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CNN Sunday Morning
White House Continues to Seek Solution to North Korean Crisis
Aired January 12, 2003 - 10:02 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 Bush administration continues to seek a diplomatic solution to the crisis in the Korean Peninsula.
For the Washington perspective on North Korea, CNN's senior White House correspondent John King is in Washington.
And John, already Mr. Kelly has made his way towards Seoul. What is the latest from the White House perspective?
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, good morning to you.
Certainly, one of the goals of Assistant Secretary of State Kelly in Seoul is to bridge the gap between the South Korean position and the United States position when it comes to dealing with North Korea.
The South Koreans believe they should enter into dialogue, no restrictions. The White House says it will talk to the North Koreans, but it will not negotiate. No concessions at all, Washington says, until North Korea sets aside its nuclear weapons program.
Now, you used the term "crisis." Most people would use the term "crisis" when you're talking about a country that may have one or two nuclear weapons, on a path, the United States says, to develop several more in the years ahead, threatening possibility of war with the United States.
One of the most interesting aspects of this confrontation, however, is the Bush administration says it believes it can get a diplomatic solution and will not even use the term "crisis." It just calls this right now a problem or a diplomatic situation.
Among those echoing that term, the new Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. He also said this is not a crisis but he hopes to see diplomacy soon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: We're not at a crisis level. We're at a very serious level. We're not at a crisis level in North Korea. We'll encourage both my colleagues and the administration to use diplomacy to the fullest -- to the fullest before consideration of anything else.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KING: Now, there was a bit of diplomacy over the weekend. The New Mexico governor, Bill Richardson, a Democrat, meeting with two diplomats from North Korea, those talks stretching over three days.
Why Bill Richardson? He was the United Nations ambassador for the United States during the Clinton administration and got to know the North Korean diplomats here in the United States. They requested a meeting with him.
This is not officially sanctioned by the Bush administration as government to government talks, per se, but the Bush administration did say they would look forward to hearing from Governor Richardson about the opinions of the North Koreans.
Governor Richardson saying that he believes here that the North Koreans do want to have a direct dialogue with the United States. He says he relayed the Bush administration's position that there can be no negotiations.
Governor Richardson says, in his view, the best thing would be for both sides, the United States and North Korea, to sit down at the same table, build a common approach, build some trust.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: I think that there needs to be some trust built, both sides, the administration and the North Koreans. I think it's pretty clear to everybody that there's deep mistrust. But the way you build trust is through talks.
I don't think there's ever going to be a perfect relationship. But at least I believe talking to each other is not going to be harmful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Again, senior Bush administration officials say they are open to those talks but that they will not negotiate. No, they say, until North Korea sets aside its nuclear weapons program.
Most in the administration believe that all this talk from North Korea, the threat of war, the threat now of resuming missile testing, the threat of building new nuclear weapons, the Bush -- most believe it is a tactic by North Korea to get negotiations from the United States.
But some are beginning to think that perhaps North Korea wants to move into the climate of being a nuclear nation, of developing six, 10, maybe 12 or 20 nuclear weapons down the road. That is one of the calculations for the Bush administration.
But in the short term they are waiting to hear back from Assistant Secretary of State Kelly, in Seoul for urgent consultations with the key U.S. ally in the region.
Bush administration bottom line is they say yes, they will sit down with North Korea, but they will make no concessions. North Korea says that's unacceptable -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. John King from Washington, thank you very much.
Let's talk more now about the duties of the assistant secretary of state, James Kelly, who is now in Seoul.
CNN's Rebecca MacKinnon is keeping track of the latest developments from Seoul.
And maybe you can shed some light on when these talks might begin and what is being accomplished, Rebecca.
REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, it's midnight here in Seoul Sunday night. In the morning, Monday morning, the assistant secretary of state, James Kelly, has a very full day ahead of him.
His first meeting is going to be with South Korea's new president president-elect, Roh Moo-hyun. He was elected in December, will officially take office in February. But his team is already taking over the responsibility of trying to find a way to broker a solution between Washington and Pyongyang.
Now, this meeting between Kelly and Roh is very important, because Roh has had some differences with the Bush administration about how this current situation, crisis, whatever you want to call it, to be handled.
Now, the Roh administration also feels that Washington should not be isolating North Korea, that it should be engaging North Korea and wants to find some way that the two sides can meet each other, somewhat halfway.
Roh has also, in his campaign speech before he was elected, has said that South Korea needs to be treated more like an equal by Washington.
So this is definitely going to be a situation where Seoul is hoping that Washington will allow it to take more of a front row, perhaps even take the driver's seat, in finding a solution to this crisis, situation, whatever people want to call it -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Rebecca MacKinnon, thanks 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
Crisis>
Aired January 12, 2003 - 10:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The Bush administration continues to seek a diplomatic solution to the crisis in the Korean Peninsula.
For the Washington perspective on North Korea, CNN's senior White House correspondent John King is in Washington.
And John, already Mr. Kelly has made his way towards Seoul. What is the latest from the White House perspective?
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, good morning to you.
Certainly, one of the goals of Assistant Secretary of State Kelly in Seoul is to bridge the gap between the South Korean position and the United States position when it comes to dealing with North Korea.
The South Koreans believe they should enter into dialogue, no restrictions. The White House says it will talk to the North Koreans, but it will not negotiate. No concessions at all, Washington says, until North Korea sets aside its nuclear weapons program.
Now, you used the term "crisis." Most people would use the term "crisis" when you're talking about a country that may have one or two nuclear weapons, on a path, the United States says, to develop several more in the years ahead, threatening possibility of war with the United States.
One of the most interesting aspects of this confrontation, however, is the Bush administration says it believes it can get a diplomatic solution and will not even use the term "crisis." It just calls this right now a problem or a diplomatic situation.
Among those echoing that term, the new Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. He also said this is not a crisis but he hopes to see diplomacy soon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: We're not at a crisis level. We're at a very serious level. We're not at a crisis level in North Korea. We'll encourage both my colleagues and the administration to use diplomacy to the fullest -- to the fullest before consideration of anything else.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KING: Now, there was a bit of diplomacy over the weekend. The New Mexico governor, Bill Richardson, a Democrat, meeting with two diplomats from North Korea, those talks stretching over three days.
Why Bill Richardson? He was the United Nations ambassador for the United States during the Clinton administration and got to know the North Korean diplomats here in the United States. They requested a meeting with him.
This is not officially sanctioned by the Bush administration as government to government talks, per se, but the Bush administration did say they would look forward to hearing from Governor Richardson about the opinions of the North Koreans.
Governor Richardson saying that he believes here that the North Koreans do want to have a direct dialogue with the United States. He says he relayed the Bush administration's position that there can be no negotiations.
Governor Richardson says, in his view, the best thing would be for both sides, the United States and North Korea, to sit down at the same table, build a common approach, build some trust.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: I think that there needs to be some trust built, both sides, the administration and the North Koreans. I think it's pretty clear to everybody that there's deep mistrust. But the way you build trust is through talks.
I don't think there's ever going to be a perfect relationship. But at least I believe talking to each other is not going to be harmful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Again, senior Bush administration officials say they are open to those talks but that they will not negotiate. No, they say, until North Korea sets aside its nuclear weapons program.
Most in the administration believe that all this talk from North Korea, the threat of war, the threat now of resuming missile testing, the threat of building new nuclear weapons, the Bush -- most believe it is a tactic by North Korea to get negotiations from the United States.
But some are beginning to think that perhaps North Korea wants to move into the climate of being a nuclear nation, of developing six, 10, maybe 12 or 20 nuclear weapons down the road. That is one of the calculations for the Bush administration.
But in the short term they are waiting to hear back from Assistant Secretary of State Kelly, in Seoul for urgent consultations with the key U.S. ally in the region.
Bush administration bottom line is they say yes, they will sit down with North Korea, but they will make no concessions. North Korea says that's unacceptable -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. John King from Washington, thank you very much.
Let's talk more now about the duties of the assistant secretary of state, James Kelly, who is now in Seoul.
CNN's Rebecca MacKinnon is keeping track of the latest developments from Seoul.
And maybe you can shed some light on when these talks might begin and what is being accomplished, Rebecca.
REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, it's midnight here in Seoul Sunday night. In the morning, Monday morning, the assistant secretary of state, James Kelly, has a very full day ahead of him.
His first meeting is going to be with South Korea's new president president-elect, Roh Moo-hyun. He was elected in December, will officially take office in February. But his team is already taking over the responsibility of trying to find a way to broker a solution between Washington and Pyongyang.
Now, this meeting between Kelly and Roh is very important, because Roh has had some differences with the Bush administration about how this current situation, crisis, whatever you want to call it, to be handled.
Now, the Roh administration also feels that Washington should not be isolating North Korea, that it should be engaging North Korea and wants to find some way that the two sides can meet each other, somewhat halfway.
Roh has also, in his campaign speech before he was elected, has said that South Korea needs to be treated more like an equal by Washington.
So this is definitely going to be a situation where Seoul is hoping that Washington will allow it to take more of a front row, perhaps even take the driver's seat, in finding a solution to this crisis, situation, whatever people want to call it -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Rebecca MacKinnon, thanks 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
Crisis>
