PM: Well, I'm here today, in Korea, at the site of the battle of Kapyong. This is where it was fought 60 years ago and we're here to commemorate that very important battle in the Korean War. I'm delighted to have been able to bring with me some Australian war veterans, including veterans of the Battle of Kapyong itself.
The Korean War, in Australia, is a forgotten war. We don't remember it as we should. As Prime Minister, I've been determined to put a focus on the Korean War, to remind the nation of what our servicemen and women achieved here. This was an important war, where we fought for democracy and for the people of South Korea.
And I know from talking to the veterans who are with me today that it is remarkable for them to come back so many years after the end of the war and see this vibrant democracy. Many of them have not come back here since they were fighting here. They left a country in ruins, and came back to a prosperous modern democracy. So it's been a special moment to be able to attend this commemoration to mark the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Kapyong, and I am certainly looking forward to the dinner that I will have with veterans here tonight.
I do also want to thank the Korean government and the Korean people; they host continuously a program to bring Australian war veterans back to Korea to thank them for their service and their sacrifice. It's a lovely program and I do want to say the Australian government is very grateful for that continued work.
In addition today, I will travel to the De-Militarised Zone for briefings and as I say, I will enjoy a dinner with the veterans tonight. Tomorrow, in addition to commemorating ANZAC day, I will be meeting with President Lee of Korea.
Our partnership with Korea is an important one. They are an important economic partner for us, our third biggest export market, our fourth biggest trading partner. And we want to add to that economic partnership with a Free Trade Agreement, which would be good for Australia and good for Korea. It would be particularly good for Australian agricultural exports. So I will be talking to President Lee tomorrow about getting on with that Free Trade Agreement, and moving it towards a conclusion.
I will also be talking to President Lee about our work together in the G20, the East Asia Summit and at APEC. Of course the last G20 meeting was hosted right here, in Korea, by President Lee. I will also be discussing our continuing defence ties with Korea.
Today's been a very special moment, a special anniversary. I'm very much enjoying having the opportunity to talk to the veterans. And I'm happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, 3RAR was awarded a US Presidential Citation. Does it deserve to be receive or be considered for an Australian military citation?
PM: Well, I think it deserves to have the Australian people focus on what was achieved here, and that's the step that I'm trying to take today. I think Australia was weary of war after World War II, and then we came here to fight in Korea. And then, of course, the Vietnam War was so controversial that a lot of our political life has been dominated by debates about Vietnam, and a lot of our history-telling focuses on Vietnam and between the two - the significance of World War II and the controversy of Vietnam - the Korean War often gets overlooked and forgotten.
And I know that there is that sense amongst our veterans' community that here, at Kapyong, they fought a forgotten battle in a forgotten War. That's the sense I want to change. So it's really the sense of the Australian people about the importance of this place and the service of Australian soldiers here.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, I was just talking to one of those guys-
JOURNALIST: One of the veterans said that this could be taught in schools.
PM: Sorry?
JOURNALIST: One of the veteran's here says it should be taught in schools.
JOURNALIST: And he would like you to do something about it.
PM: Certainly, I believe it should be a focus for how we tell Australian history and a very significant step has been taken on that. I did have the opportunity, back in Australia, to launch a new retelling of the history of the Korean War and this battle. It's a great documentary. It will be good for Australians to watch and to learn from, but it will be particularly useful as a teaching aid to explain to people the significant of the Korean War and the significance of the Battle of Kapyong, in this place.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, now you're going to the DMZ, obviously. How would you characterise the North Korean regime? Obviously people here have particular views, but what are your views? And what are your thoughts on the prospects for peace on the Peninsula?
PM: Well, the North Korean regime is a repressive dictatorship; an administration that continues to suppress the North Korean people, who battle daily just for the simple basics of life: for food and for nutrition. I mean, the contrast between these two places, North Korea, South Korea, could not be more stark. Here we've got a prosperous, vibrant democracy that has moved from being an aid recipient to an aid donor. This is a country of real prosperity.
And then across the border people live without freedom, and often they live without the very basics of life, a poor country where people are repressed and have no freedoms.
We are concerned about continuing North Korean aggression. We are concerned about their nuclear program, and we continue to call on North Korea to meaningfully participate in talks. That requires North Korea to indicate that it is prepared to change. There's no point getting people to talk for talks' sake. North Korea does have to indicate a preparedness to change, and come to the table and of course there are the Six Party Talks to enable that to occur, if North Korea is prepared to engage in them genuinely.
JOURNALIST: How big a threat is North Korea to our region?
PM: Well, the instability here on the Korean peninsula is concerning to our region, to regional stability. That's why I'm putting such a focus on it in my discussions in the region, in Japan, here in South Korea, and when I go to China. We want to make sure that there is a continued focus on this instability, because we want to bring continued pressure on the North Korean regime for change.
JOURNALIST: That's something, isn't it, that you discussed with President Obama a few weeks ago in Washington? And would you like to, or are you confident that in their Defence Posture Review that you've talked about, that they will continue to put the pressure on in terms of having the defence resources around here, in this region?
PM: Look I think they are, they are two separate issues. I mean the US periodically reviews its defence posture. It's going through one of those processes now and it's consulting its allies, including Australia. The pressure on North Korea isn't really bound up with the Global Force Posture Review. Rather, it is continuing pressure from the United States, from Australia, from countries around the world, by the United Nations, through resolutions, to try and keep sufficient pressure on North Korea. Or indeed, increase pressure so that North Korea does meaningfully participate in talks. Obviously the world responded with stepped-up pressure after acts of North Korean aggression in the last twelve months.
JOURNALIST: There's been quite a bit of criticism in the British press of you being invited to the wedding and your decision to go. What's your reaction to that?
PM: Well, I'll be there representing the Australian people. I think that's the appropriate thing.
JOURNALIST: As a republican though?
PM: Well, I'll be there representing the Australian people. The Australian people have a variety of views about the future constitutional arrangements for our country. There are many republicans in Australia. There are also many Australians who want to see our continued ties to the monarchy. That debate will play its way through, in our national life. We've had one referendum and we will continue to discuss our future constitutional arrangements. But we are, of course, currently, under our monarchy. We have not taken the step to be a Republic. I received an invitation to go to the Royal wedding, and I think - on behalf of the nation - that it's appropriate that I'm there.
JOURNALIST: Why not send the Governor-General, given your own personal beliefs?
PM: Well, both the Governor-General and I were invited to the Royal wedding and we'll both be in attendance.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, China is a key backer of North Korea. What, you said that you would talk about North Korea when you were in China, talking to Chinese leaders. What will your message to them be on North Korea?
PM: My message would be that it is not in China's interest to have instability on the Korean peninsula. So we have a shared interest in addressing the aggression of North Korea. We've got a shared interest in North Korea meaningfully participating in talks.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there's some are extracts in the papers today from Lindsay Tanner's new book, critical of the government, the election and your hair colour. Do you have a response?
PM: Well, I guess my response would be I'm driven as a Labor Prime Minister by a fair go for all Australians, and if I'm helping with a fair go for ‘rangers as well I think that's a good thing.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask you the history you were talking about, Korean history. So General MacArthur landed in South Korea and he's a bit of a hero for pushing the Chinese back across the border. Then he continue up towards the Yalu River and then the Chinese came and pushed him back down again. Did General MacArthur make a mistake? Did he go too far?
PM: I'm not sure that I'm going to try and rewrite world history. What I do want to say about the history here is that Australian defence personnel fought bravely, and we are standing on the site of a Battle that played a significant role in the outcome of the Korean War. If our men hadn't stood here and held back the Chinese push, then Seoul could have been lost, and that would have changed the outcome of the Korean War. So it's their heroism, rather than debating past tactics that I'm here to do today.
JOURNALIST: What would you say to those veterans?
PM: Look, what I would say to veterans on every side of the conflict. The story of this Battle tells the tale of what we should say to veterans of China today. These soldiers, the soldiers who fought here in Kapyong were preparing for ANZAC Day. They thought they'd get a bit of a respite, and a break from the rigors of war. They were preparing to mark ANZAC Day and they were preparing to do this with the Turkish forces who were fighting alongside them here. It's a remarkable thing. There they were, getting ready to commemorate Gallipoli, where we had fought against the Turks, here, as they fought side-by-side alongside them. In a different struggle, a different age, a different time.
Now, what that says to us, I think, is we always honour and remember our history, but it doesn't define our present. Gallipoli doesn't define our present. It doesn't define our relationship with Turkey. It didn't define the relationship with the Turkish forces for the men who fought here, in Kapyong, alongside them. Obviously, this battle doesn't define our contemporary relationship with China, nor our understanding of the thoughts and sentiments of Chinese veterans themselves.
JOURNALIST: Ms Gillard, How concerned are you by Andrew Wilkie's declaration that he'd mended his relationship with Tony Abbott and he thinks that he would make a pretty good Prime Minister?
PM: Look, I'll be happy to keep working alongside Andrew Wilkie on an issue of shared concern. The government, in the last period of government, got the Productivity Commission to look at the area of problem gambling because we were very concern about it. Now, Andrew Wilkie has a particular passion in this area. But I think many Australians are very concerned that they know people that do take their whole pay packet, or their whole pension and blow it by putting it down the pokies, and then they can't pay the bills when they come in or make appropriate arrangements for their kids. So I think this is an area we'll keep working on together. I've got very good working relationships with Mr Wilkie, and I've got every expectation that they'll continue.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, North Korea shows no sign of planning to resume the talks that you were talking about. Does the international community need to put more pressure on North Korea?
PM: Well, we need to continue the pressure on North Korea. North Korea is a hard regime to influence. It's one of the most opaque regimes in the world. I think we all understand that. It's a hard regime to influence, but we've got to keep the pressure on, for them to show that they're genuinely prepared to change. I understand that there's no point just saying ‘sit down and talk', if the talks are not going to achieve anything and there's no prospect of them achieving anything.
That's why it really is for all of us to keep pressure on North Korea, to indicate that it is prepared to change and to genuinely participate in the talks, and the Six Party Talks are the vehicle for it. Now, we are not one of the six countries, so ultimately the resumption of those talks is a decision for the six counties involved, but we can play a role in assisting with pressure on North Korea, and we're doing that.
JOURNALIST: How do you feel personally about being here today, and do you regret the fact that Australia has forgotten this war?
PM: I do regret the fact that we haven't paid, in my view, sufficient honour and attention to the men who are here today and the many other men who are still alive and fought in the Korean War. 17,000 Australians fought here. 340 died, 1,200 were wounded, and 30 had prisoner of war experience.
This was an important engagement for Australia. It was an important war in fostering and keeping democracy here, in this place where we stand today and I do want Australians to understand the importance of the Korean War. I want them to understand the importance of honouring our Korean War veterans who are still with us and I want them to put appropriate recognition on what was achieved here.
We are standing in a wonderful, vibrant, lively democracy. Seoul is one of the great cities of the world. You get the same sense of energy there you do when you visit great cities like New York. All of this has been built from ruins following the War and it wouldn't have happened if men, like these men here, hadn't fought and held back an advance, here in this place, and hadn't fought in the Korean War. The Korean people are very grateful and that's one of the reasons they consistently ask our veterans back, to come and experience modern day Korea, and to see what they fought for and what they achieved.
Thank you very much.
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