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CNN Live At Daybreak
Korea Talks: New Meeting Set
Aired April 21, 2003 - 06:42 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: The two Koreas today agree to talk, the head of next week's meeting on North Korea's nuclear program in Beijing.
We take you now live to Seoul to talk with CNN's Seoul bureau chief Sohn Jie-Ae, good morning.
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN SEOUL BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.
South Korea has accepted North Korea's proposal for interKorean (ph) cabinet level meetings to be held in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang from the 27th to 29th of this month. Now these interKorean talks are ongoing talks and primarily focus on interKorean issues such as economic and industrial projects between the two Koreas. But since these talks would follow on the heels of the Beijing talks between the U.S., North Korea and China, Seoul officials expect the nuclear issue to be high on the agenda. They expect to ask North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions and to try to convince North Korean officials that it would be in their best interest to do so.
Now the two Koreas have various industrial projects that are -- that are going on between the two countries and North Korea wants rice and fertilizer aid from South Korea. So South Korea believes that it has an angle of sorts that it -- that it can influence North Korea to try to give up its nuclear program and that it would probably try to do so in the upcoming talks -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And of course those -- there'll be more talks and the United States will be involved in those talks later on. And this is looked upon as a very positive sign and possibly a confession from North Korea. Is it being viewed that way over there?
JIE-AE: It is, Carol. In a way, some analysts say, that North Korea was actually trying to extend an olive branch to South Korea. Now South Korea was excluded from these three-way talks in Beijing and so there was a lot of concern here in South Korea that it would be excluded, there was that they would not have a voice in trying to resolve the nuclear issue. And some believed that by suggesting these talks in the first place, North Korea was trying to say that even though they did not want South Korea to be involved in the initial talks with the United States and China that interKorean channels are still up and running -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Understand. Sohn Jie-Ae reporting live from Seoul, South Korea this morning.
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 21, 2003 - 06:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The two Koreas today agree to talk, the head of next week's meeting on North Korea's nuclear program in Beijing.
We take you now live to Seoul to talk with CNN's Seoul bureau chief Sohn Jie-Ae, good morning.
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN SEOUL BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.
South Korea has accepted North Korea's proposal for interKorean (ph) cabinet level meetings to be held in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang from the 27th to 29th of this month. Now these interKorean talks are ongoing talks and primarily focus on interKorean issues such as economic and industrial projects between the two Koreas. But since these talks would follow on the heels of the Beijing talks between the U.S., North Korea and China, Seoul officials expect the nuclear issue to be high on the agenda. They expect to ask North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions and to try to convince North Korean officials that it would be in their best interest to do so.
Now the two Koreas have various industrial projects that are -- that are going on between the two countries and North Korea wants rice and fertilizer aid from South Korea. So South Korea believes that it has an angle of sorts that it -- that it can influence North Korea to try to give up its nuclear program and that it would probably try to do so in the upcoming talks -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And of course those -- there'll be more talks and the United States will be involved in those talks later on. And this is looked upon as a very positive sign and possibly a confession from North Korea. Is it being viewed that way over there?
JIE-AE: It is, Carol. In a way, some analysts say, that North Korea was actually trying to extend an olive branch to South Korea. Now South Korea was excluded from these three-way talks in Beijing and so there was a lot of concern here in South Korea that it would be excluded, there was that they would not have a voice in trying to resolve the nuclear issue. And some believed that by suggesting these talks in the first place, North Korea was trying to say that even though they did not want South Korea to be involved in the initial talks with the United States and China that interKorean channels are still up and running -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Understand. Sohn Jie-Ae reporting live from Seoul, South Korea this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
