07 January 2004
Powell Says North Korean Offer Is "Positive Step Forward"
Remarks with Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio after their meeting
Secretary of State Colin Powell said January 7 that a statement issued by the North Korean Central News Agency offering to refrain from building and testing nuclear weapons "is a positive step forward" and that the prospects for talks are "improving."
The North Korean statement "is not a breakthrough or anything revolutionary, but it is a positive step forward.... And some of our other colleagues in the six-party framework have expressed appreciation for the North Korean statement, and I hope that this will improve the atmosphere for the talks," Powell said in response to a journalist's question after a meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio.
In his opening remarks, Powell said he thanked Palacio "for the steadfast ... support we have received from Spain with respect to Iraq, the continuing commitment that Spain is making to keeping troops there, and the willingness of the Spanish Government to take on additional responsibilities as we move forward."
Libya, Iran, the Middle East and "a number of other issues" were also discussed, he said.
The secretary also responded to questions regarding the coalition's public diplomacy effort in Iraq, and recent changes in U.S. air travel security and visitor entry requirements.
He said the coalition is "in a learning curve. We're trying to make sure that we know how to communicate the right messages to the right segments of the Iraqi audience, and we're hard at work on it, and I expect to see a great deal of improvement in the very near future."
Regarding recent threat alerts and their effect on air travelers, Powell said the United States has "found it necessary to work with our most cooperative friends around the world, particularly, I might single out France in this instance because they helped a great deal, as did the United Kingdom and Mexico to make sure we knew who was on these airplanes. And if that causes a little bit of delay in the system, I think the passengers would rather have delay than be put at risk."
He defended the new fingerprint and photo requirement for visitors arriving in the United States as "not terribly unreasonable. And we hope to make it easier and easier to do by extending the service out to our consular offices so it can also be done at the time of visa application -- a couple of fingerprints and a picture."
"We're not doing it to harass anybody. We're not doing it to keep anyone but the wrong anyone out of the country. And to the extent that it is protecting all those who travel on airlines, I think people will understand it," he said.
While Americans have to protect themselves, "at the same time, we want to convey an attitude that this is still a welcoming, open country, U.S.A. Visit. Come visit. We want you here."
Following is the State Department transcript:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
January 7, 2004
REMARKS WITH SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER ANA PALACIO AFTER THEIR MEETING
Secretary Colin L. Powell
Benjamin Franklin Room
Washington, DC
January 7, 2004
(1:50 p.m. EST)
SECRETARY POWELL: I'm pleased to receive my colleague, Ana Palacio, Foreign Minister of Spain. We had a very good discussion, as we always do, discussed the strength of our bilateral relationship. I had the opportunity to thank the Minister again for the steadfast report -- support we have received from Spain with respect to Iraq, the continuing commitment that Spain is making to keeping troops there and the willingness of the Spanish Government to take on additional responsibilities as we move forward.
We talked about developments in Libya, Iran, the Middle East and a number of other issues. I will keep my opening comments brief in order to give the Minister a chance to say a word, but let me just close by once again saying how much we value the strong personal relationship we have, but more importantly, the relationship that exists between our two countries, and we're looking forward to the Prime Minister's visit next week.
Ana.
MS. PALACIO: Well, thank you. For me it's once more a real privilege to be at the Department of State and to have been -- have had the opportunity to share with Secretary of State Powell the issues that concern this ongoing relationship.
We are in the first days of the New Year, and the news is that the relationship is going on, and that there is a -- very high standards that have been met during the year 2003. There are a lot of challenges that await us in the year 2004 that we are prepared to face them -- to face them from the deep convictions that what is at stake is a better world, where principles and values are the main driving line of this 21st century.
The Secretary of State said the number of which issues on which we touched on.
We, of course, touch upon the issue of Europe -- of Europe, meaning European Union, this situation where the European Union is going from a small union of six very homogenous member states to the great union of the 25, plus Bulgaria, plus Romania, plus Turkey because in the end the membership of Turkey is a common challenge for us European, and a common interest and a common goal in our transatlantic relationship, which have touched upon NATO.
On NATO, we have a common interest on having a more structured dialogue with the Mediterranean, and of course, of having NATO being able to, to -- well, to accept a stronger involvement in Iraq in due time.
SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary.
SECRETARY POWELL: Yeah.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, could we go back to that nagging question about Korea's nuclear program? You spoke on it yesterday, about it yesterday. But can you foresee reopening the talks in the foreseeable future? And, you know, what's the, what is it going to take to get North Korea to the table?
SECRETARY POWELL: Discussions have never stopped. We are in conversation with the Chinese, the South Koreans, the Japanese, the Russians, and through the Chinese and others, they have, of course, been in touch with North Korea. So even though we haven't had a six-party meeting for some time, I expect that the prospects of having one are improving, and it isn't because we haven't been doing work. We've been hard at work laying out our position and what we believe should be the result of the next six-party meeting. And so a lot of work has been going on.
The statement made by the North Koreans at a -- at not the most senior level, but it was an authoritative level, is a positive step forward. It is not a breakthrough or anything revolutionary, but it is a positive step forward, and the reaction from the region has been a good one. And some of our other colleagues in the six-party framework have expressed appreciation for the North Korean statement, and I hope that this will improve the atmosphere for the talks.
But we really just don't want another set of talks that are the exchange of old positions. We want something that will result in a step forward. And that's what we're hard at work on. So don't think that just because it's not scheduled talk in one of the guesthouses somewhere, there isn't a lot of work going on.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary.
SECRETARY POWELL: Andrea.
QUESTION: Turning to Iraq for a moment, what steps would you like to see taken in public diplomacy to try to do a better job of winning the hearts and minds of people, specifically in Iraq, and then throughout the broader Middle East, where there has been much study of the dilemma that the United States faces in terms of public perceptions?
SECRETARY POWELL: Well we -- I think we have to do a better job in the way in which we communicate, and we're strengthening our team. As you know, Margaret Tutweiler has come on board to be Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, and I expect to see a greater involvement with the White House and other parts of our Administration.
And I also think that now that the great controversies of last year are somewhat behind us, and people, I think, over the next six months will see an improving situation in Iraq where the Iraqi people will more and more appreciate what has been done for them. We've got to do a better job of getting the word out in Iraq, putting up more newspapers, putting in place a more effective means of communicating by television with the Iraqi people, and I think that you will see this in the months ahead.
We're hard at work on it, not only in terms of making sure that we explain our policies, but we explain those policies well and in a very professionally and efficient way.
QUESTION: Is part of the problem that not enough diplomats have been in charge of the public diplomacy in Iraq, the television, the media -- the Pentagon contractors have done a lot of it so far.
SECRETARY POWELL: The Pentagon did let some contracts respect to it -- with respect to it providing media support, but we're all involved in it now, the Pentagon, the State Department, the White House, the Iraqi steering group. It's a high priority for us and I wouldn't -- I don't think there's blame to be put.
We're in a learning curve. We're trying to make sure that we know how to communicate the right messages to the right segments of the Iraqi audience, and we're hard at work on it, and I expect to see a great deal of improvement in the very near future.
Up here. Charlie.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, there has been a lot of concern in recent days about travel abroad and a possible terrorist threat and a lot of actions have been taken. Currently, there are mixed reports about whether there's a -- someone on the loose that the United States is looking for, or not. Can you bring us up to date on any specifics relating to recent cancellations or delays in flights and whether or not the U.S. thinks there might be, actually, someone on the loose trying to get on one of these flights?
SECRETARY POWELL: No, I can't get to that level of specificity. There are quite a few people on the loose we're looking for, and we slowly but surely will get them, just as we got Saddam Hussein, his sons and others.
The President has made it clear that we're going to go after terrorists in whatever form they surface and wherever they surface, and we're going to work with friends and partners around the world in this campaign against terrorism.
There are always threat alerts that come in. You're forever receiving intelligence information. Sometimes it's solid, multi-sourced. Sometimes it's just something that you pick up from a single source. And you are constantly making a judgment, every day, every hour, as to how to respond to this. And in this heightened state of alert, we're taking everything that comes in of this nature very seriously.
And that's why, you know, we've deployed -- it's been reported some people have been deployed around the country, who can do radiological monitoring. That's a sensible response to an intelligence indication. But I'm not aware of any one particular individual who is loose.
With respect to airline flights, we had some information over the holiday period with respect to certain individuals with names that hit our database. A lot of these names have -- duplicates, triplicates, but many similar names. And it takes a while to sort through this. And we have found it necessary to work with our most cooperative friends around the world, particularly, I might single out France in this instance because they helped a great deal, as did the United Kingdom and Mexico to make sure we knew who was on these airplanes. And if that causes a little bit of delay in the system, I think the passengers would rather have delay than be put at risk.
And we're trying to do the best job we can of sorting out these threats and responding to those that, you know, have the real likelihood of doing us harm.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary.
SECRETARY POWELL: Yeah.
QUESTION: On the issue, on the VISIT program and foreigners coming in, getting fingerprinted -- now Brazil seems to, as you know, have taken this very seriously and -- fingerprinting U.S. citizens. Are you worried that the United States is going to become, like, a hassle for tourists, businesspeople to come here? And are you worried of reciprocal steps by other countries, for American citizens? Is this going to be a big problem in terms of U.S. relations with other countries in the future?
SECRETARY POWELL: I hope not, because what we are asking is not terribly unreasonable. And we hope to make it easier and easier to do by extending the service out to our consular offices so it can also be done at the time of visa application -- a couple of fingerprints and a picture.
It is not delaying people very long at the ports of arrival, and a number of the people have gone through, have done it without any problem whatsoever -- most of them do without any problem whatsoever. They recognize why we're doing it. We're not doing it to harass anybody. We're not doing it to keep anyone but the wrong anyone out of the country. And to the extent that it is protecting all those who travel on airlines, I think people will understand it.
In the Brazilian case, the difference there is that we are doing it for all individuals coming into the United States, whereas in this one instance in Brazil, a judge singled out Americans. And I'll be talking to my Brazilian counterpart later today about it, so -- we have to protect ourselves. American people expect that. International travelers expect that. But at the same time, we want to convey an attitude that this is still a welcoming, open country, U.S.A. Visit. Come visit. We want you here.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary.
Yes. The Spanish gentleman, please.
QUESTION: Thank you very much. Good afternoon, Mr. Secretary. My name is Lorenzo Miller from Television of Spain. (In Spanish.)
And then, it's for you, Mr. Secretary. What do you expect from Spain in this 2004?
FOREIGN MINISTER PALACIO: Well, I will answer in Spanish.
SECRETARY POWELL: En Español?
QUESTION: Yes, please.
SECRETARY POWELL: Go ahead.
FOREIGN MINISTER PALACIO: It relates to the issue of, well, police people in the airplanes.
(In Spanish.)
SECRETARY POWELL: With respect to 2004, I expect to see our relationship deepen. There will be an election in Spain. But I think that which pulls us together, the values we share, the principals we share, that the Minister spoke of suggest to me that 2004 will be another successful year of U.S.-Spanish relations. And we are looking forward to continuity, even with an election in Spain. I think the American people and the Spanish people understand the importance and the value of this relationship.
You'll have to forgive me. I have to get to the White House for the immigration event.
QUESTION: Thank you.
2004/07 [End]
Released on January 7, 2004
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=January&x=20040107181921samohtj0.4421503&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
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