Cablegate: Seoul - Press Bulletin; December 28, 2009

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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SEOUL 002007

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; December 28, 2009

TOP HEADLINES
-------------

All, All TVs
ROK Wins $40 Billion UAE Nuclear Deal

DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
---------------------

According to a December 23 report by the U.S. military magazine
Stars and Stripes, second Infantry Division officials are requiring
soldiers with children living in the ROK to pick up new
child-friendly protective masks. The new model is being provided to
children who are 8 years old and younger to protect them against a
potential North Korean chemical attack. (Dong-a)

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
-------------------

A 23-year old Nigerian man who claimed ties to al-Qaida was charged
with trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day,
just a month after his father warned U.S. officials of concerns
about his son's religious beliefs. According to U.S. authorities,
the suspect told them he had obtained explosive chemicals and a
syringe that were sewn into his underwear from a bomb expert in
Yemen associated with al-Qaida. (All, All TVs)

An ROK activist said on December 27 that Robert Park, a
Korean-American Christian missionary, entered North Korea on
Christmas Day carrying a letter for North Korean leader Kim Jong-il
that urges him to release political prisoners and shut down the
concentration camps where they are held. (All, All TVs)

MEDIA ANALYSIS
--------------

-N. Korea
---------
Most ROK media ran front-and inside-page reports quoting Jo
Sung-rae, head of the Seoul-based human rights group Pax Koreana, as
saying that Robert Park, a Korean-American Christian missionary,
entered North Korea carrying a letter for North Korean leader Kim
Jong-il in which he calls attention to the tens of thousands of
political prisoners believed held in the communist state.
Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo observed in an inside-page analysis
that Park's illegal crossing could complicate U.S. efforts to
persuade North Korea to return to the stalled Six-Party Talks,
because the regime considers any outside criticism of its top leader
a grave challenge. According to the newspaper, Park said he had no
intention of leaving the North voluntarily and did not want the USG
to negotiate his release. JoongAng noted that North Korea may
choose one of three options. First, North Korea may use Park's
crossing as a negotiating ploy as it did with the two U.S.
journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling. Second, since Pyongyang said
it would keep cooperating with Washington to narrow their
differences following its first bilateral meeting with the U.S., the
North may try to settle this issue through behind-the-scenes
contact. Third, the North may forcibly repatriate Park from the
country to fend off international criticism for its detention of a
human rights activist.

-Airline Attack
---------------
Most ROK media gave wide coverage to reports on Umar Farouk
Abdulmutallab, the 23-year old Nigerian man who was charged with
trying to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day. According
to news reports, the man's father, a prominent Nigerian banker,
recently told U.S. authorities that he was concerned about his son's
increasingly extremist religious views. Conservative Chosun Ilbo
cited U.S. security officials as saying that the suspect has

SEOUL 00002007 002 OF 003

confessed to training with an al-Qaida bomb maker in Yemen. Citing
The New York Times, the newspaper added that, if corroborated, Mr.
Abdulmutallab's travel to Yemen for explosives instruction and
corroboration with terrorists underscores the emergence of that
country as a major hub for al-Qaida, perhaps beginning to rival the
terror network's base in Pakistan.

EDITORIALS/OPINIONS
-------------------

U.S. SOLDIERS AND THEIR FAMILIES IN ROK PREPARE AGAINST (POSSIBLE)
N. KOREAN BIOCHEMICAL ATTACK
(Dong-a Ilbo, December 28, 2009, Page 31)

What if North Korea sprays bacteria or chemicals in subway stations
in downtown Seoul? Can we guarantee that such an attack will never
happen? USFK finds the possibility of the North dispersing
biochemical agents to decimate many people an ever-present threat,
and so it provides U.S. service members and their families in the
ROK with gas masks. For children eight years old and younger, USFK
is replacing old masks with new ones that look like space suits.
The new masks reportedly have a built-in straw for drinking milk.
In stark contrast to this, the ROKG does not have any training
programs or countermeasures (for a North Korean biological attack),
not to mention that it also does not provide protective masks for
its citizens.

U.S. military authorities advise U.S. soldiers and their families to
carry protective masks when they go out. If the fear of a
biochemical attack from the North spreads among the families of U.S.
servicemen, it could undermine the U.S.'s stable military presence
in the ROK. If biochemical agents are dispersed in a crowded area,
it will not only claim countless lives but also lead to total chaos.
We should always prepare for the worst.

Nuclear weapons and missiles are not the only weapons of mass
destruction (WMD) that North Korea has. Since the late North Korean
leader Kim Il-sung issued a "Declaration of Chemicalization," which
called for greater efforts to develop chemical-production
facilities, in 1961, North Korea has been trying to develop and
produce biochemical weapons. Since 1980, it has focused on
manufacturing poison gas and bacterial weapons. North Korea
currently has about 2,500 to 5,000 tons of chemical weapons stored
in several different places. The communist state is also suspected
of having the capability to produce over 10 kinds of bacterial
agents, including anthrax, smallpox, and cholera.

There is a risk that the North may use biochemical weapons to
disrupt the ROK military in the event of an emergency or in
peacetime. Some experts say that bacterial weapons, which often
cause fatal diseases, are more deadly than other chemical or even
nuclear weapons. We should bear in mind that, if North Korea
mobilizes its special forces to launch a full-fledged chemical,
biological, and radiological attack, it could pose a greater threat
to the ROK than ordinary military units do. We should, therefore,
not dismiss preparation measures taken by USFK against a possible
North Korean biochemical attack as being "none of our business."

FEATURES
--------

KOREAN-AMERICAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST ROBERT PARK ENTERS NORTH
KOREA... WHAT IS NORTH KOREA'S CHOICE?
(JoongAng Ilbo, December 28, 2009, Page 10; Excerpts)

By Reporter Lee Young-jong

News Analysis

An ROKG official said, "The issue of Mr. Park, a U.S. citizen, is
basically a consular matter between the North and the U.S." The
U.S. Department of State simply staked out its fundamental position

SEOUL 00002007 003 OF 003

that "the U.S. government places the highest priority on the
protection and welfare of American citizens." However, it seems to
be paying extra attention to this unexpected move, which came while
the U.S. and the North were seeking additional dialogue after the
recent visit to Pyongyang by U.S. Special Representative for North
Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth.

There appears to be three scenarios regarding North Korea's
response. Some observers speculate that Pyongyang might use Mr.
Park as a bargaining chip at the negotiation table with the U.S. as
it did with the two U.S. female journalists who were arrested this
past March for having illegally trespassed into North Korea.
However, the situation has changed since then, when tensions were
high between the U.S. and the North. (Therefore, as a result of the
current environment), it is possible that the North may choose to
resolve this issue smoothly through under-the-table contact. In
1996, when Korean-American Evan Hunziker was detained in North
Korea, then-Democratic Representative Bill Richardson (currently New
Mexico Governor) visited the North and secured his release after
paying $100,000 for Hunziker's hotel bill. North Korea may (also
choose to) deport Park because the detention of a human rights
activist may draw criticism from the international community.

STEPHENS

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