SECRETARY'S VISIT TO SEOUL A HUGE SUCCESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 000290 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/26/2019 TAGS: PREL PINR KN KS SUBJECT: SECRETARY'S VISIT TO SEOUL A HUGE SUCCESS Classified By: Amb. Kathleen Stephens. Reasons 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (C) Summary: As the Secretary's plane was preparing for departure from Seoul on February 20, Ambassador-designate Han Duck-soo, a man of great reserve, beamed and said "all anti-Americanism will be gone" after the Secretary's visit. The February 19-20 visit of Secretary Clinton made an enormous impact, on both the South Korean public and policy makers. To be sure, there was plenty of goodwill even before the visit. Koreans were delighted that the Secretary chose to come here on her first overseas trip; they also had fond memories from her previous visits in 1993 and 1996. Still, the positive Korean public reaction went beyond expectations, primarily because of the Secretary's strong message of support for a broader and deeper U.S.-ROK alliance. This message served to assure the South Koreans that North Korea could not and would not drive a wedge between the U.S. and the ROK. The Secretary's public diplomacy efforts, especially her town hall meeting at Ewha University with roughly 3,000 students, were also instrumental in conveying to ordinary Koreans the fundamental values of American foreign policy -- freedom, democracy and human rights -- and our desire for peace and stability for all on the Peninsula. It was also a refreshing reminder to Korea of a friendly, open, and engaged America. End Summary. -------------- Red Carpets -------------- ¶2. (C) Quite early in the preparation for the Secretary's visit, senior MOFAT officials told us that President Lee had made it clear that this was no ordinary ministerial visit; the Secretary must be accorded "extra" protocol. That was indeed the case. We encountered none of the usual security, press and protocol issues, and the Secretary was granted a nineteen-man honor guard on arrival and departure, which is usually only accorded to heads of state. -------------- US-ROK Alliance: Broader and Deeper -------------- ¶3. (C) For President Lee the Secretary's visit was an occasion to show the Korean public that he was capable of delivering a close relationship with the new U.S. Administration, and that Washington would see in him a serious partner on regional and global issues. All this the Secretary affirmed, and, in the process, assured the South Koreans that the United States considered the relationship to be more than a regional partnership; it was becoming a "global strategic alliance that rests upon shared commitments and values." The immediate reaction of senior ROKG officials was one of gratitude. A senior MOFAT official told us that FM Yu had nothing but praise for the Secretary's clear support of South Korea. Similarly, a senior journalist told us that all South Koreans, regardless of their political color, would give the Secretary the highest marks for her affirmation of the U.S. desire for the strongest possible alliance. In recent years, the journalist continued, such assurances had become "formulaic." The Secretary, he said, came across as "sincere and quite genuine" in her message. The title of JoongAng Ilbo's February 21 editorial, "Alliance Reaffirmed," seemed to say it all. ¶4. (C) Also important to policymakers in particular was the visit's emphasis on cooperation on global issues. The ROKG had wisely set the stage for the visit by announcing that it would deploy a naval destroyer to participate in anti-piracy efforts off the Somali coast. Also helpful was the ROK-Japan announcement earlier this month that Seoul and Tokyo agreed to work on joint development projects in Afghanistan. In return, the Secretary's commitment to cooperate closely in the run-up to the April G-20 summit in London and the COP-9 meetings in Copenhagen was welcomed by Korean officials. -------------- North Korea -------------- ¶5. (C) North Korea policy is generally the single most sensitive item in high-level bilateral meetings with the Koreans. The Secretary's meetings on this visit were no different. All the more so, in fact, because of strained inter-Korean relations and Pyongyang's ongoing missile launch preparations. The Secretary's remarks, both publicly and with President Lee and FM Yu, authoritatively dispelled suspicions among some of the ROK public that Washington would seek an accommodation with North Korea, leaving South Korea behind. It was a relieved President Lee who greeted the Secretary in the Blue House, thanking her for her "clear remarks" on North Korea during the just-completed press availability with FM Yu. Similarly, all major newspapers noted that Secretary Clinton's and Foreign Minister Yu's press statements on February 20 demonstrated what the conservative newspaper Dong-a Ilbo called "closest coordination." -------------- Public Reaction - Town Hall Remarks -------------- ¶6. (C) We have received a tremendous amount of positive feedback on the Ewha University town hall meeting. The university was on a long winter break, but Ewha authorities, working with the Embassy, had no problems filling the 3,000-seat auditorium with only three days' notice. The demand for the tickets was so high that the university opened another auditorium for closed-circuit viewing. The Secretary's remarks, which were carried live on YTN (Korea's CNN) and made front-page news on all major dailies, were lauded for her promotion of women's rights and human rights. Some Americans and Koreans had feared this event might pose some risk given the history of anti-American demonstrations in Korean universities. The Secretary, however, was welcomed by an enthusiastic, cheering crowd and anti-U.S. slogans or signboards were notably absent. -------------- Final Comment -------------- ¶7. (C) Despite our more than half-century alliance, South Koreans still need assurances from us that we remain true to our commitments to help sustain peace and stability on the Peninsula and in the region. The Secretary delivered that and a lot more. She told the Koreans that the United States believed that it was now time to take the relationship to a new level, beyond the region and beyond security issues. The Secretary's call to upgrade the US-ROK alliance has struck a chord with the South Korean public, which showed far less ideological divide and resistance to this appeal than at anytime in the past few decades. Through this visit, the Secretary has defined the relationship as based on shared interest and values, and promoted the view that South Korea's strategic interests will be furthered by its assumption of a more significant regional and global role. STEPHENS