Tracking Number: 349715
Title: The US will continue to press its allies to agree to sanctions against North Korea while it attempts to verify whether Pyongyang's commitments made to former President
Jimmy Carter are genuine. EPF includes transcript. WH Report. (940620)
Date: 19940620
Text:
WHITE HOUSE REPORT, MONDAY, JUNE 20
(Korea, Haiti, GATT, cabinet) (950)
NEWS BRIEFING -- Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers discussed the following
topics:
U.S. WILL CONTINUE TO PRESS FOR KOREAN SANCTIONS The United States will continue to press its allies to agree to sanctions against North Korea while it attempts to verify whether Pyongyang's commitments given to former President Jimmy Carter -- particularly on freezing its nuclear program -- are genuine, Myers told a questioner.
She said consultations at the United Nations continued June 20, with Ambassador Madeleine Albright gaining general support from Russian Foreign Minister Andrey Kozyrev for the direction of the U.S. sanctions resolution. "We have not slowed anything down at this point," Myers asserted. "There's no intention of slowing that process down."
Carter returned from meetings with North Korean leader Kim Il-song asserting that Pyongyang would temporarily halt its nuclear program in exchange for a resumption of high-level talks, and would continue monitoring of its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon. Carter said that Kim had agreed to a summit meeting with South Korean President Kim Yong-sam.
Asked to say what the administration thinks the Carter mission accomplished, Myers replied: "This is possibly an opening. We need to verify that through diplomatic channels. We're in that process this week. We need to verify that they are in fact willing to freeze their nuclear program while talks are on-going. As we've said repeatedly, what that means is that they won't refuel the reactor, they won't re-process the fuel they recently removed from the reactor, and that they'll allow the continuity of safeguards to be enforced.
"Of course that means keeping the U.N. inspectors on the ground, keeping the monitoring equipment in place and generally allowing the continuity of safeguards to be ensured. While the diplomatic process continues to find out exactly what they meant and to guarantee that they are committed to that, we will move forward in New York (at the U.N.) as we have been doing today, as we will continue to do this week."
Asked if that meant Washington would seek a vote in the U.N. Security Council this week, she answered, "If it comes to that. We're moving forward. There has been no change in our posture on the resolution at this point." She added that she does not expect a vote this week, noting, "We always thought this would take some time."
Myers told a questioner "I don't think we know" how long it will take to verify that what Carter was told is North Korean policy. "I think one of the things we'll do this week is begin to explore that, begin to reach through diplomatic channels to the North Koreans to find out exactly what they are willing to do. We don't have any timetable," she said.
Myers said Clinton is "grateful" that Carter made the trip. "It's too soon to say what the results may be," she said of the Carter mission. "It may have created an opening and that would certainly be a positive step. It would be very useful if North Korea was willing to freeze its nuclear program; that is one of our objectives -- to get them to freeze their nuclear program, to guarantee a nuclear-free peninsula, and a comprehensive non-proliferation treaty."
Myers dismissed as North Korean propaganda news reports stating that South Korea has moved troops and heavy weapons into the demilitarized zone. She said "no" when asked if Washington is "responding" to North Korea's call for a U.S. pledge of no-first-use of nuclear weapons.
NNNN
File Identification: 06/20/94, POL102; 06/20/94, AEF110; 06/20/94, EPF101; 06/20/94, EUR101; 06/20/94, LEF112; 06/20/94, NEA102; 06/21/94, NAA205
Product Name: Wireless File
Product
Code: WF
Languages: Arabic
Keywords: KOREA (NORTH)-US RELATIONS; KOREA (NORTH)/Defense & Military; INSPECTIONS; ARMS CONTROL VERIFICATION; NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION; CARTER, JIMMY; INTERNATIONAL
TRAVEL; UNITED NATIONS-US RELATIONS; KIM YONG-SAM; KOREA (SOUTH)-US
Keywords: CLINTON, BILL/Presidency; EXECUTIVE BRANCH
Thematic Codes: 3TR
Target Areas: AF; AR; EA; EU; NE
PDQ Text Link: 349715
USIA Notes: *94062002.POL
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