VZCZCXRO1383
OO RUEHGH
DE RUEHUL #0015/01 0060609
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 060609Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6626
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 9573
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC//DDI/OEA//
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI//FPA//
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC//DB-Z//
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 0666
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 7116
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 7176
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 1656
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 5487
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 4412
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 7623
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1894
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 3195
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 2270
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 2877

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SEOUL 000015 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; JANUARY 6, 2010 
 
TOP HEADLINES 
------------- 
 
Chosun Ilbo 
Speculation that Samsung Electronics May Move to Sejong City 
 
JoongAng Ilbo 
Fears of "Nomad Terrorism" 
Al-Qaida Terrorists Commit Terror Acts while Moving like Nomads 
 
Dong-a Ilbo 
Samsung Poised to Move Cutting-Edge Biotechnology Operations to 
Sejong City 
 
Hankook Ilbo, Hankyoreh Shinmun, Segye Ilbo, All TVs 
Land Costs to be Discounted at Sejong City 
 
Seoul Shinmun 
Araon, ROK's First Icebreaker, Set for North Pole Expedition 
 
 
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 
---------------------- 
 
Photo and caption: Former U.S. Figure Skating Champion Michelle Kwan 
skates with young Korean skaters at an ice link in Seoul on Jan. 5. 
She is visiting the ROK as a public diplomacy envoy of the U.S. 
Department of State. (Dong-a, Hankook, Hankyoreh, Seoul, KBS, MBC) 
 
 
INTERNATIONAL NEWS 
------------------ 
 
According to a group of North Korean defectors, North Korean 
authorities recently designated the birthday (Jan. 8) of leader Kim 
Jong-il's third son and heir apparent, Kim Jung-eun, as a national 
holiday, a development suggesting that the North's power succession 
process may accelerate. (All) 
 
 
MEDIA ANALYSIS 
-------------- 
 
-N. Korea 
--------- 
Moderate Seoul Shinmun noted Jan. 4 press remarks by State 
Department Spokesman Ian Kelly, in which he said: "We hope that 
North Korea will agree to resuming the Six-Party Talks.  We are 
hopeful that we'll get some actions toward that end and not just 
words, and ... we are hopeful we can all sit down and reach our 
desired goal, which is the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula 
in a verifiable manner." 
 
According to the Seoul Shinmun report, Spokesman Kelly's remarks 
were made in response to the North's New Year's message last week in 
which the North vowed to establish a peace regime and achieve 
denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and 
negotiations. 
 
- Al-Qaida in Yemen 
------------------- 
Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo carried an analysis entitled "Fears of 
'Nomad Terrorism.'"  It said that with Yemen emerging as a new 
al-Qaida stronghold, 'nomad terrorism' is putting the world on edge. 
 It went on to say: "Al-Qaida terrorists are building their strength 
while traveling across a 'terror route' ranging from Afghanistan to 
Pakistan to Saudi Arabia to Yemen to Somalia.  Even though Secretary 
of State Hillary Clinton singled out Yemen as a 'base for terrorist 
attacks,' the U.S. actually has no option but to increase its aid to 
counter-terrorism operations conducted by the Yemeni government; the 
resilience and adaptability of al-Qaida are remarkable." 
 
OPINIONS/EDITORIALS 
 
SEOUL 00000015  002 OF 003 
 
 
-------------------- 
 
TIME TO FACE UP TO SITUATION ON KORUS FTA 
(Chosun Ilbo, January 6, 2010, Page 34) 
 
By Washington Correspondent Lee Ha-won 
 
I was doubly surprised while looking at the responses of a group of 
American experts on Korea to a questionnaire from Chosun Ilbo. Nine 
of the 10 experts surveyed felt it is unlikely that the Korea-U.S. 
Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will be ratified by the U.S. Congress 
this year.  I was again surprised to learn that not a few of them 
saw little chance next year either. 
 
The U.S. Administration and Congress often exchange views with think 
tanks and expert groups as they formulate policy.  Most of the 
experts who took part in the straw poll are well versed in the 
trends of the Administration and Congress; their projections should 
not be taken lightly.  Since the Korea-U.S. FTA was signed by the 
two governments on June 30, 2007, the ROK Embassy in Washington has 
made consistent efforts to have the accord ratified by Congress. 
Ambassadors Lee Tae-shik and Han Duck-soo toured the entire country 
to meet state-level elected representatives.  They tried to create 
favorable public opinion in cooperation with the U.S. Chamber of 
Commerce.  But the outcome of the straw poll shows the political 
environment has not changed despite two years and six months of 
effort. 
 
For the Korea-U.S. FTA to take effect, three important steps have to 
be taken - additional negotiations between the two governments, 
President Barack Obama's submission of the FTA to Congress, and 
ratification.  Little chance is now seen that the three steps will 
go smoothly, and the Administration's priorities have shifted.  When 
Obama returned to Washington from a vacation in Hawaii on Monday, 
the "war on terror" was on the agenda again after a failed bombing 
attack on a U.S.-bound airplane.  And a public health reform bill, 
which Obama has pushed for in the past year with all his political 
resources, is still pending in Congress. 
 
The administration's will to take on the FTA also is doubtful.  This 
is in spite of all that the U.S. Trade Representative has done in 
the past year is to listen to the pro-FTA views of industry overall. 
 Commerce Secretary Gary Locke in a recent press interview said 
bluntly that no specific timetable has been set to send the bill to 
Congress. 
 
The attention of U.S. politicians is already focused on the national 
mid-term elections in November, which will elect 33 senators and 435 
representatives.  American politicians are just as obsessed with 
elections as their Korean counterparts.  The Democratic Party knows 
that those who oppose the FTA have more votes and campaign money, 
one expert says. 
 
The important question is whether the Korean government realizes all 
this.  "The Korean government tends to think in a Korean way that 
the FTA will be ratified if it is pushed ahead forcefully with 
diplomatic strength, without taking into account the negative 
feelings among the Democrats," said a diplomatic source here. 
Americans in Washington D.C. who heard a rumor that a senior Korean 
government official was outraged when told that the prospects for 
the FTA are unfavorable during a parliamentary audit in Seoul of the 
ROK Embassy in Washington D.C. found it noteworthy. 
 
It is time to search for a new way out, looking squarely at the 
actual situation.  A two-stage approach may be feasible - resolving 
differences over auto industry issues during the first half of this 
year and then getting the FTA ratified after the U.S. mid-term 
elections.  Trying to be forceful, as the Korean government is used 
to at home, could land the FTA on the scrap heap of history. 
 
(This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is 
identical to the Korean version.) 
 
 
 
SEOUL 00000015  003 OF 003 
 
 
STEPHENS