Remarks After Meeting With Deputy Foreign Minister Shim Yoon-joe

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Well, I had a series of meetings today. I was up at the Blue House, and I met the Deputy National Security Adviser, Mr. Yun. I also made a brief courtesy call on the President. I had lunch, of course, with Madam Park Geun-hye, and had some private meetings with some people in the transition. I think tomorrow I will also have a meeting with the President-elect.

I feel very, very good about the U.S.-ROK alliance, our friendship. We’re working very closely together in the Six-Party process; we have a lot of bilateral issues going. I think the relationship is in very good shape, and I think we will look forward to continuing to work very closely with the ROK Government. Obviously, we have interests that go beyond just our bilateral relations -- or go beyond, really, the Korean Peninsula issues. We have issues that we deal with worldwide.

Indeed, talking to Deputy Minister Shim just now, we were talking about the Korean troops in Iraq and the Korean presence as well and medical presence in Afghanistan. So our relations with Korea really go worldwide. And we’re very proud of this relationship, and look forward to continuing it.

QUESTION: What do you think about the possibility of a slow-down in the Six-Party process because of the change in the political structure in South Korea and the upcoming U.S. presidential elections?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Well, you know, first of all, I think we have a phase two which was to have a disabling of the Yongbyon facility and a complete and correct declaration in return for some measures on our part. I think it was a very realistic set of objectives. We did not meet the timeframe, but I think we ought to, frankly, be a little patient on this. We’re not that far apart. Obviously, there are some elements that we need to see in a declaration in order for the declaration to be complete and correct. So, I don’t think it’s something we want to walk away from now, nor does the DPRK want to walk away from this. So we have to kind of work on this in the coming days and weeks. I think the DPRK has every interest in trying to resolve this so we can move on to the very difficult phase of phase three.

So, again, I had some good discussions here with my friend and counterpart Chun Young-woo. I did the same in Japan with Kenichiro Sasae, and I look forward to getting to Beijing and to talking to Wu Dawei about it. So I don’t think anyone should be in a panic mode about this. I think we need to be firm about the fact that when it is written, that it should be a complete declaration. So we’ll work on it; we’ll see how we do.

If the DPRK wants to get this done, they know how to get this done, and they will see from us a lot of good will and a willingness to follow up on our obligations as well.

QUESTION: Has a decision been made about the irradiated fuel rods that are being removed from Yongbyon? As to what will happen after they are pulled down, who will get these and –

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: There are a couple of options, and I don’t think the final decision has been made on that. You’re speaking about the fresh fuel rods, right? And so there are a couple of options there, and it’s the DPRK’s choice on that. I think they see those options – they see the need to make that decision in the context of us taking the measures that we need to take pursuant to the October 3 agreement. I think when we get through all these phase two activities there’ll be no talk about somehow reconstituting Yongbyon. I think we will be moving on to that final phase, and I’m confident that we can work together to get there.

QUESTION: After holding talks with the transition teams, especially with Representative Park Jin, do you expect to see possible changes in the Seoul-Washington approach when dealing with the nuclear issue with the new [inaudible] administration?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Well, I think we have had -- frankly, we’ve had very, very good cooperation with the ROK on the nuclear issue. What we would expect to do is to continue that cooperation. But I want to stress that every country faces these transitions that are between elections and inaugurations. We’re certainly going to face ours coming at the end of this year. It’s not for us as foreigners to get too much into the details of how a country will go through that -- to what extent will there be transitional administrations that try to work with existing ministries in order to pass off to new ministries.

It’s really not my business; in short. It’s the Korean business to deal with that, and certainly in our discussions, my discussions today, I have the impression that it will run very smoothly and that our cooperation with the Six Parties will be uninterrupted.

QUESTION: Did he mention the issue of hand-over or time control? Opcon?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: No, we didn’t get into all those issues. No.

QUESTION: He didn’t mention them?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: We did not get into those matters.

QUESTION: Same question as yesterday.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Same question as yesterday? John, come on!

QUESTION: Kim Kye-gwan. Do you have any plans to meet him in Beijing or –

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: I have no plans to meet him on this trip. Of course I –

QUESTION: [Inaudible]

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: No, I don’t think so. I met him on the last trip. I’ll probably meet him on the next trip, but I have no plans to meet him on this particular trip. I’ll be looking forward to hearing from the Chinese, their assessment of the situation. They were most recently in Pyongyang. And we’ll see where we are. Clearly, I think everyone knows where we need to go in order to finish this phase two and get on with even the more difficult phase three.

QUESTION: There seems to be a movement for a possible Six-Party meeting, whether it’s a head of delegations or [inaudible], sometime this month or anytime soon. In that case, what would the objective or the purpose be for?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Well, we would like it to be in the context of finishing up phase two and moving on to phase three. But we need to talk to the Chinese hosts, the Chinese chair of the process, and see how they see it.

QUESTION: Could there be a meeting before the [inaudible]?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: I don’t want to be predicting that. Let me first talk to the Chinese and see where they are on this. Okay, got to get going. Thank you very much.