Jim Angle from Fox Television. Mr. President, some South Koreans, perhaps even President Kim, had some concerns about your comments about the axis of evil and North Korea. How do you think your approach fits with and helps the sunshine policy?

President Bush: You know, during our discussion, President Kim reminded me a little bit about American history, when he said that President Reagan referred to Russia as the "evil empire" -- Ñ and, yet, was then able to have constructive dialogue with Mr. Gorbachev. I will believe Ñ I will not change my opinion on the man, on Kim Jong-il until he frees his people and accepts genuine proposals from countries such as South Korea or the United States to dialogue; until he proves to the world that he's got a good heart, that he cares about the people that live in his country. I am concerned about a country that is not transparent, that allows for starvation, that develops weapons of mass destruction. I care very deeply about it because it is in the neighborhood of one of our very close friends. I don't see Ñ and so, therefore, I think the burden of proof is on the North Korean leader, to prove that he does truly care about people and that he is not going to threaten our neighbor.

We're peaceful people. We have no intention of invading North Korea. South Korea has no intention of attacking North Korea, nor does America. We're purely defensive. And the reason we have to be defensive is because there is a threatening position on the DMZ. But we long for peace. It is in our nation's interest that we achieve peace on the Peninsula. I also want to remind the world that our nation provides more food to the North Korean people than any nation in the world. We are averaging nearly 300,000 tons of food a year. And so, obviously, my comment about evil was toward a regime, toward a government Ñ not toward the North Korean people. We have great sympathy and empathy for the North Korean people. We want them to have food. And at the same time, we want them to have freedom. And we will work in a peaceful way to achieve that objective. That was the purpose of our summit today, to reconfirm that our nation Ñ my nation is interested in a peaceful resolution of the Ñ here on the Korean Peninsula. And at the same time, of course, I made it clear that we would honor our commitments to help South Korea defend herself, if need be.

Mr. Mike Allen, of The Washington Post: Mr. President, in Beijing, do you plan to meet with any political dissidents or Christian activists? How did you decide that? And what do you plan to do to try to persuade the Chinese government to extend more rights to these individuals?

President Bush: Mike, I am not exactly sure of all the details of my schedule yet, since I'm focused here on this incredibly important relationship. I can tell you that in my last visit with President Jiang I shared with him my faith. I talked to him on very personal terms about my Christian beliefs. I explained to him that faith had an incredibly important part in my life, and it has a very important part in the lives of all kinds of citizens, and that I would hope that he, as a President of a great nation, would understand the important role of religion in an individual's life. That's why I put it in that context. I then segued into discussions about the Catholic Church, and I will do so again Ñ I will bring up the need that there be a Ñ that I would hope the government would honor the request of the Papal Nuncio to be able at least have dialogue about bishops that are interned there. And I also talked about the Dalai Lama, as well as Christian faiths, and I will do so again. As to what my schedule is and who I'm going to see, I'm not sure yet, Mike.

Print this Article

Email this article

Free Headline Alerts