SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; November 10, 2009

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 SEOUL 001794 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; November 10, 2009 TOP HEADLINES -------------- Chosun Ilbo Blue House Sought S-e-c-r-e-t Meeting with Heads of Big Four Conglomerates; Attention Focused on Whether the Meeting was Related to Sejong City Plan JoongAng Ilbo, All TVs ROKG Trying to Speed Up New Plans for Sejong City Dong-a Ilbo 20 Former CFC Deputy Commanders Send Letters to Presidents Lee and Obama Calling for Review of OPCON Transfer Hankook Ilbo New Flu Death of Actor's Son Causes Dread for Parents Hankyoreh Shinmun Main Opposition Democratic Party Seeks Legal Battle to Halt ROKG's Four-River Restoration Project Segye Ilbo Education Ministry to Enhance Parent Participation in School Management and Operation Seoul Shinmun Board of Audit and Inspection: "Misguided ROKG Public Rental Housing Project May Trigger Oversupply and Supply-Demand Imbalance in Rental Housing Market" DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS -------------- According to Blue House Spokesperson Kim Eun-hye, Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Barack Obama will seek ways to move forward with the ratification of the KORUS FTA during their Nov. 19 summit in Seoul. (JoongAng, Segye, Seoul) According to a military source, 20 former deputy commanders of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) recently sent letters to Presidents Lee and Obama urging them to review the planned transfer of wartime operational control from the U.S. to the ROK. They also asked the Presidents to discuss the issue during their upcoming summit. (Dong-a) MEDIA ANALYSIS -------------- -President Obama's Asia Trip -------------- Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo, conservative Segye Ilbo and moderate Seoul Shinmun ran inside-page reports quoting Blue House Spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye as saying yesterday: "We are hoping that President Obama will express a more forward-looking position on the KORUS FTA, and are working toward that end." Conservative Chosun Ilbo editorialized: "The U.S. has objected to trade protectionism and led the solidarity among the major 20 economies in overcoming the global financial crisis. Accordingly, it is unreasonable for the U.S., an advocate of global economic recovery and trade expansion, to refuse to ratify the KORUS FTA, the largest trade agreement for the U.S. since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of 1992. ... The upcoming Nov. 19 ROK-U.S. summit should put the ratification of the KORUS FTA before any other agenda items." Conservative Dong-a Ilbo argued in an editorial: "Conscious of trade SEOUL 00001794 002 OF 005 unions, President Obama has taken a passive stance on free trade. In September, he even raised tariffs on imported tires from four percent to 35 percent to prevent cheaper Chinese tires from flooding the U.S. market. If he hopes to reaffirm U.S. support for free trade, he should prove it during his Nov. 13-19 Asia tour." Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo carried an editorial entitled "Things Obama Should Do during His First Asia Trip." It said: "President Obama should focus on dispelling some concerns and misunderstandings about U.S.-China relations by making sure that the U.S. and China are strategic partners who share the burden for global issues. ... Furthermore, President Obama needs to come up with a 'grand vision' for Korean Peninsula issues, including the North Korean nuclear issue. With discussions on regional integration gaining momentum, the U.S.'s influence in East Asia will inevitably wane. ... If the U.S. wants to remain influential in the Asia-Pacific region, President Obama should use this visit to clarify his position and actively participate in discussions on regional integration in East Asia." -N. Korea -------------- With regard to Special Representative for North Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth's impending visit to North Korea, moderate Hankook Ilbo editorialized: "Given the nature of the upcoming U.S.-North Korea dialogue, it is difficult to expect the meeting to achieve significant progress on the North Korean nuclear issue. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said on November 8 that U.S.-North Korea dialogue 'is not a negotiation' and that 'substantial issues will be discussed through the Six-Party Talks.' ... However, the North, which has greatly desired bilateral dialogue with the U.S., inevitably has high expectations of the talks. How many of these expectations the U.S. will meet will determine the outcome of the bilateral talks." OPINIONS/EDITORIALS -------------- STEPS NEEDED TO RATIFY FTA (Dong-a Ilbo, November 10, 2009, Page 35) Korea and the United States signed a free trade agreement in June ¶2007. After delaying parliamentary ratification for more than two years, the two sides have begun taking steps to get the deal approved. The head of the U.S. National Economic Council, Lawrence Summers, said Friday, "The U.S. government has prepared itself for the ratification of the Korea-U.S. FTA." The Obama Administration, however, has taken a passive stance toward the agreement and certain figures in Washington say Seoul must open up the Korean auto market further. In that context, therefore, Summers' comment can definitely be considered as significant progress. Seoul also plans to discuss the matter with President Obama, who is scheduled to make a two-day visit to Korea from Nov. 18. A Korean proverb says, "Nothing is complete without the finishing touches." The bilateral agreement is no different. Even if the agreement benefits both nations, it is useless unless it is put into effect. It would be a huge misfortune if the two nations cannot benefit from their agreement designed to raise their exports and strengthen their strategic partnership. Certainly, the two nations have been preoccupied with the launch of new administrations and dealing with the global economic crisis. Nevertheless, if they keep hesitating on ratification, their determination to have the deal take effect would be in doubt. If Washington fails to make a sincere effort to ratify the accord, it has no right to urge the expansion of global trade at the Group of 20 summit in Korea next year. Conscious of trade unions, President Obama has taken a passive stance on free trade. In September, he even raised tariffs on imported tires from four percent to 35 percent to prevent cheaper Chinese tires from flooding the U.S. market. If he hopes to reaffirm U.S. support for free trade, he should prove it during his SEOUL 00001794 003 OF 005 Nov. 13-19 Asia tour. When Korea and the European Union tentatively signed their free trade agreement Oct. 15, U.S. media criticized the Obama Administration, saying the world is moving forward while the U.S. acts like Hamlet. According to a survey conducted by Washington, 92 percent of the industries to be affected by the agreement supported it. Only a few, including automakers, opposed it. Moreover, 88 congressmen recently urged Obama to put the agreement before Congress for ratification before his summit with President Lee Myung-bak. Against this background, it is high time that Congress deal with the accord. Korea's National Assembly should also rush to ratify the agreement at its plenary session. A free trade agreement between Korea and India will take effect in January next year. Moreover, the Korea-EU agreement will begin to be implemented next year in July and August. So the Korea-U.S. pact should also take effect next year. When Korea signed the agreement with the U.S., it was the envy of its neighbors. If the National Assembly hesitates to ratify the accord, the country's rivals will laugh at Korea. (This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is identical to the Korean version.) UPCOMING KOREA-U.S. SUMMIT AN OPPORTUNITY TO RATIFY BILATERAL FTA (Chosun Ilbo, November 10, 2009, Page 35) With the leaders of Korea and the United States set to hold a bilateral summit on Nov. 19th, 88 U.S. congressmen from both the Democratic and Republican parties wrote to the White House last Friday calling for prompt ratification of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The same day, Lawrence Summers, Director of the White House's National Economic Council, told a gathering of American and Korean business officials, "The U.S. government is preparing for the ratification of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement." Korea and the U.S. signed the bilateral trade pact in June 2007. But two and a half years later, the FTA still remains unratified. In January, a standing committee at the Korean National Assembly passed the bilateral free trade pact amid violent clashes between ruling and opposition parties and submitted it to the plenary session of parliament for ratification. But in the U.S., the FTA has not even been presented to Congress and has been on hold since the 2008 Presidential election. U.S. President Barack Obama voiced dissatisfaction over the FTA while running for the presidency, saying the automotive and beef portions of the agreement were "unfair." After entering office, Obama has put priority on health care reform and other domestic issues, leaving the bill sitting in Congress. The U.S. has objected to trade protectionism and led the solidarity among the major 20 economies in overcoming the global financial crisis. Accordingly, it is unreasonable for the U.S., an advocate of global economic recovery and trade expansion, to refuse to ratify the KORUS FTA, the largest trade agreement for the U.S. since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of 1992. The U.S. would also miss out on real benefits of the FTA, such as the so-called "first-mover advantage," where companies that are the first to enter a particular market reap the benefits of investment and trade. Korea has already moved forward in seeking similar international trade agreements with India and the European Union. If ratification of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement continues to be delayed and other foreign companies enter the Korean market first, then U.S. businesses will be the ones suffering losses. The upcoming Nov. 19 ROK-U.S. summit should put the ratification of the KORUS FTA before any other agenda items. (This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is identical to the Korean version.) SEOUL 00001794 004 OF 005 PREPARE FOR SITUATION FOLLOWING IMPENDING U.S.-N. KOREA DIALOGUE (Hankook Ilbo, November 10, 2009, Page 39) The schedule and format of U.S.-North Korea bilateral dialogue is beginning to take shape. The rough picture emerging from Washington is that U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth will visit Pyongyang late this month or early next month at the earliest and meet with North Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok-ju. It is reported that the U.S. Department of State will soon announce the schedule for Bosworth's visit to North Korea. The North and the U.S. engaged in a tense tug of war to the last minute over the agenda and number of the meetings. The fact that the announcement about the meeting schedule is impending indicates that most contentious issues have been resolved. North Korea had initially demanded that more than two meetings be held. However, increasing the number of the meetings will only raise suspicion over Pyongyang's intention to buy time and will not help resolve the nuclear issue. It is desirable that the two nations should have substantial talks at their first meeting and then move straight toward the resumption of the Six-Party Talks. Given the nature of the upcoming U.S.-North Korea dialogue, it is difficult to expect the meeting to achieve significant progress on the North Korean nuclear issue. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said on November 8 that U.S.-North Korea dialogue "is not a negotiation" and that "substantial issues will be discussed through the Six-Party Talks." This means that Washington regards bilateral dialogue with Pyongyang as a stepping stone to North Korea's return to the Six-Party Talks. However, North Korea, which has greatly desired bilateral dialogue with the U.S., inevitably has high expectations of the talks. How many of these expectations the U.S. will meet will determine the outcome of the bilateral talks. If North Korea wants to get what it wants, it should make clear its willingness to rejoin the Six-Party Talks. Trust built between the U.S. and North Korea at their bilateral talks will be an important factor in achieving progress at the future Six-Party Talks. The ROKG should try to prepare for the situation following U.S.-North Korea dialogue. It should think about how it will take a leading role when the Six-Party Talks restart, instead of remaining on the sidelines. The ambitious "Grand Bargain" proposal is good, but we should find a way to advance the Six-Party Talks in a practical manner. Seoul needs a creative ability to identify the demands of Six-Party countries, including the North, and mediate their interests. THINGS OBAMA SHOULD DO DURING HIS FIRST ASIA TRIP (JoongAng Ilbo, November 10, 2009, page 46) U.S. President Barack Obama will embark on his first Asian trip since taking office. President Obama will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Singapore from November 14-15, and also will visit the ROK, China and Japan. Obama's visit comes at a time when East Asia is undergoing considerable changes such as the rise of China, a change of power in Japan, a more precarious situation on the Korean Peninsula and intense discussions on regional integration. Therefore, his visit carries special meaning, unlike visits by previous U.S presidents. Attention is also turning to what approach the U.S. will take to develop relations with East Asia, which is emerging as a global hub. China's rapid rise necessitates a fundamental change in the U.S.'s strategy for East Asia. The "G2," which refers to the U.S. and China, has taken hold as an international political term. The U.S. considers China a partner for cooperation rather than trying to keep the country in check. In the wake of the global financial meltdown, the economic symbiotic relationship between the U.S. and China has deepened. President Obama should focus on dispelling some concerns and misunderstandings about U.S.-China relations by making sure that the U.S. and China are strategic partners who share the burden for global issues. SEOUL 00001794 005 OF 005 A strategic partnership between the U.S. and China is a new challenge to the U.S.-ROK alliance and U.S.-Japan alliance. In particular, with Democratic Party leader Hatoyama Yukio assuming power in Japan, relations between the U.S. and Japan have been unstable. Prime Minister Hatoyama wants to stand on an equal footing with the U.S. Even though Hatoyama says there is no change in his basic concept that the U.S.-Japan alliance is the cornerstone of Japan's diplomacy, he still claims that Japan has to lay the diplomatic groundwork for a new East Asian Community to be centered around the ROK, China and Japan in order to be less dependent on the U.S. The U.S.-ROK alliance has changed from a defense alliance against North Korea to a 21st century future-oriented alliance that jointly addresses global issues. President Obama should lay out a clear blue print for the rationale and role of the ROK-U.S. alliance and U.S.-Japan alliance in the G2 era. Furthermore, President Obama needs to come up with a 'grand vision' for Korean Peninsula issues, including the North Korean nuclear issue. With discussions on regional integration gaining momentum, the U.S.'s influence in East Asia will inevitably wane. China, which aims to take the lead over regional integration, wants to only include ASEAN, the ROK, China and Japan in the East Asia community. Hatoyama has does not yet have a clear vision of the scope of the East Asia community. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd wants the U.S. to join an Asia Pacific Community (APC). Six Asian and Pacific countries are members of the G20, and they will wield greater power as regional integration speeds up. If the U.S. wants to remain influential in the Asia-Pacific region, President Obama should use this visit to clarify his position and actively participate in discussions on regional integration in East Asia. STEPHENS