6EGREF 6E€Req 6647 THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DECLASSIFIED PER E 0 13526 MEMORANDUM OF TELEPHONE CONVERSATION 3 p 5L0i KSH SUBJECT Presidential TelephoneCallwithPresident Kim of South Korea on August 16 1994 U PARTICIPANTS The President President Kim DanielPoneman Tong Kim Interpreter Steven Aoki Notetaker DATE AND TIME AND PLACE August 16 1994 7 40 ­ 8 08 p m The Oval Office The President telephoned President Kim concerning the North Korean nuclearsituation U President Kim Hello U The President Hello President Kim I wanted to talk to you about our strategy towardsNorthKorea and about theserecent developments President Kim Yes Mr President I'mverypleasedto hear your voice I would like to have your explanation about the Geneva agreements The President First I'd like to congratulate you on your Liberation Day speech You'veshown greatleadership in seeking a positive openingto the North I'msure your have been briefed on our negotiations in Geneva There are many difficult issuesto be resolved I think the Agreed Statementprovides a good frameworkforresolution of the NorthKorean nuclearissue They'veagreed to important nonproliferation commitmentsthatwe have saidmust be partof any solution to the nuclearissue If we work together we have an opportunity to eliminate the most threatening aspectsof NorthKorea'snuclear program and to lead NorthKorea to more normal relations withthe international community Our coordinated proposalto offer to replaceNorth ■4 £CREX Declassify on OADR ­ BGRBT ­ -SEGREF Korea'sgraphite reactors withlight waterreactors is the key to progress In coming weeks we will need to work together to developa detailed plan Soon we will discusswithyou the financial and technical aspectsof such a plan As always the most important elementof success is closecoordination and consultation between your country and the UnitedStates That concludeswhat I wanted to say I want to hear your thoughts President Kim Let me first expressmy gratitude foryour message of congratulations on Liberation Day That message emphasizedthe need forclosecooperation between the U S and Korea U I listened very carefully as you explained the outcome of the conference in Geneva We in Korea valuepositively the efforts of the U S governmentto resolve the NorthKorean nuclearissue I think thatthe realproblembeginsfrom this point We've been dealing withNorthKorea formany years Any commitment they make can't be relied on For example the Joint Denuclearization Declaration and the promiseto stop slandering each otherthat was agreed between Prime Ministers were not faithfully implementedby NorthKorea We can't really trust them to implementtheir promises J8 As I made clearin my Liberation Day speech in a message to the Korean peopleand the world onlyif we can securenuclear transparency then we are willing to providea light water reactor The emphasis is on securing completetransparency This includes special inspections of the suspectnuclearsites at Yongbyon In orderto induceNorthKorea to move towardopenness we are willing to provideassistance to NorthKorea We are peopleof the same nation But to provideassistance we need the consent of the Korean people The peoplemust be assuredthatthe nuclearfreezein NorthKorea will be made without any ambiguity Only then can we put intoeffect assistance including providing capital and technology As agreed between the U S and Korea we want to be assuredthat the type of LWR will be the Korean type This agreementmust be kept Also I took notice of Japan'sreaction to my speech The Japanese Vice ForeignMinister at a press conference quotedmy speech and saidthatthe Japanese position was exactly the same CBCRDT BEOREF ­OECRE T­ -SE6RET as the Korean onlyif nuclear transparency is guaranteed would LWR assistance be provided I know how difficult it is to come to any agreement in principle withNorthKorea I can appreciate the patience and valuethe effort made by the U S As we have discussed many timesby letter and telephone we very much trust what you say about our relationship J With regardto the agreementmade in Geneva the issueof peace on the Korean peninsula isan issuebetween the Korean people There was no mentionin the Geneva statement of intra­Korean dialogue This is difficult forKoreans to accept Some think you shouldhave demanded this pointstrongly and thatthe talks turnedout the way NorthKorea wanted The Korean peoplehave concernsthatSouth Korea isbeingexcludedfrom the negotiating process I need to take notice of theseviews But the future ismore important than the past In the future working­level discussions the U S and ROK need to be very close We shouldwork closely to avoidbeingdeceivedby North Korean tactics I think we need very close faithful cooperation We have to be very careful about what'shappeningin NorthKorea following the death of Kim IISung Many things are difficult to predict Linedrops President Kim Yes Mr President ­­therewas a cut offof the telephone line I'd like to continue U This is a very important moment It's troubling We don'tsee any signsof stability in NorthKorea after the death of Kim II Sung It remainsa very unpredictable regime One of our concernsis thatalthough the junior Kim has all the power we haven't seen him in public fora month We have to be cautious withthis kindof uncertainty It's not prudentto rush to any solutions withNorthKorea This ismy opinion If we have a chance we can come back to it The President We are not relying on NorthKorean good faith IAEA inspectors must verify their commitmentsand this will provide transparency We made very clearin Geneva thatthey must acceptspecial inspections beforethey get an LWR We worked veryhard to persuadeNorthKorea to accepta South Korean LWR and NorthKorea now seems preparedto acceptone if the UnitedStatesstaysdeeplyinvolved 'SETIRET SECRCT KJ n Lastly in Geneva we strongly supportedand urged NorthKorea to restate their willingness to implementthe North­South Denuclearization Declaration and as you know theydid so in the Agreed Statement Now I agree we must be cautious withregardto the transition to Kim Jong IIand you and I must stayin closetouchon this We must evaluate them by how they performon their commitments on what they do not what they say President Kim Thank you As I mentioned the future ismore important than the past We have to make our best efforts not to giveNorthKorea any excuse to break its commitments There shouldbe no space between our two countries Cooperation between us is the most important thing The President I agree We have to work very closely together and make sure both of us feelsecureevery step of the way I will send Mr Gallucci out to see you in earlySeptember President Kim Yes Mr President We will welcome Mr Gallucci's visit to Korea I want to mentionthathe performed verywellin negotiations withNorthKorea I know how hard it is Let me raiseanotherissue In Korea thereismuch media coverageof the Cuban refugeeissue We have the impression that Castrois losing control The President We're doingour best to contain it and make sure we don'thave a largeoutflow We're preparing forany situation Castrois trying to decidewhetherto trya new strategy in a bad situation There'slots of dissension and a terrible economic situation there I don'tknow what will happen but I think we'rein pretty good shape and preparedfor any developmentof the situation President Kim Yes Mr President there's no question thatwe need very closeconsultation and contact between the United Statesand Korea That'sthe onlyway we can have a successful outcome We need to make sure we don'tshow any schism between us I assureyou we will work very closely withthe U S government Ifnecessary we discussthingsagain on the phone The President Thanks and pleaseconvey my best wishes to Mrs Kim U •seeREt ■CECRgr -SEGREP President Kim Thanks and my best to Mrs Clinton I verymuch wish your healthcare bill will pass soon in the Congress U The President Thank you Good night U President Kim Good night U End of Conversation ■ SECRET SECRET This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu