Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Look at What North Korea Really Wants From United States
Aired January 14, 2003 - 05:34 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 back to our lead story, North Korea's escalating nuclear threat. Washington's point man on the issue is heading to China this morning. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly has wrapped up talks with South Korea on the stand- off with the North. And it appears the U.S. is softening its stance. Kelly says Washington is now willing to hold talks with the North and could resume energy assistance if Pyongyang scraps its nuclear program.
And we now want to take you inside North Korea. Part two of our series looks at what the reclusive communist nation really wants from the United States.
CNN's State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel explains the rocky relationship between Washington and Pyongyang.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nine U.S. presidents have come and gone since a cease-fire agreement with North Korea in July 1953. But the U.S. government's relationship with North Korea's leaders has changed little. U.S. and South Korean soldiers still routinely patrol the demilitarized zone, which separates a now vibrant democratic South Korea from its isolated communist neighbor.
PAK GIL YON, NORTH KOREAN AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: It is none other than the United States which wrecks peace and security on the Korean Peninsula.
KOPPEL: The current crisis over North Korea's nuclear weapons program is just the latest in a series of standoffs between Washington and Pyongyang. In 1968, North Korea seized the USS Pueblo, a U.S. spy ship, and held 82 U.S. sailors for almost a year. One U.S. sailor died.
Wendy Sherman was special adviser to President Clinton and the secretary of state on North Korea policy.
WENDY SHERMAN, FORMER CLINTON ADVISER: They don't know when to stop and they might find themselves falling over the edge of the cliff, down the precipice into war, even if that's not their intention.
KOPPEL: In 1993, after it first agreed to sign the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty, or NPT, North Korea threatened to pull out and forced weapons inspectors to leave. The U.S., it seemed, was poised for war. But months of high stakes diplomacy, including a trip to Pyongyang by former President Jimmy Carter, paid off in 1994. The North agreed to freeze its nuclear program in exchange for fuel oil and two light water nuclear reactors. By October 2000, the U.S. and North Korea appeared close to a missile deal and normalizing diplomatic relations.
SHERMAN: They wanted two things from us primarily. One, they wanted us to help them launch communications satellites. Secondly, they wanted some benefits.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: States like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil.
KOPPEL: Suspicious and highly critical of Kim Jong Il's brutal dictatorship, President Bush sought to further isolate the North. Last October, the U.S. confronted the Stalinist state, which admitted it had a secret nuclear weapons program. The U.S. and its allies stopped fuel shipments and within weeks the North upped the ante, tossed out inspectors and withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I think it's a very serious situation. One thing I will say is that we're not going to be intimidated.
KOPPEL: But experts say neither will the North.
SHERMAN: They're rattling the saber loudly because they know that we understand how catastrophic a war would be. We are focused on Iraq.
KOPPEL (on camera): So what will defuse this crisis? North Korea says it wants the U.S. to guarantee its security in writing and to resume shipping oil. The U.S. says the North must end its nuclear weapons program. But some in the administration suggest that due to the speed with which things are unraveling, the North has already made a calculated decision to develop nukes no matter what.
Andrea Koppel, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And in part three of our series, Inside North Korea, our David Ensor will examine the power and passion of quirky leader Kim Il Jung. That's tomorrow, right here on CNN DAYBREAK.
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 14, 2003 - 05:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now back to our lead story, North Korea's escalating nuclear threat. Washington's point man on the issue is heading to China this morning. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly has wrapped up talks with South Korea on the stand- off with the North. And it appears the U.S. is softening its stance. Kelly says Washington is now willing to hold talks with the North and could resume energy assistance if Pyongyang scraps its nuclear program.
And we now want to take you inside North Korea. Part two of our series looks at what the reclusive communist nation really wants from the United States.
CNN's State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel explains the rocky relationship between Washington and Pyongyang.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nine U.S. presidents have come and gone since a cease-fire agreement with North Korea in July 1953. But the U.S. government's relationship with North Korea's leaders has changed little. U.S. and South Korean soldiers still routinely patrol the demilitarized zone, which separates a now vibrant democratic South Korea from its isolated communist neighbor.
PAK GIL YON, NORTH KOREAN AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: It is none other than the United States which wrecks peace and security on the Korean Peninsula.
KOPPEL: The current crisis over North Korea's nuclear weapons program is just the latest in a series of standoffs between Washington and Pyongyang. In 1968, North Korea seized the USS Pueblo, a U.S. spy ship, and held 82 U.S. sailors for almost a year. One U.S. sailor died.
Wendy Sherman was special adviser to President Clinton and the secretary of state on North Korea policy.
WENDY SHERMAN, FORMER CLINTON ADVISER: They don't know when to stop and they might find themselves falling over the edge of the cliff, down the precipice into war, even if that's not their intention.
KOPPEL: In 1993, after it first agreed to sign the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty, or NPT, North Korea threatened to pull out and forced weapons inspectors to leave. The U.S., it seemed, was poised for war. But months of high stakes diplomacy, including a trip to Pyongyang by former President Jimmy Carter, paid off in 1994. The North agreed to freeze its nuclear program in exchange for fuel oil and two light water nuclear reactors. By October 2000, the U.S. and North Korea appeared close to a missile deal and normalizing diplomatic relations.
SHERMAN: They wanted two things from us primarily. One, they wanted us to help them launch communications satellites. Secondly, they wanted some benefits.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: States like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil.
KOPPEL: Suspicious and highly critical of Kim Jong Il's brutal dictatorship, President Bush sought to further isolate the North. Last October, the U.S. confronted the Stalinist state, which admitted it had a secret nuclear weapons program. The U.S. and its allies stopped fuel shipments and within weeks the North upped the ante, tossed out inspectors and withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I think it's a very serious situation. One thing I will say is that we're not going to be intimidated.
KOPPEL: But experts say neither will the North.
SHERMAN: They're rattling the saber loudly because they know that we understand how catastrophic a war would be. We are focused on Iraq.
KOPPEL (on camera): So what will defuse this crisis? North Korea says it wants the U.S. to guarantee its security in writing and to resume shipping oil. The U.S. says the North must end its nuclear weapons program. But some in the administration suggest that due to the speed with which things are unraveling, the North has already made a calculated decision to develop nukes no matter what.
Andrea Koppel, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And in part three of our series, Inside North Korea, our David Ensor will examine the power and passion of quirky leader Kim Il Jung. That's tomorrow, right here on CNN DAYBREAK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
