ROK FOREIGN MINISTER SONG VISIT TO EIJING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 000769

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2027
TAGS: PREL PGOV CMGT CH KS KN
SUBJECT: ROK FOREIGN MINISTER SONG VISIT TO EIJING

Classified By: Classified by Political Section External Unit Chief Edga
rd D. Kagan. Reasons 1.4 (b/d)

Summary
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1. (C) Foreign Minister Song Min-soon discussed bilateral
relations with high-level Chinese officials and raised
growing concerns about the treatment of North Koreans in
China in a day-long series of meetings with ROK consular
officers in the PRC on his recent visit to Beijing. Our PRC
and ROK Embassy contacts express optimism about progressively
improving bilateral relations. Increased exchanges between
the two nations and growing trade and investment demonstrate
the significant changes that have come about in the fifteen
years since they established diplomatic relations. Moving
forward, Beijing and Seoul seek to sign a consular agreement
to solidify normalization of relations and to sign a Free
Trade Agreement, though that may be several years in the
future. End Summary.


2. (C) ROK Foreign Minister Song Min-soon split his recent
visit to Beijing between meeting with Chinese officials and
meeting with the heads of the ROK's six Consulates in the
PRC, ROK Embassy political officer Kim Gunn told Poloff
January 29. Song had extended meetings with Foreign Minister
Li Zhaoxing and head of the International Department of the
Central Committee (CCID) of the Communist Party Wang Jiarui
and paid courtesy calls on State Councilor Tang and Premier
Wen Jiabao. In a day-long series of meetings with the
consular officials, Song discussed both the issue of North
Koreans in China and general "management issues," Kim said.

North Koreans in China
--------------


3. (C) ROK Foreign Minister Song Min-soon's visit to Beijing
January 25-27 was in large part designed to address growing
domestic concerns about treatment of North Koreans in China,
Kimtold Poloff. Because ROK Six-Party Talks negotiator Chun
Young-woo had very comprehensive discussions during his
January 23 visit to Beijing, Song only briefly discussed the
North Korean nuclear issue, Kim added. Instead, Kim
highlighted the recent incident in which an ROK official was
recorded responding to relatives of South Koreans who had
been held as POWs in North Korea and were seeking assistance
by asking how they had gotten his phone number. While this
issue was receiving tremendous public attention in South
Korea, the media reported a separate incident, which had
happened a year before, in which a South Korean fisherman who
had been abducted by the North received a similarly brusque
response when he approached an ROK official.


4. (C) While Kim said that Song called on PRC officials to
work more closely with the ROK and not to return individuals
to North Korea, MFA Office of Korean Affairs Director Chen
Hai told Poloffs January 30 that Song raised this issue but
avoided strong criticism of the PRC. Noting that ROK
Ambassador Kim had complained in stronger terms immediately
before FM Song's visit, Chen said that Song had expressed
appreciation for PRC cooperation to date in "managing" the
issue of North Koreans in China while stressing the need for
even greater cooperation. Kim did not discuss the content of
the "internal meetings" Song had with ROK consular officers,
the media reported that Song told the consuls that their
behavior could be factored into performance evaluations.

Diplomatic Relations
--------------


5. (C) Song discussed general PRC-ROK relations and the
planned visit of Premier Wen Jiabao to the ROK this April in
his meetings with FM Li Zhaoxing and Central Committee
International Department (CCID) Director Wang Jiarui. During
this visit, Wen hopes to initiate a broad strategic dialogue.
Seoul hopes to supplement this strategic dialogue with broad
policy dialogue at the Vice Ministerial level, Kim told
Poloff. Both sides are please with the generally positive
trend in bilateral relations, as evidenced by the 2007
Exchange Year to commemorate the fifteen years of diplomatic
relations.

Trade Relations
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6. (C) Beijing and Seoul are seriously studying a Free Trade
Agreement and have established a panel of academics,
government officials and industry experts to further examine
the specifics, both Chen and Kim said. Chen noted that both
China and Japan are carefully watching Seoul's ongoing FTA
negotiations with Washington to better understand Seoul's
willingness to negotiate. In particular, Chen noted that
Seoul must decide whether it is willing to trade off

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protection of its agricultural sector for greater market
access for its increasingly important high-tech exports to
its three largest trading partners. Speaking personally,
Chen (who attended Kim Il Sung University and has served at
the PRC Embassy in Seoul) said that the ROK "must" move in
this direction eventually, but that the process will not be
easy and will be made worse because of the upcoming election.
He commented that the PRC is studying an "early harvest" to
eliminate tariffs and trade barriers in less politically
sensitive areas, as it has done with some Southeast Asian
neighbors. However, moving forward will require the ROK to
address some key PRC concerns on investment issues as well as
China's USD 40 billion trade deficit with South Korea.


7. (C) Song also discussed a joint "cooperation development
vision," Kim told poloff, and PRC officials asked for
increased cooperation in energy, environment,
telecommunications, and a proposed "train-ferry" between
China and South Korea. While Seoul and Beijing had
previously discussed expanding bilateral trade to USD 200
billion by 2012, they agreed on this visit to try to achieve
this goal within the next couple of years. Chinese officials
also asked Song to encourage South Korean companies to invest
in China's midwest and northeast.

Consular Relations
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8. (C) Song asked PRC officials to support the drafting of a
formal consular agreement between the two nations, to which
they "responded favorably," Kim told Poloff. Working-level
Chinese officials are in Seoul during the week of January 29
for a second round of meetings to discuss the details of this
agreement. Song also asked for permission to send more
officers to work at the ROK Consulate in Shenyang than the
current limit of sixteen, which Beijing said they would
consider. PRC officials asked for Song's support of an MOU
to allow Chinese workers permission to legally work in South
Korea, which Song told them he would "study further," Kim
said. Chen confirmed that the two countries are holding
further discussions on a formal consular agreement and said
the PRC understands ROK concerns on this issue. However,
Chen stated that Seoul needed to be "realistic" in its goals,
saying that it would be "difficult" for the PRC to give more
to the ROK than it has in consular agreements with other
countries.

Other Issues
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9. (C) PRC officials raised the "usual issues" with Song,
such as Taiwan and Falun Gong, Kim said. They also inquired
about the possibility of allowing shuttle flights between
Seoul's Gimpo airport and Shanghai's Hongqiao airport. Song
asked for PRC support of ROK bids to host the 2012 Expo and
the 2014 Winter Olympics.
RANDT