transcript

This text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI's THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI's THE WORLD is the program audio.

LISA MULLINS: I'm Lisa Mullins, and this is The World. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Seoul, South Korea today. The topic that's expected to dominate her discussions there is North Korea, specifically, its nuclear program and tensions with the South. The World's Matthew Bell is here to tell us about Secretary Clinton's agenda. Now, just in time for Secretary Clinton's arrival, North Korea had a pretty belligerent message for the South today. What's that all about?

MATTHEW BELL: They did. I got the quote right here. It came from the official news agency from North Korea, and the report called the South Korean President's administration “a group of traitors that should never forget that the North Korean People's Army is fully ready for an all-out confrontation.”

MULLINS: This is not atypical for North Korea?

BELL: It's not. It's sort of par for the course, especially in recent months. What's happening is Hillary Clinton is walking into a situation where North and South Korean relations are sort of in a low ebb. The government in South Korea came into power about a year ago, and it's a conservative-leaning government. The new President, Lee Myung-Bak, he cut off the sort of no-strings-attached aid that was going to the North. That has been going up there for years. The North is not happy about it, so they've turned around and basically cut off most official contacts with the South.

MULLINS: Okay. Now, here's a question. If the North continues to make these belligerent statements -- it's making them in the face of Hillary Clinton who has made some of the most generous offers and overtures to North Korea that we've seen in recent years; certainly nothing that was expressed in the Bush administration.

BELL: Yes. We heard it recently and before Hillary Clinton went on the trip, she spoke very explicitly about rewards North Korea would get if it gives up its nuclear program.

MULLINS: Such as?

BELL: Such as normalization of relations with the United States, aid – energy aid, economic assistance. The big one is a peace treaty that would finally end the Korean War.

MULLINS: So how come the North is throwing flames at that?

BELL: Well, I should start my answer by saying this is probably the most closed country in the world, and when you talk about North Korea, it's really hard to know what's going on, especially in Pyongyang, among the leaders there. However, there are different signals coming out of North Korea. There's belligerent tough talk; there's been reports of a missile test -- another long-range missile test being planned up near the Chinese border.

MULLINS: Which she has warned them against?

BELL: Exactly. She said this would be unhelpful. On the other hand, there have been softer signals coming out of the North. For example, Steven Bosworth, who is a former South Korean ambassador, he recently went up to North Korea. He came back and said the message he got from North Korean officials was, “We're ready to sit down and negotiate this stuff.” So it's hard to know. Now, I should mention some interesting comments that Hillary Clinton made today on the plane on her way to South Korea. She talked about the succession issue in North Korea.

MULLINS: Meaning who's going to take Kim Jong-Il's place?

BELL: Exactly.

MULLINS: He's in his 60's. He's said to be ailing.

BELL: Exactly. He's said to have had a stroke back in August. Now again, we don't know exactly what's going on but there have been reports about this, that he's recovering, and within North Korea itself there are questions – who's going to take over next? Hillary Clinton today said this has caused more stress in Asia in general, and she suggested that this is the reason why the nuclear negotiations have ground to a halt.

MULLINS: Of course, I have to say that this is probably not something that Kim Jong-Il wants to hear, talk about his successor, because this is exactly what he and North Koreans fear is that the United States is trying to promote regime change in North Korea.

BELL: Exactly. And there's probably no more sensitive issue inside North Korea itself than who's going to be the next leader.

MULLINS: All right. The World's Matthew Bell. Thanks.

BELL: You got it.

Copyright ©2008 PRI's THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI's THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World's Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.