[Germany] Message to Korea

[Dutchy]

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Recipient: Baek Jeonghee, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea (Jay)
Cc:
Subject: Bilateral Relations & Congratulations
Classification: SECURE

Dear Minister,

On behalf of Chancellor Schröder, Vice Chancellor Kohl and the German people, we wish to congratulate your government on the reunification of the Korean peninsula. We have only recently managed to achieve our own unification and it is always heart-warming to see furhter efforts to expand liberal democracies around the world. I'd like to officially voice our support for your governments policies towards reunification, and of course offer any technical expertise which we may possess.

Yours Sincerely,

Eckhart Scholz
Ambassador to the Republic of Korea

 

[Jay]

To: Ambassador Scholz < Dutchy >

From: BaekJeonghee@mofa.kr.gov

Subject: RE: Bilateral Relations & Congratulations

Security: Private and encrypted Protected by the NIS and MoFA DPB

Dear Ambassador,

Please extend H.E. President Kim's thanks to H.E. the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor. We are most grateful in the long relationship and backing between our two nations. We look forward to cooperating with the Chancellors administration. There are a number of policy issues to discuss, including formally implementing the ROK-Germany Trade Agreement agreed but not signed during the previous Kohl administration.

Additionally, I hope that our justice ministers can arrange a phone call to discuss legal matters pertaining to a matter on trade which we'd like to discuss. I hope that your Minister and I can also speak on a number of concerning issues for our administrations. Primarily the situation in Ukraine, economic safeguards in Europe, and bilateral relations between our countries.

Thank you once again for your government's official support and for sharing technical data on German reunification for our proposals and projects. I hope that our two countries can maintain a strong relationship and cooperate together. There are a number of challenges Europe and Asia face and hope we cooperate is crucial to assist and maintain global stability and cooperation. I look forward to your response and your governments capacity to move forward with the proposed phone calls.

Signed with sincerity,
Baek Jeong-hee
Minister of Foreign Affairs

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Republic of Korea
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
All information is protected from release by the Diplomatic Communications Security Act 1997
Authorized viewing is limited to those directly emailed, cc'd, and bcc'd​

 

[Dutchy]

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Recipient: Baek Jeonghee, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea (Jay)
Cc:
Subject: Bilateral Relations & Congratulations
Classification: SECURE

Dear Minister,

I would like to propose that all points of discussion, including that of trade, are discussed in a high-level discussion between our two Justice Ministers. This allows for both a broad mandate and efficient decision-making on topics of cooperation. I have listed the following points as topics which the Federal Minister will be briefed about:

1. ROK-Germany Trade Agreement

1.1. Legal Matters​

2. Ukranian Situation
3. Economic Safeguards in Europe
4. Future Defence Acquisition

If there are any other specific points which you would like to see added to the list?

We are open to holding this inter-ministerial call as soon as possible.

Yours Sincerely,

Eckhart Scholz
Ambassador to the Republic of Korea

 

[Jay]

To: Ambassador Scholz < Dutchy >

From: BaekJeonghee@mofa.kr.gov

Subject: RE: Bilateral Relations & Congratulations

Security: Private and encrypted Protected by the NIS and MoFA DPB

Dear Ambassador,

We can arrange the call for Friday morning at four pm (4 pm) Seoul Time. This would translate to nine am (9 am) in Berlin. We hope that this is an acceptable arrangement. I think the item of agenda is fine, also adding German-Korean relations may be appropriate.

The Justice Ministers would not need to remain on the call for an extended duration, their portion of the discussion is more informative as opposed to an in-depth discussion as we have some information on a certain discussion we've had. It would be more appropriate for your Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and I to discuss the topic of agenda. The Justice Ministry is not the principle government organ responsible with foreign affairs and foreign policy including trade, defense, etc...

Signed with sincerity,
Baek Jeong-hee
Minister of Foreign Affairs

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Republic of Korea
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
All information is protected from release by the Diplomatic Communications Security Act 1997
Authorized viewing is limited to those directly emailed, cc'd, and bcc'd​

 

[Dutchy]

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Recipient: Baek Jeonghee, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea (Jay)
Cc:
Subject: Bilateral Relations & Congratulations
Classification: SECURE

Dear Minister,

I shall see if Vice Chancellor & Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Kohl will be available for further discussions based on the preliminary talks held by our Justice Ministers. The Federal Minister of Justice shall await your call.

On behalf of my government, thank you for being open to these discussions and I hope that I may be able to meet you in the near future.

Yours Sincerely,

Eckhart Scholz
Ambassador to the Republic of Korea

 

[Jay]

​

It was still early morning when Minister Baek got up. He quietly checked his phone as he read the time, it was 4:50. He had been close to half an hour late than usual. He turned over and looked at his wife who was fast a sleep after the long trip back to Seoul. She still looked a little sunburnt, though she would not admit it. Jaeeun would slip into his running kit, a shirt and light jacket as the winter season breeze was a little chilly. He checked in on his daughters who were still asleep before going downstairs to boil some tea for later. After boiling the water he would set it aside and head out. Running around the sidewalk close to their apartment. After an hour or so, he'd get a call from the office as they were updating him on last nights discussions on the tribunals for the crimes against humanity charges. He'd stop near a little water fountain has he read the text messages and got up to speed. The briefing summaries were not long, however, he'd have to read the whole file when he got back into the office. Finishing his run, he'd return home where his daughters got ready for school and he say his wife on her phone as well. "Another trip?" Jaeeun asked his wife. "No, just reviewing our briefings. We have to update the council and President on the US Summit." She said as she closed her phone and slid her laptop into her workbag. "Oh fun. Speaking of briefings. I have to send you the Indonesia case. It is not over, but, you'll have to deal with the non-judicial proposals." He said as he grabbed her shoulders and kissed her cheek." "I already took care of it, emailed them during a break in Hawaii." She looked at her daughters, "Jiwon, Jieun, don't forget about the Hagwon later. Take some money before you leave and get something to eat before." She told her daughters as she took twenty won out of her purse and gave it to Jieun. "Take care of your sister okay...don't leave her to go alone again." She said, pulling back the money as Jieun reached out, she'd nodded and say okay before her mom gave her the money. As the kids left she looked at the dishes and back at her Husband. "Your turn." She smiled as she picked her things and went to take the kids to school. He looked at the dishes and sighed, "Great. Here we go again" He would finish cleaning dishes and letting them dry before showering and getting ready for work. Taking the second car he'd drive to his office at the Ministry of Justice.

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The Minister would get into his office where his secretary handed him the night briefings and small slips with notes on it. Taking the time to read it he'd complete most of his daily tasks and keep up to date on the tribunal formulation. It was getting difficult managing the tribunal formation with the various non-judicial ministries who each attempted to maintain a form of objectivity but equally pursued an objective. As it got into the afternoon, his secretary walked into his office and reminder him of the four pm meeting. He looked confused and looked at his schedule. Call with the German Justice Minister. "Call? About what." He said looking at his Secretary. "I thought the Foreign Minister told you. It's about the Indonesia Case to update the German Government." His secretary said as she handed him the talking points and left him. The Justice Minister rolled his head back hitting the back of his chair. "First dishes now this...just Great." He picked up the phone after his secretary knocked on the glass door to let him know it was picked up. "Good Morning Minister Däubler-Gmelin how are things in Berlin?"

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

The call would be routed through the Federal Government Switchboard, where operators would verify the identity of the caller before forwarding the call to the office of the Federal Minister of Justice. Since the Minister was expecting the call, her secretary immediately forwarded the call where Herta Däubler-Gmelin promptly picked up the phone.

"Good afternoon Minister Baek. Things are quiet for the moment, my department is mostly focussed on the transition. However, I wouldn't be surprised if things were about to get hectic as the situation in the Ukraine continues to remain unstable. How are affairs in Seoul? Is the reunification process proceeding smoothly?"

Jay

 

[Jay]

"I wish you the best of luck with the transition. Hopefully it will go smoothly. Things in Seoul are busy, merging two legal codes is perhaps not good for ones mental sanity. Nonetheless we must carry on. Reunification has thankfully gone smoothly, we are mostly addressing the technical things, legal documents, tribunals, amnesty, as well as exploring transitional justice applications to the crimes committed."

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

"We are working hard to make it all work. So I understand that the Korean reunification is a merger of the two states, unlike the German unification which was more of an annexation which led to the ceassation of the existance of the DDR? What is your governments objective when it comes to addressing the criminal activities of the previous regime in the North?"

Jay

 

[Jay]

"Well, legally speaking the proses has been an accession of the former regime into the Republic of Korea. Which for legal reasons is very important and politically has been re-worded to be a merger. However, similarly to your experience the accession has led to the cessation of the existence of the Northern regime while the Republic of Korea remains in-tact and no changes to its governance or external policies. Nonetheless, that is a discussion for a different time. We have two different aspects, a monetary requirement for pardoned officials of crimes, to be dispensed to victims of their crimes, and a criminal proceeding against those not granted official pardons. While I can not discuss any specific cases or ongoing cases, overall the current arrangements are investigations with prosecutors from the Supreme Prosecutors Office conducting this phase of the operation with the National Police Agency. We are also organizing a tribunal to address specific complaints of crimes against humanity and issues of caused by the regime."

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

"Ah, my apologies Minister for the incorrect assumption. I fully understand the need to ensure that the reunification was interpreted in a fashion that would ensure the stability of the region. I have no need for specifics Minister, my government is confident in the Republic's ability of delivering justice against those who have done wrong in the past."

"May I ask the status of Pyongyang? This reminds me of the split we maintain between Berlin and Bonn, will Pyongyang act as a secondary seat of government?"

Jay

 

[Jay]

"The Constitution requires that the capitol be in Seoul and it remains our capitol. Currently, we have for regional reasons moved portions of our government to Sejong City where the Prime Minister's office and sub-ministerial offices are located. A similar approach is to be discussed with developmental and security agencies to be relocated to Pyongyang as we attempt to maintain regional cohesion within the framework of the Constitution. However, neither city would act as a secondary seat of government, the executive, legislature, and judiciary will remain in Seoul."

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

"My government is looking at relocating the majority of civil service staff to Berlin in order to improve the function of governance, since the current set up of a split between Berlin and Bonn is both costly and inefficient. Though this will of course take time and the convincing of the relevant authorities as the loss of federal services will of course be a hit on the local economy. So in this case the expansion of services in Pyongyang should be a boost for the regional economies."

"Shall we move on to the first topic on the agenda?"

Jay

 

[Jay]

"Splits may be costly and inefficient if organs of the government are split, however, in our experience the decentralization of political offices has boosted local and regional migration and economic development. Which is one of the considerations for relocation of security agencies and development offices to Pyongyang to incentivize relocations there. Still, that is just what the briefings of our State Council have relayed to us. I hope the move to Berlin will be successful, it does seem like a rectification in sorts for the capitol to be moved back to Berlin. I also hope to visit Berlin again, it was very beautiful last time I was there...Yes, back to business.

I wanted to give you a courtesy notice regarding legal discussions between the Republic of Korea and Republic of Indonesia. Following the Indonesian Government's proposal of a tax on vessels transversing their territorial waters. During the time, the Government of Germany was relatively inactive on foreign policy. Due to nature of our trade agreement, the German-flagged vessels were carrying cargo from Korea back to Germany. For these two reasons, until a time where the German Government took matters in their own hands or indicated to us they would not like us to continue this line of assumption, we included in our legal discussions your vessels. We assumed responsibility in adding these vessels to our overall discussion. The content of our conversation largely pertaining to legal interpretations over the proposed tax and its implications. On that note, I wanted to inform you that your vessels the Hantan, Imjin, Soyang, Hongcheon, and Geum were apart of our discussions.

In doing so, we operated under the assumption that these ships are not warships, carrying weapons or items otherwise depriving them the right of innocent passage, and these are not official government ships. If you could inform me if these assumptions are correct, that would be helpful.

Lastly, at the moment our two legal offices have discussed our disagreements and Indonesia has suspended their proposal for review and we expect another attempt to be launched soon. As part of a remedy to legitimate concerns by the Indonesian Government, we hope that your government could consider as part of our proposals a number of remedies. Particularly, assistance for environmental cleanups in Indonesian Waters, agreed protocols for prosecution of captain and crews for negligence and carelessness that causes excess discharge of pollutants, and fines on shipping companies. These are a number of proposals we're in the process of discussing, as well as perhaps monetary and political support for an Asian Security Task Force to contribute to anti-piracy operations."

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

"We appreciate your government's efforts in attempting to keep trade between our nations flowing. I can confirm that those vessels are not owned or operated by the Federal Government and are therefore not warships of any kind."

"I have to admit, that I'm surprised by the fact these discussions are being held bilaterally between the Republic of Indonesia and the Republic of Korea. With global importance of the area in regards to trade I feel it is a misjudgement on the Indonesian side to not hold open discussions or make other nations aware of these plans. Any hindrance in the free flow of trade could have a detrimental affect on the global economy. I would however like to point out this governments support in efforts which seek to protect the ecology of the area as well as promoting safe passage in the form of anti-piracy operations."

Jay

 

[Jay]

"I am sorry if it was implied Korea and Indonesia were discussing these matters privately. The proposal was a public one. I do not know if your predecessors have a copy. I could have my office provide you a copy. The service charge was levied for associated costs that would cause damage to Indonesians and their territory, particularly ecological and then for the safety of ships. We initiated our dispute with the proposed plans, and offered a political remedy as stated above. The primary issues for the Indonesian Government is the high maritime traffic with lasting impact on the local population and without just compensation or assistance. Which in some forms we completely agree with them. While the open and free trade is important, the protection of the environment and the people is far more important than temporary commercial gain. Thank you for the affirmation of the assumed information, what would be your governments political position on the Korean proposed solutions. These solutions are a bilateral one, however, if the global community works together with Indonesia, The administration believe an even higher optimal outcome can be achieved."

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

"Ah, my apologies. I have not been briefed on these discussions during the transition, since that would of most likely been handled by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Thank you for informing us of these discussions, in the event the talks are reignited, I'm certain we would be more than willing to engage with the Indonesian government"

"We of course understand it is in the Indonesian's interest to seek to protect their maritime environment. However, their enforcement of a toll could push extra maritime traffic into Malaysian waters instead, this congestion could present a greater risk of collisions between vessels and therefore a higher likelihood of an ecological disaster."

Jay

 

[Jay]

"Thankfully legal matters do not divulge into what ifs. While it would create a considerable congestion, ultimately the cost-benefit analysis for shipping companies is to pay the service as opposed to highly congested route which could easily be service charged by Malaysia or Singapore in the event, there are a number of likely scenarios that could unfold. Regardless, we would like to avoid the need for a service charge. As Indonesia indicated, the primary reasons are ecological and security wise, and we believe diplomatic relations can handle that. Which I hope as part of our political solution to remedy this issue, Germany would be willing to back that."

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

"We would be happy to send a delegation to participate in any future discussions in order to voice our support for efforts aimed at maritime and ecological protection."

"If that is all regarding that situation, then I would be happy to move on to the discussions surrounding the ROK-German Free Trade Agreement."

Jay

 

[Jay]

Justice Minister Baek Jae-eun: "Thank you. Well, actually that was the matter pertaining to the Korea-German FTA. It was primarily to raise the issue of the legal matters that were being discussed between Korea and Indonesia. At this time, there are not specific issues that hamper our arrangement. I do know that the Trade Minister would like to discuss expanding the routes to import more pharmaceuticals goods. I can have our Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy discuss these matters specifically with his counterpart, or, I can just have them send an email to the respective office to expand the coverage of the arrangements. As our economies grow, I am sure that the need for more imports and exports will be a concurrent development. Presidential Advisor Kim Min-seo, would like to carry on the remainder of our conversation if that is alright with you Minister. She is our leading civil servant when it comes to matters of foreign and security policy after the Foreign Minister. As I believe the next phase of our discussions touches on sensitive matters that she is better equipped to discuss."

Dutchy