Cablegate: Seoul - Press Bulletin; February 12, 2010

VZCZCXRO1913
OO RUEHGH
DE RUEHUL #0226/01 0430535
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 120535Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7054
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 9703
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC//DDI/OEA//
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI//FPA//
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC//DB-Z//
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 0783
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 7278
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 7350
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 1777
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 5619
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 4544
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 7759
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2013
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0096
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 2385
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 3007

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SEOUL 000226

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; FEBRUARY 12, 2010

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

All
Blue House Demands Former Ruling GNP Leader Park Apologize for
Insulting President; Park Refuses

DOMESSTIC DEVELOPMENTS
----------------------

U.S. President Barack Obama, in a Feb. 9 interview with
BusinessWeek, a U.S. weekly business magazine, said that he would
push for the passage this year of pending free trade agreements with
the ROK, Panama and Colombia. President Obama, however, cautioned
that "different glitches" should first be worked out with each
country. (JoongAng, Segye, all TVs)

The National Assembly's Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification
Committee yesterday passed a bill aimed at improving human rights
conditions in North Korea. Main opposition Democratic Party
lawmakers walked out in protest. If the bill is approved by the
plenary session, the ROK will become the third country after the
U.S. and Japan to have a North Korean human rights law. (All)

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

North Korea's Chief Nuclear Negotiator Kim Kye-gwan, who is on a
visit to China, said yesterday that he had "a deep exchange of views
with Chinese officials on issues, such as China-North Korea
relations, signing a peace treaty and resumption of the Six-Party
Talks." (JoongAng, Dong-a, Hankook, Hankyoreh, Segye, Seoul, all
TVs)

According to North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency,
visiting special envoy of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Lynn
Pascoe, met yesterday with Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium
of the North's Supreme People's Assembly, and conveyed a verbal
message from the UN chief. (JoongAng, Segye, MBC)

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

-N. Korea
--------
The ROK media continues to follow the ongoing visit to China by
North Korea's Chief Nuclear Negotiator Kim Kye-gwan. He was quoted
as telling reporters yesterday that he had "a deep exchange of views
with Chinese officials on issues, such as China-North Korea
relations, signing a peace treaty and resumption of the Six-Party
Talks."

Most media replayed a Feb. 11 report by North Korea's official
Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that U.N. Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon's Special Envoy Lynn Pascoe met yesterday with Kim Yong-nam,
president of the Presidium of North Korea's Supreme People's
Assembly, and conveyed a verbal message from the UN chief.
Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo observed that the KCNA did not report
the contents of the message but that it may have included a call on
North Korea to return to the stalled Six-Party Talks.

-Iran
-----
Left-leaning Hankyoreh Shinmun carried an inside-page report
entitled "Iran Lays out Ultra-Hard-Line Card... the West Likely to
Strengthen Sanctions." It said: "... Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad's Feb. 11 announcement - that Iran has the capability to
enrich uranium more than 20 percent or 80 percent - can be
interpreted as a warning to the West to accept Iran's terms for
negotiations. ... This ultra-hard-line stance by Iran has

SEOUL 00000226 002 OF 003

practically pushed its nuclear negotiations with the West to the
(point of) collapse.... It is highly likely that the Iran issue will
enter into the phase of sanctions."

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

THE NORTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS LAW WILL ONLY BRING MORE CONFLICT TO
THE KOREAN PENINSULA
(Hankyoreh Shinmun, February 12, Page 35)

The North Korean Human Rights Law passed yesterday by the National
Assembly's Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee contains
a number of problems in both procedure and content. If the law goes
into effect as is, it is very possible it will create an array of
problems rather than contribute to substantively improving the human
rights situation of North Korean citizens.

To begin, the Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee did
not discuss the law in depth. Committee Chairman Park Jin did not
accept the Democratic Party's (DP) request for sufficient debate,
and in the end, the law was passed unilaterally by the ruling Grand
National Party (GNP) and Liberty Forward Party (LFP) after the DP
walked out of the meeting in protest. This is a case that could be
considered railroading by the ruling parties.

The content of the law also contains a number of noxious articles.
The article that addresses humanitarian aid to North Korea (Article
8), by strictly limiting the transfer and distribution of aid, has
made it more difficult to provide humanitarian aid. The application
of these limits to aid from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as
well could be seen as nothing other than an intent to block
inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation in general.

In addition, Article 10, which establishes a North Korean Human
Rights Foundation under the Unification Ministry to study North
Korean human rights and research policy, is also problematic. This
is because (this new foundation) could limit the activity of the
Unification Ministry, whose goal is to bring progress to
inter-Korean relations and promote unification policy. Moreover,
most of the duties of the foundation overlap with the work currently
done by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRCK). This has been
interpreted as an intention to strip duties from the National Human
Rights Commission, an organization that is disliked by a number of
conservatives.

Article 15 of the law calls for active support for activities by
NGOs whose work is related to North Korean human rights. Given
that some of these NGOs are right-wing groups which have sent
leaflets to North Korea or planned defections or have advocated for
the improvement of the human rights of the North Korean people, the
law seems to be advocating for the government to support (actions by
right-wing NGOs.) In fact, during the process of pushing the bill
forward, the GNP said openly that support for these (NGO) groups
(should be included in the bill.)

In general, the law calls for increased pressure on North Korea
based on a negative view of the North Korean government. The
example of the past U.S. administration under George Bush, who
aggravated the nuclear issue with a policy of isolating North Korea,
shows how unrealistic this approach is. The bill is also not in
keeping with the current mood of the government which is (trying to)
create an atmosphere conducive to holding an inter-Korean summit, as
recently discussed by President Lee Myung-bak. The North Korean
human rights situation should be improved, but sufficient
consideration is needed in deciding upon the proper approach. We
hope the National Assembly abandons this bill and reopens
discussions from scratch.

(This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is
identical to the Korean version.)

SEOUL 00000226 003 OF 003

STEPHENS

© Scoop Media