[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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