QUESTION: On North Korea, the -- I just watched a response to their foreign ministry saying that they've already made this -- about (inaudible)?
MR. MCCORMACK: Right. Well, the first thing I'll note about what they said is that they are committed to the six-party process. That is, I think, the kicker line in their statement and there is every evidence that they are still committed to the six-party process and are moving forward with the implementation of this phase of the agreement as was outlined back in October.
So disablement continues. They have yet to produce a declaration. Would we have wished they had produced a declaration by now? Absolutely, and when I say "we," all the other five members of the six-party talks. Chris Hill, when he was in Pyongyang and Sung Kim, when he was in North Korea, talked to them about the importance of producing a full and complete declaration. The Chinese have and I know others have as well. We're going to continue doing that. We want to see this as soon as possible, but we're not going to sacrifice fullness and completeness in the interest of time.
But the North Koreans need to get about the business of completing this declaration. It's important to the process. It is another data point that will indicate that they are, in fact, serious about denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, which is, of course, the objective of the six-party talks. So it proceeds. It is not -- would we have wished that it had gone faster? Yes. Part of what Chris Hill is going to do in his tour in Northeast Asia as well as to Moscow is talk about this, talk about it with the other members of the six-party talks and urge them to do what they can to encourage the North Koreans to produce a full and complete declaration.
QUESTION: Is he in Tokyo today or is he en route?
MR. MCCORMACK: He left today. He left the United States today, so -- I don't have his schedule in front of me right now. I went through it yesterday.
QUESTION: Are you suggesting that there's something about Hawaii that has changed?
MR. MCCORMACK: No, no.
QUESTION: Is it no longer a part of the United States?
MR. MCCORMACK: All right, I left that (inaudible) there.
QUESTION: He left Washington today?
MR. MCCORMACK: He left Washington today. I think -- what did I say, he left here today?
QUESTION: You said he left the United States today.
QUESTION: Sean, is the Bush Administration emphasis on this complete and correct declaration, because what they showed you originally wasn't complete and correct? I mean, it's -- you keep saying it has to be complete and correct --
MR. MCCORMACK: Right.
QUESTION: -- leads one to assume, well, maybe what they originally showed you wasn't complete and correct.
MR. MCCORMACK: Well, look, I know Chris talked to them about this when he was up there and we have had several conversations, as have others about the declaration and I'm not going to get into the specifics of the back and forth, but the fact is they haven't turned in a final declaration yet. They're going to turn that in to the Chinese as chair, conveners of the six-party meetings and we don't have that yet. We look forward to a full and complete declaration. We also look forward to their completing the disablement phase up at Yongbyon. That is moving forward and there is good progress on that.
I just have to emphasize to everybody, when you're looking at this process, if -- while we all wish that these diplomatic processes would unfold as we had planned them, sometimes they don't. And part of the reasons why they are not right now is we are breaking new ground in terms of what we're doing, in terms of disabling Yongbyon and in terms of working with North Korea in the six-party talks to get a full, complete picture of their nuclear program, not something that has ever been done before.
So that is why, when you say, "Well, it hasn't been done by December 31st, what are you going to do," and we say, well, we're going to keep working on it within a reasonable period of time, that's the reason why, because we're breaking new ground here. This hasn't been done before. But all of that said, none of what we're doing is lowering the bar. The North Koreans made certain commitments. We expect them to live up to those commitments. We as well as the other members of the six-party talks made commitments and we are going to fulfill those commitments. It's going to be action in return for action.
Yeah.
QUESTION: Is Mr. Hill going to meet with President Lee in Seoul? Is that on the agenda?
MR. MCCORMACK: I don't have his list of meetings for you. We'll try to detail those for you if we can.
MR. MCCORMACK: He left today. He left the United States today, so -- I don't have his schedule in front of me right now. I went through it yesterday.
QUESTION: Are you suggesting that there's something about Hawaii that has changed?
MR. MCCORMACK: No, no.
QUESTION: Is it no longer a part of the United States?
MR. MCCORMACK: All right, I left that (inaudible) there.
QUESTION: He left Washington today?
MR. MCCORMACK: He left Washington today. I think -- what did I say, he left here today?
QUESTION: You said he left the United States today.
MR. MCCORMACK: Touche, Matt. There we are.
QUESTION: Sean, is the Bush Administration emphasis on this complete and correct declaration, because what they showed you originally wasn't complete and correct? I mean, it's -- you keep saying it has to be complete and correct --