Evening Walk-through, St. Regis Hotel - 02.10.07

OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT

Remarks by Christopher Hill
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Public Affairs
Evening Walk-through, St. Regis Hotel
February 10, 2007


ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  Hi.  How are you doing?

QUESTION:  Ambassador Hill, the parties seemed like the gaps have widened over the day, and they're talking about the division, about energy, the timing of energy, of the five parties?  Is that what you were talking about this morning, and is there a problem for energy?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  There's no question there's an issue.  I just don’t want to get into the question of what it is, whether it is energy or something else.  But there is definitely an issue that has prevented us from sealing the deal right now.  It’s our view that we should continue to work on this.  In fact, we had some really good discussions throughout the day, bilaterally, multilaterally.  We’re looking for some ways through this.  

In my view it’s really worth staying with, it’s really worth trying to bridge this -- because if we can get closure on this issue, we can solve an overall problem and get a set of initial actions.  But it’s going to take a little time.  

Frankly, I had hoped we would get it done on Saturday, but I think it may take another day or two to get through this.  You know, frankly, there is no magic in diplomacy.  Whenever you pull a rabbit out of a hat it’s because you’ve spent a lot of time trying to stuff that rabbit down the hat.  So that’s what we’re trying to do.  We’re trying to set this up.  

Again, it’s very business-like out there.  To be sure, there have been some disagreements.  But I really think we’re down to one main issue, which I think we can get through.  You know, it’s really tough to predict success.  We’re dealing with a tough issue and a tough part of the world, with six different delegations.  But we’re going to stay with this.  It’s Saturday night.  We can certainly go through Sunday.  Let’s see how we do.

QUESTION:  So the gaps have not widened?  It’s still the same issue you had this morning?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  I would not describe the gaps as having widened.  The real issue is not even the issue of defining the problem.  It’s simply measuring the issue, I mean trying to come up with a precise measurement of what needs to be done.  So, we’re not going to paper over differences.  We’re not going to come up with a text where people are free to interpret in different ways.  We’re going to try to get down to specifics, and that’s really the issue when you get to implementation.  Unlike, in a sort of general set of principles where there is room for different sides to try to interpret things differently, when you talk about implementation you really got to have a very precise notion of what it’s going to look like.  That’s what we’re doing right now.  

I’m sure some of you have heard various reports on what the issue is.  I don’t want to be in a position of confirming those.  I also would caution you that even though it looks like we’re working on this one issue, it’s quite possible when we solve it, some other issue will pop up, as I tried to describe yesterday.  We’ll have to see.

QUESTION:  Is it an issue between North Korea and the other five parties?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  Basically, yes.  Basically, it is.

QUESTION:  The South Koreans mentioned that the North Koreans committed to take first steps, but the problem is corresponding measures, implying [inaudible] the problem between the other five parties.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  I wouldn’t describe the problem as among the other five parties.  I would say the problem is North Korea and North Korea wanting a very precise measurement of how we’re going to go forward.  So, again, I wish I could tell you everything.  But if I told you everything, then it would make the problem worse.  It’s tough enough as it is.

QUESTION:  Mr. Ambassador, how do you intend to breakthrough this issue?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  I’m sounding Chinese now, but I think we have to be patient.  I think we have to get through this weekend.  What’s important is we not allow the problem to infect other areas --because, frankly, if you look at the overall deal, we’ve gotten everything else pretty well nailed down.  So we’re just out on one issue, basically.  

Again, as I mentioned, I would love to come here and just pull a rabbit out of a hat.  But in this business you have to spend some time stuffing the rabbit down the hat.  That’s what we’re going to be doing, and we’ve got a little time for that.  The problem here is not measured in days.  We can spend a little longer getting this done.  And if we get it done with some of the ideas that we worked on late this afternoon, I think it could make it much easier for the next phase.  We’re just going to have to stick with it.

QUESTION:  Mr. Hill, the shutdown of the Yongbyon Complex, was that one of the things that would take place within weeks?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  You’re asking me to confirm some of the essential elements.  You’re asking me to step up my lead, ruin the story.  Let me just hold off on discussing that, except to say -- that’s not the problem we’re dealing with right now.

QUESTION:  Could you then say if there is any difference between a freeze and a shutdown?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  I think I’ve gone through that before.  We’re looking to do things that aim in a single direction.  We’re looking to move along on a path which will allow us to get closer to the goal, which is complete denuclearization.

QUESTION:  If you don’t get this issue straight, what happens?  Do you schedule another round of Six-Party Talks?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  Well, no.  I think it would be kind of difficult to do that.  I think we are kind of reaching a point where we’ve got to solve this.  And if we don’t solve this, I think it’s sort of tough to reconvene the six parties.  So we have to figure out a way through it.  Frankly, I said last night and I’ll say tonight -- if logic is the most operative element here, we can get through this.  We really can.  I think it makes a lot of sense.  Give us a little time.  I know you all have planes to catch.  I’m sure you’re running out of clothes like the rest of us.  But I think if we all can stick with this a little longer, we can really help the overall process.

QUESTION:  So are you saying that if this issue is not resolved, it would be the end of the Six-Party Talks?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  I don’t want to say that.  I am saying that this round is very important to be successful.  We came here in December with high expectations and didn’t realize them.  We really have to make some progress.  So that’s what we’re looking for here, and I do believe that we can get there in this round.  I had hoped we were getting there today; frankly, I had hoped yesterday.  I still have hopes for tomorrow.  We’ve got to work on this a little.

QUESTION:  Are the financial talks also a discussion now?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  I think we’ve got an understanding of how to deal with those.  

QUESTION:  Are you still hopeful you can make a joint statement?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  Yes, we’re looking for a joint statement, absolutely, because a joint statement is where you get various parties making an agreement to do certain things.  Again, we are not talking about agreed principles.  We are talking about changes on the ground.  We need everyone to agree to those.  

QUESTION:  How many more days do you think it will be in this process?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  Are you asking about me or about you?

QUESTION:  I’m in it for the long haul.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  OK.  I don’t think too many more days.  I really don’t.

QUESTION:  Did you anticipate this problem, this issue becoming a problem?  Had it been addressed before?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  Frankly, we had hoped to kick this down the road a little, but it turns out it’s with us now.  So we have to resolve it now.  Frankly, if we resolve it now, we’ll be in a better position -- because when you kick things down the road, you have to deal with them later.  For a number of reasons, we are being forced to deal with it now, and that’s just as well.

QUESTION:  Do you have any sense that this is becoming a test of will [inaudible]?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  We’re OK.  It’s very businesslike there; everyone is talking to everybody.  At times we have different views on things, but we are in pretty good communication among all six.  Anytime you put six parties together, it’s difficult.  You have to reconcile different points of view.  People are coming at this problem from different angles.  People have different things they want to get done from it.  So it’s not always easy.  

But we have excellent hosts in the Chinese.  I think the Chinese really want to see this solved.  I must say I’ve had several bilateral meetings with my Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei, and I really think American-Chinese relations are pretty good today -- because we are really, really working together with a sense of needing to solve this.  

QUESTION:  Ambassador, did you have discussions with North Korean counterparts?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  I talked a little to my DPRK counterpart, Kim Gye Gwan, and we agreed we’ll meet again tomorrow.  But it wasn’t very much.  We were just doing some other things.  But we talked a little late this afternoon, and we agreed we’d get together again tomorrow.

QUESTION:  Mr. Ambassador, North Korea needs and wants energy.  Was there some surprise by the other five parties that they want so much?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  Whenever there’s a negotiation, there’s always one guy who wants more than the other guy thinks.  We’ll work it through.

QUESTION:  What, if not logic, is going to dominate this process as you said if logic…

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  If it’s not logic, then it’s emotion.  If it’s not logic, then it’s people remembering too much of what’s happened before and wanting to reimpose views from the past.  Look, I’d really rather talk to you about this once we get it solved, and I do believe we’ll get it solved.  

QUESTION:  Mr. Ambassador, have you seen a second draft or are you expecting one soon?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  There is no second draft.  I hope you haven’t seen one, because there is not supposed to be a second draft.  There is one paragraph that keeps getting reworked, and that’s the problem.  But otherwise we’re in pretty good shape.

QUESTION:  Mr. Hill, how far are we on a compromise?  One paragraph, one night, is there hope in the next 24, 48 hours?  Is there enough room to compromise?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  Again, I think we can solve this.  We have agreed on a lot.  We just have one item to get through.  

QUESTION:  Is this a matter or wording or is it substantive?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  It’s more substantive than wording.  That’s the thing.  When you’re in the implementation, wording is less important than substance.  When you’re doing principles, wording is more important.  We’re down to some real actual needs here.  

OK.

QUESTION:  One thing – there was a report in the New York Times saying that the White House was gearing up for a major announcement this weekend on this issue.  Was that a bit premature?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  No, no.  Frankly, I thought we’d get there yesterday, on Friday.  So if anyone is gearing up for anything, it is probably my fault.  

QUESTION:  Ambassador, one more question.  Do you think there is a prospect of reaching an agreement at this moment?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  I’m sorry?  Do I think there’s a prospect?

QUESTION:  Reaching [inaudible].

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  If I didn’t think there was a prospect, I’d be on a plane out of here, reading about the Red Sox getting ready for spring training.  But I really do think there is a prospect.

QUESTION:  What kind of prospect is there that you can do better than the 1994 agreement?  Or, another way of putting that, what kind of a shutdown is irreversible?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  Again, I think I took some time to talk about this the other day.  I think the 1994 agreement came at a certain time in history, and it was addressing certain really crucial problems at the time.  We’re dealing with some different problems now, and the Six-Party process is a different kind of approach.  It’s an approach that involves all the countries in the region.  It’s an approach that tries to address many of the problems in the region, many of the underlying problems in the region -- not just denuclearization, but other underlying problems.  

As I’ve said before, it’s not easy.  But if we can stick with it and be a little patient, as the Chinese always tell me, we can maybe create a situation that creates momentum -- not only for solving the difficult problem of denuclearization, but also some of the other problems that have arisen from the very troubled history of this region.  We are engaged in a very ambitious undertaking.  It’s as ambitious as I think it is doable.  So I’m not discouraged about it.  But it does take a lot of effort from a lot of different sides with a lot of different perspectives.  So let’s see how we do.  

QUESTION:  What’s your schedule like tomorrow?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  When we go out to Diaoyutai, we try to get out there early to mid-morning, and it’s a little hard to predict -- because we are doing many, many bilaterals and groups of delegations, like trilaterals, et cetera.  So I suspect that we’ll be out there in the middle of the morning tomorrow.  We’ll be out there for the remainder of the day.  I don’t have any fixed schedule.  

QUESTION:  This issue, do you believe it’s one that Kim Gye Gwan can settle in the room, or it is a question of him working with his…

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  Well, he always needs guidance.  He always needs some guidance.  And to be sure, there have been things given to him.  And he says he needs to get back to Pyongyang with instructions.  That happens to all of us.  I mean all of us don’t need to go to Pyongyang, but all of us need to go back to our home offices.  

QUESTION:  Are the bilaterals with him like in Berlin going to be kind of a mainstay of the process?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL:  I think the Berlin meetings with Kim Gye Gwan were extremely helpful, and it’s why we have been able to make as much progress as we have.  Really, we’ve resolved a great deal of problems thanks to these additional bilaterals.  But we’ve got to get through this one other problem, and we need to work with the other delegations on it as well.  

Hey, I really need to get some sleep and so do you.  I’ll talk to you later, OK?  All right.