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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 SEOUL 000854 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; May 29, 2009 
 
TOP HEADLINES 
------------- 
 
Chosun Ilbo, Hankook Ilbo, Segye Ilbo, 
Seoul Shinmun, All TVs 
Alert Level against N. Korea Raised; Five-level 
"Watchcon" Upgraded to Level 2 from Level 3 
 
JoongAng Ilbo 
"Hoping We Become One in Bidding Farewell to 
Former President Roh Without Taking Sides"... 
National Funeral for Roh Due Today 
 
Dong-a Ilbo 
Former President Roh to be Laid to Permanent Rest Today 
 
Hankyoreh Shinmun 
Leaving Dreams of a "World Where People Live (in Harmony)" Behind... 
Former President Roh's Funeral Due Today 
 
 
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 
--------------------- 
 
The ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) raised its surveillance 
status on North Korea (the five-level Watch Condition, or Watchcon) 
by a notch to the second highest level yesterday, in expectation of 
more provocations from North Korea following its nuclear test on May 
¶25. It was the first time since the North's first nuclear test in 
2006 that the CFC upgraded the Watchcon status to level 2. (All) 
 
ROK Defense Ministry Spokesman Won Tae-jae said in a press briefing 
yesterday that increased Watchcon status means boosting "aerial and 
other reconnaissance assets, intelligence-gathering assets, and 
analyzing personnel." (All) 
 
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday visited a makeshift 
mourning alter at the ROK Embassy in Washington to pay respects to 
former President Roh Moo-hyun. (All) She was quoted as saying: "I am 
honored to be here on behalf of President Obama and the American 
people to offer our condolences not only to the family but to the 
people of Korea.  President Roh's dedication to democracy and human 
rights are two values that the U.S. and the Republic of Korea share. 
We are grateful for his life and his leadership." (Chosun, 
Hankyoreh) 
 
The U.S. Ambassador to the ROK, Kathleen Stephens, will head the 
U.S. delegation for today's funeral service for former President 
Roh. The U.S. delegation includes USFK Gen. Water Sharp; Michael 
Green, former National Security Council Director for Asian Affairs; 
and U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Alexander Arvizu, among 
others. (Chosun, JoongAng, Hankook, Hankyoreh, Segye, all TVs) 
 
 
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS 
-------------------------- 
 
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a May 27 press conference, 
warned that North Korea would face "consequences" for its 
"provocative and belligerent threats," arguing that the North has 
"chosen to violate the UN Security Council resolution, ignore the 
international community and abrogate the obligations it entered into 
through the Six-Party Talks." (Chosun, JoongAng, Hankook, Segye, 
Seoul, all TVs) 
 
White House National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones, in a May 27 
speech in Washington, said that North Korea still has a long way to 
go to weaponize its nuclear material and work on the delivery of its 
nuclear missiles, adding: "North Korea's greatest threat comes from 
spreading its nuclear technology to other countries and potentially 
to terror organizations and non-state actors." (Dong-a) 
 
 
 
SEOUL 00000854  002 OF 005 
 
 
 
MEDIA ANALYSIS 
--------------- 
 
-North Korea 
------------ 
Most ROK media gave prominent play to Secretary of State Hillary 
Clinton's May 27 press remarks, in which she said that North Korea 
would face "consequences" for its "provocative and belligerent 
threats."  She was widely quoted: "North Korea has chosen to violate 
the UN Security Council resolution, ignore the international 
community and abrogate the obligations it entered into through the 
Six-Party Talks. There are consequences to such actions." 
 
White House National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones's remarks 
during his May 27 speech in Washington also received press coverage. 
 He was quoted as saying: "North Korea still has a long way to go to 
weaponize its nuclear material and work on the delivery of its 
nuclear missiles.  North Korea's greatest threat comes from 
spreading its nuclear technology to other countries and potentially 
to terror organizations and non-state actors." 
 
The ROK media gave front-page play to a report saying that the 
ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) upgraded its surveillance 
level on North Korea (the five-level Watch Condition, or Watchcon) 
to the second highest level yesterday, in expectation of more 
provocations from North Korea following its nuclear test on May 25. 
 It was the first time since the North's first nuclear test in 2006 
that the CFC upgraded the Watchcon status to level 2, according to 
media reports. 
 
Conservative Chosun Ilbo's front-page report said that there are no 
immediate signs of impending provocations but that ROK military 
authorities are on alert, since they believe that North Korea will 
carry out provocations along the Northern Limit Line, the de facto 
maritime border in the Yellow Sea, the Joint Security Area in the 
truce village of Panmunjeom, or along the demilitarized zone. 
 
Referring to growing calls in ROK political circles to restore the 
nation's "nuclear sovereignty" in the aftermath of the North's 
second nuclear test, conservative Chosun Ilbo speculated that 
Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Barack Obama are not likely to discuss 
the issue during their summit in June, because Washington's position 
is that Seoul's claim of nuclear sovereignty following the North's 
nuclear test may trigger a nuclear arms race in Northeast Asia. 
Conservative Dong-a Ilbo, on the other hand, commented that the two 
leaders are likely to discuss whether to continue the Six-Party 
Talks aimed at ridding North Korea of nuclear weapons. 
 
In an editorial, Conservative Chosun Ilbo observed that if the U.S. 
wants to succeed in resolving the North Korean nuclear problem, the 
following elements must be considered when establishing a blueprint 
on how to resolve the issue: First, the USG must formulate a clear 
list of rewards North Korea would receive if it complies with the 
wishes of the international community as well as a list of punitive 
measures it would face if it does not.  ...  Second, international 
cooperation must be strengthened so that China, Russia, Japan, the 
ROK and other countries can participate in such rewards and punitive 
measures. ...  Third, a solution must be devised that would continue 
beyond the terms of the current presidents of the U.S. and the ROK. 
 
Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo's editorial argued: "It is common 
sense that nuclear weapons can be countered only by nuclear weapons. 
 The only thing we can rely on to counter North Korea's nuclear 
weapons is the U.S. nuclear umbrella.  However ... the U.S. already 
withdrew all USFK nuclear weapons in order to support the Joint 
(Inter-Korean) Declaration of the Denuclearization of the Korean 
Peninsula in 1991.  The declaration has ended up undermining the 
credibility of the U.S. promise to offer nuclear umbrella.... (This 
newspaper) does not intend to argue that we should restore our 
nuclear sovereignty...   However, we need to address the current 
unbalanced and irrational situation in which (the North) 
continuously takes advantage of the ROK, which faithfully adheres to 
the denuclearization declaration." 
 
SEOUL 00000854  003 OF 005 
 
 
 
-Former President Roh Moo-hyun 
------------------------------ 
All media covered Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit 
yesterday to the ROK Embassy in Washington, D.C. to pay respects to 
former President Roh Moo-hyun. 
 
 
OPINIONS/EDITORIALS 
------------------- 
 
 
NEW BLUEPRINT IS NEEDED FOR DEALING WITH N. KOREA 
(Chosun Ilbo, May 29, 2009, Page 27) 
 
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Wednesday strongly 
criticized North Korea, saying the communist country continued to 
behave in a provocative and belligerent manner toward its 
neighboring countries, and warned that such behavior would lead to 
consequences, reminding Pyongyang of the sanctions the United 
Nations Security Council is discussing.  Clinton said the intention 
of the U.S. government was to get North Korea to live up to its 
responsibilities and return to a framework of denuclearization.  In 
that case, Clinton said, North Korea would be rewarded. 
 
U.S. President Barack Obama and Clinton hope to get North Korea to 
abandon its nuclear weapons program through dialogue and 
negotiations.  North Korea has flagrantly challenged Obama's grand 
plan to create "a world without nuclear weapons" by conducting its 
second nuclear test.  Unless North Korea's nuclear weapons program 
is halted, Obama's plans to eradicate nuclear weapons will end up 
becoming an empty promise. 
 
However, the Obama Administration has yet to produce a blueprint 
detailing its plans on how to resolve the North Korean nuclear 
dilemma.  That dilemma, which first surfaced when North Korea 
withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1993, was 
unable to be resolved during eight years under the Clinton 
Administration and another eight under the Bush Administration.  If 
the U.S. government wants to succeed in resolving the North Korean 
nuclear problem, a few elements must be reflected upon when 
establishing the blueprint. 
 
First, the USG must formulate a clear list of rewards North Korea 
would receive if it complies with the wishes of the international 
community as well as a list of punitive measures it would face if it 
does not.  During the Six-Party Talks and other dialogues with North 
Korea, a variety of rewards have been offered, including normalized 
diplomatic relations with the United States and economic support. 
However, the consequences North Korea would face should it refuse to 
abandon its nuclear weapons program have rarely been discussed. 
 
Second, international cooperation must be strengthened so that 
China, Russia, Japan, the ROK and other countries can participate in 
such rewards and punitive measures.  The U.S. government must focus 
its diplomatic efforts on ensuring that China and Russia do not sit 
on the sidelines if punitive measures must be imposed on North 
Korea.  This cooperative relationship could develop into a useful 
network, not only in resolving the North Korean nuclear problem, but 
also in helping to promote security on the Korean peninsula and in 
Northeast Asia. 
 
Third, a solution must be devised that would continue beyond the 
terms of the current presidents of the U.S. and the ROK.  Over the 
last 16 years, the government of the United States has changed from 
a democratic administration to a republican administration and back 
again (to a democratic one.)  In South Korea, five years of 
conservative leadership was followed by a decade of liberal rule 
before returning to a conservative government.  This has affected 
the South Korea-U.S. alliance and necessitates the creation of a new 
blueprint for dealing with North Korea. 
 
(This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is 
identical to the Korean version.) 
 
SEOUL 00000854  004 OF 005 
 
 
 
 
UNREASONABLENESS IN HARDLINE RESPONSES TO N. KOREA 
(Hankyoreh Shinmun, May 29, 2009, Page 38) 
 
Military tensions between the two Koreas are higher than ever 
following North Korea's second nuclear test.  In this situation, 
irresponsible arguments have been pouring forth for taking a hard 
line against North Korea.  Even government authorities that should 
be working towards stable management of the crisis have been 
contributing to the problem, generating further uneasiness. 
 
The most dangerous of these arguments is the one promoting South 
Korea nuclear armament with the logic of "stopping nukes with 
nukes."  A few days ago, Liberty Forward Party lawmaker Park 
Sun-young openly raised the need for nuclear capabilities for 
self-defense purposes.  One wonders if she said this having 
considered the catastrophic effects an arms race on the Korean 
Peninsula would bring.  On Monday, the day of the nuclear test, 
South Korean Minister of National Defense Lee Sang-Hee raised a flap 
by talking about "responding to nuclear weapons with nuclear 
weapons" in a meeting of the National Assembly's National Defense 
Committee.  And in a meeting of the National Assembly's Foreign 
Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee yesterday, Foreign Minister 
Yu Myung-hwan said he thought, "We need to seriously discuss the 
issue of our (nuclear) sovereignty too."  Lee appears to have had 
the U.S. nuclear umbrella in mind with his statement, while Yu seems 
to have been thinking about nuclear sovereignty in terms of pursuing 
uranium enrichment for peaceful nuclear energy purposes.  Even so, 
they were unmeasured words in light of the fact that they could 
easily be used to justify and encourage arguments for nuclear 
armament. 
 
Additionally, the Grand National Party is citing an increase in 
nuclear threat from North Korea as a reason to call for a 
postponement of the transfer of wartime operational command to South 
Korea, which is scheduled for 2012.  The logic behind this is that 
it will be difficult to receive the protection of the U.S. nuclear 
umbrella if the U.S. is not holding wartime operational command. 
This is an unreasonable argument.  The U.S. has been confirming that 
it will provide the nuclear umbrella at annual South Korea-U.S. 
Security Consultative Meetings since 1978, and U.S. President Barack 
Obama made a firm promise to this effect in a recent phone 
conversation with President Lee Myung-bak.  The issue of taking over 
wartime operational command is one that should first and foremost be 
approached in terms of military autonomy, a question of who is in 
command of one's own nation's army, and has nothing whatsoever to do 
with a nuclear umbrella. 
 
Meanwhile, outside of South Korea, Japanese conservatives are 
plotting ways to turn Japan into a military power, making claims for 
the need to possess "enemy base attack capabilities" that would 
allow Japan to carry out preemptive strikes on North Korean missile 
bases.  It is right to criticize North Korea's provocation, but 
these hardline arguments focusing solely on generating hostility 
against North Korea only make the situation worse.  We urge the 
South Korean government in particular to act prudently. 
 
(This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is 
identical to the Korean version.) 
 
 
KOREAN PENINSULA DENUCLEARIZATION DECLARATION; ISN'T ROK A 
PUSHOVER? 
(JoongAng Ilbo, May 29, 2009, Page 38) 
 
In the wake of North Korea's nuclear test, some people in the ROK 
argue that the ROK should restore the nuclear sovereignty it 
abandoned in the 1992 Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of 
the Korean Peninsula.  Their arguments vary from openly pursuing 
nuclearization to "completing a nuclear cycle" including uranium 
enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing.  Whatever the details, their 
arguments are based on the idea that there is no reason for only the 
ROK to abide by the denuclearization declaration which has been, in 
 
SEOUL 00000854  005 OF 005 
 
 
fact, ruined due to North Korea's nuclear test.  We don't think 
there is an urgent need to push for nuclear armament or "nuclear 
cycle completion."  However, we should not ignore this situation 
where North Korea misuses the denuclearization declaration 
arbitrarily.  Since the situation has changed due to North Korea's 
nuclear test, we should at least review the denuclearization 
declaration. 
 
The Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean 
Peninsula was agreed and enforced by North Korea and the ROK, which 
calls for eliminating the risk of nuclear war through 
denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, establishing peace, 
creating an atmosphere for peaceful reunification and contributing 
to world peace and security.  The gist of the Declaration is that 
North Korea and the ROK should not test, manufacture, produce, 
receive, possess, store, deploy or use nuclear weapons, and not 
possess facilities for nuclear reprocessing or uranium enrichment, 
and they would carry out reciprocal inspection.  However, the 
purpose and content of the denuclearization declaration were 
thoroughly destroyed by North Korea.  During the 17 years from the 
enforcement of the Declaration up to now North Korea has blatantly 
developed its  nuclear program.  In the end, North Korea went so far 
as to impudently claim itself as a nuclear power through two nuclear 
tests. 
 
Experts are divided on whether to consider North Korea a "nuclear 
power" after its second nuclear test.  However, they agree that 
North Korea would be able to deploy nuclear weapons in actual 
warfare within no later than 3-4 years.  (This means that) a "fatal 
security crisis" would turn into a reality within 3-4 years.  (We 
are) facing a desperate situation in which we cannot sit around on 
our hands. 
 
It is common sense that nuclear weapons can be countered only by 
nuclear weapons.  The only thing we can rely on to counter North 
Korea's nuclear weapons is the U.S. nuclear umbrella.  However, many 
South Koreans doubt whether the U.S. nuclear umbrella will protect 
us at any time.  In fact, the U.S. already withdrew all USFK nuclear 
weapons in order to support the Joint (Inter-Korean) Declaration of 
the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in 1991.  The 
declaration has ended up undermining the credibility of the U.S. 
promise to offer nuclear umbrella. 
 
In February, the North said in its statement issued by the Chief of 
the General Staff of the Korean People's Army that the 
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is aimed at eliminating the 
U.S. nuclear threat to the North and that the nuclear-armed parties 
(the U.S. and North Korea) have no choice but to reduce their 
nuclear arms at the same time.  In the end, the North has 
consistently used the denuclearization declaration to justify its 
nuclear armament and it will clearly continue to do so. 
 
(This newspaper) does not intend to argue that we should restore our 
nuclear sovereignty so as to become nuclear-armed or complete our 
nuclear cycle.  However, we need to address the current unbalanced 
and irrational situation in which (the North) continuously takes 
advantage of the ROK, which faithfully adheres to the 
denuclearization declaration. 
 
 
STEPHENS