SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; September 16, 2009

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SEOUL 001474 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; September 16, 2009 TOP HEADLINES -------------- Chosun Ilbo President Lee: "Constitutional Amendment for Change in Power Structure Is Subject to Review" JoongAng Ilbo, Hankook Ilbo, All TVs President Lee: "Political Circles Should Realistically Narrow Scope of Constitutional Amendment" Dong-a Ilbo President Lee Hopes Japanese Emperor Visits Seoul Next Year to End Lingering Animosity over Japan's Past Colonial Rule of Korea Hankyoreh Shinmun, Segye Ilbo, Seoul Shinmun President Lee Calls to Restrict Constitutional Amendment to Changing Power Structure and Redrawing Electoral and Administrative Districts DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS -------------- President Lee Myung-bak, in a Sept. 15 joint interview at the Blue House with the ROK's Yonhap News Agency and Japan's Kyodo News Agency, said: "North Korea is employing a conciliatory strategy to escape the current crisis, but I don't see any sincerity or signs that the North will give up its nuclear program." (All) INTERNATIONAL NEWS -------------- In an apparent move to stave off criticism and concern about U.S.-North Korea direct talks, State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly said during a Sept. 14 regular briefing: "We will not have any substantive bilateral talks with North Korea that are outside of the Six-Party context. Our goal is to get North Korea to return to the Six-Party Talks." (All) An increasing number of U.S. experts - including Joel Wit, a researcher at the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and Frank Jannuzi, senior East Asia specialist for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - are contending that there is no need for Washington to reject bilateral talks with North Korea while insisting on a single framework for dialogue. (Chosun) MEDIA ANALYSIS -------------- -N. Korea -------------- All ROK media gave prominent coverage to President Lee Myung-bak's Sept. 15 joint interview with the ROK's Yonhap News Agency and Japan's Kyodo News Agency, in which he said: "North Korea is employing a conciliatory strategy to escape the current crisis, but I don't see any sincerity or signs that the North will give up its nuclear program." The president was further quoted: "North Korea appears to be stalling for time in order to make its possession of nuclear weapons a fait accompli. The members of the Six-Party Talks should seek a joint strategy to get the North to give up its nuclear ambitions." All media also covered Sept. 14 press remarks by State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly, in which he said: "We will not have any substantive bilateral talks with North Korea that are outside of the Six-Party context. Our goal is to get North Korea to return to the Six-Party Talks." SEOUL 00001474 002 OF 003 In a related development, right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo carried an analysis that said that Washington's repeated emphasis on the "framework of the Six-Party Talks" seems intended to stave off criticism of U.S.-North Korea direct talks and to preclude damage to cooperation with the ROK and Japan. Conservative Dong-a Ilbo's headline read: "Is the U.S. Drawing a Clear Line in Consideration of ROK Concerns?" -Launch of New Japanese Government -------------- Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo editorialized: "Japan's next Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama starts his official term today. ... We hope that his emergence (as the new leader of Japan) will contribute to bringing peace and prosperity across East Asia, including on the Korean Peninsula. ... Hatoyama pledged to achieve close and equal ties with the U.S. to improve bilateral relations between the two countries. However, his planned changes are in Korea's interests, too. Some observers say that Japan has decided to maintain some distance from the U.S. to solidify its relationship with neighbors such as China. .. Time will tell whether that was just a simple gesture to win over the hearts and minds of the country." FEATURES -------------- WHY U.S. REITERATES "SIX-PARTY FRAMEWORK" (JoongAng Ilbo, September 16, 2009, page 6) By Correspondent Kim Jung-wook The U.S., which had announced that, after serious consideration, it will hold bilateral talks with North Korea, reiterated that any bilateral talks will not be outside of the framework of Six-Party Talks. State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly said during a September 14 regular briefing, "We will not have any substantive bilateral talks with North Korea that are outside of the Six-Party context. Our goal is to get North Korea to return to the Six-Party Talks." Referring to North Korea's recent invitation to Special Representative for North Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth to visit Pyongyang, Kelly said that the U.S. consulted with its counterparts on various ways to bring the North back to the Six-Party Talks. It seems that he wants to emphasize that the U.S.'s decision to have bilateral talks with Pyongyang followed full consultations with Six-Party countries including the ROK. A high-ranking ROKG official who asked not to be named said that even if the time and format of the bilateral talks are set soon, the talks will not be a separate process which replaces the Six-Party Talks. In a forum hosted by the Washington-based Korea Economic Institute, U.S. Ambassador to the ROK Kathleen Stephens said that North Korea must eventually return to the Six-Party Talks even if it engages in bilateral talks with the U.S. A diplomatic source in Washington said that various behind-the-scenes negotiations are currently underway regarding (major issues) such as who will be the North Korean counterpart when Ambassador Bosworth visits Pyongyang. The source added that it appears that the U.S., before entering into the bilateral talks, wants to make it clear to North Korea that it will not give up the Six-Party Talks. Another diplomatic source said, "The USG is embarrassed that U.S. media interpreted the announcement of U.S.-North Korea dialogue as a 'dramatic policy shift of the Obama Administration,' and U.S. public opinion also appears to be opposed to U.S.-North Korea negotiations. Washington's repeated emphasis on the Six-Party framework is, therefore, designed to demonstrate that its principle on North Korea remains unchanged." In a September 15 editorial titled "Kim Wins Another," The Wall Street Journal strongly criticized the USG, saying that the Obama Administration is "destroying" its own diplomacy. The WSJ argued that (U.S. - North Korea) bilateral talks will almost certainly spell the death of the Six Party Talks, not their imminent resumption; that the Administration could badly SEOUL 00001474 003 OF 003 undermine the united front it might have constructed with its allies in the region, the ROK and Japan above all; and that direct U.S.-North Korean talks strengthen Kim's hand internally as he arranges to hand power to his son. Meanwhile, Sen. John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Democratic candidate for President in 2004, said at a Korean Peninsula Peace Forum seminar on September 14 that past experience taught us the lesson that a 'benign neglect' strategy toward North Korea is not a viable option, and the U.S. should undertake active diplomatic efforts to end the vicious cycle of the North Korean nuclear issue. In addition, he expressed support for U.S.-North Korea dialogue, saying that, although the U.S. has to consult closely with its allies, it should not take a defensive position and shy away from (dealing with) the North Korean nuclear issue. His opinion seems to be in line with the Democratic Party's basic tone about North Korea policy. TOKOLA