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