AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH GNP LEADER PARK GEUN-HYE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 002203 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KN KS SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH GNP LEADER PARK GEUN-HYE Classified By: Amb. Kathleen Stephens. Reasons 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In a wide-ranging conversation on Nov. 6, the Ambassador and GNP legislator Park Geun-hye discussed North Korea, the future of the U.S.-ROK relationship, domestic political trends in Korea, the FTA, and camp returns. Exchanges on policy issues were interwoven with historical anecdotes and personal recollections. The Ambassador recalled the days when Park served as first lady after her mother was killed, and Park noted that the Ambassador's excellent Korean and understanding of Korea would help the relationship between our two countries. They agreed that our two countries were closer now than they had ever been but that there were still some difficult issues for us to address such as ratifying the FTA, camp returns, burden-sharing, and ensuring North Korea gives up its nuclear weapons. END SUMMARY NORTH KOREA ¶2. (C) Over a lunch at the Ambassador's residence on November 6, GNP Legislator and former Party Chair Park Geun-hye said that she had traveled to Pyongyang and met DPRK leader Kim Jong-il in May 2002, finally accepting one of the North Korean leaders many invitations. Kim told her that he wanted to uphold the July 4 Communique signed by their fathers (Kim Il-sung and Park Chung-hee) pledging a commitment to a peaceful, unified Korean Peninsula. Since Kim and Park were both children of great leaders, KJI said, it was up to them to realize the goals of their fathers. KJI even suggested that Park and he promise to work together on this goal. This all happened before DPRK's HEU program was discovered. Park said she gave Kim a list of issues that should be discussed including POWs, separated families, and a possible joint dam project at Mt. Kumgang, and KJI agreed that the two countries should make progress on these issues. She said she met him one-on-one for one hour and then had a two-hour dinner with him and his aides. ¶3. (C) Park said that KJI seemed very concerned about the state of the North Korean economy and had just been to Shanghai before he met with Park. He was surprised at the economic growth he had witnessed in Pudong. Asking Kim why he thought China had developed so much, Park suggested it was because the PRC showed it was a nation that could be trusted, enabling the flow of FDI from overseas Chinese, Taiwan and others. She told him the best way to help the DPRK economy was to show that the DPRK was trustworthy. Otherwise, no one would want to invest in the North. In July of 2002, Kim announced that he would start opening up the economy. It looked like he wanted to make real change, Park speculated, but then in the fall of 2002, the DPRK's nuclear programs were discovered and stalled the chance for a significant economic opening. ¶4. (C) Park said that to make progress on denuclearization of North Korea, it was very important that all the members of the 6PT spoke with one voice. Park noted that it was a positive step that at the Yongbyon nuclear facility disablement was continuing but wondered what would be done about other nuclear facilities in North Korea. The Ambassador said that the United States was committed to full denuclearization of all North Korean nuclear programs. Many experts regarded the plutonium production as being the most serious immediate threat. However, the U.S. was intent on the abandonment of all North Korean nuclear programs. ¶5. (C) Defense Committee Chair Kim Hak-song asked what the latest information was on Kim Jong-il's health. The Ambassador said that experts appeared in agreement that Kim may have had a stroke but seemed to have recovered. They also believed the recently released photos of Kim were probably genuine. Park noted that some pundits and journalists assessed that since Kim was still recovering, his brother-in-law, Jang Song-taek, seemed to be carrying out some management responsibilities. DOMESTIC POLITICS ¶6. (C) Park said that the Lee Administration wanted to reform the country's local government structure in 2009 ahead of the 2010 local elections, but it would be very hard to reach consensus on what changes were needed. In principle, a reform of local governments could make better services available to people, reduce regional inequities, and allow for more efficient economic development throughout the country. Realistically, these reforms would be difficult, however, because there were many critics in both political parties and each town, county or other local district would fight to keep its current political power. ¶7. (C) Since the country was struggling economically, Park said the biggest task for the ruling GNP, working with the Lee government, was to help people find work and to secure basic services and housing. ¶8. (C) Noting that the ROKG had recently announced a plan to relax regulations limiting the construction of factories in the metro Seoul area, Park said she had come out publicly against this plan because it should be enacted only after measures were taken to develop the rest of the country. Only after areas outside of Seoul, which were much poorer than the capital area, had been helped, should the capital area's construction regulations be eased. If the government was not careful, a new divide, Seoul versus the provinces, could develop. CARS ¶9. (C) Representative Kim asked what the Ambassador thought President-elect Obama's position was on the KORUS FTA, especially after Obama had noted, in a televised debate the inequity in the trade balance cars between our countries. The Ambassador said that she expected the new Administration will deliberate and explore how to move forward on the KORUS FTA. She noted that in the past all signal FTAs had eventually been ratified by the U.S. Congress, though clearly we were in a difficult economic environment. Park thought that if Korea passed the FTA and then the U.S. did not, it would make Korea look foolish. The GNP legislators all agreed that almost all GNP lawmakers supported the agreement. MILITARY ISSUES ¶10. (C) Kim said that figuring out how to pay for the relocation of the military bases was a contentious issue, as was camp returns. Park noted that dealing with these military alliance issues simply according to past treaties or laws might not be the best way since it could lead to resistance and bad feelings from the Korean public. COMMENT ¶11. (C) Park Geun-hye remains a very popular figure in her native Gyeongsang province and among conservatives, and some say she is arguably the most potentially powerful politician in Korea today. She has chosen to stay quiet and criticize President Lee only on very specific policy-related issues. In 2009, she or one of her supporters will likely take control of the GNP, putting her in a good position to expand her base in the local elections in 2010. Beyond that, she is clearly looking at another run for the Blue House in 2012. The Joongang Ilbo ran a story on the lunch clearly drawn from Park's staff's debriefing. STEPHENS