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CNN Live At Daybreak

Latest on Revelation Out of North Korea

Aired October 18, 2002 - 05:08   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now the latest on a shocking revelation out of North Korea. It has caused a flurry of diplomatic activity in Washington. North Korea, as you know, has acknowledged it has a secret nuclear weapons program, after a top U.S. diplomat confronted the North Koreans with evidence. President Bush calls it "troubling, sobering news." A senior administration official says Mr. Bush will seek a peaceful solution.
Secretary of State Colin Powell talked about it in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: North Korea has some explaining to do to the international community. North Korea has to make a choice as to whether it will move forward and try to provide a better life for its people or waste what limited resources it has developing weapons of mass destruction that will not feed one North Korean child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, where did North Korea get its nukes? U.S. intelligence officials reportedly accused Pakistan of giving North Korea critical equipment for its nuclear weapons program. That's according to a report in today's "New York Times."

Our senior Asia correspondent Mike Chinoy joins us live from Hong Kong with more on this complicated issue of North Korea's nuclear weapons program -- so, Mike, can we explore this angle further? Did North Korea get some of its nuclear equipment from Pakistan?

MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's entirely possible. There is certainly a long history of cooperation. The Pakistani missile that has been one of the missiles that they've tested recently in their muscle flexing with India is modeled on the North Korean Rodong (ph) missile. So it's certainly, based on past history, very, very plausible.

And one of the big questions here is really what is North Korea's motivation, both in developing this new nuclear program, which it knew must infuriate and anger the United States and worry much of the region, and what is its motivation in acknowledging it in the way in which it did.

There's a very -- if you look at the North Korean media in recent months, some very interesting themes emerge. The main one which the North Koreans repeat over and over is they keep saying the U.S. must change what Pyongyang calls Washington's hostile policy towards North Korea and that if that is done, then all things are possible.

For example, let me just read to you, in late August the undersecretary -- U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton went to South Korea and gave a speech in which he claimed the North Koreans were developing weapons of mass destruction.

The North Korean response was to say, and this is their official news agency, that if the U.S. will drop its hostile policy towards the DPRK -- that's North Korea -- it will have dialogue with the U.S. to clear the U.S. of its worries over its security.

So that's leading, that kind of language is leading some analysts to believe that what the North Koreans are doing is, in effect, putting this new nuclear program on the bargaining table and say if we can have a broader deal to improve relations, we'll allay your concerns.

The big question, of course, from Washington's point of view is given that the North Koreans have clearly betrayed earlier undertakings to refrain from developing a nuclear program, can they be trusted to do anything? And, if not, then what does the U.S. do about it? It's a big policy dilemma because if the North Koreans have weapons, they do have missiles, and North Korean troops are just a few miles from the South Korean capital, Seoul, and 37,000 American soldiers. So it's a very, very complicated equation.

COSTELLO: Oh, yes. Well, Mike, from what I understand, the United States has given North Korea aid. What else does it want?

CHINOY: Well, the United States has given North Korea humanitarian aid, but don't forget, earlier this year President Bush in his speech at the, in January, lumped North Korea in with Iraq as part of the so-called axis of evil. And the language and tone of the Bush administration towards the regime in Pyongyang has been much less conciliatory, much harsher, speaking bluntly about how terrible things are in North Korea.

And from the North Korean point of view, they're one of the few remaining surviving communist dictatorships. They've seen all their ideological allies of the cold war, except for the Chinese, disappear, as the communists used to say, unto the dust bin of history. And regime survival, according to a lot of analysts, is what's really driving the North Koreans. They are terrified that they, too, will collapse and they may well see having this nuclear capability of some kind as one of the few cards they have to play to try and keep themselves afloat.

COSTELLO: A very frightening card.

Mike Chinoy, thanks very much.

We understand the situation a lot better now.

For more on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, log onto our Web site at cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired October 18, 2002 - 05:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now the latest on a shocking revelation out of North Korea. It has caused a flurry of diplomatic activity in Washington. North Korea, as you know, has acknowledged it has a secret nuclear weapons program, after a top U.S. diplomat confronted the North Koreans with evidence. President Bush calls it "troubling, sobering news." A senior administration official says Mr. Bush will seek a peaceful solution.
Secretary of State Colin Powell talked about it in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: North Korea has some explaining to do to the international community. North Korea has to make a choice as to whether it will move forward and try to provide a better life for its people or waste what limited resources it has developing weapons of mass destruction that will not feed one North Korean child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, where did North Korea get its nukes? U.S. intelligence officials reportedly accused Pakistan of giving North Korea critical equipment for its nuclear weapons program. That's according to a report in today's "New York Times."

Our senior Asia correspondent Mike Chinoy joins us live from Hong Kong with more on this complicated issue of North Korea's nuclear weapons program -- so, Mike, can we explore this angle further? Did North Korea get some of its nuclear equipment from Pakistan?

MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's entirely possible. There is certainly a long history of cooperation. The Pakistani missile that has been one of the missiles that they've tested recently in their muscle flexing with India is modeled on the North Korean Rodong (ph) missile. So it's certainly, based on past history, very, very plausible.

And one of the big questions here is really what is North Korea's motivation, both in developing this new nuclear program, which it knew must infuriate and anger the United States and worry much of the region, and what is its motivation in acknowledging it in the way in which it did.

There's a very -- if you look at the North Korean media in recent months, some very interesting themes emerge. The main one which the North Koreans repeat over and over is they keep saying the U.S. must change what Pyongyang calls Washington's hostile policy towards North Korea and that if that is done, then all things are possible.

For example, let me just read to you, in late August the undersecretary -- U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton went to South Korea and gave a speech in which he claimed the North Koreans were developing weapons of mass destruction.

The North Korean response was to say, and this is their official news agency, that if the U.S. will drop its hostile policy towards the DPRK -- that's North Korea -- it will have dialogue with the U.S. to clear the U.S. of its worries over its security.

So that's leading, that kind of language is leading some analysts to believe that what the North Koreans are doing is, in effect, putting this new nuclear program on the bargaining table and say if we can have a broader deal to improve relations, we'll allay your concerns.

The big question, of course, from Washington's point of view is given that the North Koreans have clearly betrayed earlier undertakings to refrain from developing a nuclear program, can they be trusted to do anything? And, if not, then what does the U.S. do about it? It's a big policy dilemma because if the North Koreans have weapons, they do have missiles, and North Korean troops are just a few miles from the South Korean capital, Seoul, and 37,000 American soldiers. So it's a very, very complicated equation.

COSTELLO: Oh, yes. Well, Mike, from what I understand, the United States has given North Korea aid. What else does it want?

CHINOY: Well, the United States has given North Korea humanitarian aid, but don't forget, earlier this year President Bush in his speech at the, in January, lumped North Korea in with Iraq as part of the so-called axis of evil. And the language and tone of the Bush administration towards the regime in Pyongyang has been much less conciliatory, much harsher, speaking bluntly about how terrible things are in North Korea.

And from the North Korean point of view, they're one of the few remaining surviving communist dictatorships. They've seen all their ideological allies of the cold war, except for the Chinese, disappear, as the communists used to say, unto the dust bin of history. And regime survival, according to a lot of analysts, is what's really driving the North Koreans. They are terrified that they, too, will collapse and they may well see having this nuclear capability of some kind as one of the few cards they have to play to try and keep themselves afloat.

COSTELLO: A very frightening card.

Mike Chinoy, thanks very much.

We understand the situation a lot better now.

For more on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, log onto our Web site at cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com