190228-트럼프&리용호(최선희) 하노이 기자회견 [전문]

JW Marriott Hotel Hanoi, Hanoi, Vietnam, 2:15 P.M. ICT(인도차이나 시간, GMT+7시간)

◇기자회견 모두발언

(도널드 트럼프 대통령) 베트남 주석, 총리님께 감사드린다. 하노이라는 아주 훌륭한 도시에 와 있다. 지난 25년 간 베트남에서 많은 경제 발전을 이룬 점에 대해 치하의 말씀과 축하의 말씀을 드린다. 베트남 국민 모두에게 따뜻하게 맞아줘서 감사드린다.

파키스탄과 인도의 무력 충돌 소식이 들려오고 있다. 이를 막기 위해서 노력을 하고 있다. 그리고 또, 이 충돌이 오래도록 지속돼 왔는데 이것을 멈출 수 있을 것 같다. 둘 간의 증오가 쌓여 있다. 우리가 중간에서 중재를 해서 평화를 마련하기 위해 노력하고 있다. 그리고 이쪽으로 우리가 관리할 수 있을 것 같다. 베네수엘라 소식도 많이 들었을 것이다. 저희가 물자를 공급하나 쉽지 않다. 누구는 회의적인 반응을 보이나 물자를 보내고 있다. 베네수엘라 국민이 굶어죽고 있다. 지금 현재 그 수장이 물자가 통과되도록 하고 있다. 물자가 가장 필요한 지역에 보내나 쉽지만은 않다.

북한에 대해 말하면 김정은 위원장과 생산적인 시간을 같이 보냈다. 저도, 폼페이오 장관도 합의문에 서명하는 것은 좋은 생각은 아니라고 생각했다. 김정은 위원장을 만났다. 매우 생산적인 시간을 보냈다고 생각한. 김 위원장은 굉장히 훌륭한 지도자다. 김 위원장은 좋은 인물이다. 우리의 관계는 매우 돈독하다.

하지만 이번에 우리에게는 여러 개의 옵션이 있었고, 우리는 어떤 옵션도 하지 않기로 했다. 앞으로 어떻게 될지 살펴보겠다. 매우 흥미로운, 이틀간의 회담이었다. 그러나 회담을 하다 보면 어떨 때는 그냥 떠나야 할 때도 있다.

(마이크 폼페이오 미국 국무장관) 미국 협상팀은 열심히 노력해 왔다. 미국 협상팀과 북한 협상팀은 지난해 6월 싱가포르에서 두 정상이 합의한 성과의 큰 진전을 위해 몇주동안 노력했다. 실제로 두 정상이 지난 36시간 동안 만났을 때보다 더 큰 진전을 우리가 만들어내기도 했다.

불행하게도, 미국이 원하는 결과를 이끌어내지 못했다. 제 생각에 김 위원장은 많은 희망을 가졌다. 저희는 더 많은 것을 할 것을 요구했다. 김 위원장은 우리가 요구한 것을 할 준비가 돼 있지 않았지만, 저는 낙관적이다. 우리 협상팀이 다시 만나서 앞으로 계속 협상해 나가면 좋을 것 같다.

트럼프 대통령과 김 위원장은 이미 이뤄낸 진전에 대해 긍정적이고 결과가 좋다고 생각한다. 김 위원장과 진전을 이뤘다고 생각하나 그 이상 합의에 이를 수 없었다. 그 합의를 앞으로 몇주 간 내로 이를 수 있기를 기대한다.

◇질의응답

-이번 절차가 어려웠나. 북한이 제재 완화를 요구했나. 그것 때문에 쟁점이 진전이 안 됐나.

 "(트럼프) 바로 제재 완화 때문에 회담이 이렇게 됐다. 북한은 제재 완화, 완전한 제재 해제를 원했다. 하지만 미국은 그 요구를 들어줄 수 없었다. 북한은 핵 프로그램의 상당수를 비핵화 할 준비가 돼 있었다. 그러나 그렇다고 미국이 전면적인 제재 해제는 할 수 없었다. 그래서 이 점에 대해서 앞으로 작업을 해야겠지만 이번에는 북한의 그런 제안을 들어줄 수 없어서 여기서 회담을 끝냈다. 여러분도 이 문제에 대해서 지난 몇 주간 관심을 가졌을 것이다. 언론의 비판과 달리 미국은 그 어떤 것도 북한에게 양보하거나 포기하지 않았다. 그리고 김정은 위원장과 나는 절친한 친구다. 그리고 북한은 엄청난 잠재력을 갖고 있다. 막대한 잠재력을 갖고 있다. 믿을 수 없을 만큼의 잠재력을 갖고 있지만 지켜봐야 한다. 그래서 제재가 문제가 됐다. 북한은 전면적인 제재 완화를 요구했지만 미국은 그런 요구는 들어줄 수 없었다."

-우리가 알기로는 굉장히 복잡한 문제가 있었던 것으로 알고 있다. 예를 들면 제재 완화 또 비핵화의 정의 등등 여러가지 복잡한 문제가 있었다. 그렇다면 김정은 위원장의 비핵화에 대한 비전이 무엇인지에 대해서 어느 정도 이해를 했는지, 그리고 이런 일부 핵시설을 유지하려는 이유를 알고 있나. 또 이것에 대해 허용할 예정인가.

 "거기에 대해 정확하게 지금 말은 못하겠지만 이와 관련된 비전은 있다. 이것이 지난해보다는 그래도 저희와 더 근접했다고 생각을 하고 또 언젠가 여기에 도달할 것이라고 생각한다. 그러나 일단 이번 회담에서는 저희가 회담을 마무리하고 앞으로 또 추이를 지켜보고자 한다."

-김 위원장이 전면적인 제재완화를 요구하고, 반면 미국은 추가적인 비핵화 조치를 원한다면 이와 같은 간극을 다음 미북 정상회담까지 어떻게 줄일 수 있나.

 "언젠가는 줄일 수 있을 것이라고 생각한다. 하지만 이견이 큰 것은 맞다. 미국은 여전히 제재를 유지하고 있다. 북한은 비핵화를 할 준비가 돼 있지만, 미국이 정말 원하는 중요한 비핵화를 할 준비가 돼 있지 않다. 미국은 북한의 핵 활동 상황을 잘 알고 있다. 그래서 미국은 원하는 비핵화를 북한으로부터 얻어야 한다."

-조금 더 구체적으로 설명해 달라. 전례가 있다. 레이건 대통령도 회담을 조기에 종료했던 적도 있었는데 결국에는 미국에게 상당히 유리하게 해결이 된 적이 있었다. 그러면 이번의 경우 (회담 종료가) 대통령의 결정이었나. 김 위원장에게 어떤 메시지를 전달했는지 알고 싶다.

 "이게 제 결정이었다고는 말 못하겠다. 의미가 없다. 일단 이 관계는 계속 유지하고자 한다. 앞으로 어떻게 될지는 계속 지켜볼 것이다. 어젯밤 김 위원장이 약속했지만 로켓이나 핵실험은 안 할 거라고 했다. 나는 이에 대해서 신뢰를 하고 또 믿는다. 어쨌든 그 사이에도 우리는 계속 협의를 이어갈 것이다. 폼페이오 장관도 지금 북한 대표들과 굉장히 좋은 관계를 구축해왔다. 제가 지금까지 아베 총리나 문재인 대통령과 이야기하지는 않았지만 곧 이야기를 할 것이다. 이것은 하나의 과정으로 오늘 우리가 여기서 합의를 체결하는 것은 적절하지 않다고 생각했다."

-이번 회담을 마무리를 지으면서 분위기는 어땠나.

 "굉장히 좋았다. 우호적이었다. 그냥 갑자기 일어서서 나온 것이 아니라 우호적으로 마무리 했다. 악수도 했고 서로간의 따뜻함이 있었다. 이런 따뜻함은 계속 유지되기를 바란다. 앞으로 굉장히 특별한 것을 할 수 있는 준비를 갖췄다고 생각한다. 내가 보기에는 이런 문제는 과거에 이미 해결이 됐어야 한다고 생각한다. 사실 이번에도 굉장히 많은 분들이 과거 정부의 관계자분들이 저한테 이래라 저래라 얘기는 했는데 지난 정부에서 8년 간 아무것도 안하지 않았나. 그래서 어쨌든 우리는 굉장히 우호적인 분위기에서 마무리했다."

 "(폼페이오 장관) 저도 동의한다. 저도 상대 측과 이야기를 했는데 우리가 좀 더 잘했으면 더 나아갔으면 어쨌든 저희는 우리가 해야 되는 것에 대해서 계속 집중을 했다. 36시간 전보다, 몇 달 전보다 진전이 있었다고 생각한다. 조금 더 잘 하기를 희망했지만 지금까지 어려운 문제를 두고 협의를 해왔고 앞으로도 이를 달성하고자 하는 의지를 갖고 있다. 굉장히 좋은 분위기로 마무리했다.

-현재 대통령은 김정은의 정치체제와도 다르고 세대도 다르지 않나. 그러면 두 분은 어떤 공통점을 갖고 있나.

 "우리는 서로 좋아한다. 좋은 관계를 갖고 있다. 정치제도는 완전히 다르지만 서로 좋아하고, 좋은 관계를 맺고 있다."

-2차 북미 정상회담이 시기상조였다고 생각하나. 그래서 서명식을 안 하는 건가. 대략적으로나마 몇 달 뒤 전망을 알려줄 수 있나.

 "언제라도 회담장을 박차고 나올 준비가 돼 있어야 한다. 오늘은 내가 합의문에 서명할 준비가 돼 있지 않았다. 언론의 비판이 있어도 합의문에 서명할 수 있었다. 실제 합의문도 마련됐었다. 내가 원했으면 100% 합의문에 서명할 수 있었다. 하지만 오늘은 그 합의문에 서명하기 적절치 않다고 생각했다. 올바른 결정을 내린게 맞다고 생각한다."

-김 위원장과 비핵화에 대해 어떤 선택 방법에 대해 논의했나.

 "여러가지 방법을 논의했다. 비핵화는 굉장히 중요한 일이고 굉장히 중요한 단어다. 또 굉장히 많이 사용하는 단어가 됐고 많은 사람들이 사실 그 의미를 모르지만 나에게는 자명하다. 핵무기를 없애야 된다는 것이다. 사실 북한 같은 경우에는 좋은 위치에 있고 러시아와 중국 옆에 있다. 한국도 있다. 바다도 있고 세계에서 가장 아름다운 해안을 가지고 있기 때문에 북한에는 굉장히 크나큰 잠재력이 있다고 본다. 그래서 북한은 앞으로 크나큰 경제 대국이 될 가능성이 있다."

-8개월 전 싱가포르에서 '6개월 이내 성과가 없으면 재고해야 된다'고 말했었다. 김정은이 미사일 숫자를 늘렸다고 보는가. 핵물질 생산을 더 늘렸다는데 대통령에게 더 압박이 됐는가.

 "인공위성을 통해 북한의 핵 활동을 감시하고 있다. 각각 이견이 있긴 하지만 나는 이렇게 말하고 싶다. 언론에서는 ‘충분한 성과를 거두지 못했다’고 비판할 거다. 지금은 많은 국가들이 지금 제재 등과 관련해서 연루가 돼 있다. 유엔과 여러 나라들, 또 러시아나 중국이나 다른 국가들과도 외국이 협력하고 있다. 한국도 관여돼 있다. 대단히 중요한 당사국이다. 일본도 주요한 당사국이다. 동맹국들의 신뢰를 저버리는 결정은 안하려고 한다. 강력한 파트너십을 감안한 것이다."

-김 위원장은 영변 핵시설을 폐기할 용의가 있었나.

 "김 위원장은 핵시설을 해체할 준비가 돼 있었지만, 전면적인 제재 완화를 원했다. 하지만 나는 그 요구를 들어주는 게 맞지 않다고 생각했다. 나와 폼페이오 장관, 또 미 행정부 내부 차원에서 많은 논의를 했다. 말한대로 영변이 대규모 시설인 것이 분명하지만 이것의 해체만 가지고는 미국이 원하는 모든 비핵화가 아니라고 판단했다. 김 위원장은 영변 핵시설 해체에 동의했지만, 미국은 더 많은 것을 원했다. 추가적인 비핵화가 필요했다. 당시 언급은 안했지만 고농축 우라늄 시설, 아니면 기타 시설 해체도 필요했다. 근데 김 위원장이 그걸 할 준비가 안 돼 있었다. 그래서 1단계 수준인 영변 핵시설 해체에만 만족할 수는 없다고 생각했다. 또 오랫동안 싸워온 협상 레버리지를 놓칠 순 없다고 생각했다. 그래서 이렇게 쉽게 제재 완화를 해서는 안 된다고 생각했다. 물론 나도 북한의 경제적인 잠재력을 감안해 제재 완화를 원한다. 그러나 북한이 추가적인 비핵화를 해야 가능할 것이다."

 "(폼페이오 장관) 우리에게는 (비핵화) 일정표와 순서가 있다. 영 그 자체가 물론 중요한 것은 맞지만, 영변 핵시설을 해체한다고 해도 그 외에도 미사일 시설과 핵탄두 무기 시스템 등이 남아 있다. 여러 가지 요소에 대해서 북한과 합의를 이루지 못했다. 핵목록 신고도 마찬가지다."

-미국이 대북 제재를 완화하기 위해서는 무엇을 요구하고 있는가. 예를 들면 북한의 CVID가 있어야 제재 완화를 다 해주는 건가.

 "지금 명확하게 말하기는 어렵다. 협상과 관련된 것이기 때문이다. 우리는 많은 것을 요구하고 있다. 미국도 그렇지만 다른 나라들도 그렇게 한다면 북한에 대해 경제적으로 지원할 준비가 돼 있다. 일본, 한국, 중국, 특히 중국 같은 경우 잠깐 말하지만 우리가 뭔가 특별한 것을 할 준비가 돼 있다. 아무튼 나는 항상 이러한 협상을 할 때 필요하면 협상을 마무리하는 것을 주저하지 않는다."

-합의에 도달하지 못하면 핵 실험이 다시 재개될까.

 "김 위원장은 이제 실험을 그만하겠다고 했다. 로켓 실험, 미사일 실험은 안 하겠다고 했다. 핵과 관련 실험 안하겠다고 했다. 그렇게 말하니까 우리가 지켜볼 수 밖에 없다."

-중국이 지금까지 어떤 역할을 했나.

 "북한으로 들어간 물자 중 93%가 중국을 통해 들어갔다. 중국은 가장 큰 역할을 한다. 북한의 지도자는 그 누구로부터 명령받지 않는다. 물자가 중국을 통해 가서 중국의 영향력이 크고 도움을 준다. 러시아도 도움을 주고 있다."

-문재인 대통령은 유리천장을 깨고 남북관계를 개선했는데 어떤 메시지를 보낼 건가.
 
 "저는 문 대통령을 굉장히 좋아한다. 저희는 좋은 관계다. 하지만 저는 거의 모든 정상들과 좋은 관계 갖고 있다. 문 대통령과 곧 대화할 예정이다. 제가 가장 먼저 전화드릴 분이고, 현재 상황과 어떻게 할지에 대해 말할 거다. 문 대통령은 이 합의를 위해 많은 노력을 하고 많은 지원을 했다. 감사하다."

-앞으로 북한과의 관계 개선에 중국을 어떻게 활용할 건가.

 "중국이 매우 도움이 됐다. 시 주석은 훌룡하고 존경받는 지도자다. 특히 아시아에서 존경받고있다. 우리도 많이 도와줬다. 최근 저희 둘이 통화했다. 많은 도움을 국경지대에서 줬고, 북한에 대해 일반적으로 많은 도움을 줬다. 더 많이 도와줄 수 있겠지만 지금까지도 많은 도움을 줬다."

-김정은 위원장과 다음 회담을 약속 했나.

 "하지 않았다. 일어나면 일어나고 아니면 아니다."

-북한을 핵 보유국으로 인정하나. 한국과 군사훈련 재개는 어떻게 하나.

 "군사훈련은 포기했다 오래전에. 할 때마다 1억달러 비용을 줘야하기 때문이다. 많은 폭격기가 괌에서부터 와야 하고, 바로 옆이라고 했는데 바로 옆이 7시간이다. 수억 달러짜리 폭탄을 사용하고 간다. 저희가 수억달러 군사훈련 위해 사용하는데 마음에 들지 않고 불공정하다고 생각한다. 한국이 더 지원해줘야한다고 생각한다. 보호하기 위해 하는 거라 더 지원해야 한다. 물론 훈련은 재밌지만 꼭 필요하다고 생각하진 않는다. 굉장히 비용을 초래하는 건 사실이다. 수억달러를 군사훈련에 사용하는데 이 금액을 나중에 받지도 않는다. 엄청나게 많은 돈을 다양한 부유한 국가를 보호하기 위해 사용하는데 그 국가는 스스로 보호할 예산도 있다. 옳지 않다. 예전에 이 문제를 다룬 사람이 없었는데 저는 문제를 제기한다. 1000억달러는 지난 2년 간 나토를 통해서 아낄 수 있었다. 그리고 이런 협상을 많은 국가와 진행할 예정이다."

-하노이회담에서 오토 웜비어 얘기도 했나.

 "그 주제에 대해 이야기했다 하지만 김 위원장은 거기에 대해 어떤 입장을 취하고 있지 않았다. 웜비어 가족을 잘 알고있고 훌륭한 사람들이 끔찍한 일을 겪었다. 너무 안 좋은 일이 일어났다고 생각한다. 알겠지만 인질들을 다시 돌아오도록했다. 어쨌든 끔찍한 일이다. 다른 인질들은 건강했는데 웜비어는 안 좋았다. 이에 대해 언급을 했다. 하지만 김 위원장이 이러한 일을 허용했을 것이라 생각하지 않는다. 수용 캠프는 안 좋은 곳이고, 안 좋은 일이 일어날 수도 있어 안타깝게 생각한다. 김 위원장이 직알고 있을 것이라 생각하지 않는다. 김 위원장은 몰랐다고 했고 이를 믿는다."

-북한 핵 사찰에 대한 논의를 김 위원장과 했나.

 "사찰은 준비됐다. 가능할 것이라고 생각하지만 아직 일정표를 정한 것은 없다. 핵시설의 소재를 미국이 파악하고 있다.  성공적인 사찰이 가능할 것으로 본다."

-여전히 북한과 미국과의 관계가 향후에 미국과 베트남의 관계와 같이 될 거라 생각하나.

 "네, 아주 좋은 관계를 가지고 있다. 일본과도 좋은 일들이 많이 벌어지고 있다. 무역협상이 시작되고 있고, 수백만대의 차량을 수입하고 있었는데 이건 미국에게 공정한 상황이 아니다. 3개월 전에 협상을 시작했고, 미국에게 좋은 협상을 이끌 것이다."

-차기 회담이 곧 이뤄지나.

 "빨리 열릴 수도 있고, 오랫동안 안 열릴 수도 있다. 빨리 열렸으면 하지만 오래 걸릴 수도 있다. 장담은 못 한다. 오늘 딜을 할 수 있었지만, 제 마음에 완벽하게 드는 딜이 아니었을 것이다. 폼페이오 장관도 저도 만족스럽지 않은 딜을 합의하느니 제대로 하기 위해 안 했다."

-어느 시점에서 합의를 못 이룰거라 생각했나.

 "북미가 나눈 이야기는 지금도 그렇고 계속해서 긍정적이었다. 사실 북미는 외교 역사상 가장 터프한 언어를 사용했지만 이후에는 우호적인 관계로 바뀌었다. 그전엔 그만큼 터프한 발언이 없었을 것이다. 이전 대통령들이 이 문제를 해결했어야 했지만 해결이 안 됐다. 오바마 행정부는 아무 일도 하지 않았다. 뭔가 이뤄졌어야 했는데 아무일도 일어나지 않았다."

-북한 지도자가 어느 시점에 협상 테이블로 와서 우리가 원하는 조치를 취할지 모른다고 했는데, 미국은 제재를 강화시켜서 북한에 압력을 가할 건가.

 "거기에 대해서는 언급하지 않겠다. 제제는 지금도 강력하다. 더 강화할 생각은 없다. 북한에 사는 주민이 있다. 그것도 저에게도 중요한 사안이다. 제 태도가 많이 변했던 이유는 김 위원장을 잘 알게 돼서다. 제재에 대해서 지금 얘기하고 싶지 않다. 한중일 위해서도 그렇다. 시 주석과도 이야기를 했는데, 시 주석은 많은 존경을 받는 지도자지만 바로 옆에 핵 보유국이 있는 것을 마음에 들어하지 않는다. 시 주석도 이 문제를 해결하길 원한다.

--------------

Remarks by President Trump in Press Conference | Hanoi, Vietnam

Issued on: February 28, 2019

JW Marriott Hotel Hanoi, Hanoi, Vietnam, 2:15 P.M. ICT(인도차이나 시간, GMT+7시간)

 

THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. I want to begin by thanking the Prime Minister and President of Vietnam. We’re in Hanoi. It’s an incredible city. What’s happened over the last 25 years has been incredible for the people of Vietnam, the job they’ve done — economic development. Really something special. So I want to thank all of the people of Vietnam for having treated us so well.

 

We have, I think, reasonably attractive news from Pakistan and India. They’ve been going at it, and we’ve been involved in trying to have them stop. And we have some reasonably decent news. I think, hopefully, that’s going to be coming to an end. It’s been going on for a long time — decades and decades. There’s a lot of dislike, unfortunately. So we’ve been in the middle, trying to help them both out and see if we can get some organization and some peace. And I think, probably, that’s going to be happening.

 

We have — Venezuela, as you know, has been very much in the news, and we’re sending supplies. Supplies are getting through a little bit more. It’s not easy. It’s hard to believe somebody would say “let’s not do it.” What difference would that make, except it’s great for its people to let it get through. But we’re sending a lot of supplies down to Venezuela. People are starving to death, and you would really think that the man in charge, currently, would let those supplies get through. We are getting them into some of the cities and some of the areas that need them the most. And it’s not an easy job. It’s very difficult, actually.

 

On North Korea, we just left Chairman Kim. We had a really, I think, a very productive time. We thought, and I thought, and Secretary Pompeo felt that it wasn’t a good thing to be signing anything. I’m going to let Mike speak about it.

But we literally just left. We spent pretty much all day with Kim Jong Un, who is — he’s quite a guy and quite a character. And I think our relationship is very strong. But at this time — we had some options, and at this time we decided not to do any of the options. And we’ll see where that goes.

But it was a very interesting two days. And I think, actually, it was a very productive two days. But sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times. And I’ll let Mike speak to that for a couple of minutes, please.

 

SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you, Mr. President. We had been working, our teams — the team that I brought to bear, as well as the North Koreans — for weeks to try and develop a path forward so at the summit we could make a big step — a big step along the way towards what the two leaders had agreed to back in Singapore, in June of last year.

 

We made real progress. And indeed we made even more progress when the two leaders met over the last 24, 36 hours. Unfortunately, we didn’t get all the way. We didn’t get to something that ultimately made sense for the United States of America. I think Chairman Kim was hopeful that we would. We asked him to do more. He was unprepared to do that. But I’m still optimistic. I’m hopeful that the teams will get back together in the days and weeks ahead, and continue to work out what’s a very complex problem.

 

We have said, since the beginning, that this would take time. Our teams have gotten to know each other better. We know what the limits are. We know where some of the challenges are.

And I think as we continue to work on this in the days and weeks ahead, we can make progress so that we can ultimately achieve what it is that the world wants, which is to denuclearize North Korea, to reduce risk for the American people and the people all around the world.

I wish we could have gotten a little bit further, but I’m very optimistic that the progress that we made — both in the run-up to this summit, as well as the progress that the two leaders made over these past two days — put us in position to get a really good outcome.

 

And the President and Chairman Kim both felt good that they had made that progress but couldn’t quite get along the line any further to make a deal that would have been bigger at this point. I hope we’ll do so in the weeks ahead.

 

Q Has this process been more difficult than you thought? And was the North Korean demand for lifting of some sanctions the real sticking point here —

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.

Q — in that you did not want to do that and they did? And will there be —

THE PRESIDENT: It was about the sanctions.

Q Will there be a third summit, Mr. President?

THE PRESIDENT: Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn’t do that. They were willing to denuke a large portion of the areas that we wanted, but we couldn’t give up all of the sanctions for that.

So we continue to work, and we’ll see. But we had to walk away from that particular suggestion. We had to walk away from that.

 

Q Will all the sanctions that are currently in existence remain, sir?

THE PRESIDENT: They’re in place. You know, I was watching as a lot of you folks over the weeks have said, “Oh, we’ve given up.” We haven’t given up anything. And frankly, I think we’ll end up being very good friends with Chairman Kim and with North Korea, and I think they have tremendous potential.

I’ve been telling everybody: They have tremendous potential. Unbelievable potential. But we’re going to see.

But it was about sanctions. I mean, they wanted sanctions lifted  They were willing to give us areas but not the ones we wanted. but they weren’t willing to do an area that we wanted.

Q As we know, I mean, there’s an incredibly complex set of issues that are at play here in terms of lifting the sanctions and what denuclearization is.

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

Q Did you get any distance toward sort of what Kim’s vision of denuclearization is?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, we did. We did.

Q Because there is a lot — a line of thinking that he wants to keep some nukes.

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.

Q I mean, would you allow him to do that? And if you can’t —

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I don’t — John, I don’t want to comment —

Q If you can’t get —

THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me, I don’t want to comment on that exactly, but he has a certain vision and it’s not exactly our vision, but it’s a lot closer than it was a year ago. And I think, you know, eventually we’ll get there.

But for this particular visit, we decided that we had to walk, and we’ll see what happens. Okay?

Oh, look, we have a gentleman nobody has ever heard of. Sean Hannity — what are you doing here, Sean Hannity? Should we let him do a question? I don’t know.

 

Q So if he wants the sanctions completely off, and you want more on denuclearization, how can you bridge that gap between now and the next time you might sit down with him?

THE PRESIDENT: With time. It’ll be bridged, I think, at a certain point. But there is a gap. We have to have sanctions. And he wants to denuke,  We know that — we know the country vbut he wants to just do areas that are less important than the areas that we want.ery well, believe it or not. We know every inch of that country. And we have to get what we have to get, because that’s a big — that’s a big give.

Yeah, Sean. Please.

 

Q I work in radio and TV. The mic is on.

Mr. President, thank you. Mr. Secretary, good to see you. Mr. President, if you could elaborate a little bit more. We have some history. President Reagan walked away in Reykjavik. A lot of condemnation at the time. And it ended up working out very well in the end for the United States.

Was this mostly your decision? Or — and what message would you want to send Chairman Kim, as he’s listening to this press conference, about the future and your relationship?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, Sean, I don’t want to say it was my decision, because what purpose is that? I want to keep the relationship, and we will keep the relationship. We’ll see what happens over the next period of time.

But, as you know, we got our hostages back. There’s no more testing. And one of the things, importantly, that Chairman Kim promised me last night is, regardless, he’s not going to do testing of rockets and nuclear. Not going to do testing. So, you know, I trust him, and I take him at his word. I hope that’s true.

But, in the meantime, we’ll be talking. Mike will be speaking with his people. He’s also developed a very good relationship with the people — really, the people representing North Korea. I haven’t spoken to Prime Minister Abe yet. I haven’t spoken to President Moon of South Korea. But we will, and we’ll tell them it’s a process and it’s moving along. But we just felt it wasn’t appropriate to sign an agreement today. We could have. I just felt it wasn’t very appropriate.

Yeah, Jonathan.

 

Q Two questions, if I may. First, did you learn anything new about Chairman Kim, through this meeting?

And secondly, of course, while this was going on, the drama back in Washington, your former lawyer, Michael Cohen — who worked for you for 10 years; his office right next to yours, right by yours at Trump Tower — he called you a liar, a conman, a racist. What’s your response to Michael Cohen?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, it’s incorrect. And, you know, it’s very interesting, because I tried to watch as much as I could. I wasn’t able to watch too much because I’ve been a little bit busy. But I think having a fake hearing like that, and having it in the middle of this very important summit is really a terrible thing. They could’ve made it two days later or next week, and it would’ve been even better. They would’ve had more time.

But having it during this very important summit is sort of incredible. And he lied a lot, but it was very interesting because he didn’t lie about one thing. He said no collusion with the Russian hoax. And I said, “I wonder why he didn’t just lie about that, too, like he did about everything else?”

I mean, he lied about so many different things, and I was actually impressed that he didn’t say, “Well, I think there was collusion for this reason or that.” He didn’t say that. He said, “No collusion.” And I was, you know, a little impressed by that, frankly. Could’ve — he could’ve gone all out. He only went about 95 percent instead of 100 percent.

But the fact is, there is no collusion. And I call it the “witch hunt.” This should never happen to another President. This is so bad for our country. So bad.

You look at this whole hoax — I call it the Russian witch hunt. I now add the word “hoax.” It’s a very, very bad thing for our country. But I was impressed with the fact that he — when — you know, because the most important question up there was the one on collusion. And he said he saw no collusion.

So we’ll see what happens. But it was pretty shameful, I think.

Yes, ma’am. Please. Please.

 

THE PRESIDENT: How about one of you, instead of three?

Q Well, actually, I do have the microphone. I guess, so — well —

THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me. Excuse me. Person in the front. Go ahead.

Q Thank you, President Trump, for —

THE PRESIDENT: No, no. No, not you. Excuse me. Yeah, we’ll get to you.

Q Thank you, President Trump. Jane Tung (ph) from (inaudible) Television. What was the atmosphere like when you walked away from the negotiation table? And —

 

THE PRESIDENT: I think it was very good, very friendly. This wasn’t a walk away, like you get up and walk out. No, this was very friendly. We shook hands. You know, there’s a warmth that we have, and I hope that stays. I think it will.

But we are — you know, we’re positioned to do something very special. This has been going on for many decades. This isn’t me. You know, this was — this should’ve been solved during many presidential runs. And, you know, people talked about it; they never did anything. I get a kick out of so many people from past administrations telling me how to negotiate when they were there, in some cases, for eight years; they did nothing.

But I think the relationship was very warm, and when we walked away it was a very friendly walk. Mike, you might want to speak to that for a second.

 

SECRETARY POMPEO: No, I agree. I talked with my counterparts as well. But we hope we can do more, but everyone is very focused on how we continue to build on this.

We are certainly closer today than we were 36 hours ago. And we were closer then than we were a month or two before that. So real progress was made.

I think everyone had hoped we could do it just a little bit better. But the departure was with an agreement that we would continue to work on what has been an incredibly difficult problem. Both sides are resolved to achieve it, and everyone walked away in that spirit.

 

Q And may I add: You and Chairman Kim are from very different political systems. You are from different generations. And what do you find —

THE PRESIDENT: It’s a very different system. I would say that’s true.

Q How do you find, you guys, in common? Because we saw the atmosphere —

THE PRESIDENT: We just like each other. I mean, we have a good relationship. Yeah. It’s a totally different system, to put it mildly. But we like each other. A good relationship.

Go ahead. In the back. Go ahead.

 

Q Mr. President, do you think it was premature to have held the summit when all these things had not been tied down? I mean, in the White House schedule last night, it said signing agreement today. And I wonder whether — as a follow-up question, whether you could sketch out what the next few months look like. Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: You always have to be prepared to walk. I could’ve signed an agreement today, and then you people would’ve said, “Oh, what a terrible deal. What a terrible thing he did.” No, you have be prepared to walk. And, you know, there was a potential we could’ve signed something today. I could’ve 100 percent signed something today. We actually had papers ready to be signed, but it just wasn’t appropriate. I want to do it right. I’d much rather do it right than do it fast.

 

Q I’m a reporter from South Korea, and I appreciate your effort to advance denuclearization in Korean Peninsula. And could you elaborate on the options and the various ways that you discussed with Chairman Kim to advance denuclearization? Could you specify?

THE PRESIDENT: We discussed many ways. And the denuclearization is a very important — it’s a very important word. Become a very well used word. And a lot of people don’t know what it means, but to me it’s pretty obvious: We have to get rid of the nukes.

I think he’s got a chance to have one of the most successful countries — rapidly, too — on Earth. Incredible country, incredible location. You’re right between — if you think of it, you have, on one side, Russia and China, and on the other you have South Korea, and you’re surrounded by water and among the most beautiful shorelines in the world.

There is tremendous potential in North Korea, and I think he’s going to lead it to a very important thing, economically. I think it’s going to be an absolute economic power.

 

Q Mr. President, David Sanger from the New York Times.

THE PRESIDENT: I know, David.

Q Six months ago, when you spoke — or eight months ago, in Singapore, you said, if you didn’t have something in six months, we should come back and ask you about it. In that time, you have seen Chairman Kim increase the number of missiles he’s produced and continue to produce more nuclear material. And that’s been a pressure point on you, because he’s showing you the arsenals getting larger while this is going on.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, some people, David, are saying that, and some people are denying that. They have shots from above — way above — and some people are saying that and some people aren’t.

But I could’ve taken that out today, but I think you and others would’ve said we didn’t get enough for what we’d be giving up. So — and, you know, don’t forget, we’re partners with a lot of countries on this, if you think about it, with the sanctions. We have a whole big partnership with the United Nations and many countries, including Russia, China, and others. And then, of course, South Korea is very important to this whole thing, and Japan.

I don’t want to do something that is going to violate the trust that we’ve built up. We have a very strong partnership.

 

Q So can you just give us a little more detail? Did you get into the question of actually dismantling the Yongbyon complex?

THE PRESIDENT: I did. Yes. Absolutely.

Q And does he seem willing, ultimately —

THE PRESIDENT: Totally.

Q — to take all of that out?

THE PRESIDENT: Sure. Totally.

Q He does? He just wants all the sanctions off first?

THE PRESIDENT: He would do that, but he wants the sanctions for that. And as you know, there’s plenty left after that. And I just I felt it wasn’t good. Mike and I spent a long time negotiating and talking about it to ourselves. And just — I felt that that particular, as you know, that facility, while very big, it wasn’t enough to do what we were doing.

Q So he was willing to Yongbyon, but you wanted more than that? I assume —

THE PRESIDENT: We had to have more than that, yeah. We had to have more than that because there are other things that you haven’t talked about, that you haven’t written about, that we found. And we have to have — that was done a long time ago, but the people didn’t know about.

Q Including the uranium —

THE PRESIDENT: And we brought — yeah.

Q Including the second uranium enrichment plant?

THE PRESIDENT: Exactly. And we brought many, many points up that I think they were surprised that we knew. But we had to do more than just the one level. Because if we did the one level, and we gave up all of that leverage that’s been taking a long time to build. And I want to tell you, by the way —

Q So he was not willing to take out that second —

THE PRESIDENT: David, I want to take off the sanctions so badly, because I want that country to grow. That country has got such potential, but they have to give up, or we could’ve done that deal.

 

SECRETARY POMPEO: Only, David, there are also timing and sequencing issues that were associated with that as well, which we didn’t quite get across the finish line as well. But remember, too, even that facility, even the Yongbyon facility and all of its scope — which is important, for sure — still leaves missiles, still leaves warheads and weapons systems. So there’s a lot of other elements that we just couldn’t get to.

Q And the listing of all of them.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yes, sir. And a declaration. So, all of those things, we couldn’t quite get there today.

 

Q I just wanted to clarify, when you talk about what you would willing to give up all of the sanctions for, are you still thinking that you want North Korea to give up everything to do complete, verifiable denuclearization —

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I don’t want to say that to you —

Q — before you lift sanctions?

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Yeah. It’s a good question. I don’t want to say that to you because I don’t want to put myself in that position, from the standpoint of negotiation. But, you know, we want a lot to be given up. And we’re giving up.

And we’ll have to — you know, we’ll be helping them along economically, us and other — many other countries are going to be helping. They’re going to be in there. They’re prepared to help. I can tell you: Japan, South Korea, I think China. So many.

And speaking of China, we’re very well on our way to doing something special, but we’ll see. I mean, I am always prepared to walk. I’m never afraid to walk from a deal. And I would do that with China, too, if it didn’t work out.

 

Q Are you concerned, if you’re not able to reach an agreement, that the testing will start again? Or that while all of this time is happening by —

THE PRESIDENT: Well, he said the testing — yeah.

Q — they are continuing to develop their program?

THE PRESIDENT: He said the testing will not start. He said that he’s not going to do testing of rockets or missiles or anything having to do with nuclear. And all I can tell you is that’s what he said. And we’ll see.

 

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, thank you.

Q Jessica Stone from CGTN. I have a question about China, as you were talking about. You talk about China being willing, potentially, to help economically. And the fact that you’ve talked — or will talk to Presidents Moon and Prime Minister Abe, how would you describe China’s role in facilitating the engagement that’s happened, so far, between Pyongyang and Washington?

THE PRESIDENT: I think China has been a big help. Bigger than most people know. On the border, as you know, 93 percent of the goods coming into North Korea come through China. So there’s a great power there. At the same time, I believe — I happen to believe that North Korea is calling its own shots. They’re not taking orders from anybody. He’s a very strong guy. And they’re able to do things that are pretty amazing. But 93 percent still come in from China. China has an influence, and China has been a big help.

And Russia has been a big help too. As you know, there’s a pretty small part of the border, but nevertheless significant — about 28 miles. And things can happen there too. And they’ve been a help.

 

Q Thanks, President. Jen Chen with Shenzhen Media Group of China. In your meeting with Chairman Kim this morning and yesterday, did the topic of China come up? If so, what can you share with us today? And you probably will have the (inaudible) of Mar-a-Lago summit in March with Chinese President Xi Jinping. What would you like accomplished with your agenda regarding China at that time? Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: We did talk about China today a lot. And he’s getting along with China and so are we. And we are — you know, we’re — we’re, right now, you look at what’s happened to our country; we’ve picked up trillions and trillions of dollars of net worth. Our stock market is almost at its all-time high. Our economy is incredible. Our unemployment numbers are among the best we’ve ever had in our history.

Individual groups like African American, women — you just take a look at any group; Hispanic, you saw that just came out — the best in history; African American, best in history. So many different numbers are coming out so good. So we have the strongest economy, probably, possibly that we’ve ever had.

Fiat Chrysler just announced that they’re going to spend $4.5 billion right next to Detroit, in Michigan. They’re building a tremendous plant. It’s actually an expansion of another plant. It’s going to be — it’s going to double up their jobs, and even more than that. A lot of great things are happening.

And with China, they’re having some difficulty, as you know. But I think that a lot of the difficulty is because of the tariffs that they’re having. And in addition to that, we’re putting a tremendous amount of money; you saw trade deficits went down last month. Everybody was trying to find out why. Well, we’re taking in a lot of tariff money, and it’s going right to the bottom line and it has reduced the trade deficits.

So we’ll see what happens with China. I think we have a very good chance. Their numbers are down. But I don’t want that. I want their numbers — I want them to do great. But we’ve been losing anywhere from $300- to $500 billion a year with China for many, many years.

And again, like other things, many Presidents should have done this before me, and nobody did. So we’re doing it.

 

Q Chad O’Carroll from NK News, (inaudible) with North Korea News. What’s your message for President Moon, who has effectively reached the glass ceiling, as far inter-Korean cooperation is concerned, due to sanctions? And what’s next for U.S.-ROK military drills?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I like President Moon very much. We have a great relationship. Believe it or not, I have a great relationship with almost every leader. A lot of people find that hard to understand, but I do. But some take advantage of our country like you wouldn’t believe. And when they know I know it — which I know in every case — maybe it sort of freezes them up a little bit. But we do; we have a lot of good relationships.

We’ll be calling President Moon very soon, as soon as I get by the phone, on the plane. And he’ll be one of the first calls. I’ll be calling Prime Minister Abe of Japan, telling him about where we are and what we’re doing. But I’ll be making those calls.

No, he’s working very hard. President Moon is working very hard. He’d love to see a deal and he’s been very helpful.

 

Q Thank you, Mr. President. I’m (inaudible), reporter from Global Times China. I would like to ask you, what are you expecting China to do in the next step to mediate your relationship with North Korea? Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: To use China?

Q Yeah, from China.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, we do. I mean, China has been very helpful. President Xi is a great leader. He’s a highly respected leader all over the world and especially in Asia. And he’s helped us — Mike, I would say he’s helped us a lot, right?

SECRETARY POMPEO: He has.

THE PRESIDENT: We’ve — I actually called him just recently to say, “Hey, you know, whatever you can do on this.” But he has been very helpful at the border, and he’s been very, very helpful with, I think, North Korea generally. Could he(시진핑) be a little more helpful? Probably. But he’s been excellent.

 

Q Thanks, Mr. President. Could you — did you commit with Chairman Kim to a next summit during your term?

(임기중 김위원장과 3차 정상회담을 약속했는가)

THE PRESIDENT: No, we haven’t — no.

Q Okay.

THE PRESIDENT: We’ll see. If it happens, it happens. I have not committed.

Q They are, at this point, some would say, a nuclear power. Do you accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed state, at least for the time being? And are you thinking about re-imposing the military exercises with South Korea, or will you keep it a freeze-for-freeze?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, you know, the military exercises, I gave that up quite a while ago because it costs us $100 million every time we do it. We fly these massive bombers in from Guam. And when I first started, a certain general said, “Oh, yes, sir, we fly them in from Guam. It’s right next door.” Well, right next door is seven hours away. And then they come and they drop millions of dollars of bombs, and then they go back and —

But we would spend — I mean, we spent hundreds of millions of dollars on those exercises, and I hated to see it. I thought it was unfair.

And, frankly, I was, sort of, of the opinion that South Korea should help us with that. You know, we’re protecting South Korea. I think they should help us with that.

So those exercises are very expensive. And I was telling the generals — I said: Look, you know, exercising is fun and it’s nice and they play the war games. And I’m not saying it’s not necessary, because at some levels it is, but at other levels it’s not. But it’s a very, very expensive thing. And you know, we do have to think about that too.

But when they spend hundreds of millions of dollars on those exercises and we don’t get reimbursed — we’re spending a tremendous amount of money on many countries, protecting countries that are very rich that can certainly afford to pay us and then some.

And those countries — by the way, and those countries know that it’s not right, but nobody has ever asked them before. But I’ve asked them and we’re doing — we’re gaining a lot of money. We’ve picked up over a $100 billion just in NATO over the last two years. A hundred billion dollars more has come in. And we’re doing that with a lot of countries. You’ll be seeing that a lot.

 

Q Yes, thank you, Mr. President. You have a personal relationship — and I believe Vice President Pence does — with the family of Otto Warmbier.

THE PRESIDENT: I do.

Q I’m wondering — you’ve talked about, this week, about Kim Jong Un being “my friend” — you called him on Twitter. You said you have a great relationship. Have you, in Singapore or here, confronted Kim Jong Un about Otto Warmbier’s death —

THE PRESIDENT: I have. I have.

Q — and asked him to take responsibility? And what did he say to you? And why do you call him your friend?

THE PRESIDENT: I have. And I have, and we have talked about it. And I really don’t think it was in his interest at all. I know the Warmbier family very well. I think they’re an incredible family. What happened is horrible. I really believe something very bad happened to him, and I don’t think that the top leadership knew about it.

And when they had to send him home — by the way, I got the prisoners back. I got the hostages back. And Otto was one of the hostages, but Otto came back in shape that was not even to be talked about. I find it — I thought it was horrible. Now, the others came back extremely healthy. But Otto came back in a condition that was just — just terrible.

And I will — I did speak about it, and I don’t believe that he would’ve allowed that to happen. Just wasn’t to his advantage to allow that to happen. Those prisons are rough. They’re rough places. And bad things happened. But I really don’t believe that he was — I don’t believe he knew about it.

 

Q Did he say — did he tell you that he did not — did Kim Jong Un tell you —

THE PRESIDENT: He felt badly about it. I did speak to him. He felt very badly. But he knew the case very well, but he knew it later. And, you know, you got a lot of people. A big country. A lot of people. And in those prisons and those camps, you have a lot of people. And some really bad things happened to Otto. Some really, really bad things.

But he tells me —

THE PRESIDENT: He tells me that he didn’t know about it, and I will take him at his word.

 

THE PRESIDENT: No, in the back. Behind you. Thank you.

Q Mr. President, (inaudible), Sputnik News Agency. Have you discussed the issue of possible inspections to North Korea’s nuclear sites during your negotiations?

THE PRESIDENT: You’re going to have to speak a little louder. And where are you from? Where are you from?

Q Russia’s Sputnik News Agency. Have you discussed the issue of possible inspections to North Korea’s nuclear sites during your talks with the Chairman?

THE PRESIDENT: Why don’t you answer that, Mike?

I can’t —

Q Inspections.

THE PRESIDENT: Good.

Q Inspections. Inspections of nuclear sites.

THE PRESIDENT: I was worried about my hearing.

Q Inspections, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, inspections.

Q International inspections. Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, inspections. Inspections on North Korea? Oh, we’d be able — yeah.

Q Yeah. Inspections to the nuclear sites.

THE PRESIDENT: We’d be able to do that very easily. We have that set up, so we would be able to do that very easily.

The inspections on North Korea will take place and we’ll — if we do something with them — we have a schedule set up that is very good. We know things that, as David was asking about certain places and certain sites — there are sites that people don’t know about that we know about. We would be able to do inspections, we think, very, very successfully.

 

Q Kann News Israel, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Good. Good.

Q Following this engagement with North Korea, you are trying to bring peace to the Middle East.

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

Q The peace plan is about to be introduced in the near future. And as you have mentioned before —

THE PRESIDENT: Well, we hope. We hope. We’re working hard on the peace plan and we hope it will be (inaudible).

 

Q I believe you do. But as you mentioned before, it will require Israel to make compromises to the Palestinians. As far as you know, is Prime Minister Netanyahu willing to make these compromises which are very much needed?

And a second question: Mr. Netanyahu is about to indicted today with corruption allegations. Do you wish to tell him something on this occasion?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I just think he’s been a great prime minister. And I don’t know about his difficulty, but you’re telling me something that, you know, the people have been hearing about. But I don’t know about that.

I can say this: that he’s done a great job as prime minister. He’s tough, he’s smart, he’s strong. He is very defensive. His military has been built up a lot. They buy a lot of equipment from the United States and they pay for it. Of course, we give them tremendous, as you know, subsidy, also. Four billion dollars is a lot each year. But they are — they’ve been very good. They’ve been incredible, actually, in many ways. But there is a chance for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

And, you know, it’s interesting — all of my life, I’ve heard that the toughest of all deals — when they talk about tough deals; we all like deals — but the toughest of all deals would be peace between Israel and Palestinians. They say it’s like the impossible deal. I’d love to be able to produce it. We’ll see what happens.

You know, we were paying the Palestinians a lot of money. And I ended that about two years ago because they weren’t saying the right things. And I said, why would we pay somebody that’s not saying nice things about us, and not really wanting to go to the peace table? And they’ve been much better. And we’ll see what happens.

 

Q But has Mr. Netanyahu made concessions?

THE PRESIDENT: But I think we really — I think we have, actually, a good shot at peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Q Has Netanyahu made concessions?

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, go ahead. Please. Sir.

 

Q Mr. President, I’m from China. My question is: Do you still believe it is possible that the North Korea and U.S. relation could be like the U.S. and the Vietnam relation in the future?

THE PRESIDENT: You have to go again.

Q Do you believe — do you still believe that is it is possible that the relation between U.S. and North Korea, in the future, could be like the relation between U.S. and Vietnam?

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. I think we’re going have — yeah. I mean, we have very, very good relations. And, by the way, speaking of — you mentioned Japan — we have a lot of good things happening Japan. We have trade talks started. For years, Japan has been sending millions and millions of cars in, and as you know, it’s not been a very fair situation for the United States.

 

We’re starting trade talks with Japan. They actually started about three months ago, and I think we’ll have a very good deal for the United States. But that’s been a very unfair situation. Prime Minister Abe understands that, and that’s fine.

 

Q Thank you, Mr. President. I’m (inaudible) with Shanghai Media Group. Do you think the next meeting could be soon, or might take some time?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I can’t tell you. I mean, it might be soon. It(차기 북미회담) might not be for a long time. I can’t tell you. I would hope it would be soon. But it may not be for a long time.

I could’ve done — I could’ve done a deal today, but it would’ve been a deal that wouldn’t have been a deal that — it would’ve been something that I wouldn’t have been happy about, Mike would not have been happy about. We had some pretty big options. But we just felt it wasn’t appropriate, and we really want to do it right.(큰 옵션을 갖고 있었지만, 서명하는게 적절치 않다고 생각했다.

Yes, in the back. In the back. Yes, ma’am. Please.

 

Q Debi Edward, ITV News. At which point did it become clear to you that you wouldn’t be getting a deal here in Hanoi? The language from yourself and Kim Jong Un was very positive last night and even this morning. And therefore, was it a mistake to come here?

THE PRESIDENT: No, I think the language was good all throughout. The language has been good even now. But, you know, I don’t go by language, because we had probably the toughest language in the history of diplomacy — if you call it diplomacy — at the beginning, and yet, we became very friendly. I don’t believe there was any tougher language ever than that.

But, again, this was something that should’ve been handled by other Presidents long before me and long before they had the kind of power that they have. But it wasn’t. It should’ve been done by many — I’m not just blaming the Obama administration, which, by the way, it did nothing. Nothing. Did absolutely on North Korea. It allowed things that happened, and to happen, that were very inappropriate. But I’m not blaming the Obama administration. I’m blaming many administrations. Something should’ve happened.

But I don’t think the rhetoric has been bad at all. Initially, it was horrible, but now it’s been very good.

All right, one more. How about you? Go ahead. Please. Please. Go ahead.

 

Q (Inaudible) from South Korea, (inaudible) South Korean media outlet here. I’d like to ask you: You said that we do not particularly know when there will be — North Korean leader will be willing to come to the table and take the actions that’s been required. If that’s the case, would the U.S. be willing to strengthen the sanctions and perhaps put the pressure on North Korea to move forward?(대북제재를 강화할 것인가?)

THE PRESIDENT: I don’t want to comment on that. I can just tell you this: that we have very strong sanctions. I don’t want to talk about increasing sanctions. They’re strong. They have a lot of great people in North Korea that have to live also. And that’s important to me.

And I would say this: My whole attitude changed a lot because I got to know, as you know, Chairman Kim very well. And they have a point of view also.

So I don’t really want to talk about that. I just think that, hopefully, for the sake of South Korea, for the sake of Japan, and frankly, for the sake of China — I was talking to President Xi, who really is a man that gets the respect of a lot of people — I say, “You can’t love having a nuclear state right next to China.” And he doesn’t. He really doesn’t. I will tell you, he would like to see that problem solved, too. So that’s it.

 

Well, ladies and gentleman, I’m about to get on a plane and fly back to a wonderful place called Washington, D.C. So, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, fellas. Thank you very much.  END 2:53 P.M. ICT

-------------------

북한/하노이 멜리아 호텔. 3.1. 0030 기자회견(리용호) 및 일문일답(최선희)

(리용호 외무상)이번 2차 조미수뇌상봉 회담 결과에 대한 우리의 입장을 알려드리겠습니다. (질문은 받지 않겠습니다) 조미 양국의 수뇌분들은 이번에 훌륭한 인내력과 자제력을 가지고 이틀간에 걸쳐서 진지한 회담을 진행하셨습니다. 우리는 지난해 6월 싱가포르 회의 중 1차 조미수뇌상봉회담 공동인식으로 이룩된 신뢰조성과 단계적 해결 원칙에 따라 이번 회담에서 현실적 제안을 제기했습니다.
미국이 유엔 제재의 일부, 즉 민수경제와 인민생활에 지장을 주는 항목의 제재를 해제하면 우리는 영변 핵의 플루토늄과 우라늄을 포함한 모든 핵물질 생산시설을 미국 전문가들의 입회하에 두 나라 기술자들의 공동의 작업으로 영구적으로 완전히 폐기한다는 것입니다.
우리가 요구하는 것은 전면적인 제재 해제 아니고 일부 해제, 구체적으로는 유엔 제재 결의 11건 가운데 2016년부터 2017까지 채택된 5건, 그 중 민수경제와 인민생활에 지장을 주는 항목들만 먼저 해제하라는 것입니다. 이것은 조미 양국 사이의 현 신뢰 수준을 놓고 볼 때 현 단계에 우리가 내 짚을 수 있는 가장 큰 보폭의 비핵화 조치입니다.
우리가 비핵화 조치 취해나가는 데서 보다 중요한 문제는 안전담보 문제이지만 미국이 아직은 군사 분야 조치 취하는 것이 부담스러울 것이라 보고 부분적 제재 해제를 상응 조치로 제안한 것입니다.
이번 회담에서 우리는 미국의 우려를 덜어주기 위해서 핵실험과 장거리 로켓 시험 발사를 영구적으로 중지한다는 확약도 문서 형태로 줄 용의를 밝혔습니다.
신뢰조성 단계를 거치면 앞으로 비핵화 과정은 더 빨리 전진할 수 있을 것입니다. 그러나 회담 과정에 미국 측은 영변 지구 핵시설 폐기 조치 외에 한 가지를 더 해야 한다고 끝까지 주장했으며 따라서 미국이 우리의 제안을 수용할 준비가 돼 있지 않다는 것이 명백해졌습니다. 현 단계에서 우리가 제안한 거 보다 더 좋은 합의가 이뤄질 수 있는 건지 이 자리에서 말하기 힘듭니다. 이런 기회마저 다시 오기 힘들 수 있습니다.
완전한 비핵화에로의 노정에는 반드시 이러한 첫 단계공정이 불가피하며 우리가 내놓은 최대한의 방안이 실현되는 과정을 반드시 거쳐야 할 것입니다. 우리의 이런 원칙적 입장에는 추호도 변함이 없을 것이며 앞으로 미국 측이 협상을 다시 제기해오는 경우에도 우리 방안에는 변함이 없을 것이다. 이상입니다.

(최선희 부상)

-미국은 영변 핵시설 폐기에 대한 상응조치로 어떤 것을 바랐나
▶우리가 내놓은 안은 리용호 외무상이 밝힌 바와 같이 영변 핵단지 전체, 모든 플루토늄 우라늄 시설을 포함한 핵시설을 미국 전문가들이 비핵화 영구적으로 폐기하는 것에 대한, 역사적으로 제안하지 않았던 제안을 이번에 했습니다. 
그 대신 우리가 미국에 요구한 것은 외무상 동지가 밝힌 바와 같이 민생용 민수용 제재 다섯 건에 대해 해제할 것을 요구했습니다. 이러한 제안에 대해 미국이 받아들이지 않은 것은 그러한 기회를 놓친 것이라고 저는 생각합니다. 
군수용은 아직 요구하지 않습니다. 인민들의 생활과 관련한 사항들에 대한 제재 해제를 요구했을 뿐입니다. 결의 제재가 2016년부터 취한 대조선 결의가 6건입니다. 그중에서 우리가 2270, 2375호 등 다섯 개인데, 여기서 100%가 아니고 민생과 관련된 부분만 제재를 해제할 것을 요구했습니다. 
우리가 제안한 것은 영변 핵단지 전체에 대한 영구적인 폐기입니다. 여기서 실행할 때는 핵 전문가들 와서 입회하게 됐습니다. 이번에 제가 수뇌회담을 옆에서 보면서 우리 국무위원장 동지께서 미국에서 하는 미국식 계산법에 대해서 이해하기 힘들어하지 않았나, 이해 가지 않는 듯한 느낌 받았습니다. 
지난 시기에 있지 않은 영변 핵단지를 통째로 폐기할 데 대한 제안 내놨음에도 불구하고 제재 결의, 부분적인 결의까지 해제하기 어렵다는 미국의 반응을 보며 김정은 국무위원장께서 앞으로 (협상에 대한) 의욕을 잃지 않으시지 않았나 하는 그런 느낌을 받았습니다. 
아직 다음 회담이 정해진 게 없습니다. 제가 하나 강조하고 싶은 것은 미국의 핵 박사, 해커 박사가 영변 핵시설 농축 우라늄 공장을 방문한 적이 있습니다. 그런 공장까지도, 거대한 농축 우라늄 공장 포함한 모든 핵시설 영구적으로 되돌릴 수 없게 폐기할 데 대한 제안 내놨지만 미국 측의 대답이 호응이 없었습니다. 앞으로 이런 기회가 다시, 미국측에게 차려 지겠는지, 여기에 대해선 장담하기 힘듭니다.