CLARIFIED REQUEST FOR AFGHAN NATIONAL ARMY

S E C R E T SEOUL 001936 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2018 TAGS: EAID PREL KS AF SUBJECT: CLARIFIED REQUEST FOR AFGHAN NATIONAL ARMY EXPANSION DELIVERED TO REPUBLIC OF KOREA REF: A. STATE 97592 B. STATE 103482 Classified By: DCM Bill Stanton, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) On Tuesday, October 30, POLOFF delivered ref B demarche to First Secretary Kim, Hyun-du in the ROK-U.S. Security Cooperation Division of MOFAT. POLOFF clarified the language in ref A on the USG's request for ROKG support for the expansion of the Afghan National Army. POLOFF informed Kim that the U.S. was requesting that the ROKG provide an additional $500 million ($100 million per year from 2010 to 2014) to expand the Afghan National Army. Mr. Kim took the revised figure in stride as we had earlier clarified the amount of support we were requesting. POLOFF stressed that this request was in conjunction with, not in place of, previous requests for ROK assistance to Afghanistan. ¶2. (C) When asked how and when the ROKG interagency decision would be made, Mr. Kim stated that MOFAT would probably take the lead but that this could change depending on the decision the ROKG made. He gave no time frame for a response, but said that the ROKG's National Assembly's (N.A.) budget approval process would provide a rough road map to follow. ¶3. (C) If the aid was approved, it would be placed on the N.A.'s budget docket. The request would have to be included in the budget approval schedule during the first half of 2009, so that it could be approved and implemented in time for the 2010 target date. While the N.A. convened in September, decisions on budget allocations often strayed well into late December. While he was unable to say when a response would be forthcoming, he noted it would not be unreasonable to see whether or not the request had made its way out of the interagency approval process by June, 2009. The definitive shape and size of the package would not be known, however, until the last quarter of 2009. STEPHENS