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Bush Team Offering Incentives to North Korea
Aired January 13, 2003 - 11:00 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Diplomacy on the peninsula: the Bush team is offering North Korea an incentive to drop its nuclear ambitions.
Our senior White House correspondent, John King, joins us this morning with more on that -- John, good morning.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn. White House officials insisting there can be and will be no quid pro quo, no direct negotiations with North Korea saying the United States will give you this if you abandon your nuclear weapons program, but the administration publicly dangling what you might call a carrot in front of the North Korean regime today.
All this taking place during a highly sensitive diplomatic mission by assistant Secretary of State James Kelly. He is in Seoul, South Korea beginning a round of consultations with key Asian allies on how to deal with the nuclear standoff with North Korea.
Ambassador Kelly says the United States is ready to talk to North Korea, just waiting for North Korea to call to arrange those conversations, and he says the first round must be about and only about North Korea's nuclear weapons program and setting it aside, getting a verifiable commitment from North Korea that it will end its nuclear weapons program, but Mr. Kelly also saying that if there is success in a first round of conversations, perhaps there could be a second round.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES KELLY, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: Once we can get beyond nuclear weapons, there may be opportunities with the U.S., with private investors, with other countries, to help North Korea in the energy area.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now, still no sustained direct contact between the Bush administration and North Korea. The North Korean diplomats from the United Nations in New York did spend much of their weekend in New Mexico meeting with Governor Bill Richardson, a Democrat, and a former U.N. ambassador in the Clinton administration.
Governor Richardson has passed on his report to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Governor Richardson saying he believes the North Koreans, despite all the rhetoric out of their government, are ready to sit down for a diplomatic solution to this nuclear standoff. We are told by sources here at the White House and at the State Department that they are waiting for a call from the North Koreans. The North Koreans say they would like a meeting in New York as early as this week. Nothing scheduled. The administration says that is possible, but only if North Korea acknowledges that any first round of consultations would be only about getting a commitment to end that nuclear weapons program, then there could come further consultations and, perhaps, some assistance from the United States -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And so, John, how does this work with the administration previously saying they would not reward North Korea for firing up any kind of weapons programs, and also saying that it wasn't going to speak to North Korea? How do they go back around that without being politically embarrassed.
KING: Well, the administration for some time has said it will talk to North Korea. It says it will not negotiate. That has been the position for some time here. The administration says conversation, Yes, but only about the nuclear program, no quid pro quo.
As to how would they then have conversations about energy, aid or economic aid, and say they are not giving in to nuclear blackmail, what the administration says is back in October, when Ambassador Kelly presented the evidence to North Korea about its new secret nuclear program, at that point, the United States was prepared to discuss further relations with North Korea, including the possibility of more energy aid, more economic aid down the road, perhaps even diplomatic recognition between the two countries.
So in October, that was the administration's position. What the administration says now is, Get us back to the situation we were in October, verify that there is no nuclear weapons program, and they would be prepared to go forward and put this unfortunate incident behind. The administration says it still hopes that can come about.
KAGAN: John King at the White House. John, thank you -- Leon.
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 13, 2003 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Diplomacy on the peninsula: the Bush team is offering North Korea an incentive to drop its nuclear ambitions.
Our senior White House correspondent, John King, joins us this morning with more on that -- John, good morning.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn. White House officials insisting there can be and will be no quid pro quo, no direct negotiations with North Korea saying the United States will give you this if you abandon your nuclear weapons program, but the administration publicly dangling what you might call a carrot in front of the North Korean regime today.
All this taking place during a highly sensitive diplomatic mission by assistant Secretary of State James Kelly. He is in Seoul, South Korea beginning a round of consultations with key Asian allies on how to deal with the nuclear standoff with North Korea.
Ambassador Kelly says the United States is ready to talk to North Korea, just waiting for North Korea to call to arrange those conversations, and he says the first round must be about and only about North Korea's nuclear weapons program and setting it aside, getting a verifiable commitment from North Korea that it will end its nuclear weapons program, but Mr. Kelly also saying that if there is success in a first round of conversations, perhaps there could be a second round.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES KELLY, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: Once we can get beyond nuclear weapons, there may be opportunities with the U.S., with private investors, with other countries, to help North Korea in the energy area.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now, still no sustained direct contact between the Bush administration and North Korea. The North Korean diplomats from the United Nations in New York did spend much of their weekend in New Mexico meeting with Governor Bill Richardson, a Democrat, and a former U.N. ambassador in the Clinton administration.
Governor Richardson has passed on his report to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Governor Richardson saying he believes the North Koreans, despite all the rhetoric out of their government, are ready to sit down for a diplomatic solution to this nuclear standoff. We are told by sources here at the White House and at the State Department that they are waiting for a call from the North Koreans. The North Koreans say they would like a meeting in New York as early as this week. Nothing scheduled. The administration says that is possible, but only if North Korea acknowledges that any first round of consultations would be only about getting a commitment to end that nuclear weapons program, then there could come further consultations and, perhaps, some assistance from the United States -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And so, John, how does this work with the administration previously saying they would not reward North Korea for firing up any kind of weapons programs, and also saying that it wasn't going to speak to North Korea? How do they go back around that without being politically embarrassed.
KING: Well, the administration for some time has said it will talk to North Korea. It says it will not negotiate. That has been the position for some time here. The administration says conversation, Yes, but only about the nuclear program, no quid pro quo.
As to how would they then have conversations about energy, aid or economic aid, and say they are not giving in to nuclear blackmail, what the administration says is back in October, when Ambassador Kelly presented the evidence to North Korea about its new secret nuclear program, at that point, the United States was prepared to discuss further relations with North Korea, including the possibility of more energy aid, more economic aid down the road, perhaps even diplomatic recognition between the two countries.
So in October, that was the administration's position. What the administration says now is, Get us back to the situation we were in October, verify that there is no nuclear weapons program, and they would be prepared to go forward and put this unfortunate incident behind. The administration says it still hopes that can come about.
KAGAN: John King at the White House. John, thank you -- Leon.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
