Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Victor Cha

Aired April 20, 2003 - 09:30   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: President Bush expected to attend Easter services at Fort Hood. Let's check in on the president's Easter. From Crawford, Texas, our Suzanne Malveaux.
Suzanne, hello, happy Easter to you.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Happy Easter to you too, as well.

President Bush is going to be spending the Easter holiday with American soldiers. So later today, he's going to be traveling to Fort Hood, Texas. That is where he's going to be attending a church service with the troops and we are also told that he is going to be meeting with the two POWs who returned late last night, officers David Williams and Ronald Young. We are told, of course, that this is going to be a private meeting. It's going to be touching and rather significant, because as you know, the president, last time he was at Fort Hood was January 3rd.

And this is home to some 42,000 troops, and half of those troops are now in Iraq. So the president really taking the time today, as well as yesterday in his weekly radio address, to thank the troops, to thank his families, and to show and tell them that he recognizes the sacrifices that they have made.

Now, the president is going to be returning to his ranch later today. He's going to be spending time with his parents, as well as close friends and other family members.

We have also heard from Australian's foreign minister today, Alexander Downer, who made a statement that US and coalition forces are now preparing to make some sort of victory declaration in the days to come. Daryn?

KAGAN: Suzanne, from one crisis to another. Upcoming talks with North Korea and China. What are the status of those talks right now?

MALVEAUX: Well, senior State Department officials said yesterday that those talks are still scheduled, that they will take place sometime this week. But, of course, as you know, there was quite a bit of concern over that when North Korea released a statement which some US officials and others felt was inflammatory and, perhaps, suggested it was escalating its nuclear weapons program.

Later, a State Department official said that it was a mistranslation, that there were conflicting reports about this, but nevertheless, State Department officials saying that Jim Kelly, the envoy from the State Department, will go to Beijing, will participate in those talks, and hopefully they'll be productive. Daryn?

KAGAN: Suzanne Malveaux in Crawford, Texas, on this Easter morning. Thank you.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: As Suzanne mentioned, President Bush has another international hot spot to deal with besides Iraq. North Korea, we're talking about, and its nuclear program. Victor Cha, a professor at Georgetown University in Washington, we are pleased he joins us to talk about North Korea. Professor Cha, thanks for being with us this Sunday morning.

VICTOR CHA, PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: My pleasure.

COOPER: Trying to figure out what Pyongyang's intentions are is like reading tea leaves. It's a very difficult thing to do, so as much as you can help us will be appreciated. It seems as though there's going to be two sets of talks. Talk about both of them, and which ones are likely to be more significant.

CHA: Well, we have two sets of talks, the first are going to be between the United States, North Korea, and China, in Beijing. Most likely this week. Those will be directly about the nuclear program. My guess is, if they go there through, those are going to be more talks about talks. They're the first set of talks in over six months and it would largely be, my guess, a laying out of initial positions.

The second set of talks, the direct north/south talks at a ministerial level. This is something that the North Koreans have proposed recently. I think for the South Korean government, this is something that they've been waiting for for a long time. You have a new South Korean government that's really interested in pursuing the sunshine policy. It's most likely those talks would probably result in more substantive products in terms of more economic interchange between the north and the south, family reunions, things of that nature.

COOPER: Though there are these talks, which a lot of people in the U.S., and especially in the Bush administration were sort of pointing to as signs of fallout from the situation in Iraq, Pyongyang saw what happened in Iraq, suddenly decided, all right, multilateral talks would be OK.

Then, just in the last couple days, you have what was perceived to be a threat about beginning the reprocessing of the fuel rods. So where do you stand? I mean, first of all, where do you stand on was this a translation mistake?

CHA: Well, I've actually went and looked at both the Korean version of the statement and the English version, and there clearly is a difference. The Korean version makes a statement about how they haven't started reprocessing, while the English version clearly makes a statement that they have started reprocessing.

I think, regardless of the way you look at this, this is clearly a case of North Korean course of bargaining. In other words, just before talks are about to start, they like to ratchet up a crisis or hold out a threat and basically say to the United States, look, we're holding this threat out in front of you. If you're not more cooperative in the talks, we'll carry out that threat.

The threat is, of course, a threat of reprocessing, which is a critical step in terms of developing nuclear weapons. And I think, regardless of how you feel about North Korean intentions, there's no denying that that was the calculated purpose of this statement or misstatement on Friday.

COOPER: I mean, I guess it's a question a lot of people would like the answer to, but what does North Korea want?

CHA: It's a very good question. I think there are a wide variety of views here. I think on the one hand, some people believe that the North Koreans saw what happened in Iraq, that they realize that the United States has a great deal of resolve after September 11, and basically, then, they're looking for a way out of this crisis. That's why they agreed to talks in Beijing, and that's why they want a security guarantee from the United States in return for an end to the nuclear weapons program that they hold.

On the other hand, there are others who believe it's not that simple. And that, in fact, what the North Koreans want, they do want security guarantees and international aide, but they also want to hold on to their nuclear weapons program. Given the past history of North Korean behavior, I don't think you can completely rule out the second of those two assessments.

COOPER: All right. Victor Cha, we'll certainly be walk watching these talks very closely. Victor Cha with Georgetown University, thanks.

CHA: My pleasure.

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 April 20, 2003 - 09:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush expected to attend Easter services at Fort Hood. Let's check in on the president's Easter. From Crawford, Texas, our Suzanne Malveaux.
Suzanne, hello, happy Easter to you.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Happy Easter to you too, as well.

President Bush is going to be spending the Easter holiday with American soldiers. So later today, he's going to be traveling to Fort Hood, Texas. That is where he's going to be attending a church service with the troops and we are also told that he is going to be meeting with the two POWs who returned late last night, officers David Williams and Ronald Young. We are told, of course, that this is going to be a private meeting. It's going to be touching and rather significant, because as you know, the president, last time he was at Fort Hood was January 3rd.

And this is home to some 42,000 troops, and half of those troops are now in Iraq. So the president really taking the time today, as well as yesterday in his weekly radio address, to thank the troops, to thank his families, and to show and tell them that he recognizes the sacrifices that they have made.

Now, the president is going to be returning to his ranch later today. He's going to be spending time with his parents, as well as close friends and other family members.

We have also heard from Australian's foreign minister today, Alexander Downer, who made a statement that US and coalition forces are now preparing to make some sort of victory declaration in the days to come. Daryn?

KAGAN: Suzanne, from one crisis to another. Upcoming talks with North Korea and China. What are the status of those talks right now?

MALVEAUX: Well, senior State Department officials said yesterday that those talks are still scheduled, that they will take place sometime this week. But, of course, as you know, there was quite a bit of concern over that when North Korea released a statement which some US officials and others felt was inflammatory and, perhaps, suggested it was escalating its nuclear weapons program.

Later, a State Department official said that it was a mistranslation, that there were conflicting reports about this, but nevertheless, State Department officials saying that Jim Kelly, the envoy from the State Department, will go to Beijing, will participate in those talks, and hopefully they'll be productive. Daryn?

KAGAN: Suzanne Malveaux in Crawford, Texas, on this Easter morning. Thank you.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: As Suzanne mentioned, President Bush has another international hot spot to deal with besides Iraq. North Korea, we're talking about, and its nuclear program. Victor Cha, a professor at Georgetown University in Washington, we are pleased he joins us to talk about North Korea. Professor Cha, thanks for being with us this Sunday morning.

VICTOR CHA, PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: My pleasure.

COOPER: Trying to figure out what Pyongyang's intentions are is like reading tea leaves. It's a very difficult thing to do, so as much as you can help us will be appreciated. It seems as though there's going to be two sets of talks. Talk about both of them, and which ones are likely to be more significant.

CHA: Well, we have two sets of talks, the first are going to be between the United States, North Korea, and China, in Beijing. Most likely this week. Those will be directly about the nuclear program. My guess is, if they go there through, those are going to be more talks about talks. They're the first set of talks in over six months and it would largely be, my guess, a laying out of initial positions.

The second set of talks, the direct north/south talks at a ministerial level. This is something that the North Koreans have proposed recently. I think for the South Korean government, this is something that they've been waiting for for a long time. You have a new South Korean government that's really interested in pursuing the sunshine policy. It's most likely those talks would probably result in more substantive products in terms of more economic interchange between the north and the south, family reunions, things of that nature.

COOPER: Though there are these talks, which a lot of people in the U.S., and especially in the Bush administration were sort of pointing to as signs of fallout from the situation in Iraq, Pyongyang saw what happened in Iraq, suddenly decided, all right, multilateral talks would be OK.

Then, just in the last couple days, you have what was perceived to be a threat about beginning the reprocessing of the fuel rods. So where do you stand? I mean, first of all, where do you stand on was this a translation mistake?

CHA: Well, I've actually went and looked at both the Korean version of the statement and the English version, and there clearly is a difference. The Korean version makes a statement about how they haven't started reprocessing, while the English version clearly makes a statement that they have started reprocessing.

I think, regardless of the way you look at this, this is clearly a case of North Korean course of bargaining. In other words, just before talks are about to start, they like to ratchet up a crisis or hold out a threat and basically say to the United States, look, we're holding this threat out in front of you. If you're not more cooperative in the talks, we'll carry out that threat.

The threat is, of course, a threat of reprocessing, which is a critical step in terms of developing nuclear weapons. And I think, regardless of how you feel about North Korean intentions, there's no denying that that was the calculated purpose of this statement or misstatement on Friday.

COOPER: I mean, I guess it's a question a lot of people would like the answer to, but what does North Korea want?

CHA: It's a very good question. I think there are a wide variety of views here. I think on the one hand, some people believe that the North Koreans saw what happened in Iraq, that they realize that the United States has a great deal of resolve after September 11, and basically, then, they're looking for a way out of this crisis. That's why they agreed to talks in Beijing, and that's why they want a security guarantee from the United States in return for an end to the nuclear weapons program that they hold.

On the other hand, there are others who believe it's not that simple. And that, in fact, what the North Koreans want, they do want security guarantees and international aide, but they also want to hold on to their nuclear weapons program. Given the past history of North Korean behavior, I don't think you can completely rule out the second of those two assessments.

COOPER: All right. Victor Cha, we'll certainly be walk watching these talks very closely. Victor Cha with Georgetown University, thanks.

CHA: My pleasure.

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