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In today's Report:
Reuters ("GORE IN SOUTH KOREA FOR TALKS ON NORTH KOREA," Seoul,
3/28/97) and CNN Interactive ("GORE ARRIVES IN SEOUL TO DISCUSS PEACE
TALKS," Seoul, 3/28/97) reported that US Vice President Al Gore
arrived Friday in Seoul. He will discuss the progress of the four-
party talks proposal during a Saturday meeting with ROK President Kim
Young-sam. At a Friday dinner hosted by ROK PM Koh Kun, Gore stated
that "our two nations and our two peoples have been allies for nearly
half a century, standing watch together here for the causes of peace,
security, and stability." Gore also noted that "the growth of your
democracy has made our alliance even closer." PM Koh Kun hailed
Gore's Asia trip as signifying "the bonds between the United States
and this region." A senior US official noted that the US and ROK have
advised the DPRK that "there will be a great deal of good will" if it
enters into the peace process, and that "good things will happen."
2. DPRK Demand for Food for Peace Talks
Reuters ("NORTH KOREA DEMANDS FOOD FOR PEACE TALKS," Seoul, 3/27/97)
reported that the DPRK made an offer at a working-level meeting in New
York Wednesday to agree to participation in the four-party talks in
exchange for a US and ROK assurance of food aid. An ROK Foreign
Ministry spokesman stated Thursday that "North Korea asked the United
States and South Korea to guarantee food aid in advance. You could
say it was a conditional acceptance of the proposal." He added that
"we have repeated our position that food aid can be discussed in four-
party talks in the framework of easing tension and building peace."
3. ROK Trade Official Trip to DPRK
The Washington Post carried an Associated Press report ("S KOREA EYES
PEACE WITH N KOREA," Seoul, 3/27/97) that South Korea, "apparently
hoping to induce" the DPRK to "embrace" the four-party talks,
authorized trade official Hong Ji-son of the Korea Trade Promotion
Corporation to depart Friday for an eight-day visit to North Korea.
Hong will discuss opening a ROK trade center in the DPRK free trade
zone.
4. Gore, Gingrich China Visits
Reuters ("GORE SAYS HIS CHINA TRIP WILL LEAD TO PROGRESS," Shanghai,
3/27/97) reported that US Vice President Al Gore Thursday predicted
that his China visit will lead to "significant progress" in the coming
months on issues dividing the US and PRC. Gore advised members of the
American Chamber of Commerce that he addressed "the entire agenda of
Sino-American relations" and that the mission was "part of President
Clinton's efforts to establish a high-level dialogue that will enable
our two nations to build a new era of cooperation for a new century."
Charles Hutzler of the Associated Press reported in the Washington
Post ("GINGRICH DISCUSSES DONATIONS," Beijing, 3/28/97) that US House
of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich used his meetings with PRC
leaders to discuss Chinese involvement in questionable 1996 election
campaign donations and request help in the US investigation. Xinhua
has dismissed the allegations as the US media "taking aim at the
Chinese government." Gingrich noted that PRC Vice Premier Zhu Rongji
was "neither positive nor negative" on his request.
5. ROK Threat to Expel Harry Wu
Choe Sang-hun of the Associated Press reported in the Washington Post
("S KOREA MAY EXPEL CHINA ACTIVIST," Seoul, 3/28/97) that the ROK has
threatened to expel visiting human rights activist Harry Wu if his
criticism of the PRC "jeopardizes" PRC-ROK relations, according to
Amnesty International. Wu stated Friday that he believes Seoul "will
do what's best for its interests; (but) I will not discontinue my
travel."
Reuters ("S KOREA ARRESTS HANBO CHAIRMAN FOR POCKETING FUNDS," Seoul,
3/28/97) reported that Hanbo Chairman Chung Bo-keun was arrested and
taken to Youngdungpo prison, according to Seoul prosecutors. Chung is
accused of pocketing 37 billion won ($41 million) from Hanbo Group
funds.
7. USIA: Samuel Berger Interview on PBS Lehrer News Hour
(US-China engagement "extraordinarily important")
(Permission obtained covering republication/translation of the
transcript by USIS/press outside the US. From the NewsHour with Jim
Lehrer, March 27, 1997, co-produced by MacNEIL/LEHRER PRODUCTIONS and
WETA in association with WNET. Copyright (c) 1997 by MacNeil-Lehrer
Productions.)
Washington -- Samuel Berger, President Clinton's National Security
Adviser, says US diplomatic engagement with China is "extraordinarily
important" because how China evolves over the next ten to 20 years
"will have a profound impact on the stability and peace in Asia and
the rest of the world.
"China will decide its own destiny," Berger said during a March 27
interview conducted by Margaret Warner on PBS television network's
NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, "but we can help shape those choices if we
are engaged with China."
Such engagement is not "a reward for good behavior," he said. The
fundamental importance of Vice President Gore's trip to China,
according to Berger, "is to engage with China to deal with issues
where we have mutual interests, and issues where we have problems --
not to isolate China, or us from a quarter of the world's population."
(Full transcript of the interview is below.)
The previous Daily Report misidentified U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R).
Sen. Cochran represents the State of Mississippi. Our apologies for
the error, copied from the WASHINGTON POST.
Hwang Jang-yop, the DPRK top official in the Philippines, is healthy
and spends most of his time reading and writing, a government source
said yesterday. An anonymous reporter said that despite long
confinement in a small place, Hwang is not showing any signs of
psychological instability. "He is a man of temperance," the source
said. He said that Hwang skips breakfast everyday and refrains from
taking meat. /\Instead, he likes fish and vegetables. Hwang starts his
day with meditation and spends the rest of the day reading and
writing. He loves to read fairy tales written for adult reading, so
officials have given him 15 books of this kind, the source said. Hwang
focuses his writing time on rewriting or amending treatise and
academic papers he wrote in the DPRK. He is depending only on his
memory for that work. Several dictionaries were sent to aid his
writing work, the source said. (CSY) (Korea Herald, "HWANG REPORTED
HEALTHY IN PHILIPPINES HIDEOUT," 03/28/97)
DPRK defector Hwang Jang-yop, is expected to arrive in Seoul around
the second weekend of April, a Foreign Ministry official said
yesterday. "It will take more time. We are still far away from the
point where we and the Chinese agree on the timing of bringing Hwang
to Seoul," said Ryu Kwang-sok, director general of the ministry's
Asia-Pacific Affairs Bureau. He said that Hwang will have to stay in
the Philippines at least one more week before coming to Seoul, thereby
dismissing reports both at home and abroad that the DPRK Worker's
Party secretary's arrival here is imminent. Meanwhile, a high-ranking
government official said yesterday that a DPRK freighter ship has
anchored in Manila Bay. However, the official states, there will be no
serious problems with Hwang's safety as the Philippine authorities are
taking proper measures. No security problems have arisen in connection
with Hwang's stay in the Philippines and he is in stable condition,
Ryu said. On Wednesday, Philippine President Fidel Ramos said that his
country has asked the ROK and the PRC to shorten the duration of
Hwang's stay in the Philippines. "The issue of shortening Hwang's stay
in the Philippines has to be duly considered, and the Philippine
government is still awaiting the replies from the governments of the
PRC and the ROK," said Ramos' aid in his weekly press conference.
Ramos' remarks came amid mounting public opinion in the Philippines
that Hwang's stay there for a protracted period won't serve the
national interests of the country. (Korea Times, "HWANG EXPECTED TO
COME TO SEOUL IN 2ND WEEK OF APRIL," 03/27/97)
2. US Senators Talk with ROK President
A delegation of five US Senators yesterday met with ROK President Kim
Young-sam and ROK Foreign Minister Yoo Chong-ha to discuss the
situation in the DPRK and other issues of mutual concern. The
delegation, led by Sen. Ted Stevens, chairman of the Senate
Appropriations Committee, arrived in Seoul Wednesday for a three-day
visit to be followed by a trip to Pyongyang. The top ROK officials
told the US Senators the DPRK regime has been losing its grip in the
face of severe food shortages and social unrest. They asked for US
congressional support for a joint Seoul-Washington stance on the DPRK;
which is more necessary than ever, said a Foreign Ministry official.
Sen. Stevens, a Republican from Alaska, and four of his colleagues
also attended a briefing from Gen. John H. Tilelli, commander of US
forces here, and visited US military facilities. DPRK officials are
certain to ask the US Senators to support massive food assistance to
the North, the official said. He said the senators' visit may help
improve the atmosphere for food aid to the DPRK but will not lead to
immediate assistance. Following the Senators, US Vice President Al
Gore is scheduled to arrive in Seoul today on the last leg of his
Asian tour. (Korea Herald, "SEOUL ASKS U.S. SENATORS TO BACK JOINT
STAND ON NORTH KOREA," 03/28/97)
A high-ranking official of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency
(KOTRA) will leave for Pyongyang tomorrow on an eight-day investment
trip, the ROK Ministry of National Unification said yesterday. Hong
Ji-sun, who heads KOTRA's DPRK department, will meet with officials of
the DPRK Commission for External Trade Promotions to discuss
furthering processing-on-commission trade and the opening of a KOTRA
office in the Rajin-Sonbong free trade zone. Hong was given permission
to visit the DPRK by the Ministry yesterday. His earlier request had
been rejected by the Ministry because his application document was
missing some of the required information, an official said. Ministry
officials strongly denied that Hong is visiting the North to carry out
a behind-the-door transaction of 200,000 tons of rice to the North. An
ROK weekly reported that Hong was the ROK mediator for the exchange of
Hwang for rice. (Korea Herald, "KOTRA OFFICIAL ON INVESTEMENT MISSION
TO NORTH KOREA," 03/28/97)
4. North Korean Defects to ROK
A DPRK construction worker, Lim Jae-il, arrived in Seoul yesterday
after seeking asylum through the ROK Embassy in Kuwait. Upon his
arrival at the Kimpo International Airport, he said that scores of
people die every day from hunger-related diseases in the North, except
in Pyongyang, the capital city. " I decided to defect to the South
because I couldn't live in the DPRK, which is a land of death,
starvation and solitude," said Lim, one of 1,600 DPRK construction
workers in Kuwait. Lim said he worked 15 hours a day in Kuwait since
November last year. "When they sent me to Kuwait, DPRK officials
promised me a $120 monthly wage, but I received no money during the
past four months," Lim said. Lim fled his construction site March 18
and sought asylum to the ROK Embassy in Kuwait. The Kuwait government
and the U.N. High Commissioner on Refugees confirmed his desire to
defect to the South, a Foreign Ministry official said. According to
Lim, the food shortage in the North is becoming more aggravated .
"(They) know very well that South Korea is far better off, while they
are sick and tired of the North Korean society," said Lim, in
reference to DPRK workers in Kuwait. "As far as I know, many of them
are seeking a chance to defect to the South." As for the North, Lim
left behind his wife, son and father. ROK Embassy officials in Kuwait
told The Korea Herald, in October last year, when there were only 800
DPRK workers in the oil-rich nation, reported that the ROK Embassy in
Kuwait was ready for possible defection of some of the DPRK workers.
Another 800 DPRK workers entered Kuwait since then with the
expectation that they would receive a monthly wage of $120 to $200.
The defector's arrival came as the ROK's religious and civic groups
launched a week-long joint fund-raising campaign to send 10,000 tons
of corn to the DPRK. Meanwhile, at least three other DPRK defectors
have arrived in Hong Kong seeking asylum in the South. (Korea Herald,
"NORTH KOREAN DEFECTOR ARRIVES IN SEOUL FROM KUWAIT," 03/28/97)
Following is the MacNeil-Lehrer Productions transcript:
(begin transcript)
NEWSMAKER: SANDY BERGER MARCH 27, 1997 TRANSCRIPT
MARGARET WARNER: Samuel Berger took over from Anthony Lake as head of
the National Security Council when President Clinton reshuffled his
foreign policy and defense team last December. His relationship with
Bill Clinton dates back 25 years when they both worked for the
presidential campaign of George McGovern. Berger served as Mr.
Clinton's foreign policy adviser during the 1992 campaign, then became
Lake's chief deputy at the NSC. He joins us for his first NewsHour
interview since becoming National Security Adviser. And, welcome.
First interview, we hope not the last.
SAMUEL (SANDY) BERGER, National Security Adviser: Good to be here. I
hope not.
WARNER: You gave a major speech today in which you said that we should
stop calling this time we're living in the post-Cold War era. What
should we call it? How should we think of it?
BERGER: Well, the post-Cold War era is the phrase that defines what
has ended -- the collapse of the Soviet Union, the collapse of the
Berlin Wall. What we really need to focus on now is what we're
building. And what I tried to do in today's speech, what the President
has laid out in the State of the Union and elsewhere, are the
strategic objectives of this new era of construction -- an undivided,
peaceful Europe, a relationship between Asia and the United States, an
open trading system, America building peace in areas like the Middle
East. These are the acts of construction that will mark the new era
that we're entering.
WARNER: But you still haven't given me the bumper sticker line.
BERGER: I don't think there is or need we spend a lot of time looking
for the lift or the driving cliche that will answer every question.
Containment was a one-word description of a policy. In its application
to the central question of the Soviet Union it was enormously
successful. As it was applied elsewhere, one might argue that it was
not always quite as successful. I don't think there's a single slogan
that embraces all the judgments we need to make. I think there is,
however, a strategic direction of building an international community
of shared values and shared interests.
WARNER: All rights. Let's turn to your new job. Tony Lake's management
of the NSC did come in for a lot of criticism during his confirmation
hearings to be head of the CIA. Are you going to run the NSC in a
management sense any differently than he did?
BERGER: Well, first of all, I think Tony was an excellent National
Security Adviser. I think the period -- the President's first term --
was a period of great accomplishment, ending the war in Bosnia,
bringing peace to Haiti, enormous accomplishments in the trade area,
peace in the Middle East. I could go on and on. So /\I think that his
administration of the NSC and the President's leadership during the
first term have been very sound. But I think that there are questions
that were raised. And I think I would say also that the national
security staff is an extraordinarily dedicated and fine staff. But
there are some questions that have been raised in the course of the
hearings about how you insulate the NSC from partisan political
pressure on the one hand, without isolating the NSC from the outside
world, and I think those questions need greater clarity, and I will
talk with other former National Security Advisers and hope to provide
that clarity.
WARNER: So if the FBI came to brief two of your staffers in a few
months about some other foreign government trying to influence U.S.
elections, would you want to know about it?
BERGER: Well, in the case you're referring to the answer is certainly
yes.
WARNER: All right. And if an NSC --
BERGER: But let me say this. There are also -- here is a balance
between micromanagement and need to know. A senior director at the
National Security Council is the rank of an assistant secretary. These
are extraordinarily bright people, hundreds of pieces of information
come across their desks every day. I don't need to know everything,
nor should I -- should they feel compelled to pass everything up the
line. But, clearly, there are things that have broad implications, as
was the case of that particular piece of information which I would
have wanted to know, I think the President would have wanted to know.
WARNER: Do you have -- let me turn to the other example, which had to
do with the fact that an NSC staffer, one of these directors, warned
that the President shouldn't meet with a certain international
businessman. I don't want to rehash that. I want to know in the future
do you have assurances that that recommendation would stand and not be
overruled by political people either at the White House or the DNC?
BERGER: The President has said that he felt the procedures, some of
the procedures that were in place the last few years, in terms of who
he had -- who had access to him were lax. He has directed the chief of
staff, Mr. Bowles, to design a more rigorous system. I think the
National Security Council has a role to play in that system,
particularly with respect to foreign visitors. We can have access to
certain databases and determine whether there is information with
respect to those individuals that ought to be known by the people
putting on the event, but we can't be a police force for the tens of
thousands of people who come to the White House.
WARNER: Attorney General Reno today defended the FBI's decision to
refuse your NSC's request for some counter-intelligence information
about China's alleged attempts to subvert the U.S. election, and this
was information you're asking for, for Madeleine Albright, the
Secretary of State, before her first trip to China. Now, are you --
are you comfortable with that? How do you feel about that, that the
FBI would not give you the information?
BERGER: Well, the FBI is in a difficult position. Obviously, it has a
law enforcement responsibility and a need to preserve the integrity of
that law enforcement process. I would hope when there are matters
touching on national security that there would be a willingness to
share that information to the extent they deem appropriate.
WARNER: You mentioned about wanting to isolate or insulate the NSC
from political considerations, political pressures. You have been
described, however, during the last few years as really the nexus
between NSC and the political planning that went on at the White
House. You were the ones -- you were the one in those meetings with
the pollsters and the campaign advertising people and so on. In
retrospect, do you think that was appropriate for you to be there?
BERGER: Well, first of all, let me say my principal responsibility and
what I spent 17 or 18 hours a day doing was the conduct of American
foreign policy, advising the President. There were weekly meetings the
President had with senior officials in the White House and some of the
campaign consultants. I thought it was appropriate to have somebody
from the foreign policy shop at those meetings so that those people
who were engaged in directing the campaign had an understanding of
what the President's foreign policies were, and those of us who were
on the foreign policy side had an understanding of what the general
thrust and themes of the campaign were. There was no discussion at
those meetings of fund-raising or contributors. And I think -- I don't
think it was inappropriate, but obviously one has to be very cautious
about that.
WARNER: All right. Let's turn to Vice President Gore's trip to China.
What did the U.S. get out of that trip?
BERGER: Well, I think the policy of engagement with China is
extraordinarily important. How China evolves, Margaret, over the next
10 years or 20 years will be -- will have a profound impact on the
stability and peace of Asia and the entire world. Will China integrate
increasingly into the international community, or China develop in a
more nationalistic and self-absorbed way? China will decide its own
destiny, but we can help shape those choices if we are engaged with
China. And we engage with China not as a reward for good behavior. We
engage with China to expand areas where we can cooperate, such as
stability in the Korean Peninsula, ending nuclear testing, as we've
done last year, as well as to raise, forthrightly, as the Vice
President did areas of disagreement, human rights, some questions of
market access, issues of some of China's weapon sales. So the
fundamental importance of the trip is to engage with China to deal
with issues where we have mutual interests, and issues where we have
problems not to isolate China or isolate us from a quarter of the
world's population.
WARNER: Some critics, some observers of the trip in editorial pages,
including the Washington Post for one, criticized the Gore trip
because they felt that the business interests seemed paramount. I
think the Post said something like it gave the impression that
commercial interests trump all U.S. policy in China. Does that concern
you?
BERGER: That's not true. We have a broad-ranging relationship with
China. The Vice President's discussions with the Chinese involved --
were a strategic dialogue. They involved issues of regional stability.
They involved the Korean Peninsula. I'm sure they involved Taiwan. I
know they involved Hong Kong. Part of our relationship is economic. We
now have a trade deficit with China. We can't get rid of that trade
deficit if we don't sell things to China. We can't simultaneously
complain about a trade deficit and not be supportive of American
business as it seeks to sell into that market. But it hardly dominates
the relationship. This is a broad, complex relationship. The economic
dimension is simply one of many.
WARNER: Now you mentioned Hong Kong. Why did the Vice President not go
to Hong Kong?
BERGER: I think the Vice President felt that it was most effective to
raise our concerns about Hong Kong directly with the Chinese. Others
from the administration have traveled to Hong Kong. There will be many
senior visitors from Hong Kong coming to the United States. But we
wanted to convey to the Chinese that the world here is concerned about
the way in which Hong Kong is integrated into China at the end of this
summer.
WARNER: So it wasn't a concern about offending the Chinese?
BERGER: No. I think it was -- this was -- first of all, it's a limited
trip in duration, but I think it's a question of how you are most
effective in trying to achieve the result we want, which is not only
in our interest but it's very much in China's interest to have a
peaceful integration of Hong Kong which preserves the distinct
identity and political freedoms of Hong Kong.
WARNER: There was also quite a bit of confusion about what exactly the
Vice President said, what message he left with the Chinese when they
asked him about all this, this fund-raising scandal and the ongoing
investigation. What was the message that he conveyed to the Chinese?
BERGER: Well, I was not in the meeting but my impression is that what
the Vice President said is that these are serious allegations, they
are under investigation by our Justice Department, if they are true,
we would take them seriously, and obviously, some appropriate action
will be necessary, but they're still allegations, and we need to at
the same time we investigate those allegations, we need to proceed to
deal with the broad range of issues that we have in common with China.
You know, we have problems with other countries, sometimes law
enforcement problems with other countries. Sometimes they're our
allies. Sometimes they're our quasi-allies. We don't deal with the
relationship. We try to deal with a relationship as well as vigorously
pursue the law enforcement matters at the same time.
WARNER: If in the ensuing months, though, this investigation should
get to the point say there were indictments or that it was clear that
the law enforcement community here or grand jury came to the
conclusion that this interference was attempted, then what? For
instance, would the summit go ahead between the President and Jiang
Zemin --
BERGER: I'm not going to get ahead of what we know or what I know. The
fact is that there is an investigation ongoing; let's see where it
leads; and obviously the President has indicated before that these are
serious allegations, but they are allegations, and their overall
relationship remains extremely important in our interest. This is not
something we do for China. It's something that we pursue for the
United States.
WARNER: All right. Well, thank you so much for coming in.
BERGER: Thank you.
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1. Gore Visit to South Korea
II. Republic of Korea
2. DPRK Demand for Food for Peace Talks
3. ROK Trade Official Trip to DPRK
4. Gore, Gingrich China Visits
5. ROK Threat to Expel Harry Wu
6. Hanbo Chairman Arrest
7. USIA: Samuel Berger Interview on PBS Lehrer News Hour
8. A Correction
1. Hwang Defection
III. Samuel Berger Interview Transcript
2. US Senators Talk with ROK President
3. ROK Invests in DPRK
4. North Korean Defects to ROK
I. United States
II. Republic of Korea
III. Samuel Berger Interview Transcript
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