Cablegate: Rokg to Consider Megaports Discussion

VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHUL #0192 0400237
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 090237Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7007
INFO RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SEOUL 000192

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE PASS DOE NNSA FOR DCHONG, SCLARK, WWONSANG, VMVVOY,
DROBERTS, BSHORTER
STATE PASS DHS/CBP FOR RDINUCCI, DSTAJCAR, PDAY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETTC KNNP KS PREL
SUBJECT: ROKG TO CONSIDER MEGAPORTS DISCUSSION

REF: STATE 09579

1. (SBU) Per reftel, Econoff on February 8 met with Second
Secretary Kim He-jin in MOFAT's Disarmament and
Nonproliferation Division to request meetings on February
25-26 to explore the possibility of establishing a DOE
Megaports Initiative in the ROK.
2. (SBU) Kim thought MOFAT would probably support opening
Megaports Initiative discussions, but said additional ROKG
interagency review would first be necessary. She offered to
circulate the proposal among relevant ROKG ministries and
provide an official response as soon as possible.
3. (SBU) Preliminarily, Kim said the Korean Customs
Service(KCS) would likely want a written request to initiate
discussions. In addition, KCS would be reluctant to meet
with DOE until it receives written notification from Customs
Boarder and Protection(CBP) about its intentions to terminate
the Secure Freight Initiative (SFI) pilot project in Busan in
mid-March 2010. (Note: At a December 2009 meeting in Seoul,
CBP informed KCS that it would terminate the Busan SFI
project and remove its scanning equipment when the pilot
program expired in mid-March. The ROKG, however, claimed it
owned the equipment pursuant to the Declaration of Principles
which established SFI. DOE indicated it would keep its
radiation scanners in the ROK under the Megaports Initiative.)
STEPHENS

© Scoop Media