MEDIA REACTION: SOUTH KOREA

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 003656 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - DAVID FIRESTEIN DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: SOUTH KOREA ¶1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused their coverage October 26 on the year-end Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral races; on the controversial party assets bill, which will be discussed in the Legislative Yuan on Friday; and on the decision by Chinatrust Financial Holding Company Vice Chairman Jeffrey Koo, Jr., who is allegedly involved an illegal merger case, about whether he should return early from an Eisenhower fellowship in the U.S. The pro-unification "United Daily News" front-paged its latest survey on the December Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral elections; it showed that support for Taipei KMT candidate Hau Lung-pin has risen from 34 percent to 41 percent, while support for Chen Chu, a DPP candidate in Kaohsiung, has dropped from 28 percent to 23 percent. ¶2. The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" is the only paper today to run a news story on North Korean sanctions; it lead its page three with the headline "Taiwan to Follow U.N. Sanctions against North Korea." A column in the mass-circulation "Apple Daily" commented on South Korea's development of cruise missiles, saying that President Roh Moo-Hyun is double-dealing with North Korea - showing goodwill on the one hand while holding a stick behind his back. End summary. "The Stick Behind South Korea" Columnist Antonio Chiang noted in the mass-circulation "Apple Daily" [circulation: 500,000] (10/26): "... South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun has been proactively calling for independent diplomacy ever since he rose to power. On the one hand, he wants to retrieve the power of command during war-time from the United States, while on the other hand, he has been actively adopting a friendly policy toward North Korea. The relationship between Washington and Seoul has gradually fallen to a low tide. The two look like a perfect couple on the surface, but in reality, they have been separated for a long time. Pyongyang's nuclear test this time proved that [Seoul's] North policy has failed, and it has got itself stuck in a dilemma. ... "Seoul's development of cruise missiles was aimed at addressing the threats posed by North Korea. But a more important reason for South Korea is that the missiles can be used as a strategic weapon to its neighboring countries once unification between North and South Korea is realized. Seoul was worried that such a move would stimulate China and Japan, so it kept it top secret. But now South Korea has been forced to deliberately leak this information to the media, due to changes in the situation. ... "Judging from this perspective, Roh is also double-dealing towards Pyongyang. He has been trying his best to show his goodwill to Pyongyang on the one hand, while in the meantime, he has been holding a stick behind his back, because there will be no real peace without real strength to support it." YOUNG