Remarks By President Bush and President Lee Myung-Bak of The Republic of Korea in...

Remarks By President Bush and President Lee Myung-Bak of The Republic of Korea
in Joint Press Availability

WASHINGTON, April 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a
transcript of remarks by President Bush and President Lee Myung-Bak of the
Republic of Korea in a joint press availability:
Camp David

11:17 A.M. EDT

PRESIDENT BUSH: Welcome. We're glad you're here, Mr. President, and we're
glad you brought Mrs. Kim. We had a wonderful dinner last night, and looking
forward to having lunch, too, today.
We've had great visits. And this is an important visit for me to get to
know you. I heard about your background -- I admire your strength of
character, and this is an important visit to strengthen the relationship
between our two countries and I believe we have done so.
President Lee is the first Korean President to visit Camp David. And I
don't know if the American citizens understand your nickname -- you're known
as the "Bulldozer." (Laughter.) He said to make sure that it was a bulldozer
with a computer. (Laughter.) And the reason why is this is a man who takes on
big challenges and he doesn't let obstacles get in the way. I like his
spirit, I like his candor, and I like his optimistic vision. But most of all I
really appreciate his values.
A good relationship is based upon common values, and our countries share
common values -- values of the rights of each individual to live in a free
society. We believe in human dignity and justice.
We discussed a variety of issues. We talked about our defense
cooperation. In 2004, our nations began an alliance transformation that has
involved realigning U.S. forces in Korea and relocating some of them from the
Peninsula. We're in constant touch and we're constantly reassessing our needs
and we have reaffirmed our need to remain in close dialogue. And we reached
an agreement to maintain the current U.S. troop level on the Peninsula. This
is a mutual agreement that benefits both our nations and will strengthen our
alliance. And Secretary Gates and Defense Minister Lee will coordinate its
implementation.
Korea has asked to upgrade its foreign military sales status with the United
States and to have the same access to U.S. military technologies as NATO and
other key allies, and I strongly support this request and have instructed
Secretaries Rice and Gates to work with the Congress to get this done.
Yesterday, our nations signed a Memorandum of Understanding on security
improvements necessary for Korea to enter the visa waiver program. This was a
very important issue for the President. We spent a lot of time talking about
this issue. These security enhancements put Korea on the path toward visa-free
travel to the United States for its people. We promised that both sides will
work hard on this issue so that Koreans will be visiting the United States
under the visa waiver program before this year ends.
The United States and Korea are working to improve security and advance
freedom in the Asia Pacific region. Together with China, Russia and Japan,
our nations are pressing North Korea to fulfill its obligations to abandon its
nuclear weapons program. Thanks to the six party framework, North Korea has
begun disabling the plutonium production facilities at Yongbyon. And now
North Korea must fulfill its other obligations: provide a full declaration of
its nuclear programs and proliferation activities in a verifiable way.
President Lee and I discussed our mutual concern for the human condition
in North Korea. We are -- our hearts break when we hear these stories of
families that have been torn apart or people being subjected to harsh work
camps because of their beliefs. We believe in basic rights, and we believe
those rights ought to be extended to the people of North Korea.
We're also thankful for the Koreans' contributions to young democracies,
whether it be Afghanistan or Iraq or Lebanon. And we want to thank you and
your people, Mr. President, for those sacrifices.
And then of course we talked about our economy. As a former CEO,
President Lee understands the importance of trade. First of all, I want to
thank you, Mr. President, and I appreciate your decision to reopen the Korean
market to American beef -- consistent with international standards. This is
good news for Korean consumers and it's good news for American beef producers.
As a matter of fact, we had some good American beef last night for dinner.
(Laughter.)
Now, our United States Congress must reject protectionism. It must not
turn its back on a friend and ally like Korea, and must approve the free trade
agreement with Korea this year. So the President was wondering -- he's been
reading about the decision by our Speaker that effectively killed the Colombia
free trade agreement, unless of course she gives us a date certain of when
there will be a vote. He wonders if this protectionist sentiment is such that
it will cause me, for example, not to continue to fight for free and fair
trade.
I assured him that the Korea trade agreement is a priority of this
administration. And I assured him that we will press hard with the United
States Congress. It's in our country's interests that we approve this
agreement, Mr. President. It's in our interests that we stand with our friends
and allies. And it's in the interests of the world that we complete the Doha
negotiations for the WTO. We spent some time discussing that as well.
And then finally we talked about our mutual desire to have a rational,
practical approach to international climate, the international climate issue,
global warming. How can you possibly have an international agreement that's
effective unless countries like China and India are not [sic] full
participants. And that's why I assured him this major economies meeting that
is taking place in Paris, I assured him I meant what I said in my speech in
the Rose Garden, and that hopefully by the time we get to G8 there's a serious
effort by all major economies to become active participants in a effective
strategy to deal with this issue.
So we had a great discussion. Really appreciate you coming. And Mr.
President, the podium is yours.
PRESIDENT LEE: (As translated.) Thank you very much, Mr. President.
First of all, thank you for inviting me and my wife to this beautiful place
called Camp David. I would like to extend my thanks to President Bush and
Mrs. Laura Bush for their invitation, and I was warmly welcomed by the
American people. If I were to have known I was going to get this warm
hospitality, I should have come earlier. (Laughter.)
Again, I would like to extend my most sincere gratitude to you, Mr.
President. And also we had a very productive discussion. We had a very open
and frank discussion, and I believe that today's meeting was very
constructive, and I'm very thankful for having this meeting, Mr. President.
The Korea-U.S. alliance was pivotal in ensuring peace and stability of the
Korean Peninsula, but also that of northeast Asia. Now, as the international
situation as well as the economic and security situation change dramatically,
our alliance is also called upon to undergo new changes. And so in order to
effectively respond to the need for change, President Bush and I agreed to
develop our alliance into an alliance based on freedom and democracy, human
rights and the principle of market economy -- otherwise known as the 21st
century strategic alliance, something that will contribute to global peace and
security as well.
Furthermore, we both agreed to -- based on such mutual understanding and
common ideas, to discuss specific ways to realize our vision for this
strategic alliance. So we'll discuss this when President Bush visits Korea
later on this year.
Just a while ago President Bush mentioned as for the U.S. forces in Korea,
he decided to maintain the current troop levels in Korea. Is that right, Mr.
President?
PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes, that's an accurate statement.
PRESIDENT LEE: Both of us reaffirmed once again that under no
circumstances would we allow North Korea to possess nuclear weapons. Also, we
agreed to work together closely within the six-party talks so that North Korea
can fully and completely give up all their nuclear weapons programs as soon as
possible.
Korea and the United States do not harbor any hostile intent towards North
Korea. We both agreed to work together to help North Korea escape
international isolation and to improve the lives of the North Korean people.
President Bush supported our policy towards North Korea, including our
denuclearization "opening-3000" policy, and also said that the United States
will continue to dialogue -- seek ways to promote dialogue in exchange with
North Korea.
Both President Bush and I agreed that the passage of the KORUS FTA will
benefit not only our two economies, but also act as a catalyst to
substantially improve exchange and cooperation in all areas between our two
countries. And so we agreed to work closely together for the speedy
ratification of the KORUS FTA. And Mr. President, he agreed to work very
closely and to convince the United States Congress to pass the KORUS FTA by
the end of this year. I would like to thank him for that.
Among the achievements of my visit to the United States-- there were a lot
of difficulties for Koreans to visit the United States; most of all the
difficulty they faced was due to the difficulty in getting visas to enter the
United States. However, the Republic of Korea has signed a Memorandum of
Understanding to take part in the visa waiver program, and we agreed to
implement this by the end of this year. Once that happens our cultural
exchanges, as well as our economic exchange and the exchange in many areas
will expand, and I have high hopes for that.
At the same time, President Bush and I agreed to expand exchange programs
for our youth and students, which will ensure a brighter future for our
bilateral ties.
We reaffirmed that nuclear nonproliferation and the promotion of democracy
and human rights are all a vital component in making our world a better, safer
place. In this regard, in order to ensure sustainable development, we agreed
to work closely on the issues of climate change and energy securities, matters
which are very serious and concerns us all.
During the summit meeting today I was very heartened to hear that the
United States and President Bush personally had a very strong interest in
fighting global warming and climate change. That's a very important decision
and I hope that the United States-- and I have confidence that the United
States will take a leading role in this issue, and I have confidence Mr.
President Bush will do that as well.
I invited President Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush to visit Korea this summer.
And I'm pleased to note that President Bush agreed and readily accepted to
come visit Korea with Mrs. Bush.
Once again, today's meeting was an opportunity for us to reaffirm our
mutual trust, and we agreed to work together to solve issues not only of the
Peninsula, but to work closely and cooperate with issues of global concern.
I'm very happy with the results of today's meeting. And we will work very
closely together to see the complete dismantlement of the nuclear weapons
program of North Korea, and we will work closely within the six-party talks
framework. And we must see the satisfactory conclusion, which will lead to
helping the North Korean people lead better lives, with dignity.
Once again, Mr. President, I'm very happy to have met you, Mr. President,
as well as Mrs. Laura Bush, and thank you for the warm hospitality extended to
me and my delegation by the people of America. We will work closely together
with a future-oriented mind. And I promise you I will do my very best, Mr.
President.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, sir. Thank you. We'll do two questions a
side, starting with Deb.
Q: I have the same question for both of you.

PRESIDENT BUSH: I warned him that this was going to happen. (Laughter.)

Q: Well, at least it's not two questions.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes, I know -- (laughter.)

Q: First to President Bush, isn't scaling back demands about what North
Korea has to declare giving in to a country that has repeatedly demonstrated
that it can't be trusted? Former U.N. Ambassador Bolton has called it a
complete collapse in the deal. And your critics are saying that you're selling
out to get an agreement. Why is it not?
PRESIDENT BUSH: Look, we're going to make a judgment as to whether North
Koreahas met its obligations to account for its nuclear program and
activities, as well as meet its obligations to disable its reactor. In other
words, we'll see. The burden of proof is there. We've laid out -- they've made
some promises, and we'll make a judgment as to whether they met those
promises. And then we and our partners will take a look at North Korea's full
declaration to determine whether or not the activities they promised they
could do could be verified. And then we'll make a judgment of our own as to
whether or not -- you know, about our own obligations.
You know, there's all kinds of rumors about what is happening and what's
not happening. Obviously I'm not going to accept a deal that doesn't advance
the interests of the region. The whole objective of the six-party talks and
framework is to get them to disclose their weapons programs, is to get them to
dismantle their plutonium processing, is to get them to talk about activities,
nuclear activities. And we'll make a judgment as to whether or not they do
that. But somehow people are precluding -- you know, jumping ahead of the
game. They have yet to make a full declaration. Why don't we just wait and see
what they say before people go out there and start giving their opinions about
whether or not this is a good deal or a bad deal.
But one thing is for certain: The most effective way to deal with this
issue is to do so with parties like China and Japan and Korea joining the
United States and South Korea with a common voice. The whole object of this
exercise is to convince the leader of North Korea to give up his nuclear
weapons ambitions. That's the whole object.
And so we have yet to come to the stage where he has made a full
declaration. And so we'll wait and see what he says, and then we'll make a
decision about our obligations, depending upon whether or not we're convinced
that there is a solid and full declaration, and whether or not there's a way
to verify whether or not he's going to do what he says he's going to do.
PRESIDENT LEE: As for the declaration of North Korea, that is a very
important process. I believe if North Korea's declaration is not satisfactory
or if the verification is not satisfactory, we could probably have a temporary
achievement, but in the long term, that will cause a lot more serious
problems. I believe President Bush shares this thought with me.
Mr. President Bush explained just now the declaration, the verification
process, has not begun. We are still waiting for North Korea to declare their
full program. They should not get away with this temporary measure. The United
States is not dealing with North Korea alone; there are other parties to the
six-party talks, and they must all agree to North Korea's declaration. So in
that regard North Korea's declaration of their nuclear weapons program should
be complete and correct, and verification -- I'm not sure how long that is
going to take, but North Korea must faithfully cooperate with verification
process.
All the parties of the six-party talks are with one mind that the
verification process must be full and complete and satisfactory. I think it's
inappropriate and unconstructive for us to have too many doubts before the
process even begins. The process is beginning. We should have trust in the
process, and I will watch this process and cooperate fully.
Q: (As translated.) I have a question for President Lee. Korea and the
United States have made many achievements through the summit meeting,
especially North Korean nuclear issue and the strengthening of the alliance.
As for North Korean nuclear issue, Mr. President Lee suggested setting up a
permanent liaison office in both Seoul and Pyongyang. What are some of the
follow-up effects, if you do have any follow-up actions? And do you have any
thoughts of proposing a meeting with Chairman Kim at an earlier date?
PRESIDENT LEE: The process is not something that we discussed between
ourselves during the summit meeting. In fact, when I was staying in
Washington, D.C., I had an interview with one of the newspapers there, and it
came up. Of course it was not a sudden suggestion. I did have a meeting among
my staff and related ministries, and I talked about this in detail before I
came to the United States.
We have a new administration in Korea, and we haven't yet to begun
dialogue with the North Koreans. Inter-Korean dialogue -- there is a need for
us to have dialogue all the time. Up until now we had dialogues whenever the
need arose, and then it would stop. However, dialogue should be based on
genuine cooperation and sincerity. And so with this in mind, I thought that it
would be helpful to set up a permanent liaison office in both Seoul and
Pyongyang.
As for the summit meeting between myself and Chairman Kim, I will agree to
it when the need is real. And I already said publicly that I am willing to
meet with him -- not just once, but many times -- but if the meeting will
yield substantial and real results. I believe only when that is possible I am
ready to meet with him and have sincere dialogue, because that will help to
bring about peace and stability of the Peninsula.
So basically, I do hold that thought, but I'm not suggesting to have a
meeting with Chairman Kim anytime soon. If the need arises, again, I'm ready
to meet with him.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Steven Lee.
Q: Thank you very much, Mr. President. If I could follow up a little bit
on North Korea. The North Koreans agreed last year to make their disclosure.
We're now in April and we've yet to see this disclosure. There are continued
negotiations, a new round next week. Are you concerned that, given this
record, they're not prepared to make this full disclosure, that they're
stalling the process somehow? And if so, a question for both of you, how do
you respond to that?
PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes. Of course, I mean, they may be trying to stall. One
thing about a non-transparent society where there's not a lot of free press,
for example, or a lot of opposition voices, it's hard to tell what's going on.
Now, he has made declarations, and he's testing the relationship. He's
wondering whether or not the five of us will stay unified. And the only thing
I know to do is to continue pressing forward within the six-party framework.
The decision -- we've made our decision. "We," the five of us, have made
our decision and that is, there's a way forward. And obviously we hope he
chooses to honor his commitments in a verifiable way. But when you're dealing
with a society in which it's hard to get information out of, you just have to
wait and see whether they're sincere or not. Unlike our society, of course,
where there's all kinds of people in the administration talking and sharing
information with you -- some of it authorized, some of it's not -- it doesn't
happen that way in North Korea. It's a closed society. It's a society in which
the will of one person decides the course of the future.
And again, we're very hopeful. We talked about our mutual desire to keep
the six-party framework in place, to deal with a lot of issues. The first one
of course is with North Korea. And it's -- I can just tell you, Steven Lee,
it's much more effective to have more than one voice speaking on this issue
than to be the sole voice speaking on the issue. And so if there ever is going
to be a breakthrough, it's through the six-party framework.
And, look, I'm hopeful. We'll see. This has been a -- I've been at this
for quite a while, and there's been moments where it looks like the process is
going to go very smoothly and everybody is going to honor their commitments,
and then for one reason or another, there's a -- there was a setback. But the
key thing is, is that we haven't abandoned the efforts to solve this problem
peacefully and diplomatically.
PRESIDENT LEE: Thank you. If you correctly understand North Korea, and if
you do understand North Korean society, you'll probably get a better picture
why we are seeing some delay in the process at the moment. If North Korea
wasn't like that, then we would have the seen the resolvement of this issue
already. We need persistent patience, ladies and gentlemen. And we need time
in order to have complete resolution of this issue.
However, it's difficult to convince North Korea to give up their nuclear
weapons program, but it's not impossible. It is not impossible. I believe
that. So in order to resolve this issue, I believe that the six-party talks
is the most effective way and mechanism to resolve this issue, like the
President mentioned. And right now we're in the stages of waiting for their
declaration, and then we can move on to the verification process.
So I think it's up to you to make the atmosphere so that North Korea can
faithfully abide by their promise and make the right declaration; that once
North Korea does so, it is also in their interest to make the correct decision
to give a full and complete declaration. And it will also help the North
Korean people improve the quality of their life, and that is the best
strategic choice that they can make.
Q: (As translated.) I have a question for President Bush. The United
States has a divergent alliance with countries like the United Kingdom, Japan.
In your opinion, President Bush, what kind of alliance do you have with the
Republic of Korea? And during your summit meeting today, I believe you agreed
to upgrade the Korea-U.S. alliance. In order to upgrade the alliance, what
kind of new movement will you take on -- for instance, the transfer of wartime
operational control? And what will you do, President Bush -- do you have any
intention to meet with both President Lee and Chairman Kim in order to resolve
this issue?
PRESIDENT BUSH: No. As to the latter point, no I don't. I think the
President described the relationship as a good one -- a 21st century strategic
alliance -- that makes sense to me. So what does that mean? Well, it means we
work in ways to deal with 21st century problems, such as proliferation of
nuclear materials; such as working to make sure our children are educated with
the tools necessary to be productive citizens; such as having a recognition
that in the 21st century, a free and fair trading system will be necessary for
prosperity. And that's why it's going to be very important for our Congress to
ratify the free trade agreement with Korea.
It's going to be very important a 21st century alliance recognizes that
Chinais a opportunity for both nations to engage in a constructive way. We
have our problems with China, of course, whether it be human rights or how the
Chinese leadership deals with the Dalai Lama or with Burma -- a variety of
issues. On the other hand, you can either have a constructive relationship --
we can work constructively with China-- or we can have a destructive
relationship. I've chosen to have a constructive relationship.
And so the step one is to anticipate the issues confronting our peoples in
the 21st century, and step two is to develop a practical way to deal with
those issues. And that's exactly what our conversation revolved around. And
I'm confident that this meeting has strengthened our relationship, and I'm
confident that the American people understand how important this relationship
is to our own prosperity and our own security.
And so it's been a really good visit, and we're glad you came here, too.
(Laughter.) Thanks for coming.

END 11:46 A.M. EDT

SOURCE White House Press Office

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