SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; August 07, 2009

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SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; August 07, 2009

TOP HEADLINES
--------------


Chosun Ilbo, Dong-a Ilbo, Hankook Ilbo,
Hankyoreh Shinmun, Segye Ilbo, Seoul Shinmun, All TVs
Ssangyong Workers End 77-Day Strike after Labor Union
and Management Reach Compromise Deal on Layoffs

JoongAng Ilbo
Strike is Tip of the Ssangyong Iceberg; Other Problems Left
to Solve Include Liquidity, Restarting Production and Hunt
for a New Owner


DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
--------------

Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry Spokesman Moon Tae-young, in an
August 6 regular briefing, said: "It is my understanding that former
U.S. President Bill Clinton conveyed to North Korea that an ROK
worker (from the Kaesong Industrial Complex) and crewmen of the
fishing boat "Yeonan" should be released from a humanitarian
perspective." (All)

Citing a USG official, U.S. CBS TV also reported yesterday that
former President Clinton urged North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and
other North Korean officials to free ROK and Japanese detainees.
(Chosun)


INTERNATIONAL NEWS
--------------

President Barack Obama, in an August 5 interview with MSNBC,
stressed that the release of the two U.S. journalists held in North
Korea is a separate issue from improved relations between the U.S.
and North Korea. (All)


MEDIA ANALYSIS
--------------

-N. Korea
--------------
All ROK media gave wide attention to President Barack Obama's August
5 MSNBC interview, in which he stressed that the release of the two
U.S. journalists held in North Korea is a separate issue from
improved relations between the U.S. and North Korea. President
Obama was widely quoted: "We have said to the North Koreans, there
is a path for improved relations and it involves them no longer
developing nuclear weapons and not engaging in the provocative
behavior that they've been engaging in."

Conservative Chosun Ilbo carried an inside-page analysis that said
that the reason why the Obama Administration repeatedly stresses the
importance of North Korea's denuclearization is that the
Administration feels that Washington has frequently been deceived by
North Korea's conciliatory gestures since former President Jimmy
Carter's visit to Pyongyang in 1994. The analysis went on to
observe that the Obama Administration also believes that there is no
reason to rush to improve ties with the North, since international
sanctions against the country are working effectively.

Conservative Chosun replayed an August 6 CBS report quoting a USG
official as saying that former President Bill Clinton, during his
recent surprise visit to Pyongyang to free the two journalists,
urged North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and other North Korean
officials to free ROK and Japanese detainees.

In a related development, most media quoted Foreign Affairs and
Trade Ministry Spokesman Moon Tae-young as saying during yesterday's

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regular briefing: "It is my understanding that former President
Clinton conveyed to North Korea that an ROK worker (from the Kaesong
Industrial Complex) and crewmen of the fishing boat "Yeonan" should
be released from a humanitarian perspective. A senior State
Department official delivered the message to the ROKG as a token of
gratitude for supporting the former president's latest trip to the
North."

Conservative Chosun commented that considerable behind-the-scenes
efforts by both the ROK and Japanese governments led to Clinton
raising the issue in Pyongyang.

In a commentary entitled "Was Clinton's North Korea Visit a Private
Mission?," conservative Chosun Ilbo wrote: "No matter how much the
Obama Administration stresses that this rescue operation was (former
President Clinton's) 'private mission,' if North Korea does not feel
that way, the result will be otherwise. ... Clinton's visit to the
North was practically the first meeting between the Obama
Administration and North Korea. In this regard, this visit will
inevitably have considerable influence on resolving issues, such as
improving ties between the U.S. and North Korea and the North's
nuclear problem."

Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo, in a news analysis titled "Clinton's
195-Minute 'Examination' of Kim Jong-il... We Should Prepare for
Change in U.S.-North Korea Relations," observed: "The Obama
Administration has already presented a comprehensive package of
incentives, such as diplomatic normalization and economic
assistance, in return for North Korea's nuclear abandonment. Mr.
Clinton probably explained the U.S. position and listened to Kim
Jong-il's response. If so, a meaningful adjustment to Washington's
North Korea policy would be possible even within the framework of
sanctions on the North. The problem lies with the ROK. ... The
ROK, while being negligent in improving ties with the North,
cautions against improvement in U.S.-North Korea relations,
describing it as part of Pyongyang's strategy of promoting exchange
with the U.S. while blocking off the ROK. We cannot rule out the
possibility that, depending on Pyongyang's attitude, improvement in
U.S.-North Korea relations will go several steps ahead of
improvement in inter-Korean relations. This is why we hope that
President Lee will make a significant proposal to the North on the
August 15 Liberation Day."


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

WAS CLINTON'S NORTH KOREA VISIT A PRIVATE MISSION?
(Chosun Ilbo, August 7, 2009, page 29)

By Senior political reporter Kang In-sun

It was moving to see Euna Lee and Laura Ling embrace their families
as they came out of an airplane upon returning home after their
142-day detention in North Korea. Their relief was palpable. And
it was dramatic to see a former U.S. president fly into a hostile
country to win their release on a plane provided by a long-time
associate.

The rescue operation was a spectacle enacted by professional actors
of presidential caliber. President Barack Obama, ex-president Bill
Clinton, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a former first lady who
challenged Obama in the 2008 presidential election, and 2000
Democratic Party presidential candidate Al Gore all played their
respective roles well. Clinton and Gore took the stage, Obama and
Hillary stood in the wings.

Yet the Obama Administration claims that the operation was an
"individual" and "humanitarian" action that has nothing to do with
political issues between the U.S. and North Korea, including the
nuclear problem. That is, Clinton's visit was motivated by purely
humanitarian considerations at the request of his former vice
president, as he has devoted himself to charity work since leaving
office, and thus it should not be interpreted in any other way.

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But the virtual special envoy role Clinton suddenly took on cannot
possibly be the action of a charitably inclined individual,
especially if his wife happens to be the top U.S. diplomat. Why
does the Obama Administration nonetheless package Clinton's North
Korea visit as private and humanitarian? It must be a desperate
effort to tell the international community and the American people
that the operation does not mean a change in the basic direction of
North Korea policy.

The U.S. has maintained a firm stance of sanctioning Pyongyang over
its long-range missile launches and two nuclear tests. Pushing
ahead with independent sanctions in addition to UN Security Council
sanctions, the U.S. acted as though it would no longer be tricked
into rewarding the North for provocations or vague denuclearization
gestures. But Clinton's Pyongyang visit is incompatible with that
firm posture and can easily be interpreted as a sign that the U.S.
is changing its mind. It is to prevent such an interpretation that
the Obama Administration is protesting that the visit was a private
effort.

Clinton seldom smiled during his 20-odd-hour stay in Pyongyang,
perhaps in reflection of the sentiment. Had he smiled in the
pictures along with the broadly smiling Kim Jong-il, it would no
doubt have been seen as signifying a mood of reconciliation.

Kim knew that he could not resume dialogue with the U.S. while
detaining two American journalists and condemning them to hard
labor. The problem was how to get them back home. He solved the
difficult question by asking for Clinton, a man not unlike former
president Jimmy Carter, who visited North Korea 15 years ago and
helped break the standoff at the time.

Now the Obama Administration continues to send more or less stern
warnings to the North, as if nothing happened. But are the two
issues really separate?

In relations between countries, everything is tit for tat. No
matter how much the Obama Administration stresses that this rescue
operation was (former President Clinton's) 'private mission,' if
North Korea does not feel that way, the result will be otherwise.
Kim Jong-il would hardly have spent more than three hours with
Clinton just to eat.

Clinton's visit to the North was practically the first meeting
between the Obama Administration and North Korea. In this regard,
this visit will inevitably have considerable influence on resolving
issues, such as improving ties between the U.S. and North Korea and
the North's nuclear problem.


ROK SHOULD PREPARE FOR A GAME BETWEEN U.S AND NORTH KOREA
(JoongAng Ilbo, August 7, 2009, page 33)

By Yoon Young-kwan, Professor of Seoul National University

Bill Clinton's visit to Pyongyang duly drew sufficient international
attention. He is the former President and the husband of the
incumbent Secretary of State. He also considered visiting Pyongyang
in 2000 while in office. These all indicate the significance of his
visit. It is not unreasonable that many people expect to see a
breakthrough in U.S. and North Korea relations.

U.S. President Barack Obama said that former President Clinton's
mission was only to secure the release of two U.S. journalists, who
had been held in North Korea. However, there is a great likelihood
that former President Clinton and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il
sought to create an atmosphere to resolve the North Korean nuclear
issue. This seems to be the biggest concern regarding this visit.
The U.S. successfully freed the journalists, while North Korea won
the chance to turn things around to start bilateral talks with the
U.S., and is using this visit as propaganda internally and
externally.


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But few people believe that Clinton's visit will easily lead to a
settlement of the North Korean nuclear issue. What North Korea
wants runs counter to what the U.S. wants. North Korea aims to
obtain economic assistance or improve relations through dialogue
with the U.S., while it still pursues nuclearization. North Korea
intends to follow the path of India and Pakistan, both of which have
made their nuclear possessions an established fact and then sought
to patch up relations with the U.S.

The U.S. will continue to seek economic sanctions and pressure
unless North Korea makes a strategic decision to abandon its nuclear
ambition. The Obama Administration has made denuclearization the
top priority in its foreign policies. Moreover, the U.S. government
is concerned that it may send the wrong message to Iran. A
high-ranking U.S. government official emphasized privately that the
North Korean issue and the Iranian issue are closely related and the
Iranian government is keenly watching how the U.S. deals with the
North Korean nuclear issue.

A former U.S. official from the Bush Administration, who I met in
Washington three weeks ago, predicted that UN sanctions against
North Korea this time will yield considerable effects. The official
said that the UN sanctions will have effects several times greater
than the Banco Delta Asia (BDA) sanctions imposed in 2005. U.S.
Treasury Department officials, who led the sanctions at that time,
even expressed their surprise at the effects the UN sanctions have
been producing recently. North Korea, which had rejected dialogue,
proposed to hold bilateral talks with the U.S. when UN sanctions
started to be enforced.

Since both sides have contradicting positions, it seems that they
will wage a time-consuming tug-of-war. The U.S. will push for
economic sanctions and take proactive measures. The U.S. will also
hold out positive incentives and leave the door of dialogue open.
North Korea will delay dismantling its nuclear program amid economic
sanctions and seek to extract necessary aid from the outside world.
Moreover, North Korea has to engage in the game amid political
instability stemming from Kim Jong-il's ill health, power
succession, and North Korea's economic hardship. Therefore, it
won't be an easy game for the North.

In the end, North Korea will send a signal to the U.S. to give up
its nuclear program and come back to the negotiating table. There
is some probability that North Korea will be compelled to choose
strong incentives in the face of harsh pressures. In this process,
tedious negotiations will take place. The ROKG should actively move
to come up with strong incentives while intensifying pressure on
North Korea. We also should bolster international coordination.

The U.S. has engaged in a nuclear game with North Korea for 20 years
in a cycle of crisis, negotiation, and some progress. This time,
the game will be different from the ones in the past. This nuclear
game will be much more complicated and difficult. Such a game will
not be repeated forever and will come to an end (some day.) Whether
the game ends with a soft landing or a hard landing, the ROK should
take the lead to prepare for the time when the game is over. The
end may be approaching faster than we expect.


RELYING ON ROK-U.S. COOPERATION IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO RESOLVE PENDING
INTER-KOREAN ISSUES
(Hankyoreh Shinmun, August 7, 2009, page 31)

Looking at our government's attitude concerning former U.S.
President Bill Clinton's visit to Pyongyang, we are beginning to
sense that something is not right. Perhaps this is because Lee
Administration officials have been busy minimizing the visit's
significance while failing to take the measures they themselves need
to take in regards to inter-Korean relations.

North Korea said Clinton and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il held
frank discussions about pending North Korea-U.S. issues, and that
the two agreed to resolve matters through dialogue. Moreover, U.S.
President Barack Obama says he will meet with Clinton to hear what

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was discussed. It is almost as though an indirect summit has taken
place between Obama and Kim. Despite this, ROK government officials
are reiterating that Clinton's visit was a private mission, the U.S.
will not agree to direct talks with North Korea, and that ROK-U.S.
cooperation is going well. This administration now seems to be
twisting even objective reality into far-fetched stories in order to
rationalize their hardline North Korea policy.

Of course, this attitude will make resolving pending issues more
difficult. In order to secure the release of two reporters, the
U.S. coordinated a visit by a former president to North Korea, while
all our government has done concerning the Hyundai Asan employee,
who was detained at roughly the same time, is to bring up the issue
a few times and slam North Korea during working-level talks on the
Kaesong Industrial Complex. Like the U.S., many people have been
calling for the issue of the detainee to be resolved separately from
other pending issues with North Korea, but the administration is
pretending not to listen. Indeed, it has also chosen to wait as a
response to the detention of the fishing boat crew that crossed the
NLL last week. The government has abandoned its most basic duty to
protect its citizens.

The pending issues are naturally connected with North Korea policy
as a whole. Accordingly, a change in North Korea policy is important
for its own sake, but it is also necessary to resolve these pending
issues more effectively. Meanwhile, North Korea is hoping to resume
talks with the U.S., and appears to have worked hard during
Clinton's visit. To refuse to change, while demanding it from North
Korea is the worst choice that the ROK could make, and will only
aggravate pending issues and isolate us from transformations
occurring in the geopolitical landscape around us.

The administration talks as if ROK-U.S. cooperation is the
resolution to all of its problems. It is almost as though it is
espousing the logic that if Seoul relies on Washington to continue
placing pressure on North Korea, all problems can be solved. If
this unrealistic attitude is not abandoned, the situation will not
improve. The government could free itself from the yoke it has made
to start anew in order to resolve pending issues and play a lead
role in transforming the geopolitical situation. So why is it just
trying to read other country's minds?


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

CLINTON'S 195-MINUTE "EXAMINATION" OF KIM JONG-IL... WE SHOULD
PREPARE FOR CHANGE IN U.S.-KOREA RELATIONS
(JoongAng Ilbo, August 7, 2009, Page 2)

By Senior Columnist Kim Young-hie

News Analysis

Does Clinton's visit to North Korea serve as an opportunity to
improve U.S.-North Korea relations? The USG draws a clear line,
saying that the North Korean nuclear issue is separate from the
release of the journalists. The U.S. appears to be trying hard to
give the impression that the case is closed with regards to the
journalists' return. This is because, if Clinton's visit is aimed
at not only winning the release of the journalists, but also
resolving the nuclear standoff and finding a breakthrough in
U.S.-North Korea relations, it could risk upsetting U.S.-led
sanctions against the North.

The meeting between Kim Jong-il and Clinton lasted 3 hours and 15
minutes, including a 75-minute talk and a two-hour dinner. This was
a long meeting. Ahead of this meeting, the two sides had reached an
agreement in principle, through the New York (UN) channel, to the
release of the journalists. The remaining issue was to send someone
of high enough stature to save North Korea's face and bring the
journalists back home. North Korea wanted Clinton to come.
Logically, it was not unreasonable. Clinton was the very person
that reached the Geneva Agreement with North Korea in 1994 and sent

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then-Secretary of State Albright to Pyongyang in October 2000, to
discuss his own possible visit to the North at the end of that year.
Despite some criticism that Clinton's status is too high for such a
visit, he headed for Pyongyang.

The picture of the Kim-Clinton meeting showed a smiling Kim Jong-il
and a dour-looking Clinton. Clinton, in accordance with President
Obama's wishes, looked as if he tried to caution against reading too
much into his visit to North Korea. This, however, does not weaken
the meaning of the Kim-Clinton meeting. Both Kim and Clinton must
have had their respective goals. For Kim Jong-il, Clinton's visit
was a golden opportunity to publicly say to its people that the
former U.S. President and husband of the current U.S. Secretary of
State visited Pyongyang to ask for mercy and to apologize for the
two journalists' illegal entry into the North.

For Kim Jong-il, who is seeking to transfer power to his son,
loyalty and support from the military and the party is just a
necessary condition, not a sufficient one. If being accepted as a
normal member of the international community is one of the
sufficient conditions for the North, the first step is to improve
the relations with the U.S. The fact that North Korea's First Vice
Foreign Minister Kang Sok-ju - an influential figure in U.S.-North
Korea relations - attended both the meeting and the dinner indicates
that the purpose of the Kim-Clinton meeting is beyond just the
release of the journalists. It is also noteworthy that Kim
Yang-gon, Director of the United Front Department of the Workers'
Party of Korea, who is in charge of North Korea' s policy toward the
ROK, also attended both the meeting and the dinner. The ROKG
briefed Clinton on the current stalemate in inter-Korean relations
and asked for cooperation, including on the issues regarding an ROK
employee detained at the Kaesong Industrial Complex and the ROK
fishermen held by the North. If Clinton had explained to Kim
Jong-il that improvements in inter-Korean relations and U.S.-North
Korea relations are like the two sides of the same coin, it would
have been most desirable. However, Clinton may have focused on
emphasizing that an absolute precondition for improvement in
U.S.-North Korea relations is (North Korea's) verifiable and
irreversible nuclear abandonment.

Clinton's visit was a good opportunity to catch a glimpse into the
stances of North Korea's government, military, and party, which are
entangled in Kim Jong-il's health problems and power transfer. The
Obama Administration has already presented a comprehensive package
of incentives, such as diplomatic normalization and economic
assistance, in return for North Korea's nuclear abandonment.
Clinton probably explained the U.S. position and listened to Kim
Jong-il's response. If so, a meaningful adjustment to Washington's
North Korea policy would be possible even within the framework of
sanctions on the North.

The problem lies with the ROK. The ROKG is optimistic that the U.S.
will not ease sanctions unless the North returns to the Six-Party
Talks and implements its obligations of nuclear abandonment. But
things change. Sanctions, which started strong, could lose momentum
for any small reason before they bring the North to its knees, and a
demand made to the North regarding nuclear abandonment could be
softened to a certain level of nuclear freeze. This is actually
what the 1994 Geneva Agreement is about. After Clinton's visit,
U.S.-North Korea relations and the North Korean nuclear issue may
develop in a different way. There is also a possibility that the
ROK and the U.S. may be at odds over what is the resolution of the
nuclear issue. The ROK, while being negligent in improving ties
with the North, cautions against improvement in U.S.-North Korea
relations, describing it as part of Pyongyang's strategy of
promoting exchange with the U.S. while blocking off the ROK. We
cannot rule out the possibility that, depending on Pyongyang's
attitude, improvement in U.S.-North Korea relations will go several
steps ahead of improvement in inter-Korean relations. This is why
we hope that the President will make a significant proposal to the
North on the August 15 Liberation Day.


CLINTON 'URGED N. KOREA TO FREE S. KOREANS, JAPANESE TOO'

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(Chosun Ilbo, August 7, 2009, page 6)

By Reporter Lim Min-hyuk

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton urged North Korean leader Kim
Jong-il and other officials there to free ROK and Japanese
detainees, CBS quoted a U.S. government official as saying.

During his surprise visit to Pyongyang on Tuesday to free two U.S.
reporters, the official said Clinton "made it clear to the North
Koreans that he was on 'purely a private humanitarian mission' aimed
solely at the release of the journalists and was separate from other
issues on the table between the North and the U.S. and other
countries," according to CBS. Clinton "also pressed very hard" on
the release of ROK detainees and people abducted from Japan, it said
quoting the official.

Here, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Moon Tae-young told reporters
Clinton "demanded that the detained ROK worker in Kaesong and the
crew of the Yeonan be freed on humanitarian grounds." The Yeonan is
a fishing boat that strayed across the Northern Limit Line and was
towed to the North on July 30. "A senior official at the U.S. State
Department delivered the message to the ROK government as a token of
gratitude for supporting his latest trip to the North," Moon added.

Considerable behind-the-scenes efforts by both the ROK and Japanese
governments reportedly led to Clinton raising the issue in
Pyongyang.

Seoul urged the U.S. to raise the issue because it was concerned
about North Korea maneuvering to hold dialogue only with the U.S.
while shutting out the ROK.

A government official said North Korea's detention of South Koreans,
including the fishing crew and a Hyundai Asan staffer who has been
held there incommunicado for some 130 days "is similar to that of
the American women journalists. The ROK's issue is quite different
from the question of Japanese detainees, given that the North has
completely denied the existence of some Japanese detainees or
claimed that others are dead."

The Japanese were abducted as part of a bizarre drive by the North
in the 1970s and '80s to acquire trainers for spies.

But a diplomatic source said it is questionable how much stress
Clinton placed on the Korean and Japanese detainees, "a side issue
at a time when his main goal was to win the freedom of the American
female journalists." The source added it was "highly likely" that he
paid mere lip service to the matter as a courtesy to U.S. allies.


FREED JOURNALISTS 'TREATED WELL' DURING CAPTIVITY IN N. KOREA
(Chosun Ilbo, August 7, 2009, page 6)

By Reporter Lee Hye-un

Lisa Ling, an award-winning investigative journalist and the elder
sister of Laura Ling, one of the two American journalists released
from North Korea on Tuesday, said her sister was fed rice containing
rocks during her 142-day detention in the communist country.

Laura Ling was arrested with Korean-American Euna Lee for illegally
entering North Korea and the two were sentenced to 12 years of hard
labor. They were granted amnesty after former U.S. president Bill
Clinton traveled to Pyongyang and met with the country's leader Kim
Jong-il.

The two journalists have so far remained silent about their
experience in captivity. According to the Associated Press, Lisa
said that Laura is "a little bit weak" and that "she's really,
really anxious to have fresh fruit and fresh food." "There were
rocks in her rice. Obviously, it's a country that has a lot of
economic problems."


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Lisa said that after their trial the two women were sent to a guest
house rather than to a labor camp. CBS reported on Wednesday that
Laura suffered from an ulcer and was allowed regular visits by a
doctor, while Lee lost 15 pounds during the detention.

The two journalists reportedly were treated relatively well during
their ordeal. According to some reports, they stayed in a luxury
guest house in Pyongyang and were served American-style meals such
as eggs and toast with milk. The Daily NK reported that North Korea
seems to have allowed them special treatment in a calculation of the
consequences of their future return to the U.S.

The women were mostly kept apart after their capture, which is why
they hugged and were happy to see each other at their trial on June
4, Lisa said. She said that Laura had four telephone conversations
with her family in the U.S. while she was held by the North.

Unlike previous occasions, North Korea did not demand money for the
release of the journalists, Radio Free Asia reported on Wednesday,
quoting an official at the U.S. State Department. In 1994 when
releasing chief warrant officer Bobby Hall, a helicopter pilot with
the U.S. Forces in Korea who strayed into North Korean territory
during a low-altitude flight, Pyongyang demanded US$10,000 for the
cost of international calls. In 1996, when releasing Evan Hunziker,
an American civilian arrested by the North on espionage charges
after he swam across the Apnok (or Yalu) River, the communist
country demanded US$100,000 in fines.


CLINTON SOUGHT RELEASE OF DETAINED SOUTH KOREANS
(JoonAng Daily, August 7, 2009)

By Reporter Ser Myo-ja

U.S. maintains North policy has not changed following a 'private'
visit

During his meetings with the North Korean leadership to free two
Americans, former U.S. President Bill Clinton also sought the
release of five South Koreans being detained by Pyongyang, the Lee
Myung-bak Administration said yesterday.

Pyongyang's reaction, however, was not immediately known.

"It's my understanding that Clinton had conveyed to the North that
an ROK worker (from the Kaesong Industrial Complex) and crewmen of
the fishing boat Yeonan should be released as a demonstration of
humanitarianism," Moon Tae-young, spokesman of the ROK's Foreign
Ministry, said yesterday at a press briefing. "We expect to see
progress in this matter as soon as possible."

A senior State Department official confirmed that Clinton addressed
the issue during his meetings, according to Moon. Asked if Seoul
made a specific request to Clinton in advance to persuade the North
to release the detainees, Moon only said, "When Clinton left (for
the North),he had enough understanding about the matter."

A senior U.S. administration official said in a background briefing
in Washington on Tuesday that "(Clinton) also discussed and we know
pressed very hard - and we heard this from our debrief, our short
debrief from the plane - he did press very hard on the positive
things that could flow from the release of the ROK detainees and
entering into talks and to really - seeking the release of Japanese
abductees, so I can tell you with confidence that both those issues
were raised."

A Hyundai Asan engineer who worked at the joint industrial complex
in Kaesong, just north of the inter-Korean border, has been detained
by the North for 130 days for allegedly criticizing the country's
political system.

Since March 30, Seoul made repeated calls to discuss the worker's
fate, but Pyongyang has snubbed the request.


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On July 30, the fishing boat 800 Yeonan strayed north of the border
on the east coast and was tugged away by a North Korean patrol boat.


The North's military has only told the ROK that a probe is being
conducted on the incident.

Following Clinton's dramatic trip and the subsequent release of the
two jailed American reporters, the Lee Administration faced demands
from politicians that it should also consider sending a special
envoy. However, Chun Hae-sung, unification ministry spokesman,
repeated yesterday that such an option is not being considered at
this time.

The Lee Administration also dismissed concerns that Pyongyang has
resumed a negotiation strategy of sidestepping Seoul and dealing
directly with Washington. Moon rejected the view that Seoul will
eventually be left out if bilateral talks resume between the North
and the United States.

"The U.S. government has informed us again that Clinton went to
North Korea on a private, humanitarian mission," Moon said. "Our
position for the Six-Party nuclear disarmament talks remains
unchanged. Pyongyang must return to the negotiation table as soon as
possible."

State Department spokesman Robert Wood also said that Washington had
briefed its Six-Party Talks partners, including Seoul, in advance
about Clinton's trip.

Shortly after the reporters' return, the U.S. government again drew
a line in the sand that the Clinton trip and the nuclear issue are
separate matters and that Pyongyang will have to work harder to
improve its ties with Washington.

"We were very clear that this was a humanitarian mission. President
Clinton was going on behalf of the families to get these young
journalists out," U.S. President Barack Obama told NBC News in an
interview yesterday. "We have said to the North Koreans there is a
path for improved relations, and it involves them no longer
developing nuclear weapons and not engaging in the provocative
behavior that they've been engaging in."

Obama, however, did not deny that the Clinton trip will have an
influence over his administration's North Korea policy. "You know,
I suspect that President Clinton will have some interesting
observations from his trip, and I will let him provide those to me.
I won't speculate," Obama said.

Clinton has remained tight-lipped about his mission. He was a rare
foreigner allowed to hold a face-to-face meeting with the North's
"Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il, believed to have suffered a stroke a year
ago. Observers have speculated that Kim has other complications.

Clinton met with Kim for a 75-minute discussion and a two-hour
dinner on Tuesday.

"I think it'll be very interesting," Republican Senator John McCain
said to Reuters. "He's the first Westerner to see Kim since his
reported stroke and other problems. I think former President
Clinton will have some interesting information."

According to news reports, Clinton's personal physician, Roger Band,
accompanied him to the North.


OBAMA TELLS NK `NO NUKE DISMANTLEMENT, NO DIALOGUE`
(Dong-a Ilbo, August 7, 2009, Front page: EXCERPTS)

By Correspondent Lee Ki-hong

U.S. President Barack Obama yesterday ruled out talks with North
Korea if Pyongyang does not give up its nuclear program, despite
North Korea's release of two American journalists.

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"We were very clear that this was a humanitarian mission," he told
NBC in an interview. "We have said to the North Koreans there is a
path for improved relations, and it involves them no longer
developing nuclear weapons and not engaging in the provocative
behavior that they've been engaging in."

The Obama Administration has apparently put particular emphasis on
this principle to prevent sending the wrong message to North Korea
or disrupting international efforts for sanctions against the
communist country.

On the question of whether former President Bill Clinton's visit to
North Korea might lead to a breakthrough in engagement with North
Korea, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also told NBC, "It's
not something we're counting on."

She said she hopes Pyongyang will "make the right choice."

The White House and the State Department also gave news briefings in
the same tone, saying there is no change in the dire situation.

One informed source said, "Sending a special envoy for the
journalists' release had been discussed since before the ASEAN
(Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Regional Forum in mid-July.
The Obama Administration's position has been consistent since that
time."

Experts, however, say strained Pyongyang-Washington relations could
soon see a thaw. Signs have appeared that the North Korean
leadership has sought bilateral dialogue for several weeks.
Washington also believes that Pyongyang's typical cycle is to commit
provocation after provocation, followed by dialogue and then by
further provocations.

What Bill Clinton will bring to Obama is fueling speculation.
Administration officials told the Wall Street Journal that Bill
Clinton and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il discussed many issues,
including incentives to get Pyongyang to resolve the fates of South
Koreans and Japanese being held in North Korea.

The possibility that Kim suggested a summit with Obama also cannot
be ruled out.

Obama also told a news conference that Bill Clinton would have made
interesting observations while in Pyongyang.

Administration sources told the Wall Street Journal that while Obama
will reject giving compensation to North Korea for belatedly keeping
its promises, he can allow high-level direct contact to deal with
the nuclear issue.


U.S.'S N. KOREA POLICY REMAINS UNOFFICIALLY UNCHANGED SINCE
CLINTON'S VISIT
(Hankyoreh Shinmun, August 7, 2009, page 6: EXCERPTS)

By Correspondent Kwon Tae-ho and reporter Lee Je-ho

Officials say Clinton pressed for release of South Korean and
Japanese individuals while asking for pardon of two U.S.
journalists

The U.S. government is officially suggesting it will maintain the
current tenor of its North Korea policy. It appears, however, to be
quietly and carefully considering changes in North Korea policy
based on the results of former President Bill Clinton's visit.

In an interview with NBC on Wednesday (local time),U.S. President
Barack Obama said the U.S. has been telling North Korea there is a
way to improve relations with Washington, and this way includes not
developing nuclear weapons and not engaging in provocative acts. He
also said former President Clinton's mission to secure the return of
the two U.S. journalists was a personal one, and did not signify an

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easing of international pressure on North Korea. He did say,
however, that he planned to have a meeting with Clinton, whom he
said would tell him all the interesting things he observed during
his trip.

The U.S. State Department is also maintaining that any negotiations
that took place during Clinton's trip to North Korea are separate
from the nuclear talks. U.S. State Department's deputy spokesman,
Robert A. Wood, said in a briefing that while they hoped North Korea
would respect its international obligations for nuclear
dismantlement, all the U.S. could do is wait and see, and that it
was too early to tell if Pyongyang was returning to nuclear talks.

During his trip to North Korea, it has been confirmed that Clinton
pressed Pyongyang to release South Korean and Japanese individuals
who are also being detained. ROK Foreign Ministry Spokesman Moon
Tae-young said in a briefing Thursday that he understood Clinton
conveyed to the North Koreans that the Hyundai Asan employee being
held in Kaesong and the crew of the Yeonanho needed to be freed from
a humanitarian perspective. Moon also said nothing has been
communicated to him in regards to North Korea's response, and that
all information comes from a high-ranking U.S. State Department
official.



STEPHENS