and president lee in, fact asked his team to come to washington to continue these discussions. so i appreciate all of the efforts he s making on this issue. to advance our share of security, president lee and i discussed our ongoing efforts to strengthen and modernize our alliance. and i said it, we can never say it never again, the united states can never waiver to its commitment to the republic of korea. north korea must address south korea s concerns and end it s behavior. likewise, north korea needs to fulfill obligations to eliminate its nuclear weapons program. only by meeting its responsibilities and not threatening others will north korea find real security and respect. i want to reiterate along with our south korean and international partners the
the peninsula. president lee and i have been moving in complete agreement over the last couple of years in sending a message to the north koreans that they have a choice available to them. they can continue on a path of beligerence towards their neighbors, unwillingness to denuclearize, engaging in provocative acts. that will ensure their continued its slaigs from the world community. it will prevent them from developing. it will result in hardship for their people. and it will continue to create tensions in the region.
tax cuts. it makes a huge difference. if we re growing an extra 1% or extra 1.5 prgs. part of the discussion we have to have is n.addition to getting serious about spending and making sure that money coming in matches up with money going out is what steps do we have to take to make sure we re growing? i m not going to be favorable bli disposed towards recommendations for moves by congress that don t take into account the needs for us to grow long term. just for respect of the free trade agreement, again, i think that president lee is banting wanting to get this done. any mi goal is a trade that is a win, win for both countries. i think that can be achieved.
extraordinary time and energy involved in these talks. we re not interested in just going through the motions. with the same results. and i think that the north koreans understand that. so. our expectation is that we ll continue to engage and look for signals from the north koreans with this series. and at the point where it appears they are in fact prepared to move forward on the kind of path all of us want to see. we re going to be there, ready to negotiate with them. what you re watching now is president lee and president obama speaking, having this press conference in south korea. they just met. president obama said the purpose was to advance security and prosperity between america and between the republic of core rea. he
president lee and people of south korea for extraordinary progress you ve made. a strong, prosperus democracy is an example to others in this region and around the world. thank you. thank you. so if you re joining us, you re watching a press conference in south korea with president lee and with our president, president obama. both of them are having an opportunity to speak, we re being told they re each going to speak twice and then take questions. while president lee is making a statement and its not in english we re going to go to our white house correspondent who is there in the room. wendel what is your take? what is your impression and what s happening there so far? well, i hate to correct you. i m not in the room with the president. i m in a nearby filing center