Tracking Number: 438420
Title: "Official: Four-Party Proposal Goal Is Permanent Korean Peace." The ultimate goal of the four-party proposal introduced by Presidents Clinton and Kim is to find a
mechanism for establishing a permanent peace for the Korean Peninsula. (960521)
Author: HU, PEGGY (USIA STAFF WRITER)
Date: 19960521
Text:
OFFICIAL: FOUR-PARTY PROPOSAL GOAL IS PERMANENT
KOREAN PEACE
(Article on 5/21 CSIS conference on four-party proposal) (450)
By Peggy Hu
USIA Staff Writer
Washington -- The underlying principle for the four-party proposal introduced by Presidents Clinton and Kim last month is to find a mechanism for establishing a permanent peace process for the Korean Peninsula, according to Richard Christenson, deputy director of the State Department's Office of Korean Affairs.
"All of us are agreed that the Armistice should be replaced by a stable, permanent peace. The ROK believes this, the DPRK believes this, and China believes this; that's the basis for this proposal," Christenson said at a May 21 conference sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Christenson said the United States and South Korea favor an incremental approach to peace rather than a "top-down" one.
"Stable peace is too big an achievement to knock off in one big chunk as a starting move; you can't do that. So the idea is an incremental approach that could involve CBMs, that probably involve economic matters, that would involve a great deal of things that interest the DPRK, that interest the ROK, that interest us," he said. Christenson added that as the process builds confidence through small successes, it will gradually "take on the larger task of peace itself."
Christenson pointed out that the four-party proposal does not work in a vacuum, and stressed that the involved countries must also continue work in other areas to create an atmosphere "conducive to success in the four-party talks."
"The four-party proposal has to work in a context, in an atmosphere. The other things that are happening on the Korean Peninsula, between us and South and North Korea ... affect the prospects for the four-party proposal," he said.
Christenson cited U.S.-DPRK talks on issues such as the Agreed Framework and the remains of U.S. service personnel as examples, and said that such talks are not in conflict with the principles of the four-party proposal.
"We have agreements between us and the South Korean government that certain issues are pursuable outside of the four-party proposal," he said. "There is no conflict between our staying very close with our traditional ally and also having dialogue with the North."
"The four-party proposal outlined by Presidents Kim and Clinton on April 16 is a serious, new, fresh initiative with a great deal of hope in it. It's a creative, serious way to open up to the North, and it shows the best quality of cooperation between two old allies," he said.
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File Identification: 05/21/96, EPF205; 05/22/96, AEF308; 05/23/96, ERF406
Product Name: Wireless File
Product Code: WF
Languages: Russian
Keywords: KOREA (NORTH)-KOREA (SOUTH) RELATIONS; KOREA (NORTH)-US RELATIONS; NEGOTIATIONS; CLINTON, BILL/Foreign Relations: East Asia & Pacific; KIM YONG-SAM; KOREA (SOUTH)-US RELATIONS; PEACE TALKS; PEACE PROPOSALS
Thematic
Codes: 1EA
Target Areas: EA
PDQ Text Link: 438420
USIA Notes: *96052105.EPF
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