Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09SEOUL661
2009-04-23 07:54:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Seoul
Cable title:  

UK, SWEDISH DIPLOMATS IN PYONGYANG: OFFERING

Tags:  PREL ECON KN UK SW 
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VZCZCXYZ0006
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHUL #0661/01 1130754
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 230754Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4131
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 5765
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1310
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 9631
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 0858
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM PRIORITY 0907
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 5858
RUEHUM/AMEMBASSY ULAANBAATAR PRIORITY 1813
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG PRIORITY 4287
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RUACAAA/COMUSKOREA INTEL SEOUL KOR PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA J5 SEOUL KOR PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMUSFK SEOUL KOR PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 000661 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2019
TAGS: PREL ECON KN UK SW
SUBJECT: UK, SWEDISH DIPLOMATS IN PYONGYANG: OFFERING
TRAINING AND USING CELLPHONES

Classified By: POL M/C Joseph Y. Yun. Reasons 1.4(b/d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 000661

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2019
TAGS: PREL ECON KN UK SW
SUBJECT: UK, SWEDISH DIPLOMATS IN PYONGYANG: OFFERING
TRAINING AND USING CELLPHONES

Classified By: POL M/C Joseph Y. Yun. Reasons 1.4(b/d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: UK and Swedish Embassy Pyongyang Deputy
Heads of Mission Paul Scullion and Johan Eidman, visiting
Seoul on April 22, described service in Pyongyang as
professionally limited because of narrow access to DPRK
officials and almost no contact with ordinary North Koreans;
that said, the assignment was worthwhile overall. One bright
spot was DPRK officials' interest in any overseas training
opportunities. Egyptian company Orascom's cellphone service,
launched in December 2008, has attracted about 20,000
subscribers, and the company is also working on the
long-unfinished 105-story Ryugyong Hotel. END SUMMARY.

--------------
Offering Training Helps
--------------


2. (C) UK DHM Paul Scullion, who has served in Pyongyang
since April 2008, gave an informal talk to Embassy officers
on April 22, stressing that diplomats there have only
"stovepiped" access to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)
desk officers assigned to their country. The UK Embassy had
tried to meet North America officials to discuss the nuclear
issue, but was rebuffed. Foreign missions in Pyongyang,
especially those co-located on the western embassy compound,
shared information daily. The Chinese and Russian Embassies
were considered better plugged in, but are physically
separate from western embassies and share information
selectively. Scullion had made some inroads talking to DPRK
officials over dinner or drinks. On his own time,
Korean-speaking Scullion had been able to drive around much
of North Korea without any escort, passing checkpoints or
talking his way through them, and occasionally giving rides
to hitchhiking Korean People's Army soldiers, who tended to
be quite shy. Swedish DHM Eidman, who has served in Pyongyang
since August 2008, later noted that sponsoring humanitarian
assistance programs helped give his Embassy access to more
DPRK agencies as well as officials outside Pyongyang.


3. (C) One bright spot in Pyongyang, Scullion said, was DPRK
officials' interest in any overseas training opportunities.
Swedish DHM Eidman later agreed and elaborated on this point

at a dinner with officers from the UK, Swedish, Canadian,
Italian, EC, Australian, New Zealand and U.S. Embassies in
Seoul. The Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang sends about 40 DPRK
officials from various agencies to Sweden each year for
training programs ranging from legal studies to agriculture.
The process starts with a request to the DPRK MFA to choose
from a long list of available courses taught at Swedish
universities as well as by private companies, such as
accountancy firms. Eidman said DPRK officials are currently
quite interested in any training that is mining-related, in
line with the mention of mining in the 2009 New Year
editorial, but will send officials to many kinds of technical
or financial training. The Swedish Embassy vets the
candidates, with English proficiency a main requirement
(since the courses offered are taught in English rather than
Swedish). Rather than reject unsuitable candidates, the
Swedish Embassy tells them that the course they sought is
full. The DPRK sends its officials for training in
same-gender pairs. Virtually all are married, since single
professionals in North Korea are a rarity. Eidman said
Sweden sees benefit in not only the training provided but
also in the officials' overall Swedish experience. Trainees
spend hours on the internet, he has observed, looking at
South Korean media sites, and are quite taken with movies and
television.


4. (C) The UK saw considerable value in overseas training
also, Scullion said, offering DPRK officials graduate school
scholarships as well as shorter programs. Asked by the EC
representative whether training in Pyongyang would be more
cost-effective, Scullion said the immersion into a western
society was key. For example, The UK offers two-month-long
English courses in London that include observing a trial and
visiting other civilian institutions. The Australian
representative observed that his government had an active
training program with the DPRK until a few years ago, when it

was put on hold pending progress on denuclearization. The
Italian representative said his government was pleased that
after it offered several DPRK officials training in Italy on
humanitarian law, that the DPRK government had established an
office of humanitarian law in Pyongyang; he was not sure how
active it was. The EC representative added that his mission
wanted to cooperate with other governments on offering
training, perhaps sending DPRK officials to nearby China, as
some ROK NGOs have done.

--------------
Cellphones since December
--------------


5. (SBU) Scullion and Eidman commented separately on Egyptian
firm Orascom's December 2008 launch of 3G cellphone service
in the DPRK. About 20,000 persons had subscribed so far,
paying 200-300 Euros for the handsets (mostly Chinese) and 15
Euros and up for monthly service plans, with coverage for
Pyongyang, Wonsan and a few other areas along main highways.
A billboard, Pyongyang's first, advertised the phone service.
There were separate networks for foreigners and North
Koreans, meaning that foreigners could only call other
foreigners. This was an inconvenience for Embassies, who had
equipped key local staff with phones but were now seeking
permission to be able to call them if needed -- such as an
interpreter in a case of emergency. Scullion said a third
network existed for senior officials, offering access to both
foriegners' and locals' phones. There was no roaming for
travelers, nor could the phones be used to call overseas, but
there was a texting service. Eidman noted that there was a
previous attempt to introduce cellphone service in North
Korea that had failed, adding that his Embassy did not yet
know whether Orascom would get the additional subscribers it
needed. (Early press releases suggested a target of 100,000
subscribers.)


6. (SBU) Orascom had also made visible progress on the
105-story Ryugyong Hotel, begun in 1987 but left unfinished
since 1992. The hotel was now almost completely covered in
reflective glass, and plans were to build office space in the
first few floors, Scullion said, while noting that
Pyongyang's existing hotels were mostly empty. He and Eidman
noted other construction underway in Pyongyang, including a
restaurant row near the Koryo Hotel.

--------------
Other Observations
--------------


7. (C) Scullion said that after the recent Supreme People's
Assembly elections, which diplomats were invited to observe,
he asked his staff interpreter, who he judged was from an
elite family, to look through a published list of elected
candidates for the names Kim Jong-nam or Kim Jong-uhn. Not
finding the names, the interpreter seemed surprised when
Scullion said they were Kim Jong-il's first and third sons,
saying she had never heard of such a thing.


8. (C) He said foreigners were specifically prohibited from
going to a North Korean's home, so he had not been inside
one. Once when he and another UK diplomat were walking in an
outer Pyongyang suburb, they saw what looked like an informal
market in a square a few hundred yards ahead. As they
continued walking, the people in the square picked up their
goods and left, apparently out of concern that the
foreigners' presence would bring unwanted attention.
However, another informal market functioned without any
problems just behind the western embassy compound.


9. (C) Asked about any evidence of civil disobedience, he
said the closest he had seen were motorists arguing with
traffic police. After the April 5 missile launch there was a
"spontaneous" demonstration in Kim Il-sung square, but when
he asked Embassy local staff the next day whether they had
gone, they had answered that they were not invited. He said
western diplomats in Pyongyang believed the DPRK had gone
through with the missile launch as part of a premeditated
plan to exit from the Six-Party Talks.

STEPHENS