Panel One of a Hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - Latest Round of Six-Way Talks on Nuclear Weapons in North Korea

Federal News Service

HEADLINE: PANEL ONE OF A HEARING OF THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE

SUBJECT: LATEST ROUND OF SIX-WAY TALKS ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN NORTH KOREA

CHAIRED BY: SENATOR RICHARD LUGAR (R-IN)

WITNESSES: JAMES KELLY, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS; JOSEPH DETRANI, SPECIAL STATE DEPARTMENT ENVOY FOR SIX-PARTY TALKS

LOCATION: 419 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C.

BODY:
SEN. CHAFEE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman and welcome to the witnesses. Maybe I'll ask Mr. DeTrani, since he hasn't had a chance to weigh in here much. Secretary Kelly said in his prepared statement that the proposal the U.S. presented was developed in close coordination with the Republic of Korea and Japan and so begs the question why not in close coordination with Russia and PRC?

MR. DETRANI: Sir, certainly Russia and the PRC were very-were consulted on the proposal that the U.S. presented at the last round. We have had very intense discussions with the Republic of Korea and with the government of Japan all along. Certainly with the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation also. So, let me say, I think we could categorize it that way because the Republic of Korea has been very forthcoming in proposing things. They have actually put proposals in front of us where they have said, We'd like to move on it. They've been a bit more proactive in saying, We need to put something on the table and be very definitive.

The same for the government of Japan. It does not mean, however, sir, that the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation haven't been forward leaning. It's just that we've had more concrete proposals by both those governments, which fit in very nicely with our game plan where we wanted to present a road map, knowing that North Korea's moving toward economic reforms, knowing that they're looking for, if you will, international legitimacy, we thought this was a time to pull all the pieces together.

SEN. CHAFEE: And the meetings of course are being held in Beijing. How important is China to our success here?

MR. DETRANI: Extremely important, sir. Extremely important. China is in many ways the key to success. They have a very very close working relationship with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. As we speak, their minister of defense is visiting in Beijing. They've had high level visits going back and forth. Kim Jong Il into Beijing, and they've had senior Chinese officials into Pyongyang. So, China is very critical, and they've been facilitating the six-party process in a very effective way, sir.

We continue to ask for more assistance. We continue to ask the People's Republic of China to put-to better convince the DPRK that they need to be more forthcoming in these talks. And the relationship is close with the PRC.

SEN. CHAFEE: From my experience in dealing with officials from the PRC, is that the top priority for them is the cross-strait relations, and certainly the sale of arms to Taiwan. About the same time these talks were going on, Condoleezza Rice was over there saying that we, the United States, will continue to sell arms to Taiwan. As you look at our efforts to de-nuclearize North Korea, to have this dynamic injected-and you just said that China is key-so, by virtue of that word, we're not going to have success without their cooperation. At the same time, we're kind of battling over this issue. But I'll ask, Mr. DeTrani, -- I'd like to have you --

MR. DETRANI: Sir, I'm going to ask Assistant Secretary Kelly, but my quick response to that would be in all the discussions I've had with the PRC and Jim Kelly in all our meetings, Taiwan has never been mentioned in any of our discussions as we work the North Korea issue. But I will look to Assistant Secretary Kelly to elaborate.

MR. KELLY: That's a big issue in the full bilateral relationship, but when it comes to the six-party talks, the Chinese are not posing that that as tactical issue in any respect. And I would also add, sir, that we consult very closely with China and Russia, but we have a fifty year alliance with the Republic of Korea and with Japan. We have a long-standing practice of consulting with them on scores if not hundreds of issues, and that's really why the proposal was more carefully developed with them.

MR. DETRANI: I myself just think it's hard to believe that, knowing how strongly they feel about this, that it's not a factor. At the same, we're asking for their cooperation, we're not listening to them on this issue. But you have a different point of view, and I respect that.

MR. KELLY: We are listening to them, Senator Chafee.

SEN. CHAFEE: On the sale of arms to Taiwan?

MR. KELLY: Oh.

Well, sir, we have something called the Taiwan Relations Act. Since 1979, that requires the U.S. government to provide by, after its own assessment, a necessary defensive arms to Taiwan. Our relationship with China is based on the three joint communiques and on the Taiwan Relations Act, which is the U.S. law.

SEN. CHAFEE: Well, thank you. I'll switch gears a little bit.

You said that we're going to, in return for the denuclearization, do three things: Provide for some multilateral security assurances; begin a study to determine the energy requirements; and to meet them by non-nuclear energy programs; and begin discussions of steps to lift the economic sanctions. In the middle of those three, what specifically can we talk to them about on their energy needs? Help them build dams? Get natural gas from Russia? What specifically non- nuclear energy can we offer them?

MR. KELLY: North Korea has a huge energy insufficiency and problem. And it is operating in every respect. It's operating, for example, Senator, with a grid that was put up by the Japanese in the early part of the last century. The light water reactor project that is now in full suspension, but that was a part of the agreed framework, among its many anomalies is there was no way to connect the reactors, if they had ever been completed, with the rest of North Korea. And so there are many non-nuclear aspects ranging all the way from wind power to Russian or other natural gas to South Korean support for other kinds of non-nuclear power generation. There is a very broad panoply, and it has not been adequately studied, and I think it would be helpful if that occurred.

SEN. CHAFEE: Mr. DeTrani, any specific-have we gotten far enough to think about what specifically we can help them with in their non-nuclear energy needs?

MR. DETRANI: Sir, we have discussed this in the working group sessions, and that's-when we get into these various issues. So, we have talked about all the natural gas, coalfire plants, et cetera. Opportunities are ahead for them. And I think that North Koreans see it in that light.

SEN. CHAFEE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.