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North Korea Claims Yes, It Does Have a Nuclear Bomb
Aired April 25, 2003 - 05:06 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: Three days of Beijing talks aimed at defusing the North Korean nuclear crisis have ended after North Korea claims yes, it does have a nuclear bomb. Right now the top U.S. diplomat at those talks is in South Korea briefing that government's leadership.
Sohn Jie-Ae, our Seoul bureau chief, joins us with more -- good morning.
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning or good afternoon, Carol.
Mr. -- U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly is in Seoul. He is now heading to meetings with South Korea's foreign minister and other foreign ministry officials. Earlier in the day, however, the focus was in Beijing, where Chinese foreign ministry officials talked about the conclusion of the three way talks between the United States, China and North Korea. The Chinese foreign ministry official told reporters that the talks were what he said, "a good beginning in order to get the diplomatic resolution of North Korea's nuclear issue."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIU JIANCHAO, SPOKESMAN, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER: During the talks, the participating parties made clear their own positions and fully exchanged views on the relevant matters and achieved better understanding. All the parties demonstrated their desire for a peaceful settlement of the issue. All the parties agreed to further study the positions of other sides and liaise through diplomatic channels on furthering the Beijing talks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIE-AE: Now, Mr. Kelly is also expected to meet people with, from President, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's presidential house before he heads to Tokyo debrief Tokyo officials, as well. South Korean officials, after hearing about the possible news that came out of Beijing and Washington, had a relatively low key approach. They did want to comment on the reports that North Korea may have told Washington officials that it had a nuclear weapon. South Korean officials say that they did not want to make an official comment until they got the debrief from Mr. Kelly, but they did also mention that even if it is true that North Korea was reported to have said that to Mr. Kelly, that it should not be too much of a surprise, because it was known all along that North Korea had the capability to produce such weapons. And so South Korean officials trying to keep this very, very -- relatively low key, trying not to sound too almost at what could be cause for raising tensions again on the Korean Peninsula -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, a question for you. What does North Korea want? I mean these talks went on, they lasted for three days, everybody's saying well, further study is needed. But what does North Korea want to stop its nuclear program?
JIE-AE: Well, North Korea wants a lot of things and North Korea is in need of a lot of things. It's in dire economic straits. It wants economic aid. It wants recognition by the international community. It wants normalization of ties with the United States. It also wants security guarantees. After seeing the toppling of Iraq, it needs a guarantee from the United States that it would not do the same thing to the North Korean regime.
So North Korea needs and is seeking a lot of things and one of the analysts are saying that this is North Korea's way to ensure that it will actually get what it needs -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, we'll see if it does, indeed, get what it needs.
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 25, 2003 - 05:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Three days of Beijing talks aimed at defusing the North Korean nuclear crisis have ended after North Korea claims yes, it does have a nuclear bomb. Right now the top U.S. diplomat at those talks is in South Korea briefing that government's leadership.
Sohn Jie-Ae, our Seoul bureau chief, joins us with more -- good morning.
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning or good afternoon, Carol.
Mr. -- U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly is in Seoul. He is now heading to meetings with South Korea's foreign minister and other foreign ministry officials. Earlier in the day, however, the focus was in Beijing, where Chinese foreign ministry officials talked about the conclusion of the three way talks between the United States, China and North Korea. The Chinese foreign ministry official told reporters that the talks were what he said, "a good beginning in order to get the diplomatic resolution of North Korea's nuclear issue."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIU JIANCHAO, SPOKESMAN, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER: During the talks, the participating parties made clear their own positions and fully exchanged views on the relevant matters and achieved better understanding. All the parties demonstrated their desire for a peaceful settlement of the issue. All the parties agreed to further study the positions of other sides and liaise through diplomatic channels on furthering the Beijing talks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIE-AE: Now, Mr. Kelly is also expected to meet people with, from President, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's presidential house before he heads to Tokyo debrief Tokyo officials, as well. South Korean officials, after hearing about the possible news that came out of Beijing and Washington, had a relatively low key approach. They did want to comment on the reports that North Korea may have told Washington officials that it had a nuclear weapon. South Korean officials say that they did not want to make an official comment until they got the debrief from Mr. Kelly, but they did also mention that even if it is true that North Korea was reported to have said that to Mr. Kelly, that it should not be too much of a surprise, because it was known all along that North Korea had the capability to produce such weapons. And so South Korean officials trying to keep this very, very -- relatively low key, trying not to sound too almost at what could be cause for raising tensions again on the Korean Peninsula -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, a question for you. What does North Korea want? I mean these talks went on, they lasted for three days, everybody's saying well, further study is needed. But what does North Korea want to stop its nuclear program?
JIE-AE: Well, North Korea wants a lot of things and North Korea is in need of a lot of things. It's in dire economic straits. It wants economic aid. It wants recognition by the international community. It wants normalization of ties with the United States. It also wants security guarantees. After seeing the toppling of Iraq, it needs a guarantee from the United States that it would not do the same thing to the North Korean regime.
So North Korea needs and is seeking a lot of things and one of the analysts are saying that this is North Korea's way to ensure that it will actually get what it needs -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, we'll see if it does, indeed, get what it needs.
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
