Comments Upon Departure From Japan

Christopher R. Hill, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs

Haneda Airport

Tokyo, Japan

January 8, 2008

QUESTION: Now you’re going to Seoul?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE HILL: I’m going to Seoul, yes.

QUESTION: What are you going to do in Seoul?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Well, the same thing I did in Tokyo, which is to assess where we are on the Six-Party process. As you know, we've had a bump in the road with this issue of the declaration. We need a complete declaration. The DPRK, I think, has -- we've had discussions with them. They're prepared to give a declaration that's not quite complete, and we need one that's complete. So I'm going to be talking to the ROK Government about that, and then after that I'll go on to China and Russia.

QUESTION: This morning we saw Mr. Sasae heading to Seoul.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: I think he has some bilateral meetings with the ROK, but not related to the Six Parties.

QUESTION: Do you have any plan for any other meeting, such as for bilateral meeting?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: I’m not aware of any other meeting at this time.

QUESTION: Are you looking forward to meeting with Mr. Lee Myung Bak?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Again, I'd have to check with our Embassy to see what meetings have been set up. Certainly I look forward to meetings to convey our views on where we are with the Six-Party Talks, to provide a briefing, and I would obviously be happy to provide that to people in the transition. But we deal with one Korean government at a time. So I look forward to meeting with Chun Young-woo, my counterpart, and I hope some other members of the Foreign Ministry as well.

QUESTION: Yesterday you told us there were missing elements in even nuclear programs and nuclear facilities in North Korean version of its declaration.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: I want to emphasize they don't have a version of a declaration. They have some points that we were discussing. And from the points that we were discussing, it was clear that while they have listed elements and materials, facilities, and programs, it's not a complete list or a list that we would believe to be complete.

QUESTION: Can you give us some idea of what is missing?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: I don't want to get into specifics -- because if we start getting into specifics, then we’ll get into some kind of negotiation. I'd rather not do that.

QUESTION: If you say that a full and complete declaration –

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Complete and correct.

QUESTION: Does that mean 100%?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Well, complete and correct means complete and correct.

QUESTION: What percentage is that -- the declaration North Korea did, in that sense?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Again, I can just answer generally to say that there are three main elements that need to be addressed -- that is, nuclear materials, the actual facilities, and then their programs. And we are aware of a lot of these programs, and I think the DPRK is aware that we are aware. And so we would like to see those things reflected in the declaration. So I want to emphasize that obviously this has been a stumbling block, and obviously we have not been able to get from the DPRK a complete and correct declaration at this point. But there's a lot that we agree with on what they're planning to do. But it just needs to be complete. And in our view, based on our discussions with them, they are not yet prepared to provide a complete declaration.

QUESTION: You still don’t have a plan to meet with Kim Kye-gwan in Beijing?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: I don’t have plans to meet with Kim Kye-gwan in Beijing, unless you know something that I don't know. But I'm not aware that we have a meeting with Kim Kye-gwan. I will be in Beijing. I think the DPRK knows the time that I will be in Beijing. But I don't think there's any such plan. So I look forward to seeing Wu Dawei there. He also has made some trips to the DPRK in recent weeks. So I think it's important to touch base with the Chinese and see how they see the situation.

QUESTION: Are you going to come back to Japan before you go to Washington?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: No, I think I go from Seoul to Beijing to Moscow and then back to Washington.

QUESTION: And no DPRK delegations?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: I’m sorry?

QUESTION: And you don't have a plan to meet DPRK --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: No plans to meet the DPRK delegation. Again, we've had a lot of consultations with them in recent weeks. So I think what is important for us is to meet some of the others, especially the Chinese, who are in the chair of the process.

QUESTION: Yesterday at the airport you mentioned you are going to compare notes with the Japanese and Koreans. Do you think all those countries have the same notes?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Well, I must say we had a very good discussion with Director-General Sasae on that point. And I think there was complete agreement on what we need to see in terms of a complete declaration. And I expect I'll see the same as I meet with some of the other delegations, but that's why I’m going to meet with them. OK? So we’ll see you all later.

Released on January 8, 2008