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CNN Live At Daybreak
Six Countries in Second Day of North Korea Nuclear Talks
Aired August 28, 2003 - 06:32 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 United States and North Korea rarely agree on anything, but at least their diplomats are willing to chat with each other in Beijing. And what's about all they've done really, is chat.
Live to China, where those talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program are being held, and Mike Chinoy.
Hello -- Mike.
MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.
Well, trying to figure out what's going on at this six-nation summit hasn't been easy. Behind the walls of China's state guesthouse, the six nations, their diplomats have been meeting. There have been bilateral meetings, trilateral meetings, full sessions -- all of it held in great secrecy.
And interestingly, the North Koreans are always secretive, but the U.S. side is saying very little about what's going on, and the leaks that we're getting have been coming, interestingly, from the Russians, from the Chinese, from the South Koreans and the Japanese.
What we know so far is that the United States and North Korea have both stuck to their guns during these meetings, with the U.S. demanding that North Korea give up its nuclear program before any concessions can be talked about. And the North Koreans saying if the U.S. doesn't agree to a nonaggression pact, it will carry on its nuclear weapons development program.
The big question now is whether, when these talks end on Friday, there will be an agreement for more talks. The Chinese, who are hosting this meeting, are trying to get all of the participants to sign off on a general communique that would commit them to meet again, possibly in October here in Beijing. But we don't know for certain whether or not that's going to happen.
A lot of this will depend on what the governments in Washington and Pyongyang decide, as they assess the exchanges that have gone on in the past couple of days. So, we've got about another 24 hours before it would become clear whether these talks are going to be the beginning of a diplomatic framework to solve the greatest security problem in this part of the world, or just a one-off that will leave the U.S. and North Korea still at loggerheads -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Mike Chinoy reporting live from Beijing 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 August 28, 2003 - 06:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The United States and North Korea rarely agree on anything, but at least their diplomats are willing to chat with each other in Beijing. And what's about all they've done really, is chat.
Live to China, where those talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program are being held, and Mike Chinoy.
Hello -- Mike.
MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.
Well, trying to figure out what's going on at this six-nation summit hasn't been easy. Behind the walls of China's state guesthouse, the six nations, their diplomats have been meeting. There have been bilateral meetings, trilateral meetings, full sessions -- all of it held in great secrecy.
And interestingly, the North Koreans are always secretive, but the U.S. side is saying very little about what's going on, and the leaks that we're getting have been coming, interestingly, from the Russians, from the Chinese, from the South Koreans and the Japanese.
What we know so far is that the United States and North Korea have both stuck to their guns during these meetings, with the U.S. demanding that North Korea give up its nuclear program before any concessions can be talked about. And the North Koreans saying if the U.S. doesn't agree to a nonaggression pact, it will carry on its nuclear weapons development program.
The big question now is whether, when these talks end on Friday, there will be an agreement for more talks. The Chinese, who are hosting this meeting, are trying to get all of the participants to sign off on a general communique that would commit them to meet again, possibly in October here in Beijing. But we don't know for certain whether or not that's going to happen.
A lot of this will depend on what the governments in Washington and Pyongyang decide, as they assess the exchanges that have gone on in the past couple of days. So, we've got about another 24 hours before it would become clear whether these talks are going to be the beginning of a diplomatic framework to solve the greatest security problem in this part of the world, or just a one-off that will leave the U.S. and North Korea still at loggerheads -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Mike Chinoy reporting live from Beijing 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.
