[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 69 (Thursday, April 27, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S5747]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    KOREAN AGREED NUCLEAR FRAMEWORK

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I find myself in the unfortunate position 
of once more coming to the floor to briefly discuss the lack of 
progress being made in the implementation of the United States-North 
Korea Agreed Nuclear Framework.
  During the recent recess, talks in Berlin between us and the North 
Koreans broke down. The point of contention continues to be the DPRK's 
obstinate refusal to accept two light-water reactors of South Korea 
manufacture as called for in the agreement. Mr. President I--and, I am 
sure, our negotiators headed by Ambassador Galucci--have grown weary of 
the North's negotiating tactics. Last-minute brinkmanship has failed to 
work for them in the past; I am unsure why they think if they continue 
to pursue that course we will eventually relent.
  Korean's have a saying about the futility of trying to influence 
someone too stubborn to listen: ``reading into an ox's ear.'' At the 
risk of reading into the ``Pyongyang ox's'' ear, let me say it one more 
time. As I have said before as the chairman of the Subcommittee on East 
Asian and Pacific Affairs, we should not accept any deviation from the 
agreed framework on the part of the DPRK. As called for in the 
agreement, North Korea must accept the two light-water reactors from 
South Korea. It must not refire its Yongbyon reactor. It must cease its 
attempts to produce fissile material. It must take steps toward 
initiating and maintaining a bilateral relationship with the South. The 
consequence for their failure to live up to the agreement is very 
straight-forward: a return to the Security Council and the imposition 
of tough sanctions.
  Mr. President, this is their choice--in black and white. There is no 
subtlety, no innuendo, no hidden message. Our negotiators have done an 
admirable job in continuing to press the North Koreans; I urge them to 
stick to their guns.

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