VZCZCXYZ0004
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHUL #2010/01 3620815
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 280815Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6577
INFO RUCNKOR/KOREA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1872
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMUSFK SEOUL KOR PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA J5 SEOUL KOR PRIORITY
RUACAAA/COMUSKOREA INTEL SEOUL KOR PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 002010 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/17/2039 
TAGS: KWNM PREL KPAO PHUM KR KS KN KTIP
SUBJECT: AMB VERVEER FINDS PARTNERS IN KOREA TO ADVANCE 
WOMEN'S RIGHTS;  HEARS PLANS TO INCLUDE WOMEN'S ISSUES ON 
THE G-20 AGENDA 
 
REF: SEOUL 1419 (FOREIGN WIVES) 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR KSTEPHENS. REASONS 1.4 (B/D) 
 
Summary 
------ 
 
¶1. (C) Summary:  During her December 8-9 visit to 
Seoul, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's 
Issues Melanne Verveer met with government 
officials and civil society representatives to 
discuss Korea's progress on women's rights and 
plans for closing the gender equality gap. 
National Assembly Members from the Gender Equality 
Committee requested USG support for including 
women's issues on the agenda of the 2010 Seoul G-20 
Summit.  Representatives of NGOs providing 
assistance to North Korean refugees reported that 
more than 80 percent of North Korean refugees living 
in the ROK are women and that 80 percent of those 
women have had experiences with trafficking and/or 
sexual exploitation during their journey to the ROK. 
Members of the Northeast Asia Women's Peace Conference 
shared their vision of the role for women in finding 
a peaceful solution to the North Korean nuclear 
problem.  Ambassador Verveer found broad support for 
the idea that increasing respect for women's rights 
and closing the gender equality gap was the key to 
Korea's efforts to continue economic growth, solving 
its looming demographic problems, and integrating the 
increasing number of foreign brides into Korean 
society.  End Summary. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Ambassador Verveer's trip highlighted the 
strong and growing recognition in the ROK that the 
issue of women's rights is increasingly critical to 
the ROK's future competitiveness and international 
standing.  Given the strong interest and breadth of 
interlocutors from the public, private and NGO 
communities displayed during Ambassador Verveer's 
visit, we welcome ways to work with Ambassador 
Verveer's office and the Department to increase 
opportunities to engage the ROKG in the 
international effort to promote women's issues 
locally and abroad.  We encourage more dialogue and 
programming to address the human rights issues 
affecting North Korean women.  The National 
Assembly's interest in including women's issues 
on the G-20 agenda could provide an opportunity 
to increase this type of cooperation. 
 
Line-Up: Ambassador Verveer Talks With Top ROKG 
and NGO Leaders 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶3. (C) During a December 8-9 visit to Seoul, 
Ambassador at Large for Women's Issues Melanne 
Verveer met with  Minister for Health, Welfare, 
and Family Affairs (MHWF) Jeon Jae-hee, Minister 
for Gender Equality (MGE) Paik Hee-young, and MOFAT 
Second Vice Foreign Minister Chun Young-woo. 
Ambassador Verveer also met National Assembly 
Gender Equality Committee (GEC) Chairwoman 
Representative Shin Nak-yun and 10 National Assembly 
Members from the Gender and Equality Committee. 
Finally, from the civil society community, 
Ambassador Verveer met Moon Kyung-ran, Executive 
Director of the National Human Rights Commission 
(NHRC), 14 businesspeople from AMCHAM'S Board of 
Governors and Professional Women's Committee, 9 
leaders from the North Korea refugee community, 
19 women NGO leaders from the Northeast Asia 
Women's Peace Conference (NAWPC), and Sungshin 
Women's University officials and students to 
discuss issues that affect women and girls and 
the ROKG's plans for closing the gender equity 
gap in Korea. 
 
Legislators Advocate Advancing Global Women's 
Economic Agenda 
--------------------------------------------- - 
¶4. (C) At the National Assembly, Gender Equality 
 
 
Committee Chairwoman Shin Nak-yun told Ambassador 
Verveer that her highest priority was to include 
women's economic issues on the agenda of the 2010 
Seoul G-20 Summit in Seoul. "You can not address 
economic issues without addressing women's issues," 
Shin said.  Shin asked for USG support and noted 
she was also lobbying the Lee Myung-bak 
administration for support on this matter. 
 
¶5. (C) Representatives of AMCHAM's Board of Governors 
and Professional Women's Committee discussed the 
potential gains of fully including women in Korea's 
economy.  Though women have made progress in Korea 
in recent years, the AMCHAM representatives said 
that women needed mentors and more development 
opportunities like those provided by Pathways to 
Prosperity, the initiative launched in 2008 in 
the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, to ensure 
that the benefits of free trade and open investment 
were more broadly shared throughout society. 
 
NGO Leaders on the Human Rights Situation for 
North Korean Women 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
¶6. (C) Lee Jung-hye, Chief of Mission for the 
International Organization for Migration (IOM) 
in the ROK, explained to Ambassador Verveer that 
more than 80 percent of North Korean refugees 
living in the ROK are women and that 80 percent 
of those women have had experiences with trafficking 
and/or prostitution during their journey to the 
ROK.  Prominent female NGO leaders, National 
Assembly Members, and former defectors told of 
North Korean refugees who suffered exploitation, 
prostitution, and violence during their efforts to 
get to the ROK.  According to Kang Su-jin, former 
refugee and President of the Coalition for North 
Korean Women's Rights, North Korean women are 
vulnerable to exploitation by brokers and 
traffickers and many become fugitive refugees, 
constantly on the run from local officials to 
avoid repatriation.  Kang also reported that a 
large percentage of the women that finally made 
it to the ROK suffer psychological trauma, 
malnutrition, and lack the basic socioeconomic 
skills to integrate into ROK society successfully. 
 
¶7. (U) NGO leaders from the North Korean defector 
community stressed to the Ambassador that the ROKG 
also sponsors extensive research and data 
collection about the DPRK from the defector 
community to better inform civil society efforts. 
Many of the defectors, however, were critical of 
the lack of credible research available on the 
defector community, thus limiting their ability 
to promote awareness on human rights issues 
affecting North Korean women. Internal politics 
and ideological differences have also inhibited 
program coordination between defector groups. 
 
¶8. (U) Members of the Northeast Asia Women's Peace 
Conference thanked Ambassador Verveer for receiving 
them earlier this year in Washington, and hosted 
a lunch roundtable with a range of mostly 
progressive-oriented NGOs and women's groups. 
Former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook at the last 
moment did not attend, due to the ongoing 
prosecutors investigation into illegally receiving 
funds, which Han denies.  At the roundtable, 
members shared their vision with Ambassador 
Verveer for a women's Six-Party Conference, to 
include women from the countries participating 
in the Six-Party Talks.  Representatives of the 
group complained that the Lee Myung-bak 
administration has hampered their efforts by 
cutting government funds to pro-engagement NGOs 
and not supporting engagement opportunities with 
North Korea. 
 
South of the DMZ:  Snapshot of Gender-related 
Trends in the ROK 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Gender Equality Committee Chairwoman Shin 
informed the Ambassador that Korea ranks 25th out of 
 
 
157 countries on the UN Gender-related Development 
Index, due in large measure to women's relatively high 
education, life expectancy, and income levels.  She 
stated that the ROK ranked 68 out of 108 countries 
on the UN Gender Empowerment Measure, however, 
falling from 53rd in 2003, due to women's relatively 
low political and economic status.  Chairwoman Shin 
also said Korean women have suffered 
disproportionally because of the global economic 
crisis, as 90 percent of Korea's recently unemployed 
were women and that the salary gap between men and 
women has increased to 66.4 percent. 
 
 
Ministers Discuss Challenges of Balancing Work-Life 
Issues 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶10. (U) In her meeting with the Ambassador, Minister 
for Gender Equality Paik said that helping women 
balance work-life issues was a priority.  She 
related that the ROKG has begun phasing in new 
flex-time regulations designed to encourage women 
with family responsibilities to remain in the work 
force. Minister Paik told Ambassador Verveer that 
she is also looking for ways to address discrimination 
against expectant mothers.  By law, Korean companies 
must allow for a maximum one year of maternity leave 
if the employee requests ; and as a result, many 
companies choose not to hire women.  Women returning 
to work after taking maternity leave, according to 
Paik, are often assigned to low-level, low-paying jobs. 
Chairwoman Shin asserted that the National Assembly's 
Gender Equality Committee has introduced legislation 
to increase the number of public childcare facilities 
for working mothers and to provide incentives for 
businesses that provide child care services. 
 
Leaders Highlight Demographic Trends and Women's 
Rights 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶11. (U) All of the leaders agreed that the 
challenges women in Korea face balancing family 
and career responsibilities are a contributing 
factor to South Korea's dire demographic problem. 
In 2008, Korea's fertility rate of 1.19 live 
births per woman was the lowest in the OECD. 
During Ambassador Verveeer's meeting with MHWF 
Minister Jeon Jae-hee, Jeon said the low birthrate 
reflected women's strong reluctance to have 
children.  Her office confirmed that, in 2005 
(the most recent statistics available), doctors 
performed about 330,000 abortions in Korea, while 
annual live births average only 450,000.  GEC 
officials confirmed that women are choosing abortion, 
not because they do not want children, but because 
of the difficulties of childrearing while working. 
At a separate meeting, the women from the NAWPC 
stressed, if, as the government recently announced, 
the ROKG wants to reduce the number of abortions, 
which are illegal except in exceptional circumstances, 
to increase the birthrate, the government has a 
responsibility to provide economic assistance and 
reduce the stigma associated with single motherhood. 
 
Officials Discuss Issues in Adapting to a 
Multi-Cultural Society 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶12. (C) During Ambassador Verveer's discussions 
with Minister Jeon, Jeon also explained that, for 
many of the same reasons Korean women are having 
fewer children, fewer Korean women are marrying or 
are marrying at a later age.  The result is a shortage 
of Korean brides.  Minister Jeon said the solution, 
increasingly, is to fill the gap with foreign brides, 
most of whom come from Southeast Asia (reftel). 
Officials informed the Ambassador that, in 2007, 
eleven percent of all marriages in Korea were 
international marriages, and in rural areas 41 
percent of marriages were international marriages 
(2006). 
 
¶13. (U) According to Chairwoman Shin, the government 
 
 
is implementing initiatives to address the 
exploitation of foreign wives including the 2007 
Act on Management of Marriage Brokerage Business, 
passed by the National Assembly, which required 
matchmaking agencies to register with regional 
government offices and abide by both Korean and 
host country laws.  She stated that the government 
is also conducting orientation classes for prospective 
brides in their home countries to prepare for 
successful entry into Korean society, creating 
governmental support groups to assist foreign 
brides in Korea, and making it easier for 
foreign brides to attain Korean citizenship in the 
case of failed marriages. 
 
¶14.  Ambassador Verveer cleared this message. 
STEPHENS