Ambassador Speeches

Remarks by Ambassador Christopher R. Hill American Chamber of Commerce General Membership Meeting

October 5, 2004, 11:30 a.m.

Thank you very much. Tami had asked if I'd sing happy birthday to Bill (note: AmCham Chairman William Oberlin) and I said, "No, I don't do karaoke birthday greetings." It's great to see you all here. Bill, thank you very much for that introduction.

For those of you who didn't appreciate the irony, I hate the Yankees and I'm a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan. (Laughter) We've waited since 1918, but I just have this feeling that this is the year. It just feels very different this year, so I'm already working on the World Series victory parade. I'm going to maybe do it in the City Hall plaza, invite all the people who were there yesterday plus an equal number of people so that it'll be 200 thousand out there. (Laughter)

Anyway, thank you very much. I want to thank you all, AMCHAM fellow members, for inviting me to be with you today and especially for the fact that for once in Seoul I don't have to speak at 7:45 in the morning. This is the first time I've done that after 8:00.

Bill mentioned that my wife, Patty, and I are in Korea for the second time and I just want to tell you how delighted we are to be back in the land of the morning traffic. Frankly, throughout my life I have found this country a real inspiration. It's been an inspiration obviously for its economy, but I think for many other things as well. I've been away from Korea for some 16 years, during which the Red Sox have not gotten to the World Series. Last time I was here, the Red Sox were in the World Series actually, in 1986.

I've been away for 16 years, but Korea's never been away from me. I've always thought about what happened here in the 80s, the political changes, the fact that in coming back to Korea it's very much in many respects a different country. The Shilla Hotel, though, fortunately is still here and fortunately still serving American beef, I noticed. We won't tell the Korean health authorities about that. (Laughter) Much has remained the same but, of course, much has changed.

I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to work on strengthening American ties to this very critical country in Northeast Asia. I also feel very fortunate to have another chance to work with the AMCHAM in Korea. Your leaders and members deserve great credit for representing U.S. business here, and for strengthening our nation's commercial ties with our Korean friends and partners. I know that AMCHAM has been and very much is today a player. You lead by example. You are a great corporate citizen, as Tami was mentioning in the latest initiative here, and I think the AMCHAM acts as a great sounding board for the Korean government and for the U.S. government. You're a key partner with Korean businesses and organizations.

I've had the chance to meet a number of you at the Labor Day picnic, and I do look forward to meeting many of you, in fact all of you as the weeks, months and years roll by because I want you to know you can count on us because I know we can count on you.

Whenever an Ambassador goes out to post, he gets very specific instructions of what he's supposed to do. They stress kind of broad themes, but it is interesting to note that in stressing my country's commitment to freedom, to democracy, we also stress the commitment to free enterprise. I'm specifically asked to assist American citizens, our institutions, and our businesses here in Korea to pursue commercial and charitable goals.

The United States cannot just exist as a country that safeguards world security. We need to be engaged in business. The United States needs to be a business player. We need to have overseas investments, but we also need to have exports. We can't be a country that everyone exports to and we have nothing to export. We need to be a player in exporting as well. To those of you involved in that, my hat's off to you. I'm going to work very hard with you to make sure that we can maintain this a very healthy two-way street in our relationship.

In talking about Korea, now I see here in the speech that I'm supposed to say, "I'm going to talk about four pillars which is like in a good traditional New England house." But probably every house has four pillars. I've never heard of a house with three pillars or a house with five pillars. But, come to think of it, I've never heard of a speech with three or five pillars. So we're going to go with four pillars. The first is our security alliance. The second is expanding our strategic dialogue on important global issues outside our two countries. The third is the deep personal bonds between the Korean and the American people, and we have got to keep working on that. Finally, and what I'm really going to focus on today, is our successful and our very important economic and commercial partnership.

I'm starting out with our security relationship, because without security we really can't do much else. I'm very happy to report that we're doing much to make this alliance even stronger. The United States is working to modernize our military arrangements through the Future of the Alliance Initiative. I think the most visible parts of the changes in this initiative from the perspective of U.S. business representatives in Seoul will be the transfer of the Yongsan Base. For some business people, it may not be a happy occurrence to see the transfer of the Yongsan Base, but I think it's very important that we configure ourselves in a way that works for the long haul. I think we do need to look to get our main base out of one of the world's biggest and busiest cities and out to a place where they can do their training and do their mission.

I think the result of all this work will be that U.S. forces in Korea are less numerous, occupy less urban land -- but will be even more effective in their main mission of maintaining stability on the peninsula. The United States will spend some $11 billion over just the next three years to re-equip our forces with the best technologies available. We know that smaller, more mobile, more technologically advanced military forces are the right way to meet new threats in the 21st Century. These changes also reflect the Republic of Korea's own outstanding military capabilities. Korean forces now patrol the Joint Security Area in Panmunjom, and they will take on additional critical missions in the future as well.

The United States and Korea both understand that skillful diplomacy is as important as military strength in ensuring stability in the region. Together with China, Russia and Japan, we are engaged in Six-Party Talks to find a diplomatic solution to the North Korean nuclear issue. This has not been easy, and we do expect a difficult road ahead to get to our shared goal. But I am confident that we can ultimately succeed, because all five partners in this process share the goal of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. The Six-Party Talks have shown that multilateral diplomacy has an important role in this region, and I expect we will continue to see this approach in the future, even after we're able to resolve this nuclear issue.

As Secretary Powell demonstrated in Bangkok this summer, we are also prepared to work bilaterally to achieve our goals so long as other channels do not weaken the Six-Party process. But we need to be clear: the problems in the negotiating process are not due to the format of that process. They are due to North Korea's unwillingness to choose international integration over nuclearization. The North Koreans need to take some time and think about this and choose wisely.

But, long after the North Korea nuclear issue is resolved, however, the U.S. and Korea will still be tied together on the global scene as leading democracies and trading partners, acting together in many regions to make the world a better place. Thus the second pillar supporting our relationship is our strategic dialogue on global issues.

A few weeks ago I went to the May 18th Cemetery in Kwangju to honor the memory of those people and all Koreans in their struggle for democracy. A democratic Korea that remembers the past also recognizes that global stability matters to Korea's interests. Korea has worked with other members of the international community to bring stability, peace and democracy to East Timor and to work on the challenges in Afghanistan and now especially Iraq. Korea has deployed the third-largest contingent of forces to Iraq, and has also been a major financial contributor to recovery in both those countries. As one of the largest economies in the world, Korea is appropriately engaged in these activities.

Today, we face many threats. We deal with failed states, rogue regimes, transnational criminal and terrorist networks. Proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons is also a threat to global peace and security. In this era, Korea's active role will be important to the success of like-minded nations in keeping the world a safer place for our families, and for commerce. Perhaps less well-known is the fact that Korea is also working as a key partner of the United States in addressing key environmental, health, and scientific research challenges facing the world. For example, our National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Korean Ministries of Science and Technology and Health and Welfare are collaborating on an important research initiative to combat drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis. Korea is also working to bring its knowledge of economic development strategies to people who have yet to experience real growth. I am confident that Korea will come to play an even more prominent role on the global stage, because it is in Korea's interest to do so. I am also confident that the United States and Korea will continue to work together because we have a mutual interest in doing so.

The third pillar of our relationship is in fact one of our strongest, and that is the private connection between our two peoples. We recently celebrated the 100th anniversary of Korean immigration to the United States. It's useful to remember that we started to see large numbers of Koreans moving to America even before the Japanese occupation, and a full 50 years before the establishment of our military alliance. Now there are nearly two million Koreans and Korean-Americans living in the United States.

Korea is surpassed in the number of students it sends to the United States only by China and India. And by the way, I have sent my daughter to study in Korea to try to make that balance a little better. But there are many other Korean's traveling and very many programs, through the State Department's International Visitor Grant Program, the Fulbright Program to send future leaders across the Pacific each year. We need to do more of this kind of exchanges.

The travel of people between our two countries is important to both of us. Last year, our Embassy processed visa applications from some 420,000 persons, of whom 95%, that is 19 out of every 20, received visas. But even such heroic efforts by our consular staff -- and by the way, I've gone down and visited those guys and they work like you wouldn't believe. They are truly heroes. But even their efforts cannot keep pace with the demand, especially given the requirements of security procedures such as biometric finger scanning. That's why I, for one, look forward to the time when the Visa Waiver Program once again expands and Korea can be one of the members that joins in the next wave. But some of what needs to be done is frankly on the side of the Koreans, specifically on the side of the applicants -- and we need help here. We need to have a situation where fewer Koreans overstay tourist visas, and where fewer Koreans enter the United States illegally. This is very important because we need to get those numbers down in order for Korea to qualify for the Visa Waiver Program. When we get those numbers down, we can push this issue. But it's hard to push it when we don't have the numbers there yet. So, I know we can count on AMCHAM members to continue to respect the privilege of their special access to this process. If all things work out, we can look forward to seeing Korea someday in that Visa Waiver Program, where it belongs.

In the meantime, we are expanding our visa operations by adding more consular officers and adding more space for visa processing so that by early next year we hope to be able to process the visa applications of all Koreans within two weeks of when they seek a visa appointment. By the way, for business visas, for people who come through you, we continue to do it within two days.

Another vital factor in allowing us to serve this relationship as it expands is to acquire new facilities for our Embassy and for our Embassy families living in Seoul. We are working closely with the Korean Government on a plan to build such needed facilities. You know, I've mentioned this issue around town and frankly some people are surprised. They say, "Why do you bring up this issue?" which is sort of an inside baseball, sort of an esoteric issue. My point is to them: I wear two hats here. One the one hand, I'm the U.S. Ambassador to Korea. On the other hand, I'm the Chief of Mission of a lot of folks who work in that Embassy. And I've got to take care of those people and I've got to make sure that they have facilities here that will continue to attract good American diplomats. I want people who work here to be proud to work here, proud to serve in a proper, modern facility, like in many other countries in Asia where we have built new embassies. I want to make sure our facilities in Seoul are just as good as any other facilities you will find in some of these up-and-coming and very successful countries in Asia. So, I need to make sure when people look at that American Embassy, they feel a sense of pride, they feel a sense that Americans are serious about Korea and that Korea is serious about America. So, we're going to get that done.

Finally, let me come to the fourth pillar and that is what we are all gathered here together to discuss, which is the U.S.-Korea economic partnership. I believe the partnership is vibrant and strong, even if sometimes North Korean nuclear issues and the future of the alliance sometimes push the economic partnership to the side. Frankly, it belongs very much front and center.

There are over 3,000 U.S. firms operating in Korea, with nearly 22,000 U.S. business people and their families, according to Korean government statistics. In the United States, we have over 4,000 Korean businesses and subsidiaries represented. But when the work of these people, including yourselves, are covered in the Korean press, sometimes people think that Korea is sort of a smaller country, and somehow "being taken advantage of." In fact, Korea is a major player and we want to be actively engaged with this major player.

I think we all need to understand that Korea is a world leader in many technological fields, enjoying trade surpluses with many countries, including a nearly $13 billion dollar trade surplus with the United States. Korea enjoys generous net inflows of investment capital and productive technology. While historically Korea's geographic position was somewhat difficult for it because historically its neighbors, when they weren't fighting with each other, were sometimes fighting over Korea, now Korea is in a great position to take advantage of that central position in Northeast Asia to its economic advantage. Korea can serve as a crossing point for businesses and commerce, and a key testing ground for some sectors and technologies.

Although the global economy is a competitive place, the wisest countries know that their own economic self-interest is best served by being open to others. In this regard, I believe that our goal in all this should be a U.S.-Korea or Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, and I would very much like to see progress toward such an agreement during my time here. When you think about it carefully, it becomes clear that Korea and the United States are natural Free Trade Agreement partners. An FTA would allow the strengths of our two economies to flourish and would help propel our broader relationship still further. By concluding an FTA with the United States, Korea can solidify a role as America's economic bridge in the Northeast Asian region. An FTA can also help Korea secure its ties across the Pacific to the American continents, both North and South.

But -- unfortunately there's a "but" -- I think it is fair to say that we have a way to go before we are able to arrive at that destination. For starters, we need to clear away a lot of debris that is currently blocking the road. For example, I would like to see us move very quickly to negotiate a U.S.-Korean Bilateral Investment Treaty, a BIT, which unfortunately has been stalled, in large part because of Korea's screen quota. With the steady success of Korean films I don't think Korea needs this kind of market restriction to protect what is really a rather vibrant and very successful film industry, and I hope we can move ahead on this.

Even with a BIT in place, there are some other issues we need to work on with Korea. Preferably, in my view, it should be in the context of getting to a Free Trade Agreement. Some important agricultural barriers remain, especially in the area of sanitary and phytosanitary controls (although I guess we've solved that here at the Shilla Hotel today). (Laughter) In the automobile industry, it's hard to explain to American autoworkers why Korea can maintain high tariffs on vehicles imported into Korea when Korea exports 93 vehicles for every one that it imports. That was the statistic in 2003.

In the pharmaceutical industry, we are worried that the Korean government is attempting to use pricing policies set by the national health insurance plan that -- I don't want to say "to take a free ride" -- but rather, I think we need to be careful here that national health insurance plans are not used in a way that essentially makes it difficult for American pharmaceutical companies to earn the proper return on capital that they are entitled to. We need research-based pharmaceutical companies, because they are the ones making the discoveries. They are the ones figuring out how to control our blood pressure. They are the ones that are figuring out how to handle our diabetes. They are the ones addressing cancer. We need to make sure that those companies are in a position to make those research investments and eventually to get a return on those investments so that they will continue to make those investments.

We've also had to take issue with Korea over the setting of standards in the telecommunications industry, where we've had problems with the Korean government over standards. In our view, these standards need to be technologically neutral, and allow technologies to compete freely, if Korea is to stay in the lead.

Finally, there has been considerable improvement, although much more needs to be done, to protect intellectual property rights. Given Korea's global lead in broadband Internet penetration, it has a special responsibility to be ahead of the curve in protecting digital content from being randomly copied and shared without any compensation to the right-holder. Believe me, there are Korean artists who are already feeling this effect. There are Korean television programs already feeling the effect because you know some of these Korean television programs, which my wife actually has begun to watch a lot of, are very popular in the rest of Asia. If I were a Korean television producer, I'd be concerned. Are they earning what they should earn on that? So, I think intellectual property rights is very much a two-way street and very much something that Korea needs to be concerned about.

I realize this represents a very long list of issues. But I think that if we think in terms of having a goal, if we think in terms of what we are aiming for, if we understand why we are taking on tough issues and understand that if we can get through these issues we can get to a Free Trade Agreement between our two countries, then we can solve these.

I also think that on the U.S. side, and this goes for you all in the room and it goes for me too, we need to understand that these issues are not easy for Koreans. We need to understand that issues such as agriculture, those are tough issues. We need to realize that. Even, and this is tough for Americans, maybe we even have to have a little patience.

I have worked on economic issues before. I worked on getting the market open for insurance companies in the 80's. I worked on some of the banking issues for U.S. banks here in Korea in the 1980's. We worked on getting high-quality beef, not only to the Shilla Hotel, but elsewhere. We worked on getting other U.S. products in. We can make progress. But I think we can make better progress if we can put this together in the context of an overall goal -- and that goal should be a Free Trade Agreement.

I think, despite all these challenges, I believe the U.S.-Korea economic partnership remains very much on track. I think if we work hard -- and I think both Americans and Koreans are kind of well known for that sort of thing -- we can define our goals clearly, and our future is indeed bright.

You know, long after this issue of North Korea is resolved, the issue that probably many of your relatives in the U.S. call you up about and say, "Are you safe there in Seoul? Do you have your nuclear fallout shelter in Seoul?" Long after that issue is resolved, Korea will be facing the age-old issue of how to maneuver in this space in Asia, how to maneuver between Japan to the east of it and China to the west of it. You know, when you're a small country facing big countries around you it's like, as I've said before, you're in the National Basketball Association -- where if you're going to be small, you'd better be quick. You've got to be able to move. You've got to be adroit. You've got to take on issues. If the screen quota issue is one that you you're going to solve, why not solve it now rather than two years from now? So, get used to thinking in terms of being quicker than the other big guys near you. If you're going to be small, please be quick.

The other thing that I think can be very much used to Korea's advantage, to Korea's own national interest, which is that if you're going to deal in a part of this world with some big countries around you, it's not a bad idea to have some friends out there. It's not a bad idea to have a pretty serious alliance system and that alliance system might include a country like the United States. So, I think the relationship with the United States makes a lot of sense for Korea. We've had 50 years of being very close together. We need to use that 50 years, use that as a foundation to build another 50 years.

I think we're going to be able to do that. I think from the United States' point of view, we can have no better friend in Northeast Asia than we've got right here with the Republic of Korea. We have many Americans who've been here, Americans who've been here not only in business but especially in our military. If you go to any small American town, you can go into any cemetery and you see Americans who actually died here in Korea. I think there's a real reservoir of good will. There's an understanding that we've invested in this country, we want it to be successful and to be successful, we've got to be here. I think we've really got a very special thing going.

I wish I could work the next 50 years on the U.S.-Korea relationship. I've started drinking bamboo tea, so I may be able to do that. I'm very privileged to be here at what I think is a very crucial time in this relationship. You know, they say it's an old Chinese curse, but it's really an old diplomatic curse, which is "May you live in interesting times." So, I feel very fortunate to be here.

Thank you very much. I'm open to questions.

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Q&A Session

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Tami Overby: You can find copies of the Ambassador's speech on the U.S. Embassy and AMCHAM Web sites tomorrow. When you ask a question, please identify yourself and your company. For our Korean members, feel free to speak in Korean and we will have it consecutively translated.

Ambassador Hill: If I can just say something about our Web site. We're working on our Web site. I met with a bunch of Korean Internet journalists. What I love about Korea is how frank people are at times. I said, "So, what do you think about our Web site?" I was kind of proud that we have a Web site and we have all kinds of links everywhere. They kind of looked at me for a bit. I asked the question again. They said, "Well, frankly, you've got a long way to go." So, we're working on our Web site. I think it's going to get better. What we're really working on, this is not easy actually but we hope to do it in the next … Maureen, when do you think we're going to get this done, on the bulletin board? Coming up?

Maureen Cormack: In a couple of weeks, I believe.

Ambassador Hill: That is to have a bulletin board so that next time that you go and you can click onto this sort of long speech I just gave. Let's say you have a particularly neuralgic reaction to part of it. You didn't like the comment about the visas or something, you'll be able to go to a bulletin board and say, "Who does that guy think he is?" Now, if you're obscene we'll just delete the comment. As long as you follow certain decorum, we'll welcome any and all comments, especially constructive, but certainly critical as well.

Keep at it Maureen. We'll get there, right?

Question: Tom Pinansky with Kim, Shin and Yu. I can report that I just returned from Red Sox nation and there is something in the air there. Something between anticipation and dread.

I have a question that is probably fairly obvious and maybe tough for you to answer but try. It's quite obvious in the United States that how one negotiates and deals with North Korea, there seems to be two camps. There are very different approaches. If you listened to our most recent presidential debate, the strategy and approach and procedures outlined by Senator Kerry are strikingly different from our president. As a diplomat, I'm curious how one handles queries to that effect and what your approach will be until the election results are in on our side.

Ambassador Hill: As a diplomat, I don't usually interfere in internal American affairs. (Laughter)

Let me say that seriously we're in a very tough presidential election year. There's going to be a lot said. I think any challenger is going to look at issues where it's felt that the administration has not made as much progress as the challenger feels it should have and is going to make some criticism and make some suggestions to how that's done. I must say I really believe what I just said, which is the problem with the negotiations is not us. It's not the format. The problem is that we have a North Korean regime that has clearly not yet made the strategic decision to get rid of its programs.

By the way, many countries have done so. Many countries have done so because they've understood that you cannot have nuclear programs and still be a member of the international community. So, they've got to make a decision about what's more important to them. I would hope they would come around to that.

They may be thinking that there's an American election, let's wait and see if we get a better deal. I don't think they should feel there's going to be a better deal. I think they need to understand that whoever is elected president that there is absolutely no tolerance for dealing with a country that maintains nuclear weapons programs.

I would hope that they would not waste more time and would figure out a way to negotiate it. I can imagine even if they make that strategic decision, the negotiations will be long and hard. I think we should really keep the focus on their need to make the decision and not the format that we've chosen.

I must say that it is a little ironic that people who have criticized the administration for not being multilateral, should then criticize a multilateral format. The problem of nuclear weapons programs in North Korea is not a U.S. problem. It's not a Republic of Korea problem. It's an international problem. This is not just for us to deal with.

We have plenty of channels. This is not a problem with channels. Everyone knows each other's phone numbers. Well, I don't know if the cell phones work in Pyeongyang these days (laughter), but this is not a problem with communication. This is a problem of the fact that they need to make a decision.

Now, on the second part of your question, with regard to the Red Sox … No, I won't go there. (Laughter)

Question: Sandra Carter, (inaudible) Group. My question is, as one of the expats who have lived here since the 80s, I've seen a great trend and change in the feeling from the normal citizens out there regarding the U.S. military and the Korean-U.S. alliance. We have as part of the older generation in the 80s still remembering the Korean War. Today you face the challenge of a president who was elected by the younger generation and a younger generation that doesn't quite remember what the U.S. and Korea did together. How do you plan on meeting that challenge and what do you plan on doing?

Ambassador Hill: First of all, I think that's a very important question and I think the first thing we need to understand is that, you're absolutely right, there are these different attitudes. There is a different sense of memory. That there is a generation that does not remember some of the things that their fathers and grandfathers remembered so well. Rather than be frustrated by it or to be upset about it, we need to simply deal with it. I think one thing to do is, first of all, to be very clear about what happened in the past. I'm not going to forget about 37,000 Americans who were killed in the Korean War. I don't care whether other people don't want to hear it or not; I can never forget what they did. We can keep that in mind.

I think it's very important to try to stress what these two countries have in common as we deal with what is, after all, a new millennium. As I said in the concluding parts of my remarks here, I think there's a lot that should bind Korea and the United States. I think it's very much in Korean interests to have a close relationship with us.

I've said elsewhere and I'll say here, I think we in the United States are absolutely prepared for a relationship based on equality, for a relationship that's based on mutual interest and mutual respect. I think we have a lot of shared interests. I think we need to extend our hand in those terms.

Again, we shouldn't be frustrated by it, but we should simply deal with it. I think we have look for other ways to get our message out. I think we have a good message, frankly. One way we're trying to get it out is with a revamped Internet site because a lot of these people, they don't read newspapers. They read Internet newspapers and they're online. I have kids. I know how that works. There are certain tools of the trade that we need to address.

I really, very much felt this on my trip to Gwangju. As Americans, we're very respectful of facts. Facts are very powerful things. We also need to be respectful of emotions. We need to understand where people are coming from on these things. We need to try to understand the depth of feelings and how you can't dislodge people over feelings overnight. We have to respect when people say things to us that, when we look at our fact base, simply cannot be explained with facts. We have to understand that. How do you understand that? I think you just have to do a lot of listening. You've got to understand that people are going to have these thoughts. You've just got to understand where they're coming from on it.

What I'm going to try to do, I'm going to try to reach a lot of what's called unconventional or non-conventional audiences. I'm going to just try to get out there and reach people as I think we should all be doing. I think it's a great relationship that we have and I think if we're just patient about it, we're going to be okay here.

Tami Overby: To honor our commitment to get all of you out of here at 1:30, we're going end to right now.

Ambassador Hill: Can I say thank you to people? (Laughter)

Thank you all. I'm sorry I took so long in answering the two questions, but I'll be around here for a while if anyone has something else to raise or if anyone doesn't have to leave. Thank you.

William Oberlin: We have given the Ambassador many volumes of the 50th anniversary book. As a matter of fact, it's on all of his coffee tables and he's starting a library. Sir, we'd like to thank you very much for an outstanding presentation and present you with an AMCHAM clock.

Ambassador Hill: Thank you. Thank you very much. I'm sure this clock is very precise. (Laughter) Thank you very much.