Remarks at Incheon Airport

Q: When exactly will the Six-Party talks resume?

A/S HILL: Well, as I said, we had a very useful discussion. We had several sessions. What I'm doing here is reporting to the Korean Government on the discussions we had, and in fact, tomorrow I'll go and do the same with the Japanese Government. We had talked in Washington a couple of weeks ago with the Korean Government - Song Min-soon and Chun Young-woo had come to Washington; we talked about the possibility that I could meet our DPRK counterpart in Berlin and have some discussions. So now I want (inaudible) discussions.

I would say that the DPRK is interested in pursuing the Six-Party Talks, which I think is positive. We talked about the way forward on that. I can't predict precisely when the talks will be, but I would hope they'll be soon. But the DPRK, Mr. Kim, needs to go back to Pyongyang and do some consultations there. So we'll see if we can get it done, have the meeting soon. And then we'll know - once we sit down at the Six-Party Talks - then we'll know where we are. As I said, the meeting was useful, but we really need to have the Six-Party Talks so I can tell you how useful it was.

Q: The North Korean Foreign Ministry said today thatthe twocountries reached some agreement. What does that mean?

A/S HILL: I think that they are reflecting a positive view of this, what I called "useful meetings." KCNA often doesn't take a positive view about anything, so that is a bit of a change for KCNA, I guess. So, we'll see. We'll know better when we sit down in the Six-Parties, because, you know, I'm not negotiating without the ROK, Japan, China and Russia there. So, if we made progress, we'll know when we sit down in the Six-Parties. I must say, I was saying to some of your colleagues earlier, that we had some bilateral discussions with the DPRK at the end of November, in anticipation of the Six-Party meetings at the end of December. And I would say that, compared to the meetings at the end of November, the meetings that I just had were more substantive and more useful. But we'll know when we get to the Six-Party Talks. So ask me then.

Q: When will the talks be held? Late this month or early next month?

A/S HILL: Well, I don't know yet. It's kind of up to the Chinese hosts. So I'm looking forward to meeting on Sunday with Wu Dawei, my Chinese counterpart, and we'll see when the Chinese can schedule this. You know, they have a very, very important role. They have the role of host, but in many ways the Six-Party process is there, the center of the process (is) there. So, I need to see when they can do this, and I would hope it would be soon, because I think we need to show you that we can make some progress.

Q: How about the schedule on the negotiation on BDA?

A/S HILL: Well, again, I don't do BDA. BDA is done by the Treasury Department. We had a good session on that in Beijing at the end of December. I think we're going to have another session on that sometime next week, as soon as they work out the details of precisely when and precisely where. So, we'll see. I think it was -- My was my understanding from December was that they had a very substantive exchange, and so I would hope that that would continue next week.

So, it's great to be back here in Seoul. I always feel like I'm coming home. I'm looking forward to it. Thank you very much.