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RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA J2 SEOUL KOR
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 003764 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2014 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KS
SUBJECT: KOREA'S NEW MINISTER OF UNIFICATION: LEE JAE-JEONG 
 
 
Classified By: POL M/C Joseph Y. Yun.  Reasons 1.4 (b,d). 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: Lee Jae-jeong, Senior Vice President of 
the Advisory Council on Democratic and Peaceful Unification, 
former Assemblyman (2000-2004), Anglican Pastor and former 
Campaign Publicity Director for Roh Moo-hyun's 2002 campaign, 
was nominated November 1 to be the next Minister of 
Unification.  He is known for his close relationship to Roh 
and his reasonable stance on U.S.-ROK relations and will 
likely focus on humanitarian aid in his approach to North 
Korea.  According to Uri Rep. Lee Jong-kul, a close confidant 
of Lee Jae-jeong, "Lee will be significantly different than 
former Minister Lee Jong-seok and there will be some shifts 
in ROK's North Korea policy."  The relatively moderate Lee 
will likely not receive much resistance in the National 
Assembly on policy issues but rather for his past convictions 
for receiving illegal campaign funds and for his relationship 
with President Roh.  Despite the resistance he will face, he 
will likely pass through his pro-forma hearings at the 
National Assembly that will likely take place between 
November 14 and 21.  END SUMMARY 
 
BIOGRAPHY 
--------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Lee was born in 1944 in North Choongchung province 
and received a BA in German from Korea University and a MA in 
Religious studies from the University of Manitoba and a 
Doctor of Divinity from the Toronto School of Theology. 
 
Posts he has held include: 
 
- Pastor of Anglican Church, 1981-2 
- Chairman of Human Rights Committee, 1976-82, 1999-2003 
- President of Sung Kong Hoe (Anglican) University 
- Chairman of Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Committee 
- Proportional Representative with the Millennium Democratic 
Party (MDP), 2000-4 (NOTE: He left the MDP with Roh and went 
to the Uri Party when it formed in 2003. END NOTE) 
- General Affairs Committee Chairman, Uri Party, 2004 
- Senior Vice Chairman, National Unification Advisory 
Council, 2005-Present 
 
LEE'S STATEMENTS ON THE NORTH 
----------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) In public statements, Lee has said the following 
regarding North Korea: 
 
"It is not desirable to over-interpret the reasons for a 
possible second nuclear test by North Korea since looking at 
other countries' cases, it is not uncommon for a country that 
conducted one test to follow up with another test," he said 
on October 18. 
 
"Since the North Korea nuclear issue should be resolved 
between the U.S. and the DPRK, the U.S. needs a more flexible 
policy to resolve the situation through dialog with the 
North." 
 
"The Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) needs to be maintained 
and developed with a longer term perspective.  The Mt. 
Kumgang project also needs to continue, since it 
significantly contributes to peace." 
 
IMPACT 
------ 
 
¶4.  (C) Lee was recommended for the post by outgoing Minister 
Lee Jong-seok.  The two share strong support of engagement 
and the Sunshine Policy.  By the opposition GNP, Lee's 
appointment will be characterized as cronyism, or in Korean 
parlance, matching the "code" with President Roh.  Our GNP 
contacts have said that Lee was unqualified for the job; made 
dubious moral judgments in the past; and that the GNP would 
attack him vigorously during his hearings in the Assembly. 
 
ILLEGAL FUNDRAISING FOR ROH 
--------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) The "dubious moral judgments" remark relates to Lee 
Jae-jeong's arrest and indictment on charges of illegal 
political fundraising during the 2002 presidential election 
campaign when he was serving as a key advisor to President Roh. 
He was convicted of receiving $1 million from Hanhwa 
Group.  He was later pardoned and had his rights reinstated. 
Even Uri Party officials say there could be resistance due to 
his "moral problems" in the past.  However, according to Uri 
Representative Yoo Jay-kun, "Lee is qualified so there should 
be no problem with his appointment.  In addition, the 
campaign finance charges were not criminal - Lee was simply 
arrested as a scapegoat." 
 
 
 
LIKELY NOMINATION PROCESS 
------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) Lee's hearing at the Unification, Foreign Affairs and 
Trade Committee will likely occur between November 14 and 21. 
 While there will be fierce resistance to his nomination from 
the GNP and some from the Uri Party, the committee will 
likely focus its efforts on attacking FM-nominee Song 
Min-soon.  According to Foreign Affairs Committee member Park 
Jin's chief of staff, the GNP realizes that to try to block 
all four nominees would be irresponsible, particularly 
considering upcoming Six Party Talks.  Therefore, he 
speculated that the GNP would focus on strongly condemning 
the Song nomination and Lee could benefit from this. 
Committee member Gong Song-jin told poloff that since the Uri 
Party had the votes there was nothing the GNP could do to 
block any of the nominations. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶7.  (C) Many in the GNP are violently opposed to his 
nomination, and are committed to attack him vigorously in his 
hearings, but Lee will benefit from the fact that, unlike 
Song, he is new to the government.  With his fluent English 
and deep experience in dealing with foreigners, Lee could 
prove to be a much more comfortable interlocutor for USG 
officials than Lee Jong-seok had been. 
VERSHBOW