the choice of title is not accidental this hearing follows on the heels of a successful visit to washington last week by south korean president lee myung bok who assumed office in february twenty fifth and  those in the united states as a destination chose the united states as its destination for its first official overseas trip president lee also became the first south korean head of state relationship among those included the signing of the memorandum of understanding on the waiver program and the agreement of the full importation of u s beef into south korea and support for the elevation of south korea's foreign military sales status to that of nato plus three i'm sure that these topics will be addressed in detail during today's discussion or hearing the term a new beginning should be interpreted to suggest that there was a break between the u s south korea relationship and the history of relations between our two countries which can be traced back to a treaty of friendship more than one hundred twenty five years ago has been marked by long and mutual understanding the strong alliance between the united states and south korea has been a pivotal one since we fought side by side in the korean war half a  century ago out of that conflict was born one of the most significant dividing lines of the cold war the demilitarized zone of the thirty eighth parallel that splits the korean peninsula between communism and democracy the partnership between our two countries has successfully defended freedom in south korea for more than five decades as we approach the fifty fifth anniversary of the korean war armistice on july twenty seventh let me state emphatically that this that it is my sincere hope that one day we will see south and north korea peacefully reunited in my lifetime with respect to our strategic alliance south korea has remain a steadfast u s ally it has contributed troops and pledged reconstruction funds for iraq and its forces have been deployed to afghanistan and lebanon as a key member of the six party talks to denuclearize north korea it shares an important responsibility for broader security in northeast asia and together we are committed to persuade north korea to not only f declare but to also disable its nuclear program during the camp david summit this past weekend president lead to find the u s south korea's to teaching alliance as one quote they used on freedom  democracy human rights and the principle of a free market system and the quote i'm in agreement to the foundation of our partnership should encompass all three of these areas as we currently aim to upgrade the alliance through several important practical initiatives first i believe the real public of korea should be fully admitted into the waiver program as soon as possible i was encouraged by the signing of the memorandum of understanding last friday and hope that the department of homeland security will be able to certify south korea's participation before yours and there are over two million korean americans living throughout the united states and south korea's entry into the visa waiver program will bring tremendous benefits for businesses tourism and other people of people exchanges second with the announcement of the full reimportation of u s beef to south korea i believe it is time for our congress to consider the us korea free trade agreement this agreement is a most significant free trade agreement in over a decade and i wish to underscore is geopolitical importance in the most economically dynamic growing region in the world second i believe the time has also come for congress to all of the south korea s stages to that of a nato post three member countries status elevation is long overdue and would correct the unfairness of affording preferential treatment to other key u s allies but and i appreciate that chairman berman has agreed to incorporate it as part of a larger security alliance bill that is expected to be marked up in full committee next week and eventually passed by the house force and i also believe that the ongoing transformation in our military alliance including the relocation of u s forces korea from seoul transform transfer of wartime operational control and the pause in the reduction friends who were willing to put their action where their talk was by sending some three hundred twenty thousand soldiers to fight alongside u s forces during that terrible conflict in vietnam that experience and my long standing appreciation and affection to the leaders and to the people of south korea as they were with says when we needed them we must never forget to the foundation of the u s south korea strategic alliance remain solid and i'm hopeful that together with president ministration we will strengthen this partnership i look forward to hearing from our principal witness today the honorable that i was under the deputy assistan of the chairman yourself career has been a source of frustration and inspiration to america over the years my father  the korean conflict and i my dad during those days the navigation systems were not as developed planes were not as safe as they are today and by father lost many members of his squadron to weather problems and such and trying to provide our troops with the support they needed to hold on during the north korean attack on south korea restaurant it was a time but my memory on top of a building that a very fine restaurant and we got to know those two young marines those two young marines were both nineteen and twenty years old and they had both incredible price that was paid with thirty five thousand american lives and many many more wounded and crippled by our involvement in keeping career free from that invasion back in the early  group of people down at the beach having a barbecue and over and they were very friendly and good people and they were korean troops that had come there to stand by us in order to thank us americans for what we had done to help them we have bled and stood together during the last century and during the last seventy five years in a way that very few other countries have stood together and unfortunately about ten years ago it seemed that the korean population had lost their appreciation for what had been done by the united states even while north korea people were northern people seem to elect leaders in south korea and did not have this appreciation for the relationship between the united states and korea while we are all gratified today that there is a new government in south korea and i believe that new government will create totally new opportunities for our countries to work together for mutual benefit would suggest mr chairman that there are some areas of national security that will go even beyond and it could go even beyond what the meetings were held in camp david what was agreed upon there and i would hope to see that our state department and the new korean government think very creatively about the type of role that can be played by korea in  partnership with the united states literally standing together throughout the world in order to meet the challenges facing the free and democratic peoples of the world one of the things we might do for the people of korea and exchange for this pay attention to the fact that korea has no energy sources energy sources of its own and is going to need our partnership with the united states to ensure an ever increasing types of reactors being developed in japan will long with american companies that may well fit korea and that is something that we should be working on mr chairman i just note that while we need to stand together with south korea to build a better world we need to stand together forcefully with korea in order to great goal which i believe is within our grasp  and that is the peaceful unification of korea into a joint country and one country that is ruled by the people themselves through the democratic process if we make the right decisions  and freedom and progress for the for all of the people of korea i think that that was not possible under the last administration it is possible today i look forward with you mr chairman and overseen the policies that chairman i can't think of a topic that's more relevant today than our relationship with the republic of korea had the opportunity to meet with the new president president lee moved by his historic visit here to the united states congresswoman diane watson and i co chair the inter parliamentary exchange with korea and i had the opportunity to author a resolution welcoming and congratulating the president on his election and join me in that and let me just say that i think the atmosphere surrounding the president's visit was indeed one of a new  beginning title mr chairman that you picked for this hearing today indicates i think that close u s korean relations are going to be very key in managing the challenges and opportunities in northeast asia and the biggest opportunity in front of us is a chance to increase trade between our two countries by twenty billion dollars that's a twenty five percent increase from eighty billion to one hundred billion that would come about as a result of trade liberalization and i think that passage of course is central to the united states korea strategic alliance when congresswoman diane watson and i traveled to korea last year and we went to south korea and then we went to north korea but while we were in south korea it was the subject of course that was what our colleagues in the national assembly really wanted to discuss and  my i'll make the observation that some of my colleagues in congress on the other side often often lament america's standing in the world and they emphasize soft power but when it comes to trade these words ring for these agreements frankly these trade agreements are the classic form of soft power elina transformation and bilateral relations so i hope we do listen as our korean allies are stressing the importance of chorus i believe it's defeat would be a commercial loss for the united states and a sign of u s retreat from northeast asia and i'd also add that i think congress could give a boost to our strategic alliance by passing legislation i've introduced that would upgrade korea's military procurement status in u s law and mr chairman i'd mention that the deputy assistant secretary i want to thank him for his strong statement of support for this legislation today and i'd ask unanimous consent that a letter from secretary of state rice to the committee support of h r five four four three b inserted into the record without objection and i appreciate the chairman's and ranking member support for this initiative as well of course the central challenge in the region and in east asia for for all in the international community is north korea we need the strong backing and coordination of all our democratic allies in northeast asia if we're going to make progress yet we are moving the goal posts in the six party talks in north korea's  favor success cannot be built on compromised principles with an opaque regime that is shown only a desire to extract concessions from the united states an actual declaration from north korea on all aspects of its nuclear programs would have been a signal that the regime in north korea is serious about giving up its weapons not just buying time and trying to extort aid despite the administration's optimism we are not near to that point yet and again i thank you mr chairman for this hearing generally from california for a brief statement thank you indeed opportune for the u s and korea relations discussion and i was really pleased that we both went along with some others to south korea and north korea during the recently concluded visit of president lee to the u s a memorandum of understanding was signed between our two countries on the visa ready for program an announcement was made on the opening of korea's beef market one of the key sticking points of the korea u s trade agreement the united states and the republic of korea have shared a long and successful alliance south korea is a key partner in the six party talks aimed at ensuring that north korea does not develop and deploy nuclear weapons that could create a strategic and balance in northeast asia south korea and the u s have also been political diplomatic and economic partners since the founding of the alliance one hundred twenty five years ago our two countries were brought dramatically together through the korea more which ended in an armistice fifty five years ago since that time the republic of korea and the u s have worked hard to see meant their alliance and today south korea is the seventh largest trading partner of the s bilateral trade between two countries and is in excess of eighty billion dollars annually mr chairman as you may know i have already pub announc support for the pending u s trade agreement free trade agreement the agreement when it is ratified will not bring with it just economic benefits but will also enhanced the united states political and strategic position in northeast asia it will give the us a permanent economic but hole in the most dynamic and fastest growing region in the world the agreement would also provide a counterbalance to china's emergence as a dominant market player in that region and world wide the economic benefits to the local economy of los angeles are immense i am however a political realist and well aware that all free trade agreements are subject to the strong political cross winds due to our national election season my congress district the thirty third located in los angeles including hollywood uncover city is one of the most ethnically and racially diverse districts in the united states it is also home to the largest number of korean americans in the nation and many of my constituents support many of my constituents support enhanced trade with korea as well as the easing of travel requirements that will be realized when south korea enters the visa waiver program and its chairman i have only touched on the many important issues that will be discussed and for the detail and i welcome the opportunity to listen to the expert testimony on these matters that affect both soft korea and the united states and thank you so great friend for a long long time we should pass that free trade agreement as soon as the president can get it up here and with that i'll look forward to listening to our witness and i would like this event to rest my statement for the record without objection thank you well have any other materials you want to be included it will be made part of the record thank you very much all of your statements were so very much on the mark and encouraging you know if we could somehow a human rights officer at the u s embassy in seoul many many years ago it was at the height of the pro democracy protests and therefore for me in a very humble way it's truly an honor to be here today and  to look at the title of this hearing which is a new beginning for the u s strategic alliance i think it captures very succinctly the current great state of relations between our two countries as you know last week in new  york president lee began his visit there was a standing room only event at the korea society i had the privilege of attending there and everyone in the audience was truly moved by his remarks as they were at another dinner he had in washington but one of the things that he announced in new york was this follows quote the days of ideology are over the politicization of alliance relations are behind us we shall not let ideology and politics blind us from common values interests and norms unquote and i think that is a resounding statement in favor of the very strong alliance that we have in the transformative nature of our relations relationship with the republic of korea is fifty five years old now as i mentioned it is in the midst of expansion and transformation we have agreed to adjust the size the strategic stance of our respective military forces on the peninsula to better reflect present circumstances we intend to relocate the main u s military base of young son from downtown seoul to a location further south we have also agreed to transition our command relationships such that beginning in two thousand and addition us presidents bush and lee announced at camp david we have reached agreement to maintain current u s troop levels on the peninsula the core mission of deterring aggression from the north will remain the alliance is principal priority as it should but we also seek to deepen our cooperation with south korea as we address other regional and global challenges in iraq's herbal province for example the south koreans have been successful in developing local infrastructure and maintaining security and in so doing have contributed to a more democratic and peaceful future for that part of iraq the republic of korea currently has some three hundred fifty troops in southern lebanon in support of the un peacekeeping mission there and we're very encouraged that the south korean national assembly is considering legislation to allow even greater participation in peacekeeping missions abroad mr chairman some of you and your colleagues today mentioned the  military sales f m s status to that of the countries of nato australia new zealand and japan we believe this upgrade will serve as an important symbol of the renewed strength of the us are ok alliance it would certainly facilitate south korea's purchase of u s equipment more rapidly it would promote better interoperability between our two militaries and it would provide motivation for the republic of korea to continue to buy superior u s defense products best  this would not cost the u s taxpayer anything the administration looks forward to working together with the congress to support this important legislation to upgrade korea's f m s status mr chairman if i could very briefly to the six party talks and there was one item that was featured prominently in your april seventeenth letter inviting me to testify today the six party process and the whole concept of consultation between allies is very much an important element of the u s relationship the united states continues to seek through the six party framework to complete the verified denuclearization of the korean peninsula and to implement fully the vision set out in the joint statement of principles agreed to by all six parties in september two thousand and five our close coordination with the republic of korea in that process has been instrumental to achieving the progress that we have achieved today along with successful denuclear statement commits the united states and the other parties to take the necessary steps to normalize relations to provide economic and energy assistance to north korea and to achieve a permanent peace arrangement in korea along with peace and security cooperation for the region it is admittedly an ambitious agenda and the united states and south korea together with the other parties will need to work closely together in order to succeed as democratic societies the united states  south korea also share a deep interest in promoting an improved human rights situation in north korea president lee and his government have made clear the importance his administration attaches to this particular issue the united states has equally deep resolve and will continue to work closely with the south korean government and others on the issue of human rights in north korea including seeking sustainable solutions to the plight of north korean asylum seekers and mr chairman i would just note that  korea u s free trade agreement as you know on april eighteenth we reach an agreement with the south korean government to reopen the korean market to all beef products from the united states significantly from cattle of all ages the import protocol that we agreed to is fully consistent with the guidelines and other international standards the good news is that very shortly safe affordable high quality american beef will be back on korean tables where they belong this agreement will be a huge boost to our ranchers and producers who have waited patiently to regain access to the market that was lost in december two thousand and three for its part south korea has demonstrated its continuing resolve to participate in fair and open global commerce by making the strategic decision to negotiate and sign a comprehensive and high quality free trade agreement with the united states upon approval by the legislature both countries  will open south growing market of forty nine million consumers to the full range of u s goods and services from agriculture to auto stick telecommunications services this agreement will support high paid higher paying jobs in both countries and strengthen our relationship with this key democratic ally but while the f t s impact on bilateral commercial and strategic ties with korea will be huge it's important to note that course as it's commonly known will have a very broad effect on the region as well and this really gets to the heart of the strategic importance because the course will demonstrate u s resolve to remain engaged in this economically vibrant and strategically critical asia pacific region shows that we will continue to work aggressively to expand u s access to growing markets and that we will not stand idly by while others talk about asian economic groupings that would exclude the united states finally by concluding the chorus as the united states together with our south korean partners has established what i would call a model for economic liberalization in the asia pacific region agreements that are comprehensive that set high standards and that are backed up by a strong commitment to the rule of law and in conclusion mr chairman if i could just allude to the visa waiver program which several of you have raised as you know last august as part of the nine eleven act congress gave the administration the flexibility to admit new countries into the visa waiver program while at the same time enhancing the security requirements of this program the security enhancements include requirements that both the republic of south korea as well as the united  states must fulfill the memorandum of understanding signed last friday by secretary chertoff and the republic of korea foreign minister is a reflection of the good progress that we're making on these requirements  i would note that the department of homeland security is confident that it will be able to meet all the u s obligations this year and as president bush noted at the camp david summit once all requirements have been met korea could be in a position to enter into the visa waiver program by the end of this calendar year our south care of our south korean allies have long expressed fervent desire to become part of this waiver program and i believe we're on the threshold of being able to accomplish under the september two thousand and five joint statement which is followed by the february two thousand and seven agreement on initial actions and more recently the october two thousand and seven agreement on second phase action have all  represented a comprehensive effort for us to address the totality of north korea's nuclear program right now the office director for korean affairs mr sung kim my colleague is in pyongyang together with a gentleman from the national security council and also colleagues from the pentagon in the department of energy and in negotiations and discussions address all aspects of the north korean nuclear program so that we can get some better clarity and better insight into what it is that we're dealing with and it's part of this comprehensive effort to get more clarity into these programs and this includes the plutonium production as well as any questions that there may be regarding uranium enrichment as well as  out has been effectively shut down and that is that is a very positive thing because we know for a fact that it has produced plutonium over the years one of the things we're trying to do now is to ascertain how much plutonium and in that connection you mentioned the term verification it is very much our position that verification is an inherent in part of what we're trying to do  sold or given to iran i think they said they now have six thousand centrifuges they're refining a uranium do our intelligence i know you can't respond to this because of intelligence information but do we have any information that shows that that those are continually being sold to iran by north korea and the second thing is on the free trade agreement when you think the president's going to send that  up i know that he's probably talking to leadership on both sides of the aisle to try to reach some kind of an accommodation to get that thing voted on but i'd like to see it brought up rather than later and if you have any information on that i'd appreciate to move forward but you're absolutely right sir and we have to be very cautious and very skeptical even as we press forward and do our utmost to verify mr burton on on the question that you raised i would just note you know in this setting what i can say is that any effort by north korea to export nuclear related technology would would be contrary to to be understanding that getting them from north korea d l any idea because they had three thousand now they have six thousand more they said and they're refining this uranium it's a great concern to to all of us and if they're not getting from north korea i'd like to know where they're getting i'll just reiterate one more time and that is this is a political year i think everybody knows that now and the sooner you send those things up here the more likely it is that we'll get something done if we wait until july or or late or into september it's probably not going to happen so i would just suggest that the state department the white house do whatever no negotiating they have to do as quickly as possible so we can get to it thank you thank you mr burton i will report  every report i've read indicates that the situation looks pretty grim indeed for this particular harvest wouldn't surprise anybody a few months from now we were in this great humanitarian crisis where milk perhaps even millions of people's lives are at stake for lack of food in north korea i think i believe that potential exists there yes but do we are we currently providing food for north korea at the present time budget their own people are facing starvation and they are spending their money on nuclear weapons in terms of the brutality and repressive nature of the regime in north korea  humanitarian crisis and if it could be established that in fact this was a genuine humanitarian crisis i think the impulse was certain would be to try to do something the challenge with the regime is if you meant what happened last time we hope that we realize the most standard and moreover it's a very dangerous regime and all the more reason why it's awfully difficult to negotiate with them to deal with them to try to address their nuclear weapons programs to address human rights in north speaking for members of congress and other people who are here in the states who watch this closely and are and understand some of the restrictions you may have people of korea know that we are for the unification of korea the good people the united states are for the collapse of the north korean regime rather than having a democratic government come in and save them from their own folly in their own repression by feeding their people at a time of starvation and finally the other question you can answer which we can answer is if there are any elements in the north korean military or or within the country north korea t build a better future and leave the repression of the and the brutality and the deprivation of the north behind thank you very much mr chairman one more question i just had one real quick question understanding is that the administration is very interested in trying to ensure ratification passage of all three free trade agreements but in terms of the details  i wouldn't be in a position to sort of address the relative merits of the two other than to state that you know both of them even though it's you're talking about two different parts of the world there are strategic strong strategic reasons for proceeding with both  protections in the chorus are quite strong and something to hold up as a model for others obviously we've discussed three very important issues in our relationship with south korea one is the free trade agreement the other do you expect in terms of our exports well mr chairman if i recall correctly and two thousand and three which is when the last time that u s beef was flowing freely to south korea the dollar value at that time was approximately five hundred million dollars five hundred million yes ok so so with the reopening again of allowing us to export south korea what are you looking at the possible possibility of an eighty billion dollars trade relationship with south korea and expect to be supposed that we also passed the free trade agreement with south korea how much is that involved i think the last time i read it was something like eleven billion dollar korea capability they already have six to eight nuclear weapons and you only need one to a liberal literally the entire city of seoul which has what twelve million people population so where's the i'm just trying to follow some sense of logic about this madness that we talk about nonproliferation on one side and it's ok for certain other countries to keep on holding on to their nuclear weapons  the united nations was we can do it too he then made an appeal to the world community why don't we get rid of nuclear weapons altogether and guess what no response from the five permanent members of the security council that became the fourth largest to hold of nuclear weapons if it wanted to but instead president of kazakhstan call upon the world he wanted to dismantle all the nuclear weapons of the soviet union left him there dangerous regime that we're trying to deal with and i do feel that in the six party process any any spoke about nuclear proliferation in north korea's nuclear weapons one of the key elements of the six party process and agreements that we s military installations across south korea will be consolidated into fewer hubs generally for further south so there is this process of consolidation this underway but the overall troop levels of the two presidents  of a conflict if you want to call that so what why are you worried at all mr chairman certain over the last twenty years or so the capability of the south korean military has has thousand and eight it's a much more robust military capability but the south koreans have said that they want our troops there on the peninsula my colleagues at the at the pentagon feel that there's a  focus of the security issue in south korea was on the defense the peninsula and all of that that still is the case and that is still the core mission because the south korean military capability and its enhanced economic strength it's now looking to enter into more of a strategic partnership with the united states and with other like minded countries around the world sadly there are so many trouble spots in the world whether it's iraq afghanistan lebanon t leste so malia understandably there's going to be a limit on how many countries or how many places south korea will be able to lend assistance to but one of the things that we look forward to as part of this enhanced partnership in this enhanced alliance is to consult with south korea on areas that need the most help whether it's regional peacekeeping missions or something under u n auspices or whatever we think that south korea now has a more robust level of korean dialogue but president lee has said that he intends to adjust policies and that you know they won't be an exact replica of his predecessor and it does seem that the north is trying to respond in kind by make new york in washington his first foreign stop says as president on his way back to korea he stopped in tokyo and had extensive round of consultations with prime minister fukuda president lee has indicated that he intends has been among the first responders in just about any situation the particular challenge when it comes to north korea is the ability to monitor the assistance this provides to make provided that a country enacts other security measures such as south korea has been able to do that there is some wiggle room for a waiver assuming that they're close to that three percent figure i think the most recent statistics from our embassy seoul indicate that the refusal rate for nonimmigrant visa for south koreans is in the four percent range so it's not quite at three percent but it's close enough that assuming these other steps can be taken such as the issu of machine readable passports the sharing of security and similar types of information from the south korean side that they will qualify for the visa waiver program provided that for our part we're able to do certain things as well but i think the signing of the memorandum of understanding between secretary chertoff and foreign minister you suggested where we're on track hopefully to be able to enact that by the end of this year never forgot a comment made by a south korean leader my met in one of the media that i attended and in south korea he said the united states are friends but the north koreans are brothers and that really made a very deep on me to the fact that all the political all the problems you know the fact of the matter is these people were divided not because of their own volition it was done by outside forces outside powers and i should surely hope that the administration will give a little better sense of understanding of the history and these are the same people same culture same language and every way in every respect families are separated not because of  doing but because of what happened historically and i hope that we give that sense of perspective and understanding and appreciating that we don't become such a hard nosed pro democracy and freedom for all of that but i just wanted to share that perspective with you because i think we need to look a little deeper not just on nuclear all of these other issues the separate says and i think there are more issues that were invited to go along and i think that's the kind of thing that we ought to encourage to bring free enterprise where the initiatives taken by the south korean business community to build a place like a song and to get into the labor market and opportunities for the people of north korea could also mutually benefit if you will so i know this is where i'm coming from and i sincerely hope that in the coming months i might have you again to testify and see where we are with our friends of korea and i would like to turn the time over to mr royce if he has additional questions defectors who are involved in the weapons programs you north korea they shared with me that that when korea north korea could not get the hard currency th they could not purchase on the open market some of the equipment they needed like gyroscopes in order to put in their missiles or some of the raw material some of the components that they needed for their nuclear program so one of the things i think we need to be mindful of is if we can get this agreement and get verification then that is going to be a great step forward but we need to understand that north korea in the past has been has been at dept from the nucular framework agreement in getting the west to give that  regime aid resources while they ploughed those resources into their nuclear program and into proliferation and so that's what we're concerned about and this brings us to the issue of verification itself because now what we'd like to do is have korea open up but open up if we can get this agreement and verifications a big part of it soon after details of the latest proposal on north korea began appearing in the press here in the united states u s officials began distrusts this issue of verification the state department spokesman and i think it was sean mccormack at the time said the declaration is going to be subject to robust robust verification those were his terms not he was just talking about plutonium we are not talking about he was not talking about verification on the original uranium components of course some of us have concerns about that he was not talking about verification apparently on the proliferation components such as the proliferation to syria i have concerns about that but  c official said we will trust but verify now when those same officials from the verification bureau are on a trip to putting  it be carried out when this question was asked if you've got that trip coming up how how are you going to carry out the verification they didn't know the answer to that question assistant secretary can you give us a sense of the korea couple of points if i may first of all it's my understanding that verification applies to all elements of the nuclear program so there are not certain categories everything will be objective yes but i'm afraid mr secretary that cannot be because all we're talking about now is not having for example on proliferation not having the north koreans explain it to us we're just talking about sending them a letter about what we've been able to figure out and then just having them attest to that how do we possibly dig into the issue of proliferation likewise with uranium what we're talking about here actually is the tony in the current plutonium program again where we're talking about a letter over there in terms about concerns from the u s side but we're not talking about getting access to the scientists getting access to the documents having access to the material so that we could test it having access to the inventory all of that has currently in north korea doing what he's been doing for you know so much of the time over the past year and a half which is to try to gain a little bit more clarity and precision about the devise to try to verify the information and again greater clarity and insight into exactly what it is that we're dealing with well my central point is that verification can't be just a slogan it has to be a practice heading up the delegation so there's a little bit of a difference of perspective here from the congressional perspective this was a trip that was billed as one to finalize the declaration and hammer out verification issues but it's been reported that officials from the verification bureau have so far been cut out of the process and from my standpoint that's  problem and so that's why as i watched the bar continually continually being lowered i wonder you know how far at what point is the administration planning to lift the state sponsored terrorism and the trading with the enemy sanctions concurrent with north korea issu ing its declaration or will that declaration have to be verified first we heard from the secretary last week that verification takes some time and that indicated to  that north korea would not have to wait for its list to be verified before gaining concessions and as i said in my opening remarks for those of us that have been on this committee for a long time we're used to a certain modus operandi out of north korea in order to gain concessions from the united states without ever finally performing as they string things along as kim jong il's government things along now and  declaration in tandem with that that we would be initiate the steps needed to remove north korea from the state sponsors of terrorism list as well as remove application of the trading with the enemy act  so but when you look at this concept of the declaration clearly it has to be a credible one it has to be one that holds up under a level of provided that's the case we would realistic view of north korea to the blue house and one of those more realistic perceptions i think was in regard to human rights or the lack of them in north korea and so far the president has taken several steps on on his part human rights front so we see south korea moving in this direction of showing this concern for human rights in the north with this new partner have our two governments begin to compare notes as to how we can work together on north korean human rights issues yes we have  korea we've raised it in congress but i was wondering if the administration had that opportunity with president lee visit here i had an opportunity to attend the meeting and you know i've heard these issues discussed but i was wondering if in the meetings but sometimes sometimes we fail to follow up at that level and i'd like to know if the administration has been able to open that dialogue and if you could let me know waiter  their track record hasn't exactly been exemplary but since we've decided that we're not just going to sit back and do nothing we do have to find some basis through which to move forward and so verification is very