[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 26 (Monday, July 5, 1999)]
[Pages 1268-1269]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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 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?
      
    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.

[[Page 1269]]

    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 Gen. John de 
Chastelain, Canadian Defense Forces, member and chair, Independent 
International Commission on Decommissioning. A tape was not available 
for verification of the content of these remarks.