[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.