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TAGS: KPAO PGOV PREL MARR ECON KS US
SUBJECT: PRESS BULLETIN - December 31, 2008 
 
Opinions/Editorials 
 
¶1. The Israel-Palestine Issue Will Be Resolved Only When the U.S. Is 
Fair 
(Dong-a Ilbo, December 31, 2008, Page 27) 
 
Features 
 
¶2. N. Korea to Prepare for Post-Kim Jong-il Era Next Year 
(Dong-a Ilbo, December 31, 2008, Front Page) 2 
¶3. ROK Looking at Ways to Support U.S. in Afghanistan 
(Chosun Ilbo, December 31, 2008, Front Page) 
 
 
Top Headlines 
 
Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo, Hankook Ilbo, 
Segye Ilbo, Seoul Shinmun, All TVs 
Rival Parties Fail to Reach Compromise on Contentious Bills; 
National Assembly Speaker Exercises His Right to Restore Order in 
the Legislature to Disperse Opposition Parties 
Occupying Main Assembly Chamber 
 
Dong-a Ilbo 
National Assembly Headed for Clash 
 
Hankyoreh Shinmun 
Ruling Party Poised to "Railroad Contentious Bills" 
 
 
Domestic Developments 
 
¶1. According to a diplomatic source, outgoing Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice will visit Seoul around Jan. 8 as part of her 
farewell trip to the region. (Chosun, Dong-a) Secretary of 
State-designate Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, is said to be 
considering visiting the ROK, Japan and China in early April. 
(Dong-a) 
 
¶2. According to an ROKG source, the ROKG will send a fact-finding 
team to Afghanistan next month to examine the Afghan situation, in 
preparation for Washington's possible request for Seoul to expand 
its contribution to the war-torn country. (Chosun) 
 
 
International News 
 
¶1. According to a Dec. 26 report by the Institute for National 
Security Strategy, a subsidiary of the (ROK) National Intelligence 
Service, North Korea is expected to hold general elections for its 
legislature in July and August to replace senior politicians with 
up-and-coming young politicians, in preparation for an era without 
its Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il. (Dong-a) 
Media Analysis 
 
Israeli Assault on Gaza 
The ROK media continued to give prominent attention to the massive 
Israeli air strikes on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. The ROK media 
reported that a ground war seems imminent as thousands of Israeli 
ground troops have massed along the border with Gaza. Commentators 
cited Israel's "shameful" withdrawal two years ago from the fight 
against Hezbollah guerillas in southern Lebanon and predicted that 
Israel will not easily march into the Gaza region.  Israeli Prime 
Minister Ehud Olmert was widely quoted as saying: "The air strikes 
so far are the first of several."  A Hamas spokesman was also cited 
as urging Palestinian groups to respond using "all available means" 
against Israel, including "martyrdom operations," referring to 
suicide bombings.  Left-leaning Hankyoreh Shinmun noted Dec. 29 
press remarks by White House National Security Council Spokesman 
Gordon Johndroe: "The U.S. understands that Israel must defend 
itself.  In order for the violence to stop, Hamas must stop firing 
rockets into Israel and agree to respect a sustainable and durable 
ceasefire."  Hankyoreh headlined its story: "U.S. Sides with Israel 
Only" 
 
Hanyang University Prof. Lee Hee-soo opined in conservative Dong-a 
Ilbo: "Although the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling 
for Israel to withdraw from its occupied territories, and the 
International Court of Justice issued a final ruling that Israel 
should remove the Separation Barrier (erected to prevent the entry 
of Palestinians into Israel), Israel refuses to budge an inch, 
citing national security.  Furthermore, as long as Hamas continues 
to resist recognizing the existence of Israel, this parallel may 
continue for another six decades.  The biggest dilemma in the Middle 
East conflict lies in the fact that there is no impartial mediator. 
The U.S., the world's police, has no alternative but to side with 
Israel unconditionally, and it is currently difficult to find any 
influential mediator who can persuade Hamas.  This Middle East issue 
is a task that requires the fair role of the U.S. and hard work and 
cooperation among the entire human race." 
 
Afghanistan 
Conservative Chosun Ilbo gave front-page play to a report saying 
that the ROKG will send a fact-finding team to Afghanistan next 
month to study the Afghan situation, in preparation for Washington's 
possible request for Seoul to expand its contribution to the 
war-torn country.  An ROKG source was quoted as saying: "A senior 
Foreign Ministry official and a working-level team will arrive in 
Afghanistan in mid-January.  They will visit Bagram, where an ROK 
reconstruction team is currently deployed."  Another ROKG official 
was also quoted as stating: "We've concluded that it's necessary to 
conduct a fact finding mission to see how we can contribute there in 
consideration of our relations with the new U.S. administration." 
 
 
Opinions/Editorials 
 
The Israel-Palestine Issue Will Be Resolved Only When the U.S. Is 
Fair 
(Dong-a Ilbo, December 31, 2008, Page 27) 
 
By Lee Hee-soo, Hanyang University Professor and President of the 
Korean Association of Middle East Studies 
The Middle East has seen war for the last 60 years. Now, Israel and 
Hamas Islamists once again mount attacks against each other. 
 
Hamas occupied the Gaza Strip after Israel withdrew from the region 
in.  Hamas became the leading party and formed a de facto autonomous 
government in the Gaza Strip with the ardent support of residents in 
the general election in February 2006.  Hamas has pursued armed 
conflict with Israel, unlike Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas of 
Al-Fatah party who resorted to negotiation with Israel for resolving 
the conflict. 
 
Israel, for its part, set up the separation barrier and began to 
pursue its policy to isolate the Gaza Strip in June, 2007.  It 
intended to incite an uprising by keeping water, electricity and 
daily necessities under strict control, and ultimately leaving them 
withering to death.  The two parties barely agreed on the truce this 
June, faced with the immediate resistance from Hamas and brutal 
punishment by Israel. 
 
Despite these efforts, the region has been plagued with isolation 
and blockade. Hamas Islamists could no longer lead a life with 
commodities delivered through an underground tunnel, and residential 
complaints and sufferings went to extremes.  Given that, the last 
attack by Hamas was just an expected step. 
 
Israel must have made a political calculation that it should not 
miss this opportunity.  Above all, it would no longer be able to 
ignore the powerful enemy, which is posing a threat to Israeli 
security right under their nose.  Israeli leaders must also have 
ruminated on the shameful withdrawal from Lebanon two years ago. 
Observers point out, sadly, that Israel's move is designed for its 
ruling party to win votes in the February 10 general elections. 
Israel may also seek to use a power vacuum caused by the termination 
of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's mandate on January 
10 and the upcoming Obama inauguration in the U.S.  How long must 
this tedious and abominable war be used as a political tool by 
extremists at the expense of innocent lives? 
 
Although the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling for 
Israel's withdrawal from its occupied territories, and the 
International Court of Justice issued a final ruling that Israel 
should tear down its separation barrier, Israel is not budging an 
inch, citing national security.  And as long as Hamas continues to 
resist recognizing the existence of Israel, this parallel may run 
for another six decades. 
 
The biggest dilemma in the Middle East conflict is the fact that 
there is no impartial mediator.  The global cop U.S. has no 
alternative but to side with Israel unconditionally. It is currently 
difficult to find any influential mediator who can persuade Hamas to 
stop.  This Middle East issue is a task that requires the fair 
involvement of the U.S. and hard work and cooperation among the 
entire human race. 
 
 
Features 
 
¶N. Korea to Prepare for Post-Kim Jong-il Era Next Year 
(Dong-a Ilbo, December 31, 2008, Front Page) 
 
By Reporter Shin Seok-ho 
 
North Korea is expected to hold general legislative elections in 
July and August to replace senior politicians with up-and-coming 
ones, preparing for an era without supreme leader, Kim Jong-il. 
The Institute for National Security Strategy, a subsidiary of the 
National Intelligence Service, made this forecast yesterday. 
"Certain elderly politicians will be replaced and middle-aged ones 
will emerge (via these elections)," the report said.  "Increasingly, 
more people who have given economic benefits to the nation will be 
chosen as lawmakers." 
The report also predicted that the North's "military-first" ideology 
will gradually lose support as it develops another ideology to 
prepare itself for a post-Kim era. 
According to the think tank, pragmatism and the "juche" ideology, or 
one stressing independence, will gain more support. 
 
* This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is 
identical to the Korean version. 
 
 
ROK Looking at Ways to Support U.S. in Afghanistan 
(Chosun Ilbo, December 31, 2008, Front Page) 
 
By Reporter Lim Min-hyeok 
 
The government will dispatch a senior official to Afghanistan in 
January on a fact-finding mission to assess what the ROK can do to 
help the U.S. war effort there.  The ROKG expects the Barack Obama 
Administration, which will be inaugurated on Jan. 20, to ask Seoul 
for a renewed commitment in the war-torn country. 
 
A ROKG source said a senior Foreign Ministry official and a 
working-level team will arrive in Afghanistan in mid-January.  They 
will visit Bagram, where what is billed as an ROK "reconstruction" 
team is currently deployed, he added. 
 
Another Government official said, "We've concluded that it's 
necessary to conduct on-site fact finding to see how we can 
contribute there in consideration of our relations with the new U.S. 
Administration." 
 
* This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is 
identical to the Korean version. 
 
 
Stephens 
6