MEDIA REACTION: NORTH KOREA

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 001560 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - BROOKE SPELLMAN DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: NORTH KOREA Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies continued to focus news coverage July 12 on the legislators' elections and the presidential election slated for early 2008. In terms of editorials and commentaries, a column in the centrist, KMT-leaning "China Times" discussed the possibility of the "four-party talks" proposed by the United States, which are aimed at promoting peace on the Korean peninsula. An editorial in the conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post" also said negotiations should continue to persuade North Korea to "discontinue developing nuclear weaponry." End summary. A) "South Korea Proactively Promotes Peace on the Peninsular" The "International Outlook" column in the centrist, KMT-leaning "China Times" [circulation: 400,000] wrote (7/12): "... The 'four-party talks,' however, seem plausible, because none of four parties - the United States, China, South and North Korea - is against such an idea. The objective of the four-party talks is to turn the truce agreement of the Korean War into a treaty declaring a formal conclusion of the war, but they are also related to the normalization of ties between Washington and Pyongyang. Pyongyang believes that its relations with Washington will naturally be normalized once the peace treaty is signed or, more likely, the treaty should be signed after the bilateral ties are normalized. For the United States, however, it is hard to tell whether it is ready to do so, even though there have been suggestions about it. "With regard to the signing of a peace treaty between Seoul and Pyongyang, it seems like an easy move, but still there is a problem - namely, it must not be done before Pyongyang completes the freezing of its nuclear program. The public opinion and political ambiance in South Korea both believe that the development of Seoul-Pyongyang relations must be linked with Pyongyang freezing its nuclear program, or peace can hardly be achieved [on the Korean peninsula]." B) "Time to Promote Peace in Northeast Asia" The conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post" [circulation: 30,000] editorialized (7/12): "... Negotiations should continue so as to persuade North Korea to discontinue developing nuclear weaponry. Progress toward this goal can be achieved if the United States and other countries involved make sincere efforts to help the isolated, impoverished Communist country improve the life of its citizens." YOUNG