Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09SEOUL1111
2009-07-14 06:27:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Seoul
Cable title:
USING MEDICINE TO OVERCOME THE NORTH-SOUTH IMPASSE
how-toVZCZCXYZ0001 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHUL #1111 1950627 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 140627Z JUL 09 FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5005 INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6281 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 6371 RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 0016 RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 3701 RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//OSD/ISA/EAP RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1249 RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
UNCLAS SEOUL 001111
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS PHUM ELAB XE KN KS
SUBJECT: USING MEDICINE TO OVERCOME THE NORTH-SOUTH IMPASSE
REF: SEOUL 01080
SEOUL 00815
08 SEOUL 496
UNCLAS SEOUL 001111
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS PHUM ELAB XE KN KS
SUBJECT: USING MEDICINE TO OVERCOME THE NORTH-SOUTH IMPASSE
REF: SEOUL 01080
SEOUL 00815
08 SEOUL 496
1. (U) This message is from the American Presence Post (APP) in
Busan, Republic of Korea.
2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Green Doctors, a Busan-based NGO running the
only clinic in the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC),hopes to open a
150-bed hospital in the near future. In addition to providing
medical care, Dr. Cheong Gun, the founder of Green Doctors, sees
this hospital as a political tool to help overcome the current
impasse between North and South Korea by giving the two countries a
humanitarian issue on which they could cooperate. END SUMMARY
3. (U) In its four years of existence, Green Doctors has serviced
over 145,000 patients in the KIC assisting an average of 200-300
patients per day, and is considered better than most medical care in
North Korea (ref C). With a staff of three South Korean medical
professionals and 21 North Koreans, including four doctors and a
dentist, the clinic, in its own way, symbolizes both the struggle
between the Two Koreas and their potential for cooperation. Like
the peninsula, the clinic is divided in half by a locked gate, with
North and South Korean doctors in their respective halves treating
patients of their citizenship. Cheong has fought somewhat
successfully to keep this gate open and allow doctors to treat
patients of either nationality. However, he often finds the gate
locked on his return trips, prompting him to demand it reopened.
4. (SBU) Even with the recent difficulties in North-South Relations
and slowing business in the KIC (ref A and B),it is business as
usual at the Green Doctors clinic. In Cheong's perspective, the
clinic is one of the few issues on which North and South are
currently cooperating. To expand service, Cheong has planned a
150-bed hospital within the KIC. Unlike the current clinic, the
hospital would not be divided by North-South lines. Cheong also
believes that North Korean officials would make the two-hour drive
from Pyongyang for service at the hospital. Given the current
difficulties in North-South negotiations, Cheong believes the two
sides need a non-political, non-economic issue to break through the
impasse. Given the success of the clinic, the new hospital could
serve such a purpose, according to Cheong.
5. (SBU) Although Green Doctors secured 9,900 sq meters of land in
the KIC three years ago, the current deterioration in North-South
relations has made fundraising difficult. Similarly, Cheong opined
that he has received less support from relevant ROKG offices since
North Korea's recent provocative actions. To further his cause,
Cheong sent a letter on July 7 requesting support from ROK First
Lady Kim Yun-ok, who publicly congratulated Green Doctors for its
work in the KIC in July 2008.
6. (SBU) COMMENT: In addition to its work in the KIC, Green
Doctors has an impressive track record providing free medical
services in Vietnam, Mongolia, China, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia,
and Cambodia. The organization's dedication is clear. If
successful, in addition to being one of the most advanced medical
facilities in North Korea, the hospital would serve as a microcosm
of the KIC -- a place where citizens from North and South Korea
could freely work together.
STEPHENS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS PHUM ELAB XE KN KS
SUBJECT: USING MEDICINE TO OVERCOME THE NORTH-SOUTH IMPASSE
REF: SEOUL 01080
SEOUL 00815
08 SEOUL 496
1. (U) This message is from the American Presence Post (APP) in
Busan, Republic of Korea.
2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Green Doctors, a Busan-based NGO running the
only clinic in the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC),hopes to open a
150-bed hospital in the near future. In addition to providing
medical care, Dr. Cheong Gun, the founder of Green Doctors, sees
this hospital as a political tool to help overcome the current
impasse between North and South Korea by giving the two countries a
humanitarian issue on which they could cooperate. END SUMMARY
3. (U) In its four years of existence, Green Doctors has serviced
over 145,000 patients in the KIC assisting an average of 200-300
patients per day, and is considered better than most medical care in
North Korea (ref C). With a staff of three South Korean medical
professionals and 21 North Koreans, including four doctors and a
dentist, the clinic, in its own way, symbolizes both the struggle
between the Two Koreas and their potential for cooperation. Like
the peninsula, the clinic is divided in half by a locked gate, with
North and South Korean doctors in their respective halves treating
patients of their citizenship. Cheong has fought somewhat
successfully to keep this gate open and allow doctors to treat
patients of either nationality. However, he often finds the gate
locked on his return trips, prompting him to demand it reopened.
4. (SBU) Even with the recent difficulties in North-South Relations
and slowing business in the KIC (ref A and B),it is business as
usual at the Green Doctors clinic. In Cheong's perspective, the
clinic is one of the few issues on which North and South are
currently cooperating. To expand service, Cheong has planned a
150-bed hospital within the KIC. Unlike the current clinic, the
hospital would not be divided by North-South lines. Cheong also
believes that North Korean officials would make the two-hour drive
from Pyongyang for service at the hospital. Given the current
difficulties in North-South negotiations, Cheong believes the two
sides need a non-political, non-economic issue to break through the
impasse. Given the success of the clinic, the new hospital could
serve such a purpose, according to Cheong.
5. (SBU) Although Green Doctors secured 9,900 sq meters of land in
the KIC three years ago, the current deterioration in North-South
relations has made fundraising difficult. Similarly, Cheong opined
that he has received less support from relevant ROKG offices since
North Korea's recent provocative actions. To further his cause,
Cheong sent a letter on July 7 requesting support from ROK First
Lady Kim Yun-ok, who publicly congratulated Green Doctors for its
work in the KIC in July 2008.
6. (SBU) COMMENT: In addition to its work in the KIC, Green
Doctors has an impressive track record providing free medical
services in Vietnam, Mongolia, China, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia,
and Cambodia. The organization's dedication is clear. If
successful, in addition to being one of the most advanced medical
facilities in North Korea, the hospital would serve as a microcosm
of the KIC -- a place where citizens from North and South Korea
could freely work together.
STEPHENS