[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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