KAZAKHSTAN: KOREANS SHARE U.S. VIEWS ON MADRID COMMITMENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 000173 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR SOCI SCUL KDEM KIRF KS KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: KOREANS SHARE U.S. VIEWS ON MADRID COMMITMENT LAWS, CONCERNED ABOUT RELIGION LEGISLATION REF: (A) ASTANA 0169 (B) 08 ASTANA 0282 ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Poloff met several times in January with South Korean Embassy First Secretary Lee Jooil and Second Secretary Lee Moon-bae to discuss political and cultural relations between Kazakhstan and South Korea. South Korea remains one of Kazakhstan's most important trading partners and largest investors (see reftel A). In recognition of the importance of this relationship to both parties, South Korea's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister visited Kazakhstan in 2008. However, despite a strong and cooperative economic and political relationship, South Korea is frustrated with the slow pace of the approval process for a land-lease agreement to build a new embassy in Astana. South Korea shares U.S. views that Kazakhstan's new political party, election, and media legislation is a step in the right direction on democratization. However, the Koreans are concerned about new religion legislation, in particular because most Korean expatriates in Kazakhstan are missionaries. While ethnic Korean citizens of Kazakhstan remain influential in Kazakhstani political and business circles, most are not interacting with the South Korean business community. These Korean Embassy officials also commented on the hardships of working in Astana. END SUMMARY. DISAPPOINTED WITH DELAYS IN BUILDING NEW EMBASSY ¶3. (SBU) During a January meeting, South Korean Embassy First Secretary Lee Jooil told Poloff that a high priority for his Mission is obtaining Kazakhstani permission to construct a new building for their embassy in Astana, which would be located several hundred meters from the U.S. Embassy. Lee said that when Korean Ambassador Il Soo Kim met recently with a Kazakhstani Deputy Foreign Minister to discuss the land-lease agreement, the Deputy Foreign Minister said that all internal procedures had been completed within the Kazakhstani government, but Kazakhstan will need "some sort of assurance" that if the capital of South Korea is moved out of Seoul, Kazakhstan will receive "parity of conditions." Lee expressed surprise and frustration at this latest development, pointing out that four years ago, when Ambassador Kim presented his credentials, President Nazarbayev promised South Korea a land plot for a new embassy building in Astana. Lee recounted that when Prime Minister Han Seung-soo visited Kazakhstan in May 2008, Kazakhstani officials told the Korean Embassy to "please wait." During Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan's October 2008 visit, the Kazakhstani government asked South Korea to "wait just a little bit longer." Lee told Poloff "the fact that no agreement has yet been finalized after several high-level visits and promises has been very disappointing." Lee said that Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) is anxious to resolve this problem quickly, but is not willing to incorporate any statement about parity into the Astana land-lease agreement. If Kazakhstan drops its insistence on the parity clause and approves the land-lease agreement, Lee emphasized that South Korea is ready to begin construction immediately. The building designs are complete, and the embassy has already chosen a prominent Korean construction company, Highvill, to be its contractor. SIMILAR VIEWS ON MADRID LEGISLATION, RELIGION LAW ¶4. (SBU) Lee Jooil said South Korea shares the U.S. view that the media, election, and political party laws recently approved by Kazakhstan's parliament to fulfill Kazakhstan's Madrid commitments are "a step in the right direction towards democratization," and that it is important to take whatever pragmatic steps are possible to encourage further progress. Lee said that his Ambassador agrees that we must uphold democratic values without being overly ideological. He also emphasized that Korea shares U.S. concerns about the religion law that President Nazarbayev sent to the Constitutional Council for review, and stressed that his embassy is particularly interested in how the law would affect Korean missionaries in Kazakhstan. Lee pointed out that the Korean expatriate community in Kazakhstan is relatively small, and that ASTANA 00000173 002 OF 003 most of these expatriates are, in fact, missionaries. He estimated that there are 100 Korean missionaries in Kazakhstan in total, mostly running small churches with approximately 30-40 members each. Lee admitted that many Korean missionaries in Kazakhstan hold NGO-worker visas, not religious-worker visas. ETHNIC KOREANS POPULATION REMAINS INFLUENTIAL ¶5. (SBU) Although ethnic Korean citizens of Kazakhstan constitute only 100,000 or so people -- about 0.7 percent of Kazakhstan's overall population -- many hold influential positions in Kazakhstan's business and political spheres. (NOTE: As reported in reftel B, Kazakhstan's ethnic Korean community dates from the 1930s, when Stalin deported Koreans en masse from the Russian Far East to Kazakhstan. END NOTE.) Ethnic Koreans have been particularly active in the financial, real-estate, construction, and retail sectors, all of which have been severely affected by the global financial crisis. The most prominent Kazakhstani Koreans include Vladimir Kim and Vladimir Ni of Kazakhmys Corporation (both of whom are very close to President Nazarbayev),Oleg Nam of Kuat Construction, Victor Tsoi of Ak Ayul Construction, and Yuriy Tchkay of Caspian Bank. Lee Jooil said that to his chagrin, most of these ethnic Korean businessmen are not actively promoting South Korean business interests in Kazakhstan. Lee told Poloff that one reason is that most Kazakhstani Koreans speak practically no Korean. Lee noted that he has never even spoken in Korean with the Chairman of the Astana branch of the Association of Koreans in Astana, Dr. Alexander Kim; when Lee and Kim met, they speak in English instead. Lee noted exceptions include two ethnic Koreans on his staff who learned Korean through a program that the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOIKA) administers. KOREA PLANS TO INCREASE ITS CULTURAL ACTIVITIES ¶6. (SBU) In fact, KOIKA's teaches Korean to any interested Kazakhstani citizens, regardless of ethnicity. Lee told Poloff that KOIKA's Kazakhstan director, who has been in Astana for two years, is very energetic, increasing KOIKA's budget and programs. Korea is also investing in cultural programming in Kazakhstan. At a photo exhibition on December 8 entitled "Korea -- Forwards and Upwards" Poloff met Ambassador Kim and the South Korean Embassy's new Director for Cultural Affairs, Han Sung-rae, who discussed their plans to open a new Korean Cultural Center in the spring of 2009. AMBASSADOR KIM: RARE KOREAN DIPLOMAT WITH GOOD RUSSIAN ¶7. (SBU) Neither Lee Jooil nor Second Secretary Lee Moon-bae speaks Russian. Both said that Ambassador Kim is one of the very few South Korean diplomats who speak Russian well. They explained that Ambassador Kim studied Russian in London on his own during the Cold War era when South Korea and the Soviet Union did not have diplomatic relations. Korea's Deputy Chief of Mission in Astana, who previously served in Moscow, also speaks Russian. Lee Jooil told Poloff that his own inability to speak Russian makes life very difficult for him in Kazakhstan, both professionally and personally. Since few Kazakhstani MFA officials and local staff at the Korean Embassy speak Korean, Lee has to communicate in English to handle all work-related matters. LIFE WITHOUT GOOD KIMCHEE ¶8. (SBU) Both Lee Jooil and Lee Moon-bae stressed that Astana is a serious hardship posting for Korean diplomatic personnel. They noted that while there are four or five Korean restaurants in Almaty, there is only one in Astana. Lee complained that at that restaurant, "the food is not very good," and even the least expensive entrees cost more than $15. However, since it is the only Korean restaurant in Astana, Lee reported embassy staff often entertain there. Lee said the restaurant, which is owned by Yuriy Tckhay, has almost always been empty when he dined there, and opined that "it must be a venue used for Tckhay's political purposes, rather than a for-profit business." ASTANA 00000173 003 OF 003 HOAGLAND