VZCZCXRO6265
PP RUEHVC
DE RUEHUL #1035/01 0882258
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 292258Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6987
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 0401
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO CITY PRIORITY 0292
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 2117
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 0485
RUEHVC/AMCONSUL VANCOUVER PRIORITY 0171
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA J2 SEOUL KOR PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA J5 SEOUL KOR PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SEOUL 001035 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV CVIS PHUM KS KCRIM SMIG PREL
SUBJECT: U.S., CANADA, ROK ANTI-TIP GROUP RECONVENES 
 
REF: 04 SEOUL 6235 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  After a 16-month hiatus, the 
ROK-U.S.-Canada Trilateral Working Group on anti-trafficking 
issues (TWG) met on March 22 to discuss the trafficking of 
women from Korea to the U.S. and elsewhere.  While the group 
recognized the cooperation among the Embassy and local police 
to arrest visa brokers, the U.S. and Canada also noted that 
the ROKG has not been as responsive to information received 
on deported traffickers and trafficking victims.  The ROKG 
said it would consider taking additional measures to combat 
outward trafficking and agreed to consider the establishment 
of a separate division within the Ministry of Justice to 
combat trafficking.  Korea's desire to join the Visa Waiver 
Program (VWP), arrests of Korean prostitutes in the U.S., and 
personnel changes in the MOJ appear to have energized the 
ROKG's interest in combating human trafficking to the U.S. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
BACKGROUND 
---------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) At Embassy Seoul's suggestion, the MOJ convened the 
first TWG in November 2004 (Ref A).  The purpose was to 
establish a working group of U.S., ROK, and Canadian law 
enforcement officials to focus on the problem of the 
trans-Canada trafficking of Korean women to the United 
States.  The group agreed to meet quarterly to share 
information.  However, the MOJ failed to call another 
meeting.  After repeated requests to reconvene, including a 
personal request by the Ambassador to Justice Minister Chun 
Jung-bae on January 25 (Ref B), the MOJ finally convened 
another TWG on March 22. 
 
GILDED CAGE, TIP, AND VWP EFFECT 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Hwang Chul-kyu, Director of the International 
Criminal Affairs Division of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), 
and his deputy, Prosecutor Jung Jong-wook, began the TWG 
meeting with reference to the July 2005 U.S. law enforcement 
operation known as "Gilded Cage," which, they said, jolted 
the ROKG into awareness of the trafficking problem.  (NOTE: 
During the Gilded Cage Operation, U.S. law enforcement 
officials seized USD 2 million, arrested nearly 100 Korean 
nationals, and repatriated some of the hundreds of Korean 
women who were victims of the traffickers.  END NOTE.).  The 
MOJ officials, who were aware that the State Department was 
currently drafting the 2006 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) 
Report, expressed concern that the Gilded Cage operation 
could have a negative impact on the 2006 report.  However, 
Hwang and Jung expressed hope that the working group meeting 
would begin a serious dialogue to maintain Korea's Tier 1 
status.  The MOJ officials referred to the ROK's interest in 
qualifying for the VWP as another impetus to host the working 
group meeting.  Jung explained that the ROKG recognized the 
need for Korean and U.S. law enforcement officials to 
cooperate more closely if Korea hoped to qualify for the VWP. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Hong Jee-pio, MOFAT Deputy Director of Consular 
Services added that MOFAT had taken the lead in an 
interagency campaign to improve the image of Korea, which 
involved combating human trafficking and prostitution abroad. 
 The new media and public relations effort is called the 
"Ugly Korea Prevention Campaign."  Hong emphasized that VWP 
was a top priority, and like his MOJ colleagues, also 
recognized the VWP's legal requirement for more law 
enforcement collaboration. 
 
NEED TO MEET MORE OFTEN 
----------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Poloff expressed gratitude for MOJ's action in 
reconvening the working group, but also concern over the 
16-month gap in meetings.  During the 2004 inaugural session, 
participants had agreed to quarterly meetings (Ref A).  Jung 
clarified that the current working group meeting was called 
to prepare for a senior level meeting to be scheduled for 
April.  At that meeting, Jung said, they would discuss the 
possibility of holding regular trilateral meetings. 
 
CANADIAN CONCERNS 
----------------- 
 
 
SEOUL 00001035  002 OF 003 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Canada Immigration Officer John Acheson described 
Mexico as another transit point for traffickers.  Acheson 
commented that he had overheard Koreans who were deported 
from Canada remark, "Okay, I'll try Mexico instead." 
Although 300 Koreans were denied admission to or deported 
from Canada last year, Acheson made clear that not all these 
cases were directly related to the sex trade.  Additionally, 
Acheson complained about the poor response from ROK law 
enforcement.  Although Canadian officials regularly advised 
the ROKG on deportations, little action was taken in Korea. 
Acheson said he knew of only one case where a deportee was 
met at the airport by Korean police on the basis of 
information supplied by Canadian authorities. 
 
PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE: VISA BROKERS 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Kim Dae-hyun, Prosecutor in the Foreign Affairs 
Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office, 
emphasized that the U.S. Embassy remained the main route of 
access for traffickers and that every effort would be put 
forward to crack down on brokers who supplied fraudulent 
documents to visa applicants.  Effective elimination of the 
trafficking problem, Kim insisted, was contingent on 
identifying and punishing the visa brokers.  Jung added that 
in February 2006 the ROKG asked for more investigation and 
prosecution of visa brokers, and was currently reviewing 
whether the visa brokers should be charged for fraud or under 
a more severe statute of the Korean penal code.  Bae 
Young-won, Researcher at Korea's Supreme Public Prosecutor's 
Office, confirmed that the Korean National Police (KNP) was 
carrying out the crackdown order against visa brokers around 
the U.S. Embassy. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Conoff highlighted the excellent cooperation the 
Embassy had received in investigating visa brokers and 
praised Korean police agencies in their efforts to pursue 
them.  The Embassy's Fraud Prevention Unit (FPU), Conoff 
explained, regularly shared with the KNP information on 
fraudulent visa applicants by providing descriptions, 
addresses, and contact information to the police. 
 
ROK WANTS BETTER INFO FASTER 
---------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Both Yoon Jae-pil, Prosecutor in the Drug Related 
Crime Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's 
Office, and Kim urged the need for more detailed information 
on deportees.  When traffickers or their victims returned to 
their homes in Korea, they often changed their contact 
numbers and with Korea's strict privacy laws, this 
effectively ended the investigation.  Cho Woo-suk, Section 
Chief of the Immigration Division in the MOJ, further 
explained that the ROK had no legal authority to investigate 
groups that had been deported simply due to suspicion, or 
were arrested under foreign laws and therefore not subject to 
Korean legal jurisdiction.  A list of Korean deportee names, 
Cho added, was not as useful as more detailed information 
about the individuals provided in advance.  For example, Kim 
explained, for Korean law enforcement to pursue an 
investigation they would need ample proof that the 
individuals arrested in the U.S. used fraudulently obtained 
Korean documents.  Kim added that the sex trade was a 
systemic problem in the U.S., and his offices would like to 
obtain more information on U.S. sex rings.  Jung stressed the 
urgent need for relevant authorities to share information and 
suggested establishing a system of collaboration and 
communication among key officers. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Hong reminded U.S. and Canadian working group 
participants to encourage their respective law enforcement 
officials to inform the ROK Embassy and its consulates 
promptly when ROK citizens were involved directly or 
indirectly with human trafficking and the sex trade.  ROK 
consuls, Hong explained, could then interview them before 
they are deported. 
 
SUGGESTION TO ESTABLISH A NEW ROK ANTI-TRAFFICKING DIVISION 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Poloff suggested creating a specific division 
within the Supreme Prosecutor's Office to liaise with and 
share information.  Poloff pointed out that Jung's plan for a 
systematic approach and contact points was the same solution 
 
SEOUL 00001035  003 OF 003 
 
 
agreed upon during the November 2004 meeting.  However, 
despite both U.S. and Canadian officials having sent the ROK 
photos, large files, and other information since that time, 
there was little evidence of follow-up from the ROK 
authorities.  Poloff suggested that a better approach would 
be to create a new division that would be responsible for 
communicating with other nations' law enforcement officials 
and pursuing joint investigations on international 
trafficking cases.  Creating a new division was the same 
approach, Poloff remarked, that had succeeded for the ROKG in 
efforts to protect intellectual property rights. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Jung admitted that there was no one section of the 
ROKG dedicated to combating human trafficking, and that the 
effort was divided among several offices.  The SPO's Bae 
expressed a willingness to review Poloff's suggestion to 
establish a new office.  Jung stated that the ROKG already 
has a plan to set up a special investigative task force 
dedicated to the enforcement of anti-trafficking, but would 
also take the idea under consideration. 
 
PARTICIPANTS 
------------ 
 
¶13.  (U) Participants of the TWG's meeting in Seoul included 
the following Korean representatives: Director Hwang 
Chul-kyu, International Criminal Affairs Division, MOJ; 
Prosecutor Jung Jong-wook, International Criminal Affairs 
Division, MOJ; Section Chief Cho Woo-suk, Immigration and 
Immigration Policy Division, MOJ; Hong Jee-pio, MOFAT; Bae 
Young-won, Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office; Prosecutor 
Yoon Jae-pil, Drug Related Crime Division, Seoul Central 
District Prosecutor's Office (SCDPO); Prosecutor Kim 
Dae-hyun, Foreign Affairs Division, (SCDPO); Officer Bae 
Sung-in, Criminal Affairs Division, Korean National Police. 
John Acheson, Immigration Office, represented the Canadian 
Embassy.  Embassy participants included Poloff, Conoff, FBI 
Attache Dennis Kim, DHS ICE Attache Kyung Yul Steven Kim. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶14.  (SBU) After 16 months, the meeting and subsequent 
discussion among the three countries' representatives was a 
positive development.  The Ambassador's conversation with 
Minister Chun Jung-bae (Ref B), Operation Gilded Cage, and 
the prospects of inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program clearly 
played a part in the reconvening of the TWG.  In addition, 
Prosecutors Hong and Jung both started their jobs one month 
ago and seem to be bringing with them a fresh seriousness of 
purpose.  Although Embassy participants would have liked to 
have seen more concrete results, or at least a commitment to 
meet on a more regular basis, we hope to hear soon of further 
progress in the ROK's commitment to combat international 
trafficking in persons.  END COMMENT. 
MINTON