NORTHEAST ASIA PEACE AND SECURITY NETWORK ***** SPECIAL REPORT ***** The following is a complete transcript of a press conference held by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in which he related his belief that relations between the US and the ROK were stronger and closer than they have ever been. He also stated that the trade dispute between the two countries had no effect on the strength of the overall relationship. ******* 15 September 1997 TRANSCRIPT: A/S STANLEY ROTH 9/11 SEOUL PRESS CONFERENCE (Trade dispute has nothing to do with U.S.-ROK ties) (2500) Seoul -- The existence of a trade dispute between the United States and the Republic of Korea has no effect on the strength of the overall relationship between the two countries, according to Stanley Roth, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. During a press conference at the start of his visit to Seoul September 11, Roth said: "I think in the post-Cold War period we have all gotten used to the rise of trade issues in prominence in bilateral relationships between countries. And this has nothing to do with the solidity of U.S.-ROK relations. We have very bitter trade disputes with many of our closest allies and friends around the world, including in North America and Europe, and elsewhere in Asia. So the fact that there is a dispute over autos or any other sector is by no means any type of indicator of the strength of the overall relationship." Commenting on the specific U.S.-Korea negotiations on automobiles, Roth rejected the characterization of the U.S. position as meddling in Korean affairs as grossly unfair. "In 1996, four thousand U.S. cars were exported to the Republic of Korea out of a market of 1.5 million cars purchased. The number may be lower in 1997. It is quite clear that the U.S. market is wide open to Korean exports of cars. This is not what any objective person would call a level playing field. Not surprisingly, a proceeding has been brought under U.S. Law, Section 301, a complaint, and USTR now has to make a ruling on that complaint by September 30th. We are engaged as we speak in intensive negotiations to try to avoid pursuing further legislative remedies on the U.S. side. But this is a very serious issue of market access and has nothing to do with meddling in the Korean economy." Following is the official transcript of the press conference: (begin transcript) PRESS CONFERENCE BY STANLEY ROTH ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC Seoul, Korea September 11, 1997 ROTH: I have just a very brief opening statement explaining the purpose of my trip. As many of you probably know, I've been coming to Korea now for the past seventeen years in a variety of capacities, both as a Congressional aide and then as a Pentagon official and as a White House official. But this is my first opportunity to come as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia since I was confirmed on July 31st. So I thought it was very important early in my tenure to come out here and to renew my acquaintances and to once again participate in discussions on the broad range of issues with which we and the ROK are now working. I believe I come here at a particularly good time in the relationship. Although I have not even been here for 24 hours yet, I am impressed by the strength and warmth and friendship of the relationship. I think we are working well on a broad range of issues including preparing for the upcoming peace talks with the North Koreans. And I think that the relationship, as far as I can tell from my short time here, is in excellent shape. This is my third stop; I started out in Southeast Asia. I began the trip in Manila -- this year the Philippines is the chairman for ASEAN -- then I went to Indonesia, which of course has a crucial role to play in Southeast Asia. This is the third stop, and then I will go on to Tokyo before returning to the United States. It is necessarily a very brief trip. I'm spending only about a day to a day and a half in each country to meet with some of the senior officials as well a range of other people. There are a limited number of topics you can discuss in 24 hours, but I will expect to be back many more times in the future. Rather than extend the statement, why don't I just open it up for questions. Q: My name is (inaudible), the Bureau Chief of NHK. Let me start with a general question on the North Korean issue. I have here the thrust of your statement before a Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, "Foreign Relations in 1996." And in that statement you described the possible future of the North Korean regime as "hard landing," not as "soft landing." The U.S. and ROK policy should be to soften a hard landing. And will you as Assistant Secretary of the State Department take the same policy as you described here? ROTH: Well first, obviously, the statement I made was as a private individual working at the United States Institute of Peace, and I think it goes without saying that as a U.S. government official I will support the policy of the United States Government. That shouldn't be very startling. But beyond that I think that there is really no contradiction with what I said. What I indicated was -- and remains U.S. policy -- that obviously a so-called soft landing is preferable. It is clearly the position of the Republic of Korea as well as the United States that we would prefer to see a situation where North Korea did open itself up to reform and where there was a soft landing. Q: I am Vladimir Kutusov of the Russian news agency Tass. What is your feeling about a possible Russian participation in the process of inter- Korean settlement, taking into account the fact that Russia plays an important role to Northeast Asia region? Thank you. ROTH: At this point, as you know, the United States and the ROK have jointly proposed four-party talks, and we held a round of preparatory talks with the DPRK, and we expect to hold another round with them in the week to come. At that point we would hope to reach an agreement to initiate negotiations among the four parties for a peace agreement. So in the current policy we're pursuing, this does not involve Russia as a participant at the table. I think one can think about if an agreement is reached the possibility of broadening it for outside guarantors, which could possibly include Russia, but we are a long way away from that stage. We are still talking about preparatory talks to begin negotiations. Q: My question is about the Status of Forces Agreement between the United States and Korea. There have been talks on reforming SOFA over the past one or two years, but there has been little progress and there is tremendous pressure among the Korean public to reform SOFA. What is your opinion on this? ROTH: Well, I believe that I was still working at the White House when then Secretary of Defense Perry reached an agreement with his counterparts here that we would negotiate for revisions of the SOFA to try to take into account some of the changes that both the people of Korea and the Government of Korea desired. I have not yet met with the U.S. Forces Command and the negotiators on this issue -- I'll be doing some of that tomorrow -- so I don't have a detailed answer for you on the specifics of the negotiating issues on the table. But in principle, the United States is actively engaged with the ROK to try to resolve this issue and address some of the concerns. Q: Charles Scanlon from the BBC. Do you have any assurance from the North Koreans today or in the last few days that they will indeed attend this preparatory meeting in New York next week for the four-party talks, and also about the missile talks, which seem to be postponed. How long are you prepared to tolerate the North Koreans staying away from the talks on missile proliferation? ROTH: On the first issue: yes, there was confirmation today in Beijing that as a result of the talks between Deputy Assistant Secretary Kartman and his counterpart that the North would attend the preparatory talks next week in New York as scheduled. On the second issue, needless to say, these talks on non-proliferation are a high priority for the United States, and we would hope that the North Koreans would come back to the table as soon as possible. I am not aware that a date has been agreed upon yet, but we will continue to give this a high priority. Q: I'm (inaudible) of Reuters News Agency. Will you give us more detail about the Beijing meeting between your deputy and the North Korean Vice Foreign Minister? ROTH: Well, I don't have too many details for you, but what I can say is that the agreement was reached based on one key point, which is that the two issues are completely separated. That is, the future of the two North Koreans who've come to the United States, and North Korea's participation in the four-party talks. And there was an agreement between the two sides that they are not linked issues and that we would continue discussions about the two individuals, but at the same time North Korea would send its delegation next week. Beyond that I don't have any further details. Q: If the four-party preliminary talks will be held in New York next week, I think the main issue will be the agenda for the preliminary session of the four-party talks. Because at the last meeting, there was a big difference between North Korea and the United States over setting of the agenda for the preliminary session. The U.S. and Korean governments' position was that it will take a comprehensive approach to setting an agenda; they will adopt a comprehensive agenda. But do you have any wish to indicate flexibility on this issue? And my second question is about the light water reactor payment. The South Korean government believes that the United States should pay part of the light water reactor project. What is your stand on this? Is the U.S. government willing to pay for the light water reactor project? ROTH: First, on the negotiations next week, which I should emphasize are the second round of preparatory talks, not the peace talks themselves, that the agenda of course will be a major issue at the discussion. That was the major issue not resolved at the last go-round. Needless to say, I am not going to preview at a press conference the positions that we're going to take with the North Koreans at a closed negotiation, so I can't give you any details at this point. On the second issue of the payment for the light water reactor, the United States has from the very beginning made it clear that it was not going to participate in the payment for the reactor itself, although it is undertaking financial obligations with respect to the delivery of heavy fuel oil. Q: You mentioned that the relationship between the two governments, the ROK and the U.S., is stronger and closer than ever. Politically maybe yes, but economically I think there is a rift between the two governments, especially over automobiles. The U.S. is insisting that the Korean government should lower tariffs and adjust its headlight standards according to that of the United States. And I think this amounts to meddling in our internal affairs. And there is little basis for the U.S. argument in the international community. What is your opinion on this? ROTH: Well I think there are two different issues. One involves the relationship of trade disputes to overall bilateral relationships. The second relates to the specifics of the automobile issue. Let me say that I think in the post-Cold War period we have all gotten used to the rise of trade issues in prominence in bilateral relationships between countries. And this has nothing to do with the solidity of U.S.-ROK relations. We have very bitter trade disputes with many of our closest allies and friends around the world, including in North America and Europe, and elsewhere in Asia. So the fact that there is a dispute over autos or any other sector is by no means any type of indicator of the strength of the overall relationship. Now with respect to the specific negotiations on automobiles, I think the characterization of the U.S. position as meddling is grossly unfair. I think a simple reading of the facts is illustrative. In 1996, four thousand U.S. cars were exported to the Republic of Korea out of a market of 1.5 million cars purchased. The number may be lower in 1997. It is quite clear that the U.S. market is wide open to Korean exports of cars. This is not what any objective person would call a level playing field. Not surprisingly, a proceeding has been brought under U.S. Law, Section 301, a complaint, and USTR now has to make a ruling on that complaint by September 30th. We are engaged as we speak in intensive negotiations to try to avoid pursuing further legislative remedies on the U.S. side. But this is a very serious issue of market access and has nothing to do with meddling in the Korean economy. Q: Jason Neely, UPI. I'm wondering about your reference to continuing talks on the two (North Korean) diplomats in the United States. Does that mean that the United States' position is sort of to postpone consideration of asylum status for them? Can you just tell us if you envision continuation of talks on that topic, what sort of talks do you envision? Are the North Koreans sticking with their demand that these men be returned? Is that what we're liable to see? And the second thing is, does this involve their families? There's sometimes conflicting references to some of this. ROTH: Without going into any details, the basic point is that at this stage the United States has made its position clear to the DPRK. The DPRK does not consider the matter closed. We have indicated that we're prepared to continue talking to them about it as long as it's absolutely clear that this is completely outside the context of the four-party talks. Q: Libby Han, AFP. Could you tell us some of the issues that will be discussed between the U.S. and China and North Korea next week -- the bilateral talks? ROTH: Once again, I really don't want to preview negotiations before they take place. Q: Well, could you tell us some of the issues? Apart from the defectors, what kind of other issues will be discussed? ROTH: I'd really rather not comment on that. (end transcript)