ROK "SUPPORTS" PSI "PURPOSE AND PRINCIPLES"

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 003898 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: AFTER KOREAN REUNIFICATION TAGS: PARM PREL MNUC KNNP KS SUBJECT: ROK "SUPPORTS" PSI "PURPOSE AND PRINCIPLES" REF: SEOUL 3882 Classified By: CDA a.i. Bill Stanton. Reasons 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (C) Summary: In a November 13 meeting, Blue House National Security Advisor Park Sun-won conveyed the ROKG's final position on the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), which states that the ROKG "supports the purpose and principles of the initiative but will implement it in accordance with domestic and international law, and at our discretion." Park Sun-won and Deputy Foreign Minister Park In-kook in a subsequent phone call to Charge, both insisted the announced new policy meant the ROKG planned to become a far more active participant in PSI. DepMin Park told reporters about the ROKG's position on November 13. End Summary. ¶2. (C) On November 13 CDA Bill Stanton met Dr. Park Sun-won, Secretary to the President for National Security Strategy, at SIPDIS Park's request to discuss today's ROKG announcement on its participation in PSI. Park provided the following updated and final text of the ROKG's statement on PSI, which replaces text provided reftel. BEGIN TEXT: The ROK Government supports the purpose and principles of PSI and will adjust the scope of our participation in accordance at our discretion (sic). Taking into account the unique circumstances on the Korean Peninsula, we will decide on activities to be taken in the waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula in accordance with our relevant domestic laws, including the South-North Agreement on Maritime Transportation, and international law. END TEXT ¶3. (C) Dr. Park then outlined what the ROK would and would not do in its PSI participation. South Korea would attend international PSI conferences, send a relatively larger team to participate in PSI exercises if invited, positively consider requests for contributions of assets, and enhance its intelligence-sharing cooperation with the United States. Currently, the ROK had no plans to interdict or inspect North Korean ships in or around its territorial waters. It would, however, share the information it had, especially about cargo loads, with the United States. Dr. Park stated that the ROK would find a way to cooperate "more fully" (without providing specifics of what this would entail) if provided with "hard and reliable evidence" that a North Korean ship was carrying prohibited materials. Overall, he said the ROKG would tighten its monitoring and surveillance of North Korean maritime shipping. ¶4. (C) Charge Stanton told Park that Washington's perception of whether the ROKG's announced support constituted full participation might be influenced by how the ROKG announcement had already been portrayed in the Korean press. Most reporting on November 13 had described the ROKG's position on PSI as a rejection of U.S. efforts to bring South Korea into the initiative as a full partner. Dr. Park agreed that Korean press coverage was a concern, but he stressed that the reports had not conveyed the ROKG's precise view on PSI. Park claimed that the United States would see in action, rather than in words, the true ROK position on PSI, which would entail more, rather than less, participation. Charge noted that Washington would have to decide if the ROKG statement on PSI met the bar for full PSI partnership. Charge also took the opportunity to ask about a November 4 Yonhap report that ROK Customs had repeatedly allowed a Chinese ship carrying narcotics and counterfeit cigarettes to travel between Busan and North Korea. Dr. park said he would look into the report. ¶5. (C) Subsequently, Deputy Foreign Minister Park In-kook called the Charge to explain that Korean media reports downplaying the ROK's future participation in PSI were misleading and only reflected the preferred outcome of some politicians. This kind of media misinterpretation was the result of the "silly" idea that the Government should consult with political leaders before adopting new policies. The net result of the ROKG's new policy, DepMin Park insisted, was that the ROKG would participate more fully in PSI. It was important, he said, that Washington understand this. ¶6. (C) DepMin Park then took the opportunity to complain about a front-page story in the November 13 edition of the Financial Times, titled "Seoul Set to Reject US Pleas on North Korea," which quoted a senior U.S. official as criticizing the ROKG position on PSI, and describing the ROK with Winston Churchill's quip about the United States that "you can always count on them to do the right thing after they have exhausted all the other possibilities." STANTON