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INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0207
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0288
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUALSFJ/COMUSJAPAN YOKOTA AB JA
RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA J2 SEOUL KOR
RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA J5 SEOUL KOR
RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA SCJS SEOUL KOR
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//OSD/ISA/EAP//

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 000740 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/08/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL ABLD KS KN
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH SEOUL MAYOR LEE MYUNG-BAK 
 
 
Classified By: Amb. Alexander Vershbow.  Reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY: On March 7 the Ambassador met with Seoul 
Mayor Lee Myung-bak, a leading contender to become the 
opposition Grand National Party's (GNP)' nominee in next 
year's presidential election.  Lee said that he was looking 
forward to his visit to the United States the week of March 
13, in which he hoped to meet with senior Administration 
officials and Congressional representatives.  Regarding the 
presidential election, Lee said his first priority was to 
ensure that the GNP would win the Blue House in 2007.  He 
leveled a few criticisms at GNP leader Park Geun-hye, his 
main party rival, but saved the bulk of his scorn for 
President Roh.  Recalling how in the 2002 election Roh had 
fueled anti-American sentiments in the aftermath of the 
accidental death of two schoolgirls struck by a USFK armored 
vehicle, Lee warned the Ambassador the FTA negotiations might 
rekindle similar antipathy toward the United States.  The 
Mayor was also concerned that President Roh would use a 
possible North-South summit to influence the presidential 
election.  On foreign policy, Lee accused President Roh of 
neglecting the ROK's relations with the United States and 
Japan, the nation's two most critical partners. 
Domestically, Lee said that Roh's economic policies had been 
too focused on income redistribution, hurting overall 
economic performance.  END SUMMARY. 
. 
NEC, MAYOR'S VISIT TO U.S. 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Accompanied by DCM and POL M/C, the Ambassador met 
with Mayor Lee and his staff over lunch in the Mayor's 
office, located only a few blocks from the Embassy.  The 
Ambassador thanked the Mayor for security and administrative 
assistance over the years and hoped that the planned move to 
the New Embassy Compound in Yongsan would be well supported 
by the Seoul Municipal Government. Lee noted that the Embassy 
had chosen the site well because his City Hall would also be 
moved to Yongsan after USFK moved out. 
 
¶3.  (U) Lee thanked the Ambassador for the Embassy's help in 
arranging several meetings during his upcoming visit to 
Washington, New York and Los Angeles.  He joked that his 
activities would be so closely covered by the Korean press 
that he would have no real freedom of movement.  He said his 
visit would include meetings with congressional 
representatives, senior administration officials and  Korean 
communities, as well as remarks to several think-tanks. 
. 
U.S.-ROK RELATIONS, FTA, ANTI-AMERICANISM 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) Responding to Lee's request for an assessment of 
U.S.-ROK relations, the Ambassador said that, overall, the 
alliance was in good shape.  The two partners had made good 
progress on the security front.  Recent achievements included 
agreements to restructure the American troop presence on the 
Peninsula and to move the Yongsan garrison from downtown 
Seoul to Pyongtaek.  The two countries had also come to an 
agreement on the issue of strategic flexibility.  On the 
economic side, the FTA negotiations, which were slated to 
begin in June, if successful would bring great benefits to 
both countries.  Finally, the Ambassador noted that 
Washington's and Seoul's overall objectives toward North 
Korea remained in line, despite some tactical differences 
which the press loved to exaggerate. 
 
¶5.  (C) Lee replied that he was quite concerned about the FTA 
negotiations given the heightened political atmosphere of the 
upcoming presidential election in 2007.  The United States 
should be careful not to allow the negotiations to drag out, 
he said, as the Roh government would use it as a pretext to 
fan existing anti-Americanism and to take advantage of 
discontent with the agreement.  Noting that the negotiations 
would be especially sensitive for the farmers, known to be 
very militant, Lee recalled that the outcome of the last 
presidential election in 2002 would have been different had 
it not been for the death of the two school girls. 
 
¶6.  (C) Lee charged that some in the Blue House were 
ideologically opposed to the United States.  As for himself, 
he believed that South Korea must not do anything rash that 
would threaten its democracy or market economy.  Although he 
had been a radical as a student, he had gained an 
appreciation of the importance of market principles through 
his experience in business and public office. 
 
NORTH KOREA 
----------- 
 
¶7.  (C) Lee said that he was also concerned that the Roh 
government and the ruling party might use the ROKG's North 
Korea policy to their electoral advantage.  It was likely 
that former President Kim Dae-jung would go to Pyongyang in 
June, where he might reiterate his proposal for a loose 
confederation between the two Koreas and would probably 
propose a second North-South summit, which could be held in 
Cheju Island.  Another possibility was that Roh would 
introduce constitutional revisions to pave the way for a 
confederation.  Lee said that he had asked GNP legislators to 
resist all constitutional revisions until after the next 
presidential election. 
 
¶8.  (C) Turning to North Korea, Lee expressed his conviction 
that nothing would change as long as Kim Jong-il remained in 
power.  On the other hand, he said there was no sign of 
impending regime change.  The regime could not survive 
without outside assistance, and the ROK and China had shown 
their readiness to step in to fill the void resulting from 
any reduction in U.S. aid. 
 
¶9.  (C) Asked about prospects for the Six Party Talks, the 
Ambassador responded that, while Washington absolutely 
desired a diplomatic solution to the North Korean nuclear 
problem and a transformation of its relations with Pyongyang, 
many were doubtful that North Korea had made a similar 
decision.  Its recent actions and illicit activities were not 
encouraging signs.  While the United States must continue to 
keep the door open to a negotiated solution, he said, it was 
up to North Korea to take the necessary steps. 
 
ROK-JAPAN RELATIONS 
------------------- 
 
¶10.  (C) Asked by DCM about his views on the ROK-Japan 
relationship, Lee said that Japan was second only to the 
United States in foreign policy importance for South Korea. 
It was ironic that despite the strained relationship between 
President Roh and PM Koizumi, the two countries enjoyed 
excellent people-to-people contacts, including extensive 
cultural exchanges.  It seemed that Roh and Koizumi were 
interested only in feeding nationalism at home to gain 
domestic political advantage, Lee assessed.  In the absence 
of ROKG leadership, the GNP had taken it upon itself to try 
to improve political relations.  Lee noted that GNP 
Chairwoman Park Geun-Hywe was currently in Japan and that he 
himself would visit in April. 
 
DOMESTIC ISSUES 
--------------- 
 
¶11.  (C) Lee was highly critical of the government's economic 
policies, especially its attempts to redistribute wealth.  In 
seeking to address the problem of too much concentration of 
wealth, the ROKG had swung the pendulum too far to the other 
side.  Lee referred to his own personal history of having 
overcome extreme poverty, and declared that there was nothing 
wrong with making money. 
 
¶12.  (C) Commenting on his recent spat with GNP leader Park 
Geun-hye over his remark that GNP legislators should take 
their work more seriously, Lee said that Park had taken a 
mere jest far too seriously.  He opined that, because Park 
had lost her parents at a young age, she did not have much of 
a sense of humor.  Nevertheless, he said, since GNP 
politicians should concentrate their energies on attacking 
the ruling party and President Roh rather than each other, he 
had refrained from responding to Park's criticisms. 
 
¶13.  (C) Commenting on the growing controversy over PM Lee 
Hae-chan's recent "inappropriate golf" game, Lee said that 
Koreans no longer regarded golf as an activity of the rich 
and famous.  Rather, the Prime Minister had made a mistake in 
his choice of playing partners, as some of them were under 
investigation for malfeasance.  Public irritation was 
exacerbated by the fact that the PM chose to golf on March 1, 
which not only marks Independence Movement Day but also 
happened to coincide with a serious rail workers' strike. 
The Mayor assessed that President Roh would come back from 
his visit to Africa next week and decide whether PM Lee 
should resign. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶14.  (C) Lee Myung-bak has become the focus of considerable 
attention as polls show him in the lead among potential Blue 
House contenders.  The last major poll showed him with 29% 
support, followed by former PM Goh Kun (24%) and Park 
Geun-hye (18%).  Our ruling Uri Party contacts say they are 
salivating at the possibility of facing the mayor, as they 
possess a thick file of documented "irregularities" committed 
by Lee and his company during his nearly two-decade stint as 
head of Hyundai Construction.  Uri contacts also note that 
Lee had to resign his National Assembly seat in 1998 over 
charges of election law violations, although he was 
subsequently acquitted.  Uri would far prefer to face Lee 
than Park Geun-hye, who has deep support among the many 
Koreans who still worship her father, Park Chung-hee. 
 
¶15.  (C) Campaign spin aside, it is clear that Lee has struck 
a chord among Koreans who seek change.  According to Lee's 
supporters, South Koreans are yearning for an energetic 
leader who will lead Korea out of its current economic 
malaise, not a run-of-the-mill politician obsessed with 
factional politics.  They hope that a proven business leader 
like Lee might be able to rejuvenate the economy and make the 
current how-to-divide-the-pie debate moot.  Lee's supporters 
claim that he has shown the ability to deliver, having 
initiated and concluded a number of ambitious projects as 
mayor, key among which is the much-acclaimed restoration of 
Seoul's once paved-over and polluted Cheonggye Stream into a 
showcase canal and ecological park area in the heart of Seoul. 
VERSHBOW