[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 18 (Monday, January 30, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1730-S1731]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             UNITED STATES-NORTH KOREA FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I thank the Chair.
  Mr. President, I intend to make a brief statement on the status of 
the joint United States-North Korea agreed framework covering nuclear 
issues.
  I had the pleasure of visiting North Korea, along with Senator Simon, 
who is here on the floor today. As a consequence of that particular 
visit, the framework agreement has been an issue of great concern to me 
and an issue worthy of congressional scrutiny.
  There have been a number of hearings on the agreed framework. The 
Intelligence Committee, the Energy Committee, the Foreign Relations 
Committee, and the Armed Services Committee have addressed this 
subject. I had an opportunity to speak before the Armed Services 
Committee just the other day. I want to commend that committee for its 
important role in reviewing the agreement, because there are some 
37,000 American troops on the demilitarized zone in South Korea. They 
are certainly exposed to harm should any conflict arise on the Korean 
Peninsula.
  It is interesting to note that under Armed Services Committee 
oversight, the Department of Defense has seen fit to fund the purchase 
of approximately 50,000 tons of oil. The first shipment called for 
under the agreed framework.
  Now, Mr. President, I would like to briefly raise three specific 
areas of concern about the framework agreement. The first is the fate 
of 8,177 Americans still unaccounted for in North Korea following the 
Korean war north of the 38th parallel. I find it interesting to reflect 
on that staggering figure, when we recognize that currently today in 
Vietnam, we have somewhat less than 1,700 unaccounted for.
  We have an obligation, Mr. President, to get the answers. How do we 
get the answers? Well, it is certainly a matter of access. The North 
Koreans must allow the United States access, including joint recovery 
teams that proved so successful in Vietnam. In fact, in North Korea, 
unlike Vietnam, we know the precise location of over 2,000 grave sites 
and prisoner-of-war camps. We simply cannot get in.
  During our visit to Pyongyang, Senator Simon and I delivered a letter 
to President Kim Jong Il. The letter was given to the Foreign Minister 
and he assured us it had been delivered to President Kim Jong Il.
  At the conclusion of my remarks, I will ask unanimous consent that a 
copy of that letter be printed in the Record.
  Mr. President, to my knowledge we have received no answer to the 
letter delivered to President Kim Jong Il.
  I call on the North Korean leadership to respond favorably to our 
request for joint recovery teams and further cooperation. It is fair to 
say that the few remains repatriated thus far have not been well 
handled. Moreover, there appears to be a profit motive associated with 
those remains. We have had unofficial indications that the DPRK wants 
up to $30,000 U.S. per remain. This is an outrageous sum compared to 
the $2,000 figure used for reimbursement in Vietnam.
  It is inconceivable to me, Mr. President, that as to the lack of 
cooperation in fullest possible accounting for those Americans lost in 
the Korean conflict, there has not been a demand by the administration 
in the framework agreement that this matter be addressed. I think this 
is the highest requirement of Government--fullest possible accounting 
of those who gave so much for our freedoms. Why has it not been 
included if the framework agreement? Moreover, the administration has 
not yet seen fit to respond to the inquiries that this Senator has made 
in that regard.
  I would also like to call this body's attention to the comparison 
between Vietnam and North Korea. The administration has moved faster in 
3 months with North Korea than in the last 3 years with Vietnam toward 
diplomatic and trade relation, despite the fact that Vietnam has taken 
many good-faith steps by providing cooperation, including joint 
recovery teams.
  One other interesting comparison, not related to the MIA issue, is 
the fact that we have agreed to provide the North Koreans with light-
water. Yet, we are prohibited from selling that same technology to 
China.
  The second issue I want to talk about is the lack of dialog between 
North and South Korea. One of the requirements of the framework 
agreement is that there be a dialog. Without a meaningful dialog 
between the North and South, it will be impossible to implement the 
agreed framework. Based on administration representations, we 
anticipate that South Korea and Japan will pick up substantial costs 
associated with the delivery of the light-water reactors--at least $4 
billion. We also anticipate other countries to cover the delivery of a 
significant amount of oil, approximately 500,000 tons per year over a 
period of years.
  I do not believe that South Korea can make such a commitment to the 
North without a political dialog. But at this point, there is no such 
dialog. The North is still demanding an apology from President Kim 
Young-sam for the alleged insensitivity on the death of Kim Il-song, 
and yet the North continues with propaganda against the South.
  Mr. President, section three of the framework agreement between the 
United States and North Korean requires that the North Koreans will 
engage in a North-South dialog and that the North Koreans will 
consistently take steps to implement the North-South declaration on the 
demilitarization of the Korean Peninsula.
  I am gratified that references to North-South issues were included in 
the agreed framework, but I am concerned that the references do not 
have 
[[Page S1731]] specificity. For example, at what point will the United 
States stop fulfilling its commitments under the agreement framework if 
there has not been progress in the North-South relations? Just a few 
days ago, I introduced a resolution, Senate Concurrent Resolution 4 
that calls on the executive branch to take steps to ensure that 
implementation of the agreed framework is linked to the substantive and 
rapid progress in the dialog between the North and the South.
  I hope this resolution is a step in the right direction.
  Finally, Mr. President, I think it is appropriate to comment on one 
of the administration's defenses of the agreed framework. In response 
to any criticism of the deal itself, the administration response that 
it was this agreement or war.
  Although I know that this is second-guessing, I maintain we could 
have negotiated a better deal. The agreed framework is a bad deal 
because we left out the inspections of the two suspected nuclear waste 
sites. What does North Korea have to hide? We still do not know. The 
administration walked up to the line with sanctions because of North 
Korea's refusal to agree to the IAEA inspections of the two suspected 
nuclear sites.
  But then, if you will recall, President Carter went to North Korea 
and got Kim Il-song to agree to a freeze, which the Clinton 
administration apparently felt compelled to accept. We lost leverage 
with our allies, such as China and Japan, to go ahead with the 
sanctions at a time when, in my opinion, North Korea was ready to 
collapse from within. It could not depend on the Soviet Union anymore; 
it could not depend on the Chinese for subsidized oil. They were 
totally isolated.
  Although I readily agree that the North Koreans were desparate and 
dangerous, I would like my colleague to reflect on the comparison to 
the Soviet Union. During the cold war, the Soviets were a documented 
nuclear threat. The Reagan administration, rather than backing down, 
chose to bring the Soviet Union to its knees in an arms race.
  So today we have an isolated and broke North Korea. Moreover, Mr. 
President, I believe there is a leadership vacuum after the death of 
Kim Il-song. So who are we helping?
  Perhaps we should wait to see if a moderate regime will come forward 
rather than giving the current totalitarian regime a new life? I 
believe we are rewarding North Korea's bad behavior, and it sets an 
unfortunate precedent.
  I have indicated previously that I belive that we are bound by 
agreements executed by our executive branch, even though it is an 
agreement that, in my judgment, is a poor agreement because it carries 
a scent of appeasement. But if the administration has to come back to 
the Congress to fund it--if South Korea and Japan do not come forward--
then as far as this Senator is concerned, all bets are off for this 
agreement.
  I ask unanimous consent that a letter be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                  U.S. Senate,

                                                 December 9, 1994.
     His Excellency Kim Jong Il,
     Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
       Excellency: As guests in your country, we are writing to 
     express our hopes concerning the evolving relationship 
     between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the 
     United States of America. It is our hope that this will lead 
     to the resolution of questions concerning the fate of the 
     8,177 Americans and thousands of other United Nations 
     personnel still unaccounted for following the conflict of 
     1950-1953 and believed to be missing north of the 38th 
     parallel.
       We recognize that determining the fate of these missing 
     service-members will be difficult, as we have seen in 
     attempting to obtain the fullest possible accounting in other 
     countries. Progress will require constant effort and a 
     sincere commitment to resolve this sensitive issue. In this 
     regard, we encourage the Democratic People's Republic of 
     Korea to agree to joint participation by the United States in 
     the recovery of remains of servicemembers still unaccounted 
     for north of the 38th parallel.
       The American people take most seriously the obligation for 
     the fullest possible accounting of those who are still 
     missing in action. As senior members of the Committee on 
     Foreign Relations of the United States Senate, we appreciate 
     the opportunity to communicate directly with you and we urge 
     your best efforts and decisive leadership on this important 
     and serious humanitarian matter.
           Sincerely,
     Paul Simon,
       U.S. Senator.
     Frank H. Murkowski,
       U.S. Senator.

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