[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
[September 14, 2006]
[Pages 1643-1646]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks Following Discussions With President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea and an Exchange With Reporters
September 14, 2006
President Bush. Welcome to the White House. I will give an opening
statement; the President will give an opening statement; we will answer
two questions a side.
Mr. President, thank you for coming. The relationship between the
United States and South Korea is a strong and vital relationship. Today
we talked about how to strengthen our commitment to peace and security
on the Korean Peninsula. All our discussions began with the notion that
our alliance is important to security and peace in the Far East. I thank
the President, the South Korean Government, and the people of South
Korea for sending troops into Iraq to help that young democracy realize
the benefits of liberty.
We reaffirmed our commitment to the six-party talks so that we can
peacefully deal with the North Korean issue. We talked about our
economic relations and the importance of a free trade agreement to
benefit our respective peoples.
And finally, the President talked to me about a visa waiver policy.
He strongly advocated the need for there to be a visa waiver for the
people of South Korea. I assured him we will work together to see if we
can't get this issue resolved as quickly as possible.
We've had a very friendly and very meaningful dialog, and I'm glad
you came, Mr. President. Please.
President Roh. First of all, I would like to offer my sincere
condolences and sympathies, and those of the Korean people, for the
tragedy of 9/11, which struck 5 years ago.
President Bush. Thank you, sir.
President Roh. I would like to also reiterate our support for the
war against terror and of President Bush, the people of the United
States. And we stand with you, President Bush, and the people of America
in your fight against terror.
President Bush. Thank you, sir.
[[Page 1644]]
President Roh. Prior to our summit meeting, we have closely
coordinated the agenda and issues of interest. And on this basis, we had
very sufficient and very satisfactory talks.
And President Bush spoke about the three issues that we discussed.
If I may add to one of them, of the wartime operational control, I was
very happy that the President reassured me of the continued commitment
of the United States for the defense of the Korean Peninsula.
As for the remaining issue of timing of the transfer of OPCON, we
agreed that this is not a political issue; this is an issue that will be
discussed through the working-level talks. And we will continue to work
together on this issue.
And also, the President and I agreed to work together for the
restart of the six-party talks. And as for specific steps that we can
take before the resumption of the six-party process, our ministers and
staff will be consulting closely.
And, Mr. President, I would like to thank you again for the open and
understanding that you have shown in these difficult issues.
President Bush. Thank you, sir. Caren [Caren Bohan, Reuters]--I
mean, Nedra [Nedra Pickler, Associated Press].
``Military Commissions Act of 2006''
Q. Thank you, Mr. President. Your former Secretary of State endorsed
the plan to block the terror suspect interrogation legislation that you
have proposed. He says it would raise doubts about the moral basis for
the U.S. fight against terrorists and would put U.S. troops at risk.
Does this hurt your efforts?
President Bush. We have proposed legislation that will enable the
Central Intelligence Agency to be able to conduct a program to get
information from high-value detainees in a lawful way. And that idea was
approved yesterday by a House committee in an overwhelmingly bipartisan
fashion. It is very important for the American people to understand that
in order to protect this country, we must be able to interrogate people
who have information about future attacks.
So the question I ask about any piece of legislation is, will the
program provide legal clarity so that our professionals will feel
comfortable about going forward with the program? That's what I'm going
to ask. And I will resist any bill that does not enable this program to
go forward with legal clarity. And there's all kinds of letters coming
out, and today, by the way, active duty personnel in the Pentagon, the
JAG, supported the concept that I have just outlined to you. This is an
important program for the security of this country. And we want to work
with Congress to make sure that the program can go forward. If there's
not clarity, if there's ambiguity, if there's any doubt in our
professionals' minds that they can conduct their operations in a legal
way, with support of the Congress, the program won't go forward and the
American people will be in danger.
President Bush. Mr. President.
U.S. Armed Forces in South Korea/North Korea
[At this point, a question was asked in Korean, and no translation was
provided.]
President Bush. Okay, I'll interpret the question for you.
[Laughter] ``How come you look so beautiful in your blue tie, Mr.
President?'' [Laughter]
No, he asked about operational control and the date--the appropriate
date of operational control. My message to the Korean people is that the
United States is committed to the security of the Korean Peninsula.
Decisions about the placement of our troops and the size of our troops
will be made in consultation with the South Korean Government. We will
work in a consultative way at the appropriate level of government to
come up with an appropriate date.
[[Page 1645]]
I agree with the President that the issue should not become a
political issue. I have talked to our Secretary of Defense about making sure that the issue is done in a
consultative way and at the appropriate level of government, and that's
how we will end up deciding the appropriate transfer of operational
authority.
Did he ask you a question?
President Roh. Yes, that was a very good answer. Thank you, Mr.
President. [Laughter]
President Bush. Hope everybody else agrees with it.
President Roh. As for the question about the common and broad
approach being talked about between our two countries for the restart of
the six-party talks, I must tell you that we are at the working level of
consulting very closely on this issue, but we have not yet reached a
conclusion. And this issue is very complex, so I would be hesitant--and
it would be difficult for me to answer the question at the moment.
The important thing to remember, that South Korea now faces the
issue of North Korean nuclear issue. And this, I would say, is one
important issue that we're facing. On the other hand, the United States
has a host of other issues to deal with: the Iran/Lebanon crisis; the
war in Iraq. So what is important to remember is that--the fact that we
are consulting closely on the North Korean nuclear issue, and we are
consulting on ways to restart the six-party process. And I believe this
is the important point, that this is, in fact, very meaningful that the
United States is devoting much of its efforts to resolving the North
Korean issue. This is very significant for the Korean Government.
President Bush. Thank you. Caren.
North Korea's Participation in the Six-Party Talks
Q. Mr. President, North Korea has refused to engage in the six-party
talks for nearly a year. What's the incentive to get them back to the
table?
President Bush. No, I appreciate that. First and foremost, the
incentive is for Kim Jong Il to understand there
is a better way to improve the lives of his people than being isolated;
that stability in the region is in his interest, the ultimate interests
for the people of North Korea to be able to benefit and for families to
be able to have food on the table.
His refusal to come back to the six-party talks has really
strengthened an alliance of five nations that--who are determined to
solve this issue peacefully, but recognize a threat posed by a country
in the region armed with a nuclear weapon. If he
were to verifiably get rid of his weapons programs, there is clearly a
better way forward. And that is the message we've been sending to the
North Korean Government through the six-party talks.
Final question. Do you want to call on somebody?
South Korea-North Korea Relations
[A question was asked in Korean, and no translation was provided.]
President Roh. As for your question, that there is a concern in
Korea that the United States will take further sanctions against North
Korea and whether this will jeopardize the chance of a successful six-
party process, my answer is that we are working very hard on restarting
the six-party talks. That is what the President and I have discussed
this morning, and this is not the appropriate time to think about the
possibility of a failure of the six-party process. So this is my answer.
And my Government has taken certain measures. And although--because
we do not want to hurt the inter-Korean relations, we do not label
this--these measures as sanctions; we are, in fact, taking measures
tantamount to sanctions after the North Korean missile launches. This
is--we have suspended rice and fertilizer aid to North Korea, and this
is, in fact, similar to sanctions in its effect.
[[Page 1646]]
And we are, in fact--this measure of suspension of aid to North
Korea, I believe, is in line with the implementation of the U.N.
security resolution on North Korea. And as for other sanctions you have
mentioned by the United States, these are being done in line with the
U.S. law enforcement. And so we would be--we would not delve into this
at this time.
President Bush. Thank you, sir. Thank you.
Note: The President spoke at 11:53 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
House. In his remarks, he referred to Chairman Kim Jong Il of North
Korea. A reporter referred to former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.