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CNN Live At Daybreak
North Korea Kicks Out U.N. Nuclear Monitors
Aired December 31, 2002 - 05:06 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: We're going to turn now to the North Korean nuclear crisis this morning. That communist nation has kicked out U.N. nuclear monitors, and that's the latest big concern in the escalating situation.
We'll take you now live to Seoul and our bureau chief Sohn Jie-Ae with the very latest.
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Catherine, we're standing in front of a major anti-American rally here in the streets of central Seoul. A few thousand people are crowding the streets here. This number is expected to swell to as many as maybe 100,000 or more as we near midnight here in South Korea and the protesters are joined by just normal South Koreans coming out to the streets to celebrate the coming of the new year.
Now, this rally is to protest a recent, acquittal by a U.S. military court of two U.S. soldiers in the negligent homicide of two South Korean school girls. But this rally here and the people that we talked to have strong anti-American tones. They are angry at the U.S. and U.S. servicemen for what they say is an unfair and unjust ruling by the military court. They want Mr. Bush to apologize in person and they want a revision of the status of forces agreement that rules the 37,000 U.S. soldiers here.
The protest is also taking on sort of anti-war tones. They are against what they see as Washington's too hard push towards North Korea. They are against the war on Iraq. And so they are looking, many of these people are looking upon the United States as standing in the way of a more peaceful reunification possibly between South and North Korea.
This, of course, is the more younger generation and lest you think that all the South Korean streets are filled with anti- Americans, there are, there is expected to be another group of protesters -- we expect it to be a little smaller than this -- of anti-anti-American protesters. They are expected to say that they are worried about talk about U.S. troops withdrawing from South Korea and they think that the U.S. here is playing a positive role.
So we have both sides represented here in the streets of Seoul today -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: All right, Sohn Jie-Ae, thank you very much.
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 December 31, 2002 - 05:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to turn now to the North Korean nuclear crisis this morning. That communist nation has kicked out U.N. nuclear monitors, and that's the latest big concern in the escalating situation.
We'll take you now live to Seoul and our bureau chief Sohn Jie-Ae with the very latest.
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Catherine, we're standing in front of a major anti-American rally here in the streets of central Seoul. A few thousand people are crowding the streets here. This number is expected to swell to as many as maybe 100,000 or more as we near midnight here in South Korea and the protesters are joined by just normal South Koreans coming out to the streets to celebrate the coming of the new year.
Now, this rally is to protest a recent, acquittal by a U.S. military court of two U.S. soldiers in the negligent homicide of two South Korean school girls. But this rally here and the people that we talked to have strong anti-American tones. They are angry at the U.S. and U.S. servicemen for what they say is an unfair and unjust ruling by the military court. They want Mr. Bush to apologize in person and they want a revision of the status of forces agreement that rules the 37,000 U.S. soldiers here.
The protest is also taking on sort of anti-war tones. They are against what they see as Washington's too hard push towards North Korea. They are against the war on Iraq. And so they are looking, many of these people are looking upon the United States as standing in the way of a more peaceful reunification possibly between South and North Korea.
This, of course, is the more younger generation and lest you think that all the South Korean streets are filled with anti- Americans, there are, there is expected to be another group of protesters -- we expect it to be a little smaller than this -- of anti-anti-American protesters. They are expected to say that they are worried about talk about U.S. troops withdrawing from South Korea and they think that the U.S. here is playing a positive role.
So we have both sides represented here in the streets of Seoul today -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: All right, Sohn Jie-Ae, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
