Overview

Despite difficulties on various fronts – economic and political problems in ROK, opposition from defector Hwang Jang-yop and the Grand National party, DPRK criticism of ROK Red Cross President Chang Choong-sik, and stretched bureaucratic resources in DPRK – inter-Korean relations remained on track with the second round of family reunions. DPRK relations with the US took a dramatic step forward with the visit of Secretary of State Albright, but a Clinton visit looks and a breakthrough on missile/recognition talks look unlikely. ROK relations were marked by lack of progress with SOFA talks and a call for Clinton to apologise for the No Gun Ri massacre of 1950. Meanwhile the peninsula braces for a Bush administration and we give some quotes from Condoleezza Rice, his foreign policy advisor.

Text Box: Chung Jai-kap from North Korea, joyfully dances with his mother during an individual meeting at the Lotte World Hotel in southern Seoul, Friday 1 December, the second day of the inter-Korean family reunion program. US Congressman Tony Hall, on a repeat visit to DPRK, drew attention to the latest FAO/WFP report which calls for increased aid. On the positive side, People’s Korea carried a series of articles on software houses in DPRK, there were reports of growth in demand for English language training and Australian Foreign Minister Downer visited Pyongyang and signed an aid agreement

All this, and more, on our website at

http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~caplabtb/dprk/

Inter-Korean Relations

Kim Chaek Univ. Dean Meets Cousin, Niece

On the second day of his stay in Seoul after half a century of separation, Ha Chae-gyong, dean of Kim Chaek Technology University in Pyongyang, yesterday met his cousin and niece at his hotel room in Seoul. /…

The 65-year-old professor bear-hugged them, saying ``I really wanted to meet you. I couldn't talk much yesterday because we were only given a short time. Today I'd like to tell you how I have lived in the North.''

Showing his doctorate certificate and commendation award, he went on to say, ``I return in good health as a well-known professor with a doctorate degree thanks to the great leader Kim Il-sung.''

Ha explained how he received the two commendation medals he was wearing around his neck, saying that he was awarded one for his contribution to the development of North Korean science and technology and the other along with his doctorate degree.

His South Korean brother replied, ``I received a medical doctorate degree but failed to receive a medal.''

The North Korean professor gave Kim Il-sung's memoirs ``Along With the Century'' and North Korea's famous liquor Tuljjuksul to his kin in the South, saying ``I studied abroad thanks to the great leader Kim Il-sung. I brought his memoirs because I thought it was too valuable to read alone.''

As a student in a middle school in Seoul, Ha voluntarily joined the North Korean People's Army on July 6 in 1950 after hearing a speech by Kim Il- sung on the radio. His brother worked as an assistant in a hospital at Sejong-no in downtown Seoul at the time.

Source: Korea Times 1 December 2000

Albright urges next US president to continue N Korea dialogue (11/3/2000)

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Thursday defended Washington's quest for improved ties with North Korea, and five days ahead of the US presidential election urged the next administration to continue a dialogue with N. Korea.

Albright said US concerns about North Korea's missile program would not be easy to satisfy, and made clear that any agreement on the matter could not be rushed -- a cautious approach that could leave a resolution to the next president.

Fresh from a landmark visit last week to Pyongyang where she became the first US official to meet reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, Albright said it would be irresponsible for Washington not to keep up efforts to engage the North's leaders on missiles, terrorism or human rights.

"The next president will have to choose whether to continue down the path we have begun," Albright said./…

Albright took aim at the critics "in our country who think they know more about what is right for Korea than (South Korean President) Kim Dae-Jung and the Korean people."/…

Source: China Daily 3 November 2000

Clinton's Apology Sought for Massacre

Seoul is poised to propose that U.S. President Bill Clinton make an apology for the alleged massacre of hundreds of Korean refugees in the hamlet of Nogun-ri by U.S. troops at the early days of the 1950-53 Korean War, when bilateral negotiations resume next week, a government official said yesterday.

Korean negotiators, citing the demands of Korean victims and their family members, are also set to call for appropriate U.S. actions, including the restoration of the victims' honor and, most of all, the giving of compensation to them, he said.

``We are set to raise the issue by conveying the Korean victims' demands for compensation,'' the official said.

Korean and U.S. officials are set to hold negotiations on Dec. 6 in Seoul to discuss how to wrap up their year-long joint investigation of the killing and how to make a final announcement./…

Source: Korea Times 30 November 2000

Condoleezza Rice on Korean issues

(Some remarks by Bush’s foreign policy advisor)

The United States must deepen its cooperation with Japan and South Korea and maintain its commitment to a robust military presence in the region/…

The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty was intended to prevent the development of national missile defenses in the Cold War security environment. Today, the principal concerns are nuclear threats from the Iraqs and North Koreas of the world and the possibility of unauthorized releases as nuclear weapons spread./…

"The regime of Kim Jong il is so opaque that it is difficult to know its motivations, other than that they are malign. But North Korea also lives outside of the international system. Like East Germany, North Korea is the evil twin of a successful regime just across its border. It must fear its eventual demise from the sheer power and pull of South Korea. Pyongyang, too, has little to gain and everything to lose from engagement in the international economy. The development of WMD thus provides the destructive way out for Kim Jong il.

"President Kim Dae Jung of South Korea is attempting to find a peaceful resolution with the north through engagement. Any U.S. policy toward the north should depend heavily on coordination with Seoul and Tokyo. In that context, the 1994 framework agreement that attempted to bribe North Korea into forsaking nuclear weapons cannot easily be set aside. Still, there is a trap inherent in this approach: sooner or later Pyongyang will threaten to test a missile one too many times, and the United States will not respond with further benefits. Then what will Kim Jong Il do? The possibility for miscalculation is very high.

"One thing is clear: the United States must approach regimes like North Korea resolutely and decisively. The Clinton administration has failed here, sometimes threatening to use force and then backing down, as it often has with Iraq. These regimes are living on borrowed time, so there need be no sense of panic about them. Rather, the first line of defense should be a clear and classical statement of deterrence -- if they do acquire WMD, their weapons will be unusable because any attempt to use them will bring national obliteration. Second, we should accelerate efforts to defend against these weapons. This is the most important reason to deploy national and theater missile defenses as soon as possible, to focus attention on U.S. homeland defenses against chemical and biological agents, and to expand intelligence capabilities against terrorism of all kinds./…

Source: South Asia Analysis Group paper 156

Hall Describes 'Forgotten Famine' in North Korea

SEOUL -- Rep. Tony P. Hall, D-Ohio, today called for countries concerned about North Korea's 21 million people to renew international efforts to fight a famine that has worsened in the past year. Hall reported on his November 25-28 visit to hospitals, orphanages and other sites in Chongjin and other cities outside Pyongyang. The visit was Hall's sixth to North Korea since 1996. /…

"With all of the news about North Korea's diplomatic initiatives, it is easy to forget that people there are still struggling to survive a famine that has not ended.

"No matter what political changes come in the weeks and months ahead, the grim situation most people in North Korea face every day ought to be uppermost in our minds. People can't live like this for long, and their basic human needs for food and warmth cannot wait for political solutions to decades-old issues.

"When I visited Hye San and Sariwon last August, I saw signs that the situation was improving. In Chongjin two winters ago, people seemed miserable but not without hope. I expected things to be better this year, but they are not. They're worse.

"This sharp turn downward was most obvious in North Hamgyong Province, which has suffered typhoons and flooding that would have devastated any country in the world. But North Koreans are paying a far higher price than other people would, because their country's troubles have outrun its ability to weather any storm./…

"I am convinced that North Korea's citizens will remember who helped them in this time of need, and that history will be a harsh judge of those who ignored one of the greatest famines of our time.

"While I hope international food aid will continue, though, it is time for the international community to rethink its ‘Band-Aid' approach to this crisis. As an aid worker told me, food aid alone is ‘like applying a bandage over a gaping wound.'/…

But it is past time to seriously consider projects like one I saw in Unhari Village, where the U.S.-based Nautilus Institute is working with North Korean scientists to harness wind power. U.S.-designed wind turbines are now heating and lighting homes, purifying drinking water, and irrigating fields, and their success could be replicated in other communities. /… . I hope my country and others will take another look at these and other projects and support them. I plan to sit down with the next U.S. administration as soon as possible to discuss resuming our aid to UNICEF's health and clean water projects, which was started in 1998 but stopped for no good reason.”

Source: Congressman Hall’s website

WFP IN NORTH KOREA: UPDATE NOVEMBER 2000

DPRK is facing its seventh successive year of food shortages after what the report describes as "a sizeable reduction" in the 2000 rice and maize crops. /…

The 2000 rice crop will be 31 percent lower than expected. · Maize output is down 235,000 tonnes on last year's figures. · North Korea will need to import 1,865,000 tonnes of aid in 2000/2001 to cover the deficit between total cereal availability and needs.

In a country where the climate only allows for a single food-producing season (June-October), prolonged drought is the main culprit for the latest shortfall.

But severe shortages of electricity and fuel have worsened the situation, drastically reducing the irrigation systems' ability to cope with the drought. The situation was further worsened in August and September when two typhoons damaged crops./…

Source: World Food Programme website

Pyongyang Computer Program Expo

Demonstrating about 270 kinds of creative computer programs developed by top-class universities and institutes, the annual software exhibition in Pyongyang impressed the visitors with rapidly developing software industry in the DPRK under the policy of “attaching great importance to science.”

The 11th national computer program contest and exhibition was held between October 26 and November 11 in Pyongyang. Programs exhibited were developed each by 11 universities including Kim Il Sung University, Han Duk Su Light Industry University and seven organizations including the State Planning Commission, the Academy of Social Sciences, the Pyongyang Informatics Center and Kim Man Yu Hospital.

The first prize went to “Ryongnamsan” 3.2 (Korean language OCR program) developed by Kim Il Sung University, “Pyongyang” 2.0 (Korean speech recognition program) developed by University of Science and “Buruna” 2.0 (Korean chess program) developed by the Kim Chaek University of Technology.

Special prizes went to “Tangun” (standard Korean character program - Pyongyang Program Center), “Pyongyang” (Korean language memory system - Kim Il Sung University) and “Mitppuri” (production optimization system at the Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex - University of National Economies). The first place in the exhibition category was given to “Sachol” 1.0, a fish farming information system developed by Kim Il Sung University.

Source: People’s Korea 29 November 2000

NK Sees Fierce Competition for College Entrance

/…As is the case in South Korea, competition among North Korean students aspiring to enter top-notch colleges is also fierce. The most decisive factor in getting into a good college is the scores they record on tests for recommendation into college, taken usually in October or November, five months before the beginning of the spring semester in April.

Defectors from the North reported that while there are no cram schools in North Korea like in the South, students spend sleepless nights for the exams.

Contrary to the South, where any high school senior can take the tests, only those who received high grades high school can take the tests, which consist of questions on ``revolutionary'' history, literature, math, chemistry, physics, and English.

Tests are taken for two days, and the style of the exams is more like the French baccalaureate, which requests students to formulate logical answers and write correctly. Unlike South Korean exams, they do not have multiple-choice questions./…

Meanwhile, good English skills are considered more important in education than before, especially with the recent development in North Korea-U.S. relations.

During U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's visit to North Korea last month, National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-il asked for the dispatch of English teachers, as the cash-ridden North can hardly afford to recruit native speakers.

Interesting to note is that North Korean students at colleges and universities learn American English, the ``language of the enemy,'' while students in secondary schools learn British English.

Education in North Korea is compulsory for 11 years, and college usually lasts for four to seven years, all at the expense of the government. There are three universities, Kim Il-sung, Kim Chaek Polytechnic, and Koryo- Songgyungwan, and some 280 colleges around the country. All of them are run by the state. /…

In the six-year secondary schools, the students also learn revolutionary history and political party policies, as well as foreign languages. After graduation, many youths opt for military service instead of entering colleges or taking jobs. Many of them choose military services since it positively affects individuals' future careers in terms of party membership or university entrance. Under North Korean law, military service is not compulsory.

Source: Korea Times, 14 November 2000

Downer visits DPRK

From November 14 to 16, Alexander John Gosse Downer, Foreign Minister of Australia, and his party officially visited the DPRK for the first time after the diplomatic relations between the DPRK and Australia were restored on May 8 this year following a 25-year hiatus./…

During his visit, a memorandum on joint agricultural research and development plan was signed between the governments of the DPRK and Australia.

Source: People’s Korea, 29 November 2000