ROK CRITICIZED FOR "APOLOGIZING" TO DPRK TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 001021 SIPDIS SIPDIS NSC FOR CHA E.O. 12958: DECL: AFTER KOREAN REUNIFICATION TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV KN KS SUBJECT: ROK CRITICIZED FOR "APOLOGIZING" TO DPRK TO RESOLVE STANDOFF AT N-S FAMILY REUNION REF: SEOUL 972 Classified By: A/DCM JOSEPH Y. YUN. REASONS 1.4 (B, D). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) In the aftermath of the March 22 incident at Mt. Geumgang, North Korea -- in which DPRK officials retaliated against South Korean journalists' statement that one of the North Korean participants in the inter-Korean family reunion event was "abducted" by preventing 99 elderly South Koreans from departing -- the North Korean press announced on March 23 that the ROK had apologized for the incident. South Korean media criticized the ROKG, asserting that the ROK head of delegation, under instructions from the Ministry of Unification (MOU),had issued a statement of regret over the use of the words "abductees" and "hostages," thus compromising South Korea's freedom of the press to advance its engagement policy with the DPRK. An MOU official told poloff on March 28 that the statement was not an apology, insisting that MOU had accurately portrayed the statement as expressing regret that Pyongyang had constrained normal press activities. A reporter from the Yonhap News Agency believed that, with inter-Korean family reunion events declining in popularity among journalists experienced in North-South relations, similar incidents would occur in the future. ¶2. (C) COMMENT: Our contacts predicted that mainstream South Koreans would let the issue pass for now, as they were increasingly accustomed to a ROKG keen on assuaging the DPRK in order to maintain momentum on inter-Korean projects. The public also took for granted that North Koreans were "touchy" and had to be handled sensitively in the process of inter-Korean engagement. This could change over time, however, as their patience for the North Koreans grew thin with more frequent occurrences of such incidents. Moreover, the ROKG and, perhaps unwittingly, the DPRK have effectively given the conservative Grand National Party more political ammunition in the upcoming local elections through this incident. END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. BACKGROUND -------------- ¶3. (U) On March 22, DPRK officials, in retaliation for statements by two South Korean journalists that a North Korean participant in the first part of the March 20-25 inter-Korean family reunions had been "abducted," or "held hostage," refused to allow 99 elderly South Korean participants to depart the venue for ten hours until the ROK news outlets decided to pull the reporters out (reftel). The DPRK's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) subsequently announced on March 23 that Pyongyang had agreed to continue with the second part of the family reunions in consideration of the ROKG's written acknowledgement of the "wrongdoings" of the South Korean reporters. The conservative Chosun Ilbo daily and other major South Korean news outlets immediately followed up with scathing articles asserting that the Ministry of Unification (MOU) had instructed Kim Jang-bae, the South Korean head of delegation, to apologize in writing in an obvious step to appease the DPRK. By doing so, the ROKG had compromised the freedom of the press guaranteed in the South Korean constitution, as well as its principles as a democratic government, the press charged. ¶4. (U) MOU Spokesperson Yang Chang-seok, in a March 24 press statement, denied that the ROKG had apologized to the DPRK. According to Yang, MOU instructed Kim to express regret on behalf of the government that the DPRK had constrained normal press activities for the family reunion, and that the event could not proceed smoothly. The expression of regret did not contain the words "wrongdoings" or "apology." PRESS UNMOVED BY MOU'S EXPLANATION -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Jang Yong Hoon, Inter-Korean Affairs Desk Reporter for the Yonhap News Agency, told poloff on March 27 that MOU's explanation, while plausible, did not hold much water with the conservative South Korean press. To most journalists, such efforts by the ROKG to appease the DPRK harkened back to the 2003 Daegu Universiad Games, when President Roh Moo-hyun issued a statement of regret to persuade DPRK participants to return to the games after they threatened a boycott to protest the burning of the DPRK flag by some South Koreans. SEOUL DESPARATE TO GET 99 ELDERLY OUT OF MT. GEUMGANG -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) In a separate meeting on March 28, Kim Jung-ro, Deputy Director of International Cooperation, MOU, told poloff that his ministry had assessed the situation as urgent enough to warrant a written statement of regret. Neither Minister Lee Jong-seok nor other senior ministry officials would accept the possibility of having 99 elderly ROK citizens stuck at Mt. Geumgang while the two governments bickered over the incident. In MOU's calculus, the safe return of the 99 South Koreans took precedence over any other issue. Kim, underscoring that the ROKG had not apologized to the DPRK, stressed that the KCNA announcement had completely mischaracterized the ROK's written statement. MORE RELATED INCIDENTS LIKELY, MOU TO DISCUSS AT TALKS -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C) Both Kim and Jang lamented that the incident could have been avoided had the media outlets dispatched veteran reporters to cover the family reunion. Noting that experienced journalists increasingly distanced themselves from the family reunion events as they were no longer considered novel or newsworthy, Jang believed similar fiascos involving DPRK officials and South Korean press would continue unless both Koreas took preventive measures. As a democratic government, however, the ROK had few options, since it could not force news outlets to limit themselves to dispatching experienced reporters, nor could it aggressively "coach" the new journalists. Nevertheless, said Kim, MOU Lee Jong-seok planned to discuss the issue seriously with his DPRK counterpart at the next round of inter-Korea ministerial talks. MINTON