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CNN Live Saturday
White House Devises Plan to Put Pressure on North Korea
Aired December 28, 2002 - 17:01 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We start now with more nuclear rumblings in North Korea today. The White House is devising a plan to pressure North Korea to abandon its nuclear program. CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is with the president at the Crawford ranch -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, a senior administration official tells CNN that the White House has a new plan, a new policy in place for an increasingly defiant North Korea, many of these components already in place but really coming together just within the last week or so as the escalations increase with North Korea, one administration official saying all of the Ts have been crossed. The Is have been dotted.
It is called tailored containment and that plan involving putting maximum amount of pressure, financial as well as political pressure on North Korea's Kim Jung-il to abandon his nuclear weapons program. Under the new policy, the Bush administration will work closely with the International Atomic Energy Agency to bring forward North Korea's case to the United Nations Security Council. Then before the United Nations it could declare that North Korea had violated the nonproliferation treaty, perhaps impose economic sanctions as well.
The plan also calls for the United States to encourage North Korea's neighbors to limit and even sever their economic ties with Pyongyang. We have already seen that Japan and South Korea have cut off their oil shipments to that country. And then the third component is an active military component. This involves U.S. vessels intercepting missile shipments coming from North Korea to cut down on their profits from those illegal weapons sales.
Now, senior administration officials saying for all of this to work well, it involves a multinational effort, that all of the allies have to be onboard with this, but if it is successful that it would isolate North Korea to the point that it would have to give up its nuclear weapons programs or face a crippled regime.
I should also make another point, Fred, which is that a senior administration official says that yes the Bush White House will not negotiate with North Korea until it dismantles, until it freezes its nuclear weapons programs but this official also saying they would object to perhaps low level talks with North Korea if North Korea came forward and says here's what we have to offer. Here's what we have to say. But the bottom line, he said, there will be no deal making -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, Suzanne Malveaux with the president in Crawford, Texas, thank you.
Well, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says his people are complying with North Korea's expulsion order. They should be out by Tuesday. That leaves no one to monitor the restart of a nuclear reactor there. North Korea could be producing weapons grade plutonium within the next month or two. CNN's Rebecca MacKinnon has the latest from Seoul now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On North Korean television today, North Korean leader Kim Jung-il was shown appearing at a concert and talking about what he said is a sacred struggle to defend the socialist system of the country, his rhetoric underscoring how North Korea appears to see the situation while most other countries appear to be condemning North Korea's actions as provocative.
MACKINNON (voice over): North Korea appears to be seeing its actions as self defense. The North Korean news agency also saying today that it is North Korea's sovereign right to unfreeze the Yongbyon nuclear reactor that has been frozen since 1994.
Meanwhile, international nuclear inspectors are packing their bags getting ready to leave North Korea after the North Korean government announced on Friday that they must be expelled while North Korea will proceed with unfreezing the spent fuel rods at the Yongbyon nuclear power facility.
Now, South Korea is condemning North Korea's latest actions calling it a grave threat to peace and stability. South Korea plans to send envoys both to China and to Russia in an effort to convince these two countries to put more pressure to bear on North Korea to scale down its nuclear brinkmanship.
MACKINNON (on camera): Washington recently also made appeals to China and Russia to do the same was met with a rather cool response from those two countries. South Korea trying again hoping that diplomacy in the region can be brought to bear on North Korea to de- escalate this crisis.
Rebecca MacKinnon, 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 December 28, 2002 - 17:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We start now with more nuclear rumblings in North Korea today. The White House is devising a plan to pressure North Korea to abandon its nuclear program. CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is with the president at the Crawford ranch -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, a senior administration official tells CNN that the White House has a new plan, a new policy in place for an increasingly defiant North Korea, many of these components already in place but really coming together just within the last week or so as the escalations increase with North Korea, one administration official saying all of the Ts have been crossed. The Is have been dotted.
It is called tailored containment and that plan involving putting maximum amount of pressure, financial as well as political pressure on North Korea's Kim Jung-il to abandon his nuclear weapons program. Under the new policy, the Bush administration will work closely with the International Atomic Energy Agency to bring forward North Korea's case to the United Nations Security Council. Then before the United Nations it could declare that North Korea had violated the nonproliferation treaty, perhaps impose economic sanctions as well.
The plan also calls for the United States to encourage North Korea's neighbors to limit and even sever their economic ties with Pyongyang. We have already seen that Japan and South Korea have cut off their oil shipments to that country. And then the third component is an active military component. This involves U.S. vessels intercepting missile shipments coming from North Korea to cut down on their profits from those illegal weapons sales.
Now, senior administration officials saying for all of this to work well, it involves a multinational effort, that all of the allies have to be onboard with this, but if it is successful that it would isolate North Korea to the point that it would have to give up its nuclear weapons programs or face a crippled regime.
I should also make another point, Fred, which is that a senior administration official says that yes the Bush White House will not negotiate with North Korea until it dismantles, until it freezes its nuclear weapons programs but this official also saying they would object to perhaps low level talks with North Korea if North Korea came forward and says here's what we have to offer. Here's what we have to say. But the bottom line, he said, there will be no deal making -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, Suzanne Malveaux with the president in Crawford, Texas, thank you.
Well, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says his people are complying with North Korea's expulsion order. They should be out by Tuesday. That leaves no one to monitor the restart of a nuclear reactor there. North Korea could be producing weapons grade plutonium within the next month or two. CNN's Rebecca MacKinnon has the latest from Seoul now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On North Korean television today, North Korean leader Kim Jung-il was shown appearing at a concert and talking about what he said is a sacred struggle to defend the socialist system of the country, his rhetoric underscoring how North Korea appears to see the situation while most other countries appear to be condemning North Korea's actions as provocative.
MACKINNON (voice over): North Korea appears to be seeing its actions as self defense. The North Korean news agency also saying today that it is North Korea's sovereign right to unfreeze the Yongbyon nuclear reactor that has been frozen since 1994.
Meanwhile, international nuclear inspectors are packing their bags getting ready to leave North Korea after the North Korean government announced on Friday that they must be expelled while North Korea will proceed with unfreezing the spent fuel rods at the Yongbyon nuclear power facility.
Now, South Korea is condemning North Korea's latest actions calling it a grave threat to peace and stability. South Korea plans to send envoys both to China and to Russia in an effort to convince these two countries to put more pressure to bear on North Korea to scale down its nuclear brinkmanship.
MACKINNON (on camera): Washington recently also made appeals to China and Russia to do the same was met with a rather cool response from those two countries. South Korea trying again hoping that diplomacy in the region can be brought to bear on North Korea to de- escalate this crisis.
Rebecca MacKinnon, 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
