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'Bush Continues To Seek Diplomatic Solution with North Korea', Office of the Press Secretary, The Whitehouse, May 31, 2005.
PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE PRESIDENT
The Rose Garden
10:43 A.M. EDT
...
Q: Mr. President, thank you. I wonder if you can explain the administration's decision to allow Iran, in its negotiations with the Europeans, to get WTO status, ascension into the WTO, whether you think that deal, in a sense, has legs. And also, you talked about Iraq being a powerful symbol in that part of the world. One of the things you said going into the war was that it would deter other countries, rogue nations, from developing weapons of mass destruction. And when you think about North Korea and Iran, the opposite is true -- they haven't been deterred at all. Why do you think that is?
THE PRESIDENT: The first part of your question was about our agreement that Iran should apply for WTO. In other words, we said, fine, if you want to apply for WTO, go ahead and apply. That's -- and we did that to facilitate the EU-3 discussions with Iran.
I've always believed that the -- obviously, the best way to solve any difficult issue is through diplomacy. And in this case, France, Great Britain and Germany are handling the negotiations on behalf of the rest of the world, which is those nations which are deeply concerned about Iran having a nuclear weapon.
Now, our policy is very clear on that, and that is that the Iranians violated the NPT agreement; we found out they violated the agreement, and, therefore, they're not to be trusted when it comes to highly-enriched uranium -- or highly-enriching uranium. And, therefore, our policy is to prevent them from having the capacity to develop enriched uranium to the point where they're able to make a nuclear weapon.
Secondly -- and so, therefore, we're working with the EU-3 to hopefully convince the Iranians to abandon their pursuits of such a program. And it appears we're making some progress.
So our decision was to allow them to join the WTO -- or to apply to join the WTO -- which is not ascension to the WTO, it's the right to make an application -- seemed like a reasonable decision to make in order to advance the negotiations with our European partners.
Secondly, in terms of North Korea, North Korea had a weapons program that they had concealed, as you might recall, prior to 2002. As a matter of fact, it was prior to 2000 -- it was a bilateral -- so-called bilateral agreement between North Korea and the United States. And it turns out that they had violated that agreement because they were enriching uranium, contrary to the agreement. And we caught them on that. And therefore, I decided to change the policy to encourage other nations to be involved with convincing North Korea to abandon its weapons program. And that's where we are.
And it's important to have China at the table, for example, saying the same thing that the United States is saying, and that is, is that if you want to be a -- if you want to be a responsible nation, get rid of your weapons programs. It's important to have Japan and South Korea and Russia saying the same thing.
We've got a lot of work to do with the North Korean because he -- he tends to ignore what the other five nations are saying at times. But that doesn't mean we're going to stop, and continue to press forward to making it clear that if he expects to be treated as a responsible nation, that he needs to listen to the five nations involved.
Thank you.
Q: Would you acknowledge that the war did not deter Iran and North Korea from continuing to pursue their program?
THE PRESIDENT: North Korea had its weapons program before, as you know, as did Iran. And as I also told you, David, that we want diplomacy to work. And it's -- we want diplomacy to be given a chance to work. And that's exactly the position of the government. Hopefully it will work. I think it will...
Q: Good morning, Mr. President. This morning you reiterated diplomacy as the way to deal with North Korea. With all due respect, some people say that's precisely the wrong approach because diplomacy has produced nothing, while at the same time it has allowed North Korea to progress in its nuclear program.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q: How do you -- what do you say to them?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, then let's see -- if it's the wrong -- if diplomacy is the wrong approach, I guess that means military. That's how I view it -- it's either diplomacy or military. And I am for the diplomacy approach. And so, for those who say that we ought to be using our military to solve the problem, I would say that, while all options are on the table, we've got -- we've got a ways to go to solve this diplomatically --
Q: How long --
THE PRESIDENT: -- well, let me -- let me finish. No, I always get asked that, how long? How long are you going to do this? How long is that going to happen? Why don't you give us a timetable? I'm not giving timetables. I am going to say that we are -- and it's very important for our partners to understand that I believe the six-party talks can and will work. We're constantly in touch with our Chinese counterparts. Sometimes people move a little slower than American society in the world. And sometimes expectations around the world are maybe different from ours. But, fortunately, we've got everybody on the same page that says that the idea of North Korea having a nuclear weapon isn't good.
And by the way, that started with, as you know -- might recall, the visit I had with Jiang Zemin in Crawford. And we came out of that visit with a common declaration that said it's in our interests that North Korea not have a nuclear weapon. And that was a positive step forward because once you get a country to commit to that goal, then it makes it -- enables us to work together to achieve that goal in a peaceful way.
The other thing is, is that it's clear from the other five parties there -- the other four parties in our five-party coalition dealing with the sixth party, which is North Korea -- is that people do want to solve this issue diplomatically. And so it's a -- it's a matter of continuing to send a message to Mr. Kim Jong-il that if you want to be accepted by the neighborhood and be a part of the -- of those who are viewed with respect in the world, work with us to get rid of your nuclear weapons program...
Q: Mr. President, back to North Korea for a second. Why has the United States scrapped the one link between our militaries when there's been no threat or harm to Americans participating in those missions to recover bodies of Americans killed in action during the Korean War there?
THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary of Defense decided to take a -- what he's referring to is, is that we have -- I wouldn't called it "scrapped" -- is that the verb you used? "Scrapped"?
Q: I did say that.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, scrapped. I would use a different verb. I would use "reassess" the mission. See, "scrapped" means that we're not going to do it ever again, I think is what that means. And what the Secretary of Defense has said, let me just take a look and make sure that as we send people into North Korea, that we're fully mindful of them being able to go in and get out. No immediate threat, just an assessment, is how I would put it. But thank you for the question...
Q: I appreciate that, Mr. President, thank you. My question is about China, which looms larger in the lives of Americans, sir. They finance an ever-larger part of our trade deficit, Americans are concerned about China's growing economic might, and, of course, about the oppression of human rights and religious minorities there. My question, sir, is how should Americans think about China? As an ally? A rival? Competitor? Friend?
THE PRESIDENT: I think that we ought -- it is a -- the relationship with China is a very complex relationship, and Americans ought to view it as such. China is a emerging nation. It's an amazing story to watch here. I mean, it's consuming more and more natural resources; it is generating jobs and exporting a lot of goods; it's a massive market.
And so, on one hand, we ought to look at China as an economic opportunity, and the best way to deal with China is to -- is to say, look, there are some rules, and we expect you to abide by the trade rules. And as this -- as she grows and as trade becomes more complex, you'll see more and more instances where the United States is insisting upon fair trade. We expect our -- expect to deal with -- expect China to deal with the world trade in a fair way.
Now, in terms of security matters, obviously, we just spent a lot of time talking about North Korea. China can be a very good partner in helping to secure the world. The best way to convince Kim Jong-il to get up -- give up his weapons is to have more than one voice saying the same thing. And, therefore, China is a partner in this case, in terms of helping to secure that part of the world from nuclear weapons.
China, as well, can be helpful in the war on terror. They're just as concerned as we are on the war on terror.
China is a -- obviously, there's tension on -- about Taiwan that we have to deal with. And I made my position very clear and very consistent about Taiwan. The Taiwanese understand my position; the Chinese understand my position. So, in this case, the relationship is one of helping to solve that problem, is to keeping stability in the region so that eventually there will be a peaceful solution to that issue.
And so China is a fascinating country that is significant in its size. Its economy is still small, but growing. But, as well, I believe we have an obligation to remind the Chinese that any hopeful society is one in which there's more than just economic freedom, that there's religious freedom and freedom of the press. And so, in my meetings with the different Chinese leaders with whom I've had the honor of meeting, I've always brought up issues such as the Dalai Lama, or the Catholic Church's inability to get a bishop into the country, or the need for the country not to fear evangelicals, but to understand religious freedom leads to peace. And so I'll continue doing that so long as I'm the President, and at the same time help deal with this very complex relationship...
Source: US Department of State, Washington File, http://usinfo.state.gov.
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