VZCZCXRO5391
OO RUEHDBU RUEHPW RUEHSL
DE RUEHBUL #3635 3152015
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 112015Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3038
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 0147
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 0002
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 3872

S E C R E T KABUL 003635 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS USAID FOR ASIA/SCAA 
USFOR-A FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/11/2019 
TAGS: KDEM MOPS PGOV PREL NZ KS AF
SUBJECT: OPTIONS FOR FACILITATING A KOREAN PROVINCIAL 
RECONSTRUCTION TEAM IN AFGHANISTAN 
 
REF: A. A)STATE 106840 
     ¶B. B) SEOUL 1735 
     ¶C. C) KABUL 3436 
     ¶D. D) STATE 115253 
     ¶E. E) SEOUL 1789 
 
Classified By: Interagency Provincial Affairs Coordinator Scott F. Kiln 
er for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (U) This is a joint Embassy Kabul-ISAF message. 
 ¶2. (S/REL ISAF) Summary:  To facilitate the Republic of 
Korea,s (ROK) efforts to follow through on its offer to 
stand up a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in 
Afghanistan, Embassy Kabul and the International Security 
Assistance Force for Afghanistan (ISAF) will assist the ROK 
survey team expected in Afghanistan November 12-17.  We 
intend to present the survey team with two options.  If the 
ROK is prepared to staff a PRT with an adequate level of its 
own security forces, we will help the Koreans find a suitable 
site in Parwan Province or in another province.  If the 
Koreans will not have adequate independent force protection 
capability, we plan to recommend that they consider locating 
additional development staff and medical personnel on Bagram 
Air Field (BAF) with the clear understanding that U.S. Forces 
would not be able to provide force protection outside the 
base on a predictable or regular basis.  End summary. 
¶3. (S/REL ISAF) Septel reports our meetings with Korean 
Ambassador Song Woong Yeob and DCM Park Young-kyu, and the 
ROK,s focus on Parwan Province as the location for their 
PRT.  We will assist the Korean survey delegation, headed by 
ROK SRAP and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Lee 
Yong-joon, which plans to visit BAF and Parwan Province on 
November 15-16.  The Korean Embassy has arranged a meeting 
for the party with Parwan Governor Abdul Basir Salangi.  The 
ROK delegation has also requested to visit Bamyan Province 
and the New Zealand-run PRT there on November 16. 
¶4. (S/REL ISAF) It will be very important for us to 
coordinate ROK plans in Parwan Province, as there are already 
steps underway to open a new U.S. PRT in Parwan in February 
¶2010.  This would be the first time that two nations have 
independent PRTs in the same province, presenting unique ) 
but manageable ) challenges in coordinating our respective 
dealings with the Parwan provincial governor and other 
officials. 
¶5. (S/REL ISAF) The strategic importance of BAF to the ISAF 
mission in Afghanistan requires also that our security 
concerns in surrounding Parwan Province be fully addressed. 
If the Koreans are truly committed to establishing an 
independent PRT that is self-sufficient, including an 
adequate security force along with intelligence, 
surveillance, and reconnaissance assets, we welcome the 
opportunity to assist them in finding a suitable location in 
Parwan Province, as that is where their strong interests seem 
to lie.  But we will also hold open the option of assisting 
the Koreans to find a suitable location in another province, 
should they be amenable to such a scenario. 
 
¶6. (S/REL ISAF) If the Koreans for any reason cannot commit 
to a truly self-sufficient PRT, as Foreign Minister Yu,s 
November 6 letter to NATO SYG Rasmussen pledges they will 
(Ref E), we would alternatively recommend they consider 
locating on BAF itself, with the clear understanding that it 
is unlikely that U.S. Forces would be able to provide robust 
force protection outside the base on a predictable or regular 
basis.  We would, however, welcome and likely be able to 
assist training and development activities highlighted in Ref 
A, including police and vocational training; agricultural 
projects; infrastructure projects, including road 
construction; and expansion of the number of Korean doctors 
and nurses at Korean hospital at BAF. 
EIKENBERRY