KOREA'S MARITIME MINISTRY GETS SINKING FEELING

UNCLAS SEOUL 000163 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PREF KN KS EIAID SUBJECT: KOREA'S MARITIME MINISTRY GETS SINKING FEELING This message is from the American Presence Post (APP) in Busan, Korea. ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Although Lee Myung-bak's transition team is garnering headlines in Seoul for its proposed merger of the Ministry of Unification under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, it is the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MOMAF) that is the hot topic in Busan. Following the recent announcement by President-elect Lee Myung-bak's transition team that MOMAF would be broken up and absorbed into other ministries, Busan residents are divided in their response to the news. As vocal protestors shaved their heads in front of the National Assembly and captured the media's attention, other, quieter groups in Busan welcomed the change and cast this as part of the natural progression with any new administration. Most of our contacts believe this change will not affect their interests, even though they are linked to the maritime industry in some way. Yet, if the vocal minority is able to maintain its momentum long enough, there is a good chance that this issue will carry over until the parliamentary elections on April 9. For now, the biggest potential winner is the municipal government that stands to gain more autonomy with MOMAF's dissolution, while the biggest losers appear to be the MOMAF employees that stand to lose their jobs. END SUMMARY. MOMAF'S ORIGIN -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Korea's largest port is located in Busan on the southeast coast of the Peninsula. In addition to being the largest port in Korea and the fifth largest in the world, the world's top seven ship building companies are also located in and around Busan. In the words of Busan's Mayor Hur, Busan is Korea's capital for maritime issues. Recognizing the economic importance of the maritime industry to Korea, the central government maintains the largest regional office of MOMAF in Busan with a staff of over 250. The ROKG upgraded MOMAF from an independent administration to a full-fledged ministry in 1996 during the presidency of Kim Young-sam, a Busan native. At the Ministry's formation, functions were taken away from the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The creation of MOMAF was a recognition that maritime competitiveness was one key to becoming a world power, drawing from the history of the U.S., England, and Japan. MOMAF'S EVER-ENLARGING PORTFOLIO �A; -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Today, MOMAF has extended its reach into the shipping industry, fishing industry, and even national efforts to attract high-profile events to Korea. MOMAF was instrumental in helping the fellow port city of Yeosu capture the bid to host the 2012 World Expo, an event expected to boost tourism and development in the southern coastal area through investment in infrastructure and facilities. MOMAF has ventured into the geo-political realm as it worked on the Dokdo-Takeshima islet territory dispute with Japan. MOMAF is also heavily involved in lobbying in support of the name 'East Sea' rather than the internationally accepted 'Sea of Japan' when referring to the body of water off the east-coast of the Korean Peninsula. NEW MINISTRY STRUCTURE -------------- ¶4. (SBU) On January 16, the Lee Myung-bak transition team announced its proposal to restructure and in some cases dissolve several government ministries. While the proposal to bring the Ministry of Unification (MOU) under the supervision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) is the move that is surely the most controversial, the plan to break MOMAF into three parts is of great interest (and angst) to the citizens of Busan. Under the current plan, MOMAF's duties will be relegated to the Ministry of Transportation and Construction and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The Ministry of the Environment will also take a small piece. In a meeting with Principal Officer, MOMAF's Acting Commissioner in Busan, Kang Bum-gou, shared the most recent draft of the restructuring plan (Note: Kang was hurriedly assigned to the Busan office in the days following the December 19 election. The previous Commissioner in Busan was detailed to work with on the Transition Committee's Second Subcommittee for Economic Affairs in the hopes of saving MOMAF from breakup. END NOTE). ¶5. (SBU) Under the current plan, a new organization is to be created by the merger of the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry, the MOMAF's fishing and fisheries affairs, and the Health and Welfare Ministry's food-related sections. This will be called the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The Ministry of Construction and Transportation will take over the MOMAF's marine transportation and port policies and the Korea Forest Service; this agency will be called the Ministry of Homeland and Maritime Affairs. ¶6. (SBU) Within the new Ministry of Homeland and Maritime Affairs, there will be nine directors heading up the following divisions: Policy Management and Public Relations; Territorial and Ocean Policy; Urban and Regional Policy; Housing Policy; Construction and Investment Policy; Transport and Logistics Policy; Surface Transport Policy; Maritime Transport Policy; and Aviation and Airport Policy. In addition to concerns about being lost among these numerous divisions, there is also a good likelihood that the ongoing housing policy debate could elevate the importance of the Housing Policy division within this Ministry to the detriment of other less-sensitive divisions and issues. Busan University economics professor Lim Jung-duk also noted that money equals power in the central government. Even if the MOMAF divisions are able to maintain some semblance of their former selves inside the new ministry, they will no longer have the discretionary budgets they enjoyed as a standalone ministry. Even if MOMAF was a "second-tier" ministry before, it had the luxury of its own budget and the autonomy that comes with it. POLITICAL FORCES -------------- ¶7. (SBU) In addition to MOMAF dispatching their commissioner from Busan to work on a transition committee, Busan residents have another insider working on this issue. Vice Chairman of the Presidential Transition Team, Kim Hyung-oh, is a four-term lawmaker representing a district in Busan. Despite the location of his constituency, Kim has taken a positive tone in his public statements about the restructuring while softly criticizing those opposed to the move. In response to a recent newspaper ad from a group of 70 NGO and civic groups in Busan that pleaded for preserving MOMAF, Kim said "It's obvious why previous governments were unable to restructure government agencies." Kim was also quoted as saying "Under the current structure, the fishery function has been ignored so it will be better if MOMAF is restructured into a stronger organization that better supports the maritime functions." ¶8. (SBU) Despite the vocal protests by some, including a group of 500 protestors who shaved their heads in protest in front of the National Assembly building on January 22, some groups in Busan see a positive side to the restructuring. The Busan Port Authority (BPA) confided that they believe the dissolution of MOMAF is likely to provide local governments with more autonomy and power. This is welcome news to the BPA, which has grand plans to convert a large portion of their North Port from a traditional ship yard into a tourist attraction complete with sand beaches and four-star hotels. The plan was derailed early in 2007 following a visit from then presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak. Lee expressed his pessimism with the notion of a tourist space and turned the BPA around to consider a new commercial space instead. Although the BPA complied and drew up new plans, they kept the old ones in a drawer and hope to bring them back to life in the near future. ¶9. (SBU) Another rumor is that the fishing side of MOMAF wanted to get out from under the shadow of bigger maritime issues such as shipping and territory. Proponents of the fishing industry supposedly supported the dissolution of MOMAF and may have provided President-elect Lee with enough ammunition to make the decision to deep-six the Ministry. Jang Cheol-soon, President of a large technology company that supplies the ship-building industry, agrees that it is probably better for both parties if the fishing and ocean contingents part company. According to Jang, MOMAF spent the first nine of its eleven years focusing solely on the fishing industry to the detriment of the broader ocean-related issues. IMPLICATIONS FOR APRIL -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Undoubtedly, National Assemblyman Kim Hyung-oh and the other 16 representatives from Busan are conscious of the upcoming April 9 elections and are careful to strike a balance between working with the incoming administration and maintaining their own seats in the parliament. Although this theory is called into question for higher-profile players like Kim who may be granted a position within the administration and therefore less concerned about his constituents in Busan. In addition to the current group of NGOs and civic groups who oppose MOMAF's dissolution, there is the potential that another group will arise with even more serious concerns. MOMAF's Acting Commissioner Kang said that he expends a lot of energy trying to keep his 250 employees engaged and thinking positive. Kang said that they all fear they may lose their jobs as the Ministry is merged into others. As a senior officer within MOMAF, Kang said he has more to fear than the lower-level employees as there are likely to be less senior-level positions after the restructuring. COMMENT -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Most people in Busan have little interest in the structure of the central government and the titles assigned to the government ministries. Although there is a lot of clamor in Busan about the plan to restructure MOMAF, most experts expect the noise to subside within weeks, not months. Some of the issues that MOMAF has traditionally addressed may indeed decline in overall attention, the economic aspects of the shipping industry and Busan's prominence as a top world port should not be affected. Although the move to place the MOU under the foreign ministry's care may be bargained away in negotiations with the National Assembly, MOMAF appears unlikely to survive the proposed cuts by the incoming administration. STANTON