard University and Beijing Foreign Studies University.
(Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

N. Korean Energy Aid Talks Kick Off in Panmunjeom

2007-08-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

Kim Myong Gil, center left in front, minister at the Noreth Korea’s mission to the United Nations, cosses border from North to South with South Korea’s deputy nuclear negotiator Lim Sung-nam, center right in front, to attend the 2nd Economy and Energy Coopperation Working Group Meeting in Panmunjom Tuesday. Negotioations were set to begin Tuesday amont the two Koreas, the United States and regional partners to iron out the details of an aid-for-disarmament deal with North Korea. / AP-Yonap

N. Korean Energy Aid Talks Kick Off in Panmunjeom

By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter

Working-level officials from six nations involved in talks over North Korea's nuclear weapons program met Tuesday to discuss details on energy aid to the North in return for its disablement of its nuclear facilities.
The two-day meeting opened at the truce village of Panmunjeom in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the Korean Peninsula.
They discussed ways to ship and store 950,000 tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent aid to the North, which is known to have a storage capacity of only 200,000 tons a year, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.
The energy assistance is part of 1 million tons of heavy oil promised to the communist state under an aid-for-disarmament deal struck in the six-way talks in Beijing in February.
The talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear ambition involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.
Under the accord, Pyongyang is required to close and eventually disable its plutonium-producing Yongbyon reactor and submit a complete list of its nuclear programs this year.
In return, the North is to receive 1 million tons of heavy oil or equivalent assistance from five other nations, but the North has yet to ask for any alternatives, the officials said.
South Korea has shipped the first 50,000 tons of heavy oil to North Korea in exchange for the North's shutdown of the Yongbyon reactor late last month. China has also offered to begin shipping another 50,000 tons in mid-August, according to reports.
A team of monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency is now in the Stalinist state to verify the shutdown.
A ministry official said on condition of anonymity that one of the options on the table is for North Korea to take credit or promissory notes for the set amount of heavy oil or equivalent energy and use them at its convenience.
The cost of the energy aid will be shared among South Korea, the United States, China and Russia, he said.
Japan is refusing to participate in the aid program, insisting that the issue of the Japanese citizens abducted by Pyongyang decades ago be addressed before any assistance is given to the poverty-stricken North.
Seoul's top nuclear envoy Chun Young-woo was optimistic about the North's denuclearization process.
``After many twists and turns, the six-party talks process has been given momentum, while skepticism has been disappearing,'' Chun told reporters upon arrival at the truce village. ``We anticipate the denuclearization process will make rapid progress, but there will be some obstacles and pitfalls, too.''
Chun attached importance to holding ``the first international meeting'' in Panmunjom as he saw the village as representing a particular legacy of division at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
At the end of the latest round of six-party talks last month, the countries agreed to convene all the working group talks before a new round is held early next month.
A China-hosted working group meeting on denuclearization is expected to be held in the Chinese city of Shenyang next week, while a working group on establishing a peace mechanism in Northeast Asia will be held the week after next, officials said.
Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. nuclear envoy, said last week that a working group meeting on the normalization of ties between Washington and Pyongyang would likely take place in a Southeast Asian country in late August.
gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr

Chairman Mao's Long Arm Strikes S. Korean Pet Shop

2007-08-03T19:54:00.000-07:00

The signboard of a pet shop in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province which provoked a diplomatic incident by substituting Mao Zedong's picture for a dog. This picture was posted on Web portal xiangshu (http://www.xiangshu.com).

Chairman Mao's Long Arm Strikes Korean Pet Shop

A pet shop in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province has bowed to international pressure over a sign in its window that showed the head of a dog emblazoned on Tiananmen gate. The gate in fact bears the likeness of chairman Mao Zedong. According to China’s Global Times, the shop has now removed the offending composite picture after the Cheoin-gu district office of Yongin City, responding to complaints from Chinese netizens, dispatched staff to the shop.
The owner of the pet shop said, "I got a call from the Korean Embassy in China and the Foreign Ministry, asking me to remove the signboard. And Chinese students in Korea also called nonstop to protest saying that the signboard offends China's pride." The owner explained he had no intention of insulting China but simply thought the signboard, which also showed the Great Wall of China, would look cute.
The international protest appears to have been sparked by a picture of the signboard taken by a Chinese student in Korea and posted on a Web portal. Protests from Chinese Internet users at one stage threatened to erupt into a diplomatic incident when the Chinese Foreign Ministry summoned an official from the Korean Embassy in Beijing to protest and request corrective measures.

(englishnews@chosun.com )

North Korea demands cease of defector's flyers

2007-08-03T14:52:00.000-07:00

▲ A member of Christian Defectors Association flies a balloon hanging fliers

North Korea's Demand to Cease Scattering of Flyers Provides Proof of Their Effectiveness

"In order to transform North Korea, outside news has to enter."
By Kim Song A
[2007-08-02 10:39 ]
dailynk.com

North Korea, through the North-South Korea Military working-level talks held on the 10th, proposed the cease of scattering of flyers by private organizations. This is the 16th time that North Korea has made such a request.
The North Korean authorities, through the North-South General Officers Talks held in 2004, protested that South Korean private organizations are scattering defamatory flyers, despite the fact that North and South Korea agreed to stop advertisement activities, broadcasting, or public announcements in the Military Demarcation Line region.
Related to this, Lee Min Bok, Christian Defectors Association’s representative, evaluated in a phone interview with DailyNK on the 26th, "The reason why North Korea is reacting sensitively is because many North Koreans are exposed to materials distributed by ‘leaflet balloons’ and are being influenced."
Mr. Lee revealed his intention to continue to carry out this work, "All North Koreans, with the exception of Kim Jong Il, probably appreciate the information distribution even though they cannot outwardly express it. We will continue to carry out this work with the single-hearted purpose of relaying outside news."
Lee, who entered South Korea in `95 via Russia and China after defecting from North Korea in `90 is well-known as "the first refugee from North Korea defined by UN." Presently, he graduated from seminary in South Korea and is involved in spreading Christianity in North Korea.
Through the balloon, his strategy is to transform North Korea while disseminating outside news such as evangelism flyers to North Korea. The members of defector and missionary organizations sent 207 large-size balloons (as of July 18th) to North Korea this year alone.
A total of 597,816 leaflets were sent to North Korea through these balloons. Six radios and medicine such as aspirin were included as well. He who has been continuing this activity since 2002 emphasized that disseminating outside news was more important than any other work.
"In East Germany and the former Soviet Union, outside news caused the fall of Communism. East Germany's last prime minister Lothar de Maiziere said at the time of Germany's reunification, "West Germany tried to relay news of the outside world to East Germany. Russian-born North Korean expert, Professor Andrei Lankov said, "Soviet Union was toppled because of the radio."
"As when Romanian citizens executed dictator Ceaucescu, the potential power of North Korean citizens will be great if North Korea collapses," confirmed Lee of the enormous impact dissemination of flyers and radio broadcasting has had on North Korean citizens.
He said, "Failure to support or back such activity might actually ignore the latent energy of North Korean citizens. When I was in North Korea, I learned a lot from the flyers from South Korea. What I saw then is significantly helping me produce flyers to be distributed to North Korea now."
He recalled his experience then and has produced flyers which are considerate of North Korean citizens by expressing terminology or inscriptions which may not be understood in a more North Korean way.
Regarding the content of the flyers, he explained, "It focuses on North Korean society's devotion towards Kim Jong Il and helping them realize the areas of propagandistic lies about South Korea."
He added, "I have lived in North Korean society, so I know what to capture to reveal the true nature of North Korea's political power. From such intent, the defectors have to become owners of this work and must actively step forward."
Sending one large-sized balloon to North Korea costs around 140 dollars. The cost adds up if the one counts the failed balloons due to the weak north wind. The support money from defector or missionary organizations and civilian organizations have been appropriated for this work.
Lee, who believes that a single flyer he sends can change the North Korean people, emphatically said, "There is no one who significantly recognizes our work, but in order to open and reform North Korea, I do not think there is any other way. Until North Korea democratizes and becomes reunified, I will continue this work."

NKorea denounces US-SKorea military exercise, vows to increase war deterrent

2007-08-03T07:21:00.000-07:00

NKorea denounces US-SKorea military exercise, vows to increase war deterrent

The Associated Press
Thursday, August 2, 2007

SEOUL, South Korea: North Korea denounced a planned joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States, describing it Friday as an unacceptable provocation and preparation for an invasion of the communist nation.
The North routinely criticizes the annual Ulchi Focus Lens drill as a rehearsal for a northward invasion, although U.S. and South Korean officials have repeatedly said the exercise — staged since 1975 — is purely defensive. This year's drill is set for Aug. 20-31.
The drill is aimed at "stifling (the North) with force and is an unacceptable provocation that drives the Korean peninsula situation to the phase of an extreme confrontation," the North's Committee for Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
The exercise is set to involve about 10,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea and abroad, and a "small number" of U.S. personnel will travel to South Korea for the drill, according to the U.S. military. The North has been notified of the exercise plan by U.S. forces.
The North claimed the exercise "poses obstacles to efforts to resolve" the standoff over the country's nuclear programs and hinders reconciliation between the two Koreas.
"It remains our position that we respond with good faith to good faith and with merciless punishment to provocation," it said. "Our army and the people will further solidify our war deterrent."
The North's reference to its "deterrent" usually refers to its nuclear programs.
Pyongyang shut down its sole functioning nuclear reactor last month in exchange for energy aid under a deal with the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia. The February deal also calls for Pyongyang to disclose all its nuclear programs and disable facilities.
About 28,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a cease-fire, leaving the two Koreas still technically at war.

BBC NEWS
N Korea condemns joint war games
North Korea has condemned plans for a joint military exercise between South Korea and the US later this month.
Pyongyang called the 11-day exercise an "intolerable act of provocation" that threatened recent progress over its nuclear programme.
The North regularly denounces the annual Ulchi Focus Lens drill as preparation for an attack against it.
Seoul and Washington insist the exercises, which began in 1975, are purely for defensive purposes.
The Ulchi Focus Lens drill, which is this year set for 20-31 August, is one of the world's largest computer-simulated war games.
This year, it is expected to involve 10,000 US troops, most of them stationed in South Korea, and an undisclosed number of South Korean troops.
'Extreme confrontation'
North Korea's Committee for Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland denounced the war games in a statement carried on the country's official media.
The drill is "an intolerable act of provocation, which is driving the situation on the Korean peninsula to a phase of extreme confrontation", the statement said.
The committee said the exercise "poses obstacles to efforts to resolve" the nuclear disarmament issue and improving inter-Korean relations.
The North warned that it would respond by working to "further solidify our war deterrent".
The North frequently uses the word "deterrent" when referring to its nuclear programme, correspondents say.
Pyongyang provoked international alarm and condemnation last October after carrying out its first nuclear test.
But last month, the North shut down its only functioning nuclear reactor, Yongbyon, as part of a landmark deal agreed at multi-party talks in February.
Efforts are now under way for the North and its partners in the talks - the US, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia - to move on to the next phase of the deal, which involves permanently disabling its nuclear facilities.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/6928973.stm
Published: 2007/08/03 07:15:32 GMT
© BBC MMVII

Aso gets in Pyongyang counterpart's face

2007-08-03T07:18:00.000-07:00

Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Aso (L), U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, (C) and U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney (R) arrive for a gala dinner at the Philippine Convention Center for delegates of the 40th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial Meeting and ASEAN Regional Forum in Manila August 1, 2007. REUTERS/Cheryl Ravelo (PHILIPPINES)

Aso gets in Pyongyang counterpart's face

MANILA (Kyodo) Japan's and North Korea's foreign ministers, meeting Thursday at Asia's top security forum in Manila, crossed swords over contentious bilateral issues, including Pyongyang's abductions of Japanese and alleged discrimination against pro-Pyongyang residents in Japan, a Japanese official said.
At the plenary session of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum, North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun complained over their nations' unresolved past history and Japan's recent alleged inhumane treatment of members of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryon.
While Japan is keen to resolve the decades-old issue of North Korea's abductions of Japanese, Pyongyang wants to pursue reparations for Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
Pak also singled out Japan and the United States to fulfill their commitments to North Korea following Pyongyang's denuclearization moves, the official said.
Pak apparently had in mind Japan's energy aid and U.S. moves to begin removing North Korea from its list of terrorist-sponsoring nations, both of which are referred to under a six-party accord struck in February.
Responding to North Korea's complaints on Japan, Aso said at the ARF meeting that Japan finds North Korea's remarks unacceptable as they include details that are contrary to facts, the official said, without elaborating.
The Japan Times: Friday, Aug. 3, 2007
(C) All rights reserved

Kim Jong Il Recovers his Health, Regime Stabilizes

2007-08-02T21:27:00.000-07:00

In this photo distributed on Friday August 3, 2007, by the (North) Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service in Tokyo, shown is North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, front right, inspecting a vegetable greenhouse during his visit to Combined Unit 264 of the Korean People's Army. The date and place of his visit were not disclosed by the sources. (AP Photo/Korea Central News Agency via Korea News Service)

Kim Jong Il Recovers his Health, Regime Stabilizes

Research on the Political Situation on Unification - North Korea Tries to Divide South Korean Politi
By Yang Jung A
dailynk.com
[2007-08-02 17:43 ]
With the protocol to stabilize the internal regime that North Korea has pursued for the first half of the year, speculations arise that they will carry on with a bolder policy both within and outside the government for the latter half of the year.
Lee Bong Jo, Head of the Korea Institute for National Unification claimed in the "Analysis of the North Korean Political Situation in the First Half of the Year" that he released through his website on the 27th that "North Korea will stifle the overly festive mood that is widespread that may hurt societal unity both within and outside the government. Through individuals in central political and military institutions, it seems that North Korea has tried meticulously to normalize national institutions in efforts to stabilize the regime.
Accordingly, he predicted, "There is a possibility that North Korea will pursue a further bolder policy both within and outside the government following the conclusion of the efforts to stabilize the internal regime and the recovery of Kim Jong Il's health in the latter half of the year."
The report added that "Internally, efforts will be focused to bring about technology and resources with regards to arbitrary expenses for enterprises and factories as well as strengthening of the efforts to involve the general public to solve economic issues. Externally, it is assumed that diplomatic efforts such as the expansion of dialogue between North Korea and the U.S. to settle economic compensation issues and the inducing of a North Korea - U.S. conference to solve the issue of military issues on the peninsula will be strengthened to change the North Korea - U.S. relationship.
In the analysis of the political category of the first half of the year, it evaluated that, "North Korea has carried on with its Great Four political festivities such as the 65th birthday of Kim Jong Il, 95th birthday of Kim Il Sung, 75th anniversary of the establishment of the army and the Arirang Commemoration without any other obstacles and showed off their continuance of political stability and Kim Jong Il's grasp over his power."
However it also analyzed, "Unexpectedly, the Great Four festivities did not surpass the scale of an ordinary festival and some parts of the festival were concluded earlier as the schedules were moved up. When considering the importance of a "Year that was Snapped Down", this may be reflecting the problems on a internal regime level."
In addition, it pointed out, "The frequency of Chairman Kim's public activity during the first half of the year has fallen to half [compared to last year]. Such low public activity reflects the personal problems [health issues] of Kim Jong Il or the direct signs of the internal regime."
The report goes on to state that during the first half of the year, it is "judged that North Korea has replaced several leading officials and pursued a stabilization of the structure of internal political power. The current individuals carry a distinct trait of being replaced in practical affairs (Prime Minister, external affairs) or strengthening and consolidating the central power institutions such as the National Defense Commission, Military Chief of Staff, General Political Bureau and the team managing the overall political propaganda."
"Latter Half of the Year, North Korea May Attempt a Political Disruption of the South"
Regarding the economic sphere, it has been evaluated that "North Korean authorities have spent effort to solve energy issues such as the previous economic decisions on electricity and coal. They have further tried to improve equipment to raise the effectiveness of the opening and development of the 4th Taecheon Power Plant and the 1st Uhrangcheon Power Plant."
Regarding the policy toward South Korea, "North Korea has showed its active involvement for the start of various North-South Conferences to gain actual benefits (such as economic benefits) and shows that it is actively using humanitarian conferences as a means to gain benefits as well. Especially regarding the case of the North-South Military Conference, instead of pursuing a conference to build credibility of North-South forces, it has gone in the direction of achieving political goals such as making the NLL problem into an issue."
The report also claims, "North Korea has officially started political involvement in South Korea and strengthened "National Cooperation" politics to take a half step in the consolidation of a pro-North Korean force and the fight against the U.S. in the first half of the year. They have genuinely tried to move strategically in their involvement with South Korean politics as they try to take the essence of the South Korean presidential election and to change it to a power struggle between "Pro-North Korean peace parties and Anti-North Korean militant parties".
Regarding the South Korean presidential elections, "North Korea's involvement can be broadly divided into the invitation of pan-ruling party candidates to North Korea and the anti-Grand National Party (GNP) propaganda activity. At first it started to generalize GNP as an anti-North Korean militant party and criticized them but it has moved on and spread to criticize the individual GNP’s candidates that seem favorable in the presidential election.
Moreover, it predicted that in the latter half of the year, "If North Korea feels the necessity, there is possibility that it will attempt political or societal division within South Korea through a series of activity to heighten anxiety or creating a division between the "militant party versus the peace party" within South Korea.

Causing Trouble on Election Day Means More Severe Punishment

2007-08-02T21:23:00.000-07:00

In this Korean Central News Agency photo released by Korea News Service in Tokyo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il casts his ballot at a polling station in Hamju county in South Hamgyong province, northeast of Pyongyang, North Korea, Sunday, July 29, 2007. North Koreans went to the polls Sunday to elect the Provincial, City and county People's Assemblies. (AP Photo/Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service)

Causing Trouble on Election Day Means a More Severe Punishment

[NK Local Assembly Representative Election] Must Dance According to Orders with the Closure of the E
By Kim Song A
dailynk.com
[2007-08-01 15:05 ]
On the 29th, North Korea held the Local People's Assembly representative elections.
This is a representative held every four years for the general cities, gun (county levels) and regional districts.
The North Korea Supreme People’s Assembly reported on June 19th that it would conduct the local representative elections and on the following 23rd formed the Central Election Committee with Yang Hyun Sup, Vice Chairman of the Supreme People’s Assembly Standing Committee as the Chairman.
Following this, the voter list was publicly announced on the 14th and the nomination of representative candidates was finalized on the 29th.
After the announcement of the upcoming election, North Korea has mobilized various media, institutions and individuals to promote voter participations. It also conducted an extensive resident registration check and a verification to search for travelers without a valid identification to ensure regulation for citizens’ voter participation.
What is the reaction of North Korean citizens on Election Day?
Citizens do not need to contemplate on whom to vote for. Everyone knows that not only is the election only to vote for or against the candidate but everyone must give a vote for the candidate as well. To these people, an election does not have a special meaning.
Lee Jung Hyun [pseudonym] who defected in 2005 remembers, “The election would merely consist of following the orders of the people’s unit’s chairpersons. The People’s Unit would gather and according to the Leader’s prior commands and sign with one’s signature. I didn’t even feel like it was a bother because there was no significance to the election.”
It wasn’t necessary bad because “it wasn’t too frequent, only once every couple years and Election Day was a holiday.”
Lee also added, “With the upcoming election, students even in middle school would be involved in propaganda to promote voter participation. In many cases, voter participation activity would be the role for students so adults would just have to participate on that day [Election Day].”
Citizens must start dancing in front of the voting booth before twelve o’clock as the voting starts to end. It is under the pretext that it is a happy and significant day to celebrate the observance of sovereignty.
Kim Ju Won [pseudonym] who defected in 2003 said that “the Head Official (person in charge of the election) or the chairperson of People’s Unit told us to dance so we would dance for 30 minutes to an hour and then separated to rest.”
After dancing, there would be no further activity for the day and everyone would each rest. Men would often have drinks and some citizens would go to the elected official’s houses to congratulate them.
Kim said, “On this day, despite how much you drink, you must not cause any trouble.” If anything happens on Election Day, there is a greater punishment than ordinary days.
Kim claimed, “In cases of a fight that breaks out after drinking or a theft, in severe cases, people are exiled to the countryside. Most people know that if you cause trouble on this day, there is a far severe punishment that follows.”
It is known that with the elections, North Korea has involved elementary and middle school students to promote voter participation. These students involved in such propaganda promoted voter participation with the slogan to “Strengthen the People’s Authority through Voter Participation”.
Defector Joo Won Kyung [pseudonym] from Pyongyang said “North Korea tries to unify the people and strengthen the regime but in reality they don’t see any other effects. Citizens only participate in the election because they do not want to be removed from the resident registration or be identified as a traitor.”

Why Did the Apartment in Hyesan Collapse?

2007-08-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

▲ A border bridge between Hyesan and Changbai, China

Why Did the Apartment in Hyesan Collapse?
By Han Young Jin, Reporter from Pyongyang
[2007-08-01 21:19 ]

Regarding the Hyesan, Yangkang province “apartment collapse incident (Reported Daily NK 7/23),” an opinion has been brought forward that the direct cause is the change in the weight load that followed from a drastic removal of the interior wall.
An internal North Korean news source quotes a witness to the incident who states, "Starting on the morning of the 19th, two construction workers were carrying on with a project to remove the wall panel of a house. When the wall panel was about to be dismantled, the concrete floor from the floor above spilled out and one side of the seven-story apartment crumbled down."
Among the residents who had lived in the collapsed apartment, it was a trend to remodel the interior to enlarge the drawing room in a modern Chinese style. This apartment was typically a place where the relatively affluent class such as customs or trade workers resided.
Without passing building safety inspections, households would remove the wall panel that divided the small room and the kitchen to create a drawing room where they could drink tea with guests.
North Korean apartments are distributed to residents in the form of a rental apartment and if apartment residents want to change the structure, they must report this to the City Administrative Bureau under the People's Committee that acts as the Superintendence Office for residents. However, the City Administrative Bureau has been accepting bribes and looking the other way which makes the regulations only valid in theory.
The news source also claimed, "It seems the building couldn't withstand it anymore and collapsed. Due to this incident, 26 people have died and there are dozens more in casualties."
In addition, they also claimed, "the Public Security Forces evacuated the residents on the side of the building without damages and demolished the entire apartment. It was a place that was clearly visible even in China and as reconstruction was difficult, it seems they demolished it all."
Defector Kim Ju Chan [pseudonym] who had spoken to his family who lives in Hyesan said, "There has been a rumor to be alert as the apartment collapse incident is a conspiracy of the South Korean National Intelligence Service. However, hardly anyone believes this and says that this couldn't be the result of a NIS conspiracy but from the construction of the wall panels."
As this incident occurred during the Local Assembly representative elections, the North Korean authorities have been spreading such rumors like "South Korean NIS invasion" to prevent any changes in public sentiment.
Kim said, "In the process of handling the building debris, they also withdrew bundles of money or anything that looked valuable from private households. As the majority of the apartment residents are powerful people, it seems as there will be no other trouble."

Fraud scientist made unwitting discovery, say researchers

2007-08-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

South Korean stem cell pioneer Hwang Woo-Suk gained international renown for cloning the world's first human embryos and extracting stem cells from them, but lost his hero status in December 2005 when he asked a prestigious journal to retract an article, saying he had fabricated results.(AP Photo)

Fraud scientist made unwitting discovery, say researchers

· Stem cells were grown from unfertilised egg
· Revelation comes in study of disgraced man's work

* Ian Sample, science correspondent
* The Guardian
* Friday August 3 2007

Scientists at the heart of one of the greatest scandals in modern science made a dramatic leap forward in stem cell research without realising it, an investigation into their work revealed yesterday. Hwang Woo-suk, a leading stem cell scientist, from South Korea, fell from grace last year when an official inquest found he had faked data on human cloning. The fraud severely dented hopes for treatments based on embryonic stem cells, which in principle can grow into any tissue in the body. But it appears he has inadvertently achieved a world first, according to researchers who studied his work.
Dr Hwang's team had succeeded in extracting stem cells from human eggs forced to undergo parthenogenesis, where eggs develop into early-stage embryos despite not being fertilised by sperm. The feat has been a much sought goal for stem cell scientists, since it paves the way for the creation of human tissues that are genetically identical to those of the egg donor. Replacement organ tissues or nerve fibres grown from a woman's stem cells could be used to treat serious diseases or injuries without fear of rejection from the immunity system of the recipient.
A team of experts, including researchers at Harvard and Cambridge universities, analysed stem cells created by Dr Hwang's group, and found that some stem cells must have come from an unfertilised human egg alone, and not from a cloned embryo as Dr Hwang originally claimed. Some animals, such as Komodo dragons and hammerhead sharks, can deliver healthy offspring via virgin births, the outcome of unfertilised eggs becoming embryos. Very rarely human eggs divide without being fertilised, but the embryos are flawed so rejected in the womb.
The latest study, led by George Daley at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, clears up the mystery of how Dr Hwang's stem cells were created. Details of the study appear in the journal Cell Stem Cell. Dr Daley noted: "They might represent a favourable source for tissue replacement therapies."
Last month, a team of US and Russian researchers said they had derived embryonic stem cells from unfertilised eggs.
Miodrag Stojkovic, the professor who, in 2005, created Britain's first cloned human embryo, said stem cells from eggs could make a substantial impact on medicine. "They offer hope for patient-specific stem cells because they contain only the woman's DNA so are genetically identical to [her]," he said.

August 02, 2007
Korean Cloned Human Cells Were Product of "Virgin Birth"
Fraudulent cloned cells were likely the first example of a human egg turned directly into stem cells
Researchers say they have confirmed suspicions that embryonic stem cells claimed to be extracted from the first cloned human embryo by discredited South Korean scientist Woo Suk Hwang actually owe their existence to parthenogenesis, a process in which egg cells give rise to embryos without being fertilized by sperm.
A series of genetic markers sprinkled throughout the cells' chromosomes show the same pattern found in parthenogenetic mice as opposed to cloned mice, according to a report published online today in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
The result suggests that, although Hwang deceived the world about achieving the first human cloning, his group was first to succeed in performing human parthenogenesis, which may offer a way of creating cells that are genetically matched to a woman for transplantation back into her body to treat degenerative diseases.
"I think this is an extremely important—and solid—paper," says stem cell researcher Robert Lanza, vice president of research and scientific development at Applied Cell Technology, a regenerative medicine company headquartered in Alameda, Calif., who did not take part in the study. "It conclusively proves that the stem cell line in question was not cloned as claimed, but rather was generated through parthenogenesis."
The result follows on the heels of an announcement last month by another California stem cell company, International Stem Cell Corporation (ISC) in Oceanside, that it had successfully achieved human parthenogenesis for the first time. Last year, Italian researchers claimed to have achieved the same feat but have yet to publish their results.
"The fact that this has now been achieved by two independent groups gives me a far greater degree of confidence," Lanza says.
The new finding brings a measure of closure to a story that first rocked the science world in February 2004, when Hwang and colleagues at Seoul National University announced they had cloned a female donor's cell by transferring its nucleus into one of her egg cells stripped of its nucleus in a procedure known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), and harvested embryonic stem cells from the resulting fusion. They published the result the next month in Science.
The claim went up in smoke in January of 2006 after a probe by the university concluded that Hwang had fabricated the evidence, which followed a similarly damning assessment of a landmark paper from the previous year in which the group falsely reported creating 11 cell lines genetically matched to their donors.
Unsolved Mysteries
A cloned cell should be identical to its donor, but the probe found that of 48 common genetic variations, or markers, present in the 2004 cells, eight did not match their apparent donor. Investigators raised parthenogenesis as the most likely explanation but could not be certain.
Later, during a chance discussion with European colleagues, stem cell researcher George Daley of Children's Hospital Boston and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute learned that they had received samples of the cell line before the work was retracted. "We had read the suspicions that the cell was a parthenote, but also realized that it had never really been proven," Daley says.
To settle the case, they analyzed the genetic sequence of the cell line at 500,000 locations across the genome.
The DNA of any two people will differ on average at one of every 1,000 subunits, or base pairs, Daley says. When a chromosome from a sperm cell joins with that of an egg, these single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs or "snips") tend not to match each other.
The same goes for cloned cells. But in contrast, pairs of matching chromosomes in parthenogenetic cells tend to match one another in the middle and differ near the ends because of a genetic mixing process called recombination. In their paper, Daley and colleagues report that the SNPs in the Korean cell line do indeed match toward the center of the chromosomes, similar to five parthenogenetic mouse cell lines that the team created for comparison.
In a separate analysis, they also found that three regions lacked the chemical modifications, or imprinting, that paternal genes impose on a fertilized embryo to prevent those genes from being activated.
Jeffrey Janus, president and director of research for ISC, agrees that "Dr. Hwang's cells have characteristics found in parthenogenetic cells" but remains cautious, saying "it needs more study."
The Irony of It All
Stem cell experts say that Hwang and his team probably had no clue what they had achieved, because if they had they would have claimed credit for it.
"I think this … is every bit as exciting as the SCNT they were claiming," says stem cell researcher Kent Vrana of Pennsylvania State University, who pioneered parthenogenesis in monkeys. "Parthenotes by their very nature are nonviable embryos, so you're not destroying embryos, which has some ethical advantages."
Vrana says the Korean team used a procedure common in attempts to induce parthenogenesis and SCNT alike, in which they injected egg cells with calcium and a protein synthesis inhibitor to mimic what happens when sperm fertilizes an egg.
To achieve SCNT, they first had to extract each egg's DNA and then inject the donor cell nucleus. Daley says the Korean scientists must have inadvertently left the DNA intact in one of the 242 egg cells they injected. "They claimed they verified the removal of the DNA,'' Daley says, "but obviously they didn't."
The injection of the donor nucleus could have failed if the injecting needle pulled it back out when withdrawn from the egg or if the egg somehow rejected the introduced nucleus, Vrana says.
Hwang's group purported to rule out parthenogenesis as an explanation in part by showing that two genes normally activated by paternal DNA were inactive in the cells. But Daley says such experiments are easy to misinterpret and are less conclusive than sequencing SNPs.
"I think they were just so blinded by what they hoped to accomplish, they missed it," Vrana says.
As a result, in late June, more than a year after Science retracted the 2004 paper, researchers at ISC were able to claim the discovery of human parthenogenetic cell lines as their own in the journal Cloning and Stem Cells. The group reported growing multiple parthenogenetic embryonic stem cell lines by incubating eggs in a warm, low-oxygen culture medium.
Before today's announcement, the work was already "awfully convincing," Vrana says, and surprisingly successful: out of some 50 donated eggs, the company grew six cell lines. Parthenogenesis in monkeys typically works only once every 90 eggs, he says.
Banking on Parthenotes
The therapeutic potential of parthenogenetic cells remains to be seen. The lack of imprinting from the paternal DNA may cause the cells to behave abnormally as they develop. Furthermore, they must have matching immune proteins to be transplanted back into a donor.
In principle, tissue banks of parthenogenetic cell lines could include enough different immune protein combinations to treat up to half of the U.S. population—men as well as women—Lanza says. But he adds that if human parthenotes routinely contain as many genetic mismatches as the Korean cells, the number of eggs needed to create such a bank could be prohibitively large.
Daley says his group hopes to acquire donated eggs from women with inherited diseases and use parthenogenesis to create cell lines to study those disorders. In the future, researchers will have to determine whether similar cells are safe and effective when transplanted.
"We're a long, long way," Daley says, "from realizing therapeutic uses of these cells."

© 1996-2007 Scientific American, Inc. All rights reserved.

Unusual nuclear contamination found in N.Korea - U.N.

2007-08-02T18:40:00.000-07:00

Unusual nuclear contamination found in N.Korea - U.N.
Thu Aug 2, 2007 1:50AM IST

By Mark Heinrich

VIENNA (Reuters) - U.N. monitors said on Wednesday they found higher than normal radioactive contamination at North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex, causing an initial delay in verifying its shutdown, but the problem was now resolved.
They were speaking after returning to Vienna, headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency, following a weekend handover with a replacement IAEA team that will keep watching over Yongbyon while five powers seek deals with North Korea on steps to advance its promised nuclear disarmament.
The first group of monitors said in Beijing on Tuesday after exiting North Korea that Pyongyang had cooperated fully with their mission, allowing them to verify that Yongbyon, which produces bomb-grade plutonium fuel, had been shut down.
"At the very beginning when we started the work (on July 14), the (radioactive) contamination was a bit higher than expected..., a bit more than normal," Adel Tolba, head of the first monitoring group, said at Vienna airport on Wednesday.
"(So) there was a delay. It took a little time for us ... until we cleaned everything up. But now everything is fixed," he told reporters.
He said the installation of cameras and other surveillance equipment at Yongbyon was now back on schedule, denying reports there would be a two-week delay beyond the month IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei said it would take to carry out the task.
Tolba could not say why the radioactivity had been higher than normal. Yongbyon's 5-megawatt reactor and its spent fuel reprocessing plant are based on an antiquated Soviet design.
"This is only a radiation and safety issue, not one of non-proliferation (of nuclear weapons)," said a senior Vienna diplomat familiar with IAEA operations in North Korea.
Tolba declined comment on the state of Pyongyang's nuclear facilities. Such weighty issues are left to ElBaradei who will issue a report on the shutdown to the agency's 35-nation Board of Governors before its next meeting in September.
North Korea closed Yongbyon to uphold its side of a deal thrashed out by six countries which in return promised energy aid to the impoverished Stalinist state. The six are the United States, North and South Korea, Japan, China and Russia.
North Korea threw out IAEA inspectors in 2002 after a 1994 disarmament deal collapsed. Pyongyang's first nuclear test explosion last October stirred global alarm which rekindled negotiations leading to the disarmament accord in February.
Next week, officials will start ironing out technical details of the next steps to end North Korea's atomic bomb project, meeting on the fortified border between the North and South Korea, the chief U.S. negotiator said on Wednesday.
Christopher Hill, speaking at an East Asian security meeting in Manila, said he hoped the six parties would be able to get through all denuclearisation stages next year, although he called that timetable "ambitious".
(Additional reporting by John Ruwitch in Manila)

© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.

Peace or appeasement with Pyongyang?

2007-08-02T18:34:00.000-07:00

US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte (Top) and North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun arrive for the gala dinner during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Manila 01 August. The United States and North Korea agreed to work hard to successfully complete a six-nation agreement on disarming Pyongyang's nuclear programme, officials said on Thursday.(AFP/Jay Directo)

Peace or appeasement with Pyongyang?
By Sung-Yoon Lee

SEOUL - In the wake of the drastic reversal in the US administration's North Korea policy early this year - from one of rhetorical pressure and economic strangulation to a quixotic blend of unbridled appeasement of the Kim Jong-il regime - just what the six-party process on the denuclearization of North Korea has permutated into remains clear: a formal process for accepting North Korea as a de facto nuclear-weapons state and, consequently, a process for perpetuating the division of the Korean Peninsula.
The participants in the six-party process will protest that the denuclearization of North Korea remains the ostensible objective of the hitherto impressively unimpressive intermittent multilateral meetings in Beijing. But since its inception in August 2003, the six-party nuclear-dismantlement process has resembled more a multilateral forum for devising ever new and creative means for providing aid to North Korea than a serious forum for serious nuclear diplomacy. A separate inter-Korean forum exists for that very purpose of unilateral giving - it is known as the North-South Ministerial-Level Meetings, now into their 21st generous, if otherwise futile, round.
The latest six-party meeting (the 12th, counting all "rounds" and "phases") on the denuclearization of North Korea confirms that the multilateral negotiations, although some 100 days behind schedule as defined in the "breakthrough" agreement signed by the six parties on February 13, is on track and proceeding as planned - that is, planned according to the North Korean playbook. North Korea, by making such token gestures as shutting down its Yongbyon reactor and readmitting inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency - who themselves will actually be the ones vigorously monitored and chaperoned under the watchful eyes of the North Korean state - is guaranteed to reap the generous fruits of nuclear blackmail so long as the six-party process stays on its current trajectory.
A startlingly simple fact stands in the way of achieving the ostensible goal of the six-party process: there is simply no precedent by which nuclear diplomacy, in the absence of new pressures and a new political will with attendant regime change, has led to the complete denuclearization of a nuclear-weapons state. South Africa made a strategic choice after F W de Klerk became president in 1989 to end its political system of apartheid and dismantle its nuclear arsenal as a policy of gaining acceptance by the international community. Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus - which inherited Soviet nuclear weapons in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union - all made a strategic decision in the early 1990s to negotiate away their nuclear weapons and reorient themselves toward the United States and western Europe.
If there actually existed a magic formula for persuading a nuclear-weapons state to dismantle its nuclear arsenal for political and economic aid, one wonders why it was not applied to the Soviet Union in the late-1940s, Britain in the early 1950s, France in the late 1950s, China in the mid-1960s, India in the early 1970s, and Pakistan in the mid-1990s. States develop nuclear weapons to possess them and to revel in the power and prestige that such worldly possessions grant them, not to bargain them away for money or food - blandishments that carry a short expiration date.
The administration of US President George W Bush, now into its twilight legacy phase and desperate for any kind of diplomatic victory during its remaining 18 months in office - especially vis-a-vis the three "axis of evil" states - is apparently content to continue the new six-party process of accepting a nuclear North Korea and perpetuating the division of the Korean Peninsula. In line with maintaining the mirage of "progress" on the six-party talks, the US is now even studying the possibility of signing a peace treaty with North Korea to bring the Korean War of 1950-53, which ended in a ceasefire and armistice rather than a peace treaty, to a formal conclusion. Optimists on both sides of the Pacific are celebrating such a move, sighing with relief that genuine peace on the Korean Peninsula may finally be at hand.
Yet peace, not war, is what we've had on the Korean Peninsula over the past 54 years since the armistice was signed on July 27, 1953. The past 54 years of peace is the longest in Korean history since the arrival of the Atlantic powers in the mid-19th century. During this time South Koreans have enjoyed the greatest period of economic growth and material comfort in the history of the Korean nation. Such a peace, as imperfect as it has been, has existed not only despite the absence of a peace treaty with North Korea, but because of the presence of US forces in the South and the consequent balance of power between the two Koreas. South Korea's military power may now have equaled or even surpassed that of the North.
But more than victory in war, security in peace is what Koreans and Americans have striven for over the past half-century and is what they should focus on today. And the presence of US troops in South Korea has been and remains the greatest deterrent to North Korean adventurism and the disruption of the ongoing peace on the peninsula.
Ever since North Korea joined the World Health Organization in 1973 and thereby was able to open a diplomatic mission in New York the next year, Pyongyang has proposed bilateral peace negotiations with Washington, all the while as it was sending an assassin to kill South Korean president Park Chung-hee that summer (which led instead to the death of his wife, Yuk Young-soo, and a high-school student) and hacking to death two US soldiers along the Demilitarized Zone just two years later.
North Korea knows better than any other that a peace treaty is just an agreement on paper, one that often conceals the true hostile intent of the signatory. At the same time, North Korea calculates that the conclusion of such a peace treaty with the US would create enormous pressure for the eviction of US forces from the South. With the signing of a peace treaty and all the political spin celebrating the dawn of a new era and genuine peace on the Korean Peninsula, the very raison d'etre for US troops in South Korea would vanish.
Even a cursory glance at international history over the past century shows us that a "peace treaty" among hostile powers has all too frequently been little more than a historical canard. Often, a peace treaty or a non-aggression pact is patently useless in the prevention of war, its putative goal.
Although not directly responsible for the rise of Adolf Hitler, the prohibitively punitive Versailles Peace Treaty in retrospect stands rather unimpressively. The Kellogg-Briand Pact was an international treaty providing for the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy. At first it was signed by 15 nations in Paris in August 1928, including Germany, France, Japan, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, all which went to war in the course of the next 15 years. Barely six months later, an "Eastern European" version (otherwise known as "Litvinov's Pact") was signed in Moscow among the Soviet Union, Poland, Romania, Latvia and Estonia. And, of course, the most infamous, deceitful and worthless "non-aggression pact" ever to have been devised was the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, better known as the Stalin-Hitler Pact, conjured up and signed in August 1939.
The United States and Korea's regional neighbors may grow to learn to live with a nuclear North Korea. Practiced in the art of deception and well versed in nuclear blackmail, North Korea will go on reaping rewards from its powerful and wealthy neighbors as long as it does not completely dismantle its nuclear arsenal. For a state like North Korea that hangs on the precipice of economic collapse, nuclear blackmail is a necessary condition for regime survival and the prevention of absorption by its Southern neighbor. By condoning this extortion, the US may ensure North Korea's survival. In turn, this new situation implies the perpetuation of two separate Korean regimes on the Korean Peninsula, a policy that China favors and one that spells doom for the terribly suffering and politically persecuted people of North Korea.
Unbeknownst to the US, a peace treaty with North Korea might briefly tip the balance of power between the two Koreas in Pyongyang's favor. The US may have the wherewithal to live with the uncertainties of a nuclear North Korea. But rushing to sign a peace treaty with Kim Jong-il might lead to conditions that would break the de facto peace that has existed on the peninsula for more than half a century. Just as the absence of a peace treaty between Moscow and Tokyo does not imply an imminent war between Russia and Japan, an armistice in place of a peace treaty between Washington and Pyongyang does not imply the breakdown of the peace on the Korean Peninsula.
At the very least, the ill-advised rush to "peace" is a likely candidate for the historical annals of self-destructive appeasement. The great sacrifices made by Americans in the Korean War, the legacy of the close US-South Korea relationship over the past 60 years, and future US strategic interests in and around the Korean Peninsula should not be sacrificed at the altar of diplomatic peace. Real peace is won by resolve and sacrifice, while ephemeral peace is all too often concocted only by vowels and consonants.

Dr Sung-Yoon Lee is a visiting professor of Korean studies at Sogang University, Seoul.

(Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

Russia concerned over N. Korea missile tests - senior diplomat

2007-08-02T18:26:00.000-07:00

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill (R) shakes hands with Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Vladimir Rakhmanin (L) as North Korean negotiator Kim Kye-gwan waves at the end of six party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue in Beijing July 20, 2007. Grinding talks to end North Korea's nuclear arms ambitions will shift to technical wrangling over disarmament steps, envoys said on Friday as they endorsed a broad plan lacking any deadline. REUTERS/Greg Baker/Pool (CHINA)

Russia concerned over N. Korea missile tests - senior diplomat
20:39 | 02/ 08/ 2007

MOSCOW, August 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's envoy to the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program said Thursday that although Pyongyang's ballistic missiles are technically backward, Moscow is nevertheless concerned over the country's missile test firings.
"We do not consider these weapons [North Korean missiles] to be technologically advanced, but it concerns us all the more because we cannot predict where the missiles could be flying," Vladimir Rakhmanin said in an interview with Moscow-based Ekho Moskvy radio.
Envoys from China, Japan, Russia, the United States and the two Koreas have recently discussed arrangements for the second phase of North Korea's nuclear disarmament process after Pyongyang promised to declare and deactivate all its nuclear facilities.
Rakhmanin said North Korea's missile tests had not been discussed at the recent negotiations, but that a Russia-led working group on security in northwest Asia, formed within the framework of the six-party talks, could raise the issue at any point.
North Korea conducted at least three test launches of short-range ballistic missiles this year, the latest being fired in June while the G8 summit was being held in Germany.
In April, Pyongyang demonstrated new medium-range missiles during a military parade. Some experts believe these missiles are an improved version of Soviet-made SSN-6 Sawfly with estimated range of up to 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles).
In May 2005, the country launched short-range missiles from its eastern coast, and in July 2006 a total of seven missiles, including the Taepodong-2, which has a range of up to 6,000 km (3,700 miles).
The reclusive Communist state first test-fired a long-range ballistic missile over Japan in 1998, prompting Tokyo to begin researching missile defense.

N.Korea six-party talks to resume in early September - envoy

2007-08-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

N.Korea six-party talks to resume in early September - envoy

20:33 | 02/ 08/ 2007

MOSCOW, August 2 (RIA Novosti) - A regular meeting of delegations from the six countries involved in talks on the North Korean nuclear problem have been preliminarily set for early September, Russia's envoy to the negotiations said Thursday.
Diplomats from Russia, the U.S., China, South Korea and Japan have been holding talks with North Korea since August 2003 aimed at persuading the reclusive state to abandon its nuclear program.
"In around early September, we will return to a plenary session of the delegations, and will try to compile a roadmap for decommissioning North Korea's nuclear facilities," Vladimir Rakhmanin told Moscow-based Ekho Moskvy radio.
The diplomat said the six nations' working groups on energy, denuclearization, security in northeast Asia, and the two bilateral working groups - U.S.-North Korea and Japan-North Korea - would conduct work in August.
In late July the latest group of inspectors from UN's nuclear watchdog arrived in North Korea to monitor the second phase of Pyongyang's obligations to scrap its controversial nuclear program.
The first group of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, which arrived in Pyongyang in mid-July, confirmed that North Korea had closed all facilities at Yongbyon that were used to produce weapons-grade plutonium.
The move finalized the first phase of the nuclear disarmament deal agreed in Beijing on February 13, when Pyongyang was promised economic and diplomatic incentives in exchange for disabling its nuclear facilities. Under the first phase, Pyongyang received 50,000 metric tons of fuel oil from South Korea.
Under second phase, North Korea must provide information on all its nuclear programs, including its uranium enrichment, and must shut down all remaining nuclear facilities.
North Korea now expects Washington to strike it off the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, and to drop its "hostile" policies toward Pyongyang, and wants Japan to improve ties with the regime, which Tokyo accuses of kidnapping its nationals in the 1970s-1980s.

N.Korea Starts Clearing Special Economic Zone

2007-08-02T18:24:00.000-07:00

▲ Shinuiju seen from Dandong, China ⓒDailyNK

Chosun Ilbo, South Korea
N.Korea Starts Clearing Special Economic Zone

North Korea early this year declared Shinuiju, a border town in North Pyongan Province, a special economic zone, North Korean officials said. Some 3,000 households in Pyongyang are to be relocated to Shinuiju under an urban development project launched there in June.
During a recent visit to China, a North Korean official told an official from the Chinese border city of Dandong the North will relocate Pyongyang citizens to the Shinuiju Special Economic Zone since they are “ideologically prepared." Some will be assigned as workers to an industrial complex, who will be joined by officials from the Ministry of Public Security and the State Security Department, and police officers and their families.
A Dandong official said, "I understand that housing prices in the Shinuiju area have skyrocketed due to rumors that Pyongyang citizens will move in." He said North Korean authorities plan to evict 3,000 households from Shinuiju to the city's suburbs to make room for the newcomers. Public and state security officers in Shinuiju have begun making a list of those with dubious backgrounds and who are ideologically suspect, which rumor has it will result in a roster for eviction.
Meanwhile, the Yalu River estuary is being dredged and all private houses near Shinuiju Railway Station are being demolished, while the special economic zone is being surrounded new by barbed-wire tangles and fences.
A North Korean source based in Dandong said an earlier Shinuiju special economic zone project promoted by Yang Bin, a Chinese, was aimed at making money through casinos and entertainment facilities. But on North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's instructions, the current project is designed to build a city that can play the same role as both the Kaesong Industrial Complex and the Najin-Sunbong Free Trade Zone.

(englishnews@chosun.com )

▲ Bidan Island seen from Donggang, China ⓒDailyNK

7 ‘Shinuiju Liberalization’ Rumors, Follow-Up Tracing

[Special Spot Report] Bidan Island Development, Chinese Residents “Groundless”
By Kwon Jeong Hyun, Dandong of China
[2006-03-22 14:20 ]

After Kim Jong Il's visit to China early this year, there were rumors all over the districts as Shinuiju of North Korea and Dandong of China expecting ‘Shinuiju Special Region Development’ to be realized.
If Shinuiju is developed as a special region, all residents living in the districts of Shinuiju and Dandong will benefit financially. Great disappointment that these residents felt in September 2002 still remains when Shinuiju was expected to be developed as a special region but Yang Bin, who was appointed as the Minister of Special Region, was arrested. Thus, whenever NK-China relations seem to be close, rumors of ‘Shinuiju Special Region Development’ spread all over the districts.
Now, 7 rumors spreading all over the districts of Shinuiju and Dandong can be summarized as follows. Of them, there are facts which are confirmed to already start and real rumors or personal wishes which are not as trustworthy.
Shinuiju Roads and Housing Constructions Confirmed as True
First, a rumor had it that road extensions and repairs were under construction in Shinuiju. For the ‘Shinuiju Special Region Development’, infrastructure constructions such as roads and harbors are required. After examination, it became known that the road construction in Shinuiju was confirmed as true, although it was not clarified whether or not it was for the Shinuiju special region.
Second, there was a rumor that a huge housing complex was under construction. In order for a special region to be well established and given the characteristics of North Korea, removal of residents who are of humble origins in the areas should be preceded. After examination, it was confirmed that a huge housing complex is under construction, although it was not known to what degree it was.
Meanwhile, there was a rumor that a straightaway linking Shinuiju with Northern Shinuiju was under construction. According to an information source, the Chinese government invests in it and the North Korean government demobilizes labor for the construction.
Third, a rumor had it that on or before Kim Jong Il’s birthday, April 15th, North Korea would announce an ‘important statement’. The important statement is that a mega building, which would be completed in Shinuiju soon, would be open to all foreigners such as the Chinese and South Koreans. Yet, the condition is that the opportunity would fall to people who invest 10,000 dollars or more in North Korea. Besides that, there is a rumor that this is a kind of ‘Pilot Project’ which pretests a possibility of the realization of Shinuiju liberalization. Yet, until now, it has not been confirmed whether or not this is true.
Bidan Island Development, Chinese Residents “Groundless”

Fourth, a rumor had it that Bidan Island next to Shinuiju would be developed as a special region. This kind of a report was once reported in the domestic press.

Bidan Island faces Donggang City of China, which is 37km Southeast away from Dandong city. According to an official related to Donggang City, recently Donggang City has been contacted by the North Korean party concerned regarding Bidan Island development. However, a result of a meeting between the two parties seems to be unsatisfactory, and the parties just conveyed their wishful expectations. Moreover, a rumor had it that a ‘mega building’ expected to be built in Shinuiju, the third rumor, would be built on Bidan Island. A Chinese who often visits Bidan Island replied to a question regarding ‘Bidan Island Special Region’, “I did hear even noises of the land being dug up.”
Fifth, there was a rumor that a bridge linking North Korea to Langtou on the road to Donggang City from Dandong was under construction.
Plan of the rumor is rather specific. For example, total construction expenses are provided by China and the rest of it, 30%, is done by North Korea. The 30% of the capital is loaned to North Korea in a condition that China guarantees.
Besides it, the reason why the bridge is constructed is that the bridge can be used as a major road when ‘One day Free Market’ is open to foreigners for Shiniju liberalization. The market is held in an area a little away from Shinuiju.
Sixth, there was a rumor that in and before March 18th a NK-China talk concerned with ‘Shinuiju liberalization’ would be held in Dandong. At the same time, an additional rumor has it that because of Chinese People Representatives Convention, the talk would be delayed in 2 weeks. As a result of confirmation of Dandong, there is no such plan.
Seventh, a rumor had it that from June, free visa to Shinuiju would be issued. It is saying that the available duration to stay in Shinuiju would be one day, despite the free visa. According to a trader working in North Korea, “it has not been heard.”
From March 1th to 17th, an Intensive Crackdown on Cellular Phones in All over the District, Shinuiju
Like this, there have been various rumors. However, only two are viably confirmed. They are that road extension and repairs are under construction in Shinuiju and a huge house complex is under construction in Northern Shinuiju. The rest of them are repetitions that spread when in 2002 a statement of ‘Shinuiju Special Region Development’ was declared.
While expectation and demand about the liberalization are increasing domestically and internationally, the North Korea does not still slacken the rein of protecting its system.
From March 1th, there was an intensive crack down on cellular phones in Shinuiju. This was an extensive crack down involved even internal audit in the National Security Agency. The reason for it was that a North Korean was detected to be on the cellular phone with a South Korean in Yongchun district. Because North Korean traders turned off their phones, Chinese traders who did not know about the crackdown jump up and down impatiently. The crackdown was finished.
In March 2006, there was the Yalu River where false winds about liberalization in one hand conflict with winds of crackdown in the other hand.

"A 10,000 Censor Group Inspecting Border Areas around Shinuiju"
NK Source "the First Purpose Seems the Crack-Down on Drugs and Cellular Phones"
By Kwak Dae Jung, Editorial Board
[2006-04-24 16:54 ]

▲ Shinuiju viewed from Dandong of China

According to a few well-informed sources,19 April the North Korean government started extensively cracking down on drugs and cellular Phones by dispatching a comprehensive censor group on a 10,000 scale to development cities around Shinuiju and the Yalu River.
The source said that, "To correct such slack discipline problems as drug trafficking, anti-government statements, and an accident with an outflow of the government information to the outside, the biggest group was dispatched and under activity", adding, "It led to strengthening the crack-down on cellular phones and because of it, now it is impossible to directly connect with North Koreans staying in North Korea".
Another source said that, "A large-scale group of around 10,000 came in the development areas", and "Recently many harmful events have happened and this would be the government's purpose to establish the base of controlling North Koreans before the Shinuiju development launches".
‘Drug trafficking incidence’ is that recently 2 women who lived in Uiju of North Pyongan province and concealed a large amount of dollars earned by drug, counterfeit dollars and scrap iron smuggling were arrested. It was known that the two women were assured to be executed to death, and now only the decision about whether they would be openly or in a chamber executed remained. Besides that, late March 3 Chinese-North Koreans living in North Korea were caught in the process of carrying thousands of drugs called ‘Yautouwan’ to China by a ship. ‘Yautouwan’ is similar to hallucinogenic agents like ‘Extacy’ and “Doridori’ called psychotropic drugs in South Korea.
‘Anti-government statement’ is that a youth who lived in Shinuiju and criticized the North Korean government was taken to a prison. The reason was that he, who had an experience in defecting, compared China that was being developed by reformation and liberalization with North Korea that was closed. At the time when he tried to defect, he was known to participate in a church a few times. Because of it, this incidence was mistakenly informed as an ‘incidence of underground Christians in North Korea’. Also, early April, a North Korean living in Yongcheon district was caught on the spot in the process of being on the phone with a relative in South Korea.
A Defector who Worked at the National Security Agency Said “the Censor Group is Likely to Include Graduates of the Political Universities”
According to the sources, because the signs that showed slack social control appeared like this, a large scale of a comprehensive censor group was dispatched.
Usually, North Korean groups are arranged for the particular purpose such as drugs and begging clack-downs. However, in the case of comprehensive problems proposed, a ‘comprehensive group is arranged as well. This times, a group is very likely to contain graduates of the National Security Agency Political University (a disguised name ‘Pyongyang Technical University’ located at Pyongyang Mangyungdae district) and Political University of the Ministry of the People’s Security (located at Pyongyang Hyoungjesan district)
Mr. Lee who worked at the National Security Agency explained “In general late March graduates of Political University are dispatched to each local city as interns before they are appointed to their work places”.
According to Mr. Lee, during a training period graduates of Political University come to each department of the National Security Agency and work in a cooperation with the officials of the Agency. The training period of graduates of Political University is usually 6 months and “They frantically disclose incidences in order to be appointed to a good workplace, because the disclosures are the evidence of their ability and quality “.
The source said about the crack-down in the development cities around Shinuiju and the Yalu River, “The first purpose seams catching drug traffickers or smugglings and cellular phone users”, adding, “Given that the internal trend of North Korea and the scale of the group, it is not likely to be a short-term censor”.

Myanmar names 1st ambassador to DPRK after resumption of ties

2007-08-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

Myanmar names 1st ambassador to DPRK after resumption of ties
www.chinaview.cn 2007-08-01 11:01:46

YANGON, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar named its first Ambassador to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Wednesday after resumption of diplomatic ties with the country in April this year, according to the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar.
Myanmar's appointment of the new ambassador U Thein Lwin to Pyongyang, concurrently as ambassador to China, signified a step forward of the full restoration of the diplomatic ties between the two Asian nations.
The two countries agreed to re-establish diplomatic ties for their common national interest during a visit to Yangon by DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Kim Yong Il in April this year.
Whether Pyongyang will run an embassy in Myanmar remains unknown.
A joint communiqué released in Pyongyang in April said that the two countries agreed to re-establish the diplomatic ties at ambassadorial level, expressing their assurances that the re-establishment responds to the national interests of both countries and will consolidate the strengthening of international peace and cooperation.
Myanmar and DPRK broke off diplomatic relations on Nov. 4, 1983 after DPRK agents were charged with masterminding a deadly bomb attack on a visiting South Korean government delegation, led by then President Chun Doo Hwan, on Oct. 9 the same year at the Martyrs' Mausoleum in Yangon underneath the world's famous Shwedagon Pagoda where a respect paying ceremony was about to take place.
The bomb blast killed 17 members of Chun's entourage including four cabinet ministers, injuring 17 others. In the incident, four Myanmar officials also died.
Editor: Wang Hongjiang