[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 146 (Saturday, October 8, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         TALKS WITH NORTH KOREA

  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, with all eyes on Haiti, little attention has 
been focused on the resumption of United States talks with North Korea. 
Two months after hailing a big breakthrough on the heels of Jimmy 
Carter's June meeting with Kim Il Song, the administration negotiations 
with the north seem to be on a treadmill going nowhere.
  The only good news is that so far the North Koreans have not 
reprocessed the 8,000 fuel rods they removed from their reactors some 
months ago. The bad news is that the North Koreans have not agreed to 
send those rods out of the country. It looks like they may intend to 
string us along until right before the fuel rods corrode completely, 
when they can argue that there is an urgent need to reprocess them 
right there.
  Mr. President, the bad news list does not end there. The North 
Koreans have not agreed to freeze their nuclear program while talks 
with the United States proceed. The North Koreans have not moved 
forward on talks with South Korea. Nor has an agreement been reached on 
allowing special inspections--in fact the North Koreans appear dead set 
against inspections of their suspect sites, claiming that such 
inspections would reveal military secrets. Let us not forget, this is 
the same issue that sparked the crisis with North Korea around 18 
months ago.
  On top of all this bad news, North Korean demands are escalating. The 
latest demand they made was for $2 billion, cash--on top of a $4 
billion light water reactor project. But, while they still want this 
light water reactor, the North Koreans have said that they will not 
permit the South Koreans to provide it for them.
  Today's New York Times reported that South Korean President Young Sam 
criticized the Clinton administration for being overeager to 
compromise, for ignoring the bigger picture of the north-south 
situation, and for excluding South Korea from the negotiations. 
President Young Sam said, and I quote, ``* * * we think we know North 
Korea better than anyone * * * they are not sincere * * *. The 
important thing is that the United States should not be led on by the 
manipulations of North Korea.'' The South Korean President concluded, 
``We should not make more concessions in the future. Time is on our 
side.''
  Mr. President, I believe that the Clinton administration should start 
paying attention to what the South Korean Government is saying--they do 
know better--North Korea is their neighbor. We also need to include the 
South Korean Government more in this process. The administration needs 
to keep in mind that one of North Korea's key objectives is to drive a 
wedge between the United States and our close ally, South Korea.

  Mr. President, it seems to me that right now the North Koreans are in 
the driver's seat, taking us on a ride to nowhere. It is high time for 
the United States--together with our South Korean allies--to get back 
in the driver's seat, to set some road markers and to let the North 
Koreans know that if these markers re not met, that we will rethink the 
generous--or, overly generous, in my view--offer to provide light water 
reactor technology at the cost of several billion dollars, which the 
American taxpayers are going to have to find.
  Earlier this week, former Undersecretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, 
commented on the lack of progress in our talks with North Korea in the 
New York Times, and I quote, ``It seems to me that we are in a 
situation where we are paying more and more for less and less.''
  The administration needs to be reminded that the North Korean 
Government is one of the most repressive, if not the most repressive 
regimes in the world; that North Korea has no future without becoming 
part of the international community. The administration also needs to 
remember that there are things that the North Koreans want, too, such 
as diplomatic and economic relations with the United States--and that's 
no small item. So, the message the administration needs to send to the 
North Koreans is that there is no hope of establishing diplomatic and 
economic relations with the United States if North Korea does not come 
into full compliance with the nonproliferation treaty--including 
special inspections. Moreover, the North Koreans must know that there 
is no deal possible without the support and involvement of South Korea. 
In my view, delivering this message is a first step to putting the 
United States back in the driver's seat.

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