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SOUTH KOREA BACKGROUND NOTES (APRIL 1991) (CONTINUED)
PUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE

April 1991

FOREIGN RELATIONS
South Korea is committed to peaceful settlement of international differences,
a commitment best illustrated by its restrained response to a number of
provocations by North Korea over the past 15 years. These include the
1968 Blue House raid, the October 1983 bombing in Rangoon, Burma,
which killed six of the ROK's most prominent leaders, and the November
1987 bomb explosion aboard Korean Air Lines flight 858, in which 115 lives
were lost. Captured North Korean agents confessed to all of these acts.

South Korea is becoming increasingly active in international affairs. Although
not a UN member, it has launched a campaign to join that organization.
However, North Korea opposes separate admission to the UN on the
grounds that it would perpetuate the division of the peninsula; some of its
allies support this contention. South Korea presently has a UN observer
mission headed by an ambassador and is active in most UN specialized
agencies. In addition, South Korea has made efforts to join or participate
actively in many other international fora, ranging from the Antarctic Treaty
to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

South Korea today has diplomatic relations with 148 countries and an even
broader network of trading relationships. It has hosted a series of
prestigious international events, including the 1988 summer Olympics. A
total of 159 countries participated in the Seoul Olympics, making it the
largest Olympics ever. Only six nations followed North Korea's call to
boycott. Chinese, Soviet, and Eastern European participation in the Seoul
Olympics underscored and accelerated President Roh's policy of
"Nordpolitik"--the pursuit of wide-ranging relations with socialist nations and
contacts and dialogue with North Korea.

Nordpolitik has so far met with notable success. In February 1989, Hungary
became the first communist nation to establish full diplomatic relations with
the ROK. The ROK now has diplomatic relations with all the countries of
Eastern and Central Europe except Albania.  Nordpolitik's crowning
achievement came in September 1990, when the ROK and USSR opened
formal diplomatic relations. In early 1991 the ROK and People's Republic of
China exchanged trade offices, a clear sign of improvement in relations and
a possible first step toward eventual diplomatic relations.

The South Korean government and politicians have long been concerned
over the fate of the 35,000 Koreans on Sakhalin Island, now under Soviet
control. Koreans were originally brought to Sakhalin by the Japanese as
forced labor. A series of semi-official Korean delegations visited Moscow
and Sakhalin in 1989. These contacts resulted in Soviet agreement to
increase the flow of ethnic Koreans in Sakhalin allowed to visit South Korea.
In addition, 20 first-generation Koreans from Sakhalin were repatriated in
1988 after more than 40 years away from their homeland.

Following the ratification in 1965 of a treaty normalizing relations between
Japan and Korea, the two nations have developed an extensive relationship
centering on mutually beneficial economic activity. Although the legacy of
historic antipathies has at times impeded cooperation, relations at the
government level have improved steadily and significantly in the past several
years.

Korea's economic growth, energy requirements, and need for basic raw
materials and for markets have given economic considerations high priority
in the country's foreign policy. In light of these concerns, Korean diplomacy
in recent years has also concentrated on broadening its international base
of support with Third World nations, the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), and  Middle Eastern states.  Korea wants to participate
actively in Pacific basin economic affairs.  It has offered to host in 1991 the
third ministerial meeting on Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation initiated by
Australian Prime Minister Hawke.

Negotiating Efforts with North Korea
Throughout the postwar period, both Korean governments have repeatedly
affirmed their desire for reunification of the Korean peninsula, but, until 1971,
the two governments had no direct, official communication or other contact.

In August 1971, North and South Korea agreed to hold talks through their
respective Red Cross societies with the aim of reuniting the many Korean
families separated following the division of Korea and the Korean war. After
a series of secret meetings, both sides announced on July 4, 1972, an
agreement to work toward peaceful reunification and an end to the hostile
atmosphere prevailing on the peninsula. Officials exchanged visits and
regular communications were established through a south-north
coordinating committee and the Red Cross, but the two sides made no
substantive progress. These initial contacts quickly broke down and finally
ended on August 13, 1973. The breakdown reflected basic differences in
approach, with Pyongyang insisting on immediate steps toward reunification
before discussing specific issues and Seoul maintaining that, given the long
history of mutual distrust, reunification must come through a gradual,
step-by-step process.

South Korea maintains that a meaningful dialogue should be based on de
facto recognition of each other's existing political, social, and economic
systems. South Korea supports the recognition of both Koreas by the major
powers in the region (US, USSR, PRC, and Japan), and the admission of
both Koreas to the United Nations, pending peaceful reunification. North
Korea currently rejects these ideas, although it applied for UN membership
in 1949 (following the lead of the ROK) and supported a Soviet Union draft
in 1957, resubmitted in 1958, which called for "simultaneous UN admission."
The North now argues that this proposal would perpetuate the peninsula's
division.

Tension between North and South Korea increased dramatically in the
aftermath of the 1983 North Korean assassination attempt on President
Chun in Burma. North-South sports talks the following spring became
acrimonious after the Rangoon bombing. South Korea's suspicions of the
north's motives were not diminished by Pyongyang's proposal for "tripartite"
talks on the future of the Korean peninsula. This initiative, made public in
January 1984, called for talks with the United States in which "South Korean
authorities" would be permitted to participate. The tripartite talks would
replace the armistice agreement with a peace treaty, which would provide
for withdrawal of all US troops and set the stage for a declaration of
non-aggression between north and south.

North Korea's offer to provide relief goods to victims of severe flooding in
South Korea in September 1984--and South Korean acceptance--led to
revived dialogue on several fronts: Red Cross talks to address the plight of
separated families, economic and trade talks, and parliamentary talks.
However, in January 1986, the north unilaterally suspended all talks, arguing
that annual ROK/US military exercises were inconsistent with dialogue. The
north also announced a unilateral moratorium on large-scale military
exercises and called upon the US and ROK to do the same. The US and
the ROK responded by reiterating their longstanding offer to allow DPRK
officials to observe exercises and by proposing pre-notification of military
exercises. These proposals were rejected by the north, and in 1987 the
north resumed large-scale exercises.

In a major new initiative on July 7, 1988, South Korean President Roh Tae
Woo called for new efforts to promote exchanges, family reunification,
inter-Korean trade and contact in international fora. President Roh called on
Korea's friends and allies to pursue contacts with the north and said that
the south intended to seek better relations with the USSR and China.

Roh's initiative provided renewed momentum to a dialogue suspended since
late 1985. Over the following months, the two sides met several times at
Panmunjom to try to arrange a joint meeting of the two Korean parliaments.
In early 1989, both sides also met in preliminary meetings to discuss
arrangements for prime ministerial-level talks. In other fora, the two national
Olympic committees met to discuss forming a joint team for the 1990 Asian
Games in Beijing.

In February 1989, North Korea suspended the parliamentary talks over
US-ROK military exercises. In April the north suspended the prime
ministerial talks and the sports talks until July, blaming South Korea's arrest
of a dissident clergyman who visited North Korea without government
approval.
In the fall of 1989, the dialogue resumed in four fora--athletic, Red Cross,
parliamentary, and prime ministerial. In the Red Cross talks, there were
attempts to reach agreement on reunions of separated family members and
exchanges of cultural arts troupes.

Prime ministerial-level talks were initiated in 1990. Delegations met three
times, although little concrete progress was made. The north cancelled the
fourth meeting, scheduled for February 1991, once again citing annual
exercises as the reason.

Hopes for a summit (proposed repeatedly in the past) have also been
unfulfilled. President Roh, in a speech to the UN General Assembly in
October 1988, offered to go to Pyongyang at any time to discuss any issue,
including North Korea's call for a mutual declaration of non-aggression.
North Korean President Kim Il Sung did not respond positively. Kim had
earlier stated that a summit must first take up his proposal for Koryo
confederation and withdrawal of US forces. In his 1989 New Year's address,
Kim suggested that Roh come to Pyongyang as a party head in a group
with southern opposition and dissident leaders. However, he later referred
to Roh by his official title and, in his 1991 New Year's address, offered a
revised version of his confederal proposal  in which he suggested that
regional governments would exercise independent foreign and defense
policy.

Following the ROK government's 1988 decision to allow trade with the
DPRK, South Korean firms began to import North Korean goods, all via
third-country contracts. The DPRK has denounced and denied this trade.
Nevertheless, the north publicized a late January 1989 visit by Hyundai
Corporation founder Chong Chu Yong as well as a private protocol he
signed to develop tourism and other projects in the north.

US-KOREAN RELATIONS
The United States remains committed to maintaining peace and stability on
the Korean peninsula. The United States agreed in the 1954 US-ROK Mutual
Defense  Treaty to help the Republic of Korea defend itself from external
aggression. In support of that commitment, the US maintains about 43,000
service personnel in Korea, including the army's Second Infantry Division
and several air force tactical squadrons. To coordinate operations between
these units and the 650,000-strong Korean armed forces, a combined
forces command (CFC) was established in 1978. The CFC is headed by a
US general who serves concurrently as commander in chief of the UN
Command (CINC-UNC). Several aspects of the security relationship are
changing as the US moves from a leading to a supporting role. South Korea
has agreed to pay more of the US defense costs, to fund relocation of the
large US headquarters garrison at Yongsan from Seoul, and to accept
changes in the CFC command structure.

The United States supports direct, government-to-government talks between
the authorities of South and North Korea. The US believes that the
fundamental decisions on the future of the Korean peninsula must be taken
by the Korean people themselves. Therefore, the US has refused to be
drawn into separate negotiations on Korean issues with North Korea, as
Pyongyang has insisted.

The most rapidly developing area in Korean-US relations is that of
economics and trade. Korea is now its seventh largest trading partner, and
the US seeks to improve its trade imbalance, through greater access to
Korea's expanding market and improved investment opportunities for US
business. Although Korea is reluctant to abandon industrial  protection and
the state-directed industrial policy which played such an important role in
its industrialization, Korean policy-makers increasingly claim to recognize the
benefits of liberalized trade for their economy. Korean leaders seem
determined to manage successfully the complex economic relationship with
the United States and to take a more active role in international economic
fora as befits Korea's status as a major trading nation.

Since the 1950s, the US-Korean relationship has developed into one of the
most important in Asia. The 1982 celebration of the centennial of
Korean-American diplomatic relations and President Reagan's 1983 visit to
Korea underscored the quality of US-Korean relations. In 1989, a
succession of high-level visits--President Bush (February), Vice President
Quayle (September) and President Roh (October)--reaffirmed a
determination to develop and strengthen the bilateral relationship further.
President Roh visited the US again in June 1990.

Principal US Officials
Ambassador--Donald P. Gregg
Commander in Chief, UNC--Gen. Robert RisCassi
Deputy Chief of Mission--Raymond F. Burghardt
Counselor for Political Affairs--E. Mason Hendrickson, Jr.
Counselor for Economic Affairs--Richard Morford
Counselor for Administrative Affairs--Oliver P. Garza
Counselor for Public Affairs--John Fredenberg
Consul General--Edward H. Wilkinson
Counselor for Commercial Affairs--Peter Frederick
Counselor for Agricultural Affairs--George J. Pope
Chief, Joint US Military Advisory Group, Korea--Gen. Robert J. Jellison
Defense Attache--Col. William McKinney, USA

The US Embassy is located at 82 Sejong-Ro, Chongro-Ku, Seoul; APO San
Francisco 96301. Tel. [phone], Fax no. 82-2-738-8845.

The US Agricultural Trade Office is located at 63, 1-Ka, Ulchi-Ro,
Choong-Ku, Seoul. Fax no. 82-2-752-5626.

The US Export Development Office/US Trade Center is c/o US Embassy.
Fax no. 82-2-739-1628. Director: William M. Yarmy.


TRAVEL NOTES
Climate and clothing: Korea's temperate, four-season climate is like that of
the eastern US.  Dress is more conservative than in the US.

Visas: Visas are not required of tourists travelling to South Korea if their stay
is less than 15 days or if they are simply transiting the country and have a
ticket for an onward destination. Tourist visas, which should be obtained
from a Korean consulate for longer stays, are issued for a 5-year period
with multiple entries, but the length of any one visit should not exceed 90
days. Visas are required for all official and business visitors. No
immunizations are required of travelers from the US.

Health: Health services are fair to good in most major cities. Most Korean
physicians have been trained in Western medicine, and hospital services are
adequate. Outside of the major hotels, water generally is not potable.

Transportation: International airports serve Seoul (Kimpo), Pusan (Kimhae),
and Cheju Island. Extensive intercity air, rail, and bus service is available.
There is an excellent network of local bus, taxi, and, in Seoul, subway
services.

Telecommunications: Seoul is 14 time zones ahead of Eastern Standard
Time (13 hrs. during daylight-saving time). International direct-dial service
is available to Korea's major cities.

Available from the Superintendent of Documents, US Government Printing
Office, Washington, DC  20402:

American University. South Korea--A Country Study. 1982.
US Department of State. Key Officers of Foreign Service Posts. Triennial.

. Korea Post Report. March 1986.

. The Record on Korean Unification, 1943-1960. 1961.

For information on economic trends, commercial development, production,
trade regulations, and tariff rates, contact the International Trade
Administration,US Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230.