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Skriven 2005-11-08 23:33:06 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0511084) for Tue, 2005 Nov 8
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Interview of the President by Korean Broadcasting System
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 8, 2005

Interview of the President by Korean Broadcasting System
The Map Room



1:27 P.M. EST

Q Mr. President, thank you for granting this interview with KBS, Korean
Broadcasting System. Mr. President, today a new round in the six-party
talks starts in Beijing. Do you have any deadline for progress in the talks
and for North Korea to dismantle its nuclear program?

THE PRESIDENT: I guess I would define my feelings this way: I think the
world is watching very carefully whether or not we -- that's six countries
-- are able to achieve a noble and peaceful objective, which is a Korean
Peninsula which does not have any nuclear weapons.

And thus far, there has been some progress, but it's been mainly talk. And
my hope, of course, is that we begin to see action, results. And those
results, of course, would be that there would be a verifiable dismantling
of nuclear weapons and the programs required to make nuclear weapons. We
will continue to work with the parties to move the process beyond rhetoric
to reality.

Q But recently the relations amongst China, Japan and Korea are antagonized
by Mr. Koizumi's visit to Yasukuni Shrine, which honors World War II
criminals. Mr. President, don't you think this is an unnecessary
provocation to other Asian countries tortured by these war criminals?

THE PRESIDENT: I am aware of the friction caused by the Prime Minister of
Japan's decision. I believe a useful role for me, as someone who is
friendly with the three leaders involved, is to remind people that it is
best to put the past behind and move forward in the future. And I
understand the sentiments of the South Korean people; they're still angry
about the past. And so there's a natural reaction, when they view a
decision made by the Prime Minister.

I'm hopeful that people will be able to see what happened between U.S. and
Japanese relations. We're close, like we're close with South Korea, and yet
my dad, for example, was a fighter -- a Navy fighter against the Japanese.
In other words, with hard work, we can get the past behind us. And that
would be my hope when I discuss this issue with the respective leaders.

Q Mr. President, recently many Koreans and Americans have become anxious
about the relations between our two countries. What are your expectations
of Korea in this changing relations, and what does U.S. offer to Korea in
this changed environment?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I appreciate that question. Look, I think that
relations are better than some people want to say they are. As a matter of
fact, I know relations between our governments is good. We've done some ---
we've made some difficult decisions together, and have acted together. For
example, troops in Iraq -- that was difficult. That was a difficult
decision for your President; it was a difficult decision for me, as a
matter of fact, to commit troops. And, yet, we're working together to bring
democracy, and therefore peace, to a troubled part of the world.

We had a base realignment issue that we worked out with the South Korean
government. That's not an easy issue, but it's a necessary issue that the
government -- South Korean government thought was necessary, and I agreed
was necessary. And we did so in a cordial way.

We've got a lot of trade. I mean, the trade between South Korea and the
United States is substantial. There is an opportunity down the road for us
to put a free trade agreement in. Both countries are going to have to work
hard to make that happen. There's a lot of exchange of people back and
forth between our countries.

So there's a lot of contact, a lot of commerce, and a lot of security
measures we're taking together. I think the thing to do is to keep
advancing the relationship and working to make it more mature, so that we
can work together to keep the peace.

Q Mr. President, you mentioned free trade. And on your recent trip to South
America, you stressed the importance of free trade. Will the FTA be on the
main agenda when you visit Korea?

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, I think -- I'm not sure what you mean by, "main agenda,"
but it's certainly going to be an item we discuss. And, you know, these
agreements are important, but so is a more global agreement, called the
Doha round of the WTO. And, of course, I'll be discussing that as well, not
only with President Roh, but at the APEC meeting that South Korea is so
kindly hosting.

Q Thank you, Mr. President, for sharing your views.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. I'm looking forward to going back
to your beautiful country. And I want to thank the government of South
Korea and the people of South Korea for hosting me and Laura as we return.

Q Thank you, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, sir.

END 1:33 P.M. EST

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