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CNN Live At Daybreak
North Korea Issue
Aired April 22, 2003 - 06:11 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 on to the subject of North Korea. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly and a U.S. delegation arrived in Beijing today for talks on North Korea's nuclear program. Three days of meetings with Chinese and North Korean officials are scheduled to begin tomorrow. U.S. officials are saying they don't expect a breakthrough during the talks, but they do admit to some optimism.
But what can we expect from these talks and will China carry a big enough stick to convince the North Koreans to cooperate?
We have placed a "Wake-Up Call" to our State Department producer Elise Labott.
Good morning -- Elise.
ELISE LABOTT, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: Good morning -- Carol.
COSTELLO: So what exactly are they expecting from these talks?
LABOTT: Well, it's really the same message that the U.S. has been trying to get through to the North Koreans for months. Mr. Kelly is expected to press Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions in favor of better ties with the U.S. and the rest of the international community.
Yesterday, we heard about an interesting memo written by Defense Secretary Rumsfeld suggesting the U.S. should work with China to force a regime change in North Korea. But Secretary Powell has favored diplomatic engagement all along with the North, and even President Bush said over the weekend he saw a good chance North Korea could be persuaded to stop developing nuclear weapons.
COSTELLO: So right now these multilateral talks just involve China, the United States and North Korea. Will Japan and South Korea join in at some point?
LABOTT: Well the U.S. certainly hopes so. The Bush administration is calling these talks initial discussions and says that future rounds must include those countries, maybe even countries like Russia who have close ties with North Korea. The U.S. calls this an international problem, Carol. The North had insisted on bilateral talks with the U.S., finally agreed to hold them with China present; but U.S. officials say it's really impossible for any tangible progress to come from such talks without North Korea's neighbors involved. COSTELLO: Yes, and China is the important country in all of this because it has some influence over North Korean officials.
LABOTT: Well certainly they do have close ties with North Korea. They have a lot of influence over North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, but Japan and certainly South Korea have the real issues involved in dealing with some of these disputes with North Korea over the border and Japan has some issues related to POWs. So certainly the U.S. wants to get those countries involved, kind of I want to use the word comprehensive deal, comprehensive settlement (ph) in dealing with all of the issues that are involved in this dispute -- Carol.
COSTELLO: See what happens. Elise Labott, reporting live on the phone from Washington, many thanks to you.
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 22, 2003 - 06:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now on to the subject of North Korea. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly and a U.S. delegation arrived in Beijing today for talks on North Korea's nuclear program. Three days of meetings with Chinese and North Korean officials are scheduled to begin tomorrow. U.S. officials are saying they don't expect a breakthrough during the talks, but they do admit to some optimism.
But what can we expect from these talks and will China carry a big enough stick to convince the North Koreans to cooperate?
We have placed a "Wake-Up Call" to our State Department producer Elise Labott.
Good morning -- Elise.
ELISE LABOTT, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: Good morning -- Carol.
COSTELLO: So what exactly are they expecting from these talks?
LABOTT: Well, it's really the same message that the U.S. has been trying to get through to the North Koreans for months. Mr. Kelly is expected to press Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions in favor of better ties with the U.S. and the rest of the international community.
Yesterday, we heard about an interesting memo written by Defense Secretary Rumsfeld suggesting the U.S. should work with China to force a regime change in North Korea. But Secretary Powell has favored diplomatic engagement all along with the North, and even President Bush said over the weekend he saw a good chance North Korea could be persuaded to stop developing nuclear weapons.
COSTELLO: So right now these multilateral talks just involve China, the United States and North Korea. Will Japan and South Korea join in at some point?
LABOTT: Well the U.S. certainly hopes so. The Bush administration is calling these talks initial discussions and says that future rounds must include those countries, maybe even countries like Russia who have close ties with North Korea. The U.S. calls this an international problem, Carol. The North had insisted on bilateral talks with the U.S., finally agreed to hold them with China present; but U.S. officials say it's really impossible for any tangible progress to come from such talks without North Korea's neighbors involved. COSTELLO: Yes, and China is the important country in all of this because it has some influence over North Korean officials.
LABOTT: Well certainly they do have close ties with North Korea. They have a lot of influence over North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, but Japan and certainly South Korea have the real issues involved in dealing with some of these disputes with North Korea over the border and Japan has some issues related to POWs. So certainly the U.S. wants to get those countries involved, kind of I want to use the word comprehensive deal, comprehensive settlement (ph) in dealing with all of the issues that are involved in this dispute -- Carol.
COSTELLO: See what happens. Elise Labott, reporting live on the phone from Washington, many thanks to you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
