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CNN Sunday Morning
South Korean, Japanese Diplomats to Meet With U.S. Officials Tomorrow
Aired January 05, 2003 - 10:04 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The United States refuses to budge over its demand that North Korea abandon its nuclear plans. Tomorrow, South Korean and Japanese diplomats begin their meetings with U.S. officials in Washington for talks on that very crisis, and we get the latest on how the Bush administration is dealing with the standoff from our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. Suzanne, we just heard Jill say that Russian authorities are very optimistic, they see light at the end of the tunnel. In any way, does the Bush administration feel the same?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Bush administration certainly is trying to put a good face on all of this, but there are still a lot of questions. They really have to win over some of their closest allies. There are going to be high-level talks over the next couple of days, involving Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs James Kelly, who is going to be hosting at the State Department the foreign ministers of Japan as well as South Korea. The administration really pushing for economic and diplomatic channels to resolve the standoff with North Korea, but advisers from South Korea say that they are going to come up with some sort of compromise proposal that they may introduce in the next couple of days, that being North Korea abandon its nuclear ambitions in exchange for the United States to guarantee its security, its safety, that they would not attack.
This is something the administration has hands down said it is not willing to compromise in any shape or form until Pyongyang actually proves, makes some serious efforts that it is abandoning its nuclear weapons programs, that they are not going to speak directly with North Korea's Kim Jong Il until that happens, and already the Bush administration's policy regarding this is getting mixed reviews from members of Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D), NEVADA: This administration has had a hands-off attitude on almost every place in the world. One of the reasons the problem has become so exacerbated in the Middle East is the progress had been had in the Clinton administration; this administration put hands off. And by the time they decided to put hands on, we had the problems in the Middle East. I think that we also have the same situation in Korea, that we need to have a more hands-on foreign policy, and I hope they will let Colin Powell be Colin Powell, and he has been the last six months, and that's helped the world tension. SEN. DON NICKLES (R), OKLAHOMA: North Korea, frankly, was fragrantly violating the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and President Clinton almost rewarded its non-compliance by paying ransom. And guess what? During those several years that we were paying the ransom, North Korea was still building nuclear weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, Fred, the bottom line, really, is that war for the Bush administration is neither preferable nor a practical option. Really, the Bush administration pushing for diplomatic and economic pressure, but seriously the big question here is whether or not those allies of North Korea, be it South Korea, Japan and Russia, will really be as strong and as forceful as the administration hopes in order for them to abandon their nuclear weapons program. They're hoping that that will happen, but again, the Bush administration saying that they will allow months for this to play out if necessary.
WHITFIELD: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Officials Tomorrow>
Aired January 5, 2003 - 10:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The United States refuses to budge over its demand that North Korea abandon its nuclear plans. Tomorrow, South Korean and Japanese diplomats begin their meetings with U.S. officials in Washington for talks on that very crisis, and we get the latest on how the Bush administration is dealing with the standoff from our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. Suzanne, we just heard Jill say that Russian authorities are very optimistic, they see light at the end of the tunnel. In any way, does the Bush administration feel the same?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Bush administration certainly is trying to put a good face on all of this, but there are still a lot of questions. They really have to win over some of their closest allies. There are going to be high-level talks over the next couple of days, involving Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs James Kelly, who is going to be hosting at the State Department the foreign ministers of Japan as well as South Korea. The administration really pushing for economic and diplomatic channels to resolve the standoff with North Korea, but advisers from South Korea say that they are going to come up with some sort of compromise proposal that they may introduce in the next couple of days, that being North Korea abandon its nuclear ambitions in exchange for the United States to guarantee its security, its safety, that they would not attack.
This is something the administration has hands down said it is not willing to compromise in any shape or form until Pyongyang actually proves, makes some serious efforts that it is abandoning its nuclear weapons programs, that they are not going to speak directly with North Korea's Kim Jong Il until that happens, and already the Bush administration's policy regarding this is getting mixed reviews from members of Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D), NEVADA: This administration has had a hands-off attitude on almost every place in the world. One of the reasons the problem has become so exacerbated in the Middle East is the progress had been had in the Clinton administration; this administration put hands off. And by the time they decided to put hands on, we had the problems in the Middle East. I think that we also have the same situation in Korea, that we need to have a more hands-on foreign policy, and I hope they will let Colin Powell be Colin Powell, and he has been the last six months, and that's helped the world tension. SEN. DON NICKLES (R), OKLAHOMA: North Korea, frankly, was fragrantly violating the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and President Clinton almost rewarded its non-compliance by paying ransom. And guess what? During those several years that we were paying the ransom, North Korea was still building nuclear weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, Fred, the bottom line, really, is that war for the Bush administration is neither preferable nor a practical option. Really, the Bush administration pushing for diplomatic and economic pressure, but seriously the big question here is whether or not those allies of North Korea, be it South Korea, Japan and Russia, will really be as strong and as forceful as the administration hopes in order for them to abandon their nuclear weapons program. They're hoping that that will happen, but again, the Bush administration saying that they will allow months for this to play out if necessary.
WHITFIELD: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Officials Tomorrow>
