Evening Walkthrough, St. Regis Hotel, Beijing, China

Remarks by Christopher R. Hill

Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs

Evening Walkthrough, St. Regis Hotel

Beijing, China

March 17, 2007 
 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  We had a good day today.  We had a denuclearization working group, and we had a good discussion.  I think we are on schedule for this first phase.  The DPRK gave a statement which I think was very balanced and constructive -- indicated they are underway and fulfilling their obligations.   

Later this afternoon I briefed members of their delegation on the BDA issue -- gave them some details and facts about the case that we had not been able to brief on them before, and they were to report that to Pyongyang.  Tomorrow we will continue on the denuclearization working group.  And Monday, then, we will assess in the Six Parties.  So, all in all, it was a good day.  No surprises, and I would say we are on schedule. 

Question: Did you actually meet with Mr. Kim Gye-gwan? 

Assistant Secretary Hill: I did not meet with Mr. Kim Gye-gwan.  He had just arrived, and instead I met with a couple of members of his delegation. 

Question:  And they were satisfied with the explanation?  Because there were some very critical statements by Mr. Kim when he arrived in Beijing. 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  You’ll have to ask them about their reaction, but I like to think that they considered it a useful discussion.  They would report back to Pyongyang. 

Question:  Would you expect to meet with Mr. Kim? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  I am not sure.  I think he’d just come in today, so I would assume I will see him tomorrow or the next day.   

Question:  Mr. Kim said that they are not going to cooperate at all unless they get all the $25 million back.  That’s what he said when he got off the airplane.  So, are they going to get that money back? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  I briefed them on what we’ve done, and I briefed on what the Macau authorities are expected to do.  So I would like to think it was a good briefing, and we will see what they say.  But as I’ve said to you before, I continue to believe that we will not have a problem on this issue in terms of the Six Party Talks. 

Question:  Did they have any questions?   

Assistant Secretary Hill:  Yes, they asked a number of questions.  I provided the answers as far as I knew them.  So, again, I think it was a very businesslike exchange of information.  Again, I don’t believe that we will have any problems on this issue with respect to the Six Party undertakings.  And I think all the parties around table today had constructive remarks to give.  So we will continue to be working in this denuclearization working group tomorrow, and then begin the Six Party meeting on Monday.  

Question: There seem to be a disconnect.  You are saying you don’t see any problems on the BDA issue.  Mr. Kim said that he won’t shut down Yongbyon unless the $24 million is completely released.  So should we expect -- Since you don’t see any problems rising from this, should we expect that the full $24 million will be released by the Macau authorities? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  I think we have a way forward which I briefed them on, which I think should meet their needs.  But beyond that I don’t want to go into the details because I need to hear back from them. 

Question:  When do you plan to talk with Mr. Glaser tomorrow? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  I’d like to see -- I talked to him a couple of times today about his discussions in Macau, and we’ll look forward to a fuller briefing tomorrow.  And we’ll have to see if there is any additional briefing we need to give to the Chinese authorities here in Beijing. 

Question:  Do you plan to meet with Mr. Glaser with North Koreans? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  We don’t have any plans to do that at this time.  I think Mr. Glaser gets in at the end of the day tomorrow, and we will see where we are.  But, again, I do believe that we have fulfilled our commitment on BDA.  What was important for us to do was to brief what exactly we are doing.  We’ve been briefing that information to the Macau authorities.  I had a lengthy discussion about it yesterday in Beijing with the Chinese Authorities, and today I also talked to the DPRK delegation.  So I think we are in pretty good shape on this.  Obviously there are details, and we tried to resolve some of those details today. 

Question:  (Inaudible) BDA issue? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  No, no this is about denuclearization.  Denuclearization -- that was the purpose of today’s working group.  And the question is how we complete the 60 day denuclearization and what we do in the next phase, which, as you know, the next phase goes to disablement of the Yongbyon facilities. 

Question:  Mr. Ambassador, when will you be talking about highly enrichment uranium issue? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  I raised that issue today, and we have had an agreement with the DPRK that we would be discussing this issue and resolving it to mutual satisfaction.  So I don’t think we will be doing that tomorrow.  But what I’d like to do tomorrow and what I’d like to do on Monday is to schedule a time, a venue and figure out precisely how we’’re going to do that, whether with some experts on the subject on both sides.  I would like to finalize that plan -- because it’s very important that we resolve the HEU matter at the outset of this next phase.  Because we want that when the full declaration, the complete declaration, is finally issued in this next phase that it reflect a resolution of this HEU matter. 

Question:  You said you raised the issue.  Did the North Koreans have any response, or they just listened to what you had to say? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  No, I raised it in my remarks to the plenary.  I don’t recall the DPRK having any further remarks about it.  So I think it stands as it’s stood for a couple of weeks now, where we have to figure out where and especially who will sit down and resolve the concerns that we have. 

Question:  Are you meeting with any delegations tonight? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  No, I am not -- just my own. 

Question: As an initial step for the reprocessing plant at Yongbyon, is it necessary that something be done for that?  It’s not anyway operating at this moment, so maybe they don’t have to do anything for that? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  This has to be shut down and has to be sealed.  And so there will be actions that need to be taken, which the IAEA will be taking in consultation or in cooperation with the DPRK officials.  Clearly the reprocessing facility is one of the facilities in Yongbyon that needs to be addressed.  And we don’t anticipate problem on that.   

Question:  In the statement today we heard that the North Koreans said something in terms of they had started to shut down the facilities, or started the preparations to shut down --  

Assistant Secretary Hill:  I think they referred to starting the preparation.  I don’t think they have started to shut down the facility.  But in the preparations, they noted that they had had Mr. ElBaradei in DPRK to begin this.  And they seem to be moving; they want to make sure we are moving.  I assured them that we are.  I like to believe the briefing that I gave them on BDA was part of that process and was helpful to them in understanding that we are moving this as well. 

Question: Did you suggest the notion of a sub-working group on the HEU issue? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  We have talked about that before.  We have not had a disagreement.  I said that we have to achieve the clarity on that issue.  So what we need to do now is, as I said a few minutes ago, is figure out how we design this --whether it’s a sub-working group.  So we have no disagreement with the DPRK on that at this point.  We have to see once we meet whether there is really the mutual understanding and, from our point of view, clarity about this program -- because we need to address this 

Question: In today’s talks was there any discussion about what disablement entails and (inaudible)? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  Some ideas are emerging about that, and we need to -- First of all, we had some discussion among ourselves.  The U.S. and ROK and Japan delegations, at this expert-level, met and addressed some of those points.  So I think disabling -- There are many ways you can disable these facilities.  There are a number of definitions.  So I think we have a clearer understanding among ourselves about how that would work, and clearly we will have to work that out with the DPRK.   

I want to emphasize that is, of course, the next phase.  The current phase we’re on is to complete the 60 day actions.  As I’ve said many times, it’s a very tight deadline to do that.  We’re already on, I think, day 32.  So we’re down to 28 days. 

Question:  Discussions here in Beijing over recent weeks have not created any indication of how much plutonium it actually has? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  That is an issue we want to have a discussion about during the 60 day period, so that when the declaration comes we can have a figure that we believe is accurate and that we can verify.   

Question:  So you didn’t have a declaration today? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  No, we did not have declaration today. 

Question:  Mr. Hill, in your discussion with the North Korean delegation today, did they say that they were satisfied with the (inaudible) BDA?  Or was there any indication that they --

Assistant Secretary Hill:  No, you’d have to ask them.  I’d like to think that it was a good briefing, and that it clarified some things, and they’ll take it back to Pyongyang.  But I did not ask for their opinion about it.  I simply asked for them to convey it. 

Question:  Could you give us some idea of what you’re hoping North Korea will do on the HEU issue?  In particular, will they have to surrender all their documentation they may have had from foreign parties and (inaudible)? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  I think at this point it’s a little premature to discuss precisely what we need, but I think we need clarity.  We need to know what this program was.  We need to account for what the equipment was -- the equipment that we have pretty reliable information was actually purchased.  For example, we know details from the German court case with respect to the aluminum.  We have information from the Pakistanis with respect to centrifuges.  So we need some clarity on those issues.  We certainly need clarity on what exactly they have been doing with this equipment.  Were they manufacturing some of their own?  This sort of question.  It’s our hope that when we get done with this, everyone will have the same definition of what went on.   

Question:  Has Pakistan been helping on this issue? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  I’m not aware of any ongoing support there, but certainly it was through debriefs of Pakistani government services that we were able to gain information in the first place.  But I can’t speak to any ongoing assistance.   

Question:  You said there were only 28 days left.  When is North Korea going to get its money so it will start the process of shutting down Yongbyon?

Assistant Secretary Hill:  Again, we’ve been very active in terms of talking to the Macau monetary authorities.  We had our Treasury team there today.  I explained to the Chinese yesterday what we’re doing.  I talked to the DPRK today.  So I think we would expect money to be moving very quickly in terms of completing this case and finally resolving it.  

Question:  For meeting the deadline, from when do you expect the inspectors to arrive at Yongbyon? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  We have to have it shut down, sealed, and monitored by the IAEA within 60 days.  I think that’s a process that would take a few days ahead of time.  Certainly Mr. ElBaradei’s visit is part of that process.  So I would think before 60 days we’d start seeing some activity.  I can’’t tell you precisely how many days before 60 days, but we’re confident we can get through the 60 days.  And then we go to the next phase, which will probably be a little more difficult than the first phase.  And then the third phase will be more difficult than the second phase, et cetera.  Just like a video game, every phase will be more difficult than the previous one.  But we’ll get through it.  

Question:  When you talked to the North Koreans today, was it just about the BDA thing? 

Assistant Secretary Hill: Yes, just about the BDA issue. 

Question:  With whom?  Do you remember his name? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  I spoke to two of the members of their delegation, and you’ll have to check with someone about the precise names. 

Question:  Was it Mr. Kim Myong-gil? 

Assistant Secretary Hill: Kim Myong-gil was one of the members, yes.  But this was for the purpose of briefing them and for them to convey information.  

Question:  Initially you asked for Mr. Kim Gye-gwan to give a briefing. 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  Yes.  The main thing was to provide the briefing, and Mr. Kim had just arrived.  Instead, I spoke with another Kim.  [Laughter.]  No shortage of Kims. 

Question:  Were you disappointed not to be able to meet with him? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  No, I was fine. 

Question:  (Inaudible) the joint document has not talked specifically about the bomb itself.  The second phase actually (inaudible) the bomb? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  The what?  The bomb?  You mean the weapons. 

Question:  Yes.  The document only talks about the facility, the program, but doesn’t talk about --  

Assistant Secretary Hill:  In the next phase we talk about a complete declaration, which would have to include all the fissile material -- wherever and however the fissile material is currently stored.  If it’’s stored in a tunnel or it’s stored in a weapon, we need to know where it is.   

Question:  Are you done briefing on BDA, or do you expect to have another briefing?   

Assistant Secretary Hill:  I’m sorry? 

Question:  Are you done with briefing on BDA? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  I hope so.  I hope so.  I hope you’re done with it too.  (Laughter)  No, seriously, I’ve said several times I think we’ll get through this, and I really don’t see this as a problem in our process.  I know that we resolved it within 30 days, but we’ve had to take a couple extra days to tell people exactly what we’ve done and how it’s going to work.  All right? 

Question: Just one question about --  

Assistant Secretary Hill:  It’s Saturday night.  Do you really need to ask another question?  (Laughter.)  Do you know this is St. Patrick’s Day? 

Question:  I was supposed to, yes.   

Assistant Secretary Hill: You know.  Then you can ask the question. 

Question:  What are your schedules like for tonight?  Are you going to meet anyone?  Evening? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  Not tonight -- just speak with my own delegation.  I think tomorrow we will, but I can’t tell you at this point precisely what we’re going to do.  It’s a continuation of the denuclearization working group.  I think we have all day for that tomorrow.  I don’t think we’’re going to need all day, but we have all day.  Then Monday we’’ll have the Six Party Talks.  My understanding is the Six-Party meeting will take two days.  We had originally heard three.  Those of us who would like to get home would prefer one, but I think it will be two days.   

Question:  What’s the plan for tomorrow morning? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  I think we’re going to just meet in the denuclearization working group.  I’m not sure exactly what time.  I’m not sure we need the head of delegation there, so I may have some bilateral meetings.  I think I mentioned to you I’ve met most of the other delegations bilaterally, so I’ll probably do some more of that.  We’ll continue to work on some of these definitions and maybe try to get some more clarity on the scheduling, on how we might take on the highly-enriched uranium issue.   

It is important to bear in mind we essentially have three components to our work.  One is the shutdown, eventual disablement, eventual dismantlement of the whole Yongbyon process so that there won’t be any more plutonium being produced.  The second is to get a clear understanding of what the HEU issue is, make sure we understand precisely what their program is so that that also is abandoned.  Third is to get a clear picture of the fissile material already produced from spent fuel rods so that that too can come under control and be abandoned pursuant to the September ’05 statement.   

And then, as you know, we deal with a number of other issues not directly related to nuclear questions.  We deal with bilateral issues.  That’’s done in the U.S. bilateral meeting, in the Japan bilateral meeting.  We would look forward to beginning to create a sort of a neighborly structure within Northeast Asia.  That’s something we would hope to begin to launch with a Six-Party ministerial.  We would look forward to - once we get into the second phase, that is once we get into this disablement phase - we would hope to get moving on a Korean Peninsula process.   

So we have a lot of work to do, but I would say we’ve made a pretty good start.  All five working groups have met.  I think we did it in 31, 32 days.  Not too bad.  We’ll just go from here.  

OK? 

Question:  Do you know any place to drink green beer in Beijing? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  Green beer?  Haven’’t found it yet.  I’ll let you know if I see it. 

Question:  When will you leave the hotel tomorrow morning? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  When will I leave the hotel?  Probably late-ish, probably not much before ten.  Oh no - about five thirty in the morning.  (Laughter.)  Anyway, probably around ten. 

Question: Will you talk later when you come back? 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  No, I’m not going to talk later.  So please don’t wait for me later, OK? 

Question:  Thank you. 

Assistant Secretary Hill:  All right?  So we’ll see you all later -- I mean like tomorrow.  OK.  Bye-bye.