Following is the office State Department transcript of the briefing:

U.S. Department of State
Secretary Colin L. Powell

Remarks at Stakeout after their Meeting

Washington, DC
June 7, 2001

SECRETARY POWELL: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, it has been my great pleasure to host today Foreign Minister Han, an old friend who has previously served in the United States as Ambassador and now as Foreign Minister. I am pleased to have a new relationship with him.

We talked about the strength of our bilateral relationship, and of course the item of greatest interest to us both this morning was President Bush's statement of yesterday that the United States is prepared to resume an enhanced dialogue with North Korea on issues of mutual interest to both nations. And we wish to speak to the North Koreans about missile sales, about their missile programs, talk about the Agreed Framework program. We want to see if we can enter into a dialogue that will assist us in helping them with their humanitarian problems.

We also are hopeful that that dialogue could touch on the conventional force posture that exists along the border between the two Koreas. We also wanted to do it in a way that was very, very supportive -- and I know that it is very supportive -- of President Kim Dae Jung's very bold efforts for his opening to North Korea.

Everything that we did in the review that the United States has just concluded was done in consultation and coordination with our friends in the Republic of Korea and with Japan, and with other nations also. I am pleased that this review period has now come to a close. We have finished our review and we are ready to move forward, and the Minister and I had a good conversation on how we can move forward together and move forward as part of a TCOG group of nations that are interested in this. And we look forward to hearing from the North Koreans in due course.

Mr. Minister.

MINISTER HAN: Thank you. I had a very good time, a good lunch and a pleasant talk, and it was a great opportunity to renew my acquaintance with Secretary Powell. And we would like to welcome the statement made by the President last night, and we hope that the US will engage North Korea in a very meaningful and useful dialogue and, in doing so, the United States and South Korea will coordinate our policy toward North Korea.

Perhaps with that, I should stop and respond to your questions.

Q: When and where will the talks resume?

SECRETARY POWELL: I don't know yet, but I assume they will resume in New York where we have had regular contacts with the North Koreans in the past. That will be the first point of entry, I would expect. We don't have a date yet, but I hope it will be in the very near future. We have to wait to hear from the North Koreans, but we will be reaching out to them in the very near future and hope we get a quick response.

Q: What is your opinion of the North Korean leader (inaudible)?

SECRETARY POWELL: I'm sorry?

Q: What is your opinion on the North Korean leader (inaudible)?

Q: A possible visit by the North Korean leader.

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, this is a matter for the two leaders to decide. I think the plan was in due course for the President of North Korea to visit the South, and I hope that that visit can now be put back on track. But that is, of course, between the Republic of Korea and North Korea to decide. I think it would be a positive step in the right direction, but that is a matter for the two Koreas to decide.

Q: Mr. Secretary, there has been a fair amount of criticism and questioning, even within the Bush Administration, about the Agreed Framework and the providing of these two reactors to North Korea. That now appears to be back on track.

Can you explain why the Administration came down on the side of going forward with that agreement?

SECRETARY POWELL: Because it is an agreement and we see no reason to change our position right now. We have examined it carefully. There will be a problem in a few years time as that construction moves forward; a point will be reached with the North Koreans will have to come into compliance with IAEA requirements, and at that point we would expect them to come into compliance with their obligations before we could go even further with the reactor project.

But it seemed to us at this point, after consultation with our Korean friends and Japanese friends, we should continue moving in the direction of the Agreed Framework.

Q: Mr. Secretary, are you willing to meet with Foreign Minister Tanaka of Japan to discuss North Korea, missile defense, and other issues in the near future?

SECRETARY POWELL: I look forward to meeting with the Foreign Minister at a time that is convenient and appropriate to both of us, of course.

Q: Secretary Powell, you said, if I noted correctly, that you hope for a dialogue on conventional forces. Is that a precondition to the Bush Administration, or will you go ahead if the North Koreans were to talk only about missiles?

SECRETARY POWELL: We're not setting any preconditions right now. I think it's important for us to have an open dialogue on all of the issues that are of concern, and this is an area that should be of concern to all of us because of the size of the North Korean army on the border. And it seems to me you can't really have a full set of discussions without raising this particular issue, but we're not putting any preconditions down.

There are some things we are very, very interested in, more interested than in other items, and they would be at the top of our agenda, but we're not prepared to start effecting the talks with preconditions.

Q: Secretary Powell, do you envision seeing your North Korean counterpart perhaps by meeting with him, perhaps in July when you both will be at (inaudible)?

SECRETARY POWELL: I don't know yet. It is premature to speculate on that. It is a possibility, but I don't know yet.

Q: Mr. Foreign Minister, how do you think this new development between the US and North Korea will help your own reconciliation with South Korea -- with North Korea, I'm sorry?

And Secretary Powell, do you think that this new bilateral development will expand into what used to be Four Party talks between the US, South Korea, North Korea and Japan on issues of concern to all?

MINISTER HAN: Well, the (inaudible) United States dialogue with North Korea will certainly help South Korea's effort for reconciliation and cooperation with North Korea.

SECRETARY POWELL: I certainly agree with the Minister, and I don't want to prejudge where things might go. I think it would be speculation, hypothetical speculation, on my part. Let's take it one step at a time and see where things lead.

Q: (Inaudible) talk with North Korea (inaudible) in New York?

SECRETARY POWELL: When?

Q: At what level.

SECRETARY POWELL: At what level? We haven't decided yet, but I expect it will be at the level that we have normally talked. We have people who have spoken to them previously in New York at a certain level within the State Department bureau, and it will probably be at that level. But if you'll notice, I'm being very, very vague because we haven't decided yet and we don't know who they may wish to engage with. So it's a little premature to be more definitive than that very, very vague statement.

Q: Could you explain the basic difference between your policy and the Clinton Administration policy, if any?

SECRETARY POWELL: I think we have expanded the areas of dialogue by putting conventional forces on the agenda and by making it clear to the North Koreans that we want to talk about missiles and missile technology and missile sales and nuclear weapons programs, but also we want to talk about humanitarian issues. We want to talk about other issues that affect relationships between North and South Korea, but especially between North Korea and the United States. So I think we're expanding it in a more comprehensive way, and I think that I would list as one of the major changes.

Thank you very much.