White House Daily Briefing

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

December 22, 2000

PRESS BRIEFING BY JAKE SIEWERT

The James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

11:40 A.M. EST

Q: Do you have anything to announce about the President's - of a
possible visit to North Korea?

MR. SIEWERT: I do not have anything to announce on that today. We're
obviously continuing to work on the range of issues that are
associated with North Korea, but I actually would not expect an
announcement anytime before early next week. Why don't you check back
with us after the vacation and we'll let you know where we stand on
that.

Q: Is the President sensitive to concerns that he might, by going to
North Korea and working some kind of a deal out, signing something,
tie the hands of the President-elect?

MR. SIEWERT: No. I mean, we're obviously consulting very closely with
the President-elect, but in the end this decision will be made on the
merits - whether we think it advances in some way, shape or form our
agenda to make the Peninsula a safer place, and to lower the threat
from the missile program that North Korea has developed. So we will
make a judgment based on whether we think it would be effective in
advancing our national security interests. And that's the only
criteria that we will examine as the President makes decisions about
how to proceed with the North Koreans.

Q: He won't really go unless he can get some sort of an agreement.

MR. SIEWERT: We will proceed based on his assessment of what makes
sense for our national interest. And we've consulted heavily with the
President-elect team and let them know what we're thinking and what
we're doing.

Q: They don't have a veto, though, do they?

MR. SIEWERT: No, absolutely not.

Q: So, Jake, time is running out - you don't have a sort of deadline
by the end of this year for whether or he goes or not, to decide?

MR. SIEWERT: Well, we understand that there's a limited period of time
to work on this, which is why we're doing everything we can. But
ultimately, this has to be driven by the substance of what we're
discussing with the North Koreans and others, and we have to make a
judgment about whether it will actually make a difference and make an
improvement in our national security outlook overall.

END 12:03 P.M. EST