Opening Remarks at Ministry of Unification With Minister of Unification Lee Jae Jeong

MINISTER LEE: You have done a very good job.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: I am very busy, thank you.

MINISTER LEE: Yes I know.

You know yesterday was a very remarkable day. We have two guests from outside, one from the North, the other from the United States -- Ambassador Hill and Mr. Kim Yan-gon from the North.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Was he staying at the Lotte Hotel or just having a meal there?

MINISTER LEE: Lotte Hotel. Yes, he is staying there. Also we had four site meetings -- one in Seoul, one in Pyongyang, and Kumgangsan, and Kaesong.

It is remarkably very busy for the Minister of Unification.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Yes. Well, I look forward to hearing how it went. I look forward to hearing whether it went well and whether you were pleased with it.

MINISTER LEE: Yes. I think it is a sign of good progress of a relationship between the North and South. Today we still have a Red Cross meeting in Kumgangsan. They are talking about the reunion program, about families.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Very good.

MINISTER LEE: It is going well and also I was told that the Minister of Defense had a good meeting with the Minister of KPA.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Korea People’s Army.

ANOTHER OFFICIAL: Armed Forces. It is actually the head of the Defense Department, the North Korean (inaudible).

MINISTER LEE: But I think the role of them is a little bit different right? The line is we are the Minister of Defense belonging to the Cabinet here; in the North it is a little bit different.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Yes. In democracies we usually have a separate Minister of Defense from the Chief of the Armed Forces. But I think in that system it is the same person, if I am not correct.

MINISTER LEE: Will (inaudible) to hear any good news from both of you and Mr. Kim from the North?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: I see. Well, I am looking forward to going up to Pyongyang on Monday.

MINISTER LEE: Monday.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Monday morning. And I’ll go see how we are doing in Yongbyon.

MINISTER LEE: Yes.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Because we have been engaged in a lot of work there. And then I look forward to having some general discussions in anticipation of the fact that we will soon have a Six-Party meeting. I think soon have a discussion on their declaration. And I hope it’s a good declaration.

MINISTER LEE: I expect that.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: I hope so. And then I’d like to have some discussions on how things look for the next phase, because I don’t want to do this job all my life. I sort of have in mind that 2008 is about the time that we should finish denuclearization. And then I think once denuclearization is done -- complete denuclearization -- we should be able to move on to economic issues and really accelerate the pace of things that you’re doing. But we first have to deal with this issue.

MINISTER LEE: I really appreciate your good job and your efforts, your (inaudible) for building peace on the Korean Peninsula through the year, your program of Six-Party Talks.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Well, I appreciate your kind remarks. But it will depend on how we do in ‘08 and whether we can really finish the job, because an unfinished job is no job at all.

MINISTER LEE: But there is a clear goal ahead of us.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: There is a clear goal, yes. There is a clear goal, but we must finish the job.

MINISTER LEE: Yes, yes.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: We cannot leave this project unfinished.

MINISTER LEE: I agree.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: It will undermine the value of the project. You know famous painters can leave their paintings unfinished and they’re still very valuable. That is not true of denuclearization.

MINISTER LEE: Anyhow, I am very happy and very pleased to see that there are two tracks. The Korean Dialogue and the Six-Party talks are going pretty well so far.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Well, I really welcome the opportunity to exchange notes and discuss how those two tracks work, because we really want them to reinforce each other.

MINISTER LEE: Yes, of course.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: I have said many times that I think one of the great tragedies of the 20th century was the division of the Korean people. And the extent to which the Korean Peninsula can be brought together -- in however way the Korean people want; however political arrangements they make, that is up to the Korean people -- if that can be done, if your work can succeed in our lifetime, it will be a great accomplishment. But first we have to get through this nuclear problem. It is too small a peninsula for nuclear weapons, much too small.

MINISTER LEE: Yes, indeed.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: And so there are so many opportunities if we can get to complete denuclearization, so many good opportunities for DPRK and for the world. So we’ll see. I’ll do my best.

MINISTER LEE: It is time.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: It is definitely time, and I hope in your conversations with the DPRK, I hope you are hearing that from them.

MINISTER LEE: Oh yes.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: You hear it from me, but I hope you hear it from them.

MINISTER LEE: You probably remember in 1988, the Korean Christian community declared kind of a declaration on the peace on the Korean Peninsula. And at the time the major point was (inaudible) living under a divided country. It is a tragedy. We have to overcome, and we have to resolve that.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: But really we must finish the job. We cannot think that just making some progress on disablement is enough. We’ve got to continue the job and finish it.

MINISTER LEE: Well, I am always ready to conference with you, communicating.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Yes, thank you. (Sound of reporters leaving the room.) It is quite a crowd here, the Japanese press and Korean press.