SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; November 6, 2009

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SEOUL 001775 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; November 6, 2009 TOP HEADLINES -------------- Chosun Ilbo "Free Economic Zones" Face Overhaul JoongAng Ilbo U.S. 8th Army Command to Remain Stationed in ROK Dong-a Ilbo Lawmakers Who Used Violence Going Unpunished Hankook Ilbo ROKG Considers Building Second Campus of Seoul National University in Sejong City Hankyoreh Shinmun President Lee Pushes to Revise Sejong City Plan, Judging that Public Opinion in Seoul Metropolitan Area Favors Changes to the Plan Segye Ilbo Science Business Belt May Replace Sejong City Seoul Shinmun Prime Minister: "Sejong City's Self-Sufficiency Rate Should Reach 20 Percent" DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS -------------- According to a high-ranking military source, the U.S. Eighth Army headquarters, the commanding unit of all U.S. Army forces stationed in the ROK, has reversed its plan to move to Hawaii and will stay put in the ROK. Furthermore, a new Korea Command unit (KORCOM) will be set up next June to replace the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command in 2012. (JoongAng) The KORUS FTA will likely be high on the agenda for the upcoming ROK-U.S. summit in Seoul, because President Lee is expected to urge President Obama to get the bilateral trade deal ratified promptly. (Dong-a) Seoul will consider either freezing or cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by 4 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels. A source at the Blue House said that the 4 percent cut plan will likely be adopted, despite the business community's opposition. The ROKG will make a final decision on Nov. 17. (All) INTERNATIONAL NEWS -------------- Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told reporters yesterday that U.S.-North Korea talks are certain to be held at the end of this year or early next year. (Chosun, Hankook, Hankyoreh, Segye, Seoul, all TVs) MEDIA ANALYSIS -------------- -N. Korea -------------- Most ROK media covered yesterday's press remarks by Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan, in which he said: "It will be difficult (for U.S.-North Korea talks to be held) before President Barack Obama visits Seoul from Nov. 18 -19. They will take place either at the en of this year or early next year." Conservative Chosun Ilbo ran an inside-page report from Washington quoting Thomas C. Hubbard, chairman of the Korea Society, as saying SEOUL 00001775 002 OF 003 in a Nov. 5 interview with Radio Free Asia (RFA) that North Korean officials, during a recent meeting in New York, expressed a willingness to return to the Six-Party Talks if talks with the U.S. are successful. -USFK -------------- Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo front-paged a report citing a high-ranking military source as saying that the U.S. Eighth Army headquarters, the commanding unit of all U.S. Army forces stationed in the ROK, has reversed its plan to move to Hawaii and will stay put in the ROK. The report went on to say that a new Korea Command unit (KORCOM) will be set up next June to replace the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command in 2012 and that the KORCOM will be tasked with defending the Korean Peninsula along with the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff. In an accompanying inside-page report, JoongAng observed that this U.S. about-face on its plan to move the Eighth Army headquarters to Hawaii reflects the strategic importance of the Korean Peninsula to the U.S. and that setting up the Korea Command would also attest to the strategic place the ROK occupies in U.S. military planning. FEATURES -------------- U.S. 8TH ARMY COMMAND TO REMAIN STATIONED IN KOREA (JoongAng Ilbo, November 6, 2009, Pages 1, 4-5) By Military Affairs Reporter Kim Min-seok Plan to move to Hawaii put on ice as strategy changes The U.S. Eighth Army headquarters, the commanding unit of all U.S. Army forces stationed in the ROK, has reversed its plan to move to Hawaii and will stay put in the ROK, the JoongAng Ilbo has learned. Also, documents show the U.S. military will establish a new command in South Korea to replace the current U.S.-South Korea combined forces command after the wartime operational control is transferred to South Korea in 2012. According to a high-ranking military source, the headquarters will not move to Hawaii as previously announced. Also, documents obtained by the JoongAng Ilbo show that a new Korea Command Unit (KORCOM) will be set up next June to replace the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command in 2012. A four-star general will be at the helm of the Korea Command, which is expected to join six other unified combat commands for U.S. forces, the documents show. Currently the U.S. operates military commands, composed of forces from at least two services, covering Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Central America and North America. The Korea Command will be responsible for Northeast Asia. Once Americans' wartime operational control of South Korean troops is transferred to Seoul, the Korea Command Unit will be tasked with defending the Korean Peninsula along with the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff. The capabilities of the Korea Command will be tested in drills in 2011 and 2012. The documents said that in emergencies, the Korea Command will control operations of U.S. forces in Korea, U.S. reinforcements and some United Nations troops. In carrying out operations, the Korea Command will follow strategic guidelines determined by heads of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from the ROK and the U.S. According to the documents, the U.S. Department of Defense plans to reorganize the Eighth Army headquarters, which currently provide SEOUL 00001775 003 OF 003 administrative support only, and turn it into a combat commanding unit. The U.S. Army will add about 200 troops to the current Eighth Army headquarters. Another military source said the U.S. Army has set up a new operational command post earlier this year near the front line. The source explained that the move "was designed to ensure more efficiency in ground operations on the Korean Peninsula." The post will include more than 1,000 officers and soldiers and will be evaluated in early 2010 and then in early 2011. The size of the U.S. forces stationed in the ROK will be kept at around 28,500. Once the new U.S. forces base is completed in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, in 2015, the current Eighth Army headquarters and the second infantry division in Yongsan, central Seoul, will be relocated there. The Pyeongtaek base is expected to host up to 71,000 U.S. troops and their families by 2020. The U.S. about-face on its plan to move the Eighth Army headquarters to Hawaii reflects the strategic importance of the Korean Peninsula to the U.S. Setting up the Korea Command would also attest to the strategic place the ROK occupies in U.S. military planning. STEPHENS