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DE RUEHUL #0896/01 1220718
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P 010718Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9678
INFO RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 7261
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 4210
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 8697
RUEHPF/AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH 0354
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 4356
RUEHUM/AMEMBASSY ULAANBAATAR 1675
RUEHVN/AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE 1251
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 3680
RHMFISS/COMUSFK SEOUL KOR
RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA J5 SEOUL KOR
RUACAAA/COMUSKOREA INTEL SEOUL KOR
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//OSD/ISA/EAP//

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 000896 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: AFTER KOREAN REUNIFICATION 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM KS KN
SUBJECT: ROK REGIONAL PERSPECTIVES: NEAPSM AND NORTH KOREAN 
REFUGEE POLICY 
 
Classified By: POL M/C Joseph Y. Yun.  Reasons 1.4(b/d) 
 
SUBJECT: ROK REGIONAL PERSPECTIVES: NEAPSM AND NORTH KOREAN 
REFUGEE POLICY 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  On April 30, POL M/C met with MOFAT Director 
General for the Korean Peninsula Peace Regime Bureau, Huh 
Chul, to discuss regional issues including a Northeast Asia 
Peace and Security Mechanism (NEAPSM) and North Korean 
refugee policy.  On NEAPSM, DG Huh said there had been very 
limited progress on the issue since the last Working Group 
meeting held in Moscow in August 2007.  As a way to get the 
dialogue started, Huh suggested identifying an issue, based 
on consensus, where progress could be achieved to pave the 
way for other areas of cooperation.  On North Korean 
refugees, Huh said that the ROKG had considered the option of 
bringing refugees to South Korea and then determining their 
preference for resettlement either to the ROK or a third 
country, especially the United States, but ultimately deemed 
this plan as "not feasible" given a number of legal and 
practical constraints.  Huh said that he hoped the U.S. would 
find a way to reduce the time needed to process U.S.-bound 
cases, because it was clear that North Korean refugees were 
discouraged from choosing the U.S. as an option by the 
lengthy process time required.  Huh estimated that the number 
of North Korean refugees may decline in the next year or two. 
 END SUMMARY. 
 
-------------------------- 
LIMITED PROGRESS ON NEAPSM 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) In an April 30 meeting with POL M/C, MOFAT Director 
General for the Korean Peninsula Peace Regime Bureau Huh Chul 
said that the Russia was "not engaged" as the Chair of the 
Northeast Asia Peace and Security (NEAPSM) Working Group 
under the Six-Party Talks.  Although Russia had distributed a 
paper on "guiding principles," this was only after the ROK 
provided Russia with an initial draft that got the ball 
rolling.  DG Huh said that he was expecting input from the 
U.S. on the draft principles, noting that the ROK could 
better prepare its stance on the issue after consulting with 
U.S. 
 
¶3. (C) DG Huh said that NEAPSM and a peace regime for the 
Korean Peninsula were separate, but related, issues. 
Discussion of a peace regime should involve the "main 
players" of the Six-Party Talks and should reinforce the 
talks, but not be linked to the talks.  According to Huh, 
peace regime defines a state whereas NEAPSM defines behavior. 
 The two are related but different.  Huh said that NEAPSM 
could include many forms of generic behavior and look at 
political, social and human rights issues.  Issues relating 
to energy cooperation might be best left for a future time 
once the Energy and Economic Cooperation Working Group 
(EECWG) had completed its mission to avoid any confusion with 
the Working Group's efforts to assist North Korea. 
 
------------------------------ 
POSSIBLE FIRST STEP FOR NEAPSM 
------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (C) DH Huh offered the suggestion that the related parties 
could begin a serious discussion about NEAPSM by focusing on 
a specific issue such as joint search and rescue efforts and 
then move on to tougher issues.  If all of the parties agreed 
to work on a common issue, such as search and rescue, it 
could provide an "early success" on which the group could 
then build upon and extend into other areas of cooperation. 
Huh also expressed his hope that the NEAPSM Working Group 
would be able to meet again, either before or after the next 
plenary session of the Six-Party Talks. 
 
--------------------- 
NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES 
--------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) In his role as DG for Korean Peace Regime, Huh is also 
responsible for policy toward North Korean refugees outside 
of the ROK.  Following the inauguration of President Lee 
Myung-bak, DG Huh said that MOFAT had led an in-depth 
discussion on the refugee issue with all concerned agencies 
in the ROK.  At the root of the discussion was how the ROK 
could better assist North Korean refugees and reduce the time 
they spent in third countries waiting to be resettled to the 
ROK.  Huh said the ROK recognized that an increasing number 
of North Korean refugees were leaving Korea to look for 
resettlement in other countries, particularly in Europe. 
According to Huh, many of these individuals made the choice 
to come to the ROK as the quickest means to get out of the 
extremely poor conditions of the foreign immigration 
detention centers (IDCs) but never intended to remain 
permanently in Korea. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
ROK CANNOT BE A WAITING PLACE FOR ALL CASES 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) One alternative that the ROK considered was bringing 
all North Korean defectors to the ROK and then asking the 
refugee to make a decision on where he or she wanted to 
permanently settle.  Huh said that this idea was "not 
feasible" given a number of legal and practical 
considerations.  The amount of time that a refugee would have 
to wait while a third country made a determination of whether 
to accept the applicant or not could become a lengthy and 
protracted situation.  There was also no guarantee that the 
third country would accept the refugee,s application.  What 
would the ROK do in the case the refugee was refused 
admission in another country?  Given that all North Koreans 
are potential South Korean citizens, there could be serious 
legal issues if individuals were in limbo for long periods of 
time and it was not clear if they were subject to the 
protections afforded under the ROK constitution. 
 
¶7. (C) DG Huh suggested that the best way forward for the 
U.S. was to find ways to shorten its processing time for 
North Korean cases.  By addressing this issue, many of the 
other problems would go away, Huh said.  He offered the 
ROK,s continued support for these cases and said they would 
be willing to consider the option of providing transportation 
letters for North Koreans bound for the U.S. in an effort to 
expedite their departure from a third country by transiting 
Korea. POL M/C thanked the DG for the ROK,s ongoing support 
for U.S.-bound cases and agreed that the U.S. should look for 
ways to shorten the processing time of its cases.  Still, 
simply shortening the processing time for the U.S. cases was 
not the only issue that needed to be addressed.  Washington 
remained concerned that there were many more North Korean 
refugees in the region who wanted to resettle in the U.S. 
than the current numbers reflect.  This and other issues 
could be discussed at the next bilateral consultation that is 
typically held every six months, POL M/C said.  Huh said he 
would like to schedule a refugee bilateral soon. 
 
---------------------------- 
POSSIBLE DECREASE IN NUMBERS 
---------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) Huh said that he had looked at all of the data about 
North Korean refugee flows and came to the conclusion that 
the number of refugees has probably already peaked or will 
peak this year.  Despite what many people believe, the food 
situation in North Korea is not the main contributing factor 
compelling North Koreans to leave their country, according to 
Huh.  The more relevant factor is the popularity of North 
Koreans to migrate from China to other countries in the 
region where they ultimately seek resettlement to the ROK. 
As word spreads among the refugee communities in China and 
elsewhere that life for a refugee in the ROK is not an easy 
one, and that the ROKG resettlement subsidy has declined, Huh 
said he estimated the numbers will drop in coming years. 
VERSHBOW