Cablegate: Seoul - Press Bulletin; September 4, 2009

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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SEOUL 001418

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; September 4, 2009

TOP HEADLINES
-------------

Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo, All TVs
"Critic" of President Lee Named Prime Minister; Former Seoul
National University President Chung Un-chan to Lead Cabinet

Dong-a Ilbo, Hankook Ilbo
Chung Un-chan and 6 Ministers are Named in a Major Cabinet Shake-up
Aimed at Promoting President Lee's Centrist Pragmatism and Enhancing
Policy Coordination
Inside Ruling Camp

Hankyoreh Shinmun
Prime Minister-Designate Chung Un-chan: "I Have No Differences with
President Lee on the Economy," a Departure from His Previous
Criticism of Lee's Policies, Including Tax Cuts and Grand Canal
Project

Segye Ilbo, Seoul Shinmun
Liberal Economist Named Prime Minister

DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
---------------------

According to the Bank of Korea, the ROK's gross national income,
which measures people's purchasing power, surged 5.6 percent in the
second quarter over the previous three months. It was the highest
quarterly growth in more than 21 years. (All)

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
------------------

Japan's incoming Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, in a Sept. 3
telephone conversation with President Barack Obama, reaffirmed that
the U.S.-Japan alliance is the foundation of Japanese diplomacy.
(All)

According to the State Department, Stephen Bosworth, the U.S.
Special Representative for North Korea Policy, will visit Beijing,
Seoul and Tokyo from Sept. 3-8 to discuss ways to bring North Korea
back to the Six-Party Talks and to denuclearize the communist state.
State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly was quoted: "Bosworth has no
plans to travel to Pyongyang or to meet with North Korean officials
(during this visit.)" (Hankyoreh, Segye)

MEDIA ANALYSIS
--------------

-N. Korea
---------
State-run Yonhap News Agency carried a report quoting North Korea's
official Korean Central News Agency as claiming this morning that
North Korea has entered the final phase of uranium enrichment. The
North's state media was further quoted: "We are also finalizing the
reprocessing of spent fuel rods and the extracted plutonium is being
weaponized."

YTN, a 24-hour news channel and subsidiary of Yonhap News Agency,
observed that this North Korean claim departs from its recent
conciliatory offensive and can be viewed as Pyongyang's expression
of discontent with Washington's lackadaisical attitude toward its
calls for bilateral talks. The U.S. has insisted that bilateral
talks with North Korea are possible only within the Six-Party Talks
framework.

-Japan
------
All ROK media gave attention to yesterday's telephone conversation
between President Barack Obama and Japan's incoming Prime Minister
Yukio Hatoyama, in which the Japanese premier-in-waiting reaffirmed

SEOUL 00001418 002 OF 002

that the U.S.-Japan alliance is the foundation of Japanese
diplomacy.

Conservative Chosun Ilbo's sub-head read: "Despite Hatoyama's
Reassurance, U.S. Wariness and Uneasiness Spread Ahead of the Launch
of a Democratic Party Administration in Japan that Calls for More
Equal Ties with Washington." Moderate Hankook Ilbo wrote in the
headline: "Subtle Tension Persists despite Hatoyama's Efforts to
Dispel Concerns about His Anti-U.S. Views."

TOKOLA

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