Lawmaker: Roh Not Briefed on USFK Memo

Representative Choi Jae-cheon of the Uri Party claimed on February 2 that in October 2003, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) exchanged a memorandum with the United States to support the strategic flexibility of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), but that the MOFAT did not report it to President Roh Moo-hyun.

At a press conference held at the National Assembly yesterday, Choi made the argument when he disclosed an 11-page document titled, “The National Security Council (NSC)’s position on issues raised by the State Affairs Control Office (SACO).”

The document, written on April 5, 2005, is the NSC’s explanation regarding the SACO report to Cheong Wa Dae that said, “The MOFAT and NSC did not fully report the agreement between Korea and the U.S. over strategic flexibility of the USFK,” and reported it to the president.

“Strategic flexibility memo was unreported”-

The NSC announced in the document, “With the fifth Future of the Alliance (FOTA) conference in October 2003 providing momentum, then-director Wie Sung-rak of the MOFAT’s North American Affairs bureau delivered the draft of the memorandum to the U.S. Nevertheless, Wie, who is currently the minister-counselor for political affairs at the Korean Embassy to the U.S., did not report it to President Roh or to the NSC.”

The document went on to emphasize, “The NSC recognized the fact in March 2004 after it was reported by Wie’s successor, Kim Sook. The NSC admits its responsibility for failing to have proper control over the issue, but the primary cause of the incident was the MOFAT’s failure to report to the president.”

The NSC also indicated the Ministry of Defense’s (MOD) responsibility for causing confusion. “Cha Young-gu, the head of the MOD’s policy office, made a remark that the issue of strategic flexibility is under the plenary authority of the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC). It is true that Cha’s comment created confusion,” the report announced.

The SACO report pointed out that Roh’s remark, “We will not get involved in a conflict in Northeast Asia regardless of our willingness,” made at the March 2005 Air Force Academy graduation ceremony was interpreted by the U.S. as a rejection of the existing agreement because the MOFAT and NSC did not report the memo properly.

In response, a MOFAT official said, “In the face of the FOTA talks, the MOFAT’s working-level officials had a discussion with staff in charge at the U.S. Embassy to Korea over our draft on possible items for a Korea-U.S. memorandum,” and asked, “Should we even report things of such level to the NSC?”

“The ‘exchange of a Korea-U.S. memorandum,’ mentioned in the document disclosed by Choi, is not the case. The two sides simply exchanged a draft of a memorandum on a working-level basis. The MOFAT reported to the NSC in March 2004 that a working-level draft was exchanged between Korea and the U.S. Since then, the NSC and relevant ministries have dealt with the issue by making close policy consultations and reporting to superior authorities,” explained the National Security Policy Office at Cheong Wa Dae.

Secrets Revealed by the Intelligence Committee-

The MOFAT is seriously concerned that Choi, a lawmaker from the ruling party and a member of the Intelligence Committee of the National Assembly, divulged secrets or inside information related to strategic flexibility for two days in a row.

“The issue was already resolved and its outcome was determined by Korea and the U.S. It is problematic that [the lawmaker] disclosed confidential items regarding national security for two consecutive days,” said a senior MOFAT official in a closed-door briefing.

The National Assembly Intelligence Committee held a plenary meeting on the morning of that day and indicated that since the inception of the 17th National Assembly, some 31 secrets regarding the National Intelligence Service’s (NIS) reports to the National Assembly and other NIS documents have been disclosed, making the issue of intelligence leakages a serious one.

Jong-Koo Yoon taewon_ha@donga.com jkmas@donga.com