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DE RUEHUL #4247/01 3480021
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P 140021Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1877
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1718
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1820
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUALSFJ/COMUSJAPAN YOKOTA AB JA
RHMFIUU/COMUSKOREA J2 SEOUL KOR
RHMFIUU/COMUSKOREA J5 SEOUL KOR
RHMFIUU/COMUSKOREA SCJS SEOUL KOR
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//OSD/ISA/EAP//

UNCLAS SEOUL 004247 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL ABLD KS KN
SUBJECT: GOVERNOR ROMNEY VISITS KOREA 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney visited 
South Korea on December 6-7 and met with a wide range of 
government and non-governmental leaders, gave a speech to 
AMCHAM, visited the DMZ and received a briefing from USFK. 
The Governor's meetings focused on North Korea and the 
current state of U.S.-ROK relations.  END SUMMARY. 
 
PM Han Myeong-suk 
----------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In Governor Romney's December 7 meeting with Prime 
Minister Han Myeong-suk, Han recognized that U.S. support had 
helped Korea to become the economic power it was today.  She 
said that the U.S. and Korea had a healthy relationship, 
despite the occasional difference of opinion.  She also 
stressed the need for dialogue between the U.S. and North 
Korea, even while efforts were made to enforce UN 
resolutions.  Han said that Korea had a different view on 
North Korea because of its shared border and proximity to the 
North.  Because of this, the ROK must be very careful with 
its policies in regard to the Proliferation Security 
Initiative (PSI), Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) and the 
Kumgang Mountain tourism project.  ROKG decisions related to 
these issues were made after much debate and consideration, 
not lightly.  The Governor praised Han, the first female 
Prime Minister in Korea, for breaking new ground on behalf of 
women in Korea and around the world, and recognized her own 
personal suffering and sacrifice in pursuit of democracy in 
Korea. 
 
Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Departing Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok 
described South Korea's engagement strategy toward North 
Korea.  Lee posited two futures for North Korea: either the 
DPRK would successfully accelerate its economic 
transformation or its economy would collapse.  North Korean 
economic transformation was both essential and inevitable, he 
said.  Lee urged Seoul and Washington to place a priority at 
the Six Party Talks on resolving the nuclear issue, over 
illicit activities or human rights, because a nuclear DPRK 
would undermine stability on the Peninsula and threaten U.S. 
non-proliferation interests.  Lee assessed that despite the 
DPRK missile launches and nuclear test, the North was in the 
process of changing because it was faced with no option but 
to reform.  Governor Romney cautoned that hoping for change 
would not make it happen.  Efforts to improve engagement with 
North Korea should not prolong the DPRK regime. 
 
A/FM Cho Jung-pyo 
----------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In a forty-minute call on Acting Foreign Minister 
Cho Jung-pyo on December 7, Governor Romney sought Cho's 
insights into North Korea, regional relations and 
anti-Americanism in the ROK.  Sticking close to his talking 
points -- this was Cho's first meeting with a foreign 
dignitary as Acting Foreign Minister (and since becoming Vice 
Minister December 1) -- Cho reiterated that while it was the 
ROK's firm position that a nuclear North Korea would not be 
tolerated, the issue had to be resolved in a peaceful manner. 
  Moving to regional issues, Cho said that China had an 
important role to play and that its historically special 
relationship with North Korea gave China some influence, but 
he did not know how much more than the ROK.  Cho told Gov. 
Romney not to be too concerned about anti-Americanism in 
Korea.  Anti-Americanism was not a deep problem in the ROK 
and that most incidents were specific reactions to particular 
incidents. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Cho expressed admiration for Boston's 
bio-technology and pharmaceutical sector and said that he 
wanted to build a close relationship with Massachusetts in 
furtherance of the ROK's goal of developing its own bio-tech 
sector.  Gov. Romney welcomed Cho's overture and said that 
many overseas representatives had offices in Boston to track 
the most recent developments.   However, Gov. Romney shared 
that bio-tech, which employs only 30,000 people in 
Massachusetts, was not a job-creating industry. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Cho registered concern over the inclusion of "So 
Far from the Bamboo Grove," a children's book about a 
Japanese girl in Korea after World War II, in the curriculum 
of several Massachusetts school districts.  According to Cho, 
the book contributes to a negative perception of Koreans. 
Gov. Romney thanked Cho for bringing the issue to his 
attention.  While each of the 351 school districts in 
Massachusetts has the authority to determine its curriculum, 
Gov. Romney said that he could advise the districts not to 
use certain material or to present a more balanced approach. 
 
Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo 
------------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU) In a lunch meeting with Gyeonggi Governor Kim 
Moon-soo, the two governors discussed North Korea and the 
differences and similarities in running a U.S. state and a 
Korean province.  Kim said he hoped to match Governor 
Romney's success as governor.  Governor Romney marveled at 
the 9.8 percent economic growth that Gov. Kim has overseen in 
the last year.  On North Korea, Kim said the U.S. had 
basically the right North Korea policy, but he hoped that the 
U.S. would focus as much as it could on the Korean Peninsula. 
 Only with lots of effort could the Korean Peninsula become 
denuclearized and united.  Kim said that the U.S. and ROK 
should work hard to remain close to maintain peace and 
stability in East Asia and check a rising China. 
 
VERSHBOW