ROKG AWARE OF UNSCR 1718 OBLIGATIONS

S E C R E T SEOUL 003860 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2016 TAGS: PARM PREL KS KN SUBJECT: ROKG AWARE OF UNSCR 1718 OBLIGATIONS REF: SECSTATE 180512 Classified By: POL M/C Joseph Y. Yun. Reasons 1.4 (b),(d). ¶1. (S) On November 6, Poloff delivered reftel points urging capitals against conducting business with the (North) Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KOMID) to Youn Jong-kwon, Deputy Director for MOFAT's Disarmament and Non-proliferation Division. Contacted again on November 8, Youn replied that his office understood that the USG in 2005 had designated KOMID and two subsidiaries under Executive Order 13382. South Korea, he said, did not engage in conventional arms trade with North Korea. He was unaware of any ROKG relationship with KOMID, but added that he passed the reftel points to counterparts at the Unification Ministry to double check. He offered to brief poloff when he heard back from them. ¶2. (S) Youn noted that his office was focused on preparing a report due November 13 to the United Nations on how Seoul was implementing UNSCR 1718. He asked why the USG at this moment was re-targeting KOMID when the committee created by UNSCR 1718 had yet to designate entities subject to additional sanctions. VERSHBOW