AMBASSADOR'S VISIT TO GWANGJU: POLITICALLY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 002275

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/26/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KN KS
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S VISIT TO GWANGJU: POLITICALLY
PROGRESSIVE, ECONOMICALLY BACKWARD

Classified By: Amb. Kathleen Stephens. Reasons 1.4 (b,d).


1. (C) Summary: During the Ambassador's November 18-19 visit
to Gwangju, it became clear that, politically, not much has
changed in Korea's southwest region in the past ten years.
Through discussions with various local leaders, it was
evident that the region remained politically left of center,
still felt economically disadvantaged, and harbored some
anti-Americanism and resentment toward the more affluent
Youngnam region. In addition, Korea's ongoing economic
challenges -- increasing unemployment, declining investment,
and the looming demographic crisis -- have had a greater
impact in the provinces than is visible in Seoul. Overall,
however, the Ambassador received a warm reception from
official interlocutors and the citizenry that belied a
history of anti-Americanism. Far more prevalent were
complaints about unfilled economic and political promises
from Seoul. End Summary.


2. (C) As part of the Ambassador's public outreach to the
Korean provinces, on November 18-19, she traveled to the
southwestern city of Gwangju, former President Kim Dae-jung's
political base and, as the site of the May 18, 1980 citizens'
rebellion against Chun Doo-hwan, termed by many as the
birthplace of democracy in Korea. The Ambassador paid her
respects at the May 18 National Cemetery and called on the
Mayor. She also had the opportunity to engage in more
substantive discussions about the current political and
economic state of the North and South Jeolla Provinces --
commonly referred to as Honam. Over lunch with media
executives and over dinner with a diverse group that included
academics, an NGO representative, an American researcher, and
a Korean businessman, the Ambassador was able to take the
political temperature of a region that has historically
considered itself -- with good reason -- to have been
economically and politically disadvantaged by Seoul. In her
discussions, this old animosity toward the central government
and toward the neighboring Gyeongsang Provinces -- usually
referred to as Youngnam -- proved to be alive and well in
present-day Gwangju.

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Economically Disadvantaged
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3. (C) Over lunch with local media executives on November 18
the conversation focused on the relative lack of economic
development in Honam. Yoon Young-kwan of Gwangju MBC noted
that the central government had proposed designating five
economic development zones -- the Seoul Metropolitan area,
Chungcheong, Honam, South Gyeongsang, and Daegu and North
Gyeongsang -- to try to boost investment in these regions,
but Yoon was skeptical that Honam would benefit significantly
from this initiative. Moreover, Yoon said, the legislation
currently before the National Assembly to lift restrictions
on building factories in and around Seoul was disadvantageous
to outer regions like Honam.


4. (C) The media executives agreed that the slow train line
from Gwangju to Seoul was especially damning evidence of this
economic discrimination. Park Ki-jung of Jeonnam Ilbo noted
that it took much longer to travel from Seoul to Gwangju than
from Seoul to Busan, which is in South Gyeongsang, even
though they are roughly equidistant. The government had
promised to remedy this through faster train lines, but it
had yet to happen. Even though it took longer to get to
Gwangju, Park complained, people paid the same amount. The
Ambassador's dinner guests said that the historic tension
between Gyeongsang and Jeolla -- evident in Park's
allegations of discrimination -- persisted. This
psychological separation was physically manifested and
exacerbated, they said, by the very small number of roads
connecting the two neighboring provinces.


5. (C) The demographic crisis was also having a profound
impact on Honam. Kim Soon-kil of Kwangju Broadcasting
Company (KBC) said this demographic problem was the most
serious issue facing the region. Most young people continued
to move to Seoul to pursue education and careers there. If
you went to farms in Jeolla, Kim said, you would not find
anyone under age sixty. It was particularly difficult for

young men to find wives, increasing the number of foreign
brides -- mostly from China, the Philippines, and Southeast
Asia. Park Ki-jung added that it was difficult for Korean
society to accept the biracial children of these mixed
marriages. The media had been trying to help by drawing
attention to the problem and local governments were
implementing programs to help the families adapt. Shin
Hang-lag of Kwangju Ilbo agreed, observing that Koreans
remained too preoccupied by homogeneity.


6. (C) The declining number of young people in the region
was also discussed at dinner where Professor Kim Bong-joon
from Chonnam University said that the unemployment rate was
increasing in Gwangju. He said Chonnam students had a hard
time finding work after graduation. The situation was bad
nationwide, but worse in Gwangju, Kim said.

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Politically Marginalized
--------------


7. (C) A persistent theme among the Ambassador's
interlocutors was the continued discrimination against the
Honam region by the central government. MBC Gwangju reporter
Yoon Young-kwan said the gap persisted between the central
government's attention and investment allocation to Honam and
to other areas of Korea. Kim Dae-jung's presidency had
helped and so had Roh Moo-hyun's although to a lesser extent.
The current administration, however, was very focused on the
southeastern provinces of Gyeongsang, and that made the
people of Gwangju feel that they were once again being
overlooked. Park Ki-jung said people were particularly
alienated by Lee Myung-bak's personnel selection, which
favored candidates from Youngnam.


8. (C) At dinner Professor Kim, with a good deal of irony,
observed that Koreans were very emotional and tended to form
pre-conceived notions about people that were intractable. As
an example he said that, when Roh Moo-hyun was president, Kim
had a friend from Gyeongsang who hated Roh. Kim had argued
with his friend and demanded five reasons for his antipathy,
which his friend was unable to produce. He noted with a
great deal of humor that he now felt the same way about
President Lee Myung-bak. Later, when Kim expressed
enthusiasm about the Ambassador's description of the WEST
(Work, English Study, Travel) Program, the Ambassador noted
that this had been a joint initiative of President Lee and
President Bush. Kim jokingly said that someone must have
given Lee the idea because he never could have come up with
such a good policy on his own.

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Perceptions of the U.S.
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9. (C) At lunch the media executives agreed that anti-U.S.
sentiment in the region had decreased relative to what it
used to be. Kim Soon-kil of KBC said that, when Chun
Doo-hwan had controlled the government, there was a
perception that the United States had "let" him take over.
Time had passed, however, and people had largely moved on.


10. (C) At dinner, Professor Kim, who taught American
history, said that, while less pervasive than before, at
least among students a negative and overly-simplistic view of
the U.S. persisted. As an example Kim said that his students
believed that a Republican president would be more willing to
attack North Korea than a Democratic president. Kim noted
that historically, the U.S. and North Korea had come closest
to conflict under Democratic administrations.


11. (C) Kim and Sheena Choi, a Fulbright researcher at
Chonnam University, explained that Koreans had such a mixed
view of Americans because they -- especially those living in
rural areas -- had had two very different experiences with
Americans. One was with missionaries and the Peace Corps
volunteers, an experience that all agreed was overwhelmingly
positive largely because the missionaries were instrumental
in developing Korea's education system. The other primary
U.S. interlocutor for most Koreans had been U.S. military
personnel, who used to have a very negative image among

Koreans but, they claimed, that too was slowly changing.


12. (C) At both meetings the Ambassador mentioned her visit
that morning to the monument and museum memorializing the
Gwangju Uprising -- referred to in Korean as the 5-1-8
Incident, named for the day, May 18, the protests started.
She noted that she thought the museum did an excellent job of
presenting Korea's struggle for democracy and in expressing
the desire to share that experience with the rest of the
world. The lunch participants, in particular, clearly
appreciated the Ambassador's observation. Yoon Young-kwan
said that last year Gwangju had invited two democracy
activists from Asia to learn about Korea's democratization.
They hoped to continue such programs to help promote the
spread of democracy.

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Comment
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13. (C) The Honam region retains many of its old
animosities, especially toward Seoul and its historic nemesis
of neighboring Youngnam. These entrenched perceptions make
the relative decline in anti-Americanism all the more
noteworthy. Clearly, some negative perceptions of the United
States remain, particularly among students. However, the
notable change in attitudes toward the U.S. at the same time
underscores the importance of continued Embassy outreach
programs to the region.
STEPHENS