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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SEOUL 001894 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; December 2, 2009 
 
TOP HEADLINES 
------------- 
 
Chosun Ilbo 
All-out ROKG Pressure on Public Sector Labor Unions; Police Raid 
Railway, Civil Servants Union Offices, 
Seek to Arrest Leaders 
 
JoongAng Ilbo, Segye Ilbo, Seoul Shinmun 
Rail Strike is Declared Illegal 
 
Dong-a Ilbo 
¶N. Korea's Currency Reform Sparks Chaos; 
Business Transactions Practically Come to a Halt 
 
Hankook Ilbo 
U.S. to Send 34,000 More Troops to Afghanistan 
 
Hankyoreh Shinmun 
Lee Myung-bak Administration Cracking Down 
on Public Sector Labor Unions 
 
 
INTERNATIONAL NEWS 
------------------ 
 
President Barack Obama will announce his new Afghan strategy today 
which calls for sending 30,000 to 35,000 more U.S. troops to 
Afghanistan. (All) 
 
Many security experts, however, view President Obama's decision with 
skepticism or outright opposition, calling it a "historical 
mistake." (Chosun) 
 
According to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, North Korea 
yesterday informed foreign diplomats in the capital Pyongyang that 
its old currency will no longer be used and that the old bills will 
be exchanged for new ones between Nov. 30 and Dec. 6. (Chosun, 
Segye) 
 
 
MEDIA ANALYSIS 
-------------- 
 
-President Obama's speech on Afghanistan 
----------------------------------------- 
All ROK media led their international news section with a report on 
President Obama's upcoming speech on Afghanistan. 
 
Conservative Chosun Ilbo noted that this is the second increase 
following the 21,000 additional troops President Obama dispatched 
earlier this year, and commented: "President Obama is also calling 
for 5,000 to 6,000 more troops from NATO countries other than 
Britain.  However, no country except Britain, which promised 500 new 
U.K. troops to the war zone, is willing to accept his request.  ... 
There are (also) many security experts who firmly believe that 
President Obama's Afghan war plan is a "historical mistake." 
 
Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo wrote in the headline: "Obama to Send 
34,000 More Troops...Obama's Afghan 'Gambit;' 'Don't Repeat Vietnam 
in Afghanistan' More Troops, More Quickly."  Moderate Hankook Ilbo's 
headline read: "(Obama) Stresses Troop Increase for Withdrawal... 
'Exit Strategy' to Allay Negative Perceptions" 
 
Left-leaning Hankyoreh Shinmun editorialized: "President Obama's 
choice is unrealistic and lacks justification. ... The 
indiscriminate U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan has bred 
Taliban forces and turned all Afghan people into an enemy.  In 
particular, by supporting a corrupt local government and playing it 
off against resisting forces, the U.S. is making the Afghan war into 
a second Vietnam War.  Isn't this why Karl Eikenberry, a retired 
U.S. Lieutenant-General and current U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, 
 
SEOUL 00001894  002 OF 003 
 
 
publicly said that troop increases will only invite resistance from 
Afghans and that civilian workers should be dispatched instead? ... 
The ROKG should reconsider its plan to redeploy Korean troops to the 
war torn country." 
 
 
OPINIONS/EDITORIALS 
------------------- 
 
U.S. ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL TROOP DEPLOYMENT AND ROK'S DECISION ON 
REDEPLOYMENT REMAINS CONTROVERSIAL 
(Munhwa Ilbo, December 2, Page 39) 
 
On December 2, U.S. President Obama delivered a speech to the U.S. 
public on his plan for Afghanistan for the first time since taking 
office.  In the speech, President Obama announced that the U.S. will 
send additional troops to Afghanistan, adding, "After 18 months, our 
troops will begin to come home."  It is noteworthy that President 
Obama chose to make his speech at the U.S. Military Academy at West 
Point.  He reaffirmed his commitment to putting an end to the Afghan 
war which was initiated shortly after the September 11 terror 
attacks. 
 
It seems that President Obama has staked his political career on the 
Afghan war.  In particular, he may want to be reelected in 2012 by 
bringing the Afghan war to a successful conclusion.  But the (U.S.) 
Democratic Party and a significant number of Americans are still 
staunchly opposed to additional troop deployment, citing the 
(tremendous) cost of the war.  However, North Atlantic Treaty 
Organization (NATO) member countries are expected to fall in step 
with Obama's new Afghan strategy by pledging to increase their troop 
levels in Afghanistan.  In laying out his Afghan strategy, Obama 
said that the additional troop dispatch will benefit the national 
interest of the U.S. and promote the great cause of world peace. 
 
The ROKG has also publicly said at home and abroad that it will 
expand the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) from its current 25 
members to 120 or 130 members and send 300 to 400 troops to protect 
the team; the Administration plans to submit the troop dispatch bill 
to the National Assembly this year.  The bill is likely to face 
strong opposition, however, because the opposition (ROK) Democratic 
Party officially decided on November 24 to oppose any redeployment 
of troops.  In 2007, when the Democratic government was in power, 23 
aid workers from an ROK church were abducted by a terrorist group in 
Afghanistan and two of them were killed, prompting the Roh Moo-hyun 
Administration to withdraw ROK troops from the nation in violation 
of the international agreement of "no negotiations with a terrorist 
group."  We expect that the ROK's assistance to Afghanistan this 
time will become an opportunity to correct such error and restore 
our national dignity.  We also hope that the Democratic Party will 
change its stance in a more forward-looking manner. 
 
On November 25, the ROK joined the Development Assistance Committee 
(DAC) of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development 
(OECD) and, this year, the nation is expected to become the world's 
ninth largest exporter, according to the volume of exports   In less 
than a year we will host the G20 summit. We believe that, in order 
to raise its international standing, the ROK should also assume its 
share of the burden to provide aid to Afghanistan, in both its 
quality and quantity. 
 
 
OBAMA'S WRONG AFGHAN STRATEGY AND ROK'S CHOICE 
(Hankyoreh Shinmun, December 2, 2009, Page 31) 
 
U.S. President Barack Obama has decided that the final step in the 
U.S.'s Afghanistan strategy will be to greatly increase the number 
of troops in the country.  Having given serious thought to several 
options, Obama has decided on a new strategy that would reinforce 
troop strength in the country by (an additional) 34,000 troops, and 
informed relevant nations of this yesterday.  (In the debate) 
between the hard-line faction in the U.S, centered in the military, 
that called for an increase in military intervention, and the 
moderates, represented by the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, that 
 
SEOUL 00001894  003 OF 003 
 
 
called for boosting civilian cooperation (in lieu of sending in 
additional troops), the hard-liners won in the end. 
 
President Obama's choice is unrealistic and lacks justification. 
Historically, although Afghanistan has been invaded several times by 
major powers like Great Britain and the Soviet Union, it has never 
surrendered.  The U.S. likewise has been waging war for eight years 
after attacking the country to punish al-Qaida and the Taliban 
government following the terrorist attacks of Sept 11, 2001.  It has 
yet been able to mop up al-Qaida and instead has simply transformed 
the entire country into a war zone.  The indiscriminate U.S. 
military campaign in Afghanistan has bred Taliban forces and turned 
all Afghan people into an enemy.  In particular, by supporting a 
corrupt local government and playing it off against resisting 
forces, the U.S. is making the Afghan war into a second Vietnam War. 
 Isn't this why Karl Eikenberry, a retired U.S. Lieutenant-General 
and current U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, publicly said that troop 
increases will only invite resistance from Afghans and that civilian 
workers should be dispatched instead? 
 
U.S. allies meanwhile are showing cool responses.  Only Great 
Britain said it would immediately send 500 more troops, while 
France, Australia and Germany have taken a negative attitude towards 
boosting troop strength.  Japan also said it plans to terminate its 
refueling mission in the Indian Ocean, which ends in January, and 
concentrate instead on giving financial aid.  This is because they 
believe that Obama's decision will not be able to resolve the 
problems in Afghanistan.  In spite of this, our government has 
decided to send 130 Provincial Reconstruction Team personnel and 400 
troops to protect them, and soon plans to submit a deployment 
approval bill to the National Assembly.  After Australia and Sweden, 
this would be the largest deployment of troops by a nation without 
direct interests in Afghanistan.  The ROKG should reconsider its 
plan to redeploy Korean troops to the war torn country. 
 
(This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is 
identical to the Korean version.) 
 
 
 
STEPHENS