Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07SEOUL2044
2007-07-09 07:53:00
SECRET
Embassy Seoul
Cable title:
DPRK DEFECTOR FILES: THE UNTAPPED SOURCE
how-toVZCZCXYZ0003 PP RUEHWEB DE RUEHUL #2044/01 1900753 ZNY SSSSS ZZH P 090753Z JUL 07 FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5404 INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 2768 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 2880 RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RHMFISS/COMUSFK SEOUL KOR PRIORITY RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA J5 SEOUL KOR PRIORITY RUACAAA/COMUSKOREA INTEL SEOUL KOR PRIORITY RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//OSD/ISA/EAP// PRIORITY RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA J2 SEOUL KOR PRIORITY
S E C R E T SEOUL 002044
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DNI FOR SYD SEILER
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2014
TAGS: CH ECON ELAB KDEM KIRF KN KS KWMN PGOV PHUM
PINR, PREF, PREL, PROP, SENV, SMIG, SNAR, SOCI
SUBJECT: DPRK DEFECTOR FILES: THE UNTAPPED SOURCE
INTRODUCTION AND ACTION REQUEST
-------------------------------
S E C R E T SEOUL 002044
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DNI FOR SYD SEILER
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2014
TAGS: CH ECON ELAB KDEM KIRF KN KS KWMN PGOV PHUM
PINR, PREF, PREL, PROP, SENV, SMIG, SNAR, SOCI
SUBJECT: DPRK DEFECTOR FILES: THE UNTAPPED SOURCE
INTRODUCTION AND ACTION REQUEST
--------------
1. (S) The USG possesses an enormous trove of information
about the DPRK that has been almost entirely untapped. The
files contain over 9,180 Korean-language debriefs, spanning
1997 to the present, of North Korean citizens who escaped
from the DPRK and were accepted by the ROKG for resettlement
and processed at the Combined Military Interrogation Center
(CMIC). The files are collected by the National Intelligence
Service and related ROKG agencies and turned over to the
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)'s Field Operating
Base-Korea (FOB-K) on a regular and continuing basis.
2. (S) This massive collection of contemporaneous,
first-hand testimony would be directly relevant to assessing
DPRK regime stability, planning for collapse or other
contingencies, and building a record of accountability for
human rights violations. FOB-K has already participated in
some of the initial interviews and has screened all of the
reports for defense-related information. Our proposal
envisages using the completed files to extract much more
information about the DPRK. For example, in just four
randomly selected files, we found testimony about the:
-- distribution of bibles, electronic equipment, and
Christian recordings in Chongjin and Pyongyang;
-- inducement of abortions among pregnant North Koreans
returning from China;
-- nonconsensual "extraction" of an elderly North Korean
woman by her husband in the ROK;
-- torture by electric shock of North Koreans caught in China;
-- trafficking of four North Korean women to a Chinese farmer
for USD 26;
-- altering of vehicle license plates to disguise the
diversion of aid for military purposes;
-- dissatisfaction of workers with the 2002 economic reforms;
-- imposition of forced labor in a coal mine;
-- sale of antiquities pillaged from royal tombs near
Pyongyang and Kaesong; and
-- Knowledge of ROK society through overseas radio
broadcasting.
3. (S) Turning these files into a usable reference would
require resources beyond anything the U.S. Mission in Seoul
could manage. One approach could be for interested USG
agencies to hire contractors, with sufficient Korean language
skill and the appropriate security clearances, to undertake
translating and cataloging this material, perhaps as a
database similar to the "Harmony" database used for Al Qaida
documents. Post believes that this is a project very much
worth pursuing. We are, therefore, seeking the Department's
assessment of available USG resources, financial and
otherwise, that could be used to fully e
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DNI FOR SYD SEILER
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2014
TAGS: CH ECON ELAB KDEM KIRF KN KS KWMN PGOV PHUM
PINR, PREF, PREL, PROP, SENV, SMIG, SNAR, SOCI
SUBJECT: DPRK DEFECTOR FILES: THE UNTAPPED SOURCE
INTRODUCTION AND ACTION REQUEST
--------------
1. (S) The USG possesses an enormous trove of information
about the DPRK that has been almost entirely untapped. The
files contain over 9,180 Korean-language debriefs, spanning
1997 to the present, of North Korean citizens who escaped
from the DPRK and were accepted by the ROKG for resettlement
and processed at the Combined Military Interrogation Center
(CMIC). The files are collected by the National Intelligence
Service and related ROKG agencies and turned over to the
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)'s Field Operating
Base-Korea (FOB-K) on a regular and continuing basis.
2. (S) This massive collection of contemporaneous,
first-hand testimony would be directly relevant to assessing
DPRK regime stability, planning for collapse or other
contingencies, and building a record of accountability for
human rights violations. FOB-K has already participated in
some of the initial interviews and has screened all of the
reports for defense-related information. Our proposal
envisages using the completed files to extract much more
information about the DPRK. For example, in just four
randomly selected files, we found testimony about the:
-- distribution of bibles, electronic equipment, and
Christian recordings in Chongjin and Pyongyang;
-- inducement of abortions among pregnant North Koreans
returning from China;
-- nonconsensual "extraction" of an elderly North Korean
woman by her husband in the ROK;
-- torture by electric shock of North Koreans caught in China;
-- trafficking of four North Korean women to a Chinese farmer
for USD 26;
-- altering of vehicle license plates to disguise the
diversion of aid for military purposes;
-- dissatisfaction of workers with the 2002 economic reforms;
-- imposition of forced labor in a coal mine;
-- sale of antiquities pillaged from royal tombs near
Pyongyang and Kaesong; and
-- Knowledge of ROK society through overseas radio
broadcasting.
3. (S) Turning these files into a usable reference would
require resources beyond anything the U.S. Mission in Seoul
could manage. One approach could be for interested USG
agencies to hire contractors, with sufficient Korean language
skill and the appropriate security clearances, to undertake
translating and cataloging this material, perhaps as a
database similar to the "Harmony" database used for Al Qaida
documents. Post believes that this is a project very much
worth pursuing. We are, therefore, seeking the Department's
assessment of available USG resources, financial and
otherwise, that could be used to fully e