NORTHEAST ASIA PEACE AND SECURITY NETWORK ***** SPECIAL REPORT ***** May 1, 1998 The following is the complete transcript of a press conference held in Seoul on May 1 by US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and ROK Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Park Chung-Soo. Summaries of news reports regarding this press conference, as well as Albright's meetings with Park and other ROK officials, were contained in the US Section of the May 1 Daily Report. ----------------------------------------------- Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Park Chung-Soo Press Conference, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Seoul, Korea, May 1, 1998 As released by the Office of the Spokesman U.S. Department of State Thank you everybody for coming. Now we will begin the joint press briefing of Minister Park Chung-soo of the Republic Korea and Secretary Madeleine Albright of the United States. First, the two ministers will deliver their introductory remarks and then we will take some questions from you here. MINISTER PARK: It is nice to meet you today. Although it has been a little bit cloudy and it rained a little outside, today's meeting was conducted in a very sunny and bright atmosphere as the name Albright means. Today Secretary Albright and I have found out that we have many common things, such as that we are all from Georgetown University, as well as President Clinton, and so today we have agreed to call each other by first names. First of all, I wholeheartedly welcome Secretary Albright to Korea. I find it very meaningful that we held this meeting today, soon after the inauguration of our new administration. The United States has expressed their welcome to the state visit of our President Kim Dae-jung today. In the meeting today we have agreed to consult each other closely for successful state visit of President Kim to the United States so that it will make a good opportunity to develop our ROK-U.S. relationship into a more mature partnership. Secretary Albright and I had an extensive and in-depth discussion on other various issues of mutual concern. These include preparations for President Kim's state visit to the U.S., including agenda items for the summit talks, South-North dialogue, and ROK-U.S. policy coordination towards the North, such as the Four Party Talks and the Light Water Reactor project. We also discussed Korea's economic situation, and agreed to continue our concerted efforts for the ROK to overcome the current economic difficulties. In this connection I have asked for the cooperation of Secretary Albright in dispatching U.S. investment teams to Korea and restoring the OPIC investment guarantee program for Korea. Also, I have made requests for various assisted measures that could help Korean students in the U.S. who are subject to temporary financial constraints due to the sharp depreciation of Korean currency, and the U.S. has replied that they would review this favorably. The Secretary and I have also agreed to make efforts to promote both the Four Party Talks and the inter-Korean dialogue based on the belief that they complement and benefit each other. Secretary Albright expressed full support of the U.S. Government for our government's endeavors to continue dialogues with the North. Both the Secretary and I have acknowledged that the agreed framework has contributed to deterring nuclear threat and to establishing durable peace on the Korean peninsula, and we agreed to continue cooperation in implementing the agreement. The U.S. expressed its support for the ROK's efforts to overcome the current financial crisis, including Korea's reform measures, and we affirmed this willingness to continue necessary assistance through the IMF and other means. Lastly, Secretary Albright and I shared a common view that this meeting was very timely and constructive and we agreed to continue close consultations and coordination between the two of us. Thank you. ALBRIGHT: Thank you very much. I am delighted to be here and to have met my new colleague and immediately established a very good rapport with Foreign Minister Park. Of course, it's always a pleasure to discuss foreign policy with a graduate of Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, I'm getting used to meeting Georgetown alumni wherever I go. This is my first trip to the Republic of Korea following the election and inauguration of President Kim Dae-jung, and President Kim is one of the world's true champions of freedom. I met him for the first time when I came to Korea as a private citizen in the mid-1980s, and I am delighted to have the opportunity now to see him as President of his country. I look forward to working with this government to promote mutual prosperity, preserve regional stability, and defend democratic values in Asia, and around the globe, and I anticipate eagerly the President's state visit to Washington in June. As my meeting with the Foreign Minister reflected, the alliance between our two countries remains strong and our friendship warm. We reviewed the security situation on the Korean peninsula and I reaffirmed America's commitment to South Korea's defense. The United States agrees with President Kim's effort to revive the North-South dialogue, which is essential if there is to be a lasting peace. Foreign Minister Park and I agreed that the Four Party process supports and complements this bilateral dialogue, and both require patience and determination. I was pleased that Foreign Minister Park reaffirmed South Korea's support for the agreed framework and for KEDO, which comprise an essential part of our joint approach to the North. There should be no doubt we will fulfill an agreement as important as this one. During our meeting the Foreign Minister and I also reviewed our efforts to coordinate a response to the humanitarian food needs of the North, and I was able to brief the Minister on my visits this week to Japan and China. We also discussed the economic crisis which has caused anxiety and hardship to many people here. The United States admires the courageous manner in which the Korean government and people have responded and we are very supportive of your efforts. You are showing that your democratic system is providing the means required to reach a consensus for painful but necessary reforms. With the implementation of these reforms, the prospects are good for a strong recovery, resumed growth, and a Korea that is better able than ever before to compete in the global economy. As a trading partner and as a friend, the United States will do all it can to help. Let me just say again that I greatly enjoyed meeting the Foreign Minister and I look forward to a strong partnership with him as we maintain the vigor of the U.S.-Korean alliance and strive to promote democracy and prosperity in Korea and throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Let me also take this opportunity here, while in the Korean peninsula where the Cold War still exists, to be very congratulatory about the fact that we have actually put an end to the Cold War in every way now, with the NATO expansion vote that took place. With an overwhelming vote in the Senate, the area of security in Europe has expanded and a moment of injustice has been undone, promises have been kept, and a unified Europe has begun. Thank you very much. Q: You told us that today you talked about the agenda of the summit talks. Could you please tell us about the agenda and could you please tell us about the understanding you two have reached on the significance of the summit meeting that will take place in June? MINISTER PARK: The alliance between the ROK and the U.S. has been the basic foundation of the peace on the Korean peninsula during the past fifty years as well as for the peace of the whole world, and we have agreed to continue this relationship further. About the state visit of President Kim Dae-jung to the States we know that the American people are anticipating this and it is greatly welcomed by the U.S. and about the agenda, we have talked about many issues and exchanged our views on many agendas as well, but about the specific details, we will consult each other further and we will soon have a joint conference about the results of these consultations. Q: Madam Secretary, you spoke of the U.S. commitment to see the reactor agreement implemented. But who, please, will pay for the ten percent of the cost that isn't underwritten by Japan and South Korea? ALBRIGHT: Well, first of all, let me restate something that the Foreign Minister and I did talk about that somehow is forgotten as people just focus in on the cost, and that is, what an amazing contribution to the security of not only this peninsula, but the region, the agreed framework has been. It has prevented the emergence of a nuclear power on this peninsula and I think that that is something that we must remember. In the course of our talks it was very evident that both sides would live up to the commitments made. We made good progress in discussing how the unpaid-for amount would be paid for, and those talks are continuing. And, as you know, I also discussed this subject when I was in Japan, so it is a subject of ongoing importance and interest to all the countries. Q: First I would like to question Secretary Albright whether you have asked Minister Park if the Republic of Korea should shoulder some of the cost of the heavy fuel oil and to Minister Park about your response to this question if it took place? ALBRIGHT: As I said, the talks generally are going on. We did talk about how the costs could be equitably shared and those talks will continue. Q: Mr. Minister, could I address to both you please the following question: Many analysts and government officials have discussed the need for confidence building measures in order to move both the Four Party Talks and the North-South talks forward. Minister Park, could you outline some of the confidence building measures your government is prepared to undertake on its own to encourage the North to proceed with the talks? And Secretary Albright, are there any steps the United States can take on its own, of course in consultation with South Korea, regarding the U.S. presence on the Korean peninsula, that might be considered confidence building for the negotiations? Thank you. MINISTER PARK: As President Kim Dae-jung has expressed in his inaugural speech, there are three principles in our North Korean policy. The first is that we will not tolerate armed provocation of any kind. The second is we never intend to undermine or [inaudible] North Korea. The third is we will make every endeavor to promote exchanges and cooperation with North Korea. And there is also the problem of implementing the basic agreement and President Kim Dae-jung also proposed the exchange of special envoys and even a summit meeting with the head of North Korea. With due consideration of the difficulty of food shortage problems in North Korea, we have provided some food to the North and we have decided to provide some more in the future, and we also have decided to provide technological assistance to enhance agricultural productivity of the North. And we have also made it clear that we will pursue our North Korean policies, separating politics from economics, that is we will allow our private businesses to have transactions with the North, to invest in the North, and so on. I would like to add that by doing these, the South and the North can build mutual trust through reconciliation and we could head for co-existence and co-prosperity, ultimately heading for the reunification. ALBRIGHT: Let me just say that I think our approach to this is to be obviously supportive of the Four Party Talks and the bilateral talks that are going forward. We see them as being complementary to each other and we are much heartened by the approach that President Kim is taking to the issue as has been so ably described by the Foreign Minister. We also have obviously been working in terms of trying to alleviate the food situation in North Korea for humanitarian purposes, and are the lead contributor to that effort. But I think the main point to be made is that the approach that President Kim is taking is one that we support and see as the most encouraging approach to building confidence building measures themselves, and for the purpose that we all want, which is to abide by the aspirations of the Korean people as far as the peninsula is concerned. -------------------------------------- End of transcript