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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 SEOUL 002177 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2018 
TAGS: PREL EAID EINV ETRD SK BR BL CU CI MX PE
PA, UY, VE 
SUBJECT: MOFAT-WHA CONSULTATIONS: ROK'S EXPANDING TIES TO 
LATIN AMERICA 
 
SEOUL 00002177  001.9 OF 004 
 
 
Classified By: POL M/C Joseph Y. Yun. Reasons 1.4(b/d) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  South Korea is actively expanding ties with 
Latin America through trade, investment, overseas development 
assistance and high-level engagement, according to ROK 
Foreign Ministry officials who met with WHA A/S Thomas A. 
Shannon on October 15 for consultations.  The Ministry's 
Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Bureau reported that, 
compared to 2001, Korea's trade volume with the region had 
nearly tripled to USD 37 billion in 2007, and Korean 
investment had shot up to USD 1.2 billion.  Bureau officials 
further outlined ambitious plans to increase ROK development 
assistance in order to reduce poverty and support Millennium 
Challenge goals.  Seoul hosted its first senior dialogue with 
Latin American governments in September, drawing seven 
ministers from Latin American countries, and is considering a 
presidential-level multilateral meeting next year.  ROK 
President Lee Myung-bak plans to visit Peru, Brazil, and 
Chile in November and attend the Asia Pacific Economic 
Cooperation (APEC) conference.  The ROK had also informed the 
Government of Cuba of its desire to establish consular 
relations in order to protect the estimated 4,000 ROK 
tourists who visit Cuba each year, but Cuba has not replied. 
Shannon praised the ROK's approach to Latin America as 
supportive of democracy and free markets.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
CONSULTATIONS ON LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
-- ROK VIEW 
 
¶2. (C) At the fifth Korea-U.S. Consultation on Latin American 
and Caribbean Affairs on October 15, Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) Director General for Latin American 
Affairs Doo Jung-soo told Assistant Secretary of State for 
Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas A. Shannon that the ROKG 
viewed recent political and economic trends in Latin America 
positively and was actively expanding its economic 
relationships with a range of countries in the region.  Latin 
America is home to an estimated 100,000 Koreans and their 
descendants.  The ROKG was also raising the political profile 
of its relationships through frequent visits by senior 
officials in both directions, including the June 2008 visit 
by Paraguayan President Lugo to Seoul, a visit by Uruguayan 
President Vazquez in August, G8 Summit margin meetings in 
March with President Calderon of Mexico and President Lula da 
Silva of Brazil.  Most forward-looking, perhaps, was an 
 
SEOUL 00002177  002.12 OF 004 
 
 
economic summit meeting Seoul hosted in September, attended 
by seven Latin American ministers.  Thematically focused on 
investment, energy, and infrastructure, the gathering also 
enjoyed the participation of several ROK ministers and a 
contingent from Korea's private sector.  MOFAT was proposing 
a presidential-level summit next year, but this was 
preliminary.  President Lee Myung-bak was scheduled to visit 
Peru, Brazil, and Chile in connection with attending the APEC 
Summit in Peru in November. 
 
¶3. (C) DG Doo stressed the economic aspects of relations with 
Latin America, saying that the ROKG's approach focused on 
securing energy imports, providing infrastructure 
development, and expanding its overseas development 
assistance (ODA) work in Latin America.  The ROK was also 
excited about growing trade relationships:  two-way trade 
volume with Latin America had expanded from USD 13 billion in 
2001, to USD 21 billion in 2005, to USD 37 billion in 2007, 
and was on pace to exceed USD 45 billion in 2008 
(January-August volume was USD 31 billion).  Trade with 
Chile, with which the ROK concluded a free trade agreement in 
2004 had risen from USD 1.8 billion in 2003 to USD 7.9 
billion in 2007. 
 
¶4. (C) Moreover, at USD 12.8 billion, the ROK's trade surplus 
with Latin America through August this year was larger than 
that with China, the U.S. or EU.  ROK investment in Latin 
America had increased from USD 450 million in 2005 to USD 1.2 
billion in 2007.  Hyundai Automotive, Samsung Electronics, 
and Dongkuk Steel, for example, were investing in Brazil, and 
SK Company in Peru.  The ROK had held two rounds of 
negotiations toward a free trade agreement with Mexico, and 
concluded FTA feasibility studies with Peru and MERCOSUR. 
 
¶5. (C) Office Director for Latin American Regional 
Cooperation Jang Yeun-ji explained that the ROK planned to 
increase its ODA as a percentage of gross national income 
from 0.1 percent now to 0.15 percent by 2012 and 0.25 percent 
by 2015.  Aiming to reduce poverty and support attainment of 
Millennium Challenge goals, the ROKG had developed a targeted 
approach to providing ODA to Latin American countries, 
letting the countries have substantial input into projects. 
About 7 percent of the ROK's overall ODA went to Latin 
America, Jang explained, in the form of grants and 
concessionary loans.  Since 1998, Korea had disbursed USD 232 
million to 13 ODA projects in the region, selecting partner 
countries for grants and loans and prioritizing efforts in 
areas where Korea had a comparative advantage.  Korea had 
 
SEOUL 00002177  003.5 OF 004 
 
 
recently established an ODA branch in El Salvador and would 
soon do the same in Colombia.  Though the amount of its 
assistance was relatively small, Jang said that many 
countries were interested in learning from the example of the 
ROK's rapid economic development and democratization. 
 
-- U.S. VIEW 
 
¶6. (C) A/S Shannon praised the ROK's expanding relationships 
with Latin America and its targeted use of ODA.  Turning to 
the U.S. perspective on the region, Shannon said that he saw 
Latin American leaders from both ends of the political 
spectrum facing a common challenge to address poverty and 
economic development.  He argued that countries with 
relatively stronger existing government institutions, such as 
Brazil, were more successful at addressing this challenge, 
whereas other countries without such institutions, such as 
Venezuela and Bolivia, were instead resorting to populist 
policies that did not lead to sustained progress. 
 
¶7. (C) Shannon said that the overall U.S. approach in Latin 
America was to establish a positive agenda so that countries 
would see that having a good relationship with the U.S. was 
an advantage and would produce favorable results.  He 
explained that the four pillars of U.S. policy in Latin 
America were consolidating democracy and its institutions, 
working toward prosperity (including by linking existing free 
trade agreements under the "Pathways to Prosperity" 
initiative), investing in people, and security, which was 
defined broadly as encompassing not only military issues but 
also transnational issues such as environmental challenges 
and other threats such as diseases.  Shannon explained that 
he expected broad continuity of U.S. policy toward Latin 
America after the presidential election, and that the new 
President would meet Latin American leaders at the Summit of 
the Americas in April 2009.  Shannon added that U.S.-ROK 
cooperation on Latin America would be important to help 
consolidate democratic and economic progress there. 
 
¶8. (C) Over lunch, DG Doo explained that the ROKG had 
approached the Cuban government several months ago to request 
establishment of consular relations in the interest of 
providing protection for the estimated 4,000 ROK tourists who 
visit Cuba each year.  Havana had not yet responded.  Doo 
also said that the ROKG had offered USD 100 thousand of 
assistance to the Cuban government after the recent hurricane 
damage, which was cheerfully accepted, albeit only after 
being denominated in Euros at Havana's insistence.  Deputy 
 
SEOUL 00002177  004.5 OF 004 
 
 
Director General Chun Hong-jo commented on difficulties 
Korean companies faced when bidding against Chinese state 
companies on projects in Latin America.  Armed with full 
state backing, he said, the Chinese companies inevitably 
proposed more favorable terms. 
STEPHENS