VZCZCXRO1217
OO RUEHGH
DE RUEHUL #0069/01 0190517
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 190517Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6717
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 9605
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 0692
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 7157
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 7221
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 1684
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 5523
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 4444
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 7658
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1920
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0004
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 2296
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 2903

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SEOUL 000069 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; JANUARY 19, 2010 
 
TOP HEADLINES 
------------- 
 
 
Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo 
Former and Incumbent Ruling GNP Leaders Collide 
over Sejong City 
 
Dong-a Ilbo 
36.9 Percent of ROK Cancer Patients Die 
within a Year of Diagnosis 
 
Hankook Ilbo, Hankyoreh Shinmun, All TVs 
Feud Deepens in Ruling Party over Sejong City 
 
Segye Ilbo 
¶N. Korea: "Sanctions Must be Lifted or No Six-Party Talks" 
 
Seoul Shinmun 
ROK Pledges $10 Million to Quake-Hit Haiti 
 
 
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 
--------------------- 
 
Inter-Korean talks over the operation of the joint Kaesong 
Industrial Complex will take place today as scheduled, despite the 
North's Jan. 15 threat to stage a "retaliatory war" against the ROK 
over its alleged administrative contingency plan to deal with 
emergencies in the North. (All) 
 
 
INTERNATIONAL NEWS 
------------------ 
 
North Korea, in a Jan. 18 statement by a Foreign Ministry spokesman, 
said that it will not return to the Six-Party Talks unless sanctions 
on the North are lifted. (Chosun, Dong-a, Hankook, Hankyoreh, Segye, 
Seoul, KBS, Pressian) 
 
This North Korean move is a rejection of the U.S.'s position that a 
peace treaty demanded by the North can be discussed only after the 
North's return to the Six-Party Talks, and a retreat from the 
communist state's position since last September that it could 
participate in multilateral talks. (Hankook, Hankyoreh, Segye, 
Seoul) 
 
 
MEDIA ANALYSIS 
-------------- 
 
-Haiti Earthquake Aftermath 
---------------------------- 
Most ROK media today and over the weekend gave wide coverage to the 
situation in Haiti. 
 
Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo, in an article today entitled "Haiti 
Becomes Arena of Competition for Relief Diplomacy," commented: "The 
most aggressive country is the U.S., which offered $100 million in 
assistance and sent a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, along with 
massive military forces, shortly after a powerful quake struck 
Haiti.  The U.S.'s aim is to expand its influence in the Caribbean 
Sea.  ... Left-wing Latin American countries are denouncing the U.S. 
move as an attempt to occupy Haiti by taking advantage of the 
country's earthquake and are calling for the withdrawal of U.S. 
troops from Haiti." 
 
Conservative Dong-a Ilbo wrote in the headline on Saturday (Jan. 
16): "Why is U.S. Rushing to Aid Haiti?; Obama Sees Haiti's Quake as 
an Opportunity to Display His 'Leadership during a Crisis' and to 
Expand U.S. Influence in Latin America." 
 
-N. Korea 
 
SEOUL 00000069  002 OF 003 
 
 
--------- 
Most ROK media today noted the North Korean Foreign Ministry's Jan. 
18 statement that North Korea will not return to the Six-Party Talks 
unless sanctions on the North are lifted. 
 
Most media saw this North Korean move as a rejection of Washington's 
position - that lifting of sanctions and a peace treaty demanded by 
the North can be discussed only after the North's return to the 
Six-Party Talks - and a retreat from the communist state's position 
since last September that it could participate in multilateral 
talks. 
 
Conservative Chosun Ilbo, in particular, argued in an editorial: 
"North Korea said that a peace treaty can be discussed during the 
Six-Party Talks.  Accordingly, it is right that the North should 
first return to the Six-Party Talks. The North's argument that 
sanctions must be lifted before the resumption of the Six-Party 
Talks amounts to putting the cart before the horse. ... The quickest 
way for the North to get rid of sanctions is to return to the 
Six-Party Talks and to implement its denuclearization commitments." 
 
Referring to the North's Jan. 15 threat to stage a "retaliatory war" 
against the ROK over its alleged administrative contingency plan to 
deal with emergencies in the North, right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo 
editorialized on Saturday: "Given the North's recent behavior, it 
seems as though it would be impossible for even God to understand 
North Korea's policies and actions toward the ROK.  ... Until the 
morning of last Friday, the North had maintained a soft attitude 
toward the ROK, but that evening it threatened to attack the ROK and 
exclude Seoul from all future talks on the peace of the Korean 
Peninsula.  Unless something serious has happened with the North's 
system of authority, it's difficult to understand its actions. ... 
In particular, considering that this is not the first time the ROK 
has created a contingency plan, the North's behavior is especially 
disturbing." 
 
 
OPINIONS/EDITORIALS 
-------------------- 
 
¶N. KOREA'S ERRATIC BEHAVIOR 
(Chosun Ilbo, January 19, 2010, Page 39) 
 
North Korea's Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Monday saying 
that if the North goes back to the Six-Party nuclear talks while UN 
sanctions remain in place, the talks "would not be equal."  North 
Korea pledged it will "never allow this to happen."  Last Monday, 
the ministry formally proposed talks to replace the armistice that 
ended the Korean War with a peace treaty this year, which marks the 
60th anniversary of the war. 
 
But on Friday, a spokesman for North Korea's powerful National 
Defense Commission threatened to cut off all dialogue with South 
Korea over a South Korean contingency plan for the fall of the 
communist government and vowed to wage a "sacred retaliatory battle" 
against those who conceived it.  On Sunday, North Korea's state 
media reported that leader Kim Jong-il recently watched a massive 
military exercise and showcased a photo of a 240 mm howitzer whose 
devastating ordinance could reach Seoul.  And then on Monday, the 
official Rodong Shinmun daily, in an editorial calling for the 
improvement of inter-Korean relations, said that such changes are 
"urgently" needed.  On the same day it threatened a sacred battle, 
the North graciously accepted aid shipments of 10,000 tons of corn 
from the South. 
 
Why the mixed signals?  It is possible that North Korea's military, 
foreign ministry and the agency in charge of dealing with South 
Korean issues are all pulling on different strings.  But North Korea 
should know by now that South Korea will not step forward with 
assistance packages while being bombarded with threats.  It has 
become obvious to the South that its previous strategy of appeasing 
North Korea does not work and only leads to negative effects. 
 
The same goes for the stalled Six-Party Talks.  North Korea said 
 
SEOUL 00000069  003 OF 003 
 
 
that a peace treaty can be discussed during the Six-Party Talks. 
Accordingly, it is right that the North should first return to the 
Six-Party Talks. The North's argument that sanctions must be lifted 
before the resumption of the Six-Party Talks amounts to putting the 
cart before the horse. Over the last 18 years, North Korea has made 
countless promises to scrap its nuclear weapons program, but 
conducted two nuclear tests - one in 2006 and another in 2009.  The 
UN sanctions that followed them are punitive measures meted out not 
only by South Korea and the U.S., but by the international community 
including China.  The quickest way for the North to get rid of 
sanctions is to return to the Six-Party Talks and to implement its 
denuclearization commitments. 
 
(This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is 
identical to the Korean version.) 
 
 
STEPHENS