by WikiLeaks
A January 11, 2010 meeting between Special Envoy Robert King and Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan as described in a confidential cable communication from the US Embassy in Seoul to the Secretary of State in Washington, DC.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 000062
Summary: During a January 11 meeting with Special Envoy Robert King, FM Yu
downplayed press speculation that a North-South summit is imminent. Yu asserted
that Kim Jong-il would visit China in late January or early February; the North
Korean leader needed both Chinese economic aid and political support to stabilize
an “increasingly chaotic” situation at home. An unspecified number of high-
ranking North Korean officials had recently defected to the ROK, according to
Yu. The foreign minister thanked King for his willingness to press the PRC on
the treatment of North Korean refugees. Yu said the ROK would provide “significant”
food aid to the DPRK if Pyongyang asked for it and agreed to monitoring. The ROK
also planned to help fund work by NGOs to combat TB and multi-drug-resistant TB
in the North, which has spread widely within the DPRK’s chronically malnourished
population. At a lunch following the meeting, Seoul’s point man on DPRK issues,
Ambassador Wi Sung-lac, reiterated the FM’s call for U.S. help in persuading China
to go easier on North Korean refugees. Wi also thanked Ambassador King for his
willingness to keep the ROK updated on discussions between the American Red Cross
and its DPRK counterpart regarding potential reunions between Korean-Americans
and their North Korean kin.
Discussion Highlights: […] Foreign Minister Yu claimed that the North’s botched
currency reform had caused “big problems” for the regime and that the power
succession from Kim Jong-il to Kim Jong-eun was “not going smoothly.” Moreover,
Yu confided, an unspecified number of high-ranking North Korean officials
working overseas had recently defected to the ROK. […] Yu thanked Ambassador
King for stating that he intended to work closely with the ROK on the issue of
improving human rights conditions in North Korea. […] North Koreans in China
are economic migrants. Yu claimed that the number of North Koreans fleeing
into China [passage removed] continues to increase; 2,952 North Koreans made it
to the ROK in 2009 and more than that are expected in 2010. Yu noted that at
least 80 percent of the refugees who come to the South are women, adding that
they are often abused by human traffickers. […] Given the North’s chronic
transportation and storage problems, there would be starvation “here and there”
during the spring, Yu lamented. The foreign minister said the ROK would be
willing to provide “significant” food aid to the DPRK if Pyongyang asked for
it and agreed to monitoring. [Name removed] said that North Korea has made only
token efforts to support North-South family reunions and has “reacted badly”
to Seoul’s repeated calls for the release of the approximately 1,000 abductees
and POWs believed to be still held by the DPRK.