VZCZCXRO6664
OO RUEHGH
DE RUEHUL #1474/01 2590632
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 160632Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5660
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 9165
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC//DDI/OEA//
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI//FPA//
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC//DB-Z//
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 0295
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6649
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 6721
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 1272
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 5043
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 4005
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 7218
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1520
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2834
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1912
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 2520

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SEOUL 001474 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; September 16, 2009 
 
TOP HEADLINES 
------------- 
 
 
Chosun Ilbo 
President Lee: "Constitutional Amendment for Change in Power 
Structure Is Subject to Review" 
 
JoongAng Ilbo, Hankook Ilbo, All TVs 
President Lee: "Political Circles Should Realistically Narrow Scope 
of Constitutional Amendment" 
 
Dong-a Ilbo 
President Lee Hopes Japanese Emperor Visits Seoul Next Year to End 
Lingering Animosity over Japan's 
Past Colonial Rule of Korea 
 
Hankyoreh Shinmun, Segye Ilbo, Seoul Shinmun 
President Lee Calls to Restrict Constitutional Amendment to Changing 
Power Structure and Redrawing Electoral 
and Administrative Districts 
 
 
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 
--------------------- 
 
President Lee Myung-bak, in a Sept. 15 joint interview at the Blue 
House with the ROK's Yonhap News Agency and Japan's Kyodo News 
Agency, said: "North Korea is employing a conciliatory strategy to 
escape the current crisis, but I don't see any sincerity or signs 
that the North will give up its nuclear program." (All) 
 
 
INTERNATIONAL NEWS 
------------------ 
 
In an apparent move to stave off criticism and concern about 
U.S.-North Korea direct talks, State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly 
said during a Sept. 14 regular briefing: "We will not have any 
substantive bilateral talks with North Korea that are outside of the 
Six-Party context. Our goal is to get North Korea to return to the 
Six-Party Talks." (All) 
 
An increasing number of U.S. experts - including Joel Wit, a 
researcher at the John Hopkins School of Advanced International 
Studies, and Frank Jannuzi, senior East Asia specialist for the 
Senate Foreign Relations Committee - are contending that there is no 
need for Washington to reject bilateral talks with North Korea while 
insisting on a single framework for dialogue. (Chosun) 
 
 
MEDIA ANALYSIS 
-------------- 
 
-N. Korea 
---------- 
All ROK media gave prominent coverage to President Lee Myung-bak's 
Sept. 15 joint interview with the ROK's Yonhap News Agency and 
Japan's Kyodo News Agency, in which he said: "North Korea is 
employing a conciliatory strategy to escape the current crisis, but 
I don't see any sincerity or signs that the North will give up its 
nuclear program."  The president was further quoted: "North Korea 
appears to be stalling for time in order to make its possession of 
nuclear weapons a fait accompli.  The members of the Six-Party Talks 
should seek a joint strategy to get the North to give up its nuclear 
ambitions." 
 
All media also covered Sept. 14 press remarks by State Department 
Spokesman Ian Kelly, in which he said: "We will not have any 
substantive bilateral talks with North Korea that are outside of the 
Six-Party context.  Our goal is to get North Korea to return to the 
Six-Party Talks." 
 
 
SEOUL 00001474  002 OF 003 
 
 
In a related development, right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo carried an 
analysis that said that Washington's repeated emphasis on the 
"framework of the Six-Party Talks" seems intended to stave off 
criticism of U.S.-North Korea direct talks and to preclude damage to 
cooperation with the ROK and Japan.  Conservative Dong-a Ilbo's 
headline read: "Is the U.S. Drawing a Clear Line in Consideration of 
ROK Concerns?" 
 
-Launch of New Japanese Government 
---------------------------------- 
Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo editorialized: "Japan's next Prime 
Minister Yukio Hatoyama starts his official term today. ... We hope 
that his emergence (as the new leader of Japan) will contribute to 
bringing peace and prosperity across East Asia, including on the 
Korean Peninsula. ...  Hatoyama pledged to achieve close and equal 
ties with the U.S. to improve bilateral relations between the two 
countries.  However, his planned changes are in Korea's interests, 
too.  Some observers say that Japan has decided to maintain some 
distance from the U.S. to solidify its relationship with neighbors 
such as China. .. Time will tell whether that was just a simple 
gesture to win over the hearts and minds of the country." 
 
 
FEATURES 
--------- 
 
WHY U.S. REITERATES "SIX-PARTY FRAMEWORK" 
(JoongAng Ilbo, September 16, 2009, page 6) 
 
By Correspondent Kim Jung-wook 
 
The U.S., which had announced that, after serious consideration, it 
will hold bilateral talks with North Korea, reiterated that any 
bilateral talks will not be outside of the framework of Six-Party 
Talks. 
 
State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly said during a September 14 
regular briefing, "We will not have any substantive bilateral talks 
with North Korea that are outside of the Six-Party context.  Our 
goal is to get North Korea to return to the Six-Party Talks." 
Referring to North Korea's recent invitation to Special 
Representative for North Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth to visit 
Pyongyang, Kelly said that the U.S. consulted with its counterparts 
on various ways to bring the North back to the Six-Party Talks.  It 
seems that he wants to emphasize that the U.S.'s decision to have 
bilateral talks with Pyongyang followed full consultations with 
Six-Party countries including the ROK. 
 
A high-ranking ROKG official who asked not to be named said that 
even if the time and format of the bilateral talks are set soon, the 
talks will not be a separate process which replaces the Six-Party 
Talks.  In a forum hosted by the Washington-based Korea Economic 
Institute, U.S. Ambassador to the ROK Kathleen Stephens said that 
North Korea must eventually return to the Six-Party Talks even if it 
engages in bilateral talks with the U.S.  A diplomatic source in 
Washington said that various behind-the-scenes negotiations are 
currently underway regarding (major issues) such as who will be the 
North Korean counterpart when Ambassador Bosworth visits Pyongyang. 
The source added that it appears that the U.S., before entering into 
the bilateral talks, wants to make it clear to North Korea that it 
will not give up the Six-Party Talks. 
 
Another diplomatic source said, "The USG is embarrassed that U.S. 
media interpreted the announcement of U.S.-North Korea dialogue as a 
'dramatic policy shift of the Obama Administration,' and U.S. public 
opinion also appears to be opposed to U.S.-North Korea negotiations. 
 Washington's repeated emphasis on the Six-Party framework is, 
therefore, designed to demonstrate that its principle on North Korea 
remains unchanged."  In a September 15 editorial titled "Kim Wins 
Another," The Wall Street Journal strongly criticized the USG, 
saying that the Obama Administration is "destroying" its own 
diplomacy.  The WSJ argued that (U.S. - North Korea) bilateral talks 
will almost certainly spell the death of the Six Party Talks, not 
their imminent resumption; that the Administration could badly 
 
SEOUL 00001474  003 OF 003 
 
 
undermine the united front it might have constructed with its allies 
in the region, the ROK and Japan above all; and that direct 
U.S.-North Korean talks strengthen Kim's hand internally as he 
arranges to hand power to his son. 
 
Meanwhile, Sen. John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee and Democratic candidate for President in 2004, said at a 
Korean Peninsula Peace Forum seminar on September 14 that past 
experience taught us the lesson that a 'benign neglect' strategy 
toward North Korea is not a viable option, and the U.S. should 
undertake active diplomatic efforts to end the vicious cycle of the 
North Korean nuclear issue.  In addition, he expressed support for 
U.S.-North Korea dialogue, saying that, although the U.S. has to 
consult closely with its allies, it should not take a defensive 
position and shy away from (dealing with) the North Korean nuclear 
issue.  His opinion seems to be in line with the Democratic Party's 
basic tone about North Korea policy. 
 
 
TOKOLA