41.   There have been no substantive discussions between the United States and South Korea since the late Clinton administration.

42.   A Foreign Ministry spokesman said here, however, that there had been no substantive discussion in Seoul yet on the subject of sharing the cost of the reactor.

43.   Defense Secretary William Perry heads to Panama Saturday where he will hold substantive discussions on the future of the US military presence in Panama, US officials said.

44.   The current talks were originally scheduled to last only a day, but as they were repeatedly prolonged it became clear that the two sides were holding substantive discussions.