SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; December 29, 2009

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SEOUL 002012 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; December 29, 2009 TOP HEADLINES -------------- Chosun Ilbo, All TVs Blue House Poised to Give Former Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee Year-End Pardon JoongAng Ilbo Ruling and Opposition Parties Agree to Discuss Budget for Controversial River Project Separately from Other State Budgets Dong-a Ilbo Security Tightened for U.S.-Bound Air Passengers after Failed Attack on U.S. Plane Hankook Ilbo, Hankyoreh Shinmun Rival Parties at a Crossroads between Compromise and Head-on Collision in Budget Stalemate Segye Ilbo ROK Seeking $20 Billion Nuclear Plant Deal with Turkey Seoul Shinmun Survey: Two in Three Sex Offenders "Repeat" Their Crimes DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS -------------- The ROKG decided yesterday to donate 26 billion won ($22.2 million) for humanitarian projects in North Korea via the World Health Organization, UNICEF and private aid groups. (Dong-a, Hankyoreh, Segye, Seoul) INTERNATIONAL NEWS -------------- According to the Dec. 27 issue of The Washington Post, Pakistani Scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan claimed that North Korea may have been enriching uranium on a small scale by 2002, with "maybe 3,000 or even more" centrifuges. He went on to say that during a visit to North Korea in 1999, North Korean hosts showed him boxes containing components of three finished nuclear warheads, which he was told could be attached to missiles within an hour. (Chosun, JoongAng, Hankyoreh, Segye) According to Daily NK, an online newspaper focusing on issues relating to North Korea, Pyongyang recently issued a decree banning its citizens from possessing or using foreign currencies. (JoongAng, Dong-a, Segye, Daily NK) MEDIA ANALYSIS -------------- -N. Korea -------------- Most ROK media replayed a Dec. 27 report by The Washington Post quoting Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan as claiming that North Korea may have been enriching uranium on a small scale by 2002, with "maybe 3,000 or even more" centrifuges. He was further quoted as saying that during a visit to North Korea in 1999, North Korean hosts showed him boxes containing components of three finished nuclear warheads, which he was told could be attached to missiles within an hour. -Failed Terror Attack on U.S. Plane -------------- Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo editorialized: "As long as Osama bin Laden-the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 terror attacks that took the lives of some 3,000 people-is alive and well, terrorist attacks SEOUL 00002012 002 OF 002 by (members of) al-Qaida remain a serious threat. In this regard, the fact that a suspected (terrorist) managed to board a Detroit-bound airliner wearing an explosive device poses a grave problem. ... A terrorist attack on a plane is not an issue that a single country can prevent alone. ... Without close international information-sharing and cooperation, (these types of attacks) cannot be prevented. Needless to say, the ROK is not (exempt from participating in) this international cooperation." STEPHENS