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CNN Sunday Morning
North Koreans React to Bush's Plan to Ratchet Up Pressure
Aired December 29, 2002 - 09:07 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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: The North Korean government did react today to the new Bush administration plan to ratchet up that political and economic pressure on North Korea. And CNN's Suzanne Malveaux joins us now from the president's ranch in Texas. What's the latest from there, Suzanne?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Catherine. Well, Secretary of State Colin Powell this morning on "Meet the Press" has said a number of things. First of all, he said President Bush has not made up his mind when it comes to dealing with Iraq and using military force. Secondly, he also made the point saying that the administration will give months for diplomacy to play out in dealing with North Korea. He says it was not a crisis, but rather a matter of great concern.
Now, the policy is called tailored containment. And the idea is to put as much financial and political pressure on North Korea's Kim Jong-Il to abandon his nuclear weapons program.
What does this entail? The United States would be involved with the International Atomic Energy Agency. They're meeting on January 6. They have a decision to make whether or not they're going to bring this case to the United Nations Security Council. If they do that, the United Nations Security Council can do a number of things. They can find that North Korea is in violation of the -- of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. They can also slap economic sanctions.
There's another part of the policy, basically, to urge North Korea's neighbors to either limit or sever their economic ties with that country. Already, the administration has been successful with Japan and South Korea. They've cut off their oil shipments to Pyongyang. And then there's a military component to this as well, that the U.S. would intercept missile shipments coming from North Korea, basically shut down its weapons sales.
Whether or not this is all going to be effective, of course, is the big question. A senior administration official says it really depends on the cooperation of U.S. allies. We're talking about Russia, China, South Korea, as well as Japan. Also, he says, if it does work, however, this will isolate North Korea to the point that they think that Pyongyang will give up its nuclear weapons program or face a crippled regime -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: How much if any, room is there for negotiation?
MALVEAUX: Well, the administration is insisting that it is not going to negotiate with North Korea until it abandons its nuclear weapons program and there are definite signs of that. But a senior administration official also says that the White House would not object to low-level talks with North Korea if it came with something that was constructive.
We know there's going to be a flurry of diplomatic activity that's going to happen within the weeks to come. We know that James Kelly, assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs, is going to be going over to South Korea in the weeks to come. We also know that South Korea is going to be sending its own envoys to Russia as well as China, that there's going to be a lot of talks, diplomatic activity on the background, in the background there.
But also, make no mistake, the administration is saying there is not going to be any deal making here.
CALLAWAY: All right, Suzanne, thank you. Suzanne Malveaux with the president in Texas.
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 29, 2002 - 09:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: The North Korean government did react today to the new Bush administration plan to ratchet up that political and economic pressure on North Korea. And CNN's Suzanne Malveaux joins us now from the president's ranch in Texas. What's the latest from there, Suzanne?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Catherine. Well, Secretary of State Colin Powell this morning on "Meet the Press" has said a number of things. First of all, he said President Bush has not made up his mind when it comes to dealing with Iraq and using military force. Secondly, he also made the point saying that the administration will give months for diplomacy to play out in dealing with North Korea. He says it was not a crisis, but rather a matter of great concern.
Now, the policy is called tailored containment. And the idea is to put as much financial and political pressure on North Korea's Kim Jong-Il to abandon his nuclear weapons program.
What does this entail? The United States would be involved with the International Atomic Energy Agency. They're meeting on January 6. They have a decision to make whether or not they're going to bring this case to the United Nations Security Council. If they do that, the United Nations Security Council can do a number of things. They can find that North Korea is in violation of the -- of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. They can also slap economic sanctions.
There's another part of the policy, basically, to urge North Korea's neighbors to either limit or sever their economic ties with that country. Already, the administration has been successful with Japan and South Korea. They've cut off their oil shipments to Pyongyang. And then there's a military component to this as well, that the U.S. would intercept missile shipments coming from North Korea, basically shut down its weapons sales.
Whether or not this is all going to be effective, of course, is the big question. A senior administration official says it really depends on the cooperation of U.S. allies. We're talking about Russia, China, South Korea, as well as Japan. Also, he says, if it does work, however, this will isolate North Korea to the point that they think that Pyongyang will give up its nuclear weapons program or face a crippled regime -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: How much if any, room is there for negotiation?
MALVEAUX: Well, the administration is insisting that it is not going to negotiate with North Korea until it abandons its nuclear weapons program and there are definite signs of that. But a senior administration official also says that the White House would not object to low-level talks with North Korea if it came with something that was constructive.
We know there's going to be a flurry of diplomatic activity that's going to happen within the weeks to come. We know that James Kelly, assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs, is going to be going over to South Korea in the weeks to come. We also know that South Korea is going to be sending its own envoys to Russia as well as China, that there's going to be a lot of talks, diplomatic activity on the background, in the background there.
But also, make no mistake, the administration is saying there is not going to be any deal making here.
CALLAWAY: All right, Suzanne, thank you. Suzanne Malveaux with the president in Texas.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
