[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 42 (Monday, October 22, 2001)]
[Pages 1509-1511]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Prior to Discussions With President Kim Dae-jung of South Korea 
and an Exchange With Reporters in Shanghai

October 19, 2001

    President Bush. I've been looking forward to yet another meeting 
with our friend the leader of South Korea. We had a good meeting in 
Washington, DC. Now we have a second meeting to discuss our common 
interests.
    First, we'll spend a lot of time talking about the war against 
terror. South Korea has been very firm in their support for the United 
States and the people of the United States. The President was very quick 
to respond, and I want to thank you, sir.
    Secondly, I look forward to affirming our support for trade with 
South Korea. We'll discuss the new round of trade negotiations.
    Thirdly, and as importantly, I'll confirm our support for the 
President's Sunshine Policy with North Korea. We appreciate his 
leadership on this very important issue, and I have looked forward to 
explaining to the President that we, after having reviewed our policy, 
like I told him we would do, our policy toward North Korea--we have done 
so, and we've offered Kim Chong-il the chance to meet with United States 
representatives. So we look forward to hearing a positive response from 
him.
    In the meantime, the President is taking his policy and moving it 
forward, and we're very supportive of that policy.
    President Kim. First of all, ladies and gentlemen, what I would like 
to say is that I would like to convey our most sincere condolences and 
sympathies to the people of America for their tremendous loss and the 
pain and the suffering that they suffer due to the terrorist attack.
    And also, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to applaud and show my 
great respect for the leadership of President Bush, for his calm 
composure and his very wise decisions in bringing together, first of 
all, the people of America together so that they will be able to 
effectively fight this war against terrorism, and also for his 
outstanding leadership in bringing together the international community 
together in this fight to eradicate terrorism. I would like to take this 
opportunity to convey my most sincere congratulations and respect.
    As a very close, staunch ally and friend and partner of the United 
States of America, the Republic of Korea will continue to take active 
participation in this war against terrorism. We will render all the 
necessary cooperation and assistance that they might need. And also as 
for the specifics as to what the Republic of Korea will do, we have 
already publicly stated our measures to help this war against terrorism, 
and we have notified the U.S. Government, as well.

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    And also, ladies and gentlemen, after September 11th, the world has 
tremendously become a completely different place for us. No country, 
nobody on this Earth is safe from terrorism and from these heinous 
terrorists. We must work together; we must cooperate with each other so 
that the world will become once again a safe place for us to travel 
freely by air, so that all of us will be able to freely go live and to 
visit highrises and large apartment buildings, and also so that all of 
us will be able to safely open our own private mail. All these are very 
much in doubt these days, and we must cooperate with each other to fight 
this and eradicate terrorism. And I have great faith that we will, 
indeed, succeed and that we will be victorious in this war against 
terrorism. And once again, I would like to applaud the efforts of 
President Bush for leading this effort to this endeavor.
    And ladies and gentlemen, so, during today's meetings with President 
Bush, it is my hope to have indepth discussions on the effective ways to 
counter terrorism. And also I wish to discuss, as President Bush 
mentioned, other issues of common interest.

APEC Support for Military Action in Afghanistan

    Q. Mr. President, the APEC terrorism declaration will not mention 
Afghanistan or Usama bin Laden by name. Does this indicate a lack of 
support for military action in Afghanistan?
    President Bush. I believe the APEC nations fully understand that not 
only terrorists should be brought to justice, but those who harbor 
terrorists should be brought to justice, as well. I am confident that 
we've got strong support here with the leaders who are present here at 
Shanghai; I've talked to most of them on the phone. I can tell you that 
the support is near unanimous for not only the activities that are going 
on now but for the strategy of fighting terrorism in the long run.
    These leaders understand that we're in a new type of war. They 
understand that the evil ones are a threat to established governments. 
They understand that for there to be peace throughout the generations, 
that we must be decisive and victorious. You heard the South Korean 
President. He's got a conviction about the need to fight terror; so do 
other world leaders.
    Q. Is it not important to have the APEC nations endorse the kind of 
military action the United States is leading?
    President Bush. The APEC leaders that I have talked to all--at least 
the ones I've talked to, fully understand that the United States, as 
well as other allies, will do what it takes to bring people to justice.
    And secondly, the doctrine is more than just the people who 
perpetuate these crimes on the American people. It is any country that 
harbors them, feeds them, houses them, or funds them. And the world 
leaders understand that. And I am very grateful for the breadth of 
support we have received. So far you've heard from two world leaders 
today, President Jiang of China, President Kim of South Korea, both of 
whom stand side-by-side with the American Government and the American 
people.
    And I am most pleased with the support we're receiving here, and I 
look forward to continuing to describe our efforts to our close friends 
and allies. And they will see in me a determination to succeed. And I 
fully understand that some, over time, may grow weary and may tire. But 
they'll realize the United States of America, under my leadership, will 
not. We must be successful in the war against terror.
    The United States--I'm looking forward to sharing with our friend 
the President about the recent news in the United States, that we've--
there have been some anthrax cases, where people have sent anthrax 
through the mail. And although I cannot pinpoint directly who did it, I 
will tell him, however, that anybody who were to do that in any country 
is obviously an evil person.
    And we're fighting evil. We don't fight a religion; we fight evil 
people. There is widespread support for the coalition and widespread 
support for the aims and goals of this country.

APEC Terrorism Declaration/South Korea-U.S. Cooperation

[At this point, a question was asked in Korean, and a translation was 
not provided.]

    President Kim. First of all, the Republic of Korea, the Government 
of the Republic

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of Korea during this APEC meeting will endorse, and we have been 
actively participating in endorsing this statement and the declaration 
condemning terrorism, international terrorism. We will continue to take 
a leading role in this fight against terrorism.
    And secondly, we have notified and announced to the Government of 
the United States our own measures to help in this fight against 
terrorism. For example, we've decided to send, dispatch a mobile medical 
team. And also we will be dispatching not only transportation assets and 
equipment, but also we will be dispatching our military liaison 
officers, among other measures.
    And also, whenever the need arises, the Republic of Korea, the 
Government will continue to closely consult with the U.S. Government.

Chairman Kim Chong-il of North Korea

[At this point, a question was asked in Korean, and a translation was 
not provided.]

    President Bush. First, I look forward to talking to our friend about 
his attitudes. After all, President Kim has been a leader in seeking 
exchanges between families.
    Secondly, as I mentioned, my administration wishes to begin a dialog 
with the Government of Kim Chong-il, yet he has refused to accept our 
invitation. I would hope that he would accept not only our invitation 
but seize an opportunity to bring more peaceful relations to the Korean 
Peninsula. He has an opportunity to lead. President Kim has given him 
that opportunity, and so have I. And I would hope he would seize the 
opportunity. I would hope he would show the world that he's interested 
in peace and interested in improving the lives of the citizens who live 
in North Korea. This is a moment in history where he can prove his 
worth. This is--part of our discussions today, of course, will be the 
Korean Peninsula.
    Final question.

Relief Efforts in Afghanistan

    Q. Relief organizations say that Afghanistan faces what could be the 
worst humanitarian crisis ever. Should there be any consideration to 
halting U.S. military strikes in order to get enough food into the 
country by winter?
    President Bush. First of all, my Government and, I know, the leaders 
involved in the coalition are worried about the suffering in 
Afghanistan. The Taliban Government is seizing food. The Taliban 
Government refuses to allow for an efficient distribution of aid that 
has been assembled to help the Afghan people.
    We will continue our military operations in such a way that it will 
not disrupt the delivery of food. And not only that, as a matter of 
fact, concurrent with our military operations will be the distribution 
of food. But the world must understand that the primary reason why food 
is not making it to starving people is the Taliban. If they were that 
interested in serving as representatives of the people, they would be 
encouraging the distribution of food.
    We will continue to do everything we can to make sure that our 
commitment to aid to the Afghan people is fulfilled. We are the leading 
country, in terms of providing aid to the Afghan people. I have 
increased our budget from $170 million to--or asked to increase the 
budget to over $300 million of aid.
    Our beef is not with the Afghan people. Our beef is with a 
repressive government that houses, aids, and abets terrorists.
    Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 2:03 p.m. at the Portman Ritz Carlton 
Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al 
Qaida terrorist organization, and President Jiang Zemin of China. 
President Kim spoke in Korean, and his remarks were translated by an 
interpreter.