부시대통령과 반기문 유엔사무총장 백악관 만남(President Bush Meets with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon)

 

PRESIDENT BUSH: Mr. Secretary General, welcome. The last time I visited with you in this Oval Office, you were the Foreign Minister of an important country. Now you come representing the United Nations, and I welcome you. Thank you for your willingness to serve. Thank you for this very important discussion we just had. I appreciate so very much how you opened up the discussion with a strong commitment to democracy and freedom. And the United States is willing -- wants to work with the United Nations to achieve a peace through the spread of freedom.

And I want to thank you very much for the wise advice that you have given on a variety of issues. We talked about the Middle East, of course, and the importance of the Quartet. We talked about Darfur. Mr. Secretary General, I want to thank you for your commitment to help the suffering people in Darfur, and I wish you all the best as you work hard to convince the President of the Sudan that it's in his interest, and in the world's interest, that we allow enhanced African Union peacekeepers in to provide peace and security for people who are suffering.

I want to thank you very much, as well, for our discussions about Iran and North Korea. I wish you all the best in this important job. I admired the way you handled your previous job, and I'm confident you'll do a fine job now.

 

SECRETARY GENERAL KI-MOON: Thank you very much, Mr. President. It's a great honor and privilege for me to visit the White House and meet with you, Mr. President, in my new capacity as Secretary General of the United Nations. I feel it a great honor for me to serve this United Nations, our global body, United Nations. At the same time, I'm very much humbled by all the challenges which I have to deal with and we are facing in the 21st century.

I would need strong participation and support of the United States in all activities of the United Nations. In fact, I believe that the United Nations and United States have shared objectives -- peace and security, freedom, democracy. All these important goals and ideas are what the United States is also trying to achieve.

I hope to work very closely with the U.S. government, including Mr. President, in realizing and obtaining this shared goal. As I start my new administration as Secretary General, I get to have strong commitment and support from U.S. government, and I'm committed to devote all my time and energy to the address -- to address all these important issues -- Middle East, and Darfur, Lebanon, and Somalia, North Korea, Millennium Development Goals and climate changes. All are global issues, which require global, collective wisdom and effort.

Thank you very much for this opportunity.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you.

END 2:03 P.M. EST

 

 

 

Ban Ki-moon and US President stress joint partnership during talks

Ban Ki-moon (L) and US President George Bush

16 January 2007 – In his first meeting with United States President George W. Bush since assuming office as Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon said the two leaders mutually pledged to work together to try to achieve the goals of peace and increased global prosperity.

Mr. Ban told reporters after his talks with Mr. Bush at the White House in Washington, D.C. that the pair had had “a very good, very useful meeting” in which he stressed the value of a strong partnership between the UN and the US.

“The United Nations needs the strong and active participation and strong support of the United States, as the UN and the US have a shared objective of promoting human rights, democracy and freedom and peace and security, as well as mutual prosperity,” he said.

Mr. Ban said they discussed key regional issues, including the Darfur crisis in Sudan, the Middle East, Iran, Iraq, Somalia and the nuclear programme of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The Secretary-General added that Mr. Bush’s assurances and comments underlined his confidence that the world body “can have a very mutually cooperative and good relationship in the future” with the US.

Asked by a reporter about a newspaper column written by John Bolton, the former US ambassador to the UN, Mr. Ban said Mr. Bolton had raised some good points among his suggestions for reform measures at the UN.

“The United Nations should change, with much more efficiency and effectiveness and mobility and the highest level of ethical standards,” he said. “I am very much committed to carry out this reform, and I need the strong support of all Member States and the staff of the United Nations in carrying out these reform measures.”

During his visit to Washington, Mr. Ban met both Democratic and Republican members of the US Congress, including key members of the Senate and House committees dealing with foreign relations. He also addressed the Center for Strategic and International Studies, outlining his view of his priorities in office and on the future of the UN-US relationship.

 

 

*潘 사무총장, 부시 대통령 면담

유엔개혁, 對테러 전쟁, 북핵ㆍ이란핵문제 등 논의

(워싱턴=연합뉴스) 김현준 김병수 특파원 = 반기문 유엔 사무총장은 16일 오후(현지시간) 백악관에서 조지 부시 미국 대통령을 면담, 국제정세 및 인권문제, 유엔 개혁 등 현안에 대해 협의한다.

   지난 1일부터 임기에 들어간 반 사무총장이 유엔 사무총장 자격으로 부시 대통령을 만나는 것은 이번이 처음이다.

   미셸 몽타스 유엔 대변인은 "반 총장이 지난해 사무총장 지명자로 부시 대통령을 한 번 만난 적은 있지만 사무총장 자격으로 만나는 것은 처음"이라고 밝혔다.

   반 총장과 부시 대통령은 이날 면담에서 테러와의 전쟁, 북핵 및 이란핵문제 등 국제정세와 인권문제, 유엔 개혁 문제 등 국제현안과 상호관심사에 대해 폭넓은 대화를 나눌 것으로 예상된다.

   앞서 토니 스노 백악관 대변인은 반 총장과 부시 대통령의 면담 계획을 발표하면서 "부시 대통령은 유엔 개혁으로부터 인권문제, 국제평화와 안보유지, 인도적 지원 및 개발 지원에 이르기까지 유엔이 깊게 간여하고 있는 중요한 이슈들에 대해 반 총장과 논의하기를 기대하고 있다"고 밝힌 바 있다.

   반 총장은 부시 대통령을 면담한 뒤 미 의회 지도자들과도 만나 의견을 교환할 예정이며 이날 오후 전략국제문제연구소(CSIS)에서 강연할 계획이다.

   bingsoo@yna.co.kr
(끝)