THE SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC OPINION (C-AL6-01891)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 004336 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2014 TAGS: PINR KS SUBJECT: THE SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC OPINION (C-AL6-01891) REF: STATE 184022 Classified By: POL M/C Joseph Y. Yun. Reasons 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (C) Poloff met with Secretary to the President for Public Information, Cho Yong hyu and Assistant Secretary Park Si young on Friday December 15. Despite the Secretary's initial reluctance to meet with Embassy staff, Cho was very cordial and spoke openly about his office and their responsibilities. Detailed answers to questions from reftel follow. ¶2. (C) Q: Who is the current Secretary for Public Opinion? A: Cho Yong hyu is the current Secretary. Park Si young is the current Assistant Secretary. ¶3. (C) Q: What is the Secretary's professional or political background? A: Cho is one of Roh's close confidants since 1993 when Roh was one of the party leaders. He began helping Roh as a polling expert when Roh was Minister for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries in 2000. His help was critical when Roh was the Millennium Democratic Party's presidential candidate in 2002. After Roh's victory, Cho joined Roh's presidential transition committee, but declined to join the Blue House in ¶2003. He eventually joined the Blue House in June 2006 when Roh's approval ratings reached new lows. Other notable positions include: -President and CEO of Pol and Poll (a polling firm) -2003 Presidential Transition Committee member -2002 Election Consultant for Roh's presidential campaign headquarters -Staff, Office of Public Opinion Secretary (under Kim Dae-jung administration) -Deputy Chief of Political Analysis, Millennium Democratic Party (MDP, party of former President Kim Dae-jung) -Deputy Chief of Political Analysis, national Congress for New Politics (NCNP, predecessor of MDP) -Senior Researcher, Research & Research (polling firm) Background -B.A. in Business Administration, Chosun University -Gwangju Commercial High School -Age 44 ¶4. (C) Q: How long has the current Secretary for Public Opinion held this position? A: Since June 19, 2006. ¶5. (C) Q: How large is the Secretary's supporting staff? A: In addition to the Secretary and the Assistant Secretary, there are currently five additional staff members in the office for Public Opinion. ¶6. (C) Q: Which polling firm(s) do they use for their polls? A: Most surveys are conducted through with Gallup Korea or TNS. Cho also uses his previous company, Pol and Poll. ¶7. (C) Q: Washington would be very interested in a copy of one of the questionnaires the Secretary for Public Opinion uses. A: Cho provided three surveys that have been conducted in the past. The surveys (all in Korean) are summarized as follows: --Survey on Policy Issues: December 4, 2006; In addition to questions on the government's property policy, the survey also asks about the respondents' approval rating for President Roh and the respective political parties. --Survey on Education: Introduction of teacher evaluation system, confidence in the formal/public education system and college entrance examination system. --Seoul Metropolitan Area Survey on Property Market Stabilization Measures: November 21-22, 2006; Perceptions of the current real estate/housing price situation and ways to stabilize the problem. ¶8. (C) Q: Which cabinet level officers are most interested in the poll results? A: Cho declined a direct answer to this question but said that his surveys are available to the President, Blue House staff and Cabinet Ministers. His survey results are not provided to the National Assembly or any non-government or non-Cabinet personnel. COMMENT ¶9. (C) Cho said that his office faced a budget crunch due to the high number of issues that warranted surveys in the past year; specifically noting OPCON, Korus FTA and Korea's troop deployment to Iraq. As an appointee, Cho said that he would be out of a job next year following the presidential elections at which time he hoped to return to his former company or another private company. When Cho was asked to compare working under President Kim Dae-jung versus President Roh, he responded by saying that Kim would respond to negative polling information by changing the related policy. Roh, on the other hand, tended to internalize the polling data as a direct reflection of the public's opinion of himself and therefore was always keenly aware of the latest statistics. VERSHBOW