VZCZCXYZ0008
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHUL #1789/01 1460810
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 260810Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8151
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0700
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 8198
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 7325
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0775
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0450
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA J2 SEOUL KOR
RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA J5 SEOUL KOR
RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA SCJS SEOUL KOR
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 0181

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 001789 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
NOFORN 
 
CIA FOR HAGEN, NSC FOR CHA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: AFTER KOREAN REUNIFICATION 
TAGS: PREL PINR PINS AS JA NZ KN KS
SUBJECT: ROK GENERALLY UPBEAT ON STRONGER TIES WITH NATO, 
BUT SENSITIVE TO DPRK'S PERCEPTION 
 
Classified By: POL M/C Joseph Y. Yun.  Reasons 1.4 (b, d). 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C) According to officials from South Korea's Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT), the ROK was generally 
positive toward strengthened cooperation with NATO and eager 
to participate in global efforts to maintain peace and 
stability.  The underlying concern for Seoul in assessing 
areas for cooperation with NATO was whether North Korea would 
react negatively to stronger NATO-ROK ties.  Hence, South 
Korea would decide on NATO issues on a case-by-case basis. 
"Horizontal" cooperation with fellow U.S. allies in East Asia 
(Australia, Japan, New Zealand) was predicated on whether 
doing so was consistent with the U.S.-ROK alliance and the 
state of Korea's bilateral relations with those countries. 
(COMMENT: We believe our contacts' views on future NATO-ROK 
cooperation are fully consistent with the ROK's history of 
approaching multilateral security arrangements, and that 
South Korea will cooperate with NATO in most areas except 
those that directly involve the DPRK.  END SUMMARY AND 
COMMENT.) 
 
¶2.  (C) Poloff met on May 25 with Kang Jeong-sik, Director, 
Security Policy Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and 
Trade (MOFAT), and Assistant Director Nam Ki-wook, Security 
Policy Division, to discuss the ROKG's position on its 
relations with NATO.  According to Kang, South Korea 
generally supported stronger relations between NATO and East 
Asian countries, recognizing that NATO would naturally become 
more interested in regions outside Europe in the post-Cold 
War environment.  As demonstrated by Foreign Minister Ban 
Ki-moon's December visit to NATO headquarters, Seoul was 
ready -- in the global context -- to cooperate with NATO to 
help maintain peace and stability at "any time and any 
place." 
 
DPRK'S SUSPICION TOWARD ROK-NATO THE BIGGEST CONCERN 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶3.  (C) For South Korea, having a bigger role in maintaining 
global security commensurate with its current economic and 
military prowess was, by itself, a positive incentive for 
strengthening its ties with NATO, said Kang.  The concern for 
Seoul, he noted, was that many East Asian countries -- 
particularly the DPRK -- continued to have Cold War-era 
prejudices against multilateral security arrangements and 
would regard overt diplomatic outreach by NATO as part of a 
broader conspiracy for containment.  As a matter of policy, 
Seoul had to consider carefully whether increased cooperation 
with NATO would drive Pyongyang further away from 
reconciliation with South Korea and opening itself to the 
outside world.  The ROKG would, therefore, approach its 
relations with NATO in a way that would neither arouse 
suspicion from Pyongyang nor complicate other sensitivities 
in the region.  Kang declined to speculate on the extent to 
which the ROK was willing to expand cooperation with NATO 
without first knowing NATO's own ideas.  Seoul would, 
however, cooperate in such areas as peacekeeping in Iraq and 
Afghanistan, counter-terrorism, natural disasters, et cetera. 
 
ROK MORE UPBEAT ON GLOBAL COOP THAN ON BILATERAL/REGIONAL 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶4.  (C) On the issue of whether the ROK would cooperate with 
Australia, Japan, and New Zealand on NATO initiatives, Kang 
said South Korea's cooperation with those countries depended 
largely on whether doing so was consistent with the U.S.-ROK 
alliance, and whether Korea's bilateral relations with those 
countries made it awkward to have "horizontal" cooperation. 
Citing the current difficulties in the ROK-Japan bilateral 
relationship, Kang said it was unrealistic to expect Seoul 
and Tokyo to engage in any NATO-driven partnership involving 
only Korea and Japan.  If part of a global initiative, 
however, the ROK would have no problem cooperating with any 
of those countries, including Japan.  Kang predicted that a 
 
strengthened relationship between NATO and U.S. allies in 
East Asia would prompt a variety of reactions from Southeast 
Asian countries, ranging from resentment to suspicion.  The 
suspicion among Southeast Asian countries would not, however, 
measure up to that of China and North Korea. 
VERSHBOW