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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SEOUL 002007 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; December 28, 2009 
 
TOP HEADLINES 
------------- 
 
All, All TVs 
ROK Wins $40 Billion UAE Nuclear Deal 
 
 
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 
--------------------- 
 
According to a December 23 report by the U.S. military magazine 
Stars and Stripes, second Infantry Division officials are requiring 
soldiers with children living in the ROK to pick up new 
child-friendly protective masks.  The new model is being provided to 
children who are 8 years old and younger to protect them against a 
potential North Korean chemical attack.  (Dong-a) 
 
 
INTERNATIONAL NEWS 
------------------- 
 
A 23-year old Nigerian man who claimed ties to al-Qaida was charged 
with trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day, 
just a month after his father warned U.S. officials of concerns 
about his son's religious beliefs.  According to U.S. authorities, 
the suspect told them he had obtained explosive chemicals and a 
syringe that were sewn into his underwear from a bomb expert in 
Yemen associated with al-Qaida. (All, All TVs) 
 
An ROK activist said on December 27 that Robert Park, a 
Korean-American Christian missionary, entered North Korea on 
Christmas Day carrying a letter for North Korean leader Kim Jong-il 
that urges him to release political prisoners and shut down the 
concentration camps where they are held. (All, All TVs) 
 
 
MEDIA ANALYSIS 
-------------- 
 
-N. Korea 
--------- 
Most ROK media ran front-and inside-page reports quoting Jo 
Sung-rae, head of the Seoul-based human rights group Pax Koreana, as 
saying that Robert Park, a Korean-American Christian missionary, 
entered North Korea carrying a letter for North Korean leader Kim 
Jong-il in which he calls attention to the tens of thousands of 
political prisoners believed held in the communist state. 
Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo observed in an inside-page analysis 
that Park's illegal crossing could complicate U.S. efforts to 
persuade North Korea to return to the stalled Six-Party Talks, 
because the regime considers any outside criticism of its top leader 
a grave challenge.  According to the newspaper, Park said he had no 
intention of leaving the North voluntarily and did not want the USG 
to negotiate his release.  JoongAng noted that North Korea may 
choose one of three options.  First, North Korea may use Park's 
crossing as a negotiating ploy as it did with the two U.S. 
journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling.  Second, since Pyongyang said 
it would keep cooperating with Washington to narrow their 
differences following its first bilateral meeting with the U.S., the 
North may try to settle this issue through behind-the-scenes 
contact.  Third, the North may forcibly repatriate Park from the 
country to fend off international criticism for its detention of a 
human rights activist. 
 
-Airline Attack 
--------------- 
Most ROK media gave wide coverage to reports on Umar Farouk 
Abdulmutallab, the 23-year old Nigerian man who was charged with 
trying to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day.  According 
to news reports, the man's father, a prominent Nigerian banker, 
recently told U.S. authorities that he was concerned about his son's 
increasingly extremist religious views.  Conservative Chosun Ilbo 
cited U.S. security officials as saying that the suspect has 
 
SEOUL 00002007  002 OF 003 
 
 
confessed to training with an al-Qaida bomb maker in Yemen.  Citing 
The New York Times, the newspaper added that, if corroborated, Mr. 
Abdulmutallab's travel to Yemen for explosives instruction and 
corroboration with terrorists underscores the emergence of that 
country as a major hub for al-Qaida, perhaps beginning to rival the 
terror network's base in Pakistan. 
 
 
EDITORIALS/OPINIONS 
------------------- 
 
U.S. SOLDIERS AND THEIR FAMILIES IN ROK PREPARE AGAINST (POSSIBLE) 
¶N. KOREAN BIOCHEMICAL ATTACK 
(Dong-a Ilbo, December 28, 2009, Page 31) 
 
What if North Korea sprays bacteria or chemicals in subway stations 
in downtown Seoul?  Can we guarantee that such an attack will never 
happen?  USFK finds the possibility of the North dispersing 
biochemical agents to decimate many people an ever-present threat, 
and so it provides U.S. service members and their families in the 
ROK with gas masks.  For children eight years old and younger, USFK 
is replacing old masks with new ones that look like space suits. 
The new masks reportedly have a built-in straw for drinking milk. 
In stark contrast to this, the ROKG does not have any training 
programs or countermeasures (for a North Korean biological attack), 
not to mention that it also does not provide protective masks for 
its citizens. 
 
U.S. military authorities advise U.S. soldiers and their families to 
carry protective masks when they go out.  If the fear of a 
biochemical attack from the North spreads among the families of U.S. 
servicemen, it could undermine the U.S.'s stable military presence 
in the ROK.  If biochemical agents are dispersed in a crowded area, 
it will not only claim countless lives but also lead to total chaos. 
 We should always prepare for the worst. 
 
Nuclear weapons and missiles are not the only weapons of mass 
destruction (WMD) that North Korea has.  Since the late North Korean 
leader Kim Il-sung issued a "Declaration of Chemicalization," which 
called for greater efforts to develop chemical-production 
facilities, in 1961, North Korea has been trying to develop and 
produce biochemical weapons.  Since 1980, it has focused on 
manufacturing poison gas and bacterial weapons.  North Korea 
currently has about 2,500 to 5,000 tons of chemical weapons stored 
in several different places.  The communist state is also suspected 
of having the capability to produce over 10 kinds of bacterial 
agents, including anthrax, smallpox, and cholera. 
 
There is a risk that the North may use biochemical weapons to 
disrupt the ROK military in the event of an emergency or in 
peacetime.  Some experts say that bacterial weapons, which often 
cause fatal diseases, are more deadly than other chemical or even 
nuclear weapons.  We should bear in mind that, if North Korea 
mobilizes its special forces to launch a full-fledged chemical, 
biological, and radiological attack, it could pose a greater threat 
to the ROK than ordinary military units do.  We should, therefore, 
not dismiss preparation measures taken by USFK against a possible 
North Korean biochemical attack as being "none of our business." 
 
 
FEATURES 
-------- 
 
KOREAN-AMERICAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST ROBERT PARK ENTERS NORTH 
KOREA... WHAT IS NORTH KOREA'S CHOICE? 
(JoongAng Ilbo, December 28, 2009, Page 10; Excerpts) 
 
By Reporter Lee Young-jong 
 
News Analysis 
 
An ROKG official said, "The issue of Mr. Park, a U.S. citizen, is 
basically a consular matter between the North and the U.S."  The 
U.S. Department of State simply staked out its fundamental position 
 
SEOUL 00002007  003 OF 003 
 
 
that "the U.S. government places the highest priority on the 
protection and welfare of American citizens."  However, it seems to 
be paying extra attention to this unexpected move, which came while 
the U.S. and the North were seeking additional dialogue after the 
recent visit to Pyongyang by U.S. Special Representative for North 
Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth. 
 
There appears to be three scenarios regarding North Korea's 
response.  Some observers speculate that Pyongyang might use Mr. 
Park as a bargaining chip at the negotiation table with the U.S. as 
it did with the two U.S. female journalists who were arrested this 
past March for having illegally trespassed into North Korea. 
However, the situation has changed since then, when tensions were 
high between the U.S. and the North.  (Therefore, as a result of the 
current environment), it is possible that the North may choose to 
resolve this issue smoothly through under-the-table contact.  In 
1996, when Korean-American Evan Hunziker was detained in North 
Korea, then-Democratic Representative Bill Richardson (currently New 
Mexico Governor) visited the North and secured his release after 
paying $100,000 for Hunziker's hotel bill.  North Korea may (also 
choose to) deport Park because the detention of a human rights 
activist may draw criticism from the international community. 
 
 
STEPHENS