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IAEA Gives North Korea Another Chance

Aired January 06, 2003 - 14:08   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Comply or face the wrath of the international community. That's a choice given North Korea, which recently began firing up one of its nuclear reactors. CNN's Matthew Chance is in Vienna, where some U.N. delegates are urging North Korea to change course -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra. Day of emergency meetings here at the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog. That agency has issued a declaration, a resolution, calling on North Korea to readmit U.N. inspectors to inspect its nuclear program, and indeed to abandon its secret nuclear weapons program. The resolution, though, falls short of stepping away from North Korea at this stage and referring the matter to the U.N. Security Council, giving North Korea instead what it calls a final opportunity to come into compliance with the will of the international community.

Now, no deadline has been set for Pyongyang to do that, but Mohamed ElBaradei, who is the chief of the IAEA here in Vienna says that unless Pyongyang acts in a matter of weeks, this matter will be referred to the Security Council.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMED ELBARADEI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, IAEA: There are two options for North Korea. Comply with the agency's safeguards, comply with your international obligation, and then open the way for cooperation with your neighbors through economic assistance and security discussion, or continue defiance and then the matter will escalate into a crisis situation, which will go to Security Council, and then the way is open for the council to probably apply economic sanction or other measures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: Now, referring North Korea to the Security Council could have the effect of escalating, if nothing else, the crisis with North Korea, and that's the reason it's being seen here as very much a last resort option. Namely the fact that once it goes to the Security Council, then it won't just result in a rebuke from the U.N. Security Council, but could possibly result in the formulation of more economic sanctions for North Korea or even the possibility of U.N.-backed military force against North Korea if Pyongyang does not begin to comply.

PHILLIPS: Now, Matthew, we're talking about the aftermath and the ifs, but let's go back. When we started talking about this story, why exactly did North Korea decide to restart this nuclear site? Has it made a point of saying why?

CHANCE: Well, North Korea says that it started production here at this nuclear site in Yongbyon in order to produce electricity, electricity it needs, it says, to produce after the United States and Japan, South Korea, cut off their supplies of fuel oil.

They needed that, according to Washington -- Washington only cut off its supplies of fuel oil because it discovered, it says, that North Korea had secretly been carrying out a nuclear weapons program. So all the bets were off, Washington says. So we're in this sort of blame game at the moment, but the fact of the matter is the international community are still prepared at this stage. United States foremost amongst them, to try and resolve this crisis with North Korea in a peaceful and diplomatic fashion.

PHILLIPS: Matthew Chance live from Vienna, 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 January 6, 2003 - 14:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Comply or face the wrath of the international community. That's a choice given North Korea, which recently began firing up one of its nuclear reactors. CNN's Matthew Chance is in Vienna, where some U.N. delegates are urging North Korea to change course -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra. Day of emergency meetings here at the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog. That agency has issued a declaration, a resolution, calling on North Korea to readmit U.N. inspectors to inspect its nuclear program, and indeed to abandon its secret nuclear weapons program. The resolution, though, falls short of stepping away from North Korea at this stage and referring the matter to the U.N. Security Council, giving North Korea instead what it calls a final opportunity to come into compliance with the will of the international community.

Now, no deadline has been set for Pyongyang to do that, but Mohamed ElBaradei, who is the chief of the IAEA here in Vienna says that unless Pyongyang acts in a matter of weeks, this matter will be referred to the Security Council.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMED ELBARADEI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, IAEA: There are two options for North Korea. Comply with the agency's safeguards, comply with your international obligation, and then open the way for cooperation with your neighbors through economic assistance and security discussion, or continue defiance and then the matter will escalate into a crisis situation, which will go to Security Council, and then the way is open for the council to probably apply economic sanction or other measures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: Now, referring North Korea to the Security Council could have the effect of escalating, if nothing else, the crisis with North Korea, and that's the reason it's being seen here as very much a last resort option. Namely the fact that once it goes to the Security Council, then it won't just result in a rebuke from the U.N. Security Council, but could possibly result in the formulation of more economic sanctions for North Korea or even the possibility of U.N.-backed military force against North Korea if Pyongyang does not begin to comply.

PHILLIPS: Now, Matthew, we're talking about the aftermath and the ifs, but let's go back. When we started talking about this story, why exactly did North Korea decide to restart this nuclear site? Has it made a point of saying why?

CHANCE: Well, North Korea says that it started production here at this nuclear site in Yongbyon in order to produce electricity, electricity it needs, it says, to produce after the United States and Japan, South Korea, cut off their supplies of fuel oil.

They needed that, according to Washington -- Washington only cut off its supplies of fuel oil because it discovered, it says, that North Korea had secretly been carrying out a nuclear weapons program. So all the bets were off, Washington says. So we're in this sort of blame game at the moment, but the fact of the matter is the international community are still prepared at this stage. United States foremost amongst them, to try and resolve this crisis with North Korea in a peaceful and diplomatic fashion.

PHILLIPS: Matthew Chance live from Vienna, 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