[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6635-6636]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  KOREA'S REGIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY

  Mr. CARDIN. I thank Republic of Korea, ROK, President Park Geun-hye 
for her thought-provoking and heartfelt address on May 8 to a joint 
meeting of Congress. President Park is a testament to her nation's 
resilience. Like her country, she has courageously weathered 
difficulties and emerged as a strong leader on the global stage--her 
nation's first woman President.
  Her momentous visit to the United States came at an opportune time to 
underscore the solidarity and cooperation between our two countries. 
Our deep ties with the Korean people stretch back to Korea's Chosun 
Dynasty, when we established diplomatic relations in 1882. One hundred 
and thirty-one years later, we are expanding our relationship in new 
ways.
  This year we celebrate 60 years of the U.S.-ROK alliance, established 
in 1953 by our Mutual Defense Treaty. In Korean culture, which greatly 
respects its elders, the 60th birthday of a person's life, called a 
``hwan-gap,'' holds great significance. It acknowledges the wisdom and 
maturity that a person attains by the peak of a productive life.
  And so, too, has the U.S.-Korea relationship proven fruitful and 
productive. Our relationship is more than a military alliance; it is a 
comprehensive partnership. Our people-to-people ties are strong; per 
capita, South Korea sends more students to the United States to study 
than any other industrialized country. We cooperate on counterterrorism 
efforts and on development assistance. One year ago, we demonstrated 
our commitment to strengthen our economies with the signing of our free 
trade agreement.
  South Koreans have created an economic ``Miracle on the Han River'' 
out of a country once leveled by war. The country has risen from being 
an aid recipient to becoming a world economic power, which now lends a 
hand to help other nations flourish.
  The Republic of Korea had a GDP per capita of $79 in 1960; today its 
GDP per capita is over $30,000. It is one of the fastest growing 
developed countries in the world. And we are proud to have played a 
role in helping our friend climb from poverty to prosperity, in 
contrast to its northern neighbor, whose people continue to suffer 
greatly from poverty.
  So there is much to celebrate during this 60th year of our alliance. 
And President Park has attested to the strength of the enduring global 
alliance between the Republic of Korea and the United States. This is 
an historic anniversary, not only of our friendship, but of the end of 
the Korean war.
  Since the end of the war, the Republic of Korea has practiced 
restraint and mature diplomacy in the face of tremendous threats, 
continued bellicose rhetoric, and provocative actions from North Korea. 
This is in no small part due to the strength of the U.S.-ROK alliance 
and our close cooperation.
  As President Park has demonstrated in her determined but flexible 
approach, we need to preserve stability on the Korean peninsula and in 
the region by acting decisively together to address both North Korea's 
provocations and the dire humanitarian situation there.
  North Korea continues to threaten U.S. interests and the security of 
our friends and allies. As chairman of the Foreign Relations 
Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, I have been closely 
watching the alarming developments following North Korea's

[[Page 6636]]

February 12 nuclear test, including its declaration that it nullified 
the 1953 armistice, and its decision to shut down the Kaesong 
industrial complex, and its repeated threats to strike the United 
States and our allies. And I am deeply concerned about American citizen 
Kenneth Bae, who last week was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in a 
North Korea gulag for ``hostile acts'' against the country and Kim 
Jong-Un's regime.
  We must do more to reach an international solution on bringing North 
Korea back into the denuclearization process. It is essential to ensure 
the continued safety of Americans and our allies in the Asia-Pacific 
region and to prevent a nuclear arms race in the strategically critical 
Korean peninsula.
  And we must not forget the humanitarian crisis that is besieging the 
North Korean people, as they are often imprisoned, starved, and 
deprived of civil liberties and freedoms at the hands of a ruthless 
authoritarian state.
  So what more can we do? This March, the Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee held a hearing on North Korea which underscored the 
importance of working with the United Nations Security Council to 
strengthen sanctions on North Korea. The United States has intensified 
coordination on addressing the North Korean threat with Japan and 
developed a new counter-provocation plan with the Republic of Korea. In 
April, I chaired a Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs 
hearing during which we discussed ways to work with China to help 
change North Korea's dangerous path.
  I was pleased to see Secretary Kerry, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, 
General Dempsey, and Deputy Secretary Burns travel to China to seek 
China's help to rein in North Korea. And I welcomed the recent visit of 
the Chinese chairman of the six-party talks, Wu Dawei, to Washington.
  It was encouraging to see China strongly support UN Security Council 
Resolution 2094. This resolution imposes tough new financial sanctions 
which will block North Korea from moving money to pay for its nuclear 
and ballistic missile programs and makes arms smuggling and 
proliferation more difficult. The sanctions will only be successful if 
all countries rigorously implement and enforce them.
  The international community, including the U.S., must sustain 
sanctions and continue systematic pressure. We hope that China will be 
sincere in implementing these sanctions and reduce its economic support 
of North Korea.
  New sanctions alone, however, cannot halt the pattern of North Korean 
provocations and broken promises. The United States will not reward bad 
behavior. We must use all of the diplomatic, military, financial, and 
multilateral tools at our disposal in a newly coordinated effort to 
move beyond the current stalemate.
  Along with Senators Menendez, Corker, and others, I have cosponsored 
the North Korea Nonproliferation and Accountability Act of 2013, which 
would direct the Department of State to undertake a comprehensive 
review of our North Korea policy to look for creative ways to re-
engage. If North Korea shows a serious intent to denuclearize, halt its 
proliferation activities and improve human rights, we should be open to 
bilateral talks, as Secretary Kerry stated on his April trip to the 
region. We must continue to prepare for the worst while hoping for the 
best. We stand by Japan, South Korea, and other allies in providing 
extended nuclear deterrence under our ``nuclear umbrella.'' And the 
international community stands with us in condemning North Korean 
aggression and belligerent actions.
  At the same time, we should separate humanitarian concerns from 
politics. New ROK President Park Geun-hye has launched a policy of de-
linking humanitarian aid to North Korea from diplomatic developments. 
Previously, the U.S. has done the same, funding food aid to North Korea 
from 2008 to 2009. We should consider reinstating such food aid to 
North Korea based on demonstrated need and our ability to verify that 
the food will reach the intended recipients. Congress and the 
administration must track the delivery of aid to make sure it reaches 
the people who so desperately need it.
  American development workers now provide humanitarian assistance in 
North Korea without U.S. Government assistance, giving North Koreans an 
opportunity to encounter the goodwill of the American people. In June 
2012, a United Nations evaluation team confirmed that over 60 percent 
of the population continues to suffer from chronic food insecurity. 
Hungry people can focus only on survival and have no additional energy 
to direct toward bettering their lives or changing the environment or 
regime around them. So we must extend our hand to the North Korean 
people by supporting the NGO community's basic humanitarian efforts to 
provide lifesaving services such as supplemental school feeding, 
increased agricultural production, clean water, and medical assistance 
programs.
  The humanitarian crisis is further compounded by gross human rights 
violations. People are trying to cross the border in search of food and 
then being imprisoned in forced labor camps when they are caught 
leaving the country. Reports indicate that approximately 138,000 people 
were being held in detention centers in 2011, where they are beaten, 
tortured, and starved. These human rights violations merit 
international condemnation and accountability. I urge UN High 
Commissioner for Human Rights Pillay and Special Rapporteur Darusman to 
establish a mechanism of inquiry through the UN Human Rights Council to 
document these egregious human rights violations expeditiously.
  I have great concerns about North Korea's political trajectory, but I 
believe that a broader humanitarian engagement holds a long-term 
promise of enhancing regional peace and security. President Park Geun-
hye has taken a similar approach. I applaud her tremendous courage and 
welcome her visit on this historic occasion.

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