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American Morning
Nuclear Stakes
Aired December 30, 2002 - 08:32 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now back to the nuclear debate. North Korea may be upping the ante. The government is hinting it may be preparing to pull out of the global nuclear arms treaty. It is further creating concerns in South Korea, of course, which where we find Rebecca MacKinnon reporting from Seoul.
Good morning, Rebecca.
REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, and good evening from this snowy evening here in Seoul.
The indications here that South Korea is not inclined to fall neatly in line with the bush Administration's new policy of tailored containment toward North Korea. South Korea's new president-elect, No Moo-Hyun (ph) saying today that the situation needs to be solved through dialogue, and that he's working with his new team to work on a peaceful solution with North Korea.
Meanwhile, the outgoing president, Kim Dae Jung, even more critical of the Bush administration, saying containment and isolation of communist countries has never worked before and is not likely work at this point.
Meanwhile, as you mentioned, a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman monitor here in Seoul, hinting that North Korea is considering withdrawing from the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. If North Korea were to go ahead with this hint, with this threat, that would mean that North Korea would no longer be bound by its obligations to allow international nuclear weapons inspectors -- Paula.
ZAHN: All right, Rebecca, so if the president-elect does not think containment or isolation work and he thinks dialogue is the way to go, what really is viewed as the solution here?
MACKINNON: Well, the administration here believes that the situation is going to take a while to work out, but a big difference with this crisis from the first nuclear crisis with North Korea in 1994 is that South Korea does have diplomatic -- it does have ties to North Korea. It has talks that have been on ongoing at high levels. There is a new round of ministerial-level talks scheduled for early in the new year, and South Korea believes that not only South Korea, but the Bush administration needs to talk to North Korea. This is the only way to solve the situation -- Paula.
HARRIS: Rebecca MacKinnon, we will leave it there. Enjoy the snowfall. Actually, it's very cold this morning. Appreciate your insights.
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 30, 2002 - 08:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now back to the nuclear debate. North Korea may be upping the ante. The government is hinting it may be preparing to pull out of the global nuclear arms treaty. It is further creating concerns in South Korea, of course, which where we find Rebecca MacKinnon reporting from Seoul.
Good morning, Rebecca.
REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, and good evening from this snowy evening here in Seoul.
The indications here that South Korea is not inclined to fall neatly in line with the bush Administration's new policy of tailored containment toward North Korea. South Korea's new president-elect, No Moo-Hyun (ph) saying today that the situation needs to be solved through dialogue, and that he's working with his new team to work on a peaceful solution with North Korea.
Meanwhile, the outgoing president, Kim Dae Jung, even more critical of the Bush administration, saying containment and isolation of communist countries has never worked before and is not likely work at this point.
Meanwhile, as you mentioned, a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman monitor here in Seoul, hinting that North Korea is considering withdrawing from the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. If North Korea were to go ahead with this hint, with this threat, that would mean that North Korea would no longer be bound by its obligations to allow international nuclear weapons inspectors -- Paula.
ZAHN: All right, Rebecca, so if the president-elect does not think containment or isolation work and he thinks dialogue is the way to go, what really is viewed as the solution here?
MACKINNON: Well, the administration here believes that the situation is going to take a while to work out, but a big difference with this crisis from the first nuclear crisis with North Korea in 1994 is that South Korea does have diplomatic -- it does have ties to North Korea. It has talks that have been on ongoing at high levels. There is a new round of ministerial-level talks scheduled for early in the new year, and South Korea believes that not only South Korea, but the Bush administration needs to talk to North Korea. This is the only way to solve the situation -- Paula.
HARRIS: Rebecca MacKinnon, we will leave it there. Enjoy the snowfall. Actually, it's very cold this morning. Appreciate your insights.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
