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Nuke test sparks backlash against North Korean community in Japan

Tuesday, October 24th, 2006

Herald Tribune
10/24/2006

When a bamboo grove mysteriously erupted in flames and nearly engulfed an office compound of Japan’s biggest pro-North Korean organization, So Chung-on was hardly surprised.

Harassment of Japan’s insular North Korean community, the biggest outside the homeland or China, dates back decades. But animosity has flared to new levels since North Korea stunned the world with its nuclear test.

“The atmosphere in Japan is now the worst,” said So, director of international affairs at Chongryon, an umbrella group acting as de facto embassy for tens of thousands of ethnic Koreans who live in Asia’s richest capitalist society yet see North Korea as home.

No one was hurt in the Oct. 17 arson attack, and the blaze was put out before it could torch local Chongryon offices. But it was one of several outbursts putting people on edge — including angry protests outside Chongryon facilities, threatening phone calls to North Korea-backed private schools and a severed pinkie finger mailed to the group’s headquarters with a note promising “punishment from heaven.”

North Koreans in Japan have long been vilified as a communist fifth column, but with Tokyo leading a worldwide campaign to sanction Pyongyang for its nuclear test, they now stand in an unwanted spotlight.

Japan, lying within easy range of North Korean missiles, is especially jittery about its neighbor’s atomic arsenal. After the Oct. 9 test, Tokyo banned North Korean imports, barred port entry of North Korean ships and prohibited most North Korean nationals from entering the country.

Chongryon has not commented on the nuclear test, but was quick to condemn the backlash.

The measures will likely strangle North Korean businesses in Japan and divide families with roots in both countries. It could also finally kill off reconciliation between rival camps of North and South Koreans in Japan.

“Koreans who have nothing to do with the nuclear test have become the victim,” Chongryon said in a statement. “The ratcheting up of sanctions severely threatens the rights and lifestyle of Koreans in Japan.”

There are some 600,000 ethnic Koreans among 127 million Japanese, most of them descendants of people who moved here voluntarily or by force during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula. About 200,000 are affiliated with Pyongyang.

All Koreans in Japan face discrimination in Japan. All Koreans were stripped of their Japanese citizenship after World War II and those in Japan found themselves in a society that often looked down on them as former colonial subjects.

Yet given the long-standing animosity between Tokyo and Pyongyang, North Koreans face especially limited economic opportunities, confined to tight-knit community-run businesses. Students who attend North Korean schools find it all but impossible to enter public universities.

Chongryon functions like an embassy because Japan and North Korea have no diplomatic ties. Its walled headquarters in Tokyo is guarded by police. Inside, visitors are greeted by a giant mural of North Korea’s founding father Kim Il Sung and his son, current leader Kim Jong Il.

The current backlash began in July, after North Korea conducted internationally condemned missile tests.

Since then, there have been 130 cases of harassment and intimidation against North Korean students, Chongryon said. The pace quickened after the nuclear test, with two arson attacks against Chongryon facilities, including the bamboo incident in the city of Mito.

Tokyo’s sanctions are meant to squeeze North Korea’s economy and pressure Pyongyang into giving up its nuclear ambitions. But in reality, North Korean trade with Japan tumbled 85 percent from 2001, to a paltry US$195 million last year. Analysts say any additional crackdown will have limited impact overseas.

But in Japan, it will dig deep into North Korean businesses that rely on importing manufactured goods like cheap men’s suits, marine and agriculture products, like clams and mushrooms, and raw materials such as coal.

Meanwhile, banning North Korean ships will shut the doors on the most popular way for North Koreans to visit relatives back home, and the new immigration restrictions will further limit travel.

Chongryon’s future is anything but bright, said David C. Kang, a North Korea expert at Dartmouth University.

Loyalty toward Chongryon started fading in the 1990s when North Korea’s economy flat-lined and famines killed an estimated 2 million people. Then, in 2002, Kim Jong Il shocked the world by admitting North Korean agents had been kidnapping Japanese citizens to train communist spies.

Today, many North Koreans simply opt for South Korean or Japanese citizenship to escape the stigma.

Chongryon tried to bolster its support by striking a landmark reconciliation accord with the South Korean association in Japan earlier this year. But the nuclear crisis scuttled that too.

“The North Korean community is dwindling, for both assimilation in Japan and also because it’s such a sinking ship,” Kang said.

Posted in Chongryun, Japan | Comments Closed

N. Korea says more sanctions from Japan will spur ‘strong countermeasures’

Thursday, October 12th, 2006

Yonhap:
10/12/2006

A senior North Korean official said Thursday his country will take “strong countermeasures” against Japan if it implements new sanctions against the communist country, Japan’s Kyodo News said.

“We will take strong countermeasures,” Song Il-ho, North Korea’s ambassador on diplomatic normalization talks with Japan, said in an interview with Kyodo News. “The specific contents will become clear if you keep watching. We never speak empty words.”
The threat came after Japan decided to impose additional economic sanctions against North Korea for its claimed nuclear test Monday, imposing a ban on all imports from the communist country and banning its ships from entering Japanese ports. North Korean nationals will be prohibited from entering Japan, according to Japanese officials.

The sanctions are in addition to the measures already in place following Pyongyang’s missile tests in July, prohibiting the flow of funds and technology from Japan to 15 entities suspected to have links with North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction programs.

Japan’s additional measures are “more serious in nature” compared to sanctions imposed or considered by other countries, Song said. Pyongyang will take countermeasures by calculating Japan’s failure to adequately repent for its colonization of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945, he added.

He also said Pyongyang is watching closely what Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office last month, plans to do regarding relations between the two countries.

“We are watching his words and actions since becoming prime minister in a careful manner,” Song was quoted as saying.

Posted in Chongryun, International trade, Japan | Comments Closed

Australia, Japan roll out curbs on Pyongyang

Tuesday, September 19th, 2006

Joong Ang Daily
Ser Myo-ja, Lee Sang-il
9/20/2006

Japan and Australia yesterday announced new sanctions against North Korea in another sign of increased financial pressure on the communist state, which has declared it possesses nuclear arms.

The announced purpose of the sanctions was to push Pyongyang back to six-party talks in Beijing to disarm the country in return for diplomatic recognition and financial aid.

In Washington, U.S. officials also signaled that additional sanctions against the North may be in store.

In Tokyo, the cabinet approved a partial freeze on North Korean assets in Japan, imposing restrictions on 15 North Korean agencies or companies and one individual.

“This shows the resolve of the international community and Japan,” said Shinzo Abe, the chief cabinet secretary and heir-apparent to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

The restrictions on financial transactions were directed, Tokyo said, at figures related to North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs.

After North Korea test-launched a barrage of missiles in early July, Tokyo barred the entry of a North Korean ship to its ports for six months and forbade the entry of North Korean government officials into Japan.

Australia, one of the few Western countries that had diplomatic relations with North Korea, acted the same day, imposing similar bans on financial transactions by people and companies it said were involved in North Korean arms programs.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told the press, “This supports and complements similar action taken by Japan today and previous actions taken by the United States, and sends a strong message to North Korea.”

In Washington, a State Department official told Korean journalists in a background briefing that the United States might reimpose sanctions lifted after an accord in 1994, which temporarily reduced tensions over the North’s nuclear programs. He said a proposal to restore the sanctions existing before 1994 was being studied. The relaxation was modest; U.S. companies were allowed to offer telephone service to North Korea and import some raw materials.

In Seoul, Song Min-soon, the Blue House senior security advisor, reacted cautiously to the announcements, saying it would be “inappropriate” to comment on sanctions imposed by other governments. He said the matter was one for capitals to decide, based on a United Nations Security Council resolution critical of North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs and those nations’ own laws.

Separately, Beijing rebuffed a U.S. invitation to a meeting Thursday of financial ministers in New York to discuss North Korea.

From the BBC:
New sanctions target North Korea

Japan and Australia have announced new financial sanctions against North Korea, stepping up pressure on the secretive state over missile tests.

The sanctions will freeze the transfer of money to North Korea by groups suspected of having links to its nuclear or missile programmes.

The move, which follows similar action by the US, comes after Pyongyang launched several missiles in July.

South Korea has urged other countries not to push the North into a corner.

The South is worried that the North may retaliate by carrying out a nuclear test, which would destroy any remaining hope of a diplomatic solution to the stand-off.

Japanese government spokesman Shinzo Abe said the new sanctions were in line with a United Nations resolution which denounced the missile tests.

The Japanese measures affect 15 groups and one individual, and will come into effect later on Tuesday, according to Japanese media.

The Australian measures applied to 12 companies and one person, according to Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who said the sanctions were “consistent with our strong international stand against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”

Media reports said the two lists were almost identical.

Tough stance

North Korea’s decision to test-fire seven missiles in July – including a long-range Taepodong-2 which is believed to be capable of reaching Alaska – angered the international community.

A UN resolution demanded that North Korea suspend its ballistic missile programme, and barred all UN member states from supplying North Korea with material related to missiles or weapons of mass destruction.

In the immediate aftermath, Japan imposed limited sanctions, including a decision to ban a North Korean trade ferry from Japanese ports and a moratorium on charter flights from Pyongyang.

The new measures also called for closer scrutiny of those wanting to send money or transfer financial assets to North Korea.

“By taking these measures, we have demonstrated the resolve of the international community and Japan,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe.

“I do not know how North Korea will respond, but I hope North Korea will accept the UN Security Council resolution in a sincere manner.”

The BBC correspondent in Tokyo, Chris Hogg, says there is still some doubt about how effective these sanctions will be.

Although Japan looks to be clamping down on North Korea, other countries that exert a strong influence on the country – notably China and South Korea – are reluctant to impose similar measures.

Following the Japanese announcement, China restated its opposition to sanctions and called for further dialogue.

Nuclear fears

In addition to fears over North Korea’s missile programmes, the international community is also worried about its nuclear intentions.

The United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea have repeatedly tried to persuade the North to abandon its nuclear programme.

But the so-called six-party talks have been on hold since November 2005, because North Korea refuses to attend until Washington lifted economic restrictions against it.

Exactly a year ago, North Korea agreed in principle to give up its nuclear weapons programme in return for economic help and security guarantees.

The move was greeted by surprise and relief, but a joint statement issued at the time failed to bridge the wide gulf between North Korea and the US. One year on, the North remains as isolated as ever.

The region remains on alert in case Pyongyang decides to follow up on the July ballistic missile tests with a nuclear test.

Analysts say the North has enough plutonium for several bombs, but has yet to prove it can build a reliable weapon.

Posted in Australia, Banking, Chongryun, Fiscal & monetary policy, USA | Comments Closed

DPRK exports to Japan halved amid economic sanctions

Wednesday, August 30th, 2006

From Yonhap:
8/30/2006

North Korean exports to Japan dropped by nearly 50 percent last month from June amid Tokyo’s economic sanctions against the communist state for its test-firing of missiles early last month, a report by Japan’s Finance Ministry released on Wednesday showed.

The total amount of North Korea’s exports to Japan last month dropped to some 440 million yen (US$3.75 million), a 44.2 percent decrease from that of June, the report said. The amount is also down 42.2 percent from that of the same period in 2005.

The report failed to provide specific reasons for the drop, but observers believed it was mainly due to the country’s economic sanctions against the impoverished North, which followed Pyongyang’s test-firing of seven ballistic missiles on July 5.

The observers also said trade between the two is likely to further shrink amid Tokyo’s strong reaction to North Korea’s missile tests and the communist state’s alleged preparations to test a nuclear bomb.

The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on July 15, condemning the North Korean missile tests and prohibiting any missile-related dealings with the North. But Tokyo has been taking additional steps to cut off any cash inflow to North Korea from its country.

The country has banned a major North Korean ferry, Mankyongbong-ho, from its ports at least for the next six months, cutting off the largest and almost the only direct means of transportation between the two for North Koreans and some 200,000 pro-Pyongyang Korean residents in Japan.

Posted in Chongryun, International trade, Japan, Trade Statistics | Comments Closed

North Korea to accept UN food aid

Friday, August 18th, 2006

BBC
8/18/2006

The UN food agency says North Korea has agreed to accept emergency food aid in the wake of heavy flooding in July.

The decision is a reversal for Pyongyang, which said previously that it did not need international help and could manage by itself.

North Korea was hit by torrential rains and high winds last month.

Official media said the severe weather killed hundreds of people and left thousands homeless, as well as damaging large tracts of agricultural land.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement that it would supply 150 metric tons of food to feed 13,000 residents in South Phyongan province, 80km (50 miles) east of the capital.

North Korea also agreed on Thursday to send its Red Cross officials to meet counterparts in South Korea on Saturday to discuss food and reconstruction aid.

The moves come amid differing reports on the scale of the flood damage in the North.

North Korean news agency KCNA said that “hundreds” died, while a pro-Pyongyang Japan-based daily put the toll at 549.

One activist group in Seoul has suggested the number of casualties is well into the thousands, but aid officials have played this down.

North Korea is secretive about releasing details of accidents or natural disasters, making any confirmation of the extent of the flooding difficult.

But Pyongyang has cancelled a mass gymnastics display, called Arirang, which is a key source of income for the nation, to focus, it says, on recovering from the floods.

North Korea is already reliant on foreign donations to feed its people.

The WFP began working in the country in the mid 1990s, after about two million people died from famine.

Posted in Agriculture, Chongryun, International Aid, International/Korean Red Cross, UN World Food Program | Comments Closed

Are sanctions curbing DPRK illicit activities?

Friday, July 21st, 2006

From the Joong Ang Daily:

Experts say money squeeze on North is working

For 10 months, Washington has enforced a systematic plan to clamp down on cash going into North Korea. The measures are working, experts say.

Nam Sung-wook, a North Korea expert at Korea University, estimated yesterday that the recent measures have led to a 40 percent decline in North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s income.

Since the 1980s, Kim Jong-il has regularly collected money from four sources: forged bank notes, arms sales, drug trafficking and money coming from ethnic Koreans living in Japan who acquire money by operating legal gambling casinos there.

Mr. Kim used the money to cement his hold on the North Korean elite, such as the military. Those in the right position received from the “Dear Leader” gifts ranging from German luxury cars to Japanese electronics.

However, since 2002, when the Bush administration started to tackle the issue with its North Korea Working Group, the situation changed and has squeezed the North. The U.S. group is composed of 14 government organizations, including the U.S. treasury department. Washington’s efforts against counterfeit money have yielded results: At the end of last year Irish national Sean Garland and six others were indicted for distributing North Korean-manufactured “supernotes.”

The North is believed to have produced annually $15 million to $25 million of forged money.

As a result of international pressure, one government official said it would be harder for the North to print new forged bank notes and circulate them.

The arms trade is also an important money maker for the North. However, since it sold 15 Scud-type missiles in December 2002 to Yemen, Pyongyang has not inked another arms deal. Sources said yesterday Pyongyang tried last year to sell missiles to African nations, but in light of Washington’s international call to prevent the transfer and sales of weapons of mass destruction, cautious African nations have distanced themselves from Pyongyang.

In the international arms market, Chinese-manufactured AK-47 assault rifles and other cheaper alternatives are being preferred over North Korean-made ones. The North’s drug trafficking is reportedly giving Pyongyang an annual income of $100 million. From 1998 to 2002 Japanese authorities seized 1,500 kilograms (3,300 pounds) of North Korea-manufactured philpone, a methamphetamine.

Nevertheless, a continued crackdown has narrowed the avenues of sales to organized crime groups such as the Japanese yakuza.

Money sent from the North Korea- backed Chongryon, the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, amounted to 2 billion yen ($1.7 million) to 3 billion yen annually until 2002 with the money being shipped by a North Korean ferry.

However, since 2003, Tokyo has imposed regulations on the ferry, dropping the money flow to 1 billion yen per year. With the recent missile launch, Tokyo is now considering cutting off the money flow even more by strengthening the monitoring of insured postal parcels above a certain amount.

Posted in Arms shipment, Banking, Chongryun, Counterfeiting, Drug smuggling, Fiscal & monetary policy, Illicit activities, International Aid, Japan, Military, Political economy, South Korea, USA | Comments Closed

Japan prepares to bar remittances to DPRK

Wednesday, July 19th, 2006

from the BBC:

Japan’s government says it has begun work on its own set of sanctions on North Korea, in addition to those agreed by the UN Security Council.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe says he has instructed officials to put in place procedures to ban cash remittances to the impoverished North.

After days of talks the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution on Saturday which condemned the tests.

But it was a milder document than Japan’s original draft.

The resolution was tabled in response to North Korea’s decision to test-fire seven missiles earlier this month, including a long-range Taepodong-2, which is believed capable of reaching Alaska.

In the immediate aftermath of the test-firings, Japan imposed limited sanctions against North Korea, including a decision to ban a North Korean trade ferry from Japanese ports and a moratorium on charter flights from Pyongyang.

But now Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe has asked for an investigation into possible further sanctions.

“We have started preparations to properly achieve necessary steps involving financial restrictions,” Mr Abe told a news conference on Tuesday, although he added that Japan would consult with other nations before making a final decision.

He said he had instructed officials to start procedures to ban cash remittances by Koreans living in Japan who are sympathetic towards Kim Jong-il’s government – an important source of foreign currency for North Koreans.

Indications that Tokyo was about to take further steps against Pyongyang were reported in Japanese media on Monday, but now Mr Abe has made his intentions official in a press conference.

Japan could also place bans on bilateral trade and freeze North Korean assets, according to the newspaper reports.

Japan is one of North Korea’s most vehement critics – and takes a more hardline stance on Pyongyang’s activities than other countries in the region.

Chapter Seven dropped

The UN resolution passed over the weekend demands that North Korea suspend its ballistic missile programme, and bars all UN member states from supplying Pyongyang with material related to missiles.

It was passed unanimously by the Security Council after being revised to drop any mention of Chapter Seven of the UN Charter, which is legally binding and can authorise military action. The changes were made to appease China and Russia, which took a softer line than Japan and the US. China had threatened to veto the resolution in its original form.

As soon as the resolution was passed, North Korea’s ambassador to the UN rejected it and left the chamber.

A day later Pyongyang angrily denounced the resolution in a foreign ministry statement, and said it would continue to build up its military arsenal.

The statement described the resolution as the product of a hostile American policy and said Pyongyang would not be bound by it, and would “bolster its war deterrent” in every way.

Posted in Chongryun, International Aid, International trade, Japan | Comments Closed

Summary of current and proposed trade sanctions on DPRK

Tuesday, July 11th, 2006

From the Korea Times:

You may be surprised to hear that North Korea is either in violation, or the target, of more than 13 U.S. laws, which include laws dealing with transfer of missile technology to other countries and human rights issues. Three of these laws, however, have direct bearing on U.S. economic sanctions against North Korea.

The first is the U.S. Export Control Act of 1949 that became the basis for the U.S. invoking a total embargo against North Korea on June 28, 1950, only three days after North Korea invaded South Korea. The second is the Trade Agreement Extension Act of 1951 that was the basis for banning the most favored nation (MFN) tariffs on North Korea’s exports to the United States. As you know, all member countries of the World Trade Organization have to abide by the MFN regulation that requires these nations to levy the same low tariffs to all member nations of the WTO. Without MFN, there is no way for North Korea to export anything to the U.S. because higher tariffs make them impossible to compete. The MFN is so widely spread that it is now known as the normal trade relation (NTR). North Korea was denied MFN tariff status on September 1, 1951.

The third is the Export Administration Act of 1979 that allowed North Korea to be branded as a terrorist state when its agents blew up KAL 007 on November 19, 1987. At the time of the explosion, Korean Air Lines 007 was in flight from Bagdad (Iraq) to Bankok (Thailand). The explosion killed 115 passengers and crew. On January 20, 1988, North Korea was placed on the list of countries supporting international terrorism.

Placement on the list made it impossible for North Korea to borrow development funds from international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

On May 25-28, 1999, former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry visited North Korea and delivered a U.S. proposal. On September 13, 1999, North Korea responded positively by pledging to freeze long-range missile tests. On September 17, 1999, President Clinton agreed to the first significant easing of economic sanctions against North Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953 by announcing the lifting of most export restrictions applied to North Korea in response to North Korea’s willingness to cease long-range missile testing.

Details of eased U.S. economic sanctions on North Korea were announced on June 19, 2000. Key provisions included that the ban on exports to North Korea had ended, that U.S. passports were valid for travel to North Korea, and that U.S. travel service providers were authorized to organize group tours to North Korea. Among the notable U.S. sanctions that were not lifted are the denial of MFN status and the placement on the list of countries supporting international terrorism.

You may wonder what more economic sanctions can be levied against North Korea beyond the three already in place. To answer this question, you need to know the extent of North Korea’s foreign trade.

Contrary to what you may have heard or believe, latest United Nations trade data indicate that North Korea has trade relations of imports, exports or both with no less than 108 countries, which exclude South Korea because inter-Korean trade is not recorded as trade data in the U.S. trade database. North Korea’s major trading partners in 2004 were, in order of the amount, China ($585,651,972), Japan (164,101,115), Germany ($100,739,000), Brazil ($73,412,125), and Mexico ($47,662,978) for exports, and China ($799,450,316), Russia ($204,818,560), Brazil ($169,921,763), India ($121,080,999), and Netherlands ($120,525,232) for imports. The total amount of North Korea’s exports for 2004 was $1,256,533,361, while the total amount of North Korea’s imports for the same year was $1,937,738,240, with the trade deficit of $681,204,879, representing no less than 54.2 percent of total exports.

Now you have an idea. The new economic sanctions may take the form of a multi-national ban of trade with North Korea. The new economic sanctions may also include a complete ban of any transfer of money to North Korea from many Koreans who live in Japan and support North Korea.

There is no doubt that a complete ban of North Korea’s foreign trade, if imposed, would easily lower the current North Korean GNP to the 1999 level when hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of North Koreans starved to death.

In view of the large number of countries engaged in trade with North Korea, it would be impossible to impose a complete ban on North Korea’s foreign trade without naval blockade, which may escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula so rapidly that China and South Korea may not be willing to go along with multilateral economic sanctions.

Posted in China, Chongryun, EU, International Aid, International trade, Japan, Russia, South Korea, USA | Comments Closed

ROK suspends aid until missle issue resolved

Saturday, July 8th, 2006

From the Joong Ang Daily:

Flows of aid to stop until crisis abates
South willing to meet North only on missiles, weapons
July 08, 2006

A senior government official said that Seoul would withhold promised aid to the North until the missile crisis is over. That decision did not include a delay in the provision of the last promised fertilizer shipment to North Korea, however; a ship left port yesterday bound for North Korea with the last 20,000 tons of that assistance.

Although the Unification Ministry said that it would not cancel the ministerial talks, which are to be held in Busan from Tuesday through Friday, there is no guarantee that they will actually be held. A former senior ministry official noted that Pyongyang could well boycott the talks themselves in a tit-for-tat response to Seoul’s rejection of working-level military talks it proposed two days before it launched seven missiles on Wednesday. In response to those launches, Korean conservatives have also publicly burned the North Korean flag, another sore point with Pyongyang.

The additional promised 100,000 tons of fertilizer and 500,000 tons of rice aid would not be sent to the North. “We made public what we want to address at this meeting so that the North will hear it,” he said. Echoing the former official’s comments, he added, “It is difficult to say whether the North will actually come.”

While Seoul was pondering how to respond to the missile launches, Pyongyang warned against retaliatory sanctions. Kyodo News Agency reported yesterday that Song Il-ho, the North’s representative for normalization talks with Japan, demanded that Japanese sanctions imposed after the missile tests be lifted. From Yonhap:

North Korea warned on Saturday that Japan could face “stronger physical measures” after it banned a Pyongyang ferry from entering its ports for six months in response to the communist state test-firing seven missiles last week.

Song Il-ho, North Korea’s ambassador in charge of normalizing diplomatic ties with Japan, told a pro-Pyongyang newspaper in Japan that, “If anyone tries to put us under pressure, we will have no choice but to take stronger physical measures.”

Regarding the sudden ban on the North Korean ferry Mangyeongbong 92, he said, “Such (an) anti-humanitarian measure is causing a significant anti-Japanese sentiment among our people,” Song was quoted as saying by the Chosun Sinbo.

Posted in Agriculture, Chongryun, International Aid, Japan, Military, South Korea | Comments Closed

Missle prompts Japan to tighten trade with DPRK

Thursday, July 6th, 2006

Washington Post
Colum Lynch and Anthony Faiola
7/06/06

Japan imposed limited economic sanctions on the North, including a measure prohibiting its officials, ship crews and chartered flights from entering Japan.

A draft U.N. resolution, formally introduced by Japan, would also require states to prevent the transfer of money, material or technology that could “contribute” to Pyongyang’s ballistic missile program or advance its capacity to develop nuclear explosives or other weapons of mass destruction.

In addition, Japanese officials indicated they might be prepared to halt millions of dollars in remittances that are sent annually to North Korea from Koreans living in Japan.

As for China’s response:

Several observers warned that even if Beijing agreed to some form of censure, it would remain reluctant to impose tough economic sanctions out of fear that such measures could destabilize North Korea and spark a crisis on their shared border.

“I don’t think China will take at this moment stronger political or economic action against North Korea,” said Chu Shulong, a political science professor at Tsinghua University and expert in international security. “We Chinese believe basically, fundamentally it is not our problem, the missile launch problem. It’s a problem between North Korea and the U.S., it’s a problem between the DPRK and Japan, it might be a problem between North Korea and South Korea. But basically it’s not a China problem.”

North Korea experts said the options for the Bush administration remain limited, particularly if the Chinese and South Koreans were reluctant to impose tough economic sanctions. Instead, many said, it was more likely that Japan and the United States would seek to continue isolating North Korea by slowly tightening economic sanctions.

Posted in China, Chongryun, International trade, Japan, Military, South Korea, USA | Comments Closed

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