[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 36 (Monday, September 10, 2007)]
[Pages 1189-1190]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Meeting With President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea 
in Sydney

September 7, 2007

    President Bush. Mr. President, thank you for your time. As usual, we 
had a very friendly and frank discussion about important matters. We 
discussed our bilateral relations, which are very strong. And we thank 
you for your contributions to helping young democracies such as Iraq and 
Afghanistan.
    But we spent a lot of time talking about the six-party talks and the 
progress that is being made in the six-party talks. I understand you're 
having a summit with the leader of North Korea, and I appreciate the 
fact that you will urge the North Korean leader to continue to adhere to 
the agreement that he made with us.
    And in our discussions, I reaffirmed our Government's position that 
when the North Korean leader fully discloses and gets rid of his nuclear 
weapons programs, that we can achieve a new security arrangement in the 
Korean Peninsula, that we can have the peace that we all long for. You 
and I discussed the northeast peace and security agreement--arrangement, 
which we support.
    And so I'm optimistic. There's still more work to be done. But 
nevertheless, Mr. President, when we have worked together, we have shown 
that it's possible to achieve the peace on the Korean Peninsula that the 
people long for.
    So thank you, sir.
    President Roh. As President Bush has stated, we had a very 
constructive discussion on six-party talks and the North Korean nuclear 
issue as well as other bilateral issues between our two countries.
    Before we discussed these issues, I reaffirmed my support for 
President Bush and his policies and efforts in Iraq to bring peace. I 
also thanked the President for his efforts in the Visa Waiver Program--
for his constructive position on this issue.
    We both agreed on the positive outlook for the six-party talks. We 
believe that this progress is very meaningful. And I also thanked 
President Bush for his resolve to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula 
and Northeast Asian region, for making a strategic decision to bring 
peace to the region through dialog.
    As is outlined in the 2005 September 19th joint statement, we have a 
plan for the peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, and President Bush 
also reaffirmed in November of last year in Vietnam of his willingness 
and his resolve to end the Korean war officially, once and for all. 
Today we revisited this issue. President Bush reaffirmed his 
determination to replace the current status in the Korean Peninsula with 
a permanent peace regime, and he stressed that he would be proceeding 
with this move after the North Korean nuclear issue is resolved.
    We also share the view that should there be more progress in the 
six-party process, this will be followed by talks to initiate a

[[Page 1190]]

Northeast Asian regional security mechanism. I also reassured President 
Bush that the inter-Korean summit will underpin the progress at the six-
party talks, that relations--the inter-Korean relations and the six-
party talks should be a mutually reenforcing relationship.
    I think I might be wrong--I think I did not hear President Bush 
mention the--a declaration to end the Korean war just now. Did you say 
so, President Bush?
    President Bush. I said it's up to Kim Jong Il as to whether or not 
we're able to sign a peace treaty to end the Korean war. He's got to get 
rid of his weapons in a verifiable fashion. And we're making progress 
toward that goal. It's up to him.
    President Roh. I believe that they are the same thing, Mr. 
President. If you could be a little bit clearer in your message, I 
think----
    President Bush. I can't make it any more clear, Mr. President. We 
look forward to the day when we can end the Korean war. That will end--
will happen when Kim Jong Il verifiably gets rid of his weapons programs 
and his weapons.
    Thank you, sir.

Note: The President spoke at 3:29 p.m. at the InterContinental Sydney. 
In his remarks, he referred to Chairman Kim Jong Il of North Korea. 
President Roh spoke in Korean, and his remarks were translated by an 
interpreter.