[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 16 (Monday, April 28, 2008)]
[Pages 554-559]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's News Conference With President Lee Myung-bak of South 
Korea at Camp David, Maryland

April 19, 2008

    President Bush. Welcome. We're glad you're here, Mr. President, and 
we're glad you brought Mrs. Kim. We had a wonderful dinner last night 
and looking forward to having lunch too, today.
    We've had great visits. And this is an important visit for me to get 
to know you. I heard about your background. I admire your strength of 
character. And this is an important visit to strengthen the relationship 
between our two countries, and I believe we have done so.
    President Lee. Thank you.
    President Bush. President Lee is the first Korean President to visit 
Camp David. And I don't know if the American citizens understand your 
nickname.
    President Lee. Yes.
    President Bush. You're known as ``the Bulldozer.'' [Laughter] He 
said to make sure that it was a bulldozer with a computer. [Laughter] 
And the reason why is that this is a man who takes on big challenges, 
and he doesn't let obstacles get in the way. I like his spirit; I like 
his candor; and I like his optimistic vision. But most of all, I really 
appreciate his values.
    A good relationship is based upon common values, and our countries 
share common values, values of the rights of each individual to live in 
a free society. We believe in human dignity and justice.
    Now, we discussed a variety of issues. We talked about our defense 
cooperation. In 2004, our nations began an alliance transformation that 
has involved realigning U.S. forces in Korea and relocating some of them 
from the peninsula. We're in constant touch, and we're constantly 
reassessing our needs. And we have reaffirmed our need to remain in 
close dialog. And we reached an agreement to maintain the current U.S. 
troop level on the peninsula. This is a mutual agreement that benefits 
both our nations and will strengthen our alliance, and Secretary Gates 
and Defense Minister Lee will coordinate its implementation.
    Korea has asked that--to upgrade its foreign military sales status 
with the United States and to have the same access to U.S. military 
technologies as NATO and other key allies. And I strongly support this 
request and have instructed Secretaries Rice and Gates to work with the 
Congress to get this done.
    Yesterday our nations signed a memorandum of understanding on 
security improvements necessary for Korea to enter the Visa Waiver 
Program. This was a very important issue for the President.
    President Lee. Yes. Sure.
    President Bush. We spent a lot of time talking about this issue. 
These security enhancements put Korea on the path toward visa-free 
travel to the United States for its people. We promised that both sides 
will work hard on this issue so that Koreans will be visiting the United 
States under the Visa Waiver Program before this year ends.
    The United States and Korea are working to improve security and 
advance freedom in the Asia-Pacific region. Together with China, Russia, 
and Japan, our nations are pressing North Korea to fulfill its 
obligations to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Thanks to the six-
party framework, North Korea has begun disabling the plutonium 
production facilities at Yongbyon. And now North Korea must fulfill its 
other obligations: provide a full declaration of its nuclear programs 
and proliferation activities in a verifiable way.
    President Lee and I discussed our mutual concern for the human 
condition in North Korea. I mean, we are--our hearts break when we hear 
these stories of families that have been torn apart or people being 
subjected to harsh work camps because of their beliefs. We believe in 
basic rights, and we believe those rights ought to be extended to the 
people of North Korea.
    We're also thankful for the Koreans' contributions to the young 
democracies, whether it be Afghanistan or Iraq or Lebanon. And we want 
to thank you and your people, Mr. President, for those sacrifices.
    And then, of course, we talked about our economy. As a former CEO, 
President Lee understands the importance of trade. First of all, I want 
to thank you, Mr. President, and I appreciate your decision to reopen 
the Korean market to American beef, consistent

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with international standards. This is good news for Korean consumers, 
and it's good news for American beef producers. As a matter of fact, we 
had some good American beef last night for dinner. [Laughter]
    Now, our United States Congress must reject protectionism. It must 
not turn its back on a friend and ally like Korea and must approve the 
free trade agreement with Korea this year. So the President was 
wondering--he's been reading about the decision by our Speaker that 
effectively killed the Colombia free trade agreement, unless, of course, 
she gives us a date certain of when there will be a vote. He wonders if 
this protectionist sentiment is such that it will cause me, for example, 
not to continue to fight for free and fair trade.
    I assured him that the Korea trade agreement is a priority of this 
administration, and I assured him that we will press hard with the 
United States Congress. It's in our country's interests that we approve 
this agreement, Mr. President. It's in our interests that we stand with 
our friends and allies. And it's in the interests of the world that we 
complete the Doha negotiations for the WTO. We spent some time 
discussing that as well.
    And then--and finally, we talked about our mutual desire to have a 
rational, practical approach to international climate--the international 
climate issue, global warming. I mean, it's--how can you possibly have 
an international agreement that's effective unless countries like China 
and India are not full participants? And that's why I assured him this 
major economies meeting that's taking place in Paris--I assured him I 
meant what I said in my speech in the Rose Garden, and that hopefully by 
the time we get to

G-8, there's a serious effort by all major economies to become active 
participants in a effective strategy to deal with this issue.
    So we had a great discussion. Really appreciate you coming. And, Mr. 
President, the podium is yours.
    President Lee. Thank you very much, Mr. President. First of all, 
thank you for inviting me and my wife to this beautiful place called 
Camp David. I would like to extend my thanks to President Bush and Mrs. 
Laura Bush for their invitation. And I was warmly welcomed by the 
American people. If I were to have known I was going to get this warm 
hospitality, I should have come earlier. [Laughter]
    Again, I would like to extend my most sincere gratitude to you, Mr. 
President. And also, we had a very productive discussion. We had a very 
open and frank discussion. And I believe that today's meeting was very 
constructive, and I'm very thankful for having this meeting, Mr. 
President.
    The Korea-U.S. alliance was pivotal in ensuring peace and stability 
of the Korean Peninsula but also that of Northeast Asia. Now, as the 
international situation as well as the economic and security situation 
change dramatically, our alliance is also called upon to undergo new 
changes. And so in order to effectively respond to these need for 
change, President Bush and I agreed to develop our alliance into an 
alliance based on freedom and democracy, human rights, and the principle 
of market economy--otherwise known as the 21st century strategic 
alliance, something that will contribute to global peace and security as 
well.
    Furthermore, we both agreed to--based on such mutual understanding 
and common ideas--to discuss specific ways to realize our vision for 
this strategic alliance. So we'll discuss this when President Bush 
visits Korea later on this year.
    Just a while ago, President Bush mentioned as for the U.S. forces in 
Korea, he decided to maintain the current troop levels in Korea. Is that 
right, Mr. President?
    President Bush. Yes, that's an accurate statement.
    President Lee. Both of us reaffirmed once again that under no 
circumstances would we allow North Korea to possess nuclear weapons. 
Also, we agreed to work together closely within the six-party talks so 
that North Korea can fully and completely give up all their nuclear 
weapons program as soon as possible.
    Korea and the United States do not harbor any hostile intent towards 
North Korea. We both agreed to work together to help North Korea escape 
international isolation and to improve the lives of the North Korean 
people. President Bush supported our policy

towards North Korea, including our denuclearization opening 3000 policy, 
and also said that the United States will continue

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to dialog--seek ways to promote dialog in exchange with North Korea.
    Both President Bush and I agreed that the passage of the KORUS FTA 
will benefit not only our two economies but also act as a catalyst to 
substantially improve exchange and cooperation in all areas between our 
two countries. And so we agreed to work closely together for the speedy 
ratification of the KORUS FTA. And, Mr. President, he agreed to work 
very closely and to convince the United States Congress to pass the 
KORUS FTA by the end of this year. I would like to thank him for that.
    Among the achievements of my visit to the United States--there were 
a lot of difficulties for Koreans to visit the United States. Most of 
all, the difficulty they faced was due to the difficulty in getting 
visas to enter the United States. However, the Republic of Korea has 
signed a memorandum of understanding for--to take part in the Visa 
Waiver Program, and we agreed to implement this by the end of this year. 
Once that happens, our cultural exchange as well as our economic 
exchange and the exchange in many areas will expand, and I have high 
hopes for that.
    At the same time, President Bush and I agreed to expand exchange 
programs for our youth and students, which will ensure a brighter future 
for our bilateral ties.
    We reaffirm that nuclear nonproliferation and the promotion of 
democracy and human rights are all a vital component in making our world 
a better, safer place. In this regard, in order to ensure sustainable 
development, we agreed to work closely on the issues of climate change 
and energy securities, matters which are very serious and concerns us 
all.
    During the summit meeting today, I was very heartened to hear that 
the United States and President Bush personally had a very strong 
interest in fighting global warming and climate change. That's a very 
important decision, and I hope that the United States--and I have 
confidence that the United States will take a leading role in this 
issue, and I have confidence Mr. President Bush will do that as well.
    I invited President Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush to visit Korea this 
summer. And I'm pleased to note that President Bush agreed and readily 
accepted to come visit Korea with Mrs. Bush.
    Once again, today's meeting was an opportunity for us to reaffirm 
our mutual trust, and that we agreed to work together to solve issues 
not only of the peninsula but to work closely and cooperate with issues 
of global concern.
    I'm very happy with the results of today's meeting. And we will work 
very closely together to see the complete dismantlement of the nuclear 
weapons program of North Korea, and we will work closely within the six-
party talks framework. And we must see the satisfactory conclusion, 
which will lead to helping the North Korean people lead better lives 
with dignity.
    Once again, Mr. President, I'm very happy to have met you, Mr. 
President, as well as Mrs. Laura Bush. And thank you for the warm 
hospitality extended to me and my delegation by the people of America. 
We will work closely together with a future-oriented mind. And I promise 
you I will do my very best, Mr. President.
    President Bush. Thank you. We'll do two questions a side.

North Korea

    Q. I have the same question for both of you.
    President Bush. I warned him.
    Q. [Inaudible]--not two questions.
    President Bush. Well, no, it's--[laughter].
    Q. Isn't--first to President Bush--isn't scaling back demands about 
what the--North Korea has to declare giving in to a country that has 
repeatedly demonstrated that it can't be trusted? Former U.N. Ambassador 
Bolton has called it a complete collapse in the deal, and your critics 
are saying that you're selling out to get an agreement. Why is it not?
    President Bush. Look, we're going to make a judgment as to whether 
North Korea has met its obligations to account for its nuclear program 
and activities, as well as meet its obligations to disable its reactor. 
In other words, we'll see. The burden of proof is there. We've laid 
out--they've made some promises, and we'll make a judgment as to whether 
they met those promises. And then

[[Page 557]]

we and our partners will take a look at North Korea's full declaration 
to determine whether or not the activities they promised they could do 
could be verified. And then we'll make a judgment of our own as to 
whether or not--you know, we'll--about our own obligations.
    Q. So you're not--[inaudible]--about what you're asking them?
    President Bush. You know, there's all kinds of rumors about what is 
happening and what's not happening. Obviously, I'm not going to accept a 
deal that doesn't advance the interests of the region. The whole 
objective of the six-party talks and framework is to get them to 
disclose their weapons programs, is to get them to dismantle their 
plutonium processing, is to get them to talk about activities, nuclear 
activities. And we'll make a judgment as to whether or not they do that. 
But somehow, people are precluding--you know, jumping ahead of the game. 
They have yet to make a full declaration. Why don't we just wait and see 
what they say before people go out there and start giving their opinions 
about whether or not this is a good deal or a bad deal.
    But one thing is for certain: The most effective way to deal with 
this issue is to do so with parties like China and Japan and Korea 
joining the United States and South Korea with a common voice. The whole 
object of this exercise is to convince the leader of North Korea to give 
up his nuclear weapons ambitions. That's the whole object.
    And so we have yet to come to the stage where he has made a full 
declaration. And so we'll wait and see what he says, and then we'll make 
a decision about our obligations, depending upon whether or not we're 
convinced that there is a solid and full declaration and whether or not 
there's a way to verify whether or not he's going to do what he says 
he's going to do.
    President Lee. As for the declaration of North Korea, that is in a 
very important process. I believe, if North Korea's declaration is not 
satisfactory or if the verification is not satisfactory, we could 
probably have a temporary achievement. But in the long term, that will 
cause a lot more serious problems. I believe President Bush shares this 
thought with me.
    Mr. President Bush explained just now the declaration, the 
verification process, has not begun. We are still waiting for North 
Korea to declare their full program. They should not get away with this 
temporary measure. The United States is not dealing with the--North 
Korea alone. There are other parties to the six-party talks, and they 
must all agree to North Korea's declaration. So in that regard, North 
Korea's declaration of their nuclear weapons program should be complete 
and correct, and verification--I'm not sure how long that is going to 
take, but North Korea must faithfully cooperate with verification 
process.
    All the parties of the six-party talks are with one mind that the 
verification process must be full and complete and satisfactory. I think 
it's inappropriate and unconstructive for us to have too many doubts 
before the process even begins. The process is beginning. We should have 
trust in the process, and I will watch this process and cooperate fully.

North Korea-South Korea Relations

    Q. I have a question for President Lee. Korea and the United States 
have made many achievements through the summit meeting, especially North 
Korean nuclear issue and the strengthening of the alliance. As for North 
Korean nuclear issue, Mr. President Lee suggested setting up a permanent 
liaison office in both Seoul and Pyongyang. What are some of the 
followup effects, if you do have any followup actions? And do you have 
any thoughts of proposing a meeting with Chairman Kim at an earlier 
date?
    President Lee. The process is not something that we discussed 
between ourselves during the summit meeting. In fact, when I was staying 
in Washington, DC, I had an interview with one of the newspapers there, 
and it came up. Of course, it was not a sudden suggestion. I did have a 
meeting among my staff and related ministries, and I talked about this 
in detail before I came to the United States.
    We have a new administration in Korea, and we haven't yet to begun 
dialog with the North Koreans. Inter-Korean dialog--there is a need for 
us to have dialog all the time. Up until now, we had dialogs whenever 
the

[[Page 558]]

need arose, and then it would stop. However, dialog should be based on 
genuine cooperation and sincerity. And so with this in mind, I thought 
that it would be helpful to set up a permanent liaison office in both 
Seoul and Pyongyang.
    As for the summit meeting between myself and Chairman Kim, I will 
agree to it when the need is real. And I already said publicly that I am 
willing to meet with him--not just once, but many times--but if the 
meeting will yield substantial and real results. I believe only when 
that is possible, I am ready to meet with him and have sincere dialog, 
because that will help to bring about peace and stability of the 
peninsula.
    So basically, I do hold that thought, but I'm not suggesting that--
to have a meeting with Chairman Kim anytime soon. If the need arises, 
again, I'm ready to meet with him.
    President Bush. Steven Lee [Steven Lee Myers, New York Times].

North Korea/Six-Party Talks

    Q. Thank you very much, Mr. President. If I could follow up a little 
bit on North Korea--the North Koreans agreed last year to make their 
disclosure. We're now in April, and we've yet to see this disclosure. 
There are continued negotiations, a new round next week. Are you 
concerned that, given this record, they're not prepared to make this 
full disclosure; that they're stalling the process somehow? And if so, a 
question for both of you, how do you respond to that?
    President Bush. Yes, of course. I mean, they may be trying to stall. 
One thing about a nontransparent society where there's not a lot of free 
press, for example, or a lot of opposition voices, it's hard to tell 
what's going on. Now, he has made declarations, and he's testing the 
relationship. He's wondering whether or not the five of us will stay 
unified. And the only thing I know to do is to continue pressing forward 
within the six-party framework.
    The decision--we've made our decision. We, the five of us, have made 
our decision, and that is, there's a way forward. And obviously we hope 
he chooses to honor his commitments in a verifiable way. But it's--when 
you're dealing with a society in which it's hard to get information out 
of, you just have to wait and see whether they're sincere or not. Unlike 
our society, of course, where there's all kinds of people in the 
administration talking and sharing information with you--some of it 
authorized, some of it's not--it doesn't happen that way in North Korea. 
It's a closed society. It's a society in which the will of one person 
decides the course of the future.
    And, again, we're very hopeful. We talked about our mutual desire to 
keep the six-party framework in place to deal with a lot of issues. The 
first one, of course, is with North Korea. And it's--I can just tell 
you, Steven Lee, it's much more effective to have more than one voice 
speaking on this issue than to be the sole voice speaking on the issue. 
And so if it--if there ever is going to be a breakthrough, it's through 
the six-party framework.
    And, look, I'm hopeful. We'll see. This has been a--I've been at 
this for quite awhile. And there's been moments where it looked like the 
process was going to go very smoothly and everybody's going to honor 
their commitments, and then for one reason or another, there's a--there 
was a setback. But the key thing is, is that we haven't abandoned the 
efforts to solve this problem peacefully and diplomatically.
    President Lee. Thank you. If you correctly understand North Korea 
and if you do understand North Korean society, you'll probably get a 
better picture of why we are seeing some delay in the process at the 
moment. If North Korea wasn't like that, then we would have seen the 
resolvement of this issue already. We need persistent patience, ladies 
and gentlemen. And we need time in order to have complete resolution of 
this issue.
    However, it's difficult to convince North Korea to give up their 
nuclear weapons program, but it's not impossible. It is not impossible. 
I believe that. So in order to resolve this issue, I believe that the 
six-party talks is the most effective way and mechanism to resolve this 
issue, like the President mentioned. And right now we're in the stages 
of waiting for their declaration, and then we can move on to the 
verification process.

[[Page 559]]

    So I think it's up to you to make the atmosphere so that North Korea 
can faithfully abide by their promise and make the right declaration; 
that once North Korea does so, it is also in their interest to make the 
correct decision to give a full and complete declaration. And it will 
also help the North Korean people improve the quality of their life, and 
that is the best strategic choice that they can make.

South Korea-U.S. Relations/China

    Q. Chosun Daily News--I have a question for President Bush. The 
United States has a divergent alliance with countries like the United 
Kingdom, Japan. In your opinion, President Bush, what kind of alliance 
do you have with the Republic of Korea? And during your summit meeting 
today, I believe you agreed to upgrade the Korea-U.S. alliance. In order 
to upgrade the alliance, what kind of new movement will you take on, for 
instance, the transfer of wartime operational control? And what will you 
do, President Bush--do you have any intention to meet with both 
President Lee and Chairman Kim in order to resolve this issue?
    President Bush. No--[inaudible]--described the relationship--
[inaudible]--a 21st century strategic alliance. That makes sense to me. 
So what does that mean? Well, it means we work in ways to deal with 21st 
century problems, such as proliferation of nuclear materials, such as 
working to make sure our children are educated with the tools necessary 
to be productive citizens, such as having a recognition that in the 21st 
century, a free and fair trading system will be necessary for 
prosperity. And that's why it's going to be very important for our 
Congress to ratify the free trade agreement with Korea.
    It's going to be very important a 21st century alliance recognizes 
that China is a opportunity for both nations to engage in a constructive 
way. We have our problems with China, of course, whether it be human 
rights or how the Chinese leadership deals with the Dalai Lama or with 
Burma--a variety of issues. On the other hand, you can either have a 
constructive relationship--we can work constructively with China--or we 
can have a destructive relationship. I've chosen to have a constructive 
relationship.
    And so the step one is to anticipate the issues confronting our 
peoples in the 21st century, and step two is to develop a practical way 
to deal with those issues. And that's exactly what our conversation 
revolved around. And I'm confident that this meeting has strengthened 
our relationship, and I'm confident that the American people understand 
how important this relationship is to our own prosperity and our own 
security.
    And so it's been a really good visit, and we're glad you came here 
too. [Laughter] Yes. Thanks for coming. Thank you, sir.

Note: The President's news conference began at 11:17 a.m. In his 
remarks, the President referred to Kim Yoon-ok, wife of President Lee; 
Minister of National Defense Lee Sang-hee of South Korea; Chairman Kim 
Jong Il of North Korea; and Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama of Tibet. A 
reporter referred to Ambassador John R. Bolton, former U.S. 
Representative to the United Nations. President Lee and some reporters 
spoke in Korean, and their remarks were translated by an interpreter.