SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, good morning, and welcome to the State
Department. It’s always a pleasure to have Foreign Minister Kim back in
Washington. And I also have the honor of greeting incoming Ambassador
Choi, who presented his credentials at the State Department this
morning. I look forward to working with him as well.
We have been consulting very closely and coordinating on a range of
issues now for several years. And the reason is obvious: Korea is
economic, political, and strategic leader, not only in the Asia Pacific,
but around the world. That’s why President Lee speaks of a global
Korea, and it’s why the United States and Korea are building a global
partnership.
Today, once again, we discussed ways that we are strengthening our
alliance, which is a lynchpin of America’s strategic engagement in the
Asia Pacific. We spoke about our recent diplomacy with North Korea. And I
want to be very clear: Any effort by anyone to drive a wedge between
the United States and the Republic of Korea will fail. We consult
closely on all aspects of our diplomacy. This will not change.
The minister and I also discussed the importance of coordinating
closely with Japan, and we asked our teams to hold a trilateral meeting
soon.
Of course, we went over the recent agreement by the DPRK to implement
a moratorium on long-range missile launches, nuclear tests, nuclear
activities at Yongbyon, including uranium enrichment. The North also
agreed to the return of IAEA inspectors to verify and monitor the
moratorium on uranium enrichment activities, and to confirm the
disablement of the five-megawatt reactor and associated facilities. This
is a modest step in the right direction, and we will be watching
closely and judging North Korea’s leaders by their actions.
We also discussed the United States’ announcement that we would
provide 240,000 metric tons of nutritional assistance for the most
vulnerable populations in North Korea. Our team just met in Beijing with
North Korean officials to discuss the administrative details of this
program, and we are working to move it forward soon.
This is an important time for our critical partnership. In just six
days, our free trade agreement will take effect, opening up new
opportunities for jobs and commerce between our people. We believe that
this agreement will create tens of thousands of jobs in both of our
countries. And later this month, President Obama will travel to Seoul
for the Nuclear Security Summit, where we will continue our efforts to
prevent weapons of mass destruction from falling into the wrong hands.
So on these and all the other issues on which we work together, I
want to thank the foreign minister for another very productive meeting.
Thank you, sir.
SECRETARY CLINTON: I thought we weren’t going to do English. I thought we were just going to do Korean. Yeah, thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: No, no no. You’re not going to translate me. We’re just going to translate the minister.
INTERPRETER: Great, great.
SECRETARY CLINTON: I would’ve stopped between – I would’ve never have subjected you to that. (Laughter.)
MR. KIM: (In Korean.)
FOREIGN MINISTER KIM: (Via interpreter) Good morning,
everyone. I would like to express my special gratitude to Secretary
Clinton for her invitation and warm hospitality. Today, as Secretary
Clinton just mentioned, we had a very fruitful consultation on a wide
range of issues. The ROK-U.S. alliance, considered to be in its best
ever shape, has been the cornerstone of peace and prosperity on the
Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia for the last 60 years based on our
common values and convictions, namely free democracy and market economy.
Secretary Clinton and I both recognized that the ROK-U.S. strategic
alliance has been broadening and deepening itself since the adoption of
our joint vision for the alliance in 2009, and we reaffirmed that our
strategic alliance will be expanding its role in dealing with the issues
on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia as well as global issues
on the basis of our common values.
With regard to the North Korea nuclear issue, I reaffirmed my
government’s position that we welcomed the result of the U.S.-DPRK
discussions that took place in Beijing last month, and appreciated the
close ROK-U.S. coordination that was intact throughout the dialogue
process between Washington and Pyongyang. Furthermore, we shared the
view that the outcome of the recent Beijing discussions is a meaningful
first step towards resolving the North Korea nuclear issue, and
underscored that faithful implementation of the necessary measures such
as moratorium on Yongbyon nuclear activities and the return of IAEA
inspectors is important. Secretary Clinton emphasized that there will
not be a fundamental improvement of relations between Washington and
Pyongyang without an improvement of inter-Korean relations. And we both
agreed that dialogue should be promoted and relations should be improved
between the two Koreas.
I mentioned that North Korea’s recent denunciations of the South are
an attempt to render influence on the elections and the domestic
politics of the ROK, and that they have relevance to North Korea’s own
internal situations. Secretary Clinton shared this view and we agreed to
continue our close communication on this situation within North Korea.
Secretary Clinton and I agreed that continued coordination between the
ROK and the U.S. will be the single most important factor in the coming
discussions on the resumption of the Six-Party Talks, and we agreed to
communicate closely at each level through channels such as the ROK-U.S.
summit meeting that is scheduled to take place during the Seoul Nuclear
Security Summit.
Also, the KORUS FTA, which will take effect next week, has upgraded
our alliance to a higher level. Secretary Clinton and I agreed to
cooperate toward early realization of the tangible benefits that KORUS
FTA will bring to us, such as job creation, expansion of trade, and
sharpening of our competitiveness. We also agreed, based on such a
comprehensive strategic alliance and going beyond the Korean Peninsula
and Northeast Asia, that the ROK and the U.S. will further strengthen
our cooperation in global issues such as nonproliferation, including the
Iranian nuclear issue, nuclear security, terrorism, development
cooperation, human rights, and environment. In particular, we are
working together for the success of the second Nuclear Security Summit
to be held in Seoul this month, building upon the accomplishments we had
at the last Washington summit.
Furthermore, Secretary Clinton and I shared the view that for a
sustained development of the relationship between our two countries,
support from the people of both nations is vital, and that both
governments will make active efforts to this end. Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you so much, Minister.
MS. NULAND: We have time for two questions today. We’ll start with Mr. Choi from KBS.
QUESTION: (Via interpreter) My name is Choi Kyoosik from KBS.
My question goes to Secretary Clinton with regard to the North Korean
refugee issue. With regard to the situation that is going on in China,
there are concerns arising in the international community. The Chinese
Government considers the North Korean defectors as economic migrants,
and they are repatriating them with – regardless of how they enter
China. I would like to ask Secretary Clinton if the U.S. Government
considers the North Korean defectors as refugees under the international
agreements, and also I would like to ask if – what are the short-term
and long-term policies of the U.S. Government with regard to this issue.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much. Let me begin by saying
that the United States shares the concerns by both the government and
the people of the Republic of Korea about the human rights situation in
North Korea and the treatment of North Korean refugees. We urge every
country to act according to international obligations. And those
international obligations regarding the treatment of refugees are
prescribed in the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees and the 1967 protocol.
We believe that refugees should not be repatriated and subjected once
again to the dangers that they fled from. The treatment of North Korean
refugees is an issue on which we have ongoing engagement with our
partners, both in Korea and in China. We had Ambassador Davies raise our
concerns about the North Korean refugees detained in China with senior
Chinese officials when he was last in China in February. And we urge all
countries in the region to cooperate in the protection of North Korean
refugees within their territories. We continue to work with
international organizations in order to protect these refugees and to find durable, permanent solutions for them.
MS. NULAND: Last question. ABC, Luis Martinez.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Do you want – does she want to translate – I think yeah. I think our young woman here will translate me.
MS. NULAND: Okay.
QUESTION: I’ll just (inaudible) ask question. Okay.
MS. NULAND: Well, each –
PARTICIPANT: (In Korean.)
MS. NULAND: This is our last question. ABC, Luis Martinez.
QUESTION: Mr. Minister, Madam Secretary, as part of your
discussions today, did you discuss a waiver on the Iranian oil sanction
that are upcoming? And Madam Secretary, what is the progress of the
talks with Japan on the similar waiver? And if I could ask – also ask
you about – are you both optimistic that the Six-Party Talks will
actually resume?
And switching to Syria, Madam Secretary --
SECRETARY CLINTON: Wait a minute. (Laughter.) I think two questions is your limit today. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Okay, Madam. Well, if I could, just a brief one on
Syria: Four generals have defected to Turkey today. Is this a sign that
the Assad regime is unraveling?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Okay. It’s Friday. (Laughter.) I want to
begin by saying we are deeply gratified by the support that we have
received from the Republic of Korea in building a global coalition to
pressure Iran to change course. And we share the concerns of our
Congress that the international community needs to take even stronger
steps to stop the flow of cash to the Iranian regime from its oil
sector. In that context, we have been working very closely with the
Republic of Korea on ways that it can look for alternatives to Iranian
oil and oil products.
Our goal is simple. We want the Iranian regime to feel the full
weight of the international community from these measures, and to
demonstrate unequivocally to them that the world is united against their
efforts to obtain nuclear weapons. No country understands the threat of
nuclear weapons from a neighbor better than the Republic of Korea.
And so we are continuing our very close, expert engagement. We’re not
only talking with our friends like the Republic of Korea, but also oil
producing partners about boosting production to shore up price stability
and offer alternative avenues of supply. And I would be the first to
say, we recognize the difficult decisions and even the sacrifices that
we are asking from other countries in order to increase this pressure on
Iran. Reigning in a dangerous government is not easy. That’s why we are
so closely cooperating with respect to our approach toward North Korea,
but also with our unified international approach toward Iran. We’ve got
to stay united, and we have no better partner and ally than our friends
in Korea. And so I think we will just continue our work together. We’re
making progress and I think that is our assessment at this time.
With respect to Syria, we continue to hear about defections. There
were reports today of four generals defecting. We continue to urge the
Syrian army not to turn their weapons against their own people –
defenseless civilians, women, and children. We continue to urge the
international community to come together to take action; first, to
provide humanitarian relief; and second, to work toward a political
transition that would have a change in leadership to one that would
respect the rights and dignity of the Syrian people.
I’ve made several calls today regarding the upcoming Arab League
meeting in Cairo. I talked with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a
few days ago about our hope that Russia will play a constructive role
in ending the bloodshed and working toward a political transition in
Syria, and I will be following up and meeting with him in New York on
Monday. So we have an intense effort going on, and we are supporting the
Arab League and their continuing leadership.
Thank you.
QUESTION: (In Korean.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: I don’t have a way to translate that. Thank you.
QUESTION: Okay.
SECRETARY CLINTON: We can provide a Korean readout to any Korean reporter.
FOREIGN MINISTER SUNG-HWAN: (Via interpreter) As for our
Republic of ROK as well, we are participating in the sanctions on Iran,
and we’ll keep discussing the specific measures to do that as well in
the future. Thank you.
