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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SEOUL 001277 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; August 12, 2009 
 
TOP HEADLINES 
------------- 
 
Chosun Ilbo 
Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations (KFTA) Accepts 
ROKG-Pursued "Teacher Evaluation System" 
JoongAng Ilbo, Hankook Ilbo, Seoul Shinmun 
Hyundai Group Chairwoman Extends Stay in N. Korea to Win Freedom of 
Detained ROK Worker; ROKG Source Says, "Chances Higher for Hyundai 
Chairwoman to Meet N. Korean Leader Kim Jong-il" 
Dong-a Ilbo 
"Hangeul Becomes the Light for Children" 
Indonesian Tribe, which has No Written Version of Its Language, 
Adopts Korean Alphabet Known as Hangeul 
Hankyoreh Shinmun 
Number of Detained Ssangyong Motor Protestors Rises to 64; Becomes 
Largest Arrest of People on Public Security Charges in 12 Years 
Segye Ilbo 
¶N. Korea Likely to Free ROK Detainee Today 
 
 
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 
-------------------- 
Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun extended her stay in North 
Korea yesterday on a mission to secure the release of a detained ROK 
worker and to restore strained inter-Korean relations. She was 
initially scheduled to come home today, but company officials in 
Seoul said that she would stay another day. (All) 
 
The Hyundai chairwoman is likely to meet North Korean leader Kim 
Jong-il today. (All) 
 
According to an ROKG source, North Korea may free not only the 
detained worker but also the four crewmembers of an ROK fishing boat 
being held in the North before the August 15 Liberation Day. 
(Dong-a) 
 
 
INTERNATIONAL NEWS 
------------------ 
According to ROKG sources, the USG, after assessing former President 
Bill Clinton's visit to North Korea, has reached a tentative 
conclusion that it is too early to judge that there has been a 
meaningful change in North Korea's attitude concerning its 
denuclearization. (Chosun) 
 
 
MEDIA ANALYSIS 
-------------- 
 
-N. Korea 
----------- 
 
Citing ROKG sources, conservative Chosun Ilbo ran an inside-page 
report that the USG, after assessing former President Bill Clinton's 
visit to North Korea, has reached a tentative conclusion that it is 
too early to judge that there has been a meaningful change in North 
Korea's attitude concerning its denuclearization. 
 
The report quoted an ROKG official as saying: "While North Korea 
toned down provocative rhetoric, there is no basis to take this as 
commitment to the irreversible nuclear dismantlement the U.S. is 
demanding before it improves ties.  The ball is still in North 
Korea's court and the prevailing consensus in the international 
community is that sanctions should remain in place until the North 
demonstrates a change in attitude." 
 
All ROK media gave prominent attention to Hyundai Group Chairwoman 
Hyun Jung-eun's decision yesterday to extend her stay in North Korea 
for another day.  According to media reports, the Hyundai 
chairwoman, on a mission to secure the release of a detained ROK 
worker and to restore strained inter-Korean relations, was initially 
scheduled to come home today.  Most ROK media speculated that the 
 
SEOUL 00001277  002 OF 003 
 
 
extension may be related to her meeting with North Korean leader Kim 
Jongil, which would likely take place today. 
 
Conservative Chosun Ilbo cited sources familiar with North Korean 
affairs and defectors from the North as analyzing that North Korea's 
recent conciliatory moves owe much to its staunch ally China, which 
is implementing unprecedentedly tough sanctions against North Korea. 
 According to the sources cited, Beijing has recently begun 
monitoring and regulating exports to the North, especially along the 
border. The shipments under regulation range from strategic 
materials to food. 
 
- Sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi 
-------------------------------- 
 
All ROK media gave straight front-and inside-page coverage to 
yesterday's sentencing of Myanmar's democracy leader Aung San Suu 
Kyi to another 18 months of house arrest for breaching the 
conditions of her initial house arrest by allowing an uninvited 
American to stay at her home. 
 
Newspapers carried the following headlines: ""Aung San Suu Kyi Again 
Under House Arrest... Sentence Aimed at Blocking Her from Contesting 
Elections Next Year" (conservative Chosun Ilbo, left-leaning 
Hankyoreh Shinmun); USG to Discuss Expulsion of Myanmar from ASEAN" 
(right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo); "Myanmar's Democracy Leader Again 
Put in Detention... Ruling Military Junta under Heavy International 
Criticism" (conservative Dong-a Ilbo, moderate Hankook Ilbo); and 
"Suu Kyi Gets 18 Months Under House Arrest; Secretary Clinton Says, 
'USG will Continue to Call for Her Release'" (conservative Segye 
Ilbo) 
 
 
OPINIONS/EDITORIALS 
------------------- 
U.S. SHOULD BE WARY BUT DETERMINED VIS-A-VIS N. Korea 
(Chosun Ilbo, August 12, 2009, page 30) 
 
By Washington correspondent Lee Ha-won 
 
Chuck Downs, the Executive Director of the Committee for Human 
Rights in North Korea, carries a business card that contains the 
title of his book, "North Korea Negotiating Strategy."  That is how 
proud he is of his analysis of Pyongyang's antics.  And indeed, the 
process of Kim Jong-il's capture and release of the two U.S. 
journalists follows exactly the analysis he offered a few years ago. 
 
 
He believes that Pyongyang makes things happen that change its 
counterpart's interests, in an attempt to lead negotiations to its 
advantage. And after putting its counterpart on the defensive, 
Pyongyang tries to wrangle something it wants. 
 
In March, when Washington was warning about the North's preparations 
for a long-range rocket test, North Korea seized two American 
reporters at the border with China.  It was no coincidence that the 
North captured the two female journalists, who could draw more 
attention than any number of male reporters who had worked in the 
border area. 
 
By sentencing them to 12 years in a labor camp and leaking 
information that their health was frail, the North put the Barack 
Obama Administration into an embarrassing position.  And just when 
the world was focusing on sanctions under UN Security Council 
Resolution 1874, the North drew world attention by inviting former 
U.S. president Bill Clinton. 
 
To borrow Downs' analysis of the North's negotiating strategy 
further, the next step for the North will be a call to renegotiate a 
previously reached accord.  Chances are that Pyongyang will call for 
a change in the September 19, 2005 statement of principles in the 
Six-Party Talks that agreed on the dismantlement of the North's 
nuclear facilities. 
 
 
SEOUL 00001277  003 OF 003 
 
 
Now the U.S. is mulling how to respond to this atmosphere of 
dialogue engendered by Pyongyang. 
 
A common feature of senior U.S. officials in charge of the North 
Korea issue is their experience of having previously been hit over 
the head once or twice by the North.  Having seen written agreements 
between states torn up like waste paper, they strongly feel the need 
for prudence.  Earlier this year, I heard a senior U.S. official 
promise, "We'll retaliate."  Hearing the firmness in the voice of an 
ordinarily mild-tempered man, I thought Pyongyang will find it more 
difficult to conduct dialogue with the U.S. the next time it 
violates an agreement. 
 
It is reassuring that the Obama Administration is not relaxing the 
reins of sanctions against North Korea, particularly given that the 
Clinton and Bush Administrations both made the North Korean nuclear 
problem worse by failing to maintain consistency in their policies. 
 
 
If the Obama Administration is confident of maintaining that stance, 
it may not be necessary to shake off the hand the North is now 
extending. 
 
(UNSC) Resolution 1874 is much stronger than (UNSC) Resolution 1718 
that went into force after the North's first nuclear test in 2006. 
It is pushing the North into a corner.  But bear in mind that North 
Korea is much more determined than the U.S. or other countries to 
persevere.  It cannot be ruled out that it will put up with the 
sanctions indefinitely. 
 
Mitchell Reiss, a former director of the Office of Policy Planning 
at the State Department, who was mentioned as a candidate for 
special envoy for North Korea, said, "Disliking North Korea is an 
attitude, not a policy."  He called for perseverance. If the U.S. in 
the past negotiated from a position of trusting the North, perhaps 
now is the time to try and negotiate with suspicion but with a 
determination to persuade. 
 
 
STEPHENS