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RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
RUCPDC/NOAA WASHINGTON DC
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RHMFIUU/CHJUSMAGK SEOUL KOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SEOUL 002448 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR OES/STC, OES/SAT, OES/PCI, AND EAP/K 
STATE FOR STAS 
STATE ALSO FOR ISN/NESS 
STATE PASS TO EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS 
WHITE HOUSE FOR OSTP AND CEQ 
DOE FOR INTERNATIONAL, NE, FE, AND EERE 
USDOC FOR 4400/MAC/EAP/OPB/ITA/TA 
USDOC FOR NIST - SCARPENTER 
HHS FOR OGHA 
HHS PASS TO NIH FOR FIC 
STATE PASS TO NSF FOR INTL PROGRAMS 
STATE PASS TO NRC FOR INTL PROGRAMS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ECON ELTN TBIO TNGD TRGY TSPA KGHG KSCA KS
SUBJECT: SEOUL ESTH UPDATE - NOVEMBER 2008 
 
In This Issue 
------------- 
 
-  Oil-spilled Taean Shores Coming Back to Life 
-  Hyundai Developing Batteries for Plug-in Hybrid Cars 
-  Korea First COM Satellite to be Deployed in 2009 
-  Korea's First Satellite Launch Set for Spring -- Maybe 
-  Hyundai Rotem Rolls Out High-speed KTX-II Train 
-  New Ethics Rules Will Limit Egg Donations for Infertility 
-  Deportation of HIV-infected Foreigners Ruled Unlawful 
 
----------- 
ENVIRONMENT 
----------- 
 
Oil-spilled Taean Shores Coming Back to Life 
-------------------------------------------- 
¶1.  On December 7 last year, a crane-carrying barge, belonging to 
Samsung Group's shipbuilding arm, rammed into Heibei Spirit, a Hong 
Kong-registered oil tanker, causing some 10,500 tons of crude oil to 
gush into the western coastal waters - Korea's worst oil spill ever. 
 A shore of soft white sand and crystal blue waters teeming with 
oysters, clams, and migrating birds, was obliterated... Or so it 
seemed.  About 2.2 million people (4 percent of South Korea's total 
population) participated in the cleanup efforts.  Now, one year 
later, the shores of the western coast in Taean, South Chungcheong 
Province, are beginning to repopulate with sea animals, according to 
a local news report.  Because of the lack of a monitoring program, 
however, little scientific data about the recovery is available. 
The United Nations Environment Program National Committee for Korea 
recently met with officials from the Ministry of Environment, 
Ministry of Land, Transport, and Maritime Affairs, the Korea Ocean 
Research and Development Institute at a forum to suggest development 
and implementation of a monitoring program for the area affected by 
the oil spill.  Authorities project that it will still take at least 
two decades for the Taean ecosystem to fully recover. 
 
Hyundai Developing Batteries for Plug-in Hybrid Cars 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
¶2.  Hyundai Motor Company has reached a deal with three local auto 
components manufacturers -- LG Chem, SK Energy, and SB LiMotive -- 
to develop plug-in batteries for use in future hybrid vehicles. 
Drivers will be able to re-charge the batteries at home, and with 
both combustion engines and batteries, the cars' mileage per unit of 
liquid fuel will go far beyond with is possible for conventional 
cars.  Hyundai will produce LPG-electric hybrids for the domestic 
Korean market beginning summer 2009 with initial production of 
around 10,000 units. The company hopes to increase its hybrid 
production to 300,000 units per year by 2015, with complete 
changeover taking place in 2035, using the batteries now under 
development. 
 
-------------------- 
Science & Technology 
-------------------- 
 
Korea First COM Satellite to be Deployed in 2009 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
¶3.  Korea will put its first combination communication, 
oceanographic and meteorological (COM) satellite into orbit in June 
¶2009.  The satellite, which was developed jointly by Korea Aerospace 
 
SEOUL 00002448  002 OF 003 
 
 
Research Institute (KARI) and France's Astrium, will be placed in a 
geostationary orbit over the Korean Peninsula, the Ministry of Land, 
Transport and Maritime Affairs said on November 23.  KARI will 
assemble the components, including French-made maritime monitoring 
equipment, before sending the complete unit to French Guiana in 
South America for launch. 
 
¶4.  The 2.5 ton satellite will cover 2,500 square kilometers from a 
central point (130E 36N) west of Pohang on Korea's east coast and 
send data and photographs of plankton growth, information on fish 
movement and pollution levels, as well as provide communications 
services.  It can also send data on ocean currents and weather 
information, including typhoons during the summer months and sand 
storms that blow in from the Asian mainland in spring. 
 
Korea's First Satellite Launch Set for Spring - Maybe 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
¶5.  Officials at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla 
Province said on November 28 that its rocket launch pad will soon be 
operational.  The officials said they plan to launch a rocket, 
fitted with the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-I (KSLV-I) between April 
and June next year.  When the launch is successfully made, Korea 
will be the ninth country to independently send a satellite into 
space.  Meanwhile, however, local news media reported on December 6 
that the launch of KSLV-II may be delayed because of Russian 
reluctance to transfer first-stage rocket technology to Korea.  This 
would not be the first delay of Korea's first rocket launch - the 
launch was originally scheduled for December of his year, but was 
delayed due to late delivery of parts and equipment from Russia. 
 
¶6.  Currently Korea has six scientific and multi-purpose satellites 
and four communications and broadcasting satellite in orbit, the 
first being launched in 1992.  All of them, however, have been 
launched from outside Korean soil. 
 
Hyundai Rotem Rolls Out High-speed KTX-II Train 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
¶7.  A new domestically developed upgrade of the KTX high-speed train 
was unveiled November 25 by Hyundai Rotem, four years after the 
first high-speed train imported from France began traversing the 
country's rails.  The KTX-II, the product of a national R&D project, 
was manufactured by Hyundai Rotem.  The KTX-II is the first 
commercial high-speed train made entirely with local technology, the 
Ministry of Land, Transportation and Maritime Affairs said.  Korea 
is now the fourth country in the world after Japan, France, and 
Germany to build a high-speed train that runs at more than 300 
kilometers per hour.  The Ministry said the train's aerodynamic 
design and lightweight aluminum alloy are the reasons for its 
greater speed. 
 
------ 
Health 
------ 
 
New Ethics Rules Will Limit Egg Donations for Infertility 
--------------------------------------------- --- -------- 
¶8.  The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs said on 
November 25 that it has decided to limit the number of times that 
ova can be harvested from one woman.  The move was announced as part 
of a series of newly approved rules on drugs and medical ethics. 
The amendments will limit to three the number of times a woman can 
 
SEOUL 00002448  003 OF 003 
 
 
donate her egg to help others who are suffering from infertility. 
Donors will also need to wait at least six months between donations. 
 
 
¶9.  The drug rule revisions also allow patients - with approval from 
the Korea Food and Drug Administration -- in the last stages of 
cancer or who have exhausted alternative medications to take drugs 
for which clinical trials have not yet been completed. 
 
Deportation of HIV-infected Foreigners Ruled Unlawful 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
¶10.  The Seoul High Court recently made a ruling in favor of an 
HIV-infected Chinese worker, who had filed a suit requesting the 
cancellation of his deportation by the Seoul Immigration Service, 
said court officials on December 2.  The Chinese worker came to 
Korea last March at the invitation of his Korean mother, and 
acquired legitimate permission to stay.  He was preparing to obtain 
Korean nationality when he was diagnosed with HIV.  Korean law has 
no provisions for either excluding or deporting HIV-positive 
foreigners; Seoul Immigration Service appears to have been acting on 
a regulation requiring people diagnosed with HIV to register with 
the Department of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs. 
STEPHENS