SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; JANUARY 19, 2010

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SEOUL 000069 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; JANUARY 19, 2010 TOP HEADLINES -------------- Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo Former and Incumbent Ruling GNP Leaders Collide over Sejong City Dong-a Ilbo 36.9 Percent of ROK Cancer Patients Die within a Year of Diagnosis Hankook Ilbo, Hankyoreh Shinmun, All TVs Feud Deepens in Ruling Party over Sejong City Segye Ilbo ¶N. Korea: "Sanctions Must be Lifted or No Six-Party Talks" Seoul Shinmun ROK Pledges $10 Million to Quake-Hit Haiti DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS -------------- Inter-Korean talks over the operation of the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex will take place today as scheduled, despite the North's Jan. 15 threat to stage a "retaliatory war" against the ROK over its alleged administrative contingency plan to deal with emergencies in the North. (All) INTERNATIONAL NEWS -------------- North Korea, in a Jan. 18 statement by a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that it will not return to the Six-Party Talks unless sanctions on the North are lifted. (Chosun, Dong-a, Hankook, Hankyoreh, Segye, Seoul, KBS, Pressian) This North Korean move is a rejection of the U.S.'s position that a peace treaty demanded by the North can be discussed only after the North's return to the Six-Party Talks, and a retreat from the communist state's position since last September that it could participate in multilateral talks. (Hankook, Hankyoreh, Segye, Seoul) MEDIA ANALYSIS -------------- -Haiti Earthquake Aftermath -------------- Most ROK media today and over the weekend gave wide coverage to the situation in Haiti. Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo, in an article today entitled "Haiti Becomes Arena of Competition for Relief Diplomacy," commented: "The most aggressive country is the U.S., which offered $100 million in assistance and sent a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, along with massive military forces, shortly after a powerful quake struck Haiti. The U.S.'s aim is to expand its influence in the Caribbean Sea. ... Left-wing Latin American countries are denouncing the U.S. move as an attempt to occupy Haiti by taking advantage of the country's earthquake and are calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Haiti." Conservative Dong-a Ilbo wrote in the headline on Saturday (Jan. 16): "Why is U.S. Rushing to Aid Haiti?; Obama Sees Haiti's Quake as an Opportunity to Display His 'Leadership during a Crisis' and to Expand U.S. Influence in Latin America." -N. Korea SEOUL 00000069 002 OF 003 -------------- Most ROK media today noted the North Korean Foreign Ministry's Jan. 18 statement that North Korea will not return to the Six-Party Talks unless sanctions on the North are lifted. Most media saw this North Korean move as a rejection of Washington's position - that lifting of sanctions and a peace treaty demanded by the North can be discussed only after the North's return to the Six-Party Talks - and a retreat from the communist state's position since last September that it could participate in multilateral talks. Conservative Chosun Ilbo, in particular, argued in an editorial: "North Korea said that a peace treaty can be discussed during the Six-Party Talks. Accordingly, it is right that the North should first return to the Six-Party Talks. The North's argument that sanctions must be lifted before the resumption of the Six-Party Talks amounts to putting the cart before the horse. ... The quickest way for the North to get rid of sanctions is to return to the Six-Party Talks and to implement its denuclearization commitments." Referring to the North's Jan. 15 threat to stage a "retaliatory war" against the ROK over its alleged administrative contingency plan to deal with emergencies in the North, right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo editorialized on Saturday: "Given the North's recent behavior, it seems as though it would be impossible for even God to understand North Korea's policies and actions toward the ROK. ... Until the morning of last Friday, the North had maintained a soft attitude toward the ROK, but that evening it threatened to attack the ROK and exclude Seoul from all future talks on the peace of the Korean Peninsula. Unless something serious has happened with the North's system of authority, it's difficult to understand its actions. ... In particular, considering that this is not the first time the ROK has created a contingency plan, the North's behavior is especially disturbing." OPINIONS/EDITORIALS -------------- ¶N. KOREA'S ERRATIC BEHAVIOR (Chosun Ilbo, January 19, 2010, Page 39) North Korea's Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Monday saying that if the North goes back to the Six-Party nuclear talks while UN sanctions remain in place, the talks "would not be equal." North Korea pledged it will "never allow this to happen." Last Monday, the ministry formally proposed talks to replace the armistice that ended the Korean War with a peace treaty this year, which marks the 60th anniversary of the war. But on Friday, a spokesman for North Korea's powerful National Defense Commission threatened to cut off all dialogue with South Korea over a South Korean contingency plan for the fall of the communist government and vowed to wage a "sacred retaliatory battle" against those who conceived it. On Sunday, North Korea's state media reported that leader Kim Jong-il recently watched a massive military exercise and showcased a photo of a 240 mm howitzer whose devastating ordinance could reach Seoul. And then on Monday, the official Rodong Shinmun daily, in an editorial calling for the improvement of inter-Korean relations, said that such changes are "urgently" needed. On the same day it threatened a sacred battle, the North graciously accepted aid shipments of 10,000 tons of corn from the South. Why the mixed signals? It is possible that North Korea's military, foreign ministry and the agency in charge of dealing with South Korean issues are all pulling on different strings. But North Korea should know by now that South Korea will not step forward with assistance packages while being bombarded with threats. It has become obvious to the South that its previous strategy of appeasing North Korea does not work and only leads to negative effects. The same goes for the stalled Six-Party Talks. North Korea said SEOUL 00000069 003 OF 003 that a peace treaty can be discussed during the Six-Party Talks. Accordingly, it is right that the North should first return to the Six-Party Talks. The North's argument that sanctions must be lifted before the resumption of the Six-Party Talks amounts to putting the cart before the horse. Over the last 18 years, North Korea has made countless promises to scrap its nuclear weapons program, but conducted two nuclear tests - one in 2006 and another in 2009. The UN sanctions that followed them are punitive measures meted out not only by South Korea and the U.S., but by the international community including China. The quickest way for the North to get rid of sanctions is to return to the Six-Party Talks and to implement its denuclearization commitments. (This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is identical to the Korean version.) STEPHENS