JAPAN: FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER SAYS WASHINGTON'S POLICY TOWARDS NORTH KOREA IS NOT HELPING RESOLVE THE NUCLEAR CRISIS
Record ID:
443029
JAPAN: FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER SAYS WASHINGTON'S POLICY TOWARDS NORTH KOREA IS NOT HELPING RESOLVE THE NUCLEAR CRISIS
- Title: JAPAN: FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER SAYS WASHINGTON'S POLICY TOWARDS NORTH KOREA IS NOT HELPING RESOLVE THE NUCLEAR CRISIS
- Date: 5th September 2003
- Summary: (W4) TOKYO, JAPAN (SEPTEMBER 5, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE 0.11 2. SV: MEDIA AT THE NEWS CONFERENCE 0.12 3. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER, SAYING: "At the same time, United States has refused direct talks, has branded North Korea as an axis of evil, has put an end to no-first use of atomic weapons, and has invaded Iraq, and has been intercepting North Korean ships at sea, and has condemned the peace initiative of Kim Il Sung (sic!) of South Korea and President (Bill) Clinton of the United States. So this paranoid nation and the United States now faces what I believe to be the greatest threat in the world to regional and global peace." 1.22 4. WIDE OF PRESSER 1.29 5. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER, SAYING: "The United States and North Korea, through any means possible probably through the talks in Beijing, need to make basic agreements not to proceed in becoming a nuclear weapon power with complete inspection of the Atomic Energy Agency on the one hand and the United States' firm commitment not to take any aggressive action against North Korea. This is not an impossibility to work out such an agreement and its crucial that Japan and other nations support this process and encourage flexibility on both sides until an agreement can be reached." 2.28 6. SV: JOURNALISTS 2.34 7. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER, SAYING: "I haven't been called on (to go to North Korea). If I were called on, which I don't perceive to be possible, I would be glad to go." 2.42 8. SV: JOURNALISTS 2.45 9. PULL OUT: CARTER LEAVING THE CONFERENCE ROOM 3.05 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 20th September 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
- Country: Japan
- Reuters ID: LVABITZAXEJJ1BJL9097U47VOL65
- Story Text: Former President Jimmy Carter says U.S. policy
towards North Korea is not helping resolve the nuclear
crisis.
Former United States president and Nobel Peace Prize
laureate Jimmy Carter said in Tokyo on Friday (September 5)
that while Pyongyang's resumption of its programme to
enrich uranium for its nuclear weapons was at the heart of
the crisis, the United States was also to blame.
"At the same time, United States has refused direct
talks, has branded North Korea as an axis of evil, has put
an end to no-first use of atomic weapons, and has invaded
Iraq, and has been intercepting North Korean ships at sea,
and has condemned the peace initiative of Kim Il Sung
(sic!) of South Korea and President (Bill) Clinton of the
United States. So this paranoid nation and the United
States now faces what I believe to be the greatest threat
in the world to regional and global peace," he told
reporters.
Carter said the solution to the problem was not an
impossible task.
"The United States and North Korea, through any means
possible probably through the talks in Beijing, need to
make basic agreements not to proceed in becoming a nuclear
weapon power with complete inspection of the Atomic Energy
Agency on the one hand and the United States' firm
commitment not to take any aggressive action against North
Korea. This is not an impossibility to work out such an
agreement and its crucial that Japan and other nations
support this process and encourage flexibility on both
sides until an agreement can be reached," he said.
Carter, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, won
acclaim during his four years as president from 1977 by
brokering a peace deal between Egypt and Israel.
Carter denied he was planning to head for North Korea
after his stay in Tokyo for a similar diplomatic mission.
"I haven't been called on. If I were called on, which I
don't perceive to be possible, I would be glad to go," he
added.
Carter is in Tokyo for events sponsored by the
privately funded Nippon Foundation and the Sasakawa Africa
Association, an Africa-linked non-governmental organisation
(NGO).
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