U.S. Relations With the People's Republic of China (2008)

U.S. Department of State

Remarks at G-8 Ministers Press Conference

Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Kyoto, Japan
June 27, 2008

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

QUESTION: (Via interpreter.) My question directed to Secretary Rice concerning DPRK -- this deal between the United States and DPRK, the North Koreans' declaration and the U.S. delisting of North Korea. Now, this series of procedures -- there are some single views in Japan, that is, the term of office of Bush Administration is coming to a close and the U.S. is trying to make a diplomatic score in haste. And this may be a deal in haste, as the last part of the Administration. How would you respond to this kind of single view, Secretary Rice? And the next question: Last time when you were in Japan, Secretary Rice, that was immediately after the New York Philharmonic performance in Pyongyang. And I asked the question, if you have any plan of playing piano in Pyongyang and your answer was you wish to stay in Washington, D.C. for the time being. Now, Secretary Rice, do you have any plan of visiting to Pyongyang at the moment? If so, then what will be the timing of the visit -- under what terms and conditions would you be making a visit to Pyongyang?

SECRETARY RICE: (Inaudible) plans to visit Pyongyang nor to the play the piano in Pyongyang.

Let me underscore, though, the deal in terms of the denuclearization declaration is a six-party framework deal. It is not a deal between the United States and North Korea. All of the obligations that are made are made to the six parties and all of the expectations are six-party expectations. There are, within the six parties, some elements that have a bilateral character. So, for instance, the Japan-DPRK discussions have to take place concerning abduction between the DPRK and Japan, although I think it would be fair to say that the United States has been very active in encouraging, particularly, the DPRK to engage in those discussions and to do so seriously. The United States has certain bilateral elements of its relationship that are also a part of the six-party deal, and therefore, the delisting was a part of that.

As to the timing of this, we have been at this since September of 2005 with the DPRK. That's when the overall Framework Agreement for denuclearization was signed in Beijing. The six-party talks were actually begun before that. And then you have the deal in September 2005. We had been -- in February 2007, the first implementing deal concerning the first phase that was the freezing, the shut-down of the reactor and several steps, and the steps to go forward towards the disabling of the reactor and verification measures concerning the programs and the declaration. And now, we will go to a third phase.

So this has been going on a very long time. And it is befitting the nature of this problem, the DPRK programs began decades ago -- the nuclear program. And we've been through a lot of ups and downs. We went through the 2006 period in which the DPRK tested missiles and then tested a nuclear device. And the advantage of the six-party framework was then very evident. I was in Japan not long after that test. I was in South Korea not long after that test. And the five parties were able to come together almost immediately, propose a UN Security Council resolution which was passed in record time when the DPRK conducted that nuclear test.

So all that I can say is you are -- the President is the President until January 20th of 2009. And we are going to continue to work urgently to resolve the problems in international politics, to try and contribute to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and perhaps to get the DPRK out of the plutonium-making business. It's something that we think is worth doing. But we've been at this for quite a long time with our partners, with Japan, with South Korea, with Russia and with China. And what was very good today was the expression by other members of the G-8 that they consider this not just a six-party problem, but in fact, something that the entire international community must contribute to.

[ ...Intervening Text... ]