VZCZCXRO2812
OO RUEHGH
DE RUEHUL #0311/01 0550802
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 240802Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7185
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 9732
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 0812
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 7322
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 7393
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 1809
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 5651
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 4574
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 7790
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2045
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0127
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 2414
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 3036

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 SEOUL 000311 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; FEBRUARY 25, 2010 
 
TOP HEADLINES 
------------- 
 
Chosun Ilbo 
Lee Seung-hoon Wins Stunning Gold in Men's 10,000-Meter Speed 
Skating, Becoming First Asian to Win 
Longest-Distance Olympic Event 
 
JoongAng Ilbo 
"Perfect" Kim Yu-na Finishes First in Women's Figure Skating Short 
Program with New World Record 
 
Dong-a Ilbo, Segye Ilbo, Seoul Shinmun, All TVs 
Another Golden Day for ROK 
Lee Seung-hoon's Miracle Gold Shocks World; Kim Yun-na Sets World 
Record in Short Program, Heading for Gold 
 
Hankook Ilbo 
Vancouver Drama! Korea Smiles 
 
Hankyoreh Shinmun 
"Wall" Broken Down 
Lee Seung-hoon Wins Skating Gold with New Olympic Record 
 
 
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 
--------------------- 
 
According to Assistant USTR Jim Sanford, President Barack Obama has 
given an order to resolve pending issues concerning the KORUS FTA. 
This remark may indicate the Obama Administration's willingness to 
actively pursue congressional approval of the bilateral trade 
agreement. (JoongAng, Dong-a, Seoul, KBS, MBC) 
 
Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, in a Feb. 24 speech, said that the 
ROK and the U.S. are cooperating to prevent a possible security 
vacuum following the planned transfer of wartime operational control 
from the U.S. to the ROK. (Dong-a) 
 
 
INTERNATIONAL NEWS 
------------------ 
 
Special Representative for North Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth told 
reporters in Beijing yesterday after meeting with China's chief 
nuclear negotiator Wu Dawei: "We just completed a very useful 
exchange of views ... on the status of the efforts to resume the 
Six-Party process." (Hankook, Segye, KBS, MBC) 
 
According to diplomatic sources in Beijing and Seoul, during his 
Feb. 9-13 visit to Beijing, North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, 
Kim Kye-gwan, asked China to urge the U.S. to take face-saving 
measures for the North, and China strongly urged the North to stop 
demanding a lifting of sanctions as a precondition to the resumption 
of the Six-Party Talks. (JoongAng) 
 
Chief ROK nuclear negotiator, Wi Sung-lac, in a Feb. 24 meeting in 
Beijing with ROK correspondents, said that the Six-Party Talks may 
resume in the first half of this year. (Chosun, KBS, VoiceofPeople) 
 
 
MEDIA ANALYSIS 
-------------- 
 
-N. Korea 
--------- 
Most ROK media carried reports quoting Special Representative for 
North Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth as telling reporters in Beijing 
yesterday after meeting with China's chief nuclear negotiator Wu 
Dawei: "We just completed a very useful exchange of views ... on the 
status of the efforts to resume the Six-Party process." 
 
In a related development, moderate Hankook Ilbo quoted a source in 
 
SEOUL 00000311  002 OF 006 
 
 
Beijing as saying: "China must have clearly conveyed to Ambassador 
Bosworth the options North Korea can take in the future." 
 
Meanwhile, conservative Chosun Ilbo, state-run KBS and 
VoiceofPeople, an Internet news site, covered Feb. 24 press remarks 
in Beijing by Chief ROK nuclear negotiator, Wi Sung-lac, in which he 
said that the Six-Party Talks may resume in the first half of this 
year.  Conservative Chosun, in particular, observed that even though 
the chief ROK negotiator stated that there was nothing new about 
what North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye-gwan, told 
Chinese officials during his recent visit to Beijing, he looked 
optimistic (about resuming the Six-Party Talks.) 
 
Citing diplomatic sources in Beijing and Seoul, right-of-center 
JoongAng Ilbo reported that North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, 
Kim Kye-gwan, during his Feb. 9-13 visit to Beijing, asked China to 
urge the U.S. to take face-saving measures for the North, while 
China strongly urged the North to stop demanding a lifting of 
sanctions as a precondition to the resumption of the Six-Party 
Talks.  JoongAng cited sources as saying: "The face-saving measures 
mentioned by Kim refer to the lifting of sanctions and a U.S. 
commitment to discuss a peace treaty, which the North has demanded 
as preconditions for its return to the Six-Party Talks." 
 
-U.S.-China Relations 
--------------------- 
Chosun Ilbo carried an op-ed written by former Foreign Minister Yoon 
Young-kwan.  It said: "These days, the U.S. and China are in 
conflict over most of the pending issues.  ...  In order to prevent 
the U.S.-China conflict from (negatively) affecting issues on the 
Korean Peninsula, we need, in addition to the alliance with the 
U.S., to establish a mechanism for multilateral security 
cooperation, which is similar to the Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).  ... Whether or not there is progress 
in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, we should maintain 
channels for smooth communication with North Korea. ... The current 
administration has sufficiently made its position clear to the North 
for the past two years and... there are signs of a change in the 
North's attitude, at least in tactical terms but not strategic 
terms.  It is time for the ROKG to take advantage of this change (in 
North Korea's attitude) to 'upgrade' its North Korea policy by 
promoting an inter-Korean summit." 
 
 
FEATURES 
-------- 
 
US PRESIDENT OBAMA VOICES RESOLVE FOR US-ROK FTA RATIFICATION 
(Yonhap News, February 24) 
 
By Reporter Hwang Doo-hyong 
 
U.S. President Barack Obama said Wednesday he is determined to 
resolve outstanding issues with the pending free trade deals with 
South Korea, Colombia, and Panama for their ratification. 
 
"That's why we will work to resolve outstanding issues, so that we 
can move forward on trade agreements with key partners like South 
Korea, Panama, and Colombia," Obama told a business roundtable at 
the Regis Hotel here (Washington, DC), noting other countries "have 
been able to align the interests of workers, businesses, and 
government around trade agreements that open new markets and create 
new jobs." 
 
"We must do the same, and I'm committed to making that happen," he 
said. (sic) 
 
The imbalance in auto trade and restricted shipments of U.S. beef to 
South Korea are the biggest hurdles to the early ratification of the 
Korea FTA, signed in 2007. 
 
Obama said last week he "would press for passage this year of 
free-trade agreements with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia" to 
help create jobs through export growth, although he cautioned that 
 
SEOUL 00000311  003 OF 006 
 
 
"different glitches" must first be resolved with each country. 
 
The U.S. wants to address the auto and beef issues in side 
agreements without revising the text of the deal. 
 
South Korea is calling for the ratification of the Korea-US (KORUS) 
FTA by this summer, fearing that any further delay may jeopardize 
its passage this year due to the politically sensitive mid-term 
elections in November. 
 
The KORUS FTA has been sidelined by health care, financial reform 
and other more pressing issues, and Obama has said he will seek the 
right "political timing" for its submission amid protectionist 
sentiment in Congress in the worst recession in decades. 
 
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk echoed Obama's theme. 
 
"Right now, we are seeking to resolve outstanding issues on the 
Colombian, Korean, and Panamanian Free Trade Agreements in an effort 
to move those forward at the appropriate time," Kirk told the Retail 
Industry Leaders' Association Logistics Conference held here. 
 
The chief U.S. trade negotiator said those deals, once effectuated, 
will "tear down trade barriers and open up new markets for American 
businesses to grow and create jobs through trade," and "will create 
billions of dollars in new market access for American exporters." 
 
Kirk said last week that his office was trying to develop ideas to 
address its concerns over lopsided auto trade with South Korea so 
the free trade deal can clear Congress. 
 
"We need to address the concerns about fair trade in autos," he 
said. "We at USTR are hard at work to develop ideas for addressing 
these concerns, and we will be consulting closely with members of 
Congress and other American stakeholders as we move down this 
path." 
 
In his first State of the Union address last month, Obama pledged to 
enhance trade with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama to help fuel 
the fledgling economic recovery. 
 
"If America sits on the sidelines while other nations sign trade 
deals, we will lose the chance to create jobs on our shores," he 
said.  "That's why we will try to continue to shape a Doha trade 
agreement... that opens global markets, and why we will strengthen 
our trade relations in Asia and with key partners like South Korea, 
Panama, and Colombia." (sic) 
 
South Korea and India put a free trade deal into effect last month, 
and Seoul hopes to ratify another deal with the European Union, 
signed last year, that will take effect this summer. 
 
(Ed. Note:  This text was provided in English by Yonhap news 
service. The original quote  by President Obama is as follows: 
 
Now, I know that trade policy has been a longstanding divide between 
business and labor; Democrats and Republicans.  But to those who 
would reflexively support every trade deal, I would say that our 
competitors have to play fair and our agreements have to be 
enforced.  We simply cannot cede more jobs or markets to unfair 
trade practices.  And to those who would reflexively oppose every 
trade agreement, they need to know that if America sits on the 
sidelines while other nations sign trade deals, we will lose the 
chance to create jobs on our shores.  Other countries, whether China 
or Germany or Brazil, have been able to align the interests of 
workers, businesses, and government around trade agreements that 
open new markets and create new jobs.  We must do the same. 
 
That's why we launched the Trans Pacific Partnership to strengthen 
our trade relations with Asia, the fastest growing market in the 
world.  That's why we will work to resolve outstanding issues so 
that we can move forward on trade agreements with key partners like 
South Korea, Panama, and Colombia.  And that's why we will try to 
conclude a Doha trade agreement - not just any agreement, but one 
 
SEOUL 00000311  004 OF 006 
 
 
that creates real access to key global markets. ) 
 
 
THE MORE U.S., CHINA DRIFT APART, THE MORE WE SHOULD EMBRACE N. 
KOREA 
(Chosun Ilbo, February 25, Page 30; Excerpts) 
 
By Yoon Young-gwan, former Foreign Minister and professor at Seoul 
National University 
 
The U.S. and China are engaging in an intense power game.  These 
days, the U.S. and China are in conflict over most of the pending 
issues.  China may think that the U.S. is unlikely to recover its 
financial superpower status which it lost following the global 
economic crisis.  The U.S. faces the largest-ever budget deficit 
which observers believe will not be reversed within the next 10 
years.  Moreover, Japanese political kingpin Ichiro Ozawa visited 
China with a 600-member delegation while the country is at odds with 
the U.S.  (In this situation,) China may consider now to be the 
right time to change the rules of the game.  During a meeting in the 
U.S., a Chinese scholar allegedly said that the current China is not 
what it was, urging the U.S. to change its attitude toward China. 
 
However, the U.S., which is still a military superpower, has 
intervened in East Asia (affairs) since the early twentieth century 
and will not leave this area in the hands of China.  This may 
further intensify U.S.-China conflicts. 
 
When will an atmosphere of cooperation between the U.S. and China be 
created?  China will seek cooperation when it judges that its 
strained relations with the U.S. could deal a blow to its economy. 
Despite its outward confidence, China is vulnerable in many 
respects.  Hundreds of millions of people suffer from poverty. 
Without feeding them, the Communist government would not be able to 
win solid public support.  The issue of ethnic minorities could also 
be a destabilizing factor. 
 
The problem is that confrontation between the U.S. and China will 
put the ROK in a difficult position.  We are in a position where we 
inevitably need cooperation of both nations on the nuclear issue and 
North Korea's uncertain future.  However, if conflict between the 
U.S. and China deepens, and the suspicions between the two nations 
grow, they will hold each other in check and conflict with each 
other, rather than cooperating over the future of the Korean 
Peninsula.  The more distrustful the two nations are of each other, 
the more obsessed China will be with sustaining North Korea as a 
buffer zone against the influence of the ROK and the U.S. 
 
In order to prevent the U.S.-China conflict from (negatively) 
affecting issues on the Korean Peninsula, we need, in addition to 
the alliance with the U.S., to establish a mechanism for 
multilateral security cooperation, which is similar to the 
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). 
However, Northeast Asia does not have such a body yet.  This implies 
that Northeast Asia is a tough region where a power struggle is more 
intense than Europe. 
 
With the international political situation surrounding the Korean 
Peninsula getting rougher, a strong force bringing together the ROK 
and North Korea must be at work, and the ROK should lead the force, 
especially if the ROK has any willingness to determine the future of 
the Korean Peninsula on its own.  The situation in North Korea has 
become more urgent,and when compared with a car, has shifted from 
second to third gear.  Its economy has long been in tatters, and its 
currency reform has failed.  There is uncertainty about the regime's 
hereditary power succession, and residents distrust their 
government, which is not capable of feeding its people. 
 
Whether or not there is progress in resolving the North Korean 
nuclear issue, we should maintain channels for smooth communication 
with North Korea.  This is because those channels are the basis of 
the force in bringing the two Koreas together.  The current 
administration has sufficiently made its position clear to the North 
for the past two years, and we believe that the message has now 
 
SEOUL 00000311  005 OF 006 
 
 
gotten across to the North.  There are signs of a change in the 
North's attitude, at least in tactical terms but not strategic 
terms. 
 
It is time for the ROKG to take advantage of this change (in North 
Korea's attitude) to "upgrade" its North Korea policy by promoting 
an inter-Korean summit.  The ROK should reaffirm its principle of 
getting the North to abandon its nuclear ambitions, faithfully 
improve and expand its economic cooperation with the North based on 
market principles, and provide the North with humanitarian aid under 
the condition that Pyongyang accepts international-level monitoring. 
 Above all, Seoul should come up with a mid- to long-term master 
plan about how to address the pending North Korean issues in the 
coming days. 
 
 
"KOREATOWN" INSIDE BAGRAM BASE EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETED IN APRIL 
(Chosun Ilbo, February 25, Page 8) 
 
By Correspondent Lee Ha-won 
 
Construction of a "Koreatown" is underway near the barbed-wire 
fences at the U.S. Bagram Air Base's westernmost tip, which is 
called a "huge construction site." The town, composed of three 
buildings, is scheduled for completion in April.  When I visited the 
site on February 23, workers were putting the final touches on a 
Korean hospital, vocational training center, and staff housing. 
Korean supervisors in green jackets from Samhwan Construction were 
directing Afghan laborers. 
 
The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has put about 20 
billion Won into this construction site since last June.  A 
wo-story Korean hospital, which covers a total area of 3,000m2, has 
30 rooms for inpatients and three operating rooms.  It is described 
as one of the most sophisticated buildings on the base.  Since the 
hospital has its own entrance, one does not need to go through the 
front gate of the base.  A two-floor training center covering 
4,000m2 will hold 75 students, 15 students each in five fields: 
electricity, computer, construction, welding, and automobiles.  Jun 
Joong-young of KOICA said, "We chose the fields that will be the 
most helpful to local residents.  We will recruit students beginning 
on March 26." 
 
Staff housing will be in a three-story building.  It has an 80-bed 
capacity and contains a conference room and a cafeteria.  Chung 
Yun-taek, a Foreign Ministry official who was dispatched to lead the 
Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) at Bagram Air Base, noted, 
"Since there are not many sophisticated buildings at Bagram Air 
Base, a Korean hospital and a vocational training center have become 
frequent visiting spots for U.S. military officials."  Most of the 
construction materials were imported.  Shin Kun-bong, a construction 
manager from Samhwan Construction, said, "Afghanistan's construction 
level is too poor to even build stairs properly.  Because we had to 
teach each person everything about construction, it (the 
construction job) was twice as hard." 
 
There are now about 40 Koreans, including six women, at Bagram Air 
Base.  Half of them are KOICA employees, medical staffers, 
professors for vocational training, police, and security forces, and 
the other half are employees of the construction company.  When the 
PRT is soon stationed in Charikar, capital of Parwan Province, the 
number of Koreans at the base will double.  The construction 
company's employee cafeteria is already so popular that even U.S. 
soldiers come and attempt to pay for Korean dishes. 
 
So far most Koreans here are volunteers.  They have lived in storage 
container boxes or wooden buildings.  Sergeant Choi Joon-sang, who 
was dispatched by the National Policy Agency, was assigned to one of 
the "cells," which were made by dividing a container into smaller 
rooms using wooden partitions.  Police Inspector Na Hong-kyu, the 
head security guard of the hospital, previously served for a year in 
East Timor in 2007.  He said, "Although the living conditions here 
are not that good, I feel that my work is worthwhile." 
 
 
SEOUL 00000311  006 OF 006 
 
 
 
PATIENTS WAIT ALL NIGHT IN FRONT OF (ROK) HOSPITAL (IN AFGHANISTAN) 
 
(Chosun Ilbo, February 25, Page 8) 
 
By Washington Correspondent Lee Ha-won 
 
 On February 23, 30 Afghans are waiting with number tickets in their 
hands in front of "Hankook Hospital."  The shabby one-story wooden 
building is located in the west end of Bagram Air Base.  A patient 
in his 60s, who arrived after a nine-hour drive from Bamiyan 
Province, said he queued up from 2 a.m.  This patient with spinal 
pain said, "I heard that Hankook Hospital in Parwan treats patients 
well."  Lameshiagar, who is 17 years old, visited this place due to 
a headache and a hearing disturbance.  He thumbed up, saying, "This 
hospital is popular because the Korean medical team is excellent and 
doles out effective medicine for free." 
 
Hankook Hospital, under the oversight of the Korea International 
Cooperation Agency (KOICA), has become essential (for Afghans.) 
Sometimes, so many patients start to line up even from 10 p.m. the 
previous evening at the entrance of the hospital, which leads to 
Bagram Air Base's barbed wires. 
 
The hospital gives out number tickets to about 100 patients every 
day.  Seyed Shiragha (29 years old) who manages registration of 
patients at the reception desk said, "A number of patients drive to 
this place for more than 16 hours from Hirat Province adjacent to 
Iran or a Pakistan border region.  He added, "There are few 
hospitals to go to in Afghanistan even if you have money.  But 
patients flock here because it is said that the Korean medical team 
is great." 
 
Hankook Hospital at Bagram Air Base gained trust from local 
residents by treating patients for free since medics from the Dongui 
Medical Unit and engineers from the Dasan Engineering Unit were 
dispatched in 2002.  After the Dongui Medical Unit withdrew in 2007, 
the hospital resumed operation in June 2008.  There is an Egyptian 
hospital at (Bagram Air) Base. 
 
Hankook Hospital is staffed with two Korean doctors, one Korean 
pharmacist and three Afghan doctors.  The hospital provides medical 
service to Afghan women on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and to men 
on Tuesday and Thursday.  Cheon Jeong-ae, a 39 year-old nurse, takes 
care of patients by wearing a hijab to respect the Islam culture. 
She is popular among patients and called "Bagram's angel."  She 
learned Dari here to assist in attending to her patients. 
 
However, a lack of advanced medical equipment prevents accurate 
diagnoses.  Doctor Shim Seong-hun said the he cannot perform a 
thorough medical examination for a 50-year old patient by using 
existing equipment.  The patient claims that he is suffering from 
double vision.  Doctor Shim can provide only pulmonary function and 
X-ray tests.  The doctor said, "I really feel bad when I have to 
send them (patients) back."  The hospital believes that when the 
construction of a new two-story building is completed in April, 
things will improve. 
 
Hankook Hospital officials are on alert against the possibility that 
al-Qaida terrorists may infiltrate (into the place) under the guise 
of patients.  In the past, intelligence regarding a possible 
suicidal bombing forced the hospital to close down for days.  Last 
year, the hospital installed a bomb detector capable of detecting 
even a liquid explosive.  Afghan patients should undergo a six-stage 
inspection process (to see a doctor at this hospital.)  Afterwards, 
the ROK's special police forces along with local guards keep watch 
on them, with their guns loaded.  Jeong Yon-taek, Director of 
Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) at Bagram Air Base, said, "I 
feel sorry for Afghans who stand in a long line to receive treatment 
even though they have to pass a strict inspection.  There is a need 
to consider building a general hospital some day." 
 
 
TOKOLA