Bill Clinton: “Well, we discussed that today, and obviously we discussed what our options were, including sanctions. We discussed also…”

“Well, we discussed that today, and obviously we discussed what our options were, including sanctions. We discussed also the fact that in this particular policy, Japan, China, South Korea, and the United States all want a nonnuclear Korean Peninsula. All very much want North Korea to comply with our IAEA standards and therefore permitting it to resume some contact with the South. That has been the position of all four of our countries, and what we're doing now is consulting all of us among one another to try to see what our options are. But obviously, the sanctions option is one option. Do you have anything to add? Prime Minister Hosokawa. Well, we also have a very strong and deep concern of the issue. Within the coming 10 days or so, very soon, I would say, this issue is going to face a climax. And we very much hope that North Korea will move in the right direction. As President Clinton said, we shall, together with the United States, China, and South Korea, we would like to step up our approach vis-a-vis North Korea. At the U.N. Security Council, if a sanction is proposed, then Japan, to the extent Japanese laws allow, will put in place all possible measures. Japan-U.S. Trade”