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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 SEOUL 000056 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; JANUARY 14, 2010 
 
TOP HEADLINES 
------------- 
 
 
 
Chosun Ilbo, Dong-a Ilbo, Segye Ilbo, Seoul Shinmun, All TVs 
Thousands Feared Dead in Haiti Quake; Seven Koreans Missing after 
Quake 
 
JoongAng Ilbo, Hankook Ilbo, Hankyoreh Shinmun 
"Study Now, Pay Later" Scheme to be Introduced in First Semester of 
This Year 
 
 
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 
----------------------- 
 
According to an ROKG source, the ROKG recently overhauled its 
"contingency plan" to brace for an emergency in North Korea. The 
latest plan includes the ROKG setting up an emergency government 
organization in the North in case of an emergency there. While the 
ROK-U.S. "OPLAN 5029" covers military responses to emergencies in 
the North such as a civil war, this contingency plan concerns 
administrative measures to cope with such emergencies. (Chosun) 
 
According to a recent report released by the Asia Foundation's 
Center for U.S.-Korea Policy, the U.S. will find it difficult to 
consent to any kind of nuclear waste reprocessing on the Korean 
Peninsula unless the North's nuclear issue is resolved. The ROK is 
currently hoping to revise a nuclear cooperation agreement with the 
U.S. when it expires in 2014 to recycle its spent nuclear fuel 
through "pyroprocessing," a so-called proliferation-resistant 
reprocessing technology. (Chosun, JoongAng, Segye, Seoul) 
 
 
INTERNATIONAL NEWS 
------------------ 
 
North Korean Ambassador to the UN Sin Son-ho told a press conference 
yesterday that North Korea will return to the Six-Party Talks only 
after international sanctions on the North are lifted. (Hankook, 
VoiceofPeople) 
 
 
MEDIA ANALYSIS 
-------------- 
 
-N. Korea 
--------- 
Moderate Hankook Ilbo and VoiceofPeople, a progressive Internet news 
outlet, carried reports quoting North Korean Ambassador to the UN 
Sin Son-ho as saying in a Jan. 12 news conference in New York that 
North Korea will return to the Six-Party Talks only after all U.S. 
and UN sanctions on the North are lifted. 
 
Hankook Ilbo, in particular, juxtaposed this North Korean remark 
with a Jan. 12 White House statement that President Obama continues 
to present a clear choice:  if North Korea abides by its 
obligations, the door is open to a better relationship with the 
international community; if they don't, they will be isolated. 
Hankook observed that the U.S. and North Korea are engaged in a 
fierce war of nerves over resuming the Six-Party Talks and signing a 
peace treaty on the Korean Peninsula. 
 
 
OPINIONS/EDITORIALS 
------------------- 
 
DAREDEVIL ACTIVIST DESERVES MORE ATTENTION 
(Chosun Ilbo, January 14, 2010, Page 31) 
 
Freedom and Life for All North Koreans, a coalition of some 100 
rights activist groups, gathered on Tuesday in Imjingak Park close 
 
SEOUL 00000056  002 OF 004 
 
 
to the inter-Korean border and released a couple of helium balloons 
across the demilitarized zone carrying propaganda leaflets as well 
as cookies for children.  The balloons were named after Robert Park, 
an evangelical activist who crossed the frozen border river into 
North Korea on Christmas Eve in a daredevil mission to draw 
attention to human rights abuses there. 
 
Park crossed the frozen Tumen River from China as people looked on, 
carrying a letter for North Korean leader Kim Jong-il that urges him 
to open the border for international shipments of food and medicine 
and to release political prisoners.  After crossing the river, Park 
walked toward North Korean border guards.  For the first time since 
the two Koreas were divided in 1945, one person has lodged a formal 
and direct protest against North Korea over its human rights 
violations. 
 
"Do not try to secure my release until all 160,000 political 
prisoners in North Korean concentration camps are freed," Park told 
colleagues before heading across the river.  His grandmother is a 
devout Christian from North Korea who came to South Korea after the 
end of World War II.  Park was a missionary in the U.S. and Mexico. 
He began working among North Korean refugees in China in 2008 and 
had been doing missionary work in South Korea since last year. 
After deciding to head to North Korea, Park is said to have eaten 
only one meal a day to share the pain of North Koreans.  Yet his 
action cannot be dismissed as a foolish mistake by a 28-year-old 
zealot who had no idea what would happen to him in the North. 
 
Park's action seemed futile, but it has already begun to create 
ripple effects.  Susan Scholte, a winner of the Seoul Peace Prize, 
and U.S. Special Envoy for North Korea Human Rights Issues Robert 
King publicly voiced their concern for Park's safety.  U.S. media, 
including the Christian Science Monitor, have shown interest in 
Park's action, and prayer meetings are taking place in South Korea 
for his safety. 
 
Some South Korean government officials, however, are apparently 
calling his action quixotic.  Born with the Korean name Park 
Dong-hoon, he is a U.S. citizen.  But should that be an excuse for 
South Koreans to show so little interest in his plight? 
 
(This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is 
identical to the Korean version.) 
 
 
ROK SHOULD HAVE RIGHT TO NUCLEAR REPROCESSING TO BECOME MAJOR 
REACTOR EXPORTER 
(Seoul Shinmun, January 14, Page 31) 
 
In the 42nd emergency Cabinet meeting yesterday, the Ministry of 
Knowledge Economy said that the ROK will foster nuclear 
power-related business as the next-generation export industry.  The 
ROK plans to export 10 nuclear power reactors by 2012, and 80 
nuclear power reactors by 2030.  This would make the ROK the world's 
third largest reactor supplier with a 20 percent share of the global 
market.  We expect that the ROK will meet this goal.  The recent 
order from the UAE has proven that the ROK's technological 
capabilities and price competitiveness have been recognized by the 
international community. 
 
About 430 additional nuclear power reactors will be built worldwide 
by 2030.  The nuclear reactor business will bring significant 
benefits as a next-generation export industry because it will create 
a considerable number of jobs and boost sales of related businesses. 
 The ROKG said that in order to promote the industry as a major 
export business, it will attain full technological self-sufficiency, 
train more engineers and set up the export system.  However, this 
alone will not lead to the ROK becoming a major reactor exporter. 
More urgently, we should achieve peaceful use of nuclear energy by 
securing the right to nuclear reprocessing. 
 
Reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel is a necessary step to reprocess 
spent fuel rods in an environmentally-friendly way.  Exactly 94.4 
percent of reprocessed spent fuel can be used as an energy source. 
 
SEOUL 00000056  003 OF 004 
 
 
Isotopes generated during reprocessing can be beneficially used in 
science and medicine.  However, the ROK cannot enrich or reprocess 
uranium without prior agreement or approval from the U.S. under the 
ROK-U.S. Atomic Energy Agreement which was signed in 1974. 
Moreover, the ROK voluntarily gave up uranium enrichment and 
reprocessing in the Joint Declaration of the Denuclearization of the 
Korean Peninsula in November 1991.  There are some challenges the 
ROK should deal with (to become a major reactor exporter). 
Currently the ROK imports 100 percent of its raw nuclear materials 
and the waste from this will (soon) pile up.  But most of all, (the 
ROK's inability to reprocess spent fuel) may become a stumbling 
block in exporting nuclear reactors in the future. 
 
With the ROK-U.S. Atomic Energy Agreement expiring in 2014, the ROK 
and the U.S. will start negotiating its revision in 2012.  The ROK 
should actively seek to revise the Agreement to secure the right to 
uranium enrichment and reprocessing.  The ROK should win nuclear 
sovereignty that guarantees peaceful nuclear activities.  If the 
U.S. raises concerns over nuclear armament or nuclear proliferation, 
the ROK can dispel them by establishing transparency.  We should 
keep in mind that without the right to nuclear reprocessing, we may 
not achieve the goal of becoming a major reactor exporter. 
 
 
FEATURES 
-------- 
 
U.S. WOULD POSSIBLY CONSENT TO ROK'S NUCLEAR REPROCESSING IF NORTH 
KOREAN NUCLEAR ISSUE IS RESOLVED 
(JoongAng Ilbo, January 14, 2010, Page 8) 
 
By Washington Correspondent Kim Jung-wook 
 
An argument has been raised that the U.S. would not agree to the ROK 
reprocessing used nuclear fuel until the North Korean nuclear issue 
reaches a resolution.  It was forecast, however, that if there is 
progress in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, the U.S. would 
agree to the ROK's "pyro-processing" under a strict 
non-proliferation condition.  Pyro-processing is a new type of 
nuclear fuel reprocessing technology which is not feared to be used 
for nuclear weapons production since it does not separate pure 
plutonium. 
 
This U.S. stance was confirmed in a report titled "U.S.-ROK Nuclear 
Nonproliferation Cooperation," which analyzed the U.S. 
administration's position regarding negotiations over the revision 
of the U.S.-ROK peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement set to expire 
in 2014.  This report was drawn up at the end of last year by U.S. 
nuclear and atomic energy expert Fred McGoldrick at the request of 
the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy of the U.S. think tank Asia 
Foundation. 
 
McGoldrick argued, "The two countries will soon need to begin to 
negotiate an agreement replacing the current U.S.-ROK peaceful 
nuclear cooperation agreement," adding, "If the U.S. judges that a 
revision of the agreement in a way that allows the ROK to reprocess 
used nuclear fuel will make it difficult to resolve the North Korean 
nuclear issue, the U.S. will not agree to any type of reprocessing 
on the Korean Peninsula." 
 
He noted, however, that on the premise of the resolution of the 
North Korean nuclear issue, the ROK's nuclear fuel reprocessing 
could be allowed:  1) by revising and complementing the 1992 
ROK-DPRK joint declaration not to possess enrichment or reprocessing 
capabilities; 2) by the U.S. making some commitment to approve 
long-term pyro-processing in the ROK along the lines similar to the 
arrangements that the U.S. has made with India and Japan; 3) by the 
ROK and the U.S. making a joint commitment to work with each other 
on the development of proliferation-resistant pyro-processing 
technology; 4) by establishing a ROK-U.S. joint venture or 
multinational entity. 
 
The U.S.-ROK peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement, which was 
signed in 1974, stipulates that if the ROK is to change the nature 
 
SEOUL 00000056  004 OF 004 
 
 
of used nuclear fuel or divert it, it should obtain the U.S.'s 
consent.  However, since the ROK's capacity to store used nuclear 
fuel is expected to reach its limit soon, nuclear fuel reprocessing 
is emerging as an important issue. 
 
 
AMBASSADOR STEPHENS: "AMERICAN AND KOREAN SMALL-MEDIUM SIZED 
COMPANIES SHOULD WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE SUCCESS STORIES" 
(Dong-a Ilbo, January 14, 2010, Page B6) 
 
By Reporter Lim Woo-sun 
 
Ambassador Stephens speaks at the Korea Importers' Association. 
 
"The reason why we have such a clear sky in Seoul today is that 
Korean and American Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) worked 
together to develop a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) bus.  In the New 
Year, SMEs have a major role to play in making a difference for our 
bilateral trade," said U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea 
Kathleen Stephens. 
 
She attended a breakfast meeting hosted by the Korea Importers' 
Association at Westin Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, on January 13 
and emphasized cooperation between ROK and U.S. SMEs for this year. 
 
Ambassador Stephens started her speech by recalling her tenure in 
the ROK nearly 20 years ago.  She said, "Twenty years ago, air 
pollution in Korea's urban centers was in a serious state because of 
diesel buses and trucks.  However, Korean and American SMEs worked 
diligently together to develop a CNG bus, which reduces emissions up 
to 70 percent."  She added, "This story is a great example of 
combining American and Korean innovation and marketing know-how to 
generate strong business."  Stephens said, "Today, nearly 30% of all 
Korean imports from the U.S. are classified as 'advanced technology 
products' such as biotechnology, advanced materials, and nuclear 
technology.  This sets an unlimited horizon for expanding 
U.S.-Korean partnerships." 
 
Ambassador Stephens made remarks on the ratification of the 
Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA).  She said, "It is 
unclear how long this process (of consultations) will take, and - to 
be frank - there are some difficult issues to work through." 
Stephens added, "We see such promise for the KORUS FTA.  Both 
Presidents are committed to working together to move the agreement 
forward."  The Ambassador noted, "The Administration has made clear 
that boosting U.S. exports and expanding trade is an essential part 
of a sustainable economic recovery," adding, "There is widespread 
acknowledgement in the U.S. that this FTA has the potential to 
create significant economic and strategic benefits for the U.S - and 
for Korea, as well."  Ambassador Stephens delivered the speech in 
Korean, drawing applause from the audience. 
 
 
STEPHENS