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American Morning
President Bush Seeks Diplomatic Solution for North Korea
Aired January 01, 2003 - 09:32 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: North Korea is no Iraq. That is the message that President Bush is sending, saying that he taking diplomacy will persuade North Korea to scrap its nuclear weapons program. But, he says, Saddam Hussein is a different problem altogether.
Our Suzanne Malveaux is in Crawford, Texas.
Suzanne, my chance now to say happy new year and good morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Happy new year, Daryn.
President Bush said one of his New Year's resolution was to resolve these conflicts peacefully. It was at a coffee house in Crawford yesterday. He answered the one question that is on so many people's minds, why the administration is considering military action with Iraq, which says it has no weapons of mass destruction, but not North Korea, which does have nuclear weapons and may be making moves to produce more.
President Bush is saying, when it comes to North Korea, it is not a military showdown, but rather a diplomatic one. Why? Because North Korea depends on its neighbors for oil, power and food. The thinking is, if its neighbors cut off North Korea economically, Pyongyang will cave in; secondly, that North Korea is a grater threat to its neighbors than to the United States, so that its neighbors will continue diplomatic efforts to convince North Korea to change course; and, finally, while unlike North Korea, Iraq has a history of defying the will of the international community by seeking to build a weapons program.
But all of this, Daryn, as you know, while the military buildup intensifies over the possibility of a war with Iraq, but, again, President Bush saying that he hopes to resolve these conflicts peacefully. He's not given up that hope -- Daryn.
KAGAN: But, Suzanne, for now it appears that, when the president talks about dealing with the North Koreans through diplomacy, not through direct diplomacy, but rather going through other countries like China or Japan or South Korea.
MALVEAUX: Absolutely. The administration says it's not willing, at this time, to talk directly to Pyongyang. They fear that, really, the appearance would be that they are rewarding North Korea by actually sitting down and discussing any type of terms. They say there are no negotiations at this time.
They want some proof, some evidence that North Korea is serious about abandoning its nuclear weapons program. So, until then, they'll work with surrogates, working with allies, South Korea, Japan, Russia and China, to make that point.
KAGAN: Suzanne Malveaux in Crawford, Texas -- Suzanne, 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 1, 2003 - 09:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: North Korea is no Iraq. That is the message that President Bush is sending, saying that he taking diplomacy will persuade North Korea to scrap its nuclear weapons program. But, he says, Saddam Hussein is a different problem altogether.
Our Suzanne Malveaux is in Crawford, Texas.
Suzanne, my chance now to say happy new year and good morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Happy new year, Daryn.
President Bush said one of his New Year's resolution was to resolve these conflicts peacefully. It was at a coffee house in Crawford yesterday. He answered the one question that is on so many people's minds, why the administration is considering military action with Iraq, which says it has no weapons of mass destruction, but not North Korea, which does have nuclear weapons and may be making moves to produce more.
President Bush is saying, when it comes to North Korea, it is not a military showdown, but rather a diplomatic one. Why? Because North Korea depends on its neighbors for oil, power and food. The thinking is, if its neighbors cut off North Korea economically, Pyongyang will cave in; secondly, that North Korea is a grater threat to its neighbors than to the United States, so that its neighbors will continue diplomatic efforts to convince North Korea to change course; and, finally, while unlike North Korea, Iraq has a history of defying the will of the international community by seeking to build a weapons program.
But all of this, Daryn, as you know, while the military buildup intensifies over the possibility of a war with Iraq, but, again, President Bush saying that he hopes to resolve these conflicts peacefully. He's not given up that hope -- Daryn.
KAGAN: But, Suzanne, for now it appears that, when the president talks about dealing with the North Koreans through diplomacy, not through direct diplomacy, but rather going through other countries like China or Japan or South Korea.
MALVEAUX: Absolutely. The administration says it's not willing, at this time, to talk directly to Pyongyang. They fear that, really, the appearance would be that they are rewarding North Korea by actually sitting down and discussing any type of terms. They say there are no negotiations at this time.
They want some proof, some evidence that North Korea is serious about abandoning its nuclear weapons program. So, until then, they'll work with surrogates, working with allies, South Korea, Japan, Russia and China, to make that point.
KAGAN: Suzanne Malveaux in Crawford, Texas -- Suzanne, 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
