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CNN Live At Daybreak
North Korean Standoff: Nuclear Claim
Aired April 25, 2003 - 06:04 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: Turning now to the nuclear standoff with North Korea. A top U.S. diplomat is in South Korea today briefing government leaders there on the trilateral talks in Beijing. The highlight of the talks is North Korea's claim that it does have at least one nuclear bomb.
CNN's Seoul bureau chief Sohn Jie-Ae has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN SEOUL BUREAU CHIEF: South Korea reacted very cautiously to the report that North Korea might have told U.S. officials that it actually had nuclear weapons. South Korean officials would not comment on this news coming out of Beijing until they were debriefed by Mr. Kelly as he met with the foreign minister, Foreign Ministry officials, as well as South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun's people here in Seoul, before he headed to Tokyo to debrief Tokyo officials on the same meeting.
Now, South Korean officials did say that they were aware that North Korea had the capability to develop nuclear weapons, and therefore even if North Korea did tell Mr. Kelly that they had nuclear weapons that they should not be too alarmed, too surprised at the fact.
South Korean officials were concerned that this could raise tensions, nuclear tensions, once again on the Korean peninsula, South Koreans as a whole. South Korea's stock market reacted negatively to this news, and South Korean officials were concerned as they head into inter-Korean cabinet-level talks with North Korea in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.
Officials here say that as these talks begin in Pyongyang on Sunday, they will try to stress to North Korea that North Korea's nuclear weapons program would not be in the best interest of North Korea.
Sohn Jie-Ae, CNN, Seoul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 - 06:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to the nuclear standoff with North Korea. A top U.S. diplomat is in South Korea today briefing government leaders there on the trilateral talks in Beijing. The highlight of the talks is North Korea's claim that it does have at least one nuclear bomb.
CNN's Seoul bureau chief Sohn Jie-Ae has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN SEOUL BUREAU CHIEF: South Korea reacted very cautiously to the report that North Korea might have told U.S. officials that it actually had nuclear weapons. South Korean officials would not comment on this news coming out of Beijing until they were debriefed by Mr. Kelly as he met with the foreign minister, Foreign Ministry officials, as well as South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun's people here in Seoul, before he headed to Tokyo to debrief Tokyo officials on the same meeting.
Now, South Korean officials did say that they were aware that North Korea had the capability to develop nuclear weapons, and therefore even if North Korea did tell Mr. Kelly that they had nuclear weapons that they should not be too alarmed, too surprised at the fact.
South Korean officials were concerned that this could raise tensions, nuclear tensions, once again on the Korean peninsula, South Koreans as a whole. South Korea's stock market reacted negatively to this news, and South Korean officials were concerned as they head into inter-Korean cabinet-level talks with North Korea in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.
Officials here say that as these talks begin in Pyongyang on Sunday, they will try to stress to North Korea that North Korea's nuclear weapons program would not be in the best interest of North Korea.
Sohn Jie-Ae, CNN, Seoul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
