VZCZCXYZ0006
PP RUEHWEB
DE RUEHC #1117 3281837
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 241832Z NOV 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 0000
INFO RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 0000
UNCLAS STATE 121117
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PTER RS US KGIC SK PARM
SUBJECT: GICNT: U.S. CONFIRMS SUPPORT FOR REPUBLIC OF
KOREA HOSTING 2011 PLENARY
REF: SEOUL 1632
1. This is an action request for Embassy Seoul. Please see
paragraph 3.
SUMMARY
----------------------------------
2. The United States welcomes the Republic of Korea,s (ROK)
offer to host the 2011 Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear
Terrorism (GICNT) Plenary meeting. The United States has
discussed with the Russian Federation MFA staff (Russian
GICNT Co-Chair), who also welcomes the offer. This decision
will most likely be announced once the Co-Chairs have
identified a host for the 2010 Plenary. The United States
also remains interested in ROK,s offer to host a series of
GICNT activities in the future.
OBJECTIVES
---------------------------------
3. Department requests Post to inform appropriate ROK
officials of the following:
-- The United States looks forward to ROK,s participation in
the GICNT Exercise Planning Group (EPG) meeting on January
19, 2010 in Budapest, Hungary.
-- Welcome the ROK,s offer to host the 2011 GICNT Plenary,
noting that the United States has discussed this matter with
the Russian Co-Chair. The Co-Chairs look forward to
announcing that ROK will host the 2011 Plenary, once a host
for the 2010 Plenary meeting has been identified (discussions
with certain partners are ongoing at present).
-- Inform ROK that the Co-Chairs look forward to receiving
more details regarding their proposals for additional GICNT
activities. The United States hopes these activities will
aim to encourage regional cooperation among GICNT partner
nations and implement at least one of the eight items from
the Statement of Principles.
-- Inform ROK that no formal procedure exists for requesting
to host a Plenary. In the past, the Foreign Minister of the
offering partner nation has submitted a formal invitation to
the U.S. Secretary of State and Russian Foreign Minister. We
anticipate that this and other procedural matters will become
clearer in 2010 as the partnership examines how to
implementation,8 a concept the Co-Chairs introduced at the
June 2009 Plenary meeting.
REPORTING DEADLINE
----------------------------------
4. Department requests that Post report ROK,s response by
December 7.
BACKGROUND
---------------------------------
5. On October 15, the ROK proposed hosting the 2011 or 2012
GICNT Plenary meeting and also a series of GICNT activities
(Reftel).
6. Background on the GICNT: The GICNT was launched in July
2006. Its mission is to strengthen international cooperation
and collaboration to build partners, individual and
collective capacity to combat the threat of nuclear
terrorism. The United States and the Russian Federation
co-chair the GICNT. GICNT partners are committed to a set of
principles that encompass a broad range of deterrence,
prevention, detection, and response objectives. Through
multilateral activities and exercises, partners share best
practices and lessons learned, particularly with regional
neighbors, in order to strengthen both individual and
collective capabilities to combat the threat of nuclear
terrorism. To date, partners have conducted over thirty
multilateral activities and five senior-level GICNT meetings,
resulting in strengthened policies, enhanced information
sharing techniques, and greater partner nation transparency
and collaboration.
7. President Obama has called for the Global Initiative to
become a international institution8 (Prague
speech, April 2009). Both the United States and Russia
welcome the expansion and strengthening of the Global
Initiative and are currently taking steps to enhance
implementation of the Initiative. There are now 76 partners
in the Global Initiative and four official observers: the
European Union (EU), the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA), the International Criminal Police Organization
(INTERPOL), and the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime
(UNODC).
POINT OF CONTACT
---------------------------
8. The Department greatly appreciates Post,s assistance.
All cables associated with the GICNT should be slugged to the
Department for ISN/WMDT and the relevant regional bureaus.
E-mails regarding the GICNT may be sent to
.
CLINTON