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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SEOUL 001488 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; September 17, 2009 
 
TOP HEADLINES 
------------- 
 
 
Chosun Ilbo 
Will Japan Change?; Hatoyama Takes Office 
as Japan's New Prime Minister 
 
JoongAng Ilbo 
ROK Has Four Times More Labor Unions 
with Full-time Union Members than Japan 
 
Dong-a Ilbo 
Faced with 7 Billion Won Damage Suit for Illegal Strikes, Korean 
Railroad Union Issues "Struggle Bonds" 
to Collect 3.5 Billion Won from Union Members 
 
Hankook Ilbo, All TVs 
Korean Won Hits 11-Month High, Raising Concerns that the Won's Rapid 
Rise May Impact Local Exporters' Competitiveness, Hampering Economic 
Recovery 
 
Hankyoreh Shinmun 
Court Accepts Retrial for Kang Ki-hoon who was Convicted in 1991 of 
Forging the Will and Testament of His Fellow Activist, Kim Ki-sul, 
who Burned Himself to Death in May of That Year in Protest against 
Then Military Government 
 
Segye Ilbo, Seoul Shinmun 
126.4 Trillion Won Set for Regional Development 
 
 
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 
--------------------- 
 
¶1. Deputy Secretary of State James B. Steinberg will reportedly 
visit East Asia, including the ROK, China and Japan, later this 
month to discuss U.S.-North Korea bilateral talks and ways to resume 
the Six-Party Talks, among others. (JoongAng, Hankook) 
 
 
INTERNATIONAL NEWS 
------------------ 
 
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested on Sept. 15 that the 
U.S. is prepared to engage in direct talks with North Korea to 
encourage the communist state to rejoin the Six-Party Talks on its 
nuclear program. She was quoted: "One of the ways we perhaps can get 
North Korea to engage is by explaining directly and clearly what the 
purpose is and what the possible consequences and incentives could 
be." (All) 
 
In a related development, a senior ROKG official raised the 
possibility that the envisioned U.S.-North Korea talks may take 
place in late October or early November, saying: "Washington will 
need some time to prepare for such a meeting. So it should be no 
earlier than late October." (Chosun, Hankook, Segye) 
 
According to Yonhap News Agency, an aide to Sen. John Kerry, 
Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Sept. 15 
that the senator received an invitation from North Korea to visit 
Pyongyang and that he is positively considering visiting the 
communist state. (Chosun, Hankook, Hankyoreh, Seoul, YTN) 
 
 
MEDIA ANALYSIS 
-------------- 
 
-N. Korea 
---------- 
 
All ROK media covered Sept. 15 press remarks by Secretary of State 
Hillary Clinton, in which she said: "One of the ways we perhaps can 
 
SEOUL 00001488  002 OF 003 
 
 
get North Korea to engage is by explaining directly and clearly what 
the purpose is and what the possible consequences and incentives 
could be. ...  The U.S. is not acting in any way that is not part of 
agreed-upon - an agreed-upon process that has been worked out with 
the Six-Party members." 
 
Conservative Chosun Ilbo commented that Secretary Clinton's 
statement has clarified that the purpose of bilateral talks with 
North Korea is to bring the North back to the Six-Party Talks, while 
putting to rest worries that such talks could replace the Six-Party 
Talks.  Conservative Dong-a Ilbo, meanwhile, portrayed Secretary 
Clinton's statement as an explanation against ongoing criticism that 
the U.S. has made a policy shift by accepting bilateral talks with 
the North.  Left-leaning Hankyoreh Shinmun quoted a local expert as 
speculating that the U.S. is likely to provide details of the 
proposed "comprehensive package" of incentives during the bilateral 
talks, which would reportedly include normalized ties and a security 
guarantee in return for the North's denuclearization. 
 
Most newspapers quoted a senior ROKG official as raising the 
possibility yesterday that the envisioned U.S.-North Korea talks may 
take place in late October or early November, saying: "Washington 
will need some time to prepare for such a meeting. So it should be 
no earlier than late October." 
 
In particular, conservative Chosun Ilbo further cited the ROKG 
official as surmising that if Washington-Pyongyang talks 
materialize, Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. Special Representative for 
North Korea Policy, will probably visit Pyongyang and that 
Washington wants him to meet Kang Sok-ju, the North's First Vice 
Foreign Minister who played a key role in concluding the bilateral 
Geneva Accord in 1994. 
 
Most ROK media replayed a Yonhap News report quoting an aide to Sen. 
John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as 
saying on Sept. 15 that the senator received an invitation from 
North Korea to visit Pyongyang and that he is positively considering 
visiting the communist state. 
 
 
FEATURES 
--------- 
 
CLINTON CALMS FEARS ABOUT TALKS WITH N. KOREA 
(Chosun Ilbo, September 17, 2009, Front Page) 
 
By Washington Correspondent Lee Ha-won and Reporter Ahn Yong-hyun 
 
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday said that if the 
U.S. and North Korea should start bilateral talks, Washington will 
make it clear to North Korea what the possible incentives are if it 
commits to denuclearization and what the consequences will be if it 
does not.  A South Korean government source on Wednesday said the 
talks will probably happen in late October or early November. 
 
Clinton indicated that the only purpose of bilateral talks with 
Pyongyang would be to persuade the North back to Six-Party Talks, 
putting to rest worries that they could replace the multilateral 
framework.  "One of the ways we perhaps can get North Korea to 
engage is by explaining directly and clearly what the purpose is and 
what the possible consequences and incentives could be," she said. 
"The U.S. is not acting in any way that is not part of agreed-upon - 
an agreed-upon process that has been worked out with the Six-Party 
members." 
 
The South Korean source said if Washington-Pyongyang talks 
materialize, Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. Special Representative for 
North Korea policy, will probably visit Pyongyang and that 
Washington wants him to meet Kang Sok-ju, the North's First Vice 
Foreign Minister who played a key role in concluding the bilateral 
Geneva Accords in 1994. 
 
Meanwhile, the Yonhap news agency quoted aides to John Kerry, the 
Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as saying 
 
SEOUL 00001488  003 OF 003 
 
 
Tuesday that his office has received an invitation from North Korea 
to visit Pyongyang.  Aides said that,if he visits (North Korea), it 
will be to take a close look at the reality there rather than to 
discuss the denuclearization issue. 
 
(This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is 
identical to the Korean version.) 
 
 
TOKOLA