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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 SEOUL 000645 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; April 21, 2009 
 
TOP HEADLINES 
------------- 
 
Chosun Ilbo, Dong-a Ilbo, Hankook Ilbo, 
Seoul Shinmun, All TVs 
Former President Roh's Key Aide Accused of Embezzling 1 Billion Won 
from Blue House Coffers 
 
JoongAng Ilbo, Hankyoreh Shinmun, OhmyNews 
Online Blogger "Minerva" Found Not Guilty; Judge Rules that the 
Blogger Meant No Harm to Public 
 
Segye Ilbo 
Japanese Newspaper: "North Korea is Preparing for a Second 
Underground Nuclear Test" 
 
 
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 
--------------------- 
 
The two Koreas will meet today at the joint Kaesong Industrial 
Complex in the North. This meeting represents the first 
government-level talks between North Korea and the Lee Myung-bak 
Administration. (All) 
 
At this meeting, North Korea is expected to either notify the ROK of 
its decision regarding the ROK national being detained or threaten 
to shut down the joint industrial complex should the ROK join the 
U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), which aims to 
prevent the transfer of weapons of mass destruction. (Chosun) 
 
According to reliable sources, North Korea may order some ROK 
companies and workers to leave the industrial complex this month. 
(Dong-a) 
 
 
INTERNATIONAL NEWS 
------------------ 
 
A U.S. diplomatic official recently said that the Obama 
Administration still has nine months to go before it plans to 
earnestly deal with the North Korean issue. This remark may suggest 
that the U.S. Administration will not rush into dialogue with North 
Korea, because it will take time for the North to reactivate its 
nuclear facilities. (Chosun) 
 
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit Pyongyang this 
week, a trip that may help the outside world understand North 
Korea's intentions behind its renewed threats following its rocket 
launch early this month. The Russian Foreign Minister will also 
visit Seoul on his way home. (Chosun) 
 
Citing an IAEA inspector, the Sekai Nippo, a Japanese daily 
newspaper, reported yesterday that North Korea is covertly preparing 
for a second underground nuclear test. (Segye) 
 
According to AP and Reuters, meanwhile, IAEA Chief Mohamed ElBaradei 
said in Beijing yesterday that North Korea should be regarded as a 
nuclear state since it has nuclear weapons. Asked how soon North 
Korea could restart its nuclear facilities, the IAEA chief said, "It 
could be a question of months." (JoongAng, Hankook, Hankyoreh, 
Segye, Seoul, all TVs) 
 
 
MEDIA ANALYSIS 
-------------- 
 
-North Korea 
----------- 
 
Talks with ROK on Industrial Complex 
Today's inter-Korean talks at the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex 
in the North received wide press coverage.  Conservative Chosun Ilbo 
 
SEOUL 00000645  002 OF 006 
 
 
expected North Korea to either notify the ROK of its decision 
regarding the ROK national being detained or threaten to shut down 
the joint industrial complex should the ROK join the U.S.-led 
Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), which aims to prevent the 
transfer of weapons of mass destruction.  The newspaper also cited 
an ROKG official as saying: "We're not just going to listen to an 
announcement from the North.  Since it's the first official 
inter-Korean meeting since the current government's inauguration, 
we'll deliver our own message as well." 
 
Renewed Nuclear Threats 
Conservative Chosun Ilbo carried an inside-page report noting a 
recent statement by a U.S. diplomatic official that the Obama 
Administration still has nine months to go before it plans to 
earnestly deal with the North Korean issue.  The newspaper 
interpreted this remark to suggest that the U.S. Administration will 
not rush into dialogue with North Korea, because it will take time 
for the North to reactivate its nuclear facilities. 
 
Conservative Chosun also gave attention to Russian Foreign Minister 
Sergey Lavrov's visit to Pyongyang this week.  Chosun surmised that 
the Russian Foreign Minister meeting with Kim Jong-il might help the 
outside world understand North Korea's intentions behind its renewed 
threats following its rocket launch early this month.  The Russian 
Foreign Minister will also visit Seoul on his way home, according to 
the newspaper. 
 
Most of the ROK media cited AP and Reuters in reporting on IAEA 
Chief Mohamed ElBaradei's remark yesterday that North Korea should 
be regarded as a nuclear state since it has nuclear weapons.  The 
IAEA Chief was further quoted as saying, "It could be a question of 
months," when asked how soon North Korea could restart its nuclear 
facilities: 
 
Conservative Segye Ilbo, meanwhile, replayed an April 20 report by 
the Japanese daily Sekai Nippo quoting an IAEA inspector, who was 
recently expelled from North Korea, claiming that North Korea is 
covertly preparing for a second underground nuclear test. 
 
-Obama's Smart Diplomacy 
------------------------- 
 
Referring to a handshake between President Barack Obama and 
Venezuela's leftist leader and longtime U.S. critic, Hugo Chavez, at 
the latest Summit of the Americas, right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo 
editorialized: "A mood for dialogue is becoming ripe throughout the 
world in line with Obama's doctrine, 'we will extend a hand if you 
are willing to unclench your fist.'  The only exception, however, is 
North Korea.  Since his inauguration, President Obama has sent a 
message of reconciliation to North Korea in several ways, only to 
face the North's long-range rocket launch and its expulsion of IAEA 
monitors and a State Department representative.  North Korea may 
have intended to boost its standing on the U.S. list of diplomatic 
priorities and to increase its bargaining power, but this is clearly 
a miscalculation.  How can talks and negotiations occur if one side 
slaps the other in the face when the other extends his hand?" 
Left-leaning Hankyoreh Shinmun carried a similar editorial. 
 
 
OPINIONS/EDITORIALS 
------------------- 
 
'MINERVA' CASE HIGHLIGHTS THE INTERNET'S POTENTIAL TO MISLEAD 
(Chosun Ilbo, April 21, 2009, Page 35) 
 
A Seoul district court on Monday acquitted a controversial cyber 
business pundit named Park Dae-sung, who is better known by his 
alias Minerva. 
 
Before his arrest, Park, an unemployed man in his 30s with no 
schooling in economics, cobbled together bits and pieces of economic 
information floating in cyberspace and posted around 280 pieces of 
writing focusing on a doomsday scenario awaiting the Korean economy. 
 Those postings include one made on July 30 last year warning that 
 
SEOUL 00000645  003 OF 006 
 
 
Korean banks would be forced to halt currency exchange operations 
the following day, and another in December saying the government 
issued an emergency notice banning the buying of dollars. 
 
He was charged with violating the country's electronic 
communications law by using the internet to spread misleading 
information that can be detrimental to public interest.  But the 
court acquitted Park, saying it was difficult to prove that he had 
posted the writings in full knowledge that his information was false 
with a clear intent to cause harm to the public. 
 
By coincidence, some of Park's predictions turned out to be true, 
but far more were inaccurate.  In July of last year, Park predicted 
that consumer prices would surge and advised people to stock up on 
at least six month's worth of rice, canned tuna, toilet paper, 
bottled water, soap and instant noodles.  But consumer prices 
actually went down after August. He also made mistakes like calling 
British bank HSBC a "Chinese bank," since its name contains "Hong 
Kong and Shanghai."  Yet scores of economists, bureaucrats, 
journalists and professionals working for financial institutions not 
only failed to pinpoint the fallacies in Park's writings, but one 
left-wing economist, who once served as presidential secretary for 
economic affairs, went as far as lauding the pseudo pundit as the 
most talented economic mentor he had ever come across. 
 
The internet is a valuable forum where anyone is free to express 
their own thoughts.  As many as 40,000 pieces of writing are posted 
daily on a debate site run by a popular portal.  It is nonsensical 
to even attempt to apply a legal framework to find out whether 
online postings are false or ill-intentioned.  But Park's case was 
extraordinary.  He drew a huge following after his prediction of 
Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy in September last year turned out, by 
chance, to be true.  His postings would sometimes draw as many as 
370,000 views.  Some even worshipped him as the "economic leader" of 
Korea.  If writings become that influential, the author should be 
responsible to ensure that they do not cause social confusion and 
damage. 
 
The internet is capable of spreading false rumors like wildfire.  If 
we fail to come up with measures to prevent that, it will be just a 
matter of time before another Minerva or mad cow scandal occurs. 
 
(This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is 
identical to the Korean version.) 
 
 
ACQUITTAL HARDLY ABSOLVES 'MINERVA PHENOMENON' 
(Dong-a Ilbo, April 21, 2009, Page 31) 
 
The Seoul Central District Court found a man charged with being the 
online economic oracle "Minerva" not guilty of spreading false 
information.  "Park" had been arrested on the charge of violating 
telecommunications law for allegedly circulating false rumors on 
government policy over the Internet.  The ruling admitted as 
groundless his articles claiming that foreign exchange operations 
would come to a halt Aug. 1 last year and that the government sent 
letters to companies asking not to buy dollars.  The court, however, 
said, "It was difficult for Park to recognize those rumors as false, 
and even if he did, we cannot see him having had the intent to harm 
the public interest." 
 
Article 47 of the Telecommunications Act, which was applied to 
Park's case, requires "intent to harm public interest" and 
"recognition as false information" to find a defendant guilty of an 
offense.  The criminal probe could have been inadequate or 
prosecutors could have attempted to interpret the law too broadly. 
Prosecutors immediately announced plans to file an appeal, and one 
said, "The court misunderstood facts and the false information by 
picking the wrong evidence, and mistakenly applied legal reasoning 
on harming the public interest."  It remains to be seen how an 
appellate court will rule given the lack of sufficient cases of 
precedents on Article 47. 
 
The ruling has made it necessary for Korean society to discuss 
 
SEOUL 00000645  004 OF 006 
 
 
measures to crack down on anti-social behavior in cyberspace and the 
limitations of such measures.  The act, which was enacted in the 
1990s, fails to adequately reflect the negative effects of the 
Internet in tune with the development of new technology to a certain 
extent. 
 
The Minerva incident and candlelight vigils showed without 
reservation the negative aspects of the Internet.  Nevertheless, the 
act says people who circulate false information on the Internet can 
be punished only if they had the intent to harm the public interest. 
 If laws cannot punish those who have caused huge damage to the 
country by spreading false information by hiding behind the 
Internet's anonymity, the country must consider revision of laws or 
legislation of new laws. 
 
Minerva was an unidentified Web user who posted provocative comments 
by copying and pasting unverified information or data circulating in 
the Internet. Certain experts joined Web users in making Minerva, 
who lacks professional knowledge, an "economic president."  Other 
forces exploited his articles to sway the government's economic 
policies aimed at overcoming the economic crisis.  The Minerva 
incident demonstrates the negative functions of the Internet and how 
vulnerable Korean society is to propaganda. 
 
The ruling is simply an only legal judgment on Minerva's individual 
behavior, and hardly legitimizes the Minerva phenomenon in any way. 
It is wrong for groups to try to overly interpret the not-guilty 
verdict and ignore efforts to correct social ills stemming from 
posting false rumors on the Internet. 
 
(This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is 
identical to the Korean version.) 
 
 
HANDSHAKE BETWEEN OBAMA AND CHAVEZ, AND NORTH KOREA... 
(JoongAng Ilbo, April 21, 2009, Page 42) 
 
Yesterday, all newspapers featured a picture of U.S. President 
Barack Obama shaking hands with Venezuela President Hugo Chavez. 
During the Organization of American States (OAS) summit held in the 
Republic of Trinidad and Tobago from April 17 to 19, Obama exchanged 
pleasantries with Chavez, with the former speaking in Spanish and 
the latter speaking in English.  Looking at this picture that 
symbolizes a changed world, we are frustrated with North Korea. 
While Obama shakes hands with Chavez who has championed himself as a 
leading anti-American figure, regrettably North Korea is going 
backward. 
 
In his September 2006 UN General Assembly speech, Chavez attacked 
U.S. President Bush by insultingly stating that a devil had been 
there on the previous day,  as evidenced by the smell of sulfur on 
the podium.  Reconciliation between the U.S. administration, which 
had pursued unilateral diplomacy and Chavez, was unimaginable. 
However, Obama humbly offered his hand, saying that the U.S. is 
willing to recognize its past mistakes.  Chavez grasped Obama's hand 
while expressing his hope to become friends. 
 
The Obama Administration is following a starkly different path from 
the Bush Administration.  He is extending his hand to the world with 
smart diplomacy, which combines hard power based on military 
strength with soft power that radiates U.S. charm, while carefully 
listening to others.  Obama is sending a message of reconciliation 
to the entire world including Iran, Syria, Russia, Europe, Cuba, 
Venezuela, Pakistan and Afghanistan.  Obama proposed talks with Iran 
with condition of temporarily permitting its uranium enrichment 
program.  He lifted bans on money transfers and travel between Cuba 
and Cuban Americans. 
 
A mood for dialogue is becoming ripe throughout the world in line 
with Obama's doctrine, 'we will extend a hand if you are willing to 
unclench your fist.'  The only exception, however, is North Korea. 
Since his inauguration, President Obama has sent a message of 
reconciliation to North Korea in several ways, only to face the 
North's long-range rocket launch and its expulsion of IAEA monitors 
 
SEOUL 00000645  005 OF 006 
 
 
and a State Department representative.  North Korea may have 
intended to boost its standing on the U.S. list of diplomatic 
priorities and to increase its bargaining power, but this is clearly 
a miscalculation.  How can talks and negotiations occur if one side 
slaps the other in the face when the other extends his hand?  North 
Korea will regret it for a long time if it wastes this chance. 
Allegedly, the Obama Administration is already infuriated with North 
Korea.  North Korea should carefully consider the wisdom behind its 
reckless brinkmanship tactics. 
 
 
CUES FOR ROK FROM OBAMA'S SMART DIPLOMACY 
(Hankyoreh Shinmun, April 21, 2009, Page 23) 
 
A refreshing breeze has been blowing in international relations 
since the arrival of U.S. President Barack Obama.  At the G20 
summit, Obama put a new U.S. foreign policy on display with 
suggestions of nuclear arms reductions made to Russia and intentions 
to improve relations expressed to Iran and Cuba.  At the 2009 Summit 
of the Americas, he also succeeded in opening up channels for 
dialogue with countries in Central and South American at odds with 
the U.S. 
 
While at the summit, Obama drew a line between himself and the 
excessive meddling that has been a consistent part of U.S. foreign 
policy in the region, saying he wanted to see new cooperation and 
partnership.  During the past two hundred years, the relationship 
has been interspersed with various painful conflicts, like the 
overthrow of the Chilean government of Salvador Allende, the 
invasion of Grenada, low-intensity wars against states in the 
region, and an embargo on Cuba that has lasted close to fifty years. 
 
 
Experts characterize Obama's administration as departing from the 
policy approach of the former Bush Administration, which attempted 
to overthrow the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chavez, and revive 
through a hard sell the Free Trade Area of the Americas despite 
opposition by leaders in the region.  Obama has declared he is 
leaving the past behind and moving forward to a new era. 
 
This transformation originates from reflecting on U.S. unilateralist 
foreign policy that relies on coercive hard power or military power 
which ultimately only leads to international discord and conflict. 
Outside observers suggest that it is the Obama Administration's view 
(that a unilateralist policy) did not really contribute to securing 
national interests.  The administration believes that soft power 
diplomacy could produce better results with other nations.  Indeed, 
Iran is responding favorably to U.S. calls for improved relations, 
and Cuba says it is willing to talk about human rights. Moreover, 
Venezuelan president Chavez, a longstanding critic of the U.S., has 
said since the summit that he is hopeful about better relations with 
Washington and has decided to restore diplomatic relations. 
 
It is too early to say for certain that this new U.S. diplomatic 
strategy will produce long-term results.   However, it is crystal 
clear that the Obama Administration's strategy of frankly admitting 
past U.S. mistakes while pursuing mutual prosperity and cooperation 
is giving the world hope for a new era, one based on dialogue rather 
than a monologue.  The Korean Peninsula should not isolate itself in 
this new era of dialogue.  North Korea must promptly come to the 
negotiation table.  The ROK, for its part, must work to put the 
conditions to make that possible in place.  We, too, need to 
consider adopting this kind of smart diplomacy. 
 
(This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is 
identical to the Korean version.) 
 
 
ROKG HAS BEEN LAX IN INSPECTING U.S. BEEF IMPORTS 
(Dong-a Ilbo, April 21, 2009, Page 31) 
 
The Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries reiterated 
in late May that inspectors will be dispatched to the U.S. to 
examine whether beef imports are properly classified into months of 
 
SEOUL 00000645  006 OF 006 
 
 
age and Specified Risk Material (SRM) is removed (from cows) during 
slaughtering. However, it has been discovered that the four 
inspectors have not yet inspected even a single piece of imported 
beef.  Although the inspectors, who were dispatched last October and 
this February, may have needed time to adjust, they have been too 
lax considering the nightmarish 'beef scandal.' 
 
Yesterday, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 
explained that the inspectors were dispatched to gather information 
to ensure the safety of beef, contrary to last year's statement. 
This statement puts a damper on the expectation that through proper 
inspection, beef that does not fulfill import conditions or is not 
sanitary will not be on Korean dinner tables.  Considering the 
budgetary expense, did the ROKG really need to dispatch the four 
inspectors if their only purpose was to collect information? 
 
The Ministry said that the inspectors were inactive because the 
scope of regular inspections of U.S. exports worldwide is 
unprecedented.  Last year, the Ministry said that the U.S. will not 
readily accept ROK inspectors because of fears of trade s-e-c-r-e-t 
leakage.  It is questionable whether the ROKG even needed to 
regularly dispatch the inspectors for one year without receiving any 
guarantee from the USG regarding their duties.  The ROKG's notices 
regarding import health requirements are not flawless.  The ROKG has 
failed to make up for shortcomings in last May's safety management 
measure or its notices regarding import health requirements. 
Furthermore, the ROKG has not delivered on promises it made to the 
public. 
 
Last year's beef scandal was exaggerated and distorted but elevated 
public awareness about its right to healthy living.  As evidenced in 
the melamine cookie and tarc-containing drug scandals, the 
government should not neglect public concerns regarding food safety. 
 It should be efficient because of limitations on budgetary and 
human resources.  Moreover, the government should not lay out 
ineffective measures just to placate the public, only to later gloss 
over them. 
 
The government will hold talks with Canada over beef.  The ROKG 
should not repeat the same mistakes of the U.S. negotiations.  The 
ROKG made too many concessions without receiving any guarantees 
about beef safety, which is the public's greatest concern.  These 
days, the Ministry's moves only add to the public's anxiety. 
 
 
STEPHENS