Remarks with Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon

(3:45 p.m. EDT)

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, do you want to say anything about today's events in Myanmar?

SECRETARY RICE: I do want to say that I've had a number of conversations with colleagues here about the tragic events in Burma. The regime has reacted brutally to people who were simply protesting peacefully and I understand that the Special Representative of the Secretary General wants to go to Burma. He should be allowed to go. He should be given a visa immediately. He should be able to see opposition leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, while he is there.

We really do call on the regime to cease all violence and to lay a framework, lay a foundation for a peaceful discussion so that there can be reconciliation and a return to a more free and democratic life for the people of Burma. But we're very concerned and we know that the Security Council is going to take up this matter, but -- the Secretary General is very much active on it. Thank you very much.

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