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no government money. >> there is still time to get your copies of 2009 congressional directory. plus district maps and how to contact committees and caucuses. it on line at c-span.org. >> we're going to the white house rose garden for a press conference that ended just a short time ago between president obama and south korean preside president. >> good morning, everybody. >> president lee, on behalf of the american people, it is my pleasure to welcome you to washington.

>> thank you. >> i'm looking forward to continuing our conversation over lunch and i know that first lady michelle obama is very much delighted to host your wife today as well. >> the republic of korea is one of america's closest allies. our friendship has been forged through a history of shared sacrifice, and it is anchored in our shared democratic values. mr. president, i'm pleased that the friendship between our countries has only grown stronger under your leadership. we meet at a time of great challenges on the korean peninsula, north korea has abandoned its own commitment and violated international law. its nuclear and ballistic vessel programs pose a grave threat to peace and security of asia and to the world. in the face of these threats and provocations, the people of the republic of korea have shown a steadiness and a resolve that has earned the respect of the united states and of the world.

today president lee and i reiterated our shared commitment to the complete denuclearization of the korean peninsula. we have reaffirmed the endurance of our alliance and america's commitment to the defense of the republic of korea. we discussed the measures that we are taking with our partners in the region. including russia, china and japan, to make it clear to north korea that it will not find security or respect through threats and illegal weapons. that united international front has been on full display since north korea's ballistic missile test in april and was further galvanized by its recent nuclear tests. on friday, the un security council unanimously adopted a resolution that called for strong steps to block north korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. now we must pursue a sustained and robust effort to implement

this resolution together with our international partners. and in addition to the korean peninsula, we are committed to a global effort to pursue the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. and africa i will be discussing later this summer in moscow and at the g8. so i want to be clear, that there is another path available to north korea. a path that leads to peace and economic opportunity for the people of north korea, including full integration into the community of nations. that destination can only be reached to a peaceful negotiation, but achieve the full and verifiable denuclearization of the korean peninsula. that is the opportunity that exists for north korea and president lee and i join with the international community in urging the north koreans to take it. president lee and i also discussed our efforts to confront the global economic crisis here earlier this year in london we agreed on full and

sustained action to jumpstart growth and to prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again. today, we reaffirmed this effort as well as our commitment to resist protectionism and to continue our close collaboration in the run up to the next meeting of the g-20 in pittsburgh. in addition to taking immediate action to put our economies on the path of recovery, both presently and i want to build a foundation for new prosperity. in particular we believe that the united states and the republic of korea can partner together on behalf of clean energy and sustainable growth so that we are working together to build the jobs and industries of the future. finally i think it's important to note that we are releasing a joint statement laying out a shared vision for our allies in the 21st century. our friendship is often understandably focused on security issues, particularly in northeast asia. but we are also committed to a sustained strategic partnership with the republic of korea on the full range of global

challenges that we are facing, from economic development to our support for democracy and human rights, from nonproliferation to counterterrorism and peacekeeping. the challenges of our young century can only be met through partnership, and the united states is honored to partner with the korean people. we will be resolute in the defense of our security. we will collaborate on behalf of innovation and opportunity. and we will strengthen and deepen the friendship among our people. that's our commitment as friends and allies, and i look forward to working with president lee on behalf of a more peaceful and rossell future in asia and around the world. thank you so much. >> thank you. obama and i, and the people of the united states have extended to us their warmest welcome and i would like to thank them sincerely.

president obama and i met last time in april in london during the sidelines of the g-20, and today is our second meeting. meeting. during my talks with president obama we had a very substantive talks. we have talked about the security situation surrounding the korean peninsula, but also about the future of our korea u.s. alliance and/or joint vision for the future. and of course we have agreed on the joint vision for the future, and i think this is a testament of our common commitment because for the last 60 years since the korean war, our relationship has been one of a strong security alliance and a partnership. now the future in this new era is about not only strengthening our mutual partnership, but also working together side-by-side to tackle issues of global concern. on that regard i am extremely pleased to note that today is a

meaningful and very significant day for korea u.s. alliance of really upgrading to a new plateau of our relationship and partnership. i take this opportunity to sincerely thank the great people of america for their selfless sacrifice in defending my country and its people. on behalf of the korean people, thank you. as reiterated by president obama, we agreed that under no circumstance where we going to allow north korea to possess nuclear weapons. we also agreed to robustly implement security council resolution 1874, and of course all parties will faithfully take part in implementing this resolution. also, we agree that based on the firm cooperation between the

u.s. and korea, the five countries taking part in a six party talks will discuss new measures and policies that will effectively persuade north korea to be revocable he dismantle all of their nuclear weapons programs. president obama reaffirmed this firm commitment to the south korea 40 turns which includes the at that denuclearization. this gives the people of south korea the greatest sense of security. president obama and i also talked about the course of ta and initiate to make progress on the issues surrounding the course of g-8 and make joint efforts to go forward on the agreement. i also took time to invite president obama to visit south korea. and i also conveyed to him our

warmest gratitude on behalf of the korean people to the people of america. once again, i'm very pleased to know that he and i engaged in very constructive discussions and i am very pleased with the results. once again, i thank president obama and the people of the united states. thank you. >> okay, we have time for a couple of questions. scott wilson and the post. >> thank you, mr. president. north korea has said it should be recognized as a nuclear power and has set that as a precondition for normal relations with the united states, and with other nations. given its belligerent response to the recent sanctions and the nature of its nuclear program, does your administration, is it coming to the realization that recognizing north korea as a country that's going to have nuclear weapons for a long time is one way to go? and if so, what influences does that have on your policy options?

and to president lee, do you believe your country is currently under threat of attack from the north given its recent rhetoric? thank you. >> we have continually insisted that north korea denuclearize. the republic of korea agrees with this position. other allies like japan agree with this position. china and russia agree with this position. the un security council reflects this view. we will pursue denuclearization on the korean peninsula vigorously. so we have not come to a conclusion that north korea will or should be a nuclear power. given their past behavior, given

the belligerent manner in which they are constantly threatening their neighbors, i don't think there's any question that that would be a destabilizing situation that would be a profound threat to not only the united states security, but the world security. north korea also has a track record of collaboration that makes it unacceptable for them to be accepted as a nuclear power. they have not shown in the past any restraint in terms of exporting weapons to not only state actors, but also nonstate actors. so what we said is that there is a path for north korea to take. in which they are joining the world to community, becoming integrated in the world economy,

able to feed their own people, able to provide prosperity for their people. i know that the republic of korea welcomes that kind of neighbor. and the essay there is a strong escort bond between the korean people's, that should be affirmed. but in order to take that path, north korea has to make a decision, and understand that prestige and security and prosperity are not going to come through the path of threatening neighbors and engaging in violations of international law. >> right now, north korea, there was a question about whether we fear an imminent attack by north korea. 60 years ago north korea invaded south korea, and they began a war. after that, there were numerous

amount of threats leveled against south korea ever since. however, south korea, we have always been very firm in our response and always prepared. and of course this is based firmly on the firm cooperation of partnership and alliance between the riot under korea and the united states. and north koreans when i look at the firm order should we have between our two countries they will think twice about taking any measures that they will regret. and again, this very firm alliance that we have between the united states and korea is going to prevent anything from happening. and of course, north korea may have -- may wish to do so but of course they will not be able to do so. >> a question going out to president lee.

north korea recently said that they will not return to the six party talks. they have denounced the un security council resolution, and said they will not give up their nuclear weapons program. can you, sir, talk about whether you talk about how you plan to proceed forward, and did you talk about this with president obama? and of course, is there a continuing threat from north korea. a south korean worker is still detained by the north koreans. what are your thoughts about the maintenance of the maintenance complex, and did you talk about president obama or whether any concerns from the americans about the industrial complex? >> north korea has been resisting, and they have reacted aggressively to the new un security council resolution which is quite expected.

and of course, the north koreans may react by firing another round of missiles or taking actions. we can also expect that from them as well. however, north koreans must understand that they will not be able to gain compensation by provoking a crisis. this has been a pattern in the past, but this will no longer be. the firm at u.s. korea cooperation and alliance will not allow that. and the recent security council resolution is not simply about words. it is about taking up follow-up action and vigorously taking up the resolution. it will make sure we fully implement the un security resolution. like i said, the north koreans must understand that their past behavior will not stand, and of course not only the u.s. korea close partnership, but japan, china and the rest of the

international community will take part in this effort. and now the north koreans will come to understand that this is different, that they will not be able to repeat the past or their past tactical strategies. i urge the north koreans to fully give up their nuclear weapons programs and ambitions and to become a responsible member of the international community. with regard to the complex to north korean authorities, are demanding unacceptable demand that we will not accept such demands being laid out by the north koreans. of course, the south korean government is very much for maintaining the industrial complex because of the complex is a channel of dialogue between the two koreas and also another factor we must not overlook is that there are 40000 north korean workers currently working in the complex. at the complex were to close, these 40000 north korean workers will lose their jobs. and therefore, i urge the north

koreans not to make any unacceptable demands because we cannot really know what will happen if they continue on this path. and also, the north koreans have been detaining a south korean worker. they haven't been giving us any explanation, and also we know there are two american journalists currently held by the north koreans. i urge the north koreans to release, not two american journalists, but also the south korean worker without any conditions to release them as soon as possible. the international community is asking the north koreans to take that path. and once again, i urge in the strongest terms that they release these two american journalists as well as of the korean worker being held. >> thank you, mr. president. such a pleasant day i was hoping you would consent to let me ask you questions. the first one, on report there's a new policy on intercepting

north korean ships at sea. if you could say anything about that. and are you concerned that that would provoke north korea to new levels, higher levels of hostility? >> this is not simply a u.s. policy. this is an international policy. this is part of what the security council resolution calls for, is the interdiction of arms shipments. how that's going to be implemented, how we approach cooperation between various countries to enforce this is something that the united states, south korea, china, russia, all relevant actors, japan, all relevant actors will be discussing in the months to come. but i want to emphasize something that president lee said. there has been a pattern in the past were north korea behaves in a belligerent fashion.

and if you wait long enough it is then rewarded with food and fuel and concessionary loans, and a whole range of benefits. and i think that's the pattern that they have come to expect. the message we are sending, and when i say we, not simply the united states and the republic of korea, but i think the international community is we are going to break that pattern. we are more than willing to engage in negotiations to get north korea on a path of peaceful coexistence with its neighbors. and we want to encourage their prosperity. but belligerent, provocative behavior that threatens neighbors will be met with significant, serious enforcement of sanctions that are in place.

and i think it may not have been fully acknowledged the degree to which we have seen much tougher sanctions voted out unanimously in fairly rapid order over the last several weeks. and i expect that that signals the degree about which we are serious. >> and secondly, mr. president, tomorrow you're going to be rolling out your financial regulation plan and i know you're not going to want to step all over what you are going to say tomorrow. however, we do know from your advisers that he planned to recommend the creation of a new agency, it a new financial consumer agency so you will have the fed, the sec, the fdic and on and on. is like alphabet soup. why did you decide not to consolidate the agencies but instead to add to the agencies. isn't too many agencies part of the problem? >> you're right. i don't want to step on my announcement tomorrow.

so let me just be in broad principles, and in tomorrow you'll have a chance to ask questions of the administration about exactly what we propose your the broad principle is that a lack of oversight, a series of regulatory gaps, allow financial institutions, not just banks but non-banks institutions, to engage in wild risk-taking that men simply imperil those institutions but in peril the united states economy and had a profound recessionary effect on the world economy your we have to make sure that we've got an updated regulatory system that hasn't been significantly changed since the 1930s to deal with enormous global capital falls and enormous range of risk-taking as has been very dangerous for the american

people. we are going to put forward a very strong set of regulatory measures that we think can prevent this kind of crisis from happening again. we expect that congress will work swiftly to get these laws in place. i want to sign in and we want to get them up and running. i think when you see the overall approach that we are taking, you will see that we have not, in fact, added a whole host of regulatory agencies. in fact, there is going to be streamlined consolidation and additional overlap so that you don't find people falling through the gaps, whether it's on its consumer protection site, the investor protections, the systemic risk that we need to make sure is avoided. on all those issues that's going to be a much more effective integrated system than previously. but it's going to be as usual a heavy lift because there are going to be people who want to

keep on taking these risks, counting on u.s. taxpayers to bail them out if their pets go bad. and you will hear a lot of chatter about we don't need more regulation and government need to get off our backs. there's a short memory, unfortunately. and i think that's what some of the special interest and lobbyists are going to be counting on that somehow we have forgotten the disaster that arose out of their reckless behavior. and i'm going to keep on reminding them so we make sure that we get something in place that prevents this kind of situation from happening again. >> a question going out to president obama. he spoke about the two leaders, you agreed to move forward, however, in certain segments here in the united states there

are costs that are resistant because of automobile issues and others. of course, there are cause or proponents of the. when do you expect to submit it sometime this year? >> well, one of the things that president lee and i discussed in london, not just bilaterally, but with other world leaders is the importance at a time when the global economy has been devastated by recession. that we do not resort to protectionist measures. that we continue to affirm the importance of free trade between countries in order to increase everyone's prosperity. now, as you know, trade negotiations are always difficult between any country. because although over time trade

can increase prosperity for all, in the short term various industries want to know how is this going to affect them. in korea, there are issues of beef imports. in the united states there are questions about whether there is sufficient reciprocity with respect to cars at these are all understandable, legitimate issues for negotiation. what i have done is to affirm to president lee that we want to work constructively with the republic of korea in a systematic way to clear some of these barriers that are preventing free trade from occurring between our two countries. once we have resolved some of the substantive issues, then there is going to be the issue of political timing. and when that should be presented to congress. but i don't want to put the cart before the horse. i don't know if that's an

expression in korean, but we want to make sure that we have an agreement that i feel confident is good for the american people, that president lee feels confident is good for the korean people before we start trying to time when we will present it. but i am committed to moving forward on a path that will increase commercial ties that are already very strong between our two countries. >> thank you very much, everybody. [inaudible] >> it was only i think seven hours ago, or eight hours ago. i have said before that i have deep concerns about the election. and i think that the world has

deep concerns about the election. you've seen in iran some initial reaction from the supreme leader that in a case he understands the iranian people have deep concerns about the election. it's not productive given the history of u.s. iranian relations to be seen as meddling, the u.s. president meddling in iranian elections. what i will repeat and what i said yesterday is that when i see violent directed at peaceful protesters, when i see peaceful dissent being suppressed, wherever that takes place, it is of concern to me and it is of concern to the american people. that is not how government should interact with are people

were and my hope is that the ironic aniranian people will mee steps in order for them to be able to express their voices, to express their aspirations. i do believe that something has happened in iran where there is, where there is a questioning of the kinds of antagonistic postures toward the international community that had taken place in the past. and there are people who want to see greater openness and greater debate, and want to see greater democracy. how that plays out over the next several days and several weeks is something ultimately for the iranian people to decide. but i stand strongly with the