CHUNG MONG-JOON: DELEGATION LEADER, PRESIDENTIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 000062

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2014
TAGS: KN KS PGOV PREL PINR
SUBJECT: CHUNG MONG-JOON: DELEGATION LEADER, PRESIDENTIAL
ASPIRANT

Classified By: Amb. Alexander Vershbow. Reasons 1.4 (b,d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: On January 21-23 National Assembly member
and presidential aspirant Chung Mong-joon will lead a
Presidential Transition Committee delegation to Washington,
DC. A similar delegation visited in 2003 on behalf of then
President-elect Roh Moo-Hyun and met with the Secretary of
State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Vice-President. In
meetings with Chung it is clear this delegation will measure
its success by securing an equal (or greater) number of
high-level meetings as the Roh delegation. Indeed, as one of
the first U.S.-ROK government-to-government interactions
under this new administration, the tenor of the delegation's
reception in Washington will be a demonstration to the Korean
people of how responsive the U.S. plans to be to Lee
Myung-bak's promises to "upgrade" the alliance and reinforce
bilateral cooperation. END SUMMARY.

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THE MAN
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2. (SBU) Chung Mong-joon, one of the sons of the founder of
the Hyundai conglomerate, is a fifth-term lawmaker with
presidential aspirations. Indeed, most pundits have
designated him as Lee Myung-bak's successor-designate to
counter Grand National Party (GNP) heavyweight Park Geun-hye
in the 2012 presidential election. Chung leads the Korea
Football Association and was credited with the success of the
2002 Korea-Japan World Cup. With his popularity high that
year, Chung mounted a formidable third-party campaign in the
2002 presidential race. He ultimately withdrew and endorsed
Roh Moo-hyun, only to withdraw his support the day before the
polls opened. Since then Chung has been scathing in his
criticism of Roh and has mentioned in separate meetings with
the Ambassador that he feels personally responsible for
putting Roh in power and for the many mistakes of the Roh
administration.


3. (C) Chung has an immense personal fortune (estimated
conservatively at $250 million) and a playboy image. In
fact, some political contacts say he has a bit of a drinking
problem. He was first elected to the National Assembly in
1988 from Ulsan, home of Hyundai Heavy Industries, and has
since been reelected to every term since then. Cynics
believe that Ulsan voters feel they cannot afford to bite the
hand that feeds them. Chung was a primary school classmate
of Park Geun-hye and was rumored to be helping her campaign
during the GNP primary. However he clearly pledged his
allegiance to Lee Myung-bak (and joined the GNP) a few weeks
before the Presidential election, and has emerged as a close
Lee adviser as well as heir-apparent.

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THE DELEGATION
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4. (SBU) The transition delegation will also include former
Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the U.S. Han Sung-joo (now
Acting President of Korea University),Representative Hwang
Jin-ha (a retired General and defense specialist),MOFAT
Director General for North America Cho Byung-jae, and Yonsei
Professor and close Lee advisor Kim Woo-sang. Earlier this
week, Chung noted that it would be very helpful to
President-elect Lee Myung-bak if the delegation was able to
have high-level meetings, which they hope would be
substantive discussions and not just photo opportunities. He
said that the USG and transition team needed to work hard to
show people that this administration would be different and
that the alliance will be better for it. He and Han both
hinted strongly that the analogous delegations to Beijing,
Tokyo and Moscow would expect to meet top leaders.

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COMMENT
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5. (C) As with all rich and powerful men in Korea, there are
many rumors that surround Chung, most related to his
reputation as a bon vivant and womanizer. As the son of
Hyundai founder Chung Ju-young and his girlfriend, Chung has
long had a chip on his shoulder, but has turned out to be one

of the most successful of the founder's offspring. That
said, Chung is only as deep on substance as he needs to be,
and, in fact, seems to contribute stature rather than
intellect to the delegation bound for Washington next week.
In recent meetings with the Ambassador, Chung let Han
Sung-joo do most of the talking, a trend which will likely
continue during the delegation's visit to Washington.


6. (C) Chung's increased stature in the Lee Myung-bak
transition means two things: first, that Chung has been
promised something -- most likely Lee's support in 2012 for
another run at the presidency, and possibly the prime
minister's position at some point; and second, that Lee
Myung-bak's betrayal of Chung's father in the 1992 election,
when Lee supported Kim Young-sam instead of Chung Ju-young,
has been forgiven. Lee's alliance with Chung is helpful in
that he serves as a check on Park Geun-hye's power and helps
"clean" Lee's image -- while scandals and graft can be
forgiven relatively easily here, betrayal of a mentor is not
taken so lightly. Whether or not he is ultimately successful
in ending up in the Blue House, for now Chung is emerging as
a highly influential figure in the new administration.

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RECOMMENDATION
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7. (C) While our decisions should not be driven by Koreans'
status-consciousness or the comparisons they will make to
2003, we believe that President-elect Lee's clear desire to
establish closer, more trusting relations with the USG
justifies arranging meetings for Chung's delegation to meet
with very senior USG officials -- i.e., the Vice-President,
Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, National Security

SIPDIS
Advisor, and others -- as schedules permit.
VERSHBOW