미-일 정상회담…북 테러지원국 해제 문제 집중논의

조지 부시 대통령은 16일 “미국은 북한에 의한 일본인 납치  문제를 결코 잊지 않을 것”이라고 말했습니다. 부시 대통령은 이날 백악관에서  후쿠다 야스오 일본 총리와

정상회담을 마치고 가진 공동 기자회견에서 북한 영변 핵시설에 대한 불능화가 이뤄지고 있다고 말했습니다.

부시 대통령은 또 한반도 비핵화를 위해 올 연말까지 북한 핵 프로그램에 대한 완전하고도 철저한 핵신고가 이뤄져야 한다고 강조했습니다.

부시 대통령은 북한이 연말까지 모든 핵프로그램과 핵확산 활동을 신고할 것을 약속했다며, 북한은 한반도 비핵화를 위해 반드시 핵신고를 성실히 해야 할 것이라고 말했습니다.

부시 대통령은 또 “ 자신의 임기 중에 일본인 피랍자 가족을 만났던 것이 가장 잊지 못할 일”이라며 미국은 이 문제를 결코 잊지 않을 것이라고 다짐했습니다. 그러나 부시 대통령은 북한에 대한 테러 지원국 해제 문제에 대해서는 구체적으로 언급하지 않았습니다.

부시 대통령은 후쿠다 총리에게 자신의 재임 기간중   북한에 자녀가 납치된 일본인 어머니를 만났던 순간이 가장 잊지 못할 순간이었다며 미국은 납치 문제를 결코 잊지 않을 것이라고 말했습니다.

부시 대통령은 또 일본의 6자회담 참여에 감사를 표하며, 미국과 일본 그리고 중국, 한국, 러시아가 참여한 6자회담이 성과를 내고 있다고 말했습니다.

후쿠다 총리는 이에 대해 일본은 북한의 완전한 핵포기를 미국과 긴밀히 협력해 나갈 것이라고 말했습니다.

앞서 부시 대통령과 후쿠다 총리는 이날 약 1시간 가량 열린 미-일 정상회담에서 북한 핵문제를 비롯해 테러지원국 명단 삭제,  테러와의 전쟁 협력방안, 미-일 동맹 강화 및 협력확대 방안 등을 논의했습니다. 특히 부시 대통령은 후쿠다 총리에게  아프가니스탄에서 테러와의 전쟁을 벌이는 미군을 계속 지원해 줄 것을 요청한 것으로 알려졌습니다.

앞서 일본 국회는 아프가니스탄에서 테러와의 전쟁을 수행하는 미군에게 급유 지원을 해온 것을 연장하는 법안을 부결시킨 바 있습니다.

후쿠다 총리는 부시 대통령과 북한의 비핵화가 필요하다는데 의견을 같이 했으며, 일본 자위대의 미군에 대한 급유지원이 재개되도록 최선을 다할 것임을 다짐했다고 밝혔습니다.

그동안 미국과 일본은 북한의 테러지원국 해제와 관련 시각차를 보여왔습니다. 후쿠다 총리를 비롯한 일본 조야는 일본인 납치 문제가 해결 안됐다는 이유를 들어 미국이 북한을 테러 지원국 명단에서 해제하는 것에 반대해 왔습니다.  후쿠다 총리는 미국으로 출발하기에 앞서 “북한에 대한 테러지원국 해제는 미국이 일본과의 관계를 고려해 종합적인 판단을 해야 할 문제”라고 말했습니다.

그러나 미국 정부는 올해 안에 북한이 2.13 합의에 따라 영변의 핵 시설을 불능화 하고 모든 핵 프로그램을 신고할 경우 북한을 테러지원국에서 해제하고 북한에 대한 적성국 교역법 적용도 종료할 방침인 것으로 알려져 있습니다.

미국의 6자회담 수석대표인 크리스토퍼 힐 국무부 동아태 차관보는 지난 15일 워싱턴을 방문 중인 일본인 납북자 가족 대표들과 만났습니다.  일본의 ‘교도통신’에 따르면 힐 차관보는 테러지원국 해제를 북한으로부터 양보를 얻어내기 위한 수단으로 보고 있다며, ‘미국이 북한에 양보를 하게 되면 북한에 대해서도 최대한 양보를 요구할 수 있다’고 말했습니다. 

 

 

 

 

 

President Bush and Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda of Japan in Joint Statements

PRESIDENT BUSH: Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to the White House. I really appreciate the opportunity to get to know you better. I'm looking forward to our lunch.

This is an important visit. It's the first visit the Prime Minister has taken since he has assumed his important office. It's a recognition that our alliance is vital for peace and security. The alliance between our two countries is rooted deeply in our strong commitments to freedom and democracy. The Prime Minister and I are going to keep it that way. one of the things we've decided to do is to continue to make sure the U.S.-Japanese relationship is the cornerstone of security and peace. And I appreciate you being here.

We'll continue to work together to advance freedom, security and prosperity in our respective regions and beyond. We discussed a lot of ways that we can make the world a better place by working together. We discussed North Korea and the six-party talks. I appreciate Japan's participation in the six-party talks. Together with China, Russia and South Korea, our two nations are pressing North Korea to fulfill its obligation to abandon all its nuclear weapons programs, as well as its proliferation efforts. The six-party talks have delivered measurable results. The plutonium production facilities at Yongbyon are now being disabled, under six-party supervision.

Hard work still remains to be done. North Korea has agreed to provide a full declaration of all its nuclear programs and proliferation activities by the end of this year. Full declaration is one of the next steps North Korea must take to keep the six-party talks moving towards the goal of a Korean Peninsula without nuclear weapons.

We also discussed the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea. I reminded the Prime Minister of one of the most moving moments of my presidency, when the mother of a young girl who had been abducted by the North Koreans came to visit me. I told her, and I'm going to tell the Japanese people once again, we will not forget this issue.

I understand, Mr. Prime Minister, how important the issue is to the Japanese people, and we will not forget the Japanese abductees, nor their families.

We discussed Afghanistan and Iraq. Japanese naval forces have made valued contributions to Operation Enduring Freedom, which supports Afghanistan's young democracy. Over six years, Japanese vessels refueled ships from 11 coalition nations nearly 800 times.

Mr. Prime Minister, I appreciate the great leadership that you are showing as you work to reauthorize the Japanese refueling mission. Japanese air defense -- Self-Defense Forces continue to serve bravely to support coalition efforts in Iraq. Japanese planes have flown more than 600 sorties, carrying more than half a million tons of cargo from many nations. And, Mr. Prime Minister, like I told you in the Oval Office, I appreciate the contribution that the Japanese people are making to help this young democracy.

We discussed the realignment of our military forces, and we'll continue to do so with Secretary Gates over lunch. Our two nations continue to implement changes in our force posture that will help our alliance meet the challenges of the 21st century.

We discussed Iran. The Prime Minister and I agree that a nuclear-armed Iran would threaten the security of the Middle East and beyond. Our two nations are united in our efforts to change the regime's behavior through diplomacy. We agreed that unless Iran commits to suspend enrichment, international pressure must, and will, grow.

We discussed Burma. The Prime Minister and I condemned the regime's crackdown on democratic activists. We call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners. We're for a genuine dialogue between the regime and those who seek a democratic future for Burma. U.S. sanctions on the regime are in place. Japan has canceled an aid grant. The Prime Minister told me his government is reviewing other aid projects to ensure that they directly benefit the people of Burma.

We discussed our strong economic relationship. Prime Minister Fukuda and I discussed his plans for economic reform in Japan. We discussed Doha, and will continue our discussions over lunch.

I think we're going to serve the Prime Minister -- I hope we serve him some good U.S. beef, which is a good way to bring up the subject of beef. We hope we're able to have the Japanese market fully open to all U.S. beef and beef products, consistent with international guidelines.

We discussed climate change and energy security. Our two nations share a similar approach to addressing the issues of climate change and energy security. We see real promise in our ongoing efforts to bring major developed and developing economies together around key elements of a future global agreement on climate change and energy security. And the truth of the matter is, we need to be in the lead, Mr. Prime Minister, because it's going to be our economies and our nations that develop most of the new technologies that will enable us to be better stewards of the environment.

And finally, we discussed the G8, and I want to thank you for taking the lead in the G8. I'm looking forward to attending.

All in all, we had a great discussion that will be continued during lunch. Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to the United States, and I thank you for your friendship.

PRIME MINISTER FUKUDA: (As translated.) Well, on this first overseas trip after taking office, I have come to this one and only ally for Japan, the United States of America. And I had a very substantive meeting with President Bush just now. And I look forward to a further exchange of views with the President after this. But since this is a very good opportunity, I would like to express some of my views on the basis of the discussions we had earlier.

First of all, we agreed that Japan-U.S. alliance is playing an indispensable role in enabling Japan and the United States to address global issues together, and also provides the basis for our active diplomacy vis-a-vis Asia.

For over half a century Japan and the United States at times have overcome difficulties together and have built a solid and resilient alliance. And we today enjoy this relationship, thanks to the efforts made by countless people in our two countries and exchanges among them.

To further cement the foundation for our bilateral relations in the future, without taking for granted our current solid relations, I explained to the President my initiative to strengthen Japan-U.S. exchanges, including intellectual exchanges. And I received heartfelt support for this idea from President Bush.

Secondly, we discussed synergies between our respective Asia policies and Japan-U.S. alliance. I explained to the President that the solid Japan-U.S. alliance will provide the foundation for Asia's peace and prosperity. And realizing a stable and open Asia that advances in prosperity by further deepening our relations with Asian countries on the basis of Japan-U.S. alliance will be in our mutual interests. And I told the President I'm convinced that such active diplomacy vis-a-vis Asia in turn will further strengthen our alliance.

Following this meeting here, I shall be attending a series of ASEAN-related summit meetings in Singapore, and I desired to visit Washington, D.C. and have discussions with President Bush because of my belief regarding our alliance. And I'm extremely encouraged by the President's support.

We also discussed issues that Japan and U.S. need to address jointly, and particularly -- in particular, North Korea and the fight against terrorism. With regard to North Korean nuclear programs, we agreed that Japan and U.S. need to maintain close coordination with each other, in order to achieve complete abandonment of all nuclear weapons and programs by North Korea, through the six-party talks. President Bush stated that he will never forget the abduction issue, and on that basis he once again expressed his commitment for unchanged support to the Japanese government.

We should never allow Afghanistan to once again become a hotbed for terrorism. And we agreed that Japan and the United States should continue to work together with the international community in the fight against terrorism. And I communicated to President Bush that I shall do my level best to achieve an early passage of a bill for the early resumption of the refuel act of -- (inaudible) -- in the Indian Ocean by the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. President Bush expressed his appreciation for Japan's support for the international community's fight against terrorism and the hope that refueling operations will be resumed soon.

With regard to Myanmar, I stated that I have been working on the government of Myanmar for democratization and improvement of the human rights situation. And with regard to Iranian nuclear development, we cannot -- never tolerate and we agreed that we shall together work to raise pressure with the international community so that Iran will comply with the relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions.

And in this age of rapid changes, on the basis of Japan-U.S. alliance, Japan intends to exercise more active leadership in addressing the problems of Asia and international community.

And further, we shall have discussion with President Bush over lunch on new, important issues. Japan shall be hosting two important national conferences next year. one is the G8 summit at Lake Toya in Hokkaido, in July. And the important theme for that meeting will be climate change. on this issue, Japan and the United States, through close coordination over the past half year or so, have led international discussions. And through a new forum for negotiations at the U.N., we very much hope that we will have discussions with President on closer cooperation on global warming measures so that concrete results will be achieved for an effective framework for the future.

And through further coordination, we would like to achieve a successful G8 summit on the global climate change issue and other matters, as well, because I believe that we can have useful discussions that will allow science and technology to achieve continued economic growth, and also achieve global warming measures and energy security.

The other important conference Japan will be hosting is the International Conference in African Development, because that is a matter that the international community together should address. And this is the -- (inaudible) -- fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development that will be held in Japan in May. And we would like to tie the findings and results of that meeting to the G8 summit. And again, we'd like to engage in cooperation with the United States. And there also is a question of health care in Africa, and again we would like to work in cooperation with the United States on that health care issue.

As the world economy faces numerous challenges, Japan and the United States, I believe, should work together on a global scale in the economic area, including intellectual property protection and for the sustainable development of developing countries.

There was a reference to beef. I hope that -- well, we are addressing the beef issue on the basis of scientific findings. We are still in the process of our bilateral meetings.

I wanted to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the very warm welcome by President Bush and the people of the United States. And I look forward to addressing our common challenges together, hand in hand with President Bush.

END 11:53 A.M. EST