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DE RUEHUL #0163/01 0250713
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O 250713Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8214
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3760
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 3896
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UNCLAS SEOUL 000163 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PREF KN KS EIAID
SUBJECT: KOREA'S MARITIME MINISTRY GETS SINKING FEELING 
 
This message is from the American Presence Post (APP) in Busan, 
Korea. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Although Lee Myung-bak's transition team is 
garnering headlines in Seoul for its proposed merger of the Ministry 
of Unification under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, it 
is the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MOMAF) that is 
the hot topic in Busan.  Following the recent announcement by 
President-elect Lee Myung-bak's transition team that MOMAF would be 
broken up and absorbed into other ministries, Busan residents are 
divided in their response to the news.  As vocal protestors shaved 
their heads in front of the National Assembly and captured the 
media's attention, other, quieter groups in Busan welcomed the 
change and cast this as part of the natural progression with any new 
administration.  Most of our contacts believe this change will not 
affect their interests, even though they are linked to the maritime 
industry in some way.  Yet, if the vocal minority is able to 
maintain its momentum long enough, there is a good chance that this 
issue will carry over until the parliamentary elections on April 9. 
For now, the biggest potential winner is the municipal government 
that stands to gain more autonomy with MOMAF's dissolution, while 
the biggest losers appear to be the MOMAF employees that stand to 
lose their jobs.  END SUMMARY. 
 
MOMAF'S ORIGIN 
-------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Korea's largest port is located in Busan on the southeast 
coast of the Peninsula.  In addition to being the largest port in 
Korea and the fifth largest in the world, the world's top seven ship 
building companies are also located in and around Busan.  In the 
words of Busan's Mayor Hur, Busan is Korea's capital for maritime 
issues.  Recognizing the economic importance of the maritime 
industry to Korea, the central government maintains the largest 
regional office of MOMAF in Busan with a staff of over 250.  The 
ROKG upgraded MOMAF from an independent administration to a 
full-fledged ministry in 1996 during the presidency of Kim 
Young-sam, a Busan native.  At the Ministry's formation, functions 
were taken away from the Ministry of the Environment and the 
Ministry of Commerce and Industry.  The creation of MOMAF was a 
recognition that maritime competitiveness was one key to becoming a 
world power, drawing from the history of the U.S., England, and 
Japan. 
 
MOMAF'S EVER-ENLARGING PORTFOLIO 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Today, MOMAF has extended its reach into the shipping 
industry, fishing industry, and even national efforts to attract 
high-profile events to Korea.  MOMAF was instrumental in helping the 
fellow port city of Yeosu capture the bid to host the 2012 World 
Expo, an event expected to boost tourism and development in the 
southern coastal area through investment in infrastructure and 
facilities.  MOMAF has ventured into the geo-political realm as it 
worked on the Dokdo-Takeshima islet territory dispute with Japan. 
MOMAF is also heavily involved in lobbying in support of the name 
'East Sea' rather than the internationally accepted 'Sea of Japan' 
when referring to the body of water off the east-coast of the Korean 
Peninsula. 
 
NEW MINISTRY STRUCTURE 
---------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) On January 16, the Lee Myung-bak transition team announced 
its proposal to restructure and in some cases dissolve several 
government ministries.  While the proposal to bring the Ministry of 
Unification (MOU) under the supervision of the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) is the move that is surely the most 
controversial, the plan to break MOMAF into three parts is of great 
interest (and angst) to the citizens of Busan.  Under the current 
plan, MOMAF's duties will be relegated to the Ministry of 
Transportation and Construction and the Ministry of Agriculture and 
Forestry.  The Ministry of the Environment will also take a small 
piece.  In a meeting with Principal Officer, MOMAF's Acting 
Commissioner in Busan, Kang Bum-gou, shared the most recent draft of 
the restructuring plan  (Note:  Kang was hurriedly assigned to the 
Busan office in the days following the December 19 election.  The 
previous Commissioner in Busan was detailed to work with on the 
Transition Committee's Second Subcommittee for Economic Affairs in 
the hopes of saving MOMAF from breakup.  END NOTE). 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Under the current plan, a new organization is to be 
created by the merger of the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry, the 
MOMAF's fishing and fisheries affairs, and the Health and Welfare 
Ministry's food-related sections.  This will be called the Ministry 
of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.  The Ministry of Construction 
and Transportation will take over the MOMAF's marine transportation 
and port policies and the Korea Forest Service; this agency will be 
called the Ministry of Homeland and Maritime Affairs. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Within the new Ministry of Homeland and Maritime Affairs, 
there will be nine directors heading up the following divisions: 
Policy Management and Public Relations; Territorial and Ocean 
Policy; Urban and Regional Policy; Housing Policy; Construction and 
Investment Policy; Transport and Logistics Policy; Surface Transport 
Policy; Maritime Transport Policy; and Aviation and Airport Policy. 
In addition to concerns about being lost among these numerous 
divisions, there is also a good likelihood that the ongoing housing 
policy debate could elevate the importance of the Housing Policy 
division within this Ministry to the detriment of other 
less-sensitive divisions and issues.  Busan University economics 
professor Lim Jung-duk also noted that money equals power in the 
central government.  Even if the MOMAF divisions are able to 
maintain some semblance of their former selves inside the new 
ministry, they will no longer have the discretionary budgets they 
enjoyed as a standalone ministry.  Even if MOMAF was a "second-tier" 
ministry before, it had the luxury of its own budget and the 
autonomy that comes with it. 
 
POLITICAL FORCES 
---------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) In addition to MOMAF dispatching their commissioner from 
Busan to work on a transition committee, Busan residents have 
another insider working on this issue.  Vice Chairman of the 
Presidential Transition Team, Kim Hyung-oh, is a four-term lawmaker 
representing a district in Busan.  Despite the location of his 
constituency, Kim has taken a positive tone in his public statements 
about the restructuring while softly criticizing those opposed to 
the move.  In response to a recent newspaper ad from a group of 70 
NGO and civic groups in Busan that pleaded for preserving MOMAF, Kim 
said "It's obvious why previous governments were unable to 
restructure government agencies."  Kim was also quoted as saying 
"Under the current structure, the fishery function has been ignored 
so it will be better if MOMAF is restructured into a stronger 
organization that better supports the maritime functions." 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Despite the vocal protests by some, including a group of 
500 protestors who shaved their heads in protest in front of the 
National Assembly building on January 22, some groups in Busan see a 
positive side to the restructuring.  The Busan Port Authority (BPA) 
confided that they believe the dissolution of MOMAF is likely to 
provide local governments with more autonomy and power.  This is 
welcome news to the BPA, which has grand plans to convert a large 
portion of their North Port from a traditional ship yard into a 
tourist attraction complete with sand beaches and four-star hotels. 
The plan was derailed early in 2007 following a visit from then 
presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak.  Lee expressed his pessimism 
with the notion of a tourist space and turned the BPA around to 
consider a new commercial space instead.  Although the BPA complied 
and drew up new plans, they kept the old ones in a drawer and hope 
to bring them back to life in the near future. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Another rumor is that the fishing side of MOMAF wanted to 
get out from under the shadow of bigger maritime issues such as 
shipping and territory.  Proponents of the fishing industry 
supposedly supported the dissolution of MOMAF and may have provided 
President-elect Lee with enough ammunition to make the decision to 
deep-six the Ministry.  Jang Cheol-soon, President of a large 
technology company that supplies the ship-building industry, agrees 
that it is probably better for both parties if the fishing and ocean 
contingents part company.  According to Jang, MOMAF spent the first 
nine of its eleven years focusing solely on the fishing industry to 
the detriment of the broader ocean-related issues. 
 
IMPLICATIONS FOR APRIL 
---------------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Undoubtedly, National Assemblyman Kim Hyung-oh and the 
other 16 representatives from Busan are conscious of the upcoming 
April 9 elections and are careful to strike a balance between 
working with the incoming administration and maintaining their own 
seats in the parliament.  Although this theory is called into 
question for higher-profile players like Kim who may be granted a 
position within the administration and therefore less concerned 
about his constituents in Busan.  In addition to the current group 
of NGOs and civic groups who oppose MOMAF's dissolution, there is 
the potential that another group will arise with even more serious 
concerns.  MOMAF's Acting Commissioner Kang said that he expends a 
lot of energy trying to keep his 250 employees engaged and thinking 
positive.  Kang said that they all fear they may lose their jobs as 
the Ministry is merged into others.  As a senior officer within 
MOMAF, Kang said he has more to fear than the lower-level employees 
as there are likely to be less senior-level positions after the 
restructuring. 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Most people in Busan have little interest in the 
structure of the central government and the titles assigned to the 
government ministries.  Although there is a lot of clamor in Busan 
about the plan to restructure MOMAF, most experts expect the noise 
to subside within weeks, not months.  Some of the issues that MOMAF 
has traditionally addressed may indeed decline in overall attention, 
the economic aspects of the shipping industry and Busan's prominence 
as a top world port should not be affected.  Although the move to 
place the MOU under the foreign ministry's care may be bargained 
away in negotiations with the National Assembly, MOMAF appears 
unlikely to survive the proposed cuts by the incoming 
administration. 
 
STANTON