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30 July 2000
Albright Reiterates Clinton Position on Missile Defense
The Clinton Administration has "not yet made any decision" on missile defense options, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said in a July 30 conference in Tokyo, Japan. In response to a reporter's question about National Missile Defense (NMD) and Theater Missile Defense (TMD), Albright said President Clinton would be making a decision "within the near future based on four criteria, which are (1) the threat, (2) whether the technology works, (3) the cost of the technology, and (4) its effect generally on the international security environment and arms control issues." On the issue of North Korea, Albright added, the Clinton Administration would continue to "coordinate very closely with this trilateral mechanism that we have with the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the United States." Following is the State Department transcript of the press conference:
U.S. Department of State
Foreign Minister Kono: I have just had a long meeting with Secretary Albright going way over our scheduled time. When you are having a good discussion with someone that is important to you, you almost forget the passing of time. As you all know, Secretary Albright visited Miyazaki today. At the G-8 Foreign Ministers meeting she was unable to attend because of her important engagement with the Middle East peace process. However, the United States still made important contributions to the Foreign Ministers meeting at Miyazaki. Secretary Albright felt that she could not leave the Miyazaki issue at that and she made a point of visiting Miyazaki today. I heard from Secretary Albright firsthand how delicate of an issue, with tension and how difficult of an issue, and how much effort she had been making on the Middle East peace process which prevented her from coming to Miyazaki. I expressed my sincere appreciation to Secretary Albright for the cooperation that the United States extended for the success of the summit, the Kushyu-Okinawa summit. I also expressed to Secretary Albright that the speech that President Clinton made at the Cornerstone of Peace Park in Okinawa was significant for the U.S.-Japan relationship. I would like to continue to maintain close cooperation with the United States including the steady implementation of the SACO final report. There have difficult issues between Japan and the United States like the NTT interconnection rate issue, however with the effort of the people involved they have been resolved and the Secretary and myself reaffirmed the good state of our bilateral relationship. On international issues both the Secretary and myself met with Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun of North Korea and we exchanged views on the content of the discussions that we had with Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun and we agreed that we need to continue our close policy consultation between Japan, the United States and South Korea on North Korea and to move on effectively. We had other bilateral issues and international issues which we took up during this meeting which went almost twice the length of time as we had originally planned but there are still issues which we would like to take up between ourselves, and I strongly hope that I will be able to have another meeting with Secretary Albright in the not so distant future. Secretary Albright: Thank you. I would like to thank my good friend the Foreign Minister for his welcome and for taking extra time to meet with me today. As he pointed out we had a particularly good discussion on many issues of mutual interest. I had a wonderful time in Miyazaki today and I was very honored to have them name a hall after me. As I pointed out, you usually have to be dead to have that happen. So I was very glad that they did not require that in order to name something after me. I am especially pleased to offer congratulations to Japan for the superb job it did as President and host of the G-8 summit. I know that President Clinton was deeply appreciative of the welcome that he received. And I'm grateful for the opportunity to make up so quickly for the visit I had earlier had to postpone. Foreign minister Kono mentioned the President's speech in Okinawa. President Clinton described the US-Japan alliance as one of the great stories of the 20th Century and I am confident that it will be a source of strength throughout the 21st as well. This relationship is reflected in the range of subjects that the Foreign Minister and I reviewed this evening and I think it makes clear yet again what a strong and important partnership our two countries have. For example on security matters, we were able to compare notes on the recent ASEAN discussions in Bangkok, including our respective meetings with the DPRK Foreign minister, and our trilateral coordination with Seoul. On the economic side, we mentioned the recent and mutually beneficial telecommunications agreement, and our ongoing talks on foreign direct investment. In addition, I was able to brief Foreign Minister Kono on the Camp David talks. Japan has been one of the strongest international supporters of the peace process, and its backing will be vital in the difficult days ahead. And I was deeply gratified by the Foreign Minister's reaction and his understanding of the need for international assistance, should we actually reach an agreement. The U.S.-Japan relationship and friendship is one of the broadest, and warmest, and most important in the world, and I look forward very much to my meeting with Prime Minister Mori, and to continuing to work very closely with the Foreign Minister in the days and the weeks to come, and we've already made plans for meetings when we are both in New York. Thank You. Q: I would like to pose this question to Foreign Minister Kono. With regard to the relocation of Futenma Air Station, it has been over six months since the relocation's designation, the designated place has been decided, however the method of construction or when the alternative facility will be completed has not yet been decided. When will you make decisions on those issues? And also, with regard to the 15-year time limit that the local people strongly are asking for, what are your views on that issue? Foreign Minister Kono: As you all know, Prime Minister Mori took this issue up at the Japan-U.S. summit meeting that was held on the 22nd. We will be coming up with the basic plan for the relocation facilities, including its construction method. And we will also be establishing a consultative mechanism to devise this basic plan, and in coming up with this consultative mechanism, we will be consulting Okinawa prefecture as well as the local authorities. With regard to the time limit issue on the relocation facility, we have taken this issue up several times, but we will be following the policies we decided in our Cabinet decision. Of course, we will at the same time be making diplomatic efforts so that the international environment will ameliorate. If I may add another word to this answer, as I said at the outset of my opening remarks, President Clinton, in his speech at the Cornerstone of Peace Park, promised that he will implement the SACO final report, and I believe that that statement has important significance. Q: Madame Secretary, I wanted to know if you raised the issue of Japan's resumed whaling with your counterpart, and did you ask them to stop it, and do you believe that this is for research and not commercial purposes as the Japanese say. Secretary Albright: Yes, I did raise the issue with the Foreign Minister. He said that he would pass on to the Prime Minister our very deep concern over the issue. We are deeply troubled by what is happening and believe that it is contrary to the various whaling conventions (note: i.e. contrary to international whaling commission resolutions) that have been passed, and whether it's for commercial or research purposes, it should not be happening. Q: I'd like to pose this question to Secretary Albright. The United States made its decision that the deployment, that the decision on the deployment of NMD will be made in the next administration. But, I'd like to ask, with regard to TMD, which China has expressed its concern about, are you going to proceed with the joint study between Japan and the United States. Secretary Albright: Well, first of all, the United States has not yet made any decision. The President will be making such a decision within the near future based on four criteria, which are (1) the threat, (2) whether the technology works, (3) the cost of the technology, and (4) its effect generally on the international security environment and arms control issues. As far as TMD is concerned, or BMD as people like to call it here, we will obviously continue to work on that together. Q: I am from Reuters. Madame Secretary and Mr. Foreign Minister, both of you recently had historic talks with your North Korean counterpart. How would you see the process of normalization of relations with Pyongyang? And also for Madame Secretary, I'm wondering if based on your talks tonight if you've had any additional information on the North Korean missile offer as conveyed by President Putin? Secretary Albright: I will let Prime Minister Kono obviously answer the question for himself also, but it seemed to me that we had fairly similar discussions with the North Korean Foreign Minister. Clearly the historic summit between South and North was something that has potentially affected relations for all of us, and we will all, each of us in our own way, follow through in ways that meet our concerns. The meeting, I think, that I had with the Foreign Minister from the DPRK, as I said, in terms of substance wasn't a lot, but symbolically it was very important. And we will be examining various ways to follow through on what is possible with that country as it emerges from its period of isolation. I also think that the Foreign Minister gleaned about the same amount of information on the Putin proposal, which is not a lot. And let me just add, obviously we will continue to coordinate very closely with this trilateral mechanism that we have with the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the United States. Foreign Minister Kono: Secretary Albright almost answered the question for myself as well, and there is almost nothing to add. However, at the Japan-North Korea Foreign Ministers' meeting, we agreed to hold the next normalization talks from August 21 in Tokyo, and we also agreed that we would make every effort to normalize our relations. And as part of that effort, we will make efforts to resolve the various issues that lie between Japan and North Korea with the most sincere efforts.
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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