Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09SEOUL161
2009-02-03 06:58:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Seoul
Cable title:
MEDIA REACTION IN SEOUL
how-toVZCZCXYZ0004 RR RUEHWEB DE RUEHUL #0161 0340658 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 030658Z FEB 09 FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3109 RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 8068 RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 5321 RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 9195 RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5214 RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI
UNCLAS SEOUL 000161
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EAP/PD FOR SWALKER, EAP/P, EAP/K
STATE PASS USDA ELECTRONICALLY FOR FAX/ITP SCHEIKH
STATE PASS USTR FOR RCASSIDY
USDOC FOR 4430/IEP/OPB/EAP/JDONIUS
TREASURY FOR OASIA/MGREWE
CINCPAC FOR J-74
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR ECON KS US KPAO KMDR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION IN SEOUL
Subject: Media Reaction; Seoul
Global Economy
"The World Must Not Repeat Protectionist Mistakes"
Conservative Chosun Ilbo editorialized (02/03): "History has taught
us that economic crises drive countries to cave in to the
temptations of protectionism and nationalism, which make it more
difficult to overcome difficulties. The Great Depression of the
1930s is a key example. In 1930, the U.S. Senate ratified the
Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which raised tariffs on imports by an
average of 20 percent, in order to protect American businesses and
jobs. The result was the opposite. America's major trading
partners, including Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Canada,
implemented retaliatory tariffs, causing global trade to decline and
leading the entire world into economic depression. Countries around
the world, especially the U.S., must not repeat mistakes made 80
years ago, when protectionist measures drove the global economy into
the path of destruction."
"No to U.S. Return to Protectionism"
Park Sung-hoon, professor at the Graduate School of International
Studies at Korea University, opined in conservative Dong-a Ilbo
(02/03): "If the U.S. returns to protectionism, it would likely lead
the EU and Japan to move in the same direction, triggering a domino
effect which would be disastrous enough to plunge the current
financial crisis into a global depression. Furthermore, the global
multilateral trade system represented by the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO)
might collapse, ... rupturing the link to free trade and investment
that has propped up the world economy. This would surely not be
beneficial to the world economy as well as the U.S. It is high time
for more active U.S. leadership."
"The Obama Administration's Protectionist Measures Unsettling"
Moderate Seoul Shinmun editorialized (02/03): "The U.S. has
advocated free trade and globalization. Yet it is now building high
protectionist barriers for the sole purpose of saving itself from
the global financial crisis, which it originated. This is not the
right attitude for the world's superpower that holds sway over the
global economy. The Obama Administration should resist the
temptation of trade protectionism and find a way for the entire
world to overcome the crisis together and coexist harmoniously."
Stephens
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EAP/PD FOR SWALKER, EAP/P, EAP/K
STATE PASS USDA ELECTRONICALLY FOR FAX/ITP SCHEIKH
STATE PASS USTR FOR RCASSIDY
USDOC FOR 4430/IEP/OPB/EAP/JDONIUS
TREASURY FOR OASIA/MGREWE
CINCPAC FOR J-74
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR ECON KS US KPAO KMDR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION IN SEOUL
Subject: Media Reaction; Seoul
Global Economy
"The World Must Not Repeat Protectionist Mistakes"
Conservative Chosun Ilbo editorialized (02/03): "History has taught
us that economic crises drive countries to cave in to the
temptations of protectionism and nationalism, which make it more
difficult to overcome difficulties. The Great Depression of the
1930s is a key example. In 1930, the U.S. Senate ratified the
Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which raised tariffs on imports by an
average of 20 percent, in order to protect American businesses and
jobs. The result was the opposite. America's major trading
partners, including Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Canada,
implemented retaliatory tariffs, causing global trade to decline and
leading the entire world into economic depression. Countries around
the world, especially the U.S., must not repeat mistakes made 80
years ago, when protectionist measures drove the global economy into
the path of destruction."
"No to U.S. Return to Protectionism"
Park Sung-hoon, professor at the Graduate School of International
Studies at Korea University, opined in conservative Dong-a Ilbo
(02/03): "If the U.S. returns to protectionism, it would likely lead
the EU and Japan to move in the same direction, triggering a domino
effect which would be disastrous enough to plunge the current
financial crisis into a global depression. Furthermore, the global
multilateral trade system represented by the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO)
might collapse, ... rupturing the link to free trade and investment
that has propped up the world economy. This would surely not be
beneficial to the world economy as well as the U.S. It is high time
for more active U.S. leadership."
"The Obama Administration's Protectionist Measures Unsettling"
Moderate Seoul Shinmun editorialized (02/03): "The U.S. has
advocated free trade and globalization. Yet it is now building high
protectionist barriers for the sole purpose of saving itself from
the global financial crisis, which it originated. This is not the
right attitude for the world's superpower that holds sway over the
global economy. The Obama Administration should resist the
temptation of trade protectionism and find a way for the entire
world to overcome the crisis together and coexist harmoniously."
Stephens