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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 SEOUL 001875 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; November 27, 2009 
 
TOP HEADLINES 
------------- 
 
Chosun Ilbo 
President Lee: "Compromises Should Not Be Made 
with Strikers at Public Company" 
 
JoongAng Ilbo, Hankook Ilbo, Segye Ilbo 
Divisions Deepen after President's Address on Sejong City 
 
Dong-a Ilbo 
Dreams on Hold for Dubai's Man-made Islands 
 
Hankyoreh Shinmun 
President Lee's Nov. 27 Address Backfires... He "Distorts" Facts on 
Four-River Restoration Project 
 
Seoul Shinmun 
ROKG's Budget to Reduce Child Sex Crimes Too Stingy 
 
 
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 
---------------------- 
 
According to an ROKG source, military authorities are considering 
leasing U.S. Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles for the 
safety of ROK military personnel to be dispatched to Afghanistan. 
(Chosun) 
 
According to a recent opinion survey of 1,000 adults across the 
nation, 47.3 percent of respondents favored deploying ROK troops to 
Afghanistan, with 41.8 percent opposed to the move. (Dong-a) 
 
 
INTERNATIONAL NEWS 
------------------ 
 
A senior ROKG official said yesterday that prospects for U.S.-North 
Korea dialogue are "dim" at the moment, because there is no 
confirmed signal that North Korea will return to the Six-Party 
Talks. (Chosun, Hankook, Segye, Seoul, all TVs) 
 
According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), Special Representative for North 
Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth will come to Seoul on Dec. 6 and then 
travel on a military aircraft to North Korea on Dec. 8 via a U.S. 
air base in Osan, south of Seoul. (Chosun, Hankook, Segye) 
 
 
MEDIA ANALYSIS 
-------------- 
 
-N. Korea 
--------- 
Most ROK media today gave attention to Nov. 29 press remarks by a 
senior ROKG official, in which he said that prospects for bilateral 
talks between the U.S. and North Korea are "dim," because there is 
no confirmed signal that North Korea will return to the Six-Party 
Talks.  He was further quoted: "Recent foreign news reports say that 
the North has hinted at returning to the Six-Party Talks, but they 
haven't been confirmed yet, either." 
 
Conservative Chosun and Segye Ilbo and moderate Hankook Ilbo 
replayed a Radio Free Asia (RFA) report quoting a diplomatic source 
in Washington as saying that Special Representative for North Korea 
Policy Stephen Bosworth will come to Seoul on Dec. 6 and then travel 
on a military aircraft to North Korea on Dec. 8 via a U.S. air base 
in Osan, south of Seoul. 
 
President Obama's Policy on Afghanistan 
In a commentary, moderate Hankook Ilbo observed: "The problem is 
that President Obama is following the example of President Clinton 
by joining forces with the Republicans in order to expand the Afghan 
war. ... Some liberal groups warn that President Obama should be 
 
SEOUL 00001875  002 OF 004 
 
 
cautious about sending more troops to Afghanistan unless he repeats 
the history in which the White House's alliance with the Republicans 
led to the loss of its power.  ...  The reason why President Bush 
became a 'war president' is not that he was responsible for the 
September 11 terror attacks.  It is high time for President Obama to 
be evaluated by his policy, not by his vision." 
 
-Dubai's Financial Debacle 
-------------------------- 
Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo editorialized on Saturday (Nov. 28): 
"The collapse of Dubai vividly shows how the imagination and 
ambition of a leader who lacks public support and solid domestic 
resources could become a disaster, not a national success." 
 
An editorial in left-leaning Hankyoreh Shinmun commented: "The Dubai 
crisis reminds us that the global financial crisis is far from over. 
...  Even though policymakers and analysts expected that the 
country's exposure to the financial malaise triggered by Dubai would 
be limited, given our heavy dependence on overseas trade, we cannot 
help but be sensitive to global economic developments.  The ROKG 
should devise ways to minimize the impact of the Dubai crisis by 
seeking to further develop the domestic market." 
 
OPINIONS/EDITORIALS 
------------------- 
 
OBAMA IS 'SHARING SAME BED WITH ENEMY' 
(Hankook Ilbo, November 30, Page 39: Excerpts) 
 
By Washington Correspondent Hwang Woo-seok 
 
These days, people (in the U.S.) say that President Obama is making 
moves just like former Democratic Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Bill 
Clinton. 
 
President Johnson made spectacular achievements by passing the Civil 
Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act but was branded as a failed 
president due to the escalation of the Vietnam War (during his 
Administration).  This eventually made him lose to Republican 
Richard Nixon in the following presidential election. 
 
Sixteen years ago, President Clinton joined hands with the 
Republicans to pass the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), 
which is the greatest accomplishment during his term.  Democratic 
supporters such as labor unions, environmental NGOs and consumer 
groups strived to block the Agreement, but capitulated to a solid 
White House- Republican joint front. 
 
President Clinton passed the NAFTA by "sharing a bed with his enemy" 
and was touted as a president who achieved ideology-free pragmatism 
and broadened the horizon of the leftists.  However in 1994 when 
NAFTA took effect, in a mid-term election, Clinton's party lost 
ground to the Republican Party due to Newt Gingrich's conservative 
revolution. 
 
This is why President Obama, who is expected to deploy an additional 
34,000 troops, reminds us of President Johnson and/or Clinton.  Now 
we are facing an expansion of the Afghanistan war, which is a second 
Vietnam War.  The number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan will increase 
to more than 100,000 from 68,000 and the war will cost tens of 
billions of dollars a year.  The White House hinted that it will end 
the war by 2017, saying that the U.S. will not be in Afghanistan 
eight or nine years from now. 
 
The problem is that President Obama is following the example of 
President Clinton by joining forces with the Republicans in order to 
expand the Afghan war. While the Democratic Party debates whether to 
increase troop levels in Afghanistan, the Republicans call in unison 
for an expansion of the U.S.' military presence in the region. 
Obama is expected to propose an exit strategy when he announces a 
plan on additional troop deployment but it is unclear whether he can 
persuade the U.S. public.  Some liberal groups warn that President 
Obama should be cautious about sending more troops to Afghanistan 
unless he repeats the history in which the White House's alliance 
 
SEOUL 00001875  003 OF 004 
 
 
with the Republicans led to the loss of its power. 
 
President Bush became a "war leader" less than eight months after he 
was in office because of the unprecedented tragedy of the September 
11 terror attacks.  However, even after ten months in office, 
President Obama has not produced any tangible results.  President 
Bush united the Americans, calling for restoring great America amid 
the rubble of the World Trade Center three days after the terrorist 
attacks.  President Obama, however, is having hard time dealing with 
the economic crisis, the Afghan war and health care reform. 
 
President Obama said at a fund-raising event in San Francisco, 
"We're busy mopping up someone else's mess."  This is not the first 
time he commented on "mop politics."  The reason why President Bush 
became a 'war president' is not that he was responsible for the 
September 11 terror attacks.  It is high time for President Obama to 
be evaluated by his policy, not by his vision.  He should map out 
his own ideas and plans as a president in order not to repeat the 
history in the mid-term election and the next presidential election. 
 
 
 
FEATURES 
-------- 
 
U.S. EMBASSY BUILDING TO BECOME "HISTORY MUSEUM" 
(Seoul Economic Daily, November 26, 2009) 
 
By Reporter Chung Seung-yang 
 
The U.S. Embassy Building in Gwanghwamun, Seoul will be rebuilt as a 
history museum. 
 
Originally, there were plans that the Ministry of Culture, Sports 
and Tourism (MCST) building would be remodeled as a history museum. 
With the remodeling of the U.S. Embassy Building, however, that 
history museum will be doubled in size.  The history museum, if 
completed, is expected to emerge as a new cultural hub. 
 
According to the MCST on November 26, as the U.S. Embassy unveiled 
its plan to relocate its building by 2013, the ROKG has decided to 
renovate the U.S. Embassy building to be part of its history museum 
idea.  A combined area of the U.S. Chancery building and the MCST 
building is approximately 4,000 pyeong (one pyeong is equal to 3.3 
square meters).  The eight-story twin buildings were built at the 
same time. 
 
An ROKG official said that the ROKG originally sought to rebuild 
only the MCST building as the history museum but decided also to 
renovate the Embassy building to create the history museum.  The 
ROKG will include this revised plan in the basic blue print for the 
construction of the history museum, which will be rolled out at the 
end of next January. 
 
The history museum will open initially in February 2013.  After 
completion of the MCST building's remodeling; and the relocation of 
the U.S. Embassy building, the second stage of renovation (of the 
U.S. Chancery building) will be launched. 
 
U.S. Ambassador to the ROK Kathleen Stephens recently said on her 
community blog site that the U.S. Embassy will relocate its 
building, adding that it plans to move to a modern, practical new 
building by reflecting the importance of a mature U.S.-ROK 
relationship. 
 
If this happens, the twin buildings, which went on different paths, 
will be transformed into a history museum that follows the same 
path.  The two buildings were designed and constructed by a U.S. 
company and completed in 1961. 
 
The MCST building was used as the office of Park Chung-hee as 
Chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction after 
the May 16 coup and the Economic Planning Board building.  The 
ROKG's five year economic development project was also established 
 
SEOUL 00001875  004 OF 004 
 
 
in the MCST building.  Afterwards, after the Economic Planning Board 
moved to Gwacheon in May 1986, the MCST acquired it to use as its 
official building. 
 
The U.S. Embassy building was occupied by the U.S. Operations 
Mission (USOM) for the early 6 years and then has been used by the 
U.S. Embassy for more than 40 years since June 1968. 
 
The MCST will rent a new office nearby around June next year under 
the schedule that a ground-breaking ceremony for the history museum 
will be held on August 15.  However, controversies over the plan 
will persist because some people are still opposed to the plan. 
Critics say that the MCST is in the list of government ministries 
subject to relocation to Sejong City in 2013, while questioning why 
the history museum should be located in Gwanghwamun.  They also 
suggest that it is better to newly construct the history museum than 
to remodel the old buildings. 
 
 
47.3 PERCENT SUPPORT TROOP DISPATCH TO AFGHANISTAN 
(Dong-a Ilbo, November 30, 2009, Page 4; Excerpts) 
 
By Reporter Kim Young-sik 
 
Dong-a Ilbo commissioned the Korea Research Center (KRC) to conduct 
an opinion poll after President Lee Myung-bak announced his views on 
pending national agenda on the TV program "Dialogue with the 
President," which aired live Friday night. 
 
The KRC conducted the nationwide survey of 1,000 adults, including 
300 people in the Chungcheong provinces and 700 outside of that 
region by telephone Saturday afternoon.  The margin of error was 
plus or minus 3.1 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. 
 
¶Q. The ROKG is recently considering sending about 300 troops to 
Afghanistan to protect the Provincial Reconstruction Team.  What is 
your take on this? 
 
I support it 47.3 percent 
I object to it 41.8 percent 
I don't know/No response 10.9 percent 
 
By gender, 62.8 percent of men approved the troop dispatch to 
Afghanistan with 33.5 percent opposing it, and 32.4 percent of women 
supported the dispatch with 49.9 percent against it.  By age, the 
troop deployment won the highest approval among the respondents in 
their 50s (56.5 percent), but in the younger generations, opponents 
outnumbered supporters.  About 49.7 percent of those in their 20s 
and 52.5 percent of those in their 30s opposed the troop deployment. 
 
 
 
 
STEPHENS