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Skriven 2005-11-19 23:33:06 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (051119a) for Sat, 2005 Nov 19
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Mrs. Bush's Interview by Yonhap News Service in Busan, Korea
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For Immediate Release
Office of the First Lady
November 19, 2005

Mrs. Bush's Interview by Yonhap News Service in Busan, Korea
Dong Nae Byel Jang Restaurant
Busan, Republic of Korea



1:55 P.M. (Local)

Q Thank you for allowing me your time. As the wife of a President, how do
you, sort of, support your husband in times of hardship and decisive
moments?

MRS. BUSH: Well, that's a very interesting question. We're very fortunate,
my husband and I are, to have had a long marriage, to understand each other
very well and I think we get a lot of comfort being with each other. But
what I try to do is live a normal life.

We've faced a lot of stress, as you know; during the time that he's been
President; the United States has had a lot of challenges, starting, of
course, with the attacks on September 11th. But we both get a lot of
strength from our faith and from our relationship with each other and our
family.

Q And I believe that this is your second visit here?

MRS. BUSH: That's right.

Q As you know, there is some anti-U.S. sentiment in Korea right now, and
also some anti-Korean sentiment back in the States. What is your opinion on
this, as the First Lady?

MRS. BUSH: Well, I don't know of a lot of anti-Korean sentiments in the
United States; I don't think that's the case, at all.

Of course, you know, these are difficult times. The United States has made
a lot of difficult decisions and I understand that everyone doesn't agree
with those around the world. But I do think most people in Korea know that
we are strong allies, that our two countries are friends and have been for
a long time, and that we're close allies with each other. And I hope they
know that; I hope the people of Korea understand the friendship that we
have.

I also want to thank the people of Korea for being the host for APEC. It's
been a really wonderful conference. We've had a terrific time, all the
leaders who are here for APEC. Last night was the culmination of it, with
the terrific program that President Roh and Mrs. Kwan had for us, and we
appreciate that very much.

Q How are you, sort of, building the friendship between you and the South
Korean First Lady? I mean, you've met her a couple of times.

MRS. BUSH: We've met several times. She's been to the White House to visit
me; I've been here, of course, to see her. And we've met at other
international meetings, like APEC, when it was in Chile last year, or the
United Nations General Assembly in Washington.

Really, I think all the spouses of leaders feel like we're sort of in the
same club, if you know what I mean. We all face the same challenges - the
challenges of family life in public life, of trying to do the very best we
can for our country, being the most constructive we can with the issues
that we work on for each of our countries. So there's really sort of a
natural friendship between the spouses, all of the spouses, and certainly
with Mrs. Kwan.

Q Okay. And, also, your mother-in-law was also the former First Lady.

MRS. BUSH: That's right.

Q Does she give you any advice?

MRS. BUSH: She loves to give me advice - you might know, if you knew
anything about Barbara Bush, you would know that she likes to give everyone
advice. But she tries to refrain from it because she knows that
daughter-in-laws probably don't want that much advice from their
mother-in-laws.

And she's terrific. She's a wonderful mother-in-law and I've learned a lot
from just watching her over the years.

Q One more question. If your two daughters, Jenna and Barbara, if they said
that they would like to go into politics -

MRS. BUSH: Would I recommend it? (Laughter.) Sure, if they're interested in
that, I think that would be great. I don't think they're interested -
certainly, not now - in going into politics. But since they've been born,
their grandfather was Vice President and then President, and their father
has been President. So they've seen politics up close and they know that
it's difficult - you're criticized a lot. And, of course, when you love the
person that's the President, that's difficult. But they also know that
there are many, many ways you can be helpful for your country as a
politician.

Q All right. Thank you very much for your time.

MRS. BUSH: Thank you all. And thanks to everyone in Korea for being such
great hosts for APEC. Thank you.

END 2:00 P.M. (Local)
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