제목 : AMBASSADOR ‘ S MEETING WITH KIM SOOK ( 6 자 회담 , 김계관 , 북한 , 이명박 , 대북 지원 , 유명환 , 네그로폰테 ) C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 001172 SIPDIS E . O . 12958 : DECL : AFTER KOREAN REUNIFICATION TAGS : PGOV PREL KS KNSUBJECT : AMBASSADOR ‘ S MEETING WITH KIM SOOK : A NUMBER OF FIRSTS Classified By : Amb . Alexander Vershbow . Reasons 1 . 4 ( b / d ) ¶ 1 . ( C ) Summary : In a June 9 meeting , Kim Sook , the newly appointed ROK representative to the Six - party Talks , told the Ambassador that he had been treated with respect during his first meeting with his North Korean counterpart , Deputy FM Kim Kye - gwan ( KKG ) , and that KKG had listened intently when Kim explained President Lee ’ s North Korea policy . Similarly , Kim said that officials from the North and South had a good bilateral discussion at Panmunjeom on June 5 to discuss energy assistance as part of the Six - Party Talks -- the first meeting between officials from both sides since Lee Myung - bak took office in February . Kim said that he expected the next round of Six - Party Talks to be held shortly after the Energy and Economic Cooperation Working Group meeting on June 11 in the DMZ . On North - South relations , Kim said that he did not expect the North to accept the South ‘ s recent offer of 50 , 000 tons of food aid because of reports that Kim Jong - il had issued instructions that the DPRK was neither to ask for nor accept any food aid from the South at this time . Commenting on the looming changes within the ROKG cabinet resulting from perceived mishandling of the U . S . beef negotiations , Kim said he thought that Foreign Minister Yu was not in danger of being dismissed as he was not involved in the causes of the problem , only in efforts to resolve the issue . End Summary . - - - - - - - - - ------------------------- FIRST MEETING BETWEEN THE TWO KIMS - - - - - - - - - ------------------------- ¶ 2 . ( C ) Ambassador - at - large for the Six Party Talks , Kim Sook , told the Ambassador on June 9 that he was somewhat surprised that the DPRK allowed DFM Kim Kye - gwan to meet with him in Beijing on May 30 . Ambassador Kim was traveling in Moscow on the suggested date for the meeting , but KKG agreed to stay an extra day in Beijing in order to meet with Ambassador Kim ( Note : This was the first time the two had met in person after Kim Sook took over as the chief negotiator for the Six - Party Talks in April . End Note . ). Ambassador Kim said that his North Korean counterpart was " calm and gentle " during their meeting and treated him with respect . ¶ 3 . ( C ) Ambassador Kim said that he took the opportunity to raise the broader issue of North - South relations and explained that the South did not have a hostile policy toward the North . He told KKG that if the DPRK gave up its nuclear weapons and material , the South was ready to help the North in five areas : economy , finance , education , infrastructure and general quality of life for North Koreans . Kim said that he also asked the North to stop slandering President Lee Myung - bak because , in the end , the North and the South would eventually need to sit down and work with each other on a number of issues . Kim said that KKG listened intently but could not offer any response to these points as he said it was not his area of responsibility . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ------------------------- ----- FIRST NORTH - SOUTH MEETING UNDER NEW ADMINISTRATION - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ------------------------- ----- ¶ 4 . ( C ) Kim said that the first official meeting between officials from the North and South under the Lee Myung - bak Administration on June 5 went well . Kim said that the DPRK officials who attended the bilateral discussion , held at Panmunjeom in the DMZ to discuss energy cooperation as part of the Six - Party Talks , had " listened well " to the same talking points on North - South relations that Kim had used with KKG , and wrote feverishly despite their opening position that they could not accept the South ’ s points . Although there had not been any dialogue under the South ‘ s new administration , Kim said that he expected this to change as the Six - Party Talks made new progress in the coming weeks . - - - - - - - - - - - - - ------------------------- PROSPECTS FOR SIX - PARTY TALKS PROGRESS - - - - - - - - - - - - - ------------------------- ¶ 5 . ( C ) Kim said that it had been difficult trying to find an agreeable date for the next Heads of Delegation meeting under the Six - Party Talks . The Chinese proposed dates of June 15 - 17 were agreeable to the ROKG but Japan had voiced concern given a conflict on those dates with the ROK - Japan - China trilateral Ministerial meeting being hosted in Japan . As an alternative , Japan had recommended June 17 - 19 . ¶ 6 . ( C ) Kim said that during the June 5 meeting in the DMZ , the DPRK side had reiterated the importance of more timely delivery of the promised energy assistance . Before a Six - Party Heads of Delegation meeting could be convened , the North wanted to hold an Energy and Economic Cooperation Working Group ( EECWG ) meeting in hopes of getting a fixed schedule of the final shipments of heavy fuel oil and equivalent assistance . If the DPRK was satisfied with the results of this meeting , they would then commit to a date for the Heads of Delegation meeting . If Japan remained adamant that it would not contribute to HFO shipments , KKG had suggested the other four parties should agree to cover Japan ’ s portion of the agreement . Although the Chinese and Russians strongly opposed the idea , Kim said that the ROK was " willing to be generous " and help cover Japan ‘ s portion . - - - - - ------------------------- DISPOSITION OF FRESH FUEL RODS - - - - - ------------------------- ¶ 7 . ( C ) According to Amb . Kim , North Korea preferred to make a decision on disposal of the fresh fuel rods as the last step in the disablement process . Although the North had previously stated its intent to sell the rods , a formal decision had not yet been made . Kim said that KKG had told him that he wanted to first talk to the U . S . side about implementing the various steps involved in the disablement process . Kim Sook said that he saw no grounds for discussion between the U . S . and DPRK on the issue as the fuel rods in question could only be used in the ROK , and this was only after additional preparation tasks costing USD 10 million . North Korea was sure to agree to sell the rods to the ROK as it would provide them with additional compensation , whereas bending the rods would not . ---------------------- PHASE THREE AND BEYOND ---------------------- ¶ 8 . ( C ) Kim said that he asked KKG about the prospect of North Korea declaring its nuclear weapons as part of their forthcoming nuclear declaration . The response was that if the South had concerns about dismantlement , it should review the September 2005 Agreement in which the North promised to give up all of its nuclear weapons . The weapons would be abandoned in the final phase of the process , not in the near term , Kim said . The final phase would be an exchange of nuclear weapons for normalization of relations with the U . S . Kim added that the North would want to verify that the U . S . had removed all nuclear weapons from South Korea and suggested the North would be interested in seeing records to corroborate the South ’ s claimed denuclearization . ---------------------- FOOD AID FOR THE NORTH ---------------------- ¶ 9 . ( C ) When asked about the prospects of North Korea agreeing to accept the South ‘ s offer of 50 , 000 tons of food aid , Kim responded that he had seen intelligence reports that claim Kim Jong - il had issued a memo that the North was not to accept or ask for aid from the South this year . Kim said that the ROKG was considering the option of providing some aid to the World Food Program that could be then passed on to the North , but the current preoccupation with the U . S . beef issue had required everyone ’ s full attention and therefore a decision had not yet been made . ------------------------ NORTH KOREA - JAPAN BILATS ------------------------ ¶ 10 . ( C ) Kim said that he did not have any detailed information about the Japan - North Korea bilateral discussions that were held on June 7 - 8 in Beijing . On the positive side , at least the two parties had agreed to meet again on June 11 - 12 unlike the previous meeting that ended after ten minutes , Kim noted . When asked if there was anything to press reports that the DPRK was likely to return a relative of one of the Japanese abductees to break the current impasse , Kim responded that it was more likely that the former members of the Red Army would be repatriated to Japan , even though this is technically an unrelated issue . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ------------------------- NORTHEAST ASIA PEACE AND SECURITY MECHANISM - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ------------------------- ¶ 11 . ( C ) Kim said that he did not raise NEAPSM during his meeting with KKG but noted that the Russians needed more time before they would be ready to discuss the issue . The Japanese side still had some reservations , but the ROKG welcomed NEAPSM , as long as it supported North Korea ‘ s denuclearization and remained separate from any peace regime discussions . Kim said that Deputy Secretary Negroponte ’ s recent visit to Korea to discuss the issue was quite helpful in providing the ROKG with a clearer understanding of U . S . views on NEAPSM . ------------------------ POSSIBLE CABINET CHANGES ------------------------ ¶ 12 . ( C ) According to Kim , public opinion in Korea remained very fragile and it was still not clear where it was headed in regard to the U . S . beef issue . Kim said that the looming cabinet reshuffle was likely to take place later this week and could have some impact on North Korea policy . As key personnel changed , possibly including the Prime Minister and Blue House Chief of Staff , some " minor " policy changes were also possible . Kim said that he was confident that Foreign Minister Yu would be spared from the reshuffle as he was seen more as a " firefighter " and not an " arsonist , " working to resolve the issue rather than having been involved in the original beef negotiations . Although the troubles in Korea represented a political struggle , Koreans also had concerns about U . S . beef that should not be ignored . VERSHBOW < 디지털 뉴스 팀 > 경향신문 ‘ 오늘 의 핫뉴스 ’ ▶ 강호동 , 출연료 ‘ 회당 1 억 원 ’ 까지 … 참 ▶ 내 남편 사무실 에 또 1 명 의 ‘ 아내 ’… ▶ 어미 곰 , 새끼 곰 죽이 고 자살 … 충격 적 이유 ! ▶ ‘ 변심 한 여친 ’ 집 침입 했 다가 새 남친 과 … ▶ 해외 호텔 서 한 방 에 … 남녀 승무원 , 결국 공식 SNS 계정 [ 경향 트위터 ] [ 미 투데이 ] [ 페이스북 ] [ 세상 과 경향 의 소통 Khross ] - ⓒ 경향신문 & 경향닷컴 ( www . khan . co . kr ) , 무단 전재 및 재 배포 금지 〈 경향닷컴 은 한국 온라인 신문협회 ( www . kona . or . kr ) 의 디지털 뉴스 이용 규칙 에 따른 저작 권 을 행사 합니다 . 〉