BLUE LANTERN: VERIFYING BONA FIDES OF REGISTERED BROKER

UNCLAS SEOUL 001822 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETTC KOMC KS SUBJECT: BLUE LANTERN: VERIFYING BONA FIDES OF REGISTERED BROKER JOSEPH YUNG HUCHUN - CASE NO. K-0451 REF: A) STATE 99535 ¶1. Seoul-based company "Cool and Joy" was founded in March 2000 and serves principally as a sales representative for Northrop Grumann Information System (NGIS). Per reftel, ECON officer visited Cool and Joy headquarters on November 5, 2009 to verify the bona fides of registered broker Joseph Yung Huchun, president of the company. ¶2. According to Post's investigation, Cool and Joy has been located at Room 324, Life Officetel, 61-3, Yoido-dong, Youngdeungpo-Gu, Seoul, the Republic of Korea (ROK) since May 2009. Roh Je-ho, Managing Director of Cool and Joy and the Defense Acquisition Procurement Administration (DAPA) separately confirmed to Post that the company is a DAPA-registered supplier of components for defense communication network system such as gate manager and tigers, commercial version of U.S. commanding control system. ¶3. While NGIS is Cool and Joy's main client, company founder Joseph Yung Huchun told us the company has for five years served as a sales representative for Weibel Scientific, a Denmark-based tracking radar manufacturer that supplies the Agency for Defense and Development (ADD) under the ROK Ministry of National Defense with Doppler radar equipment. ¶4. The company does not have a secured storage facility for USML items because it only serves as a broker on behalf of U.S. exporters of these items. All imported USML items are directly delivered to Korean clients who maintain secured storage facilities. ¶5. Cool and Joy has six employees. Joseph Yung Hu- chon (Kim Hu-chon),a U.S. citizen, founded the company in March 2000. Yung spent twenty seven years in the U.S. Army and retired as Director of the JUSMAG, Seoul, ROK in February 1990. Prior to creating Cool and Joy, from 1990 to 1997 Yung was Vice President of Texas Instruments, Korea. The main principals include Chung Ji-Yong, Advisor since 2001, who spent thirty-two years with the ROK's Ministry of National Defense. Im Hyon-Jung, who retired as Director after thirty-six years at the MND, joined the company as an Advisor in 2001. Min Won-Sik, Managing Director, joined the company in July, 2008 after thirty years in the ROK Army. His last ROK military position was Manager of ROK Army Information System Managing Group. ¶6. Main clients for Cool and Joy are: ROK Ministry of National Defense, Seoul, ROK; DAPA located in Seoul ROK; Korea Agency for Defense Development located in Daejeon, ROK; Korea Institute for Defense Analysis located in Seoul, ROK; Samsung SDS located in Seoul, ROK; LIG Nex 1 located in Seoul, ROK; Huneed located in Kunpo City, Gyeonggi Province, ROK; and Korea Aerospace Research Institute located in Daejeon, ROK. ¶7. The company reported that it has been registered as a broker with the PM/DTCC since 2006. Yung said the company is fully aware of the importance of the restrictions of USML sensitive items and the prohibitions of retransfers or re-exports of such items and technology. He emphasized that the company's staff are given updates on the U.S. export controls regulations every year by NGIS's general counsel's office responsible for export controls regulations. The most recent NGIS briefing on U.S. export control regulations was done in mid-October, 2009 in Seoul. ¶8. This investigation was conducted through a site visit, as well as telephone and email communications. ICE attache has verified that the company has neither criminal nor derogatory information. Moreover, Post Foreign Commercial Service has also confirmed that the company is a legitimate business entity. STEPHENS