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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO PGOV PREL MARR ECON KS US
SUBJECT: PRESS BULLETIN - February 27, 2009 
 
Opinions/Editorials 
 
¶1. The Only Way Out 
(JoongAng Ilbo, February 27, 2009, Page 27) 
¶2. A Part-Time Envoy for a Full-Time Task 
(Chosun Ilbo, February 27, 2009, Page 26) 
¶3. Ratification of the KORUS FTA Is Urgent 
(Hankook Ilbo, February 27, 2009, Page 39) 
 
 
Features 
 
¶4. Even If the U.S. Successfully Intercepts Missile from North 
Korea, It May Face Dilemma 
(Chosun Ilbo, February 27, 2009, Page 3) 
Top Headlines 
 
 
Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo, Dong-a Ilbo, Hankyoreh Shinmun, Seoul 
Shinmun, Segye Ilbo, All TVs 
Buying Comprehensive Insurance Policies No Longer 
Exempts Drivers from Criminal Liability 
if They Seriously Injure Others in a Car Accident 
 
Hankook Ilbo 
National Assembly Speaker Kim Decides to Invoke His Right to Present 
Six to Seven Economy-related Bills 
 
 
Domestic Developments 
 
1 With North Korea's missile preparations ongoing, an ROKG source 
said, "The North is now testing its missile tracking and control 
equipment, such as the Fire Work radar. (Chosun) 
 
2 An ROK military official speculated that it may have cost 
Pyongyang about 300 billion dollars, 20 percent of its annual 
budget, to manufacture and fire a Taepodong-2 missile. (Dong-a) 
 
3 With the number of Koreans illegally staying in the U.S. 
dramatically increasing, concerns are being raised that it may be 
difficult to maintain the ROK's visa waiver status. (JoongAng) 
 
 
International News 
 
1 Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, Director of the Missile Defense Agency of 
the U.S. Department of Defense, told a hearing of the House Armed 
Services Committee's Strategic Forces Subcommittee that the U.S. has 
successfully intercepted missiles flying from North Korea three 
times in scenarios to test its missile defense system. (JoongAng, 
Dong-a, Seoul, Segye, All TVs) JoongAng Ilbo added in its 
inside-page story that if the North fires a Taepodong-2 missile, the 
U.S. is likely to intercept it. (JoongAng) 
 
2 The U.S. Department of State, in its 2008 Human Rights Report, 
described North Korea as a "dictatorship" where citizens are 
subjected to arbitrary detention, executions and disappearances 
without due judicial process. (Chosun, Hankook, Hankyoreh, Segye, 
All TVs, Pressian) 
 
3 Wu Dawei, China's Chief Negotiator for the Six-Party Talks, made a 
s-e-c-r-e-t visit to Pyongyang last week, according to a diplomatic 
source in Beijing who speculated that the likely aim of the envoy's 
trip was to pressure North Korea not to escalate military tensions 
with suspected missile launch preparations. (Dong-a, KBS, MBC) 
During the meeting between Wu and Vice Foreign Minister Kim 
Kye-gwan, the North reportedly expressed its willingness to resume 
the Six-Party Talks. (Seoul, Segye) Meanwhile, Kim Myong-gil, 
Minister to the North's U.N. mission in New York, said on Thursday 
that his country would implement "the satellite launch as 
scheduled." (Hankook, KBS) 
 
4 The AFP reported on Feb. 26 that U.S. Special Envoy for North 
Korea (sic) Stephen Bosworth will travel to Asia next week for talks 
on moving forward in negotiations aimed at ending Pyongyang's 
nuclear program. (Hankyoreh) (Ed. Note: Ambassador Bosworth's 
official title is "Special Representative to North Korea.") 
 
 
Media Analysis 
 
North Korea's Missile Launch Preparations 
All major newspapers gave wide coverage to the statement of DOD 
Missile Defense Agency Director Gen. Patrick O'Reilly at the hearing 
of the House Armed Services Committee's Strategic Forces 
Subcommittee.  O'Reilly said that the U.S. has successfully 
intercepted missiles flying from North Korea three times in 
scenarios to test its missile defense system, adding, "Based on the 
scenarios that we've tested three times, although it's limited and 
it's in the beginning, those scenarios overlay a launch from North 
Korea and a response out of Alaska." 
 
Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo added in its inside-page story that if 
the North fires a Taepodong-2 missile, the U.S. is likely to 
intercept it. 
 
Conservative Dong-a Ilbo, moderate Hankook Ilbo, and left-leaning 
Hankyoreh Shinmun quoted a diplomatic source in Beijing as saying 
that China's Chief Negotiator for the Six-Party Talks Wu Dawei made 
a s-e-c-r-e-t visit to Pyongyang last week, speculating that the 
likely aim of the envoy's trip was to pressure North Korea not to 
escalate military tensions with suspected missile launch 
preparations.  Hankook Ilbo also cited Kim Myong-gil, Minister to 
the North's U.N. mission in New York, as saying on Thursday that his 
country would implement "the satellite launch as scheduled." 
Moderate Seoul Shinmun and conservative Segye Ilbo reported that 
during the meeting between Wu and Vice Foreign Minister Kim 
Kye-gwan, the North reportedly expressed its willingness to resume 
the Six-Party Talks. 
 
Meanwhile, Hankyoreh Shinmun replayed an AFP story that U.S. Special 
Envoy (sic) for North Korea Stephen Bosworth will travel to Asia 
next week for talks on how to move forward negotiations aimed at 
ending Pyongyang's nuclear program. 
 
Conservative Chosun Ilbo quoted an ROKG source as saying, "The North 
is now testing its missile tracking and control equipment, such as 
the Fire Work radar."  The newspaper also reported that North Korea 
has installed an automatic fuel pump at a launch pad, and thus, fuel 
injection for a rocket or missile will take only one or two days. 
 
Under the headline, "The U.S. in a Dilemma; It is Confident of 
Intercepting a Missile, but Not Confident of Its Fallout," Chosun 
Ilbo took note of both confident and cautious stances on missile 
interception.  The newspaper quoted Republican Rep. Michael Turner 
as saying that the U.S. could use the Missile Defense system in 
order to protect U.S. and its allies.  In contrast, Chosun Ilbo also 
quoted International Crisis Group researcher Daniel Pinkston, who 
warned that "the U.S.'s missile interception will give an excuse for 
the North to discontinue the Six-Party Talks." 
 
JoongAng Ilbo's senior columnist Kim Young-hie observed in his 
opinion piece: "Instead of becoming prosperous by test-launching a 
satellite, or a missile in disguise, North Korea will only provide 
firmer ground on which anti-Pyongyang hardliners in the United 
States and South Korea can stand.  It will also give the United 
States a good reason to enhance its missile defense system." 
 
State Department's 2008 Human Rights Report 
All major newspapers carried straight feature stories about the 
State Department's 2008 Human Rights Report.  In that report, the 
U.S. Department of State described North Korea as a "dictatorship" 
where citizens are subjected to arbitrary detention, executions and 
disappearances without due judicial process.  Concerning the ROK, 
the Report highlighted the National Security Law, discrimination 
against women, minorities and people with disabilities as areas 
where improvement is needed.  Hankyoreh Shinmun added that the State 
Department said human rights will be a part of the U.S.'s overall 
normalization dialogue with the North. 
 
Global Economy 
Conservative Dong-a Ilbo raised concerns over trade protectionism in 
its editorial titled "Bracing for Global Protectionism."  The 
editorial said: "Protectionism will lead to a vicious cycle of 
retaliation and eventually undermine the concerted global effort to 
 
overcome the financial crisis.  The ROKG should take advantage of 
its co-chairing of the G20 meeting this year and do everything it 
can to initiate and set an agenda that creates a constructive 
atmosphere for removal of protectionist trade barriers." 
 
 
Opinions/Editorials 
 
The Only Way Out 
(JoongAng Ilbo, February 27, 2009, Page 27) 
 
By Senior Columnist Kim Young-hie 
 
Instead of becoming prosperous by test-launching a missile, North 
Korea will only provide firmer ground for anti-Pyongyang hardliners 
in the U.S. and the South to stand on. 
 
It looks like North Korea is attempting to develop a prosperous 
economy by launching a missile. 
 
A Gwangmyongsong-2, or Lodestar-2, is actually a formidable 
Taepodong-2 missile with a range of 6,000 kilometers (3,728 miles). 
In theory, it can reach Alaska in the U.S., Russia, India, Pakistan, 
Malaysia or Indonesia. 
 
There are two ways for North Korea to become rich by launching a 
"satellite," which is just another name the communist state uses for 
a missile. 
 
First, it can earn dollars selling missiles to other countries like 
Iran and Syria. 
 
It can also scare the U.S. with its missile capacity.  The North 
expects a harried Washington to hurriedly normalize ties and accept 
Pyongyang's possession of nuclear weapons.  If Washington-Pyongyang 
relations are normalized, North Korea thinks that it will be able to 
collect a huge amount of money from Japan, the European Union and 
international financial institutions.  That's what the North is 
thinking. 
 
The problem is that North Korea always makes calculations from a 
self-centered perspective. 
 
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S., whether under a Republican or 
a Democratic administration, has made it clear that it won't accept 
rogue states trading in weapons of mass destruction. 
 
When it comes to North Korea, Washington is more concerned about 
proliferation through exports of nuclear weaponry and missiles than 
about the North actually possessing nuclear arms. 
 
But despite what Pyongyang thinks, its plan to become better off by 
selling missiles and missile technology would, in fact, cause the 
poor country to go bankrupt. 
 
In the 1960s, U.S. President John F. Kennedy declared, "Let us never 
negotiate out of fear.  But let us never fear to negotiate." 
 
Kennedy's declaration is still valid today. 
 
Even if North Korea successfully launches a Gwangmyongsong-2, the 
Barack Obama Administration will unlikely be surprised to the extent 
that it would give up trying to verify the disablement of the 
North's nuclear facilities and quickly normalize ties. 
 
The U.S. will more likely speed up the establishment of its missile 
defense system.  PAC-3 interceptor missiles are already set up 
around the U.S. Army bases in Korea.  The Korean Army has also put 
Patriot PAC-2 missiles in position early this year. 
 
Instead of becoming prosperous by test-launching a satellite, or a 
missile in disguise, North Korea will only provide firmer ground for 
anti-Pyongyang hardliners in the U.S. and South Korea to stand on. 
 
It will also give the U.S. a good reason to enhance its missile 
defense system. 
 
Could there be a worse deal than this? 
North Korea is choosing a steep cliff over a wide open road as a 
path to riches, a choice that is criticized by the international 
community. 
 
The Six-Party Talks clarified that if North Korea gives up its 
nuclear development program in a verifiable way, it would receive a 
great deal of economic rewards. 
 
If it gives up its nuclear program, tens of billions of dollars will 
flow into the reclusive state. 
 
Countries with interests on the Korean Peninsula will provide aid to 
the North, international financial institutions will provide it with 
long-term, low-interest loans and Japan will pay war compensation. 
 
South Korea will take part in development projects in North Korea 
and provide aid. 
 
All in all, for the North it will be like hitting the jackpot in 
return for giving up its nuclear program. 
 
In 2002 during a visit to Seoul, Thomas L. Friedman, a columnist for 
The New York Times, likened Pyongyang's brinkmanship to a poor 
jobless man who has planted explosives around his house and 
threatens to blow them up unless his neighbors bring him good 
Chinese food every day and pay his heating bills. 
 
This metaphor works, but Friedman missed one thing. 
 
Even though many of the man's neighbors, who have much at stake, 
promise to meet all the demands, the man keeps making threats.  He 
began threatening his neighbors as a last resort to save himself 
from his plight, but he has forgotten why he started such extremism 
in the first place.  Now he just enjoys playing the game. 
 
Pyongyang's insanity puts three groups in agony. 
 
The first is the citizens of North Korea. 
 
The lives of North Koreans get poorer and more distressed as the 
country's leaders, focused on Kim Jong-il's health and his future 
successor, come up with childish ideas and plans. 
 
The next group is made up of pro-North Korean left-wingers and 
progressives in South Korea. 
 
Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun and other pro-North Korean forces from 
the left have remained silent in the face of North Korea's madness. 
Their foothold has never been as weak as it is now. 
 
The last is the South Korean economy. 
 
North Korea's repeated threats have given foreign investors another 
reason to leave South Korea.  If the South needs to buy, say, 30 
PAC3 missiles, each unit costing more than 2.6 billion won ($1.68 
million), when the economy is already in bad shape, the burden 
passes directly to taxpayers. 
 
Could a Bismarck or a Kissinger, men gifted with extraordinary 
talent for diplomacy, be able to end North Korea's insanity 
immediately? 
 
There is no such magic. 
 
The only way is to patiently implement conventional measures. 
 
These include: (1) enhancing collaboration between South Korea and 
the other powers around the Korean Peninsula, sending a message that 
we will never give in to brinkmanship, and (2) shifting the Lee 
Myung-bak Administration's North Korea policy to a moderate one and 
engaging in dialogue involving high-ranking officials in Washington 
and Pyongyang. 
 
It may feel terrific to watch a U.S. missile intercepting North 
Korea's missile, but it is an adventure that could bring us too 
close to a calamity. 
 
5R* This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is 
identical to the Korean version. 
 
 
A Part-Time Envoy for a Full-Time Task 
(Chosun Ilbo, February 27, 2009, Page 26) 
 
By Washington Correspondent Lee Ha-won 
 
Suppose two of three doctors of similar qualification who are newly 
employed at a general hospital work full time and one (works) 
part-time.  Who would you trust more, especially if the part-timer 
lives nine hours from the hospital by car and only occasionally 
examines and treats patients? 
 
This is a metaphor for the three special envoys the Barack Obama 
Administration has appointed in an effort to resolve urgent 
diplomatic and security issues.  George Mitchell, Special Envoy to 
the Middle East and Richard Holbrooke, Special Envoy to Afghanistan 
and Pakistan, both named soon after the Obama Administration took 
office, are fully engaged in their tasks.  Having already returned 
home from their tours of their respective regions, both are now 
preparing reports to be submitted to President Obama. 
 
In comparison, Stephen Bosworth, the former American ambassador in 
Seoul who has just been named Special Envoy to North Korea, (sic)** 
is given a part-time job.  He retains his position as dean at the 
Fletcher School at Tufts University, Boston and works as Special 
Envoy to the North by visiting the State Department in Washington 
D.C. whenever necessary. 
 
Few in the U.S. doubt Bosworth's capability. He earned recognition 
as a competent diplomat while serving as Executive Director of the 
now defunct Korea Peninsula Energy Development Organization and 
Ambassador to the Philippines and South Korea.  Some U.S. diplomats 
who have served in Seoul rate him as the best ambassador they have 
had here.  He also has a lot of guts, to the extent of openly 
dismissing as "premature" in December 1999 President Kim Dae-jung's 
idea of institutionalizing a tripartite South Korea, China and Japan 
summit. 
 
But quite a few eyebrows were raised when he was given the new task 
as a part-time job.  The current situation on the Korean Peninsula 
is substantially more dangerous than it was at the end of the 
Clinton Administration, on whose model the Obama Administration has 
appointed the special envoy.  Reports have it that North Korea has 
turned an entire 40 kg of plutonium into nuclear warheads and is 
expected to test-fire a Taepodong-2 missile over the Pacific.  It is 
only natural that people have doubts about letting the Special Envoy 
tackle his mission whenever he has a moment to spare, considering 
that the task demands full-time attention.  Contrast this with 
George Mitchell's resignation from Queen's University Belfast 
immediately after he was named Special Envoy to the Middle East. 
 
That is perhaps why Bosworth's appointment seems to have made no 
waves.  "Letting Bosworth fulfill his special envoy mission while 
retaining his post as dean suggests the Obama Administration is 
looking to manage the North Korean issue rather than resolving it," 
said a diplomatic source in Washington.  Speculation is rife even 
after his appointment whether he will head the U.S. delegation at 
the Six-Party Talks and how his role will be shared with U.S. 
Special Envoy on North Korean Affairs (sic)*** Sung Kim. 
 
Our government must guard against this.  The North Korean nuclear 
issue may be so low in the U.S. order of priorities as to warrant 
appointing only a part-time special envoy, but our position must be 
different.  It's extremely dangerous to allow the present situation 
to become entrenched and to start feeling that North Korea's nuclear 
weapons are no big deal. 
 
The government must either pray that a part-time special envoy will 
perform better than a full-time one or offer a positive solution. 
 
* This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is 
identical to the Korean version. 
** (Ed. Note: Ambassador Stephen Bosworth's official title is 
"Special Representative to North Korea.") 
*** (Ed. Note: Ambassador Sung Kim's official title is 
 
 
"Special Envoy to the  Six-Party Talks.") 
Ratification of the KORUS FTA Is Urgent 
(Hankook Ilbo, February 27, 2009, Page 39) 
 
By Lee Kyung-tae, Director of the Institute for International Trade 
at the Korea International Trade Association 
 
There are many reasons why we should not leave the ROK-U.S. Free 
Trade Agreement (FTA) unsettled.  First, the effect of a FTA depends 
on how much quicker we are than our rival countries in clinching the 
deal.  The effect of a FTA is maximized when our rival countries do 
not have the pact.  Therefore, if we move faster than our 
competitors to sign the FTA, we can enjoy its benefits longer. 
 
Second, the ROK-U.S. FTA will strongly support our businesses, which 
have difficulty finding export markets due to the global economic 
crisis.  Amid the current economic downturn, many countries are 
reportedly taking trade protection measures or are considering doing 
so.  The U.S. is also invoking an increasing number of trade 
remedies, such as anti-dumping measures, and has recently included 
the "Buy American" provision in the economic stimulus bill, which 
measures are raising concerns in our export industry.  We cannot but 
lament, "What if the ROK-U.S. FTA was be in force now..." 
 
If the ROK-U.S. FTA had already come into force, we would have had 
an opportunity to have discussions with the U.S. before the U.S. 
began taking trade remedy measures.  The "Buy American" provision 
would not apply to the ROK, and the limit on government procurement 
would be relaxed, consequently providing more opportunities for 
investment in the U.S.'s Social Overhead Capital (SOC). 
 
Third, since the ROK and the U.S. have different legislative 
processes, we should push for the ratification of the deal according 
to our situation.  In the ROK, only after the pact is ratified are 
related laws revised.  In the U.S., however, when the deal is 
ratified, related regulations are automatically changed accordingly. 
 When the ROK National Assembly deliberates on the deal at its 
standing committee or plenary session, it has no time limit, and so 
we do not know when the deal will be approved.  In the U.S., 
however, a deal negotiated under the Trade Promotion Authority must 
be put to a vote within 90 days (after the President's formal 
submission to Congress.) 
 
Some observers argue that if we ratify the free trade deal earlier 
than the U.S. does, it will undermine our national dignity in a 
humiliating way.  I would like to ask them if the national dignity 
of Colombia and Panama, the nations that already approved the FTA 
with the U.S. and are waiting for the U.S.'s ratification, has been 
compromised. 
 
Now is not the time for the National Assembly to discuss how to 
respond to the U.S.'s request for renegotiations even before such a 
request is made.  The National Assembly should face up to the fact 
that the survival of our businesses depends on the ROK-U.S. FTA, and 
should be in a hurry to actively discuss the ratification of the 
free trade deal. 
 
 
Features 
 
Even If the U.S. Successfully Intercepts Missile from North Korea, 
It May Face Dilemma 
(Chosun Ilbo, February 27, 2009, Page 3) 
 
The U.S. has successfully intercepted missiles from North Korea 
three times in scenarios.  Will the U.S. really shoot a missile 
down? 
 
Will the scenario that North Korea test-fires a Taepodong-2 missile 
and the U.S. intercepts it be materialized?  The U.S. Department of 
Defense said that it has successfully conducted tests to intercept 
missiles approaching from North Korea.  But some people argue that 
the U.S. should be cautious in shooting a missile down, considering 
the possibility that the North may withdraw from the Six-Party Talks 
and act in a more belligerent way. 
 
"The U.S. has successfully conducted three rounds of anti-missile 
tests." 
 
Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, director of the Missile Defense Agency of the 
U.S. Department of Defense, was quoted as saying during a 
Congressional hearing, "Based on the scenarios that we've tested 
three times, although it's limited and it's in the beginning, those 
scenarios overlay a launch from North Korea and a response out of 
Alaska."  He noted, "We have a significant number of missiles, so we 
can put a significant number of missiles in the air at once." 
 
Hard-liners insist on utilizing the Missile Defense (MD) system to 
protect the U.S.-ROK Alliance, while some experts call for a 
cautious approach considering that North Korea may halt the 
Six-Party Talks. 
 
Republican congressman Michael Turner said, "If North Korea fires a 
Taepodong-2 missile today, we will be able to put the military 
defense system into practice." 
 
However, some military and security experts call for a cautious 
approach.  Washington Post also noted that whether the U.S.' attempt 
to intercept a missile approaching from North Korea succeeds or not, 
the North may take advantage of this situation." 
 
Researcher Daniel Pinkston at the International Crisis Group (ICG) 
observed, "If the U.S. shoots the North's missile down, North Korea 
will certainly see it as an antagonistic move against the country 
and deny the rationale that it should not go nuclear."  This will 
give North Korea a pretext to put an end to the Six-Party Talks. 
Senior Researcher Bruce Klingner at the Heritage Foundation said 
that unless a missile flying from the North poses a direct threat to 
the U.S and its allies, it would be desirable for the U.S to refrain 
from shooting the missile down. 
 
How to intercept the North's missile 
 
The North's official announcement that it would launch a satellite, 
not a missile, will likely affect the U.S. position that it would 
intercept a missile.  However, intercepting a satellite would spark 
a controversy over the violation of sovereignty.  Not to be driven 
into this situation, the U.S. will have to wait until the projectile 
is confirmed as a missile. 
 
If the North's projectile is to reach a distance of 6700km and hit 
Alaska, the U.S. will intercept it in three phases. 
 
In the boost phase, if a Taepodong-2 has been just launched, SM-3 
missiles from U.S. Aegis destroyers stationed near East Sea or in 
the offshore of Japan will shoot it down.  In the midcourse phase, 
if a Taepodong-2 flies into space, escaping from the atmosphere and 
drops in a parabolic orbit, the Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) 
stationed in Fort Greely in Alaska will be deployed.  In the 
terminal phase, if a Taepodong-2 missile approaches Alaska, SM-3 
missiles from Aegis destroyers near Alaska will attempt to intercept 
it. 
 
In addition, given the possibility that North Korea launches a 
satellite into orbit, the U.S. will be able to identify whether it 
is a missile or a satellite by means of X-band radar with a range of 
5000km, which is stationed in Japan and Alaska. 
 
If a warhead of a Taepodong-2 missile falls off in inland Alaska or 
very close to Alaska, this would be regarded as a provocation of 
war.  Therefore, experts reckon that to avert this risk, the North 
may have the missile reach a distance of only 3000-4000 km, shorter 
than its maximum range and drop off into the open sea of the North 
Pacific.  This would make the U.S. less likely to go ahead with 
interception.  Also, the U.S. should consider the possibility of 
facing backlash if its attempted interception fails.  If this 
happens, the MD scheme into which an astronomical amount of money 
has been funneled will come under harsh criticism. 
 
 
Stephens 
1