[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 114 (Wednesday, September 3, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H6763-H6764]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     REPORT ON CODEL TO NORTH KOREA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida [Mr. Goss] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report to my colleagues in the 
House on a precedent-setting House CODEL visit to North Korea last 
month during our recess.

                              {time}  1900

  I was honored to lead a bipartisan delegation of seven members of the 
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in traveling on 
oversight business to Asia. Our trip happened to include 3 days and 2 
nights in North Korea, and I will include for the Record the formal 
written statement of our delegation released about that portion of our 
trip.
  Mr. Speaker, the simple fact that the North Korean leadership 
welcomed a delegation of the size, seniority, and breadth of our seven-
member group is very telling and somewhat remarkable, in my view. 
Crises is forcing the reclusive and anachronistic North Korean regime 
to reach out to the United States for assistance and pull back slightly 
on the veil of secrecy that has shrouded that nation for decades.
  Even though our trip was obviously carefully managed by our hosts, we 
saw the signals of collapse during our visit. People really are 
starving; the infrastructure is crumbling; power shortages are routine; 
proregime propaganda is rampant; and the leadership, while refusing to 
concede failure, is tightening control and grasping for leverage.
  After spending 48 hours in that isolated country, I felt as if I had 
been in a time warp, witnessing a life totally foreign to the American 
experience today, perhaps something back in the cold war days behind 
the Iron Curtain.
  We repeatedly drove home the point that food aid distribution must be 
verifiable so that we can be sure it reaches the people who are most in 
need. And we were asked repeatedly about aid. We expressed hope that 
cooperation on the issue of MIA's would remain coming from the North 
Koreans and they have given us some cooperation. These are very 
positive signs.
  But in response, the North Korean officials stated that the United 
States sanctions against them must be lifted and additional 
unconditional food assistance, and I stress the word ``unconditional,'' 
must be provided.
  The North Koreans did not acknowledge the need for internal economic, 
agricultural, or political reform, focusing instead on external factors 
as the root of the causes of their current difficulties. While they 
were cordial in their hospitality, and they did give us fine 
hospitality, these senior officials were obviously mistrustful of the 
United States. They also forcefully underscored their position that 
they would not negotiate with South Korea as long as the South's 
President, Kim Young Sam, remains in office. He is scheduled to remain 
in office until the end of this year.
  In the short term, we should be principally concerned with 
establishing a regular and more verifiable means of food aid 
distribution to ease the immediate crisis. I pointed out, and the 
others did, that Americans are a compassionate people willing to 
respond to human suffering in remote regions of the world. We have 
already provided about 60 million dollars' worth of aid, that adds up 
to about 100,000 metric tons of food, in relief of starving people in 
North Korea. Hopefully, it is going to people starving and not the 
military. But we were disappointed that during our visit we were not 
taken to see the food distribution centers, nor did we have access to 
the regions of the nation where food shortages are most severe.
  However, we understand that our visit helped pave the way for a staff 
delegation from another committee to have greater access while in North 
Korea. In the longer term, an increasing presence of outsiders going 
about their business on behalf of nongovernmental relief organizations, 
the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, Congress, and 
other organizations that have legitimate business there, should help 
force open the door between North Korea and the outside world.
  Mr. Speaker, the signals are abundantly clear: The North Korean 
regime is dying. We must do our part to prevent that process from 
undermining the security of the peninsula and threatening America's 
vital interests in the region. Americans do have several good reasons 
for being interested in the future relations with the North Korean 
regime. Not just the humanitarian concerns and seeking to prevent the 
starvation of literally millions of people, but, second, our interests 
are very much at stake when we consider something on the order of 
200,000 Americans and Korean-Americans are living and going about their 
business in South Korea within close range of the world's fourth 
largest army, with its massed artillery on the DMZ. And, we have very 
serious concerns about North Korea's activities in proliferating 
weapons of mass destruction to rogue nations and, in fact, that has 
been happening.
  To the extent that our visit marked a milestone in the United States-
North Korea relationship, I hope that the elite band of leaders in the 
North will not allow current events to foreclose the opportunity now at 
hand. I believe that the veil is lifting there, and I am certain to 
believe that a negotiated settlement bringing North Korea into this 
century certainly is better than any of the other alternatives using 
the military.
  Mr. Speaker, I submit the following for the Record:

      Joint Statement of the House Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence--Congressional Delegation Visit to the Democratic People's 
                   Republic of Korea--August 12, 1997

       From August 9 through August 11, a bipartisan, seven-member 
     Congressional Delegation (CODEL) from the House Permanent 
     Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) was

[[Page H6764]]

     in Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North 
     Korea) to meet with North Korean officials and gather first-
     hand information about the current situation in that volatile 
     region. This was a precedent-setting visit to North Korea by 
     a Congressional delegation of this size, seniority, and 
     breadth of experience.
       The delegation was led by HPSCI Chairman Porter J. Goss (R-
     FL). The other Members of Congress comprising the CODEL were 
     Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Bill McCollum (R-FL), Jane Harman (D-
     CA), Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA), Charles F. Bass (R-NH) 
     and Jim Gibbons (R-NV). In addition to their assignment on 
     the HPSCI, these members represent a wealth of experience on 
     relevant issues based on their other committee assignments.
       The delegation's interlocutors were headed by Mr. Kang 
     Sokju, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
     (MFA), and Mr. Li Hyong-chol, Director of American Affairs of 
     the MFA. All discussions took place in the Pyongyang region. 
     Despite repeated requests by CODEL members, the delegation 
     was unable to travel to famine-stricken areas where it had 
     hoped to determine the extent of the problem and investigate 
     the system used for distributing food aid.
       In several formal and informal working sessions with the 
     North Koreans, the CODEL made the following points:
       The United States has a strong and abiding national 
     security interest in helping defuse tension on the Korean 
     peninsula. The four party talks should be responsibly 
     pursued;
       North Korea must cease its sale of advanced weaponry, 
     missile systems, and supporting technologies to Iran and 
     other ``rouge'' states;
       The United States stands firmly behind its military and 
     security commitments to the Republic of Korea;
       North Korea must fully honor its commitments in the nuclear 
     arena, as specified in the Agreed Framework, including 
     allowing International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) challenge 
     inspections and comply with its responsibilities to the 
     Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO);
       North Korea's cooperation in helping locate and return the 
     remains of several United States military personnel killed in 
     the Korean War is a positive step. Such steps must be 
     continued and expanded;
       Provocative acts such as those that occurred in the 
     Demilitarized Zone on July 16, 1997 are counterproductive to 
     cooperation and understanding;
       To participate fully in the opportunities of the world 
     community, North Korea must open up its society; and
       North Korea must make its food distribution to the civilian 
     population fully transparent and verifiable, in order to 
     facilitate the United States' consideration of additional 
     assistance. The food aid cannot be diverted to the military.
       Though the visit was carefully managed by the North Korean 
     hosts, the tenor of the discussions was cordial but candid. 
     Frank discussion about mutual mistrust occurred on several 
     items of a lengthy agenda. The delegation believes talks were 
     constructive in demonstrating bipartisan support for United 
     States policy to encourage North Korea to engage in honest 
     and good faith negotiations to lessen tensions in the region.
       The North Koreans were focused on seeing the United States 
     sanctions lifted and the need for additional food assistance. 
     In addition, the North Koreans stated their refusal to 
     abandon their centralized political and economic systems. The 
     delegation emphasized that Americans are a compassionate 
     people, generous in their willingness to alleviate suffering, 
     but who seek assurance that food relief is used to feed those 
     North Korean people most in need. The delegation stressed 
     that sanctions must be negotiated as part of a larger 
     political package involving proliferation and other security 
     matters.
       The delegation will provide President Clinton, Speaker 
     Gingrich, Minority Leader Gephardt, and the Department of 
     State with a full report of the substance of its discussions 
     and its impressions. The delegation concludes that 
     opportunity for further constructive dialogue exists and will 
     confer with other Congressional committees of jurisdiction.
       The CODEL travelled to North Korea as part of a trip to 
     Asia, which includes visits to Beijing, China; Tokyo, Japan; 
     and Seoul, South Korea. The delegation returns to the United 
     States on August 15.

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