ELECTIONS IN AFGHANISTAN: ROKG SEEKS DETAILS ON OTHER DONOR COUNTRIES

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLAS SEOUL 002014 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AF, KDEM, KS, PGOV, PREL, XB, XC, XD, XE, XF, XG SUBJECT: ELECTIONS IN AFGHANISTAN: ROKG SEEKS DETAILS ON OTHER DONOR COUNTRIES REF: STATE 108855 1. (U) This is an action request. Please see para 3. 2. (SBU) On October 14, poloffs delivered reftel demarche to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Development Cooperation Division's Jong-ho Kyun. Kyun noted that Deputy Minister for Multilateral, Global and Legal Affairs Oh Joon, who headed the ROK delegation at June 2008 Donor's Conference in Paris, declared USD 30 million in economic support for Afghanistan for the next three years. Although no specific amount is earmarked for the 2009-2010 Afghan elections, the ROKG assistance would come from this pool of USD 30 million. Kyun shared that a ROK survey team, made up of more than ten ROKG officials from MOFAT, Ministry of National Defense and other agencies, is scheduled to visit Kabul in early November for a week. The survey team's findings, as well as responses to the ROKG inquiries indicated in para 3, will contribute to the final ROKG decision regarding election assistance, Kyun said. 3. (SBU) The ROKG requested prompt USG response to the following inquiries: -- Who are other donor countries and what is their donation amount? -- Are there any conditions attached to their donation? -- Is the USG contribution toward election assistance made bilaterally or is it deposited in the UNDP? STEPHENS