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A Carrot for North Korea?
Aired January 13, 2003 - 13:18 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: No stick for North Korea, at least not yet. Now a carrot may be offered. U.S. Envoy James Kelly is suggesting the North Koreans could get help with their energy problems if they agree to mothball their nuclear program.
Kelly is in Seoul conferring with South Korean officials about the nuclear standoff. More on this now from our senior White House correspondent, John King -- Hi, John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Kyra. And White House officials insisting there will be no direct concessions, no incentives for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program. Yet, what you would have to describe, at least as an inducement offered today, as you noted, by the president's point man on the Korean matter, Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly in Seoul.
He will be moving on to other Asian capitals as well for urgent consultations with key U.S. allies on the North Korean standoff. First and foremost, Ambassador Kelly trying to ease concerns in South Korea about the Bush administration's posture to this, and he made clear today that the administration is willing to talk directly to North Korea, and is waiting for some contact.
Then he went on to say -- Mr. Kelly saying any first round of consultations would have to deal exclusively with the nuclear program and have to include a North Korean commitment to end that nuclear weapons program. But, Mr. Kelly in offering an inducement to the North, said if there was a successful conclusion of the first round of talks, perhaps there could be a second round.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES KELLY, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: Once we can get beyond nuclear weapons, there may be opportunities with the U.S., with private investors, with other countries to help North Korea in the energy area.
KING: Now the only direct contact of any substance so far between North Korean diplomats and a U.S. official involve this man, the New Mexico governor, Bill Richardson. He was the United Nations ambassador, of course, during the Clinton administration. No role in the current Bush administration at all, but Governor Richardson has passed on his report on more than three days, about three days of meetings with the North Korean diplomats to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Governor Richardson says he believes the North Koreans are ready to sit down and resolve all this peacefully. White House officials and State Department officials telling us the next move is up to North Korea. North Korea says it would like to meet Bush administration officials at the United Nations perhaps as early as this week.
The Bush administration says that's possible. First they want a phone call from those North Korean diplomats saying that North Korea understands the first round -- first round of any conversations have to deal exclusively with the nuclear weapons program. But, again, the administration saying that if progress can be made there, it is open to some assistance to the North Korean regime -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Live from the White House, John King.
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 13, 2003 - 13:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: No stick for North Korea, at least not yet. Now a carrot may be offered. U.S. Envoy James Kelly is suggesting the North Koreans could get help with their energy problems if they agree to mothball their nuclear program.
Kelly is in Seoul conferring with South Korean officials about the nuclear standoff. More on this now from our senior White House correspondent, John King -- Hi, John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Kyra. And White House officials insisting there will be no direct concessions, no incentives for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program. Yet, what you would have to describe, at least as an inducement offered today, as you noted, by the president's point man on the Korean matter, Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly in Seoul.
He will be moving on to other Asian capitals as well for urgent consultations with key U.S. allies on the North Korean standoff. First and foremost, Ambassador Kelly trying to ease concerns in South Korea about the Bush administration's posture to this, and he made clear today that the administration is willing to talk directly to North Korea, and is waiting for some contact.
Then he went on to say -- Mr. Kelly saying any first round of consultations would have to deal exclusively with the nuclear program and have to include a North Korean commitment to end that nuclear weapons program. But, Mr. Kelly in offering an inducement to the North, said if there was a successful conclusion of the first round of talks, perhaps there could be a second round.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES KELLY, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: Once we can get beyond nuclear weapons, there may be opportunities with the U.S., with private investors, with other countries to help North Korea in the energy area.
KING: Now the only direct contact of any substance so far between North Korean diplomats and a U.S. official involve this man, the New Mexico governor, Bill Richardson. He was the United Nations ambassador, of course, during the Clinton administration. No role in the current Bush administration at all, but Governor Richardson has passed on his report on more than three days, about three days of meetings with the North Korean diplomats to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Governor Richardson says he believes the North Koreans are ready to sit down and resolve all this peacefully. White House officials and State Department officials telling us the next move is up to North Korea. North Korea says it would like to meet Bush administration officials at the United Nations perhaps as early as this week.
The Bush administration says that's possible. First they want a phone call from those North Korean diplomats saying that North Korea understands the first round -- first round of any conversations have to deal exclusively with the nuclear weapons program. But, again, the administration saying that if progress can be made there, it is open to some assistance to the North Korean regime -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Live from the White House, John King.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
