NORTHEAST ASIA PEACE AND SECURITY NETWORK 
    *****   SPECIAL REPORT   *****

December 11, 1997

The following is the complete transcript of the press briefing 
given by Assistant Secretary of State Stanley Roth following the 
conclusion of the first plenary session of Four Party Peace Talks 
in Geneva.  Roth, head of the US delegation to the talks, chaired 
the session.

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Press Event on the FOUR PARTY TALKS

CICG Building - Geneva December 10, 1997

SPOKESMAN: Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce the 
chairman of this round of the plenary talks, Assistant Secretary 
of State Stanley O. Roth, who will read a joint statement. He 
will then take five questions. Please direct all questions to the 
chairman, Mr. Roth. Thank you.

For those of you who aren't familiar with this facility, you'll 
see a small pyramid in front of you. When you ask your question, 
please push the small button. That will turn the microphone on.

Copies of the statement will be available at the end of this 
press event.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY ROTH: On behalf of the four parties, I'd like 
to make the following statement on behalf of all four 
delegations.

(begin Chairman's statement)

Participants in the Four Party Peace Talks, meeting for the first 
time in plenary session in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 9 and 
10, 1997, successfully inaugurated the negotiating process to 
achieve a permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Talks proceeded in a cordial and productive atmosphere, and the 
four delegations agreed on the following decisions:

1. As a result of a random draw conducted by the Chair, the order 
of subsequent Chairs was determined to be:

The People's Republic of China The ROK The DPRK The United States

2. The next plenary session will convene beginning March 16 in 
Geneva.

3. The Chair of the first plenary will organize before the second 
plenary session an ad hoc subcommittee for intersessional 
consultations in mid-February in Beijing.

4. Intersessional consultations will consider arrangements for 
organizing the work of the second plenary session, and will 
provide recommendations for consideration at that session.

All four delegations wish to express their appreciation to the 
Swiss Government for its support for this meeting.

Thank you.

(end Chairman's statement)

(begin Q&A)

Q: How long will the session in Geneva last on March 16?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY ROTH: The question was how long will the 
session in Geneva last on March 16. There is some flexibility on 
this point, but I would expect the session to go for a matter of 
some days.

Q: Are there any plans for the enlargement of the format of the 
talks, to include also Japan and Russia?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY ROTH: No, this was not discussed at the 
meeting.

Q: I want to ask whether they agreed to establish any 
subcommittees in the four party talks? And whether there was the 
issue of food aid to North Korea discussed or not?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY ROTH: I believe the statement addresses the 
question (on subcommittees) which you have asked, that there was 
an agreement to establish, to hold, an intersessional meeting 
before the next plenary session.

Q: Can you tell me specifically what was discussed and proposed 
and rejected about troop withdrawal, American troops?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY ROTH: I think the best way to describe this 
is to describe the process in general. This is the first meeting 
of a major international peace conference. What took place was 
the statement of opening positions by each delegation -- 
something which takes place normally at every major negotiation -
- in which each side expressed its views. And I would say this is 
what happened for each of us.

The North Koreans made their positions clear, and I will leave it 
to them to explain their own positions at the conference. They 
are free to hold their own event if they so choose. But the point 
I would want to make is that this was not a debate. This was not 
a contentious meeting. This was an initial meeting. A lot of time 
was spent simply for an initial expression of views, then 
discussing how we organize in order to prepare for the future 
meetings, at which time much more attention will be focused on 
the specific issues.

Q: Is your goal, for example, the year 2000? Was this discussed? 
Was there any expression of views on the time frame for 
completion of a peace mechanism?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY ROTH: There certainly was no discussion of a 
specific date. I would say that the talks were characterized by a 
sense of pragmatism and realism. There's a recognition that the 
issues are complicated, and that the discussions will be somewhat 
lengthy in order to try to resolve them. But no one attempted to 
fix an arbitrary deadline for the conclusion of the talks.

Q: Would you think that would be desirable to set yourselves a 
goal? Previous Korean efforts -- for example, the armistice ran 
to two years, other negotiating efforts prior to that have run to 
several years in length.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY ROTH: I see no benefit at this time in 
setting an arbitrary deadline.

SPOKESMAN: Due to time constraints, we will have to end the press 
event at this time. Thank you for your patience. As I said, 
copies of the statement will be available in this room. Thank 
you.

(end Q&A)
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End transcript