Kim Dae Jung Quotations

And also, we are providing, you know, a nuclear power plant in the north, two light water systems, so some 4 or 5 billion dollars we are providing to meet with North Korean requests on the condition North Korea will not produce a nuclear weapon.

Unification is one thing, and stability in Northeast Asia is another thing.

If America would withdraw from South Korea, there could be a power struggle between such as China and Japan.

So in Asia I want to make - I want to succeed to make a model of what success, practicing democracy, and market economy. Then that will give a good influence over Asian countries.

Well, that is very imperative to let North Korea open door to outside.

But such IMF pressure is very much helpful for me to push such a, you know, reform. So in this sense I think IMF is very much helpful for alien society.

So moderate is insisting that North Korea should open door to outside.

To realize peace on the Korean peninsula, and to develop exchange, cooperation between both Koreas, they are the, you know, immediate target of our government.

There is some sign that North Korea is changing recently. There is ongoing successful negotiation to have a military talk to Pyongyang, which has been stopped for seven years.

You know, North Korea situation is far worse than East Germany, and South Korea is weaker than West Germany.

So South Korean ability is very much limited to handle North Korean, you know, difficulties. So we don't want to see an immediate collapse of the North Korea regime.

I think a major cause of present Asian economic difficulties that mainly come from, you know, lack of market economy.

American presence is, you know, the major cause of balance of power and the stability in this region.

So if North Korea continues present isolation, then with such economic difficulties the North Korean government must meet a very serious situation in the future.

So for mutual interest, I do want American presence in this region.

Unification is not our present goal. That is a future program.

So now we are pushing economic reform, bank reform and enterprise reform. So we can finish that reform this year, in September or October. Then our economy may be much more, you know, normalized.

So such an American troops presence in Korea in the South and Japan, total some 100,000 should stay there forever, even after unification of Korean peninsula.

But when I was elected, there's such a financial crisis out of my expectation, so I am now, you know, suffering from such difficult conditions.

But absolute condition is we must maintain a firm security posture against North Korea, against any kind of possible aggression.

I think so, because you know Northeast Asia is becoming a very important, you know, region economically, militarily, and politically.

But North Korea is very much suffering from economic difficulties, especially shortage of food. So social order is very much wavering.

Democracy is the absolute value that makes for human dignity, as well as the only road to sustained economic development and social justice.

Only the truly magnanimous and strong are capable of forgiving and loving.

And if we succeed this year to realize reform in various fields, then from next year there ought to be some hope for our country.