OSD/NP COOPER MEETING WITH ROKG ON CWC/HCA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 000728

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

ISN/CB FOR MR. HANLINE AND CWDEL FOR SMART

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/06/2016
TAGS: PREL PARM MARR KTIA CWC KS
SUBJECT: OSD/NP COOPER MEETING WITH ROKG ON CWC/HCA

REF: SEOUL 04980

Classified By: POL-MIL Chief Sung Y. Kim. Reasons 1.4 (b,d).


1. (C) During a cordial March 7 discussion, OSD
Nonproliferation Policy Director Dr. David Cooper and
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Disarmament and
Nonproliferation Director Kwon Hee-seog exchanged views on
the outstanding Chemical Weapons Convention Host Country
Agreement. While recognizing that this document would be
used only in the unlikely event of a challenge inspection,
they agreed that it was necessary to have an appropriate
framework in place. Kwon said he viewed the latest USG
proposal favorably. However, he noted that the structure of
the agreement should be the same for both parties and pointed
out that the language of the agreement was not completely
parallel. In response, Cooper affirmed that the agreement
was intended to be reciprocal and that he would welcome
changes to clarify this during an item-by-item review.


2. (C) Dr. Cooper and Kwon achieved ad referendum agreement
in several of the areas as follows:

Article III, A.4, the second sentence, (KOREA MAY BE
RESPONSIBLE FOR... ASSISTANCE UNTIL THEIR DEPARTURE) was
deemed to be redundant by Kwon and Cooper agreed to delete it.

Article III, C.4, the last sentence, (KOREA MAY, AT ITS
DISCRETION... INSPECTION OF EQUIPMENT) should be changed to
"The Republic of Korea shall have the right to observe and
participate in the inspection of equipment."

Article IV, A.1, the third sentence, (TAKING INTO ACCOUNT
THE... MADE AVAILABLE FOR USE BY THE UNITED STATES) should be
changed to the following: "Taking into account the other
state party's interest, the inspected state party shall make
any final perimeter judgment if the alternative or final
perimeter, including the area within the 50 meter band around
the final perimeter, falls outside the area that has been
made available for use by the other state party."

Article IV, C, the only sentence, (KOREA MAY, AT ITS
DISCRETION... THE ALTERNATE AN FINAL PERIMETER) should be
deleted and replaced by adding the terminology used in
Article IV, B.1., with the countries switched.

Article V, C.1, the first sentence, (KOREA MAY, AT ITS
DISCRETION,... THE INSPECTION) should be deleted and replaced
with the following sentence. "Whenever both parties agree
that one or more of the assets of the Republic of Korea is
not included, fully or partially, within the final perimeter
but is within 50 meters of the final perimeter, the Republic
of Korea shall have the right to observe the conduct of the
inspection."


3. (C) A final issue of concern, raised by Kwon, was whether
the use of the term "party" throughout the agreement implied
a legally-binding agreement, which was not the intention.
Kwon stated that the ROKG viewed this as a memorandum of
understanding, and that making it legally binding would be a
complication. Cooper asked what alternative to "party" would
be substituted and Kwon replied that he did not yet have a
suggestion. Cooper asked if changing the title from
"agreement" to "memorandum of understanding" would resolve
this issue by clarifying both sides understanding that it is
a politically binding government-to-government agreement.
Kwon promised to consult on this and have an answer, if
possible, before Cooper departed the next day so that final
ad referendum agreement could be accomplished.
VERSHBOW