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North Korea Nuclear Trials

Aired August 27, 2003 - 11:11   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Six-nation talks to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear program opened up in China today. One surprise there, a sideline discussion between the U.S. and the North Koreans.
Our Beijing Bureau chief Jaime Florcruz joins us from the Chinese capital where all of this is happening and where it is now late Wednesday evening.

Jaime, what can you tell us about these talks this afternoon?

JAIME FLORCRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leon, the talks got under way as scheduled, but the headline is that the U.S. and North Korean diplomats held informal bilateral discussions on the sidelines of the formal session. That is very significant, because the two sides have not talked directly for months. North Koreans insisting that they would only talk with the U.S. directly while the U.S. insisting that they will only talk with the North Koreans in a multilateral setting. So the Chinese came up with this clever formula to have a multilateral meeting, and then on the sidelines of it have the two sides talk directly, just as the other participants are also talking at the same time.

So this is the kind of a breakthrough that meets the North Korean demands, but also gives the Americans kind of a sense that they are actually not succumbing to nuclear blackmail from the North Koreans. There are still major issues to tackle, and no major breakthrough is expected, but experts here think that it's a good beginning -- Leon.

HARRIS: Jaime Florcruz, thank you very much. We appreciate that report.

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 27, 2003 - 11:11   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Six-nation talks to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear program opened up in China today. One surprise there, a sideline discussion between the U.S. and the North Koreans.
Our Beijing Bureau chief Jaime Florcruz joins us from the Chinese capital where all of this is happening and where it is now late Wednesday evening.

Jaime, what can you tell us about these talks this afternoon?

JAIME FLORCRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leon, the talks got under way as scheduled, but the headline is that the U.S. and North Korean diplomats held informal bilateral discussions on the sidelines of the formal session. That is very significant, because the two sides have not talked directly for months. North Koreans insisting that they would only talk with the U.S. directly while the U.S. insisting that they will only talk with the North Koreans in a multilateral setting. So the Chinese came up with this clever formula to have a multilateral meeting, and then on the sidelines of it have the two sides talk directly, just as the other participants are also talking at the same time.

So this is the kind of a breakthrough that meets the North Korean demands, but also gives the Americans kind of a sense that they are actually not succumbing to nuclear blackmail from the North Koreans. There are still major issues to tackle, and no major breakthrough is expected, but experts here think that it's a good beginning -- Leon.

HARRIS: Jaime Florcruz, thank you very much. We appreciate that report.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com