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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
Thursday, October 17, 1996
Briefer: Nicholas Burns

... ... ... ...

Q: A question on North Korea.

BURNS: Yes.

Q: Has the U.S. had any contact with the North Koreans regarding what appeared to be preparation for missile testing there yesterday?

BURNS: We had an interesting discussion of this yesterday. All I can say is that we are in regular contact with the North Koreans. I don't know if we had a meeting with them yesterday in New York or someplace else in the world.

But I can say this: If these reports prove to be accurate, the United States will be very concerned. We urge North Korea to refrain from action such as this, any deployment of ballistic missiles because they would only increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula. We have an ongoing, long-standing concern about the development of North Korea's missile program.

As you know, we've had talks with the North Koreans on this. We believe that their missile program is a threat to the surrounding country. We believe the exports of missiles from North Korea to other countries -- to third countries -- contribute to instability in other parts of the world as well. We've spoken out about that publicly.

So the North Koreans understand we're concerned about this. This will be a regular feature of our diplomatic dialogue with them.

Q: (Inaudible) that there were preparations, or what appeared to be preparations?

BURNS: I cannot. No, I cannot. One of the problems I have is the sourcing of this. A lot of the press reports are based on alleged intelligence documents in our government. I never comment about intelligence matters.

Q: Yesterday, it's reported that a special aircraft the U.S. sent to Korea in the (inaudible) to monitor North Korea's missile test. Is there any information about something happening at the site?

The second question will be, does the U.S. have any plan or schedule for missile talks with North Korea?

BURNS: The answer to the first question is, I just can't comment on that. The answer to the second question is, we have had talks in the past but not for some time; I think for many months. We do want to return to those talks because of the importance of the issue.

Q: CIA Director Deutch is in Seoul. Is he there on a planned trip? Is he there to also impress upon the South Koreans that the U.S. is committed to their security? I thought that was what Winston Lord just finished doing.

BURNS: Director Deutch is in Seoul for talks with the Korean Government. I can't really give you any further information about his schedule. I can direct you to the CIA for that -- my colleague, Dennis Boxx -- who can talk on behalf of Mr. Deutch. But he is there today, yes.