Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06SEOUL3898
2006-11-13 09:37:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Seoul
Cable title:
ROK "SUPPORTS" PSI "PURPOSE AND PRINCIPLES"
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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).
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
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