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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SEOUL 000226 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; FEBRUARY 12, 2010 
 
TOP HEADLINES 
------------- 
 
All 
Blue House Demands Former Ruling GNP Leader Park Apologize for 
Insulting President; Park Refuses 
 
 
DOMESSTIC DEVELOPMENTS 
---------------------- 
 
U.S. President Barack Obama, in a Feb. 9 interview with 
BusinessWeek, a U.S. weekly business magazine, said that he would 
push for the passage this year of pending free trade agreements with 
the ROK, Panama and Colombia. President Obama, however, cautioned 
that "different glitches" should first be worked out with each 
country. (JoongAng, Segye, all TVs) 
 
The National Assembly's Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification 
Committee yesterday passed a bill aimed at improving human rights 
conditions in North Korea. Main opposition Democratic Party 
lawmakers walked out in protest. If the bill is approved by the 
plenary session, the ROK will become the third country after the 
U.S. and Japan to have a North Korean human rights law. (All) 
 
 
INTERNATIONAL NEWS 
----------------- 
 
North Korea's Chief Nuclear Negotiator Kim Kye-gwan, who is on a 
visit to China, said yesterday that he had "a deep exchange of views 
with Chinese officials on issues, such as China-North Korea 
relations, signing a peace treaty and resumption of the Six-Party 
Talks." (JoongAng, Dong-a, Hankook, Hankyoreh, Segye, Seoul, all 
TVs) 
 
According to North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, 
visiting special envoy of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Lynn 
Pascoe, met yesterday with Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium 
of the North's Supreme People's Assembly, and conveyed a verbal 
message from the UN chief. (JoongAng, Segye, MBC) 
 
 
MEDIA ANALYSIS 
-------------- 
 
-N. Korea 
-------- 
The ROK media continues to follow the ongoing visit to China by 
North Korea's Chief Nuclear Negotiator Kim Kye-gwan.  He was quoted 
as telling reporters yesterday that he had "a deep exchange of views 
with Chinese officials on issues, such as China-North Korea 
relations, signing a peace treaty and resumption of the Six-Party 
Talks." 
 
Most media replayed a Feb. 11 report by North Korea's official 
Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that U.N. Secretary-General Ban 
Ki-moon's Special Envoy Lynn Pascoe met yesterday with Kim Yong-nam, 
president of the Presidium of North Korea's Supreme People's 
Assembly, and conveyed a verbal message from the UN chief. 
Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo observed that the KCNA did not report 
the contents of the message but that it may have included a call on 
North Korea to return to the stalled Six-Party Talks. 
 
-Iran 
----- 
Left-leaning Hankyoreh Shinmun carried an inside-page report 
entitled "Iran Lays out Ultra-Hard-Line Card... the West Likely to 
Strengthen Sanctions."  It said: "... Iranian President Mahmoud 
Ahmadinejad's Feb. 11 announcement - that Iran has the capability to 
enrich uranium more than 20 percent or 80 percent - can be 
interpreted as a warning to the West to accept Iran's terms for 
negotiations.  ... This ultra-hard-line stance by Iran has 
 
SEOUL 00000226  002 OF 003 
 
 
practically pushed its nuclear negotiations with the West to the 
(point of) collapse.... It is highly likely that the Iran issue will 
enter into the phase of sanctions." 
 
 
OPINIONS/EDITORIALS 
------------------- 
 
THE NORTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS LAW WILL ONLY BRING MORE CONFLICT TO 
THE KOREAN PENINSULA 
(Hankyoreh Shinmun, February 12, Page 35) 
 
The North Korean Human Rights Law passed yesterday by the National 
Assembly's Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee contains 
a number of problems in both procedure and content.  If the law goes 
into effect as is, it is very possible it will create an array of 
problems rather than contribute to substantively improving the human 
rights situation of North Korean citizens. 
 
To begin, the Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee did 
not discuss the law in depth.  Committee Chairman Park Jin did not 
accept the Democratic Party's (DP) request for sufficient debate, 
and in the end, the law was passed unilaterally by the ruling Grand 
National Party (GNP) and Liberty Forward Party (LFP) after the DP 
walked out of the meeting in protest.  This is a case that could be 
considered railroading by the ruling parties. 
 
The content of the law also contains a number of noxious articles. 
The article that addresses humanitarian aid to North Korea (Article 
8), by strictly limiting the transfer and distribution of aid, has 
made it more difficult to provide humanitarian aid.  The application 
of these limits to aid from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as 
well could be seen as nothing other than an intent to block 
inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation in general. 
 
In addition, Article 10, which establishes a North Korean Human 
Rights Foundation under the Unification Ministry to study North 
Korean human rights and research policy, is also problematic.  This 
is because (this new foundation) could limit the activity of the 
Unification Ministry, whose goal is to bring progress to 
inter-Korean relations and promote unification policy.  Moreover, 
most of the duties of the foundation overlap with the work currently 
done by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRCK).  This has been 
interpreted as an intention to strip duties from the National Human 
Rights Commission, an organization that is disliked by a number of 
conservatives. 
 
Article 15 of the law calls for active support for activities by 
NGOs whose work is related to North Korean human rights.     Given 
that some of these NGOs are right-wing groups which  have sent 
leaflets to North Korea or planned defections or have advocated for 
the improvement of the human rights of the North Korean people, the 
law seems to be advocating for the government to support (actions by 
right-wing NGOs.)   In fact, during the process of pushing the bill 
forward, the GNP said openly that support for these (NGO) groups 
(should be included in the bill.) 
 
In general, the law calls for increased pressure on North Korea 
based on a negative view of the North Korean government.  The 
example of the past U.S. administration under George Bush, who 
aggravated the nuclear issue with a policy of isolating North Korea, 
shows how unrealistic this approach is.  The bill is also not in 
keeping with the current mood of the government which is (trying to) 
create an atmosphere conducive to holding an inter-Korean summit, as 
recently discussed by President Lee Myung-bak. The North Korean 
human rights situation should be improved, but sufficient 
consideration is needed in deciding upon the proper approach.  We 
hope the National Assembly abandons this bill and reopens 
discussions from scratch. 
 
(This is a translation provided by the newspaper, and it is 
identical to the Korean version.) 
 
 
 
SEOUL 00000226  003 OF 003 
 
 
STEPHENS