Bill Clinton: “Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, leaders of the National Assembly, members of all political parties here present joined…”

“Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, leaders of the National Assembly, members of all political parties here present joined together in our common devotion to democracy. It is a great honor for me to be here today with my wife, with the United States Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, with other military and political leaders from our Government in this great hall of democracy. I first visited your beautiful capital city 5 years ago. Since then, Korea's energy and culture have shown themselves in many new ways: Your bustling capital has continued to grow. Your economy has continued to expand. Your nation hosted the Olympics and has taken its place as a full member of the United Nations. You have established new ties to Russia and to China. But no achievement is more important than the consolidation of your democracy with the election of a bold democrat, President Kim Yong-sam. Geography has placed our two nations far apart, but history has drawn us close together. Ours is a friendship formed in blood as our troops fought shoulder to shoulder in defense of freedom. Then as Korea's economy became the ``miracle on the Han,'' we built an economic partnership that today exceeds $30 billion in fairly well-balanced trade. Today, Korea's democratic progress adds yet another bond of shared values between our two peoples.…”