Clinton and Prime Minister Mori in Photo Op

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary (Okinawa, Japan)

For Immediate Release July 22, 2000

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AND PRIME MINISTER MORI IN PHOTO OPPORTUNITY Bankoku Shinryokan Okinawa, Japan

9:00 A.M. (L)

Q Mr. President, has Mr. Mori agreed to a fourth year of the trade deregulation talks with the U.S.?

THE PRESIDENT: Maybe the Prime Minister should answer that.

PRIME MINISTER MORI: Yes, we agreed to continue the dialogue for another year.

THE PRESIDENT: And I'm very pleased about that because it's, I think, been a very fruitful thing for both our countries, and I think it will -- the agreements we've made here at this summit I think will be very positive for Japan's economy and our relationship.

Q Mr. President, what is your assessment of North Korea's offer to curb its missile program in exchange for space exploration assistance? Is there any reason to believe that's credible?

And, Mr. Prime Minister, were you reassured by that offer?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, let me say, based on what President Putin said last night in our conversations, I think that it's something that needs to be explored and we need to see exactly what the specifics are. I think that he would agree with that, too. It's not clear to me exactly what the offer is and what is being requested and the time for it. But I think we heard enough so that there should be an attempt to determine what the facts are here, but I can't say that I'm clear enough on what the offer was to make a final judgment.

Q A handshake?

Q Thank you very much.

END 9:03 A.M. (L)

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