[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 47 (Tuesday, March 14, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S3855]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              NORTH KOREA

  Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, let me comment also on the North Korean 
situation.
  When Senator Murkowski and I were in North Korea in December, we 
landed with the first official American plane to land in North Korea 
since the Korean war. It is important that both the United States and 
North Korea live up to our agreements.
  The situation in Korea is the most volatile anywhere in the world 
where there are American troops. We have 36,000 to 37,000 American 
troops just south of the border in Korea. You have about 1 million 
troops in total facing each other with no communication. Even in the 
situation with Pakistan and India, there is communication between the 
two Governments. There is no communication between North Korea and 
South Korea.
  North Korea is unlike any other government on the face of the Earth 
right now. It is a very tightly controlled dictatorship. The radio 
stations only have one station. The television stations only have one 
station. It is like Albania must have been back in the old days of 
communism.
  I think it is important that the United States assist--while making 
clear to South Korea that we are going to be loyal to our friends 
there--in communication between the two countries.
  Thanks to President Carter, a meeting had been set up between the 
President of South Korea and Kim Il-song, the leader of North Korea. 
Then he died fairly suddenly back in July of last year, and that did 
not happen.
  Senator Murkowski and I are working on the possibility of getting 
some North Korean and South Korean Parliamentarians together, some kind 
of minimal contact, so that there is some understanding between the two 
sides, so that what happens on the other side in both cases is not 
viewed with paranoia.
  I would add, I think it is extremely important that North Korea 
permit South Korea to build the nuclear plants that we talked about. 
That was the understanding in the agreement that we had with North 
Korea and they should not back down on that agreement.
  I hope we can be of some assistance to North Korea, which feels very 
isolated now. It is isolated. It has to make this transition from an 
old-fashioned, extremely monolithic communism to at least a more 
moderate communism, if their such a phrase, as in China and Vietnam. 
But I think we can play a constructive role there, and I hope we will.

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