SPEAKERS CONTENTS INSERTS
Page 1 TOP OF DOC
50–551 CC
1998
COMMEMORATING 50 YEARS OF RELATIONS BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA
MARKUP
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
ON
H. RES. 459
Page 2 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
JULY 16, 1998
Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations
COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York, Chairman
WILLIAM GOODLING, Pennsylvania
JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa
HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois
DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska
CHRISTOPHER SMITH, New Jersey
DAN BURTON, Indiana
ELTON GALLEGLY, California
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida
CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina
DANA ROHRABACHER, California
DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California
PETER T. KING, New York
JAY KIM, California
STEVEN J. CHABOT, Ohio
MARSHALL ''MARK'' SANFORD, South Carolina
MATT SALMON, Arizona
AMO HOUGHTON, New York
TOM CAMPBELL, California
Page 3 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
JON FOX, Pennsylvania
LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina
JOHN McHUGH, New York
ROY BLUNT, Missouri
KEVIN BRADY, Texas
RICHARD BURR, North Carolina
LEE HAMILTON, Indiana
SAM GEJDENSON, Connecticut
TOM LANTOS, California
HOWARD BERMAN, California
GARY ACKERMAN, New York
ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American Samoa
MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California
DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
ROBERT ANDREWS, New Jersey
ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
CYNTHIA A. McKINNEY, Georgia
ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida
PAT DANNER, Missouri
EARL HILLIARD, Alabama
BRAD SHERMAN, California
ROBERT WEXLER, Florida
STEVE ROTHMAN, New Jersey
BOB CLEMENT, Tennessee
Page 4 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
BILL LUTHER, Minnesota
JIM DAVIS, Florida
LOIS CAPPS, California
RICHARD J. GARON, Chief of Staff
MICHAEL H. VAN DUSEN, Democratic Chief of Staff
Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska, Chairman
JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa
DANA ROHRABACHER, California
PETER T. KING, New York
JAY KIM, California
MATT SALMON, Arizona
JON FOX, Pennsylvania
JOHN M. McHUGH, New York
DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California
HOWARD L. BERMAN, California
ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American Samoa
ROBERT E. ANDREWS, New Jersey
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California
ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida
WALTER H. CAPPS, California
ROBERT WEXLER, Florida
Page 5 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
MIKE ENNIS, Subcommittee Staff Director
RICHARD KESSLER, Democratic Professional Staff Member
DAN MARTZ, Counsel
HEIDI L. HENNIG, Staff Associate
C O N T E N T S
APPENDIX
Bill:
H. Res. 459
Additional material submitted for the record:
Statement for the record submitted by Hon. Jay Kim, a Representative in Congress from California
MARKUP ON H. RES. 459, COMMEMORATING 50 YEARS OF RELATIONS BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA
THURSDAY, JULY 16, 1998
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific,
Committee on International Relations,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:33 a.m., in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Doug Bereuter (chairman of the Subcommittee) presiding.
Mr. BEREUTER. [presiding] The Subcommittee will come to order.
The Asia and Pacific Subcommittee today meets in open session to consider H. Res. 459, a resolution commemorating 50 years of relations between the United States and the Republic of Korea.
Page 6 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
The clerk will report the resolution.
The CLERK. ''H. Res. 459, commemorating 50 years of relations between the United States and the Republic of Korea.
''Whereas, the Republic of Korea''——
Mr. BEREUTER. Without objection, further reading of the resolution will be dispensed with, put in the record, and open for amendments.
[H. Res. 459 appears in the appendix.]
Mr. BEREUTER. H. Res. 459 was introduced by Chairman Benjamin Gilman of New York on June 5 and referred to this Subcommittee. Before we begin the formal process of considering the resolution, I'd like to make a few comments. I'll then recognize the Ranking Minority Member and other Members of the Subcommittee for any comments that they might wish to make.
Over the past 50 years, America has maintained strong, multi-faceted relationships with South Korea that include a range of security, economic, and political issues. Throughout the cold war, we remained close allies and firm friends. The 1953 Mutual Defense Treaty is not only important to the security of South Korea but to the stability and peace of northeast Asia as well.
Despite the recent financial instability, South Korea's economy experienced remarkable growth since the end of the Korean War. Today, the United States is South Korea's largest trading partner and the largest export market. I might say we have a trade surplus with them, which is quite unusual. In turn, South Korea is America's seventh largest trading partner, fifth largest export market, and fourth largest market for U.S. agricultural products.
In response to the Asian financial crisis, the Republic of Korea has made significant strides in reforming, restructuring, and opening its economy. When I visited Korea last January, I came away convinced that they had the resolve and the commitment to solve their problems and to use this current adversity as a platform of growth. Also, newly elected President Kim Dae-jung has committed his administration to making further structural reforms designed to resolve the country's economic and financial problems and restore international confidence in South Korea's economy.
Page 7 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
H. Res. 459 sends a strong message of the importance of our bilateral relationship and our commitment to strengthening this partnership as we enter the 21st century. I want to commend the Chairman of the House International Relations Committee for authoring this legislation marking 50 years of mutually beneficial relations. I am pleased to be a co-sponsor.
I turn now to the Acting Ranking Minority Member of the Subcommittee, the gentleman from American Samoa, Mr. Faleo-mavaega, for comments he might wish to make.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to commend you for calling this hearing for the Subcommittee to consider this resolution.
As I previously had the privilege of traveling with you to Korea to that conference and also to meet with the recently elected President of Korea, President Kim Dae-jung, one of the things that I think that many of our fellow Americans do not realize, the fact that Korea is probably the first and only Asian country that is predominantly—or the majority of its citizens—are Christians; taken that as an irony of the fact that most Asian countries are not. In fact, the President of Korea is a devout Catholic and from the fact that he is probably the ''President Mandela'' of the Korean people, as far as the history of how many experiences that this leader has had, very similar to President Mandela of South Africa.
But, I do want to commend our Chairman Gilman and the Members of the Committee for the sponsorship of this legislation and I think it reaffirms and compliments also our current foreign policy toward the Korean Peninsula, especially for the support of our government, the Congress and the administration of the people and the leaders of South Korea.
I don't think I need to remind my colleagues and probably some of the Members that are veterans of the Korean Conflict and the fact is that our presence there at the height of the cold war really reflected our commitment problems that we have had to cope with communism and the fact that after a 40-year period that we have, I think, expended well over $5 trillion to win the cold war, if you will, and Korea was an integral part of our policy—not only to contain communism but also to allow to demonstrate to the people of the world how important democracy is, if given an opportunity for the people of those respective countries to adhere to its principles.
Page 8 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
And with that in mind, Mr. Chairman, I want to commend you again for bringing this resolution to the Committee and I urge my colleagues to support the resolution. Now that our Ranking Member has just walked in, I'm sure that the gentleman from California shares your sentiments as well as my comments to support this resolution. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. BEREUTER. Thank you very much, Mr. Faleomavaega.
Mr. Hastings has followed Korean and Korean-American relations closely and adeptly for some time, and I'm pleased to recognize him.
Mr. HASTINGS. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I'm pleased to join you today in celebrating the 50th anniversary of excellent relations between South Korea and the United States. I also was pleased to join you, Mr. Chairman, in passing a resolution calling for four-party talks between South and North Korea, United States, and China and I was very pleased to be a part of that activity as well.
The United States and Korea have had a strong, vital relationship for many years, although the relationship has, at times, been challenged by various economic, security and other problems. The relationship, based on shared democratic values, has always been strong. The United States and South Korea share similar goals: bringing peace to the Korean Peninsula through the constructive engagement of North Korea; political stability in northeast Asia; a strong Korean and Asian economy; and end to the nuclear arms race in the region; an equitable division of the costs of keeping peace on the Korean Peninsula; and political, military and economic stability for North Korea.
Under the leadership of President Jung and President Clinton, I expect to see our relations grow even stronger. President Kim Dae-jung and the Korean Government have made a commitment and a promise to its citizens to ensure the liberties of a democratic society. I hope that our relationship between our two nations continues to flourish and, once again, Mr. Chairman, I thank you for bringing this resolution and I urge its adoption.
Page 9 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Hastings, thank you for your exceptional statement. I'm now pleased to turn to the distinguished Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, the gentleman from California, Mr. Berman, for comments that he might wish to make.
Mr. BERMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm with you guys, I concur with everything you said, a small portion of which I have heard and I'd like to be added as a co-sponsor.
[Laughter.]
Mr. BEREUTER. Thank you very much. We'll convey that to Mr. Gilman. I'm sure that will be possible.
The resolution is before us. It is open for amendment at any point. Are there any amendments, further debate or comment by Members of the Subcommittee?
[No response.]
If there are no amendments, the chair will entertain a motion to report the resolution to the Full Committee on International Relations.
Mr. BERMAN. I so move, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. BEREUTER. Thank you, Mr. Berman. A motion has been made to report H. Res. 459 with the recommendation that the resolution be favorably reported to the full House.
The question is on the motion. As many as are in favor will say aye.
As many as are opposed will say no.
The ayes have it, and the resolution is agreed to.
Without objection, the staff director will be authorized to make technical, grammatical, and conforming changes to the text just agreed to, and I thank my colleagues for their cooperation.
Before we adjourn, I would like to just informally turn to the gentleman from American Samoa, who has just alerted me to a resolution that he is preparing and, in fact, has in draft form related to a Pacific Island summit. I would like to give him a chance to explain it because I think it may interest the Members of the Subcommittee and it certainly interests me.
Page 10 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for your endorsement of this proposed resolution, as you had asked that I share it with my colleagues—the provisions and the substance of this draft resolution.
Mr. Chairman, as probably many of our people know, the Pacific theater has been one of the most contested areas during World War II. Many of the Members who are veterans of World War II can attest to so many of the critical battles that took place in the Pacific: the battle of Guadalcanal, the battle of Midway, Wake Island, we can think of other—Guam, Saipan, all those critical areas of the Pacific.
Well, Mr. Chairman, at this point and time now we have—this whole area, this region of the world—which, by the way, makes up about one-third of the earth's surface—the Pacific region comprised of some 23 island nations and about 6 or 7 territories. It has come to a point now where we need to reaffirm our commitment to this region and the fact that there are some very fundamental issues that are important—not only to our security interests, but to our economic interests, as well.
The importance of the presence of seabed nodules or minerals that are found beneath the ocean floor, explorations in the abundance of the marine environment—we've talked about global warming, we've talked about all these issues affecting the oceans. I felt that it was necessary that we have a sense of support of the Congress urging the President to call a summit—or a Pacific summit—to be held at the East/West Center so that the heads of government of these island nations and territories will have an opportunity to dialog with our President and also give it a sense of understanding and mutual cooperation between our country and the leaders from the region and letting them know that we do have a commitment as a Pacific nation, not only in Pacific Rim countries but as well as this area of the world.
And I sincerely hope that my colleagues will support this resolution as we will hopefully take it to the floor of the House and urge the President as part of his upcoming visits to the Pacific next year that he will hold this Pacific Summit and meet with the heads of the government from the various island nations next year. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Page 11 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. BEREUTER. Thank you very much, Mr. Faleomavaega. When I first came to Congress, I was a Member of the Interior Committee and served on the Insular Affairs Subcommittee. I visited our trust territories and several of the island republics and developed an interest in that area. As a matter of fact, you may recall in the previous Congress one of our hearings was held on the South Pacific island countries because they don't receive enough attention by the United States and by the Congress.
When I had the privilege to serve as a delegate to the United Nations, we took an opportunity to pull them in with our ambassador at that time, Ambassador Walters, and spend some time with them when I was serving there. It was interesting to me to find that the South Pacific—island countries, in particular—but the Pacific island countries were generally among our most loyal supporters on U.N. resolutions and actions in the whole world. And, this is despite the fact that, all too often, we neglect our relationships with them. So, I think that the idea of a summit and certainly giving attention in several other ways, as the resolution suggests, would be an excellent idea and so I ask to be a co-sponsor when the gentleman introduces the draft resolution.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. I thank the chairman and, if the chairman would yield——
Mr. BEREUTER. I'd be pleased to yield.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Just of note to my colleagues, one of the things that just recently has been discovered in this Pacific region, there is a little island nation called the Cook Islands, or Raratunga, if you will, with a population of only maybe 20,000 people. But, this little country has international jurisdictional boundaries of about 3 million square miles. Within this little island kingdom of the Cook Islands, some estimates have been made by scientists that they have probably at least in excess of $200 billion worth of seabed nodules.
These nodules that are found in the ocean floor, Mr. Chairman, contain manganese, cobalt, nickel, copper, iron. It's really unusual that you find this kind of thing in the ocean floor and we're talking about, again, millions of square miles of ocean floor with these little island nations.
Page 12 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
I like to think that in the next 20 or 30 years that the importance of how we treat island nations or countries that have direct access to the oceans—I think it's going to be not only to our security but also to our economic interests that we should be proactive and be participant and hopefully that we will establish good, economic ties with these island nations in the future.
And, again, Mr. Chairman, I thank you for your endorsement of the resolution.
Mr. BEREUTER. Thank you, Mr. Faleomavaega. You add a special expertise to the Committee and to the Subcommittee and to the Congress, and I know that we all appreciate it.
Are there further comments?
[No response.]
If not, I thank my colleagues for their help on H. Res. 459, and the Subcommittee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 9:48 a.m., the Subcommittee adjourned subject to the call of the chair.]
A P P E N D I X
Insert "The Official Committee record contains additional material here."