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USIA - State Department Report (96-09-24)
From: The United States Information Agency (USIA) Gopher at <gopher://gopher.usia.gov>
STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1996
(Armenia, Korea) (310)
There was no regular briefing, but Acting State Department Spokesman
Glyn Davies did speak on-the-record with reporters. No transcript is
available of this briefing.
ARMENIA -- The Organization for Security and Economic Cooperation
(OSCE) has yet to issue its final report on the elections in Armenia,
according to Davies. But he said the U.S. government has concerns
regarding the reports of fraud and coercion surrounding the elections
and expects to issue a statement this week.
KOREA -- Despite the September 17 incursion into South Korea of a
North Korean submarine, the government of the Republic of Korea (ROK)
has not requested that the United States halt efforts to conduct
four-way talks among the governments of South Korea, North Korea,
China, and the United States, Davies said.
The Agreed Framework, under which North Korea froze its nuclear
weapons program, has not been affected by the submarine incident
either, according to Davies. When asked if the Clinton administration
anticipates the U.S. Congress will balk at funding U.S. oil shipments
to North Korea under the Korean Peninsula Energy Development
Organization (KEDO) because of the North Korean incursion, Davies
said: "We would hope that the Congress would continue to support the
KEDO process, because it's very, very important. It's frozen North
Korea's nuclear program.... It's one of the greatest nonproliferation
gains of the recent period."
No decision has been made as to whether "Team Spirit" will be held
next spring, Davies said. The once annual joint U.S.-ROK military
exercises have not been held since 1993.
"I think this (submarine) incident is an important incident; one
that's been the subject of consultations between the United States and
South Korea," Davies said. "Whether that incident has an impact on a
Team Spirit decision, it's too early to say.
(No transcript of this briefing is available.)
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