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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 SEOUL 001554 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; September 28, 2009 
 
TOP HEADLINES 
------------- 
 
 
Chosun Ilbo 
Progressive Teachers' Group Acknowledges Need 
for Teacher Evaluation 
 
JoongAng Ilbo, Segye Ilbo, Seoul Shinmun, All TVs 
Mobile Phone Rates to be Cut Starting in November, 
Helping Households Save 7 to 8 Percent Annually 
 
Dong-a Ilbo 
Separated Families Hold Reunions 
 
Hankook Ilbo 
Number of "Working Poor" Jumps by 140,000 in First Half 
 
Hankyoreh Shinmun 
Survey: Six out of 10 Citizens Think 
Prime Minister Nominee "Unfit for Office" 
 
 
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 
--------------------- 
 
According to diplomatic sources, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio 
Hatoyama will visit Seoul on Oct. 9 for a summit with President Lee 
Myung-bak. His visit comes on the eve of the Oct. 10 trilateral 
summit in Beijing between the leaders of the ROK, China and Japan. 
(All) 
 
The ROK's Red Cross Chief Yoo Chong-ha said yesterday that his North 
Korean counterpart presented an indirect request for ROK rice and 
fertilizer aid in return for ongoing reunions of separated families. 
(All) 
 
 
INTERNATIONAL NEWS 
------------------ 
 
Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, during a Sept. 27 press 
briefing in Hanoi, said that the U.S. wants its partners in the 
Six-Party Talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament to send 
Pyongyang a "unified" message to return to the talks. (Segye, MBC) 
 
According to a diplomatic source in Beijing, China's Premier Wen 
Jiabao will visit North Korea for two days from Oct. 4 to mark the 
60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries. There 
is a high possibility that the Chinese premier may meet with North 
Korean leader Kim Jong-il to persuade the North to promptly return 
to the Six-Party Talks. (JoongAng, Hankook) 
 
 
MEDIA ANALYSIS 
-------------- 
 
-N. Korea 
--------- 
Conservative Segye Ilbo and MBC, a public broadcaster, quoted Deputy 
Secretary of State James Steinberg as saying during a Sept. 27 press 
briefing in Hanoi that the U.S. wants its partners in the Six-Party 
Talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament to send Pyongyang a 
"unified" message to return to the talks. 
 
Most media on Saturday quoted a senior ROKG official as saying that 
the U.S. and North Korea may need more than a month or two to 
finalize the details of a bilateral meeting.  The official was 
further quoted: "The timing and format have not yet been set.  The 
U.S. will take a careful approach so as to not give the North a 
wrong signal." 
 
 
SEOUL 00001554  002 OF 006 
 
 
Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo editorialized on Saturday: "The UN 
Security Council has unanimously passed a new resolution, No. 1887, 
aimed at stopping the spread of nuclear weapons. ...  It is not news 
that international efforts for denuclearization have been emphasized 
and highlighted.  However, as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said, 
this was 'a historic moment, a moment offering a fresh start toward 
a new future.'  President Obama stressed that 'international law is 
not an empty promise, and treaties will be enforced.'  By doing so, 
Obama hinted at his intentions to deal firmly with the nuclear 
ambitions of North Korea and Iran." 
 
-G20 Summit Wrap-Up 
-------------------- 
The ROK's hosting of the Group of 20 Summit in November next year 
received prominent press coverage today and over the weekend. 
 
President Lee Myung-bak was widely quoted as saying on Saturday upon 
his return from his seven-day trip to the U.S.: "Hosting the G-20 
summit gives Korea momentum as the nation continues efforts to 
elevate itself to the status of a developed country.  It will not 
only help Korea stand at the center of diplomacy but also upgrade 
Korea's national stature in terms of politics, economy, legal system 
and civility." 
 
According to media reports, the leaders of the Group of 20 rich and 
developing countries agreed during the third G-20 summit in 
Pittsburgh to endorse the G-20 as the premier forum for 
international economic cooperation, largely replacing the G-8, a 
forum for industrialized nations that has long dominated the world 
economy. 
 
Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo editorialized today: "Last year's 
financial crisis clearly demonstrated that the G-8 countries alone, 
without the emerging economies, cannot deal with global economic 
crises properly.  ... Now it has become an established fact that the 
'central axis' of the world economy has shifted from the G-8 to the 
G-20.  ... However, the prospects of the G-20 system are still 
unclear.  It is doubtful whether various countries can communicate 
without difficulty since there are big differences of opinion 
between developed countries and emerging economies on every issue. 
... In this sense, the G-20 Summit, which will take place in the ROK 
next November, is highly likely to become a watershed in determining 
the stable development of the G-20 system." 
 
 
OPINIONS/EDITORIALS 
-------------------- 
 
G-20 SUMMIT SHOULD BECOME THE CORNERSTONE OF WORLD ECONOMIC GROWTH 
(JoongAng Ilbo, September 28, 2009, page 46) 
 
Leaders of the third G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh said in a statement 
that they will hold the meeting annually starting from 2011.  It 
seems that the leaders intend to upgrade the G-20 Summit from a 
temporary irregular meeting for combating the global financial 
crisis to a permanent premier coordinating body.  The White House 
said that the G-20 leaders reached a historic consensus to designate 
the G-20 as the world's premier forum for international economic 
cooperation.  This indicates that the leaders officially confirmed a 
new world economic order, in which the G-8 is being replaced by the 
G-20 involving both developed countries and emerging economies. 
 
In fact, the statement provides some concrete evidence that 
indicates that the G-20 system is being implemented.  The G-20 
called for a shift from developed to developing countries in the 
proportion of equity share and voting rights in the International 
Monetary Fund (IMF) and International Bank for Reconstruction and 
Development (IBRD).  In particular, the leaders agreed that the head 
of the international organizations should be selected based on 
qualifications, not nationality.  This shows that emerging economies 
including the ROK have a growing voice on the international economic 
stage. 
 
This reflects, even if belatedly, the increased status of emerging 
 
SEOUL 00001554  003 OF 006 
 
 
economies in the aftermath of the global financial upheaval.  Even 
before the financial crisis, emerging economies had played a key 
role in the global economy by achieving fast economic growth. 
Therefore, it was meaningless for only the G-8 Summit leaders, 
excluding these emerging economies, to discuss the global economy. 
Last year's financial crisis clearly demonstrated that the G-8 
countries alone, without the emerging economies, cannot deal with 
global economic crises properly.    It seems natural that the G-20 
Summit, which was hastily convened in Washington last December, has 
taken hold as a premier coordinating body by reflecting a change in 
the structure of the world economy. 
 
Now it has become an established fact that the 'central axis' of the 
world economy has shifted from the G-8 to the G-20.  The Pittsburgh 
G-20 Summit is important in that the ROK was chosen to host next 
year's meeting.  What carries greater significance is that the G-20 
Summit emerged as the premier decision-making body of the global 
economy, and the ROK was given an opportunity to take the leadership 
role in the historic shift. 
 
However, the prospects for the G-20 system are still unclear.  It is 
doubtful whether various countries can communicate without 
difficulty since there are big differences of opinion between 
developed countries and emerging economies on every issue.  The G-20 
Summit may end up being "an arena of struggle" or a "dysfunctional" 
summit which issues only a statement without reaching any concrete 
decision.  In this sense, the G-20 Summit, which will take place in 
the ROK next November, is highly likely to become a watershed in 
determining the stable development of the G-20 system.  The ROK 
should serve as a mediator between developed countries and emerging 
economies.  This is why the entire world is paying attention to 
whether the ROK will exert its capability as a host country. 
 
 
G20 SUMMIT SHOULD EXPEDITE NAT'L DEVELOPMENT 
(Dong-a Ilbo, September 28, 2009, Page 31) 
 
Korea will be the first Asian country to host the Group of 20 summit 
in November next year and the fourth country to do so among G20 
member states after the U.S. (twice), Britain and Canada.  Korea's 
participation in the summit in and of itself attests to the nation's 
great strides in the international community.  Seoul's successful 
bid to host the event is also a great achievement in Korean 
diplomacy.  The country has also secured a monumental opportunity to 
raise its international profile. 
 
President Lee Myung-bak expressed his will to host the G20 summit 
soon after his return from the first event in Washington in November 
last year.  A government task force was formed to bid for the 
hosting rights immediately.  His "personal network of G20 leaders" 
added momentum to Korea's bid, and government officials including 
former Finance Minister Sakong Il, Chairman of the G20 planning and 
coordination committee, visited major member countries to propagate 
Korea's successful bid. 
 
The Group of Eight economies had previously dominated the global 
economy but failed to effectively tackle all pending global issues. 
The G20 was formed at a time when the world required new leadership 
in the wake of global challenges, including climate change, nuclear 
proliferation and terrorism.  The G20 accounts for 85 percent of 
global production, so the G8 will likely see its role in the global 
agenda gradually decline.  G20 leaders in Pittsburgh last week 
agreed to make the G20 the world's leading forum, and so chances are 
high the G20 will replace the G8 in the economic area. 
 
The G20 summit in Korea will likely cover key agenda items such as a 
strategy to overcome the economic crisis, financial regulations, and 
reform of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.  If 
Korea can play a leading role in setting the agenda and generating 
solutions as the host country in successfully hosting next year's 
event, it can raise its global profile as a key member of the 
"post-G8" alliance. 
 
Advanced and emerging economies and developing nations have shown 
 
SEOUL 00001554  004 OF 006 
 
 
differing views on easing the disparity in the global economy and 
overcoming the financial crisis. Korea is poised to join the league 
of advanced economies, and has ample experience as a successful 
developing country and emerging market.  As such, the country is 
indeed qualified to play the role of a bridge between developed and 
developing economies. 
 
Korea must use the G20 summit as an opportunity to increase its 
national image to the level of advanced countries across the 
spectrum, encompassing politics, economy and society.  The country 
was ranked 19th this year in national competitiveness by the World 
Economic Forum.  Notably, the country is "rock bottom" in terms of 
labor competitiveness, including labor-management cooperation, and 
lags behind financial market sophistication and soundness of banks, 
a shameful level for a country that will host the G20 summit. 
 
Korea needs notable achievements recognized by both the Korean 
public and the world in advancing the nation's political culture, 
including making Korea's democracy more representative by the time 
of the next G20 summit.  Otherwise, Korea could face disgrace as an 
"underdeveloped democracy" that hosts the G20 summit. 
 
(This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is 
identical to the Korean version.) 
 
 
G-20 AS DEMOCRATIC GLOBAL ECONOMIC COORDINATOR 
(Hankyoreh Shinmun, September 28, 2009, Page 27) 
 
The nations meeting at the G-20 summit, which closed last weekend in 
the U.S. city of Pittsburgh, have agreed to turn the G-20 into the 
world's top economic forum and to regularize G-20 summits starting 
in 2011.  This agreement is being interpreted as an acknowledgement 
that the international community cannot resolve the economic 
problems of the world with just the leadership of the G-8 alone, 
which is centered on the advanced countries.  In addition, it is 
being seen as a confirmation that the G-20 summit, which includes 
newly industrialized developing countries, such as China, will 
replace the G-8 summits.  When one considers that the G-20 accounts 
for some 85 percent of the global economy and over half of the total 
economy of developing nations, this can be seen as an important 
decision that advances the global economic order towards democracy. 
 
 
The G-20 member states also agreed to adopt mutual evaluations of 
policy in order to build a cooperative system for sustainable 
balanced growth, reorganize the capital structure of the 
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank by 2011, and 
strengthen regulations on financial institutions.  They also 
reaffirmed a global economic keynote of openness and clarified the 
principle that nations should not use crisis to retreat into 
protectionism. 
 
The problem, however, is not only that many of the agreements made 
in the past few days lack not only substance, but also binding 
force.  This is the case with the reorganization of country 
representation at the IMF and World Bank, which is directly related 
to the democratization of the global economic order.  China and 
others had pressed to resolve the issue during this meeting but the 
summit declaration only provided support for, but no affirmative 
action towards, a shift in quota share for the IMF and World Bank in 
which 5% and 3%, respectively, of the shares from over-represented 
countries would go to under-represented countries.  The summit also 
confirmed the need to improve global governance by tightening the 
lax management of financial institutions that led to the world 
economic crisis; however, a decision on setting a concrete 
international standard was put off until 2012. 
 
In certain respects, the outcome was predictable.  Because the 
number of participating nations has grown and the gaps between them 
are much larger than those among the G8, reaching agreements on 
substantive issues can only get that much more difficult. 
 
The G-20 member countries must refuse to be satisfied with 
 
SEOUL 00001554  005 OF 006 
 
 
agreements made just for agreement's sake if they want to become the 
world's top economic community.  The G-20 must not shy away from the 
issues that were at the root of the world economic crisis, and 
instead should demonstrate the courage to resolve them.  In this 
regard, the role of newly developed nations, starting with South 
Korea which will host next year summit prior to the regularization 
of the G-20 summit process, is important.  The G-20 countries should 
democratize the global economic order by going beyond the interests 
of rising nations and make it easier for poor nations, which are not 
represented, to be heard. 
 
(This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is 
identical to the Korean version.) 
 
 
UN TIDE TURNS AGAINST NORTH 
(JoongAng Ilbo, September 26, 2009, Page 34) 
 
The UN Security Council has unanimously passed a new resolution, No. 
1887, aimed at stopping the spread of nuclear weapons.  U.S. 
President Barack Obama and other members of the Security Council, 
including the permanent members China, Russia, France and Britain, 
supported the resolution.  It called for preventing the 
proliferation of nuclear weapons and related materials, for UN 
members to take action to end nuclear testing, and for a 
strengthening of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.  In 
particular, the resolution states that if a state that receives 
nuclear materials or related equipment doesn't comply with the NPT 
or opts out of the treaty, then the country that provided those 
materials can require their return.  Also, the resolution urges 
states to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. This 
move puts the last touch on a vision of a nuclear-free world.  While 
North Korea and Iran weren't directly mentioned in the resolution, 
heads of state at the meeting pointed to those two countries as 
obstacles to a safe world. 
 
It is not news that international efforts for denuclearization have 
been emphasized and highlighted.  However, as UN Secretary General 
Ban Ki-moon said, this was "a historic moment, a moment offering a 
fresh start toward a new future."  President Obama stressed that 
"international law is not an empty promise, and treaties will be 
enforced."  By doing so, Obama hinted at his intentions to deal 
firmly with the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran.  And with 
the endorsement of this resolution, there could be a new 
international agreement at next April's NPT review summit, which is 
designed to strengthen the treaty. 
 
North Korea should take note of this resolution.  Considering the 
ever-growing international sentiment against nuclear weapons, the 
North's "military first" politics can be sustained only for so long. 
 The North can't live while holding on to nuclear weapons. Its 
isolation in the international community will only deepen, and the 
North will again have to walk the same path of hardship, dealing 
with tens of thousands of deaths from hunger.  Today, the 
international community is urging North Korea to abandon nuclear 
weapons and is offering security assurances and economic aid in 
return, within the framework of the Six-Party dialogue.  North Korea 
must return to the Six-Party Talks immediately. A nuclear weapons 
and military first policy will only lead to destruction. 
 
(This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is 
identical to the Korean version.) 
 
 
NORTH KOREA SHOULD TAKE UNSC'S ANTI-NUCLEAR RESOLUTION SERIOUSLY 
(Dong-a Ilbo, September 28, 2009, Page 31) 
 
The UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1887 on 
nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament on September 24. 
The heads of the UNSC member nations came forward to spearhead 
anti-nuclear efforts in order to save the international community 
from nuclear threats.  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon attached 
significance to the day, describing it as a "historic moment." 
 
 
SEOUL 00001554  006 OF 006 
 
 
Although the resolution did not specifically mention North Korea and 
Iran, the leaders of major nations made it clear that (the 
resolution) is targeted at the two nations.  President Obama warned 
during his speech at the UN General Assembly that "the governments 
of North Korea and Iran threaten to take us down this dangerous 
slope" and "they must be held accountable."  French President 
Nicolas Sarkozy said after the adoption of the resolution that for 
almost 20 years since 1993, the Pyongyang regime has been developing 
nuclear and missile programs and exporting sensitive technologies 
overseas, and he urged every UN member nation to supervise and seize 
North Korea's illegal weapons and nuclear exports. 
 
The international community's commitment to nuclear 
non-proliferation is stronger than ever before.  Since President 
Obama advocated a nuclear-weapons-free world in April, he has 
ambitiously taken the road to nuclear non-proliferation.  He will 
chair the Global Nuclear Security Summit next March and the NPT 
(Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) Review Conference next May.  The 
reason why the special, summit-level meeting of the UN Security 
Council was held after five years was that its member nations 
considered nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran to be serious. 
 
Russia is also taking part in the U.S.'s anti-nuclear efforts. 
During their summit on September 23, President Obama and Russian 
President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to consider imposing additional 
serious sanctions on Iran if the nation does not accept the 
international community's proposal to end the nuclear standoff.  The 
two Presidents also promised to come up with a new accord which will 
replace the START-1 treaty set to expire this year. 
 
The anti-nuclear resolution, which was adopted by the heads of the 
UNSC member nations, carries more weight than an agreement from the 
Six-Party Talks attended by vice minister-level officials.  Through 
the resolution, the UNSC members also showed their willingness to 
abide by UNSC Resolutions 1718 and 1874.   The latest resolution 
even "encourages States to require as a condition of nuclear exports 
that the recipient State agree that, in the event that it should 
terminate, withdraw from, or be found by the IAEA Board of Governors 
to be in non-compliance with its IAEA safeguards agreement, the 
supplier state would have a right to require the return of nuclear 
material and equipment provided prior to such termination, 
non-compliance or withdrawal, as well as any special nuclear 
material produced through the use of such material or equipment." 
If North Korea continues to ignore these warnings, it will 
inevitably be driven into a corner with its regime security 
deteriorating. 
 
 
STEPHENS