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American Morning
North Korean Nuclear Standoff
Aired June 04, 2003 - 07:43 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: We want to talk about North Korea here. Some U.S. lawmakers are just back from a trip to North Korea, and they say that Pyongyang admits to having nuclear weapons and is trying to produce even more. The six-member congressional delegation spent three days last week with government officials, and they say the Bush administration must begin talks with North Korea to diffuse the nuclear situation.
Representatives Eliot Engel of New York and Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania were on the trip. They are joining us from Washington.
Gentlemen, good morning.
REP. CURT WELDON (R), PENNSYLVANIA: Good morning.
REP. ELIOT ENGEL (D), NEW YORK: Good morning.
KAGAN: Congressman Weldon, I'm going to start with you. Tell me about that moment with the North Koreans looking you in the eye and they say, yes, we have nukes, and we're actually going to make more.
WELDON: Well, we were trying to get this delegation in for a year, and I finally succeeded for that specific purpose to ask them the status of their program. And, in fact, they looked across the table, and we actually had very congenial discussions. And the vice foreign minister...
KAGAN: So, they had a smile on their face when they said, yes, we've got nukes and we're going to make more?
WELDON: Well, just as matter of fact he said, we have them, and what are we going to do with them right now? And then at a later meeting with the foreign minister, he said we've processed 8,000 rods, and we've got to -- you know, we're going to move toward developing additional nuclear weapons. So it was a very matter-of-fact meeting.
But we had very congenial discussions, and, in fact, I think there is an opportunity for us. And I hope to brief Colin Powell today, even though he's in the Middle East, to find a way to resolve this problem peacefully.
KAGAN: We want to get to that in a moment. But Congressman Engel, did they actually show you their facilities and show you what they have?
ENGEL: No, we didn't go to their facilities, although they invited us back and said next time they would take us to the facilities. But they were very frank and very forthright, and I came away feeling more strongly than ever that we need to speak with them, we need to engage with them, we need to make sure that they give up their nuclear weapons. And I believe that a deal can be struck if we talk to them.
KAGAN: I think it's interesting that -- and for people at home who aren't familiar with you, gentlemen, we have a Democrat and a Republican who are both saying the same thing: that the U.S. does need to sit down and talk with North Korea.
What about the critics, who would say they're just giving in to blackmail, that you should not engage in a discussion with them?
ENGEL: Well, I support the president's policy completely, as did the bulk of the delegation. The fact is that the president wants to engage the other countries in the region, and I think that's absolutely essential. So, I think it's important that we engage, but I think there can also be discussions with the North Koreans, and they may be unofficial, they may be sidebar conversations. But the fact is that you're not going to get this issue resolved unless you have South Korea, Japan and China and Russia included. And that's basically what the president has been saying.
Now, we shouldn't get hung up over the type and style of negotiations. We have to have talks, and that's why we went there. We were not representing the president or the secretary of state. We were members of Congress trying to get the door open, and we think we've accomplished that.
KAGAN: And, Congressman Engel, do you also plan to talk to Secretary of State Powell?
ENGEL: Well, we hope to do it together. There were six of us, three Democrats and three Republicans. We all were really reading from the same page.
I think it's really important, and I'm convinced more than ever that they are willing to deal, that they are willing to trade in their nuclear program for an agreement with the United States, perhaps a nonaggression pact, or that they want to remain in control of their country. And they made it very, very clear that they are petrified of regime change, and they're using their nuclear weapons as leverage, because they saw what happened in the Iraq war, and they're saying that they don't want the same thing to happen to them.
So, they feel with nuclear weapons, they are like petulant children rattling the cages and wanting to be noticed. And I think we need to notice them. The people who say that we shouldn't talk to them, maybe in the abstract you don't want to give in to blackmail, but the reality is they have nuclear weapons. And we want to see the Korean peninsula nuclear-free, and in order to get that we need to talk to them.
KAGAN: And, Congressman Weldon, if we want to go on the petulant child analysis, do you spare the rod and spoil the child? Do you go in offering sugar and goodies to get them to give up their nukes? Or do you go in with a rod and threaten regime change?
WELDON: Well, I think that's the key issue. You don't reward bad behavior, you don't reward terrorism, or you don't reward the sale of technology to rogue states. But you can have discussions. I think the key is, again, that the president said this is a regional problem, and it is. Certainly those weapons will hit the neighboring countries long before they would hit the U.S.
I don't think we should give in, but I think we have to have dialogue. That dialogue can come in several forms. But I don't think we should get hung up over the manner of that discussion, whether it's multi-nations or individual, one-on-one. I think we can have both, and that's basically what we'll be talking to Colin Powell about today.
In fact, I had a private meeting with the vice foreign vice minister for 90 minutes while I was there. And, in fact, I have some very specific recommendations that I think can allow us to find a way to get out of this that will be acceptable to both sides.
KAGAN: Well, we look forward to progress on that situation. Representatives Weldon and Engel, thank you for your time today, sir.
ENGEL: Thank you.
WELDON: Thank you.
KAGAN: Sirs, plural. Thank 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 June 4, 2003 - 07:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We want to talk about North Korea here. Some U.S. lawmakers are just back from a trip to North Korea, and they say that Pyongyang admits to having nuclear weapons and is trying to produce even more. The six-member congressional delegation spent three days last week with government officials, and they say the Bush administration must begin talks with North Korea to diffuse the nuclear situation.
Representatives Eliot Engel of New York and Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania were on the trip. They are joining us from Washington.
Gentlemen, good morning.
REP. CURT WELDON (R), PENNSYLVANIA: Good morning.
REP. ELIOT ENGEL (D), NEW YORK: Good morning.
KAGAN: Congressman Weldon, I'm going to start with you. Tell me about that moment with the North Koreans looking you in the eye and they say, yes, we have nukes, and we're actually going to make more.
WELDON: Well, we were trying to get this delegation in for a year, and I finally succeeded for that specific purpose to ask them the status of their program. And, in fact, they looked across the table, and we actually had very congenial discussions. And the vice foreign minister...
KAGAN: So, they had a smile on their face when they said, yes, we've got nukes and we're going to make more?
WELDON: Well, just as matter of fact he said, we have them, and what are we going to do with them right now? And then at a later meeting with the foreign minister, he said we've processed 8,000 rods, and we've got to -- you know, we're going to move toward developing additional nuclear weapons. So it was a very matter-of-fact meeting.
But we had very congenial discussions, and, in fact, I think there is an opportunity for us. And I hope to brief Colin Powell today, even though he's in the Middle East, to find a way to resolve this problem peacefully.
KAGAN: We want to get to that in a moment. But Congressman Engel, did they actually show you their facilities and show you what they have?
ENGEL: No, we didn't go to their facilities, although they invited us back and said next time they would take us to the facilities. But they were very frank and very forthright, and I came away feeling more strongly than ever that we need to speak with them, we need to engage with them, we need to make sure that they give up their nuclear weapons. And I believe that a deal can be struck if we talk to them.
KAGAN: I think it's interesting that -- and for people at home who aren't familiar with you, gentlemen, we have a Democrat and a Republican who are both saying the same thing: that the U.S. does need to sit down and talk with North Korea.
What about the critics, who would say they're just giving in to blackmail, that you should not engage in a discussion with them?
ENGEL: Well, I support the president's policy completely, as did the bulk of the delegation. The fact is that the president wants to engage the other countries in the region, and I think that's absolutely essential. So, I think it's important that we engage, but I think there can also be discussions with the North Koreans, and they may be unofficial, they may be sidebar conversations. But the fact is that you're not going to get this issue resolved unless you have South Korea, Japan and China and Russia included. And that's basically what the president has been saying.
Now, we shouldn't get hung up over the type and style of negotiations. We have to have talks, and that's why we went there. We were not representing the president or the secretary of state. We were members of Congress trying to get the door open, and we think we've accomplished that.
KAGAN: And, Congressman Engel, do you also plan to talk to Secretary of State Powell?
ENGEL: Well, we hope to do it together. There were six of us, three Democrats and three Republicans. We all were really reading from the same page.
I think it's really important, and I'm convinced more than ever that they are willing to deal, that they are willing to trade in their nuclear program for an agreement with the United States, perhaps a nonaggression pact, or that they want to remain in control of their country. And they made it very, very clear that they are petrified of regime change, and they're using their nuclear weapons as leverage, because they saw what happened in the Iraq war, and they're saying that they don't want the same thing to happen to them.
So, they feel with nuclear weapons, they are like petulant children rattling the cages and wanting to be noticed. And I think we need to notice them. The people who say that we shouldn't talk to them, maybe in the abstract you don't want to give in to blackmail, but the reality is they have nuclear weapons. And we want to see the Korean peninsula nuclear-free, and in order to get that we need to talk to them.
KAGAN: And, Congressman Weldon, if we want to go on the petulant child analysis, do you spare the rod and spoil the child? Do you go in offering sugar and goodies to get them to give up their nukes? Or do you go in with a rod and threaten regime change?
WELDON: Well, I think that's the key issue. You don't reward bad behavior, you don't reward terrorism, or you don't reward the sale of technology to rogue states. But you can have discussions. I think the key is, again, that the president said this is a regional problem, and it is. Certainly those weapons will hit the neighboring countries long before they would hit the U.S.
I don't think we should give in, but I think we have to have dialogue. That dialogue can come in several forms. But I don't think we should get hung up over the manner of that discussion, whether it's multi-nations or individual, one-on-one. I think we can have both, and that's basically what we'll be talking to Colin Powell about today.
In fact, I had a private meeting with the vice foreign vice minister for 90 minutes while I was there. And, in fact, I have some very specific recommendations that I think can allow us to find a way to get out of this that will be acceptable to both sides.
KAGAN: Well, we look forward to progress on that situation. Representatives Weldon and Engel, thank you for your time today, sir.
ENGEL: Thank you.
WELDON: Thank you.
KAGAN: Sirs, plural. Thank 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.
