Remarks With South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Song Min-Soon Before Their Meeting

(9:15 am EST)

SECRETARY RICE: Let me welcome you. Let me welcome my colleague, Minister Song, who is a good friend and ally. We'll have a chance to, of course, review the excellent state of U.S.-ROK relations. We will obviously have a chance to talk about the six-party talks, where we hope for, now, rapid progress, given the beginning, we believe, of the North Koreans' efforts to meet their initial action obligations. We also have a number of other bilateral issues that we can talk about, but welcome.

It's great to have you here.

FOREIGN MINISTER SONG: Well, thank you very much, Secretary Rice. Our bilateral relations are in quite good shape. Now we are in a final stage of completing this FTA agreements. And Seoul and Washington have good agreements in moving ahead in the six-party talks. We agree that North Korea has ample reason and merit to give up its nuclear program and the other parties in six-parties talks also agree that North Korea should make a strategic decision to give up nuclear program. We will move ahead now this BDA issue is behind us. We will move ahead in shutting down the North Korean nuclear program and disabling the facilities and make a new regional security and peace mechanism.

Secretary Rice and I have a good coordination to have a very constructive and details idea. We will work further. Thank you.

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you very much.

QUESTION: Do you expect a ministerial, Madame Secretary, at the end of July?

MR. MCCORMACK: Thanks, guys.

SECRETARY RICE: Nice try. (Laughter.)

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