Secretary Cohen Sept. 19 News Briefing in Bangkok
DoD News Briefing
Secretary of Defense William Cohen
September 19, 2000
(Press conference in Bangkok, Thailand)
Q: Mr. Secretary, Charlie Aldinger of Reuters. Do budding talks
between North and South Korea, the upcoming meeting between the
defense ministers of the two countries, and the opening of a rail line
through the DMZ between the two countries signal a major easing of
tensions on the peninsula? And, do you expect any progress or perhaps
a final conclusion to a new SOFA agreement, while you are there?
Cohen: On the SOFA agreement, we continue to have good and productive
discussions. At this time, I don't anticipate that we will be able to
conclude those discussions by the end of my visit there. But, we are
satisfied that good progress is being made. With respect to the
North-South tensions being eased, I think it is clear that there has
been a reduction in the tensions that have previously existed. But, I
think we are in the first stages of a move toward reconciliation or
rapprochement, or some state of positive affairs between North and
South. I think we need to be very cautious. We are encouraged by the
steps that we see being taken, but, we must remain vigilant because of
the size of the army that North Korea still maintains -- their status
of being forward-deployed with as many as 800,000 (troops) are still
forward-deployed with a large amount of artillery. That could
certainly pose a serious threat to the people of Seoul and beyond.
It's important that as these steps are taken, that we remain vigilant.
I think that prudence is the watchword for all concerned. However, we
certainly have been encouraged by the steps that have been taken to
date.
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