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Press Release
Canberra, February 11, 2003
It is great honour for me to be invited to the Australian Institute of International Affairs on the eve of our February national festival and have a chance to meet alt of you here who are interested in the Korean issue to brief on the current situation of my country, especially the nuclear issue.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to Mr. Ross Cottrill, Executive Director of the Australian Institution of International Affairs for your kind invitation to this gathering.
First of all, I would like to remind you that upon the agreement between the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Government of Australia, our two countries have resumed the diplomatic relations in order to develop friendly and cooperative relations and to promote peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world as well, and the DPRK Embassy to Australia has started its work in Canberra from May last year.
I would like also to emphasize that the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea attaches a great significance to the development of friendly and cooperative relations with Australia, and is ready to develop this relations through the exchanges of various delegations, constructive and productive dialogue and cooperation, and to make contribution to prosperity, stability and peace of the region by promoting mutual understanding between the two countries...
The United States on March 4 announced the deployment of 24 long- range bombers to Guam to deter North Korean aggression, but officials added that the decision was made prior to the March 2 interception by four North Korean fighters of a U.S. surveillance aircraft. Washington is deploying 12 B-1 bombers and 12 B-52 bombers to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. U.S. Pacific commanders requested the aircraft and additional troops in January in order to be prepared for any North Korean contingencies.
The deployment of the bombers to Guam is not unexpected, nor is it directed solely at North Korea. Washington was discussing the movement of the two dozen planes back in January as part of a larger buildup around the Koreas. And aircraft based in Guam can be used for missions in Afghanistan and Iraq or rotated into the Middle East theatre while Guam is used for maintenance of other U.S. aircraft.
And Australia, a key ally for in the U.S.-led war against terrorism and one of the few nations to provide tangible support to the planned attack on Iraq has said the United States will eventually have to deal with North Korea bilaterally. For Canberra, backing the anti-terrorism war is a matter of national security, assisting with Iraq is a calculated risk to demonstrate Australia's strategic importance to the United States, but a war in Northeast Asia would destabilize all of East Asia, leaving Australia on the front lines of a potential war with China.
China also is pressing Washington to negotiate with North Korea, and has several times offered to facilitate such dialogue. Beijing has a better understanding of North Korean thinking, and realizes that Pyongyang truly believes the United States will attack North Korea, and therefore a bilateral non-aggression pact is one of the few things that can truly reassure Pyongyang. But with military action approaching in Iraq and pressures building at home and abroad, the U.S. administration might be nearing a decision point, where some form of negotiations with North Korea are likely to come sooner rather than later.
The Associated Press reported that Prime Minister John Howard said Australia is considering building a missile defense shield with the US to protect itself against rogue states such as the DPRK. His comments, which drew criticism from the PRC and French embassies, came a day after the government issued a new defense policy aimed at increasing the military's ability to respond to the new threats of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. "If North Korea does have missiles that can reach all sorts of countries including Australia, I would have thought the Australian people would want us to look at something that might defend us against that possibility," Howard told Brisbane radio station 4BC on Thursday.
The PRC embassy in Canberra responded with a warning, saying missile defense plans would undermine the global strategic balance and lead to a new arms race. "And TMD (theater missile defense) counteracts the confidence-building efforts in the region and deepens the instability in the region in terms of security," said embassy spokesman Feng Tie. In a rare public comment on local politicial issues, France's ambassador to Australia agreed. "Generally speaking, when the US started a few years ago to speak about building this kind of shield, we said what the PRC are saying. It will only push the arms race a little further," said Pierre Viaux. (Peter O'Connor, "PRIME MINISTER SAYS AUSTRALIA IN TALKS WITH US OVER MISSILE SHIELD AGAINST NORTH KOREA," Canberra, Australia, 2/27/03)
Chosun Ilbo reported that Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer announced Tuesday that his country will supply Aus$3 million worth (W2.1 billion) of wheat to the World Food Program (WFP). Downer had visited ROK to attend President Roh's inauguration ceremony and stated that the wheat sent to the WFP will be made into nutritious biscuits and other food for children. Australia has supplied Aus$39 million worth of food to DPRK since 1996. (Kwon Kyung-bok, "US and AUSTRALIA TO SEND 100,000 TONS OF AID TO NK," Seoul, 02/26/03)
Reuters reported that the US is facing growing pressure to hold direct talks with the DPRK as the only way to defuse a crisis over the DPRK nuclear intentions. With the Bush administration focusing on Iraq and Secretary of State Colin Powell touring Asia, the ROK's outgoing president, Australia and the PRC all backed one-on-one talks as the best way forward. "More than anything, dialogue between North Korea and the US is the important key to a solution," South Korea's Kim Dae-jung, 78, said in an address to the nation on his last day in office. "China hopes the US and the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) will conduct direct dialogues as soon as possible," Xinhua quoted Hu as telling Powell. Australia, one of the few Western countries to have diplomatic relations with the DPRK, said Washington should reassure Pyongyang on its security. (Paul Eckert, "US FACES GROWING PRESSURE TO TALK TO NORTH KOREA," Seoul, 2/24/03)
We hardly grasp how fully we live inside an American, even a Washington-centered world. The East Asian scholar Gavan McCormack doesn't. (Perhaps it helps to be in Australia.) His long essay on the two Koreas, which begins below and was written for this weblog, is a rare attempt to bring us closer to another world -- that of the two Koreas. It turns out that whether you stand in Seoul or Pyongyang, you immediately see things quite differently.
The brutality and bizarreness of a North Korean regime presiding over a society in a state of exhaustion blinds us both to a history we know little about and to the simple, if also brutal, logic of its nuclear position -- but in this case the brutality is, in fact, an American one. McCormack offers us a way to re-imagine the Korean situation and so the situation of East Asia itself. And he poses a simple question: Why don't we attend more closely to the views of the neighbor nearest to North Korea which has the most to lose from its collapse, not to speak of a new war on the Korean peninsula?
I hope you'll take the time to attend to this piece. It repays the investment. The only other piece I've recently seen which offered a similar view was Isabel Hilton's, "Why Korea has returned to the cold" in the Guardian. The following comment from her column offers a perfect introduction to McCormack's essay: "When George W got to the White House and announced that he loathed North Korea, Pyongyang read it, not unreasonably, as a sign that diplomacy had entered a bear market. Given that the US proposes to spend more on missile defense this year than on the entire State Department, it is hard to argue with Pyongyang"...
Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer's Speech at the 'Korea Re-examined' conference dinner, Sydney University, 13 February 2003
...North Korea remains one of the last vestiges of the Cold War – a regime rapidly being left behind the community of nations, in an age when much of the rest of the world has undergone democratic transformation.
North Koreans have encountered undoubted hardships that, one day, will be documented and shared fully with the world – famine and mass starvation in particular.
At least two million people are believed to have died – needlessly - of malnutrition and disease since 1995. And the lives of a further six million North Koreans are threatened.
North Korea's isolation, repressive political system and barely functioning economy make it particularly difficult to deal with...
ALERT Net, 11 Feb 2003 07:05
CANBERRA, Feb 11 (Reuters) - North Korea's ambassador to Australia said on Tuesday Pyongyang will only talk directly to Washington to defuse a crisis over North Korea's nuclear ambitions, rejecting a U.S. push for multilateral involvement. "We are ready to solve the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula peacefully and in a most fair way through the direct and equal negotiations with the U.S. at any time," Chon Jae Hong said in a speech to the Australian Institute of International Affairs. "The ball is in the court of the U.S. side," he said.
Chon said it was the United States, not the international community, which brought the "present nuclear crisis" to the peninsula in a bid to isolate North Korea. "That is why we have already clarified (Pyongyang's) stand that it is strongly opposed to any attempt to internationalise the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula and will never attend any form of multilateral talks over it," Chon said.
The North Korean crisis erupted last October when the United States said North Korea had admitted reviving a nuclear arms programme it had agreed to shut down. Since December, North Korea has expelled U.N. nuclear inspectors, removed seals from a mothballed reactor and pulled out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The International Atomic Energy Agency is scheduled to decide on Wednesday whether to refer the nuclear crisis to the United Nations Security Council.
By James Risen in Washington and Tom Allard in Canberra, The New York Times, January 21 2003
...In Canberra, the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, was more optimistic about a peaceful resolution after the return from Pyongyang of envoys Murray McLean and John Carlson. Mr Downer said North Korea was anxious that the US prove to it that it has no invasion plans, and was pressing for increased economic ties and aid. Mr McLean has also been sent to Washington to give details of his talks, which included a meeting with the North Korean Foreign Minister, Pak Nam-sun. Mr Carlson will visit Tokyo and Seoul to brief officials....
Посол Австралии в Северной Корее после переговоров с руководством КНДР отправился в Вашингтон во вторник, чтобы изложить Белому Дому позицию Пхеньяна и желаемые им от Вашингтона гарантии, необходимые для прекращения ядерной программы. Министр иностранных дел Австралии Александр Даунер заявил, что он верит в дипломатическое решение проблемы, после того, как австралийская делегация провела в общей сложности 11 часов переговоров с представителями правительства КНДР на прошлой неделе.
Австралия является одной из немногих западных стран, имеющих дипломатические отношения с Пхеньяном. Посол Австралии в КНДР должен позднее во вторник встретиться с помощником государственного секретаря США Джеймсом Келли. Другой член австралийской делегации отправился в Сеул и Токио, для встреч с представителями правительств Южной Кореи и Японии.
// Reuters (Gazeta.Ru 21 January 2003, 9:48am in Russian)
by Gavan McCormack, Australian National University, January 15, 2003
North Korea's January 10, 2003 announcement of withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) created uproar. A "rogue regime," it seems, was defying the world and threatening regional and global order. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) gave Pyongyang "one last chance" to return to the fold and the UN Security Council began to consider possible sanctions.
Early in 2002, George W. Bush described North Korea as "the world's most dangerous regime." Subsequently he said that he "loathed" its leader, Kim Jong Il, whom he called a "pygmy" and "a spoiled child at the dinner table." Japan's Prime Minister calls North Korea a "disgraceful" country and his chief cabinet secretary says it is "crazy." British, French, German, Russian, Chinese, and other governments demand that Pyongyang rescind its decision. American and Japanese officials fly about the region, and a three-man Australian delegation has gone to Pyongyang, to bring concentrated pressure to bear...
By Tom Allard, Sydney Morning Herald's Foreign Affairs Writer, January 14 2003
North Korea's weapons of mass destruction programs, unlike Iraq's, did not pose a threat to Australia, Minister for Defence Robert Hill said yesterday, as political divisions widened over the communist state's nuclear move.
Speaking as Western nations, including Australia, launch a diplomatic offensive to end the nuclear crisis in Korea, Senator Hill said: "At this time, I don't see North Korea's program as a threat. We can no longer say that a particular area of the world, because it may be geographically closer, is of greater interest to us than another. "We have major responsibilities to end the weapons of mass destruction program in Iraq. That's in Australia's security interests to do so."
But Labor said just the opposite. The Opposition foreign affairs, spokesman, Kevin Rudd, argued that North Korea posed a bigger danger to Australia than Iraq did, and his leader, Simon Crean, accused the Government of complacency and getting its foreign policy priorities wrong. "It's too keen to rush to war, a war that can be avoided in Iraq, and it is not doing enough to prevent the crisis in our region associated with North Korea," Mr Crean said.
Labor opposes the Government's decision to send troops to Iraq before any declaration of war and wants the Prime Minister, John Howard, or the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, to deal directly with Pyongyang, rather than sending officials. Mr Howard was a "Rambo prime minister" and the deployment irresponsible, Mr Rudd said.
With the United States and its allies occupied with Iraq, North Korea has expelled nuclear weapons inspectors, threatened to restart its nuclear program, indicated it would begin testing long-range missiles and vowed to opt out of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Senator Hill said its actions were all about a country ravaged by famine seeking to secure economic concessions. "The solution may be some further economic benefit in consideration of North Korea giving something extra in return."
North Korea's ambassador to Australia, Chon Jae-hong, said yesterday that the stand-off would end if the US vowed not to invade his country and did not hinder its economic development. While preferring direct dialogue with the US, he said Australia could provide a useful role in easing tensions.
The US, through Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico and former US ambassador to the United Nations, has already begun that dialogue. An assistant secretary of state, James Kelly, is in the region trying to broker a peace deal. In a sign that the makings of a deal along the lines suggested by Senator Hill is being worked out, Mr Kelly said yesterday: "There may be opportunities to help North Korea." Mr Kelly met the Australian delegation when it was en route to Pyongyang. The Australian envoys, Murray McLean and John Carlson, discussed North Korea with Chinese officials in Beijing yesterday.
The Government countered Labor's criticism yesterday by saying that since October it had been worried about North Korea and had been trying to defuse the situation. Mr Downer has talked at length about Korea with the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and has rebuked Mr Chon in person. He has also ordered a series of meetings between his officials and staff at Canberra's North Korean embassy, one foreign affairs official said. Mr Rudd, he noted, had not mentioned North Korea until November. "The Government is seeking to pursue a diplomatic solution, not a headline," the official said.
By Sharon Labi, January 13, 2003
THE Federal Government does not perceive North Korea to be a direct threat despite the risks of it resuming ballistic missile tests minor parties say could reach Australia. Frantic diplomatic efforts were underway to calm the situation in North Korea after it withdrew from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and threatened to resume its nuclear program. The United States said today it was willing to consider energy aid for North Korea if it ended nuclear weapons development. And an Australian delegation arrives in Pyongyang tomorrow but the federal government conceded it was unlikely to achieve any concrete solution to the standoff. "It's unrealistic to think that we would have an influence that that range of major powers that surround North Korea ... would not have," Defence Minister Robert Hill said.
From correspondents in Beijing, China, January 13, 2003
AUSTRALIAN diplomats (Murray McLean and John Carlson) due to visit North Korea to discuss the crisis over Pyongyang's steps to revive its nuclear program have arrived in Beijing, a diplomatic source said. The three-member delegation is expected to travel to Pyongyang on an Air Koryo flight, leaving Beijing tomorrow morning, the source said from Beijing. "They're not giving any interviews prior to going to North Korea," he said. The delegation is the first from a major Western power heading to North Korea since Pyongyang announced on Friday its immediate withdrawal from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and repudiated United Nations atomic safeguards. Its decision resulted in international condemnation, although the North has said it has no intention of developing nuclear weapons.
January 13, 2003
PRIME Minister John Howard should consider travelling to Pyongyang to help calm the stand-off between North Korea and the United States, the federal opposition has said. A delegation of Australian diplomats will arrive in the country tomorrow but Opposition Leader Simon Crean called for higher level discussions. The attempt at diplomacy comes as North Korea threatened stronger self-defensive measures if any sanctions were imposed over its decision to pull out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It also threatened to resume missile testing. Mr Crean said Australia should use its strong ties with North Korea to encourage the country to reassess the situation.
By Sharon Mathieson, January 13, 2003
NORTH Korea is a credible threat to Australia and Prime Minister John Howard should focus his efforts on the Asian nation rather than Iraq, the Australian Greens have argued. Greens Senator Bob Brown said North Korea had rockets capable of reaching northern Australia and urgent diplomatic intervention was needed. He said Australia's three-man delegation due to arrive in Pyongyang tomorrow was an insufficient response. Senator Brown said Mr Howard should be in contact with North Korea's Head of State Kim Jong-il, while Foreign Minister Alexander Downer should travel to the country. North Korea withdrew from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty last week, triggering alarm around the world and frantic diplomatic activity to restore calm.
The Associated Press reported that Australia has shelved plans to open an embassy in the DPRK amid rising tensions over the DPRK's moves to reactivate its nuclear weapons program, the government said Friday. Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said the government has warned the DPRK that establishing full diplomatic links could not proceed while it refused to comply with nuclear nonproliferation obligations. "We have put all of our further evolution of our relationship with North Korea on hold," Downer told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. "So we won't be opening an embassy in Pyongyang for the time being." Australia resumed diplomatic relations with the DPRK in May 2000 and had planned to open an embassy in Pyongyang within the next six months. The DPRK opened an embassy in Canberra in July. Downer has argued that the DPRK could best be influenced to become a responsible member of the world community through dialogue, and said Friday that links should not be closed completely. "I think it is better to talk than not to talk with these countries," he said. (Peter O'Connor, "AUSTRALIA SHELVES N. KOREA EMBASSY PLANS," Canberra, 12/26/02)
by Leonid Petrov and Jacob Marchbourn, June 2002
The history of relations between Australia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (more commonly referred to as North Korea, hereafter DPRK) is almost as odd and chequered as are the circumstances surrounding the re-opening of the North Korean Embassy in Canberra and Australian Embassy in Pyongyang. Despite the recent re-establishment of the diplomatic relations between two countries, the adverse international situation post September 11th has put the project into a state of limbo...
Chon Jae Hong, who is resident in Canberra, was in Wellington 9-15 December to present his credentials to the Governor-General, Dame Silvia Cartwright. Mr Chon was accompanied by Second Secretary Ma Tong Hui. The Koreans also called on Jonathan Hunt (Speaker) Marion Hobbs (Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs), Peter Dunne and Graham Kelly. They had discussions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. They met with business representatives and with Geoff Robinson of Radio NZ who recently visited Pyongyang. Rev Don Borrie and Tim Beal discussed with them ways to develop NZ-DPRK relations including people-to-people contacts, exploration of business possibilities, aid and training. Mr Chon outlined the additional privations that will be imposed upon the people of his country by the US suspension of fuel oil. He expressed a keen interest in getting to know New Zealand better, suggesting that because of geography and topography our agricultural, horticultural and forestry expertise was particularly appropriate. ("Pyongyang Report" Vol 4 No. 5 December 2002)
The Associated Press reported that Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer demanded Thursday that the DPRK "verfiably and immediately" halt its nuclear weapons development program, saying it was a threat to global security. "Australia wants to work with Japan and other countries to reach a peaceful diplomatic solution on this issue," Downer told a forum of academic, political and business leaders in Tokyo. Downer, who arrived on Thursday, was in Japan to meet with Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and other senior officials to discuss terrorism and regional security before flying home on Saturday. ("AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER RENEWS PRESSURE ON NORTH KOREA TO STOP NUCLEAR ARMS PROGRAM," Tokyo, 11/07/02)
Pyongyang, October 18 (KCNA) -- Hong Song Nam, Premier of the DPRK cabinet, sent a message of sympathy to John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia. Noting with great regret that the recent bomb attack in Bali, Indonesia, took a toll of many Australians, the message extended deep sympathy and consolation to those killed or wounded and their bereaved families. Bitterly denouncing the despicable terrorism committed against the innocent people, the message sincerely hoped that the victims and the bereaved families would overcome the pain and sorrow at an early date.
DFAT Media Release 17 October 2002
The Australian Government is gravely concerned about the DPRK’s admission that it is operating a secret nuclear weapons program involving uranium enrichment.
This program, admitted by the DPRK during the 3-4 October visit to Pyongyang by the US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Jim Kelly, threatens to undermine peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. This is an extremely important issue for the region and Australia. Acquisition of nuclear weapons by the DPRK would be contrary to the interests of all regional countries.
The international community cannot turn a blind eye to this breach of the DPRK's obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the 1994 US-DPRK Agreed Framework.
Australia has been a strong supporter of the Framework as a mechanism for freezing the DPRK’s nuclear program. The DPRK signed onto the Framework on the basis that it would freeze its nuclear program and not engage in further nuclear proliferation activities.
In my meetings with DPRK representatives, I have consistently urged the DPRK to implement commitments made under the Agreed Framework and the NPT and emphasised the importance of full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). To help the DPRK develop a better understanding of IAEA requirements, Australia has provided training in nuclear materials accounting.
I call upon the DPRK to comply fully with its nuclear non-proliferation obligations and to engage constructively with the international community on these and other issues of concern relating to its missile proliferation and conventional forces.
Australia shares the international community's concerns about the DPRK's nuclear program. Early and full compliance with its non-proliferation obligations is very much in the DPRK's interest, including its prospects for economic development and normal relationships with neighbours and other countries, including Australia.
We will continue to work in close consultation with our regional and international partners to address concerns over the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and to support cooperation and reconciliation between the two Koreas.
The Sydney Morning Herald.
Australia has sided with China, Cuba, Libya and Sudan in trying to block the United Nations from using an anti-torture convention to investigate the treatment of prisoners and detainees. The Government objected to UN inspectors having the right to enter Australian jails and detention centres for asylum seekers. The stand was in line with recent United States objections but at odds with most European countries.
Australia was in a minority that also included Egypt, Japan, and Nigeria in voting against the draft protocol to the UN convention against torture. The US abstained. Australia is now expected to refuse to ratify the protocol, but Government sources said ad hoc inspections might be allowed.
A spokesman for the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, defended the vote, saying: "It would mean they were able to come in any time." Rather than being put to a vote, the protocol should have been debated further, he said. However, the Opposition foreign affairs spokesman, Kevin Rudd, said Australia was virtually alone among Western countries in voting against the protocol.
The decision would damage Australia's standing and give succour to authoritarian regimes that engaged in torture, he said. Mr Downer's spokesman stressed that Australia was committed to the main convention against torture. Opponents of Australia's detention centres say asylum seekers have been assaulted and that detaining children is inhumane.
Mr Downer's spokesman said the Government had allowed various UN agencies into the centres when a formal request had been made. Last month a UN delegation found that in Australia criminals were better treated than those seeking asylum.
Joongang Ilbo reported that the Australian government on Wednesday announced it would extend 7 million Aussie dollars for aid to DPRK via the World Food Program and United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. The aid is intended to "help alleviate hunger and malnutrition amongst its most vulnerable people," Canberra said Friday. Australia also will send 11,000 metric tons of wheat worth 6 million Aussie dollars and sugar worth 500,000 Aussie dollars. Another 500,000 Aussie dollars will go for vitamins and medicine. The World Food Program has been repeatedly urging international society to assist the impoverished nation with 150,000 metric tons of food since the US decision to donate 100,000 metric tons of food last Friday. ("AUSTRALIA PROMISES AID TO NORTH," Seoul, 06/14/02)
Jinmyung Caprine Dairy (the company) operates in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea). The business operates as a manufacturer, packager and distributor of milk products. The mission of the business is to bring needed people to North Korea and help North Koreans in need. The vision of the business is to have sustainable businesses in many different parts of North Korea, each business helping to build up the local community economically and socially. At present the company has a dairy goat farm that produces, packages and distributes goat milk...
The Sydney Korean Herald (5 April 2002)
이미 북한은 이번 축전을 앞두고 일본, 중국 및 유럽연합 각국을 돌며 설명회를 여는 등 관광객 유치에 안감힘을 쏟아 왔다. 호주에서는 교민 여행사인 임마뉴엘 여행사(대표 박용훈)가 ‘아리랑 축전’ 관광상품을 내 놓고 관광 신청을 받고 있는 상태. 이 여행사 박 용훈 대표는 “북한 당국이 외국 관광객 유치에 주력하는 만큼 각국 동포들의 입국도 적극 환영하고 있다”면서 “호주에서는 ‘재오스트랄리아 동포연합’(회장 임용모 장로. 이하 ‘동포연합’으로 약칭)의 협조로 시민권자, 영주권자 및 457비자 소지자들까지 신청을 받고 있다”고 전했다.
지난 1월 중국을 거쳐 평양을 방문했던 박 대표는 북한 ‘해외동포원호위원회’(위원장 박용순)와 호주 동포들의 평양방문단(관광) 추진을 계약한 상태. 박 대표가 내 놓은 아리랑 축전 관광단은 오는 5월12일 시드니를 출발, 서울에 도착한 뒤 20일 북경을 거쳐 21일 항공편으로 평양에 들어가는 일정이며 체류기간은 7박8로 계획되어 있다. 관광 일정을 마친 뒤에는 다시 항공편으로 돌아올 수 있지만, 이번 일정에는 평양에서 기차를 이용해 신의주, 단동, 심양, 천진을 거쳐 북경역까지 가게 된다(24시간 소요). 체류기간 동안의 관광 일정은 평양 일대와 묘향산 등이 주 코스로 되어 있으며, 전체 여행경비는 호주화 3천400불 선이다.
박 대표가 호주 교민들의 평양관광단 추진 계약을 맺은 상태지만, 북한을 방문하는 데에는 ‘동포연합’의 협조가 필요한 것으로 알려졌다. 일단 북한관광 신청자가 모집되면, ‘동포연합’을 통해 북한 해외동포원호위원회에 명단을 통보하며, 북한 입국 비자는 북경 또는 심양 주재 북한대사관에서 받아야 한다. 또한 이번 일정에서 북한에 거주하는 이산가족을 상봉하고자 할 경우에는 출발 전, ‘동포연합’을 통해 해외동포원호위원회에 신청을 해야 한다. (in Korean)
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By 신봉석 (2001년12월18일 화요일 오후 09:13 EST) [ 사회 ] 북한 탈출 귀순자 J씨, 호주서 망명 신청... '남·북한 체제에 환멸 느껴' 북한을 탈출해 남한으로 왔으나, 거기서도 '환멸을 느낀' 탈북귀순자가 관광차 호주 방문 중 망명을 신청했다. 올해 29세의 탈북자 J씨는 수요일(12일) 호주 이민성에 난민심사를 요청했다. 지난 주 화요일, 본지와 단독으로 만나 한국국적 포기 이유를 밝혔던 J씨는 수요일, 이민성에 난민심사을 요청한 뒤 다시 가진 본지와의 인터뷰에서 "귀순자에 대한 감시와 통제가 계속되는 한국 사회에서 '2등국민'으로 대접받고 싶지 않았다"는 말로 망명 동기를 털어 놓았다. 평양 사회안전부 감찰부 소속이었던 J씨는 북한 지도층에 대한 불만을 토로했던 삼촌 때문에 정치범 수용소에 끌려간 뒤 탄광 인부로 생활하다가 탈출, 중국과 베트남을 거쳐 한국으로 귀순했었다... (in Korean) |
By LINCOLN WRIGHT
The Canberra Times, 30 March, 2002. The Howard Government will allow North Korea to open an embassy in Canberra, despite talk of a chill in relations after US President George W. Bush's "axis of evil" speech in late January. Australia's approval in principle follows an agreement in May 2000 to reopen diplomatic ties with the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea, as North Korea is known. Australia's ambassador to the republic had presented his credentials in July 2001, but the protocol process for North Korea had not been approved at the Canberra end until now. However, an objection to the location of the new mission in Culgoa Circuit, O'Malley, is delaying approval from ACT Planning and Land Management, a problem to be sorted out by the ACT Commissioner for Planning. Several diplomats from the republic, the world's last outpost of Stalinist-style communism, have been living in a flat in Kingston since the beginning of the year.
After the September 11 terrorist attack, and increased US concern with "rogue states", a well-placed source told The Canberra Times that the Howard Government was reluctant to approve the new mission. A senior Government source has denied this, while a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said it was normal for any new diplomatic mission to require a period of negotiation. Australia would be establishing its own mission in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, at some stage. Diplomatic relations with the DPRK were cut for most of the Cold War, despite a brief experimental period of restored ties in the 1970s under the Whitlam Labor government. The last time the DPRK had an embassy in Canberra was in October 1975, when embassy staff abandoned it under mysterious circumstances. For no apparent reason, Australian diplomats were then expelled from Pyongyang. North Korea is one of the last communist holdouts, cut off from foreign trade, short of food, and politically controlled by Kim Jong-il, the supreme leader and the head of Korean Workers' Party.
Reuters reported that the DPRK will open an embassy in the Australian capital of Canberra within weeks, a government spokesperson said Monday. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and DPRK Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun agreed last year to open embassies in one another's capitals. "The development of these links will facilitate our dialogue on the critical security and humanitarian issues which continue to afflict the Korean Peninsula," they said in a joint statement last June. "We expect it to open in April or May," the spokesperson also stated. Australia hopes to have an embassy open in Pyongyang by the middle of 2003. ("PYONGYANG TO OPEN EMBASSY IN CANBERRA," Canberra, 03/31/02)
Pyongyang, February 22 (KCNA) -- A memorandum of understanding on joint research into soil between the scientists of the DPRK and Australia was signed in Pyongyang yesterday on the basis of the memorandum of understanding on joint agricultural research and development programme signed by the two governments. It was inked by Kim Myong Chol, Director of the General Bureau for Cooperation with International Organizations of the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Trade, and R. J. Clements, Chief of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.
Pyongyang, January 25 (KCNA) -- Kim Yong Nam, President of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, today sent a message of greetings to Peter Hollingworth, General Governor of Australia, on its independence day. Expressing belief that the friendly and cooperative ties between the two countries would further develop in the future, it sincerely wished him a greater success in his work.