Korean Peninsula Today, 08 July 2009

Obama says war with North Korea not imminent (Associated Press)

MOSCOW -- President Barack Obama says he doesn't think any war "is imminent" with North Korea.

Speaking in a network interview while meeting with Russian leaders, Obama was asked how precarious is the security situation in the wake of North Korea's nuclear tests and new sanctions as a result of them. In the CBS interview, he said, "I don't think that any war is imminent with North Korea." He also said, "I think they understand that they would be overwhelmed in a serious military conflict with the United States."

Obama said in a speech to The New Economic School that the United States and Russia "should be united" in resisting Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

In an ABC interview, he said, "Weve already seen a ship of North Koreas turned back because of international effort to implement the sanctions and I think that is a positive step forward."

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Security Council slams NKorean missile launches (AFP)

UNITED NATIONS — The Security Council on Monday condemned North Korea's weekend missile launches as a violation of UN resolutions as well as a threat to regional and international security.

Ugandan Ambassador Ruhakana Rugunda, who chairs the 15-member body this month, said that members "condemned and expressed grave concern" over Saturday's North Korean ballistic missile launches.

The launches "constitute a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and pose a threat to regional and international security," he said in a relatively mild, non-binding statement.

Council members reiterated that Pyongyang "must comply fully with its obligations and relevant resolutions" and appealed to "all parties to refrain from any action that would aggravate the security situation in the region."

They also expressed their commitment to "a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution" and vowed "to continue to closely monitor the situation and act as appropriate in accordance to the UN Charter."

Japanese Ambassador Yukio Takasu, whose country feels most threatened by Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and who had requested the council meeting, immediately welcomed the statement.

During the council debate, some members underscored the need to maintain pressure on the Stalinist state while others argued that "diplomacy should be given an opportunity to find a solution" and that the (latest) provocative action (by Pyongyang) should not lead to any escalation from other countries," he added.

The ballistic missiles -- which the Stalinist state is banned from firing under UN resolutions -- were launched into the Sea of Japan in an act of defiance apparently timed for the US Independence Day holiday.

It was the biggest salvo of ballistic weaponry since the North fired a long-range Taepodong-2 and six smaller missiles in 2006, also on July 4.

The launches came as Washington seeks support for tough enforcement of UN sanctions aimed at shutting down Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

Sunday, North Korea's ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun praised Pyongyang's "army-first policy," which gave North Korea the capacity to hit enemies with what it called a "merciless" strike.

But US Vice President Joseph Biden on Sunday dismissed the firings as "almost attention-seeking behavior" and said the focus was on further isolating Pyongyang.

Last month, the Security Council slapped new sanctions against North Korea, banning all weapons exports from the country and the import of all but small arms.

Reacting to North Korea's second underground nuclear test in May, the council also called on all members of the international community to stop and search North Korean ships for weapons.

In a related development, the US chief of naval operations Monday denounced the latest North Korean missile launches and vowed to keep tracking its ships if they are suspected of carrying banned weapons.

"I think they were very unhelpful, and clearly counter to the desires of the international community for a peaceful and stable region," Admiral Gary Roughead told reporters in Seoul after talks with South Korean military officials.

"As circumstances arise in the future, we will continue to support the resolution and we will conduct operations in support of that."

His comments came as a North Korean ship being tracked by the US Navy for two weeks headed home after aborting its voyage.

The Kang Nam 1 was the first ship to be shadowed under new UN sanctions imposed on the hardline communist country on June 12 following its nuclear test in May.

South Korean military officials said the Kang Nam 1 appeared to have entered North Korean waters. The ship, which left North Korea on June 17, was originally reported to be bound for Myanmar.

Pyongyang has responded defiantly to the latest sanctions, vowing to build more nuclear bombs and to hit back against any attempt to search its vessels.

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Rogue N.Korean Ship Returns Home (Chosun Ilbo)

A ship suspected by the U.S. of carrying weapons-related materials on Monday returned to North Korean territorial waters in the West Sea after days of being trailed by an American ship. Since leaving Nampo Port on June 17, the Kangnam had been under close surveillance in waters off China and Southeast Asia.

The Kangnam spent 20 days on a slow chase without finding a port to stop at. Even Burma, the suspected destination of the ship, said it would search the vessel on port, and the Kangnam turned tail in the South China Sea near Vietnam on June 28.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said that the "humiliation" of the Kangnam was a tribute to implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1874. In an interview with ABC on Sunday, he said that the North Korean cargo ship had to turn back as no port permitted it to stop.

The resolution encourages inspection of suspicious North Korean ships on the high seas and denying the North fuel and food aid until it returns to nuclear disarmament.

The U.S. State Department had urged China and all ASEAN nations to actively implement the resolution, and the U.S. Defense Department had tracked the Kangnam around the clock with a KH-12 reconnaissance satellite, P-3C maritime patrol aircraft, and Aegis destroyer USS John McCain.

A major achievement was persuading the Burmese junta, which has resumed friendly relations with North Korea, not to permit the Kangnam to stop there. Burma was apparently swayed by fears of hurting relations with Japan, which gives huge amounts of aid to Burma, and South Korea, which has invested in developing resources there.

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Bill for Inspecting N. Korean Cargo Put To Diet, Passage Eyed in July (Kyodo)

Tokyo -- The government submitted a bill to the Diet on Tuesday for implementing North Korean cargo inspections called for in a new U.N. resolution, with the ruling bloc hoping to see it passed this month.

Although the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan has expressed intention to cooperate in deliberating the bill, its passage by the July 28 end of the current legislative session remains unclear given the looming possibility of a lower house dissolution.

The government approved the bill in a special Cabinet meeting earlier in the day after the ruling bloc of the Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner, the New Komeito party, endorsed it.

''I expect parties to handle the matter in a way that transcends partisan interests,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said at a news conference after the bill was submitted, adding that the legislation is needed to make the U.N. resolution effective.

The bill is aimed at carrying out the inspection of cargo, including ballistic missile-related materials, which is called for in U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874, unanimously adopted June 12 to punish North Korea for its May 25 nuclear test and April 5 rocket launching.

It sets out rules for inspecting ships suspected of carrying banned cargo to and from North Korea by designating the Japan Coast Guard as its primary agent and the Self-Defense Forces as a backup in special circumstances.

The bill stipulates that inspections should be conducted on ships if there are reasonable grounds to suspect they are carrying cargo whose export from and import to North Korea are banned under the resolution. Such cargo includes nuclear-related and other weapons of mass destruction-related arms and material.

The Coast Guard would conduct such inspections on the high seas and in Japan's territorial waters, while customs authorities would do the same at sea ports and airports, according to the bill.

If the Coast Guard cannot handle situations alone because, for example, crew members on a suspect ship are heavily armed, the SDF would take necessary action under the maritime police action provision of the Self-Defense Forces Law. Inspections, however, must still be carried out by Coast Guard officers or customs officials, the bill says.

The approval of a ship's master would be required to inspect cargo on the high seas and in the territorial waters, according to the bill. But if the master does not agree to a cargo inspection, the ship may be ordered to go to a Japanese port.

The consent of the country to which the ship in question belongs must also be obtained to inspect the vessel on the high seas or to order it to go to a Japanese port, the bill says.

If as a result of an inspection, banned cargo is found, the master of the ship in question must turn over the cargo to the authorities, which would then store it. Failing to turn over banned cargo would result in a maximum prison term of two years or up to 1 million yen in penalties.

The law would only be temporary and be abolished if the relevant part of Resolution 1874 lost its validity.

The ruling coalition hopes to have the Diet pass the bill before the July 28 end of the ongoing session so Japan can lead the international community in enforcing the U.N. resolution against North Korea.

But the bill faces uncertainty because it is unclear whether the DPJ, which plays a powerful role in the opposition-controlled House of Councillors, will go along with the coalition in passing it.

On Tuesday, DPJ leader Yukio Hatoyama suggested willingness to begin deliberating the government-sponsored bill swiftly.

''It's necessary to quickly reach a conclusion,'' he told a news conference, adding that he would not oppose making the Coast Guard the primary agent for cargo inspections.

Prime Minister Taro Aso may also dissolve the House of Representatives by the end of the session. A lower house election must be held by the fall.

The bill will be deliberated by the House of Representatives Special Committee on Antipiracy Measures, Prevention of International Terrorism, and Japan's Cooperation and Support.

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North Koreans Relocate Out of Macau (JoongAng Ilbo)

MACAU - Just a few years ago, more than a dozen North Korean companies were operating out of this administrative region of China. Macau was the center of North Korea's foreign trade and financial transactions, and nearly 100 North Koreans lived there.

The companies acquired luxurious goods for North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and shipped out counterfeit $100 bills, known as "supernotes."

But a source in Macau said most North Koreans have relocated since the U.S. move to freeze about $25 million of North Korean assets at Macau's Banco Delta Asia bank in 2005. The Treasury Department at the time considered the BDA a money laundering concern.

The source said the few who were still operating out of Macau "disappeared from the public eye" after the North's second nuclear test in late May. But he noted that some are still based in the region and are working under the radar.

A BDA branch in downtown Macau managed North Korean assets for nearly two decades until sanctions were imposed in 2005. When asked about North Korean accounts, the branch manager said, "Since I came here [late last year], I have not been aware of North Korean visitors to our branch."

BDA headquarters are just a few steps away. A teller said a Macau passport or personal identification, or a government-issued certificate of address, is required to open an account. The teller added that North Korean citizens won't be issued the certificate. "I understand this is the policy of the Macau government after the U.S. Treasury Department's sanctions on BDA four years ago," the teller explained.

A teller at a nearby Bank of China branch said the bank would not open an account under a North Korean name.

Not far from BDA headquarters was a trading company in a building standing on China Plaza. It had a Chinese title on the entrance but in fact it is a North Korean firm that managed Pyongyang funds until 2005. A caretaker in the building said visits by North Koreans have been few and far between since 2005, though the company is still paying its monthly rent. A former BDA executive named Chan said the company manages bank accounts under false names and thus has to stay open.

It wasn't the only North Korean entity operating under a different name. Happy House, a North Korean restaurant where North Koreans in Macao gathered, has turned into a Japanese eatery.

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N.Korea Mass Imports Chinese Vehicles (Chosun Ilbo)

Over 500 Chinese-made vehicles suspected of being intended for military use have been shipped into North Korea over the past month. Sources say that over 30 trucks without license plates crossed into the North through the Chinese border city of Dandong on Saturday [4 July]. Such movement of vehicles is rare as Chinese customs officials do not work during the weekend.

In mid-June over 300 trucks and 50 jeeps were also seen crossing into the North. Observers say around 10 to 20 vehicles were seen moving into the North occasionally but that it is very rare that such large quantities were sent in. They say there is high possibility that these vehicles are for military use because only the military has the money to import such large numbers.