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CNN Saturday Morning News
Threats From North Korea Escalating Tensions
Aired January 11, 2003 - 09:01 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get back to our top story.
A new threat from North Korea could escalate nuclear tensions with the U.S. The communist country also says it will be ready to fire up a nuclear reactor sooner rather than later.
Let's get more on these developments from CNN's Rebecca MacKinnon, joining us live now from Seoul, South Korea -- Rebecca.
REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.
Well, North Korea's withdrawal from the nonproliferation treaty is now in effect, North Korean diplomats speaking out in capitals around the world, issuing more details of North Korea's policy and intentions.
A North Korean diplomat in Vienna saying that the nuclear reactor at the Yongbyon site, which had been frozen since 1994, may now become operational within a matter of weeks. That's opposed to what experts had been saying before, thinking it was a matter of months. But this diplomat says it's a matter of weeks, but he does say that it would only be used to generate electricity.
And in Beijing we have a North Korean diplomat, the ambassador to China, saying that North Korea is on the defensive because the United States has violated its side of agreements with North Korea, and that therefore North Korea no longer feels that it is obligated to stick to a freeze on its long-range missile tests.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHOE JIN-SOVIET UNION, NORTH KOREAN AMBASSADOR TO CHINA (through translator): Under the manipulation of the U.S., the IAEA resolutions labeled the DPRK as criminal and called on it to scrap what the U.S. called a nuclear program, while disregarding the nature of the nuclear issue, which is a product of a U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK and our special status of temporary suspension, in which (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from the MPT. They consider us criminals and force us to abandon that so-called nuclear plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACKINNON: Now, North Korea has had its long-range missile testing program frozen since 1999. It had recently reaffirmed that it was going to keep that testing program frozen until 2004, but now it says that that freeze is going to be lifted unless the United States moves to engage North Korea and meet its demands.
Now, North Korea had fired a missile over Japan in 1998, causing great concern to the international community, before it did freeze in 1999.
Now, meanwhile, in Pyongyang, North Korea, the capital there, a massive rally was held reaffirming the people's support of North Korea's withdrawal from the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. There were speeches and statements calling this current situation a holy war with the United States, and that North Korea needed to get revenge with blood if necessary, and that North Korea would respond to the enemy's hardline policy with what it called a superhardline policy.
However, all of this new rhetoric coming from North Korea is causing concern here in South Korea. Citizens demonstrating in support of the United States troop presence here.
Back to you, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Rebecca MacKinnon in Seoul, 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
Aired January 11, 2003 - 09:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get back to our top story.
A new threat from North Korea could escalate nuclear tensions with the U.S. The communist country also says it will be ready to fire up a nuclear reactor sooner rather than later.
Let's get more on these developments from CNN's Rebecca MacKinnon, joining us live now from Seoul, South Korea -- Rebecca.
REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.
Well, North Korea's withdrawal from the nonproliferation treaty is now in effect, North Korean diplomats speaking out in capitals around the world, issuing more details of North Korea's policy and intentions.
A North Korean diplomat in Vienna saying that the nuclear reactor at the Yongbyon site, which had been frozen since 1994, may now become operational within a matter of weeks. That's opposed to what experts had been saying before, thinking it was a matter of months. But this diplomat says it's a matter of weeks, but he does say that it would only be used to generate electricity.
And in Beijing we have a North Korean diplomat, the ambassador to China, saying that North Korea is on the defensive because the United States has violated its side of agreements with North Korea, and that therefore North Korea no longer feels that it is obligated to stick to a freeze on its long-range missile tests.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHOE JIN-SOVIET UNION, NORTH KOREAN AMBASSADOR TO CHINA (through translator): Under the manipulation of the U.S., the IAEA resolutions labeled the DPRK as criminal and called on it to scrap what the U.S. called a nuclear program, while disregarding the nature of the nuclear issue, which is a product of a U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK and our special status of temporary suspension, in which (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from the MPT. They consider us criminals and force us to abandon that so-called nuclear plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACKINNON: Now, North Korea has had its long-range missile testing program frozen since 1999. It had recently reaffirmed that it was going to keep that testing program frozen until 2004, but now it says that that freeze is going to be lifted unless the United States moves to engage North Korea and meet its demands.
Now, North Korea had fired a missile over Japan in 1998, causing great concern to the international community, before it did freeze in 1999.
Now, meanwhile, in Pyongyang, North Korea, the capital there, a massive rally was held reaffirming the people's support of North Korea's withdrawal from the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. There were speeches and statements calling this current situation a holy war with the United States, and that North Korea needed to get revenge with blood if necessary, and that North Korea would respond to the enemy's hardline policy with what it called a superhardline policy.
However, all of this new rhetoric coming from North Korea is causing concern here in South Korea. Citizens demonstrating in support of the United States troop presence here.
Back to you, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Rebecca MacKinnon in Seoul, 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
