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White House Considers 1994 Agreement on North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Program Dead
Aired October 21, 2002 - 05:14 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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: The White House says that it considers the 1994 agreement on North Korea's nuclear weapons program now effectively dead. A U.S. envoy, James Kelly, now in Tokyo, where the Japanese government has expressed grave concerns over North Korea's admission.
Let's go to CNN Tokyo bureau chief Rebecca MacKinnon, who's on the phone with us now with the very latest -- Rebecca, what can you tell us?
REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Catherine.
Well, it's now Monday night here in Japan and Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly has just finished the last stop on his Asian trip, visiting countries in North Korea's neighborhood -- China, South Korea and now Japan. He's been working to drum up maximum pressure, as he puts it, on North Korea to scrap its nuclear weapons program.
Now, Japan is a close U.S. ally and Washington's hoping Japan can pull some leverage on North Korea and Washington is trying to coordinate strategies.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has just visited North Korea last month. And when he was there, he got a commitment from North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il, that North Korea would actually live up to its international agreements. And that was supposed to have covered the 1994 agreement it now admits to having violated.
So Japanese diplomats are now going to meet North Korean officials for more talks next week. These were previously scheduled talks, but they come at a fortunate time, in a way. They've got both a carrot and a stick to dangle in front of North Korea. North Korea wants to set up diplomatic relations with Japan, which would bring in a lot of economic investment and aid money. But Japan is saying that that's simply not going to happen unless North Korea scraps that nuclear weapons program -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: Rebecca, what is the possibility of North Korea actually having one on one conversations with the U.S.?
MACKINNON: Well, that is some ways away, most likely. But the first step is going to be Japan speaking to the North Koreans. Now, we've had the South Koreans reporting the North Koreans have told them they want to speak to the United Nations. Now, the next people to meet with the North Koreans will be the Japanese. The Japanese are hoping to get a better sense and in some ways act as a middleman to see how the U.S. and the North Koreans might move towards some form of talks.
So in a way the Japanese at this point are playing a very important middle role in bringing the two together, if they can be brought together -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: Right, an important role, indeed.
OK, Rebecca, thank you.
That's Rebecca MacKinnon joining us from Tokyo this morning.
Thanks, Rebecca.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Korea's Nuclear Weapons Program Effectively Dead>
Aired October 21, 2002 - 05:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: The White House says that it considers the 1994 agreement on North Korea's nuclear weapons program now effectively dead. A U.S. envoy, James Kelly, now in Tokyo, where the Japanese government has expressed grave concerns over North Korea's admission.
Let's go to CNN Tokyo bureau chief Rebecca MacKinnon, who's on the phone with us now with the very latest -- Rebecca, what can you tell us?
REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Catherine.
Well, it's now Monday night here in Japan and Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly has just finished the last stop on his Asian trip, visiting countries in North Korea's neighborhood -- China, South Korea and now Japan. He's been working to drum up maximum pressure, as he puts it, on North Korea to scrap its nuclear weapons program.
Now, Japan is a close U.S. ally and Washington's hoping Japan can pull some leverage on North Korea and Washington is trying to coordinate strategies.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has just visited North Korea last month. And when he was there, he got a commitment from North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il, that North Korea would actually live up to its international agreements. And that was supposed to have covered the 1994 agreement it now admits to having violated.
So Japanese diplomats are now going to meet North Korean officials for more talks next week. These were previously scheduled talks, but they come at a fortunate time, in a way. They've got both a carrot and a stick to dangle in front of North Korea. North Korea wants to set up diplomatic relations with Japan, which would bring in a lot of economic investment and aid money. But Japan is saying that that's simply not going to happen unless North Korea scraps that nuclear weapons program -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: Rebecca, what is the possibility of North Korea actually having one on one conversations with the U.S.?
MACKINNON: Well, that is some ways away, most likely. But the first step is going to be Japan speaking to the North Koreans. Now, we've had the South Koreans reporting the North Koreans have told them they want to speak to the United Nations. Now, the next people to meet with the North Koreans will be the Japanese. The Japanese are hoping to get a better sense and in some ways act as a middleman to see how the U.S. and the North Koreans might move towards some form of talks.
So in a way the Japanese at this point are playing a very important middle role in bringing the two together, if they can be brought together -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: Right, an important role, indeed.
OK, Rebecca, thank you.
That's Rebecca MacKinnon joining us from Tokyo this morning.
Thanks, Rebecca.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Korea's Nuclear Weapons Program Effectively Dead>
