Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Sunday
South Korean, Japanese Diplomats Head to U.S.
Aired January 05, 2003 - 16:05 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The eyes of the international community will be focused on Washington this week as diplomats from South Korea and Japan head to the U.S.
The tri-lateral talks are aimed at heading off a possible nuclear showdown with North Korea.
CNN's Sohn Jie-Ae is in South Korea, in Seoul, where officials there have one goal in mind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When delegates from South Korea, the United States and Japan meet to discuss and coordinate their policies on North Korea's recent nuclear developments, they are likely to agree on several points.
A South Korean high level official tells CNN that Seoul's number one goal, as it heads to Washington, is to stop North Korea from reactivating nuclear facilities that can reprocess spent fuel rods into weapons-grade plutonium.
International Atomic Energy Agency officials say if the fuel rods are reprocessed, the North could have enough plutonium to make several weapons, and they would only need a month or two.
And the North is already hinting that it is getting ready to pull out of the global Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
But while the allies may agree on what the problem and the goal are, they differ on just how to get there. While calling for a peaceful and diplomatic resolution, Washington says it is not ready to sit down and talk with the North, which is calling for a non- aggression pact.
In a national Security Council meeting held over the weekend, Seoul officials reportedly discussed playing a mediating role. That is, getting North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions in return for something from Washington.
MOON CHONG-IN, YONSEI UNIVERSITY: The Bush Administration could consider outright joint communique, which was issued in October of the year 2000, which has shown American intent of non-aggression on North Korea. But such a kind of joint communique could be a workable replacement to the non-aggression treaty. JIE-AE: Seoul officials point out such a framework was established during the Clinton Administration, when then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited North Korea and met with its leader, Kim Jong-Il.
In 1994, South Korea played a minimal role in averting the nuclear crisis. Eight years later, with inter-Korean relations better than it's ever been before, and a president-elect that feels South Korea should play an independent and equal role with Washington, many here feel history will not repeat itself.
Sohn Jie-Ae, CNN, Seoul.
(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 5, 2003 - 16:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The eyes of the international community will be focused on Washington this week as diplomats from South Korea and Japan head to the U.S.
The tri-lateral talks are aimed at heading off a possible nuclear showdown with North Korea.
CNN's Sohn Jie-Ae is in South Korea, in Seoul, where officials there have one goal in mind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When delegates from South Korea, the United States and Japan meet to discuss and coordinate their policies on North Korea's recent nuclear developments, they are likely to agree on several points.
A South Korean high level official tells CNN that Seoul's number one goal, as it heads to Washington, is to stop North Korea from reactivating nuclear facilities that can reprocess spent fuel rods into weapons-grade plutonium.
International Atomic Energy Agency officials say if the fuel rods are reprocessed, the North could have enough plutonium to make several weapons, and they would only need a month or two.
And the North is already hinting that it is getting ready to pull out of the global Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
But while the allies may agree on what the problem and the goal are, they differ on just how to get there. While calling for a peaceful and diplomatic resolution, Washington says it is not ready to sit down and talk with the North, which is calling for a non- aggression pact.
In a national Security Council meeting held over the weekend, Seoul officials reportedly discussed playing a mediating role. That is, getting North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions in return for something from Washington.
MOON CHONG-IN, YONSEI UNIVERSITY: The Bush Administration could consider outright joint communique, which was issued in October of the year 2000, which has shown American intent of non-aggression on North Korea. But such a kind of joint communique could be a workable replacement to the non-aggression treaty. JIE-AE: Seoul officials point out such a framework was established during the Clinton Administration, when then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited North Korea and met with its leader, Kim Jong-Il.
In 1994, South Korea played a minimal role in averting the nuclear crisis. Eight years later, with inter-Korean relations better than it's ever been before, and a president-elect that feels South Korea should play an independent and equal role with Washington, many here feel history will not repeat itself.
Sohn Jie-Ae, CNN, Seoul.
(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
