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North Korea Will Allow U.S. Experts to Visit Main Nuclear Complex Next Week
Aired January 02, 2004 - 05:08 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: And there is word this morning that North Korea will allow U.S. experts to visit its main nuclear complex next week.
Let's get more details on this from Sohn Jie-Ae, our bureau chief in Seoul, South Korea.
She joins us live by phone -- North Korea will really let U.S. inspectors in?
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, that's what the South Korean foreign ministry is telling us. They did confirm that they had been informed at the U.S. side that a U.S. delegation was scheduled to visit North Korea next week. The foreign ministry spokesman also said that as far as Seoul knew, the purpose of this visit, scheduled from January 6 to 10, was to visit the main nuclear complex in Yongbyon.
Now, this would be the first time non-North Koreans had been allowed to go into Yongbyon since the North expelled U.N. monitors in late 2002.
Now, an earlier report by "USA Today" said the delegation would include Sig Hecker. He's the director -- he was the director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1985 to 1997. It would also include other North Korea experts. The South Korean foreign ministry official did say that the Seoul knew of no direct connection to this visit to the upcoming six party talks between North Korea and the neighboring countries and they would not comment on how to interpret this visit or, you know, what North Korea is really up to -- Carol.
COSTELLO: That's what I was going to ask you, because from North Korea's perspective, they insist they have nuclear weapons. So is this to sort of prove they have them?
JIE-AE: Well, it very well could be. There's a lot of speculation at this point. Because they're including a nuclear expert in the delegation, it may be that they are going to show they are not just bluffing, that they are very serious about the fact that they are in the process of producing a nuclear weapon if they don't even, you know, if they don't have one right now.
This could be a very hard-line tactic ahead of the six party talks with the United States and other neighboring countries to show that they are very serious and they need to get concessions from Washington. And, you know, and they are very serious and they are a very serious contender.
On the other side, it may be true that there are -- they may be showing the world that they are flexible, that they are, you know, a good guy at heart. So we won't really know until the delegation goes in and comes out again -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Sohn Jie-Ae live by phone 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
Complex Next Week>
Aired January 2, 2004 - 05:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And there is word this morning that North Korea will allow U.S. experts to visit its main nuclear complex next week.
Let's get more details on this from Sohn Jie-Ae, our bureau chief in Seoul, South Korea.
She joins us live by phone -- North Korea will really let U.S. inspectors in?
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, that's what the South Korean foreign ministry is telling us. They did confirm that they had been informed at the U.S. side that a U.S. delegation was scheduled to visit North Korea next week. The foreign ministry spokesman also said that as far as Seoul knew, the purpose of this visit, scheduled from January 6 to 10, was to visit the main nuclear complex in Yongbyon.
Now, this would be the first time non-North Koreans had been allowed to go into Yongbyon since the North expelled U.N. monitors in late 2002.
Now, an earlier report by "USA Today" said the delegation would include Sig Hecker. He's the director -- he was the director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1985 to 1997. It would also include other North Korea experts. The South Korean foreign ministry official did say that the Seoul knew of no direct connection to this visit to the upcoming six party talks between North Korea and the neighboring countries and they would not comment on how to interpret this visit or, you know, what North Korea is really up to -- Carol.
COSTELLO: That's what I was going to ask you, because from North Korea's perspective, they insist they have nuclear weapons. So is this to sort of prove they have them?
JIE-AE: Well, it very well could be. There's a lot of speculation at this point. Because they're including a nuclear expert in the delegation, it may be that they are going to show they are not just bluffing, that they are very serious about the fact that they are in the process of producing a nuclear weapon if they don't even, you know, if they don't have one right now.
This could be a very hard-line tactic ahead of the six party talks with the United States and other neighboring countries to show that they are very serious and they need to get concessions from Washington. And, you know, and they are very serious and they are a very serious contender.
On the other side, it may be true that there are -- they may be showing the world that they are flexible, that they are, you know, a good guy at heart. So we won't really know until the delegation goes in and comes out again -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Sohn Jie-Ae live by phone 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
Complex Next Week>
