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CNN Saturday Morning News
South Korea Will Try to Soothe Tensions
Aired January 04, 2003 - 09:11 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.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Well, South Korea says it soon may be able to soothe some of the nuclear tensions between the United States and North Korea. In fact, South Korea says it's cobbling together some proposals that could inch the two countries closer to a diplomatic resolution.
But as CNN's Lisa Weaver explains, such optimism hasn't been reflected in terse statements exchanged between Washington and Pyongyang.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA ROSE WEAVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The demands were familiar, a dialogue with the United States and a guarantee, the nonaggression pact Pyongyang has been seeking as a condition of discussing its nuclear weapons program. American unilateralism had forced North Korea's hand, the explanation went, and resulted in Pyongyang expelling weapons inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
CHOE JIN SU, NORTH KOREAN AMBASSADOR TO CHINA (through translator): Running against the global trend of reconciliation and peace, the U.S. alone with its cold war thinking is threatening us with nuclear weapons. We were forced to take self-defensive measures against the threat for national dignity and for our right to exist.
WEAVER: The nuclear standoff is making matters worse, said North Korea. Details were not spelled out, but the statement later referred to the U.S. cutting off shipments of fuel oil, a move that would affect the country's ability to produce energy. Pyongyang said without a nonaggression pact, it does not believe's Washington's conciliatory tone about military confrontation.
CHOE: As for the U.S. claim of no intention to invade our country and its willingness to solve the crisis through diplomatic channels, we don't believe these words.
WEAVER: The State Department's response to Pyongyang's offer was anything but conciliatory.
RICHARD BOUCHER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We're not going to enter into negotiations in response to threat or broken commitments. We're not going to bargain or offer inducements to North Korea to live up to treaties and agreements that it has signed.
WEAVER (on camera): The next step comes in a couple of days, when the International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to put out a harsh statement about North Korea's nuclear program. But it's not expected to take that issue to the UN Security Council, at least not for now.
In the meantime, we're expecting to see more diplomatic pressure on China to wield its influence on North Korea in the coming days.
Lisa Rose Weaver, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 4, 2003 - 09:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Well, South Korea says it soon may be able to soothe some of the nuclear tensions between the United States and North Korea. In fact, South Korea says it's cobbling together some proposals that could inch the two countries closer to a diplomatic resolution.
But as CNN's Lisa Weaver explains, such optimism hasn't been reflected in terse statements exchanged between Washington and Pyongyang.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA ROSE WEAVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The demands were familiar, a dialogue with the United States and a guarantee, the nonaggression pact Pyongyang has been seeking as a condition of discussing its nuclear weapons program. American unilateralism had forced North Korea's hand, the explanation went, and resulted in Pyongyang expelling weapons inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
CHOE JIN SU, NORTH KOREAN AMBASSADOR TO CHINA (through translator): Running against the global trend of reconciliation and peace, the U.S. alone with its cold war thinking is threatening us with nuclear weapons. We were forced to take self-defensive measures against the threat for national dignity and for our right to exist.
WEAVER: The nuclear standoff is making matters worse, said North Korea. Details were not spelled out, but the statement later referred to the U.S. cutting off shipments of fuel oil, a move that would affect the country's ability to produce energy. Pyongyang said without a nonaggression pact, it does not believe's Washington's conciliatory tone about military confrontation.
CHOE: As for the U.S. claim of no intention to invade our country and its willingness to solve the crisis through diplomatic channels, we don't believe these words.
WEAVER: The State Department's response to Pyongyang's offer was anything but conciliatory.
RICHARD BOUCHER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We're not going to enter into negotiations in response to threat or broken commitments. We're not going to bargain or offer inducements to North Korea to live up to treaties and agreements that it has signed.
WEAVER (on camera): The next step comes in a couple of days, when the International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to put out a harsh statement about North Korea's nuclear program. But it's not expected to take that issue to the UN Security Council, at least not for now.
In the meantime, we're expecting to see more diplomatic pressure on China to wield its influence on North Korea in the coming days.
Lisa Rose Weaver, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
