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FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHDN/AMCONSUL SYDNEY IMMEDIATE 0728
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6387
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1704
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 3216

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 002674 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SYDNEY FOR POTUS APEC DELEGATION 
 
PASS USTR FOR CUTLER AND AUGEROT 
STATE FOR E, EEB,EAP/K, AND EAP/EB 
USDOC FOR DUTTON, CARTER-NIXON AND CHOI 
TREASURY FOR IA/OASIA/POGGI 
USDA FOR FAS/ITP.CLAUS AND GRUNENFELDER 
NSC FOR TONG 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/04/2017 
TAGS: AS EAGR ETRD IN KS PREL
SUBJECT: BLUE HOUSE PREVIEWS U.S.-ROK SUMMIT MEETING: FTA 
AND BEEF DELIVERABLES 
 
REF: SEOUL 1127 
 
Classified By: Amb. Alexander Vershbow. Reasons 1.4 b/d. 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  At the September 7 APEC bilateral summit 
meeting in Sydney, President Roh will inform President Bush 
that Korea has presented the U.S.-Korea FTA (KORUS FTA) to 
the National Assembly for ratification just prior to the 
meeting, a key Blue House economic adviser told us September 
¶4.  Roh will reaffirm his strong commitment to reopen the 
Korean market to U.S. beef as soon as possible and to seek 
the KORUS FTA's passage before he departs office on February 
¶25.  The official added that President Roh's "if-asked" 
talking point on full beef market reopening is to request 
reciprocal U.S. actions to obtain similar beef market 
openings in Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan, thereby giving the 
ROKG greater political cover.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (C) September 4, EMBOFFs met again with Presidential 
Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy Kim Seung-ho 
(strictly protect), the official responsible for preparing 
the economic portion of President Roh's briefing book for 
this week's APEC Economic Leaders Meeting.  Kim is a valued 
contact who provided us insights into Blue House thinking on 
the KORUS FTA and the beef issue in an earlier meeting 
(reftel). 
 
FTA GOING FORWARD AS PLANNED 
---------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) Kim opened by saying that the FTA was on President 
Roh's desk for likely signature today and was slated to go to 
the National Assembly (NA) September 6 or 7.  Later in the 
conversation, Kim said that President will inform President 
Bush in their September 7 bilateral on the margins of APEC 
that the ROKG has presented the agreement to the NA for 
ratification. 
 
¶4.  (C) Kim said the Blue House will continue to push for 
ratification in this NA session, ideally by the end of 
November prior to December's Korean presidential election.  A 
second scenario is to ratify after the presidential election 
but before the new president takes office on February 26. 
The Blue House is still weighing timing, Kim said, and must 
decide whether it seems advisable from a political standpoint 
to delay a ratification vote until after the presidential 
election.  However, Kim stressed that President Roh is 
seeking ratification in this session, to ensure that the FTA 
is regarded as his achievement and not his successor's. 
 
¶5.  (C) Noting that NA elections will follow the Korean 
presidential elections, A/ECOUNS suggested that NA 
ratification in November appears less complicated.  Kim said 
the ROKG may opt for that timing.  He added that the ROKG 
understands that the USG is trying to persuade a vocal 
minority not to oppose the FTA, and may wait until there is a 
friendly environment in Congress before sending up the FTA. 
We recounted ongoing, stepped-up outreach efforts by the 
Administration and private sector supporters on behalf of 
KORUS FTA. 
 
"READY TO MOVE" ON BEEF, BUT... 
------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) We highlighted the resolution of the beef issue as 
critical to improving Congressional receptivity to the KORUS 
FTA.  Kim responded that Korea is ready to open its market to 
U.S. beef, but that Korea's ability to do so depends on the 
U.S. side.  Every time Korea is ready to move, Kim said, 
something happens on the U.S. side (i.e., bone or other 
materials are found in U.S. shipments that are inconsistent 
with Korea's current boneless-only import protocol).  Kim 
said the ROKG understands that the problems are largely due 
to human error, but asked that the U.S. take measures to stop 
these -- at least for another two to three months -- because 
beef import compliance problems hand FTA opponents an issue 
and allow them to become more vocal again. 
 
 
¶7.  (C) AGATT said the U.S. will be looking for Korea to 
accept beef and beef products from animals of all ages.  Kim 
responded with some skepticism.  If Korea immediately moved 
to simply adopt OIE guidelines completely with no deviation, 
consumers and NGOs would question why the ROKG spent so much 
time negotiating on this issue.  This is a big issue for 
Korea, Kim stressed.  Kim said the August 31 change of MAF 
Ministers opened a prospect of revising the import protocol 
in the next few weeks and reopening the market within two to 
three months.  The new MAF minister "knows that beef is the 
first thing he must think about every morning," Kim said. 
 
¶8.  (C)  In phoning a veterinary health contact to find out 
whether an August 31 meeting of the ROKG animal health 
committee had completed its risk assessment (part of the 
roadmap toward revising the protocol), Kim learned and 
conveyed to us that another bone had been found in a 
shipment.  (FYI: The September 4 bone finding was from Swift 
plant 969G in Greeley, CO, already suspended since July 31 
due to another bone finding, not classified as an SRM.  MAF 
has already told us they will continue to accept product from 
this plant shipped prior to July 30.  END FYI.)  Kim ended 
this portion of the conversation by saying that Korea is 
ready to accommodate the U.S. on the beef issue, but "please 
pick up those small bones." 
 
¶9.  (C) When the conversation later turned to APEC, Kim said 
President Roh will tell President Bush at their September 7 
bilat that Korea is ready to address U.S. concerns on beef. 
Roh will have an if-asked talking point on beef bones, Kim 
said, stressing "please do the same with Korea's neighbors" 
such as Japan and Taiwan, if the U.S. wants Korea to revise 
its beef import protocol to include all beef cuts and ages. 
 
APEC Issues 
----------- 
 
¶10.  (C)  Turning to APEC issues, on global climate change, 
the adviser described Korea as straddling U.S. and EU 
approaches with "a foot in two boats."  As a result, the ROKG 
would follow the debate and perhaps join a consensus 
position, but not take the lead on climate change.  On APEC 
membership, he said that Korea will join any consensus in 
favor of extending the moratorium, and not support a possible 
Australian effort on behalf of earlier Indian membership.  At 
the same time, the ROKG will urge APEC leaders not to defer 
the membership discussion indefinitely. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶11.  (C)  Kim was upbeat about FTA ratification but frank 
about potential difficulties in revising the beef import 
protocol.  It was encouraging to hear that the KORUS FTA will 
be submitted to the NA this week, as a deliverable for 
President Roh's bilateral with President Bush.  On beef, on 
the other hand, Kim did not have any viable suggestions for 
getting past the current difficulties caused by U.S. 
shippers' occasional noncompliance with Korea's import 
protocol (which is stringent beyond OIE standards). 
Furthermore, he made clear that the ROKG still feels 
vulnerable to consumer and NGO pressure if it moves too 
quickly to scrap the current beef import protocol.  While Kim 
stressed that the new MAF Minister understands the need to 
resolve the beef issue to facilitate Congressional action, he 
indicated that Korea's market might not reopen until 
November. 
VERSHBOW