SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; July 27, 2009

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 SEOUL 001176

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TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; July 27, 2009

TOP HEADLINES
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Chosun Ilbo
Pharmaceutical Companies Offering a Year's Worth of Rebates in Lump
Sums to Doctors and Hospitals that Prescribe and Purchase their
Drugs, Ahead of Implementation of Law to Punish Pharmaceutical
Rebates

JoongAng Ilbo
President Lee: "Moderate Pragmatism is the Basis of
Lee Myung-bak Administration"

Dong-a Ilbo, Segye Ilbo
Court Rules against Regulating Private Cram School Tuition

Hankook Ilbo
Increasing Number of Middle-Class and Young People Becoming Credit
Defaulters

Hankyoreh Shinmun
ROKG, Ignoring Controversy over Validity of Passage of Media
Industry Reform Bills, Pushes "Follow-up Measures"

Seoul Shinmun
National Assembly Speaker Not to Accept Resignations of Main
Opposition DP Lawmakers Who Want to Quit Legislative Posts in
Protest of Passage of Media Reform Bills


INTERNATIONAL NEWS
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North Korea's ambassador to the UN, Sin Son-ho, in a July 24 meeting
with reporters, expressed the North's interest in resuming bilateral
talks with the U.S. for the first time since the launch of the Obama
Administration. (All)

The North Korean ambassador, however, reiterated Pyongyang's
previous position that the Six-Party Talks on the North's nuclear
program "are gone forever." (All)

According to the Tokyo-based Chosun Sinbo, North Korea opened its
first fast-food restaurant in its capital in early June. (All)


MEDIA ANALYSIS
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-N. Korea
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All ROK media today gave prominent attention to July 24 press
remarks by North Korea's ambassador to the UN Sin Son-ho in which he
expressed the North's interest in resuming bilateral talks with the
U.S. for the first time since the launch of the Obama
Administration. The North Korean ambassador was widely quoted: "We
are not against dialogue. We are not against any negotiation over
issues of common concern."

The media also noted that the North Korean ambassador reiterated
Pyongyang's previous position that the Six-Party Talks on the
North's nuclear program "are gone forever," quoting him as saying:
"We have already made our position very clear. We will never
participate in the Six-Party Talks, ever again."

Conservative Chosun Ilbo commented that even if North Korea returns
to the negotiating table, the U.S. will not present it a package of
rewards, given Secretary of State Clinton's remarks at the latest
ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) that the U.S. and its negotiating
partners do not intend to reward North Korea just for returning to
the table. Chosun headlined its article: "Is N. Korea Trying to
Escape International Isolation with Dialogue Card?"


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Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo editorialized: "The North's intentions
can be understood in several ways. It is looking to prevent
full-fledged implementation of UN sanctions. By doing so, it hopes
to mitigate its food and economic crisis and at the same time
achieve its long-cherished goal of acquiring the status of a nuclear
power. However... the North must bear in mind that Washington is
firmly committed to engaging in negotiations with the North in an
irrevocable manner. This is the core part of the 'comprehensive
package' (recently proposed by the U.S.)"

Left-leaning Hankyoreh Shinmun, in a July 25 (Saturday) editorial
entitled "U.S. Sets in Motion Process for New Negotiating Framework
with N. Korea," argued: "If North Korea refuses the hand being
stretched out by the U.S., both China and Russia will readjust their
relations with the North. This is why the North should regard this
(U.S. offer of a 'comprehensive package') as its last opportunity
for negotiations."


OPINIONS/EDITORIALS
--------------

U.S. SETS IN MOTION PROCESS FOR NEW NEGOTIATING FRAMEWORK WITH N.
KOREA
(Hankyoreh Shinmun, July 25, 2009, Page 23)

Despite sanctions on North Korea, the U.S. is advancing discussions
on the "comprehensive package" of incentives for the North. This is
a starting point to form a framework for negotiations aimed at
fundamentally resolving the North Korean nuclear issue. The U.S.
should use this atmosphere to join hands with other related nations
in resuming negotiations as soon as possible.

During the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF),which ended on July 25, U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that if North Korea takes
irreversible steps toward denuclearization, the U.S. and its
partners would move forward on a package of incentives, including
rewards such as U.S.-North Korea diplomatic normalization. For the
first time since the launch of the Obama Administration, Clinton
presented a large framework for negotiations with North Korea.
Prior to this, while visiting the ROK, U.S. Assistant Secretary of
State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell laid out a
"two-track" approach toward North Korea consisting of dialogue and
sanctions, but put an emphasis on dialogue. This confirms
Washington's intention to seek negotiations soon after the North
stops provoking and makes clear its commitment toward nuclear
dismantlement.

Washington's intention has reportedly been delivered to North Korea
through a direct channel. Regarding the two U.S. female
journalists, who have been detained in North Korea for over three
months, the U.S. seems to be actively exchanging views with North
Korea. The foreign ministers of the Six-Party nations, except North
Korea, also met during the ARF and shared the need for dialogue with
North Korea. In other words, the conditions are being created for
the U.S. and North Korea to start negotiations while maintaining the
Six-Party framework.

At issue is North Korea's stance. Pyongyang continuously has been
saying something to the effect that Washington's hostile policy is
to blame for all conflicts. However, the North should realize that
efforts to resolve the nuclear issue must go hand in hand with the
improvement of U.S.-North Korea relations and that nothing can be
resolved without dialogue. Furthermore, as shown in the fact that
the UN Security Council resolution regarding tougher sanctions on
North Korea is being implemented after its unanimous adoption, North
Korea's isolation has deepened more than before. If North Korea
refuses the hand being stretched out by the U.S., both China and
Russia will readjust their relations with the North. This is why
the North should regard this (U.S. offer of the "comprehensive
package") as its last opportunity for negotiations.

The ROKG should refine the comprehensive package and give active
support to efforts to make negotiations with Pyongyang effective.

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Before that, of course, Seoul should play a key role in creating an
atmosphere favorable to negotiations. To this end, we should first
improve stalled inter-Korean ties. Rather than sitting idly by and
waiting for North Korea to change its behavior, the ROKG should
first show a different attitude to the North from a broad
perspective.



S. KOREA MUST NOT BE EXCLUDED FROM TALKS WITH THE NORTH
(Chosun Ilbo, July 27, 2009, Page 27)

North Korea's envoy to the UN Sin Son-ho on Friday told reporters in
New York his government is not against dialogue on issues "of common
concern."

It has become customary for North Korea to propose talks after
committing a provocation that rattles the world. In talks held
under such circumstances, North Korea has deceived the international
community and bolstered its nuclear capabilities. The Barack Obama
Administration has repeatedly vowed not to be swayed by Pyongyang's
tactics, reducing the chances of success of North Korea's latest
maneuver.

But the present stalemate cannot continue indefinitely. The U.S. is
seeking direct talks with North Korea, provided the North
unconditionally returns to the Six-Party Talks. Sin on Friday said
the Six-Party Talks are "gone forever." But a shift in that stance
could immediately lead to direct talks between North Korea and the
U.S.

Or if North Korea makes leaps and bounds in its development of a
nuclear warhead, long-range missile and uranium enrichment, the U.S.
government and the international community could face intense
pressure to negotiate with it. The chances of such a scenario are
even greater if China continues to refrain from pressuring North
Korea while seeking to maintain the status quo. Either way, North
Korea and the U.S. will end up face to face at a dialogue table.

But we cannot allow U.S.-North Korea talks to end up tacitly
recognizing the North's nuclear weapons as an established fact.
Even if direct talks do not produce such results, South Korea must
be prepared to shoulder the national security, political and
economic burden.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during the ASEAN
Regional Forum that if North Korea enters a process of irreversible
denuclearization, the U.S. government is willing to offer a
"comprehensive package" including establishment of formal diplomatic
relations, a permanent peace treaty, and energy and economic aid.
And the presence of U.S. troops in South Korea and the South's
economic assistance to North Korea could be included in the agenda
of talks.

The U.S. and China begin their first-ever talks on diplomatic and
economic strategy today. North Korea is said to be among the main
items on the agenda. No matter how strong the Seoul-Washington
alliance may be, we must avoid the situation of having our own fate
discussed at talks that do not include us, between Washington and
Beijing or Pyongyang. We need to see realistic measures that can
guarantee our right to voice our demands.

But most of all, we must prepare a broad mid- to long-term national
strategy and achieve domestic unity at least in terms of dealing
with North Korea. The latest set of sanctions must continue until
the North shows a definite shift in its attitude, and then we must
prepare for what will happen beyond that stage.

(This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is
identical to the Korean version.)


NORTH MUST ADJUST STRATEGY
(JoongAng Ilbo, July 27, page 34)


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North Korea has suddenly expressed interest in holding talks with
the U.S. North Korea's Ambassador to the UN, Sin Son-ho, said,
"North Korea is not against dialogue. We are not against any
negotiation over issues of common concern." These remarks by North
Korea, which came amid escalating UN sanctions (against North
Korea),are intended to ease these sanctions through dialogue with
the U.S. Whatever the reasons, it is good that North Korea
expressed willingness to engage in dialogue. There is no way to
peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear issue without dialogue.


The U.S. has urged North Korea to return to the negotiating table,
while presenting a comprehensive package. The U.S. has maintained
its position that it will not provide new rewards to North Korea
until it resumes talks and implements nuclear freezing and
disablement, which it repeatedly rolled back. However, the U.S. is
not opposed to having bilateral talks with North Korea within the
framework of the Six-Party Talks. It appears to be reasonable that
the U.S. is in this position, given the issue of two U.S.
journalists detained in North Korea. Therefore, attention is
turning to whether Ambassador Sin's remarks will lead to talks
between the U.S. and North Korea.

The North's intentions can be understood in several ways. It is
looking to prevent the full-fledged implementation of UN sanctions.
By doing so, it hopes to mitigate its food and economic crisis and
to achieve its long-cherished goal of acquiring the status of a
nuclear state.

However, if North Korea sticks to its "past habit" of trying to gain
from resorting to brinkmanship and pretending to talk, its
intentions would be merely an empty imagination. There is a
prevailing opinion among people in the U.S. that the U.S. should not
repeat its old negotiation pattern with the North. They argue that
the U.S. took phased steps by accepting North Korea's "word for
word" and "action for action" approach, but could not prevent North
Korea from reneging on their promises - reprocessing plutonium and
conducting nuclear tests. The North must bear in mind that
Washington is firmly committed to engaging in negotiations in an
irrevocable manner. This is the core part of the 'comprehensive
package' (recently proposed by the U.S.) Above all, North Korea
should clarify its intention to discard nuclear arms. It should
stop insisting that it should have nuclear weapons to protect itself
from the U.S. Otherwise, negotiations with the U.S. will not yield
productive results.

If North Korea abandons its nuclear ambitions and acts like a
responsible member of the international community, the international
community including the U.S. will extend a helping hand to
Pyongyang. In particular, the U.S. has proclaimed that the
comprehensive package will include a variety of measures which North
Korea would be "attracted" to, such as the normalization of
diplomatic relations between the U.S. and the north. The ROKG has
long studied and prepared in various ways to help North Korea
develop its economy. But if North Korea continues to seek
nuclearization and intends to hold talks only to turn the tables, it
is evident that these assistance measures will become futile. The
North should keep in mind that "dialogue for the sake of dialogue"
no longer works.


FEATURES
--------------

PUBLIC BELIEVES GNP'S PASSAGE OF MEDIA LAWS WILL HARM BROADCASTING
INDUSTRY
(Hankyoreh Shinmun, July 27, 2009, Pages 1, 4, and 5)

By Reporters

A nationwide survey shows 51.2 percent in the GNP strongholds of
North and South Gyeongsang Provinces believe the media industry
landscape will deteriorate.


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A survey shows that seven out of ten citizens consider the Grand
National Party's (GNP) railroading of media legislation "wrong."
Moreover, 61.5 percent view the passage of this legislation as
invalid.

In a nationwide telephone survey of 1,000 men and women, age 19 and
older, conducted by ResearchPlus at the request of the Hankyoreh, 71
percent of respondents answered that it was "wrong" for the GNP to
pass media legislation in spite of opposition parties' objections.
In contrast, 21.6 percent of respondents believe the media
legislation has been "well handled." In another item regarding
procedure, 61.5 percent of respondents believed that the passage of
the legislation was invalid because of the second balloting and
proxy voting that occurred in the same session of the National
Assembly. This was in contrast to the 31.5 percent who consider the
legislation to be valid.

The survey also shows that citizens believe the GNP railroaded the
bills because it wanted to create a broadcasting environment
favorable to itself by opening up the way for pro-ruling party media
conglomerates - Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo and Dong-A Ilb - to enter
the broadcasting market. Respondents also believe that democracy in
South Korea, and the critical monitoring functions of the press,
will be greatly curtailed if this media legislation is implemented.

When asked to select a response regarding the objective of allowing
cross-ownership in newspapers and broadcasting industries, 36.2
percent of respondents selected, "To form a broadcasting environment
favorable to the Grand National Party." Another 19.1 percent
selected, "To aid the entry of the Chosun Ilbo, Dong-A Ilbo and
JoongAng Ilbo into broadcasting." In contrast, "To develop South
Korea's media industry" and "To relieve the broadcasting oligopoly"
were selected by 18.5 percent and 14.6 percent of respondents,
respectively. These results indicate that the public primarily
believes that the recently passed media legislation was intended to
preserve the GNP's political power and to afford special privileges
to pro-ruling party media, rather than to increase the diversity of
public opinion and expand the range of channel options, as the GNP
claimed during the early stages of drafting the three media-related
bills.

In response to an item regarding the media legislation's impact on
democracy in South Korea, 53.1 percent of respondents chose, "It
will get worse." Only 19.3 percent selected, "It will get better."
In response to a question about press freedom following enactment of
the amended laws, 56.4 percent of respondents believe that it will
get worse, more than twice the 20.4 percent of those who believe it
will improve.

Survey participants also predict that the public interest character
of the press, its monitoring and criticism functions, and the
representation of a diverse range of opinions will face a major
threat. A mere 17.0 percent of respondents answered that the public
interest character of the press will improve after the amendments
are enacted, while more than three times as many, 54.8 percent,
predict that it will deteriorate. In addition, the survey results
show that the number of responses from the Gyeongsang Provinces, the
bedrock region for the GNP, predicting deterioration numbers 51.2
percent, far outstripping the 21.3 percent predicting improvement.

Respondents also expressed concerns about the monopolization of
public opinion by media conglomerates. The number predicting that
such monopolization will become more serious than it is currently is
nearly six times greater - at 64.6 percent - than the 11.8 percent
predicting that it will grow weaker. Among respondents who support
the GNP, 38.0 percent believe that such monopolization will become
more severe, and 24.0 percent believe that it will decrease.

The results have a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.1 percent at a
95 percent confidence level.

(This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is
identical to the Korean version.)


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STEPHENS