    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [July 10, 1993]
    [Pages 1050-1053]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters Following Discussions With
    President Kim Yong-sam of South Korea in Seoul
    July 10, 1993

        President Kim. Today President Clinton and I had very useful
    discussions of the wide-ranging issues of mutual concern for about 1\1/
    2\ hours. I was deeply impressed by President Clinton, who is playing
    leadership role in maintaining world peace and coping with new
    challenges in the post-cold-war era.
        In today's meeting, President Clinton and I discussed current
    international political situation, including new post-cold-war situation
    in northeast Asia. We also had wide-ranging consultations on how to
    further develop the Korea-U.S. partnership in the areas of politics,
    security, economy, and trade.
        In particular, we had an indepth discussion on North Korea's nuclear
    development program. And we shared the view that this issue poses a
    serious threat not only to peace on the Korean Peninsula but also to the
    security of northeast Asia and the world as a whole. Also, we expressed
    our satisfaction over the close coordination between our two countries
    in dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue. Most importantly, we
    confirmed that, through this process, we should continue to encourage
    North Korea to remain within the nuclear nonproliferation regime and to
    implement faithfully these inspection responsibilities with the IAEA
    mechanism.

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    We also reconfirmed that through effective mutual inspections by the two
    Koreas themselves, the denuclearization declaration should be fully
    implemented, leading eventually to the resolution of North Korea's
    nuclear issue.
        We will, therefore, continue our efforts to persuade North Korea to
    remove suspicion over its nuclear program. The next round of U.S.-North
    Korean contacts will be held in a few days. And at the same time, we
    will keep the door open for South-North dialog. In case, however, North
    Korea does not demonstrate different attitudes toward the resolution of
    the nuclear issue, in spite of our sincere efforts, then the
    international community will inevitably have to come up with appropriate
    countermeasures to deal with the issue.
        President Clinton renewed firm commitment of the United States to
    the defense and security of the Republic of Korea and reassured that any
    further reduction of U.S. forces in Korea would be made only after the
    uncertainties surrounding North Korea's nuclear program has been
    thoroughly examined.
        President Clinton and I noted with satisfaction the amicable trade
    relations between our two countries and concurred that the measures the
    Korean Government is taking to liberalize and internationalize this
    economy under the new economic policy will help further expand and
    develop our bilateral trade relations. More specifically, President
    Clinton and I agreed on the need to develop a future-oriented economic
    partnership between our two countries. And for this purpose, we have
    agreed to launch a new bilateral forum for consultation, named the
    Dialogue for Economic Cooperation. Within this framework, the two
    countries will discuss various ways to enhance bilateral economic
    cooperation and address the issues of economic deregulation as it
    affects economic relations between our two countries. Also, we shared
    the hope that the Uruguay round of multilateral trade negotiations
    should be concluded before the end of this year to help revitalize the
    world economy. And we have agreed to work together to achieve that goal.
        As staunch friends and allies, the Republic of Korea and the United
    States have maintained a close and cooperative relationship during the
    last several decades. Our countries will continue to expand this
    relationship to make it into a lasting and comprehensive partnership
    based upon the common ideals of democracy in the fields of politics,
    national security, economy, trade, culture, and academic exchanges.
        I'm entirely satisfied with the result of our today's summit
    meeting, and I'm fully convinced that today's meeting will mark the
    first of many fruitful occasions of such consultations between President
    Clinton and me in the future. Thank you very much.
        President Clinton. Thank you very much. First, let me thank
    President Kim for his warm welcome and for his very accurate summary of
    the discussions that we have just held. I would simply like to highlight
    a couple of points.
        First, we reviewed our mutual efforts to ensure the security and
    peace of the people living on the Korean Peninsula. And I reassured
    President Kim of my commitment to ensure that the United States
    continues to play its historic role. We devoted particular attention to
    the issue of North Korea's nuclear program and agreed to continue our
    very close cooperation in dealing with this matter. This program is of
    great concern not only to the United States and the Republic of Korea
    but to all in this region. We agreed to consult closely on our joint
    efforts to achieve a full resolution of this issue, and we are resolute
    to take additional steps if they are required. I did reaffirm my strong
    intention to have no further reduction in our military presence in this
    region as long as there is any outstanding question of security
    regarding this issue.
        President Kim and I also discussed the importance of working
    together to expand trade through the Organization on Asian Pacific
    Economic Cooperation and the meetings we will have there in Washington
    this fall.
        I thanked President Kim for his support of the results of the G-7
    conference just concluded in Tokyo, his support of the Uruguay round of
    the world trade negotiations, and for the announcement of the new
    Dialogue for Economic Cooperation to resolve the outstanding issues
    between our two countries and to build an even stronger economic
    cooperation between us.
        Finally, I want to express my appreciation to President Kim for his
    personal lifetime devotion to the cause of democracy and for the very
    good example that the anticorruption and deregulation campaigns here set
    for all of Asia and indeed for budding democracies throughout the world.
    I believe that this is the sort of example we need more of.
        And finally, let me say I appreciate the visit

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    that we had. I think we established a very good personal relationship
    and a very good bond between our two countries. I look forward to
    further talks, and the President has accepted my invitation to visit the
    United States later this year, so we will have another chance to work on
    these issues personally.

    North Korean Nuclear Development

        Q. Mr. President, in case North Korea doesn't show sincere efforts
    to solve their nuclear problem, then the Republic of Korea will react
    with appropriate countermeasures to deal with the issue. Is there any
    time scale in your plan to deal with this issue, and what is the most
    appropriate measures to be taken towards it?
        President Kim. I do not necessarily think that it is desirable to
    give you any time scale or any concrete appropriate actions to be taken.
    But what is most important, what is most clear, is that with regard to
    this issue we had a very close consultation with the United States, and
    we will continue to do so in the future.

    China

        Q. President Clinton, what role can China play in trying to be
    helpful, if at all helpful, in this? Do you see China as being
    instrumental in trying to persuade the North Koreans to follow the
    treaties?
        President Clinton. I do believe China can play a constructive role.
    When the United States and South Korea were attempting to discourage
    North Korea from withdrawing from the NPT, China was quite helpful. I
    think the Chinese Government is very interested in supporting the
    position we have taken here. They have stronger and stronger trade
    relations with South Korea. And they obviously are more and more
    interested in becoming a commercial power of the future rather than a
    military power of the past. And so, we will both--we agreed today that
    we would continue to inform the Chinese of what we were doing, and we
    will certainly ask for their support in our efforts.

    Dialogue for Economic Cooperation

        Q. President Clinton, there was an announcement today that the
    Dialogue for Economic Cooperation will be launched from today. At the
    same time, there is an expectation that the Uruguay round of
    negotiations, multilateral negotiations, will come to conclusion, at
    latest, before the end of this year. Now, there is, however, a concern
    that perhaps the launching of this new Economic Cooperation Dialogue is
    a means for the United States to press ahead with its own idea of
    economic relationship with the United States in a bilateral sense. Does
    it carry any truth, or do you have any comment on this?
        President Clinton. First let me say that is a very good question. I
    do not see our efforts to get an agreement in the Uruguay round and this
    announcement today as in conflict. Between any two nations that have as
    many trade relations as the United States and the Republic of Korea,
    there will always be issues outstanding that need to be discussed.
        Obviously, if by the end of the year we can conclude a successful
    Uruguay round, that may resolve some of the issues between our two
    countries. But still there will be other issues in terms of the
    practical openness of our markets, what we can do to encourage more
    investment, how we enforce the laws that we all agree should be on the
    books. There are lots of questions like this that in good faith two
    friends ought to discuss. And so, we're very hopeful that that is what
    we can do.
        I should say, too, as much for the Americans as for the Koreans
    here, that just a few years ago Korea had a very large trade surplus
    with the U.S. In the last 2 or 3 years, it's been a very small trade
    surplus, and this year we might actually have a small surplus with
    Korea. So our trade is more or less in balance, and the problems we have
    relate to the way we implement certain things. So I don't think you
    should be concerned. We are going to go forward with the Uruguay round,
    and we won't do anything in this context that is in conflict with the
    desire to get a world trade agreement.

    North Korean Nuclear Development

        Q. President Clinton, you mentioned being resolute to take
    additional steps to stop North Korea's nuclear program. What are the
    carrots and sticks that you could apply to make North Korea comply with
    the IAEA safeguards?
        President Clinton. First, let me say that the talks will resume in a
    few days. I think it is obvious that the most important carrot out there
    is the one that President Kim has articulated when he described the
    conditions under which the two nations might move toward reunification
    with various confidence-building measures and other steps along the way.
    The economic success

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    of South Korea and the prospect that North Korea might one day have a
    cultural unity again and an economic success must be the greatest carrot
    of all. The sticks I think are obvious, but I think, again, I would
    support what President Kim said. We should not be discussing at this
    point what we might do if all our other efforts fail.
        Thank you.

    Note: The remarks began at 4 p.m. at the Blue House. President Kim spoke
    in Korean, and his remarks were translated by an interpreter.