    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [July 2, 1999]
    [Pages 1126-1127]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following Discussions With President Kim Dae-jung of South Korea and an Exchange With Reporters
    July 2, 1999

        President Clinton. Let me begin by welcoming President Kim and his
    delegation to the United States. He is a remarkable leader and a person
    that all of us very much admire, and in the last year, we have seen an
    astonishing turnaround in the Korean economy, going from a period of
    contraction to a period of quite robust growth, in ways that no one
    could have predicted. It's a great, great success story, and I
    congratulated President Kim on that, and then we talked some, and we
    will talk more in our meeting after this of our security partnership.

    Northern Ireland Peace Process

        The second thing I would like to say very briefly is I think all of
    you know that the British and Irish Prime
    Ministers have issued their proposal for the
    way forward on the Irish peace process, and I think this is a very
    welcome development. It gives us a chance to fulfill the Good Friday
    accords. It gives the people of Northern Ireland, both Protestant and
    Catholic, a chance to shape their destiny and govern themselves. It
    gives us a chance to put an end to guns and violence forever. And the
    United States intends to support their efforts and to hold all the
    parties to their commitments. I think that is very, very important.
        This is a major opportunity to resolve that difficult problem
    forever, in ways that are good for all the people there. So it's good
    news.

    South Korean Military Technology

        Q. Mr. President, do you plan to support the South Koreans' bid to
    make a long-range missile--develop a long-range missile that could
    possibly hit their northern neighbor?
        President Clinton. Well, we're going to have our security discussion
    after this, and I think that we should talk about it before I make a
    public comment.

    Northern Ireland Peace Process

        Q. Sir, to those who are dissatisfied with the proposals outlined by
    the Prime Ministers today, what would you say?
        President Clinton. I would say, first of all, let's look at how far
    we've come. All the parties to the Good Friday accord and large
    majorities in Northern Ireland agree on the commitments that everyone
    has and how it should look at the end.
        This whole argument has been over the sequencing of how do you stand
    up the government? How do you get on with decommissioning? No one
    disputes the fact that everything has to be done by next May, on the
    decommissioning, for example. No one disputes the fact that everyone who
    got a certain percentage of the vote in the last election is entitled to
    be part of the executive.
        And so I would say to those who are dissatisfied, first of all,
    everybody's got to comply with everything. One of the things this
    proposal does is to reaffirm that. So who can be dissatisfied with that?
        Secondly, if you are afraid that the decommissioning won't occur,
    therefore, you don't want to stand up the government, my answer to that
    is that the Prime Ministers have offered to pass a bill through the British
    Parliament, which will make it clear that if General de Chastelain's

    [[Page 1127]]

    commission's timetable is not kept, that the whole thing can be brought
    down.
        So I would say to those who are skeptical, there are guarantees
    here. No one is going to get something for nothing. Everybody's going to
    have to fulfill the word of the Good Friday accord. And so don't let
    this thing come apart now.
        Would you like to make a statement, Mr. President?

    South Korea-U.S. Relations

        President Kim.  This is my third meeting with President Clinton, and
    our third meeting in less than 2 years, and this clearly demonstrates
    the closeness of the bilateral relations between Korea and the United
    States. And I do hope that these close ties of cooperation will continue
    to be further strengthened.
        I am extremely satisfied with the present state of relations between
    the two countries. We are meeting in close coordination on all issues,
    on economic issues as well as security issues. And I do hope that this
    close cooperation sends a clear message to North Korea.
        Thank you very much.
        Q.  Thank you.
        President Clinton.  Thank you all.

    President's Plans for the Fourth of July

        Q.  What are you doing for the Fourth of July?
        President Clinton.  We're going to be around here, watch the
    fireworks on The Mall.

    Note: The President spoke at 3:18 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Tony Blair of the
    United Kingdom; Prime Minister Bertie Ahern of Ireland; and Canadian
    Defense Forces Gen. John de Chastelain (Ret.), chair, Independent
    International Commission on Decommissioning. A tape was not available
    for verification of the content of these remarks.