Comments to Reporters Upon Arrival at Haneda Airport

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: You know, I'm sorry. I saw that report; I read about it in the press. You know, if you look at the September statement, of course it is envisioned there will be some economic assistance and energy assistance. That's in the statement, the September statement. So we have to see what part of that statement gets implemented this week.

Obviously, we're very much interested in denuclearization. I mean, that is for us why we're in this entire negotiation. So we have to see what we can get accomplished on Thursday.

What I want to stress, though, is for us the question is we must implement the full statement, the September statement -- meaning that the DPRK must get out of this nuclear business entirely. How much of that we can accomplish this week, we have to find out. Obviously, we won't be able to get it all accomplished.

So some parts of it we will be able to get accomplished, and then we can see how much more we have to go. So I really can't respond to you on any specific elements that you mentioned.

QUESTION: What about the abduction issue?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: As you know, we have raised this issue on many occasions. My Japanese counterpart Mr. Sasae always, always raises this issue with me. I think what's important is for Japan and the DPRK to have a mechanism for dealing with this and for other issues that continue to cause problems in their bilateral relationship. So let us see how we are able to deal with this.

QUESTION: What's your plan here in Tokyo?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Well, my plan here -- I'm sorry; I'm not even sure of the schedule yet, but I do know that I’m here once again to consult with my colleague Mr. Sasae and to discuss the upcoming Thursday Six-Party Talks. We find it very useful for Japan and the U.S. to be synchronized and closely consulting, so that certainly will be the main part of my job here. I think I also will be meeting with other Japanese officials, and I look forward to that as well.

Again, the U.S. and Japan are really excellent allies. I think the relationship has grown closer in recent years, and I like to think that the Six-Party process has actually helped our relationship grow closer. So I do look forward to meeting a variety of people in the next 36 hours before I go on to Beijing.

QUESTION: Could you talk a little bit more about your grounds for optimism at the upcoming talks?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: I don't think I've ever used the word “optimism” before. As you know, the U.S. and Japan and the ROK had some discussions as early as in November, I believe, in Hanoi. And so we had some ideas for how to proceed with the DPRK, with the North Koreans. Unfortunately, when we met with them in December they were unwilling to have any negotiation, but they were prepared to have some discussions about things. So based on that willingness, I consulted with Mr. Sasae in Washington, and it was agreed that it might be valuable for me to go on and meet the North Koreans in anticipation of this round of the Six Parties. So that's why I went to Berlin. And after Berlin I came to Seoul and Tokyo to brief on that.

So I think we continue to have reason to believe that the North Koreans will come to this round prepared to negotiate on the issues before us -- the issue being the implementation of the joint statement. So let's see if that proves true. But I'm not willing to be optimistic nor pessimistic. I just want to see if I can make a little progress, and I’ll know much better in a few days.

QUESTION: What you mean by “good talks” for the Six-Party Talks? Yesterday you said you wanted to see “good [inaudible]”.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Well, we have a lot to do. If you look at the September statement, there's a lot of elements there that need to be carried out, need to be implemented. Unfortunately, it's now been almost a year and a half since that statement came out, so there's much that we need to do. And what we'd like to do is make a good start in implementing that statement -- meaning that some of the key elements of it, we would like to see some progress on.

For months and months we've talked about a statement that exists only on paper, and I think what we're looking for in Beijing is to see if we can move that statement from the paper onto the ground. So at this point I don't know how far we'll get. Certainly we were disappointed in the December results. I mean, it was encouraging that the North Koreans reaffirmed their support for the statement, but it was not encouraging that we were unable to get any arrangements that could see a change on the ground. So we'll see how we do.

QUESTION: Are you going to talk about the energy assistance with Mr. Sasae?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: You know, when I talk with him we talk about all aspects of the September statement. I think we will probably be talking about the bilateral mechanism that we hope we can set up so that Japan and North Korea can deal with some of the issues that have divided them. As I said earlier, Mr. Sasae is very, very interested in the subject of abductions. So certainly we will want to be discussing that as well. And I'm sure there are other issues as well.

But I want to stress that denuclearization is what we're aiming at. The North Koreans have a nuclear program that we consider very dangerous, very dangerous for the region, very dangerous for the world. We certainly want to see that program brought to a halt, and we'd like to see the program eventually disbanded and abandoned.

QUESTION: The Korean news agency said you might go to Pyongyang. You are considering about going to Pyongyang?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: That's news to me. You know I've always said I'll go wherever my government feels it's necessary for me to go. But right now I'm going into Tokyo. Then on Wednesday I'm going on to Beijing, and after that I don't know.

QUESTION: Will you be meeting someone from the Japanese Government tonight?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: I think I will meet with Mr. Sasae later on tonight; yes. And I'll meet with him again tomorrow.

QUESTION: What would be your priority in the next round of the Six-Party Talks?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: I'm sorry, which part?

QUESTION: Which elements in the --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: I think denuclearization. The purpose of this whole exercise is to get the North Koreans to stop operating this terrible reactor and start telling us what programs they have so that we can began to us see that those programs are dismantled and abandoned. So we need to get going on denuclearization. And we'll have to see if we're successful on that.

QUESTION: Is the U.S. prepared to make concessions in other areas?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: We are prepared to implement the September statement. And any actions we take are in connection with the implementation of that statement.

QUESTION: [inaudible] for the next financial talks?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: For the next financial talks? Well, I think there were some good meetings last week in Beijing that took place at the American Embassy and the North Korean Embassy. I think you heard the statement that Mr. Glaser made. I talked to Mr. Glaser afterwards, and he felt that those consultations had made some progress. So we'll have to see what we can get done there. It's too early to tell right now.

So, good to see you all. Any of you coming to Beijing? Well, I'm going to Beijing, so I hope to see you there. OK, take care. Bye.