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American Morning

Discussion With Peter Brooks

Aired January 03, 2003 - 08:04   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, right now North Korea is one of the president's top priorities. A high level meeting is scheduled for next week in Washington with officials coming in from the U.S., Japan and South Korea to discuss the situation.
Joining us now from Washington to talk more about North Korea's nuclear ambitions is Peter Brooks of the Heritage Foundation.

Good to see you this morning and happy new year to you, Peter.

PETER BROOKS, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Good morning, Leon.

Happy new year to you, too.

HARRIS: What do you expect to come out of this meeting, this trilateral meeting next week?

BROOKS: Well, these meetings take place quarterly between Japan, South Korea and the United States in one of the three capitals. I expect that next week that we'll have a real airing of the issues that present, that face each one of these different capitals. There will be some coordination. They'll look for ways to cooperate and come up with some sort of consolidation or consensus on how to move forward, because it's very important that Tokyo and Seoul and Washington move forward together regarding North Korea.

HARRIS: Well, how seriously do you view the differences between Washington and these other capitals. And I've also heard it said that perhaps the differences between Washington and Seoul are actually more important than the differences between Washington and Pyongyang.

What do you think about that?

BROOKS: Well, clearly, South Korea has a very strong interest in North Korea and what happens there. It's a domestic issue. You could equate it to maybe what we think about Social Security or health care. I mean it's not a foreign policy issue. It's a domestic issue for them. Remember, these are Korean people that have been divided by a war for over 50 years.

Now, it's very important that all of us work together and I think that to talk of a rift between Seoul and Washington is overstated. I think that they will all, we all have fundamental interests and a fundamental desire for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and a non-nuclear peninsula.

But the fact is is that we all have a little bit of variation in our interests below that fundamental interest of peace and stability.

HARRIS: So you think the media, then, is overstating the differences here and you don't really read much into the anti-U.S. sentiment that we're seeing displayed on the streets of South Korea?

BROOKS: Yes, that's my belief. Remember that the elections are, this is a fully fledged democracy, a two party democracy there in Korea. The fact is is that there was just a trial regarding some American servicemen that were involved in the very regrettable death of some young Korean girls during military maneuvers. They were acquitted. The tensions and emotions were very high. And I think that some of what people consider to be anti-American sentiment was really overstated by the media.

The fact is is that we do have the same fundamental interests regarding North Korea. We have to deter aggression. We have to deal with the nuclear problem. And we'd hopefully see some sort of reconciliation of these two peoples in the future.

HARRIS: Well, then what do you say, then, to those who see a credibility issue here with this administration, when they come out at one point and have established this zero tolerance policy, even establishing that perhaps they would authorize nuclear preemptive strikes to keep a rogue nation from getting weapons and then a nation in which they have called part of the axis of evil develops these weapons right under their noses and kicks out U.N. weapons inspectors and yet they back, they soft pedal on them.

What do you think about that?

BROOKS: No, I don't think that's the case at all. I think the fact is is that there is a different approach to each one of these cases, whether you're talking about the war on terror, whether you're talking about Iran, Iraq or North Korea. There's no cookie cutter approach to foreign policy. The fact is is that North Korea is different from Iran and Iran is different from Iraq and that the war on terror is different from that.

So you have to look at each one of these individually and you have to come up with a strategy. In this case, we have to deal very closely with Japan and South Korea. But Russia and China and some others are also major players there. So I don't think that's the case at all. I think the administration's declaratory policy about requiring North Korea to move back on its nuclear program -- because they're already in violation of four international agreements -- before we go into direct negotiations with them on this is absolutely right. I don't think -- we have to be very careful about rewarding bad behavior and setting a policy precedent that will encourage others to do the same and potentially blackmail or extort us.

HARRIS: OK, before we run out of time, I want to hear what you have to say about Russia. You just mentioned Russia and that's the first time we've talked about them this morning. What do you think, what kind of role do you see Russia playing here?

BROOKS: Well, hopefully they can play a positive role, just like China. I think China could play a bigger role. But Russia, remember, had a longstanding relationship. Russia and North Korea were client states during the Soviet Union times. They still have some historical legacy there. They still probably have some influence, but much less than China. China is a very key player besides the United States, Japan and South Korea. But Russia can play a positive role and hopefully they will.

As you know, the South Koreans have sent an envoy to Moscow to discuss this issue.

HARRIS: Yes, exactly. We're going to have to wait and see what happens with that trip.

Peter Brooks, thank you very much.

Appreciate your time this morning.

BROOKS: Thank you, Leon.

HARRIS: Happy new year to you.

BROOKS: Happy new year.

HARRIS: We'll talk to you later on.

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 January 3, 2003 - 08:04   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, right now North Korea is one of the president's top priorities. A high level meeting is scheduled for next week in Washington with officials coming in from the U.S., Japan and South Korea to discuss the situation.
Joining us now from Washington to talk more about North Korea's nuclear ambitions is Peter Brooks of the Heritage Foundation.

Good to see you this morning and happy new year to you, Peter.

PETER BROOKS, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Good morning, Leon.

Happy new year to you, too.

HARRIS: What do you expect to come out of this meeting, this trilateral meeting next week?

BROOKS: Well, these meetings take place quarterly between Japan, South Korea and the United States in one of the three capitals. I expect that next week that we'll have a real airing of the issues that present, that face each one of these different capitals. There will be some coordination. They'll look for ways to cooperate and come up with some sort of consolidation or consensus on how to move forward, because it's very important that Tokyo and Seoul and Washington move forward together regarding North Korea.

HARRIS: Well, how seriously do you view the differences between Washington and these other capitals. And I've also heard it said that perhaps the differences between Washington and Seoul are actually more important than the differences between Washington and Pyongyang.

What do you think about that?

BROOKS: Well, clearly, South Korea has a very strong interest in North Korea and what happens there. It's a domestic issue. You could equate it to maybe what we think about Social Security or health care. I mean it's not a foreign policy issue. It's a domestic issue for them. Remember, these are Korean people that have been divided by a war for over 50 years.

Now, it's very important that all of us work together and I think that to talk of a rift between Seoul and Washington is overstated. I think that they will all, we all have fundamental interests and a fundamental desire for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and a non-nuclear peninsula.

But the fact is is that we all have a little bit of variation in our interests below that fundamental interest of peace and stability.

HARRIS: So you think the media, then, is overstating the differences here and you don't really read much into the anti-U.S. sentiment that we're seeing displayed on the streets of South Korea?

BROOKS: Yes, that's my belief. Remember that the elections are, this is a fully fledged democracy, a two party democracy there in Korea. The fact is is that there was just a trial regarding some American servicemen that were involved in the very regrettable death of some young Korean girls during military maneuvers. They were acquitted. The tensions and emotions were very high. And I think that some of what people consider to be anti-American sentiment was really overstated by the media.

The fact is is that we do have the same fundamental interests regarding North Korea. We have to deter aggression. We have to deal with the nuclear problem. And we'd hopefully see some sort of reconciliation of these two peoples in the future.

HARRIS: Well, then what do you say, then, to those who see a credibility issue here with this administration, when they come out at one point and have established this zero tolerance policy, even establishing that perhaps they would authorize nuclear preemptive strikes to keep a rogue nation from getting weapons and then a nation in which they have called part of the axis of evil develops these weapons right under their noses and kicks out U.N. weapons inspectors and yet they back, they soft pedal on them.

What do you think about that?

BROOKS: No, I don't think that's the case at all. I think the fact is is that there is a different approach to each one of these cases, whether you're talking about the war on terror, whether you're talking about Iran, Iraq or North Korea. There's no cookie cutter approach to foreign policy. The fact is is that North Korea is different from Iran and Iran is different from Iraq and that the war on terror is different from that.

So you have to look at each one of these individually and you have to come up with a strategy. In this case, we have to deal very closely with Japan and South Korea. But Russia and China and some others are also major players there. So I don't think that's the case at all. I think the administration's declaratory policy about requiring North Korea to move back on its nuclear program -- because they're already in violation of four international agreements -- before we go into direct negotiations with them on this is absolutely right. I don't think -- we have to be very careful about rewarding bad behavior and setting a policy precedent that will encourage others to do the same and potentially blackmail or extort us.

HARRIS: OK, before we run out of time, I want to hear what you have to say about Russia. You just mentioned Russia and that's the first time we've talked about them this morning. What do you think, what kind of role do you see Russia playing here?

BROOKS: Well, hopefully they can play a positive role, just like China. I think China could play a bigger role. But Russia, remember, had a longstanding relationship. Russia and North Korea were client states during the Soviet Union times. They still have some historical legacy there. They still probably have some influence, but much less than China. China is a very key player besides the United States, Japan and South Korea. But Russia can play a positive role and hopefully they will.

As you know, the South Koreans have sent an envoy to Moscow to discuss this issue.

HARRIS: Yes, exactly. We're going to have to wait and see what happens with that trip.

Peter Brooks, thank you very much.

Appreciate your time this morning.

BROOKS: Thank you, Leon.

HARRIS: Happy new year to you.

BROOKS: Happy new year.

HARRIS: We'll talk to you later on.

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