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SUBJECT: PRESS BULLETIN - January 14, 2009 
 
Opinions/Editorials 
 
¶1. Why Is U.S. Attacking ROK Cars Only? 
(JoongAng Ilbo, January 14, 2009, Page 30) 
 
 
Features 
 
¶2. U.S. Replaces Apache Helicopters Not with A-10 Aircrafts But with 
F-16 Fighter Jets, Leaving a Possible Military Vacuum 
(Dong-a Ilbo, January 14, 2009, Page 10) 
¶3. North Korea's Double-faced Strategy with "Unused Fuel Rods"? 
(Chosun Ilbo, January 14, 2009, Page 6) 
¶4. U.S. Ambassador: "The ROK Is an Important Nation to the U.S." 
(Yonhap News, January 12, 2009) 
Top Headlines 
 
Chosun Ilbo, Segye Ilbo 
ROKG to Invest 97 Trillion Won in High-Tech Industries, Including 
Renewable Energy and Robotics, 
to Create 3.5 Million New Jobs 
 
JoongAng Ilbo 
POSCO Chairman Lee Ku-taek to Step Down Tomorrow Voluntarily, With 
14 Months Still Left in His Term 
 
Dong-a Ilbo 
Most Experts Say ROK Economy to Recover 
in First Half of Next Year 
 
Hankook Ilbo 
International Community Intent on Pursuing "Green New Deal" to 
Overcome Economic Crisis and Secure New Growth Engines 
 
Hankyoreh Shinmun 
National Tax Service Locked in Power Struggle 
 
Seoul Shinmun 
North Korea's Foreign Ministry: "Normalization of North Korea-U.S. 
Relations Must Come before Denuclearization 
of the Korean Peninsula" 
 
 
Domestic Developments 
 
¶1. U.S. Ambassador to the ROK Kathleen Stephens, during a Jan. 12 
speech at POSTECH on "Building the U.S.-ROK Alliance in the 21st 
Century," said that the ROK is an important nation to the U.S. She 
also noted in response to a question that when an eventuality occurs 
on the Korean Peninsula, it will be discussed in the framework of 
the Six-Party Talks. (Yonhap) 
 
¶2. According to the ROK Foreign Ministry, Hwang Joon-kook, ROK 
Deputy Chief Delegate to the Six-Party Talks, will visit North Korea 
tomorrow to discuss Seoul's possible purchase of unused nuclear fuel 
rods from the DPRK. Hwang's visit marks the first time that ROK 
officials will enter Pyongyang since Lee Myung-bak's Administration 
began.  Korean media are speculating that the visit might lead to a 
breakthrough in both strained inter-Korean relations and the stalled 
Six-Party Talks. (All) 
 
¶3. One paper is reporting that a group of President Lee's policy 
advisers visited the U.S. last week and asked Obama officials not to 
hurry to send a high-level special envoy to North Korea. (Chosun) 
 
¶4. According to ROK and U.S. military authorities, the U.S. will 
replace 24 Apache attack helicopters with a dozen F-16 fighter jets, 
instead of the A-10 aircraft agreed earlier. The U.S. explained that 
the F-16's proven combat record provides an enhanced deterrent 
capability on the Korean Peninsula, but there is concern that the 
sudden change might cause a security vacuum due to different mission 
capabilities between Apaches, F-16s and A-10s. (Dong-a, Hankook, 
Segye, Seoul, all TVs) 
 
 
International News 
 
¶1. Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton, in a Jan. 13 (local 
time) Senate confirmation hearing, promised to "act with urgency to 
prevent nuclear proliferation in North Korea and Iran." (JoongAng, 
Hankyoreh, Segye, KBS) 
 
¶2. North Korea, in a Jan. 13 statement by its Foreign Ministry, 
claimed that the normalization of North Korea - U.S relations should 
come before denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. (JoongAng, 
Dong-a, Hankook, Hankyoreh, Segye, Seoul, all TVs) 
 
 
Media Analysis 
 
North Korea 
The ROK media gave wide coverage to ROK Deputy Chief Nuclear Envoy 
Hwang Joon-kook's visit to North Korea tomorrow to discuss Seoul's 
possible purchase of unused nuclear fuel rods from the DPRK.  The 
ROK media noted that Hwang's visit will be the first visit to 
Pyongyang by an ROK official since Lee Myung-bak came into office. 
There is wide media speculation wondering whether the visit could 
lead to a breakthrough in strained inter-Korean relations and the 
stalled Six-Party Talks.  In particular, Chosun Ilbo viewed 
Pyongyang's permission for a senior ROKG official to visit as a 
two-pronged strategy: One, the DPRK may be sending a message to the 
incoming Obama Administration that the DPRK is ready to engage 
actively in negotiations to resolve its nuclear issue.  Two, the 
DPRK may plan to sell its fuel rods to the ROK at a high price. 
 
Most of the ROK media reported on Secretary of State-designate 
Hillary Clinton's Jan. 13 (local time) Senate confirmation hearing, 
in which she promised to "act with urgency to prevent proliferation 
in North Korea and Iran, secure loose nuclear weapons and 
materials." 
 
Most of the ROK media also gave attention to a Jan. 13 statement by 
the North Korean Foreign Ministry, which contended that the 
normalization of U.S. - North Korea relations should come before 
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.  Pyongyang's Foreign 
Ministry was cited as saying: "North Korea would not need its own 
arsenal once the U.S. nuclear umbrella over the ROK is gone." 
 
Conservative Chosun Ilbo ran an inside report saying that a group of 
President Lee's policy advisers visited the U.S. last week, asking 
Obama officials not to hurry to send a high-level special envoy to 
North Korea. 
 
Gaza 
Citing foreign media, most of the ROK media reported that Israeli 
troops reached the suburbs of Gaza City - where the Hamas leadership 
is located - for the first time in the conflict yesterday.  The 
media also noted that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned 
Hamas of his country's "iron fist."  Chosun Ilbo interpreted this as 
Israel's ultimatum for Hamas to surrender. 
 
 
Opinions/Editorials 
 
Why Is U.S. Attacking ROK Cars Only? 
(JoongAng Ilbo, January 14, 2009, Page 30) 
 
By New York Correspondent Nam Jung-ho 
 
The downfall of the U.S.'s Big Three automakers inevitably stemmed 
from competition with foreign vehicles, especially Japanese 
automobiles.  These days, however, the ROK is being denounced as the 
main culprit of the collapse of the Big Three. 
 
When I asked one of my American friends why, he responded, "That is 
because Americans consider Toyota and Honda automobiles American 
cars."  Over the past two decades, Toyota has made every effort to 
build its image as a pro-U.S. company.  Strategically, it stationed 
its production facilities across 13 areas in the U.S. and employed 
thousands of people in each region.  Naturally, lawmakers in those 
areas became friends of the Japanese automakers in Washington. 
Toyota also assigned 17 lobbyists to Washington for lobbying 
Congress.  Furthermore, it has provided hundreds of dollars to 
attention-grabbing community activities, such as a literacy program 
for Hispanic families. 
 
Of course, the ROK-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which is 
awaiting legislative approval, may be part of the reason why U.S. 
political and business circles are bashing the ROK.  However, it is 
certain that Japanese carmakers' persistent lobbying activities 
spanning decades played a big role in easing up on bashing Japan. 
With the ROK-U.S. auto trade imbalance emerging as an obstacle in 
the ratification of the free trade deal, we need to think about 
Japan's efforts. 
 
 
Features 
 
U.S. Replaces Apache Helicopters Not with A-10 Aircrafts But with 
F-16 Fighter Jets, Leaving a Possible Military Vacuum 
(Dong-a Ilbo, January 14, 2009, Page 10) 
 
Reporter Yoon Sang-ho 
 
The U.S. reached a controversial decision to replace 24 Apache 
attack helicopters with F-16 fighter jets, instead of the previously 
announced A-10 aircrafts. 
 
Why was deployment of the A-10 aircraft cancelled? 
 
During a press conference held on January 13, the U.S and ROK 
military authorities announced that it was inevitable for them to 
reach the decision, as all A-10s need to be inspected and repaired 
to resolve maintenance issues found in some A-10 aircrafts. 
 
The U.S. and ROK announced last November that they will deploy 12 
A-10 aircrafts in ROK in exchange for pulling out the Apache attack 
helicopters for deployment in Fort Carson, Colorado. 
 
Col. Lee Keon-wan, director of the Joint Air Operations said, "We 
made a decision to change the type of replacement aircrafts after 
the A-10 aircraft maintenance issue was first brought up at the 20th 
Security Policy Initiative conference held last December." 
 
But many cast doubt on whether the flip-flop over replacement of 
Apaches was just driven by maintenance requirements alone.  Some 
insist that there may be another reason behind the change in the 
type of replacement aircraft after they decided to replace Apache 
attack helicopters with the A-10 aircraft. 
 
Despite USFK's explanations, critics say that the U.S. will deploy 
more Apache helicopters and the A-10 aircrafts, which are effective 
in eliminating the enemy camp and the ground target, in Afghanistan, 
in line with the incoming Obama Administration' statement that it 
will dedicate itself to the Afghanistan war. 
 
Rising concern over military vacuum 
 
In a press conference, Col. Mike Chandler, chief of staff at the 
U.S. 7th Air Force said, "Both the Apache helicopter and F-16 
aircraft support the ground armed forces.  The F-16's combat-proven 
record is well known and will provide an enhanced deterrent 
capability on the Korean Peninsula." 
 
This means that deploying the F-16 fighter jets on the Korean 
Peninsula will cause no problem in deterring North Korean armored 
divisions. 
 
But critics believe that the main mission of the F-16 fighter jets 
lies in long-distance precision strikes, so they cannot replace the 
A-10 aircrafts committed to short-distance ground attacks. 
 
In particular, the A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft, nicknamed "tank 
killer" is known to have anti-tank capabilities as good as those of 
the Apache.  Commander of the 8th U.S. Army, Joseph Fil, commented 
last November, "The A-10 aircraft is superior in terms of armament 
loading and duration of flight than the Apache helicopter." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The ROK and the U.S. announced that 12 F-16 fighters will be 
deployed in the ROK in place of Apache helicopters by September, and 
they also said that the two nations will review a plan to realign 
USFK's war-fighting capabilities before making any decision, which 
raises concerns over a possible military vacuum. 
 
A military source said, "The U.S. is expected to use this situation 
as an opportunity to earnestly launch the reorganization of USFK 
that would be centered around air force," adding, "If the military 
vacuum left by the withdrawal of the Apache squadron is prolonged, 
the (ROK) military authorities will consider mapping out alternative 
measures, such as purchasing used Apache helicopters." 
 
 
North Korea's Double-faced Strategy with "Unused Fuel Rods"? 
(Chosun Ilbo, January 14, 2009, Page 6) 
 
By Reporter Lim Min-hyuk 
 
Why did Pyongyang allow the ROKG nuclear official to visit North 
Korea? 
 
By approving the visit, Pyongyang may want to send a conciliatory 
gesture toward the incoming U.S. administration or sell its fuel 
rods to the ROK at a high price. 
 
Seoul: "It is not a bad sign for inter-Korean ties." 
 
Many observers say that North Korea's permission for a January 15 
visit by Hwang Joon-kook, Director General of the Foreign Ministry's 
North Korean Nuclear Affairs Bureau, is "not a bad sign" in terms of 
inter-Korean ties and U.S.-North Korea relations.  Since North Korea 
expelled the entire 11 ROK officials from the Gaesong Industrial 
Complex on March 27, 2008, it has completely blocked visits by any 
ROKG officials. 
 
Pyongyang mindful of both Seoul and Washington? 
 
An ROKG official said on January 13, "Although Hwang is going to 
visit Pyongyang in his capacity as the ROK's Deputy Chief Nuclear 
Envoy, not as the ROK's representative to inter-Korean talks, it is 
meaningful that all six members of the fact-finding team led by 
Hwang are ROK officials and nuclear experts."  The team consists of 
officials from the Foreign Ministry, the Unification Ministry and 
the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd, and nuclear experts from 
the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. 
 
It is not yet known whether the team will discuss with Pyongyang the 
strained inter-Korean ties, in addition to North Korea's nuclear 
disablement and verification (the pending issues of the Six-Party 
Talks).  However, Kim Yong-hyun, a Dongguk University professor, 
noted, "The fact itself that North Korea allowed a visit by an ROK 
high-ranking official in any capacity is a positive sign."  A 
researcher at a state-run institute said that with President-elect 
Obama's inauguration only a week away, the North is sending the U.S. 
a "message saying that it is ready to engage actively in nuclear 
talks, including nuclear disablement." 
 
On the other hand, Chung Sung-hoon, a senior researcher at the Korea 
Institute for National Unification, said, "North Korea is dealing 
with the nuclear issue and inter-Korean ties completely separately," 
adding, "North Korea may have allowed the visit for the 'business' 
purpose of selling unused fuel rods (to South Korea) at a high 
price."  A government source stated, "North Korea may have accepted 
the visit in order to use it as an opportunity to urge Seoul to 
resume its energy aid to the North." 
 
North Korea trading in fuel rods? 
 
The main purpose of the ROKG's fact-finding team is to examine the 
situation before deciding whether to purchase unused nuclear fuel 
rods from North Korea.  Thus far, eight out of the eleven steps 
toward nuclear disablement in North Korea have been completed, and 
the remaining steps are to discharge spent fuel rods, to extract the 
running gear of the fuel rods, and to ship out unused fuel rods. 
Among a total of 8,000 spent fuel rods, about 5,500 have been taken 
out, and at present, 15 spent fuel rods are reportedly being 
discharged every day.  Given that the driving gear of the fuel rods 
can be easily removed after extraction of spent fuel rods, how to 
deal with the unused fuel rods will be the last challenge. 
 
The unused fuel rods can be disabled by bending or selling them. The 
fact-finding team will visit North Korea's nuclear reactor in 
Yongbyon to review what measures can be put in place.  North Korea 
is believed to have about 14,000 unused fuel rods of the 5 MW and 50 
MW reactors. 
 
The ROKG has expressed its interest in purchasing North Korea's 
unused fuel rods.  During the Six-Party Talks held last December, 
Kim Sook, Special Representative for Korean Peace and Security 
Affairs, said, "Nuclear experts need to conduct an on-site review of 
the commercial value of the North's unused fuel rods." 
 
 
U.S. Ambassador: "The ROK Is an Important Nation to the U.S." 
(Yonhap News, January 12, 2009) 
 
By Reporter Lim Sang-hyeon 
 
When an eventuality occurs on the Korean Peninsula, it will be 
discussed in the Six-Party Talks. 
 
The U.S. Ambassador gives a lecture on "Building the U.S-ROK 
Alliance in the 21st Century" at POSTECH. 
 
U.S. Ambassador to the ROK Kathleen Stephens said, "The ROK is an 
important nation to the U.S., and a new relationship between the 
U.S. and the ROK needs to be established in the twenty-first 
century." 
 
U.S. Ambassador Stephens gave a lecture titled the "U.S.-ROK 
Alliance in the 21st century" in POSCO International Center at the 
invitation of the POSTECH on January 12.  She commented, 
"President-elect Obama telephoned the leaders of nine nations after 
the U.S. Presidential election, including ROK President Lee 
Myung-bak.  Mr. Obama called on the ROKG to be committed to serving 
as a cornerstone for fundamental peace and security in Northeast 
Asia." 
 
Asked about the rumor that Russia and China may intervene in 
political situations in North Korea in case of the death of North 
Korean leader Kim Jong-il, the U.S. Ambassador said only that it 
would not be appropriate for her to express her view on that rumor 
because it could become news.  She added, "When an eventuality 
occurs on the Korean Peninsula, it will be discussed in the 
framework of the Six-Party Talks." 
 
She commented, "The U.S. and ROK have maintained a relationship 
forged in blood since the Korean War, and now a new relationship 
needs to be established.  Both countries should seek to build a new 
global partnership to share their experiences and values for 
co-prosperity in the twenty-first century." 
 
Ambassador Stephens also said, "In 1987-1989 when I served in the 
U.S. Consulate in Busan, the ROK Presidential election was a matter 
of international concern. History (now) interprets the direct 
presidential election at that time as a watershed in the ROK's 
development," adding, "I think that the ROK and the U.S. pursue the 
same (values) and that (that) direct election was a true beginning 
in a new sense." 
 
In addition, she noted, "Since I taught English in Yesan, South 
Chungcheong Province, for three years from 1975, I have a great deal 
of affection for the ROK, and I think that my role is to improve 
friendship, co-prosperity, and cooperation between the ROK and the 
U.S." 
 
Regarding Pohang University of Science and Technology or POSTECH, 
she stated, "In the knowledge-based society of the twenty-first 
century, human resources are very important, and as shown in POSCO 
or POSTECH, which have grown into the world's leading company and 
university without any particular resources, the driving force 
behind the ROK's growth is human talent.  I personally hope that 
there will be even more personal exchanges between the two 
countries." 
 
Ambassador Stephens said, "The reason why Asian engineering students 
go through complicated procedures to get (U.S.) visas is due to the 
September 11 terrorist attacks. The USG also understands that this 
is counterproductive, and we are working to improve this matter in 
various ways." 
On the afternoon of January 11, Ambassador Stephens arrived in 
Pohang and visited Pohang City Hall, and on the morning of January 
12, she visited the U.S. Marine installation at Camp Mujuk to give 
soldiers a pep talk before heading to POSCO and POSTECH. 
 
(Ed. note: According to the transcript, the Ambassador actually 
said: "Each visa case is taken on its own merit so it is very 
difficult for me to generalize... In the aftermath of, to be very 
frank, of September 11, 2001, we were faced with what seems to be a 
new situation and a number of initiatives were introduced in terms 
of visa processes.  In my own personal view, it turned out to be 
counterproductive and actually it is not my own personal view.  I 
think there is wide-spread understanding that some of the approaches 
we've tried turned out to be counterproductive.  We need to continue 
to work on it.") 
 
 
Stephens 
1