PRESIDENT LEE:  (As interpreted.)  I apologize for running a little late, ladies and gentlemen. 

Mr. President, distinguished members of the press, it's good to see my good friend again.  The last time we met was four months ago.  Welcome to Korea, Mr. President. 

And I wish to thank you, Mr. President, for taking time to visit the DMZ early this morning, soon after your arrival in Seoul.  Mr. President, I'm sure it was a chance to witness firsthand the reality of division that has been a part of Korea for such a long time.  And I gather you had a good time meeting with the members of the armed forces from both Korea and the United States.  And thank you for the encouragement that you gave these men and women in uniform.

Today, ladies and gentlemen, we had a very useful and constructive discussion on a wide array of issues from North Korea's nuclear and missile development and including other security issues, and also how to promote bilateral trade between our two countries, and of course, other topics of mutual interest.

And we talked about the security situation in the region and the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and agreed to continue working closely together in implementing our North Korea policy. Both countries agreed that North Korea's announcement to test-fire its long-range missile is a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, not to mention the latest agreement between the U.S. and North Korea.  Therefore President Obama and I both agreed that North Korea must immediately repeal its decision and abide by its international obligations. 

President Obama and I agreed that we will continue to enhance and strengthen our combined defense capabilities, and at the same time, firmly respond to any threats or provocations from the North.  If North Korea gives up its pursuit of nuclear weapons and missile development, and instead chooses a path towards peace and cooperation, our two countries will work together, along with the international community, to help improve the lives of the people in North Korea and provide necessary assistance that will help North Korea open up a new era.

And we reaffirmed the value and importance of our enduring alliance and discussed a future vision of our partnership. Following the adoption of the future vision of the alliance, which was adopted in June 2009, our alliance is evolving into a truly global partnership where we are working shoulder to shoulder to resolve global challenges.

Furthermore, we reviewed the progress being made in our alliance, a chance to transfer of OPCON two-plus-two security consultations, and agree that we will strengthen our deterrence capabilities through enhanced policy coordination, and strive towards a future-oriented alliance. 

Ladies and gentlemen, we will also work together so that the KORUS FTA that came into effect last March 15th will fulfill its goal, that is creating jobs for our workers, expand trade and investments, and overall improve the lives of our peoples.  And accordingly, in order to ensure the faithful implementation of the KORUS FTA, we will establish a ministerial-level joint committee, as previously agreed, and check upon the progress.

President Obama and I also exchanged views on the state of the global economy and shared our concern regarding the uncertainties that still remain.  In particular, we share the concern that rising oil prices is an obstacle to speedy recovery of the global economy, and agree that international cooperation needed to be further strengthened to bring about stability in the world oil market.

And of course we also talked about regional issues -- issues in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and other issues, including Iran, and how we can strengthen international cooperation to bring about a resolution to these issues.

I welcome President Obama once again on his visit.  The Nuclear Security Summit was President Obama’s initiative born out of his vision to leave behind a safer, more prosperous world for the future generation.  And we will continue to strive together to achieve a world without nuclear weapons.  I thank him and his team for all the help in ensuring a successful Nuclear Security Summit meeting.

Thank you.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, good evening, everyone.  Thank you to my good friend and partner, President Lee, for your very kind words.  And thank you, to the people of Korea, for your gracious welcome.  This is my third visit to the Republic of Korea as President.  It is wonderful to be back.  And once again, I’m grateful for the hospitality. 

This visit reflects the extraordinary friendship between our two people.  My wife and I were proud to help strengthen those ties when we had the honor of hosting President Lee and First Lady Kim for a state visit at the White House last fall.  And during that visit I learned a Korean word that I believe captures the deep affection between our people -- jeong.  And I feel that spirit again today.

My visits to Korea reflect the leadership role that South Korea is playing in this region and around the world -- a "Global Korea.”  I was last here for the G20, which was a success under President Lee’s leadership.  Now we’re back, along with more than 50 world leaders, for the second Nuclear Security Summit. 

In fact, just today we saw another important step forward.  We learned that Ukraine completed the removal of highly enriched uranium from its territory.  This fulfills a commitment Ukraine made at our last Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, and I believe it’s a preview of the kind of progress we’re going to see over the next two days in confronting one of the most urgent challenges of global security -- securing the world’s nuclear weapons and preventing nuclear terrorism.

My visit to Korea also reflects the enduring strength of our alliance.  My last visit to Seoul came as we marked both the 60th anniversary of the Korean War and Veterans Day.  And today I traveled, as President Lee mentioned, to the DMZ to thank our men and women in uniform, American and Korean, who serve shoulder to shoulder.  They’re the reason that we can stand here free today, and prosperous here today.  And we salute them all.

My visit to Korea reflects the fact that the United States is leading again in the Asia Pacific -- a region that will affect American security and prosperity in the 21st century like no other.  As I declared in Australia last year, the United State as a Pacific nation will play a larger and long-term role in shaping this region and its future.  And the cornerstone of our efforts is our strong alliances, including our alliance with the Republic of Korea. 

This is the context for our meeting today.  And as President Lee indicated, we had a very good discussion on a wide range of issues.  We reviewed our ongoing efforts to modernize our security alliance.  We agreed to have our foreign and defense ministers meet in June to discuss concrete measures we can take to continue strengthening that alliance.  We’re on track for South Korea to assume operational control for the alliance in 2015. 

I reaffirmed, as I said in Australia, that reductions in U.S. defense spending will not come at the expense of the Asia Pacific -- and that includes South Korea.  America’s armed forces are going to stay ready for the full range of contingencies and threats.  And the alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea remains unshakable.