*EPF105 01/12/2004
Transcript: U.S. Seeks Diplomatic Solution for North Korea, Powell Says
(Discusses North Korea, Iraq in NHK TV Japan interview Jan. 9) (1840)

The United States seeks a diplomatic solution, not a military one, to deal with North Korea's nuclear activities, Secretary of State Colin Powell said in an interview with Aiko Doden of NHK TV Japan January 9.

"President Bush has made it clear that he wants to find a political, diplomatic solution to this challenge, and I think we can," Powell said.

"If we were interested in the military option, we wouldn't have gotten the six-party talks [with North Korea, South Korea, China, Russia, Japan, and the United States] organized," he continued. "The United States does not seek war. We are not looking for enemies. We are seeking to solve problems -- problems of the kind presented by North Korea's nuclear weapons programs."

Powell said he is "reasonably confident" another round of six-party talks will take place soon, but said, "[W]e want to make sure that the next formal round of talks show real progress and are not just another opportunity to exchange well-known views."

During the interview, Powell also thanked Japan for its decision to send ground troops to Iraq.

"We have an important task in front of us in Iraq to help the people of Iraq to a better life, to create a democracy, and they need help from the outside world. Sometimes the help is tangible in the form of money and also tangible in the form of peacekeepers," he said.

Powell said the decision to send troops "shows Japan's maturity and Japan's willingness to exercise its responsibilities as a very important nation, not only in Asia, but an important [one] on the world stage."

The Secretary said "the world has become safer" because of the dismantling of Saddam Hussein's regime, but said the international community must continue to fight terrorism.

"The world is safer because there is no longer a Saddam Hussein who fills mass graves with innocent people, who terrorizes his own people, who is developing weapons of mass destruction," he said. "There are still difficult challenges ahead, but we can see how it influenced Libyan behavior, influenced Iranian behavior, and we have to stay the course."

Following is the State Department transcript of the interview:

(begin transcript)

Interview by Aiko Doden of NHK TV Japan
Secretary Colin L. Powell
Washington, DC
January 9, 2004
(10:10 a.m. EST)

MS. DODEN: Good evening, Mr. Secretary. This is Aiko Doden from NHK.

SECRETARY POWELL: Good evening.

MS. DODEN: To make the most of the time, I would like to go straight on to the questions.

SECRETARY POWELL: Please.

MS. DODEN: Tokyo has issued an order to send ground troops to Iraq in the midst of acute concern among the public towards experiencing casualties. Do you think Japan is making an entry into a new realm in terms of its role in the international arena?

SECRETARY POWELL: Yes, I think it is, and I think it's a -- it was very bold decision on the part of Prime Minister Koizumi and the Japanese Government, and I want to thank them. And I also want to thank the Japanese people for their understanding of this mission.

We have an important task in front of us in Iraq to help the people of Iraq to a better life, to create a democracy, and they need help from the outside world. Sometimes the help is tangible in the form of money and also tangible in the form of peacekeepers.

I know that everything will be done to protect the Japanese personnel who are coming, but I think this shows Japan's maturity and Japan's willingness to exercise its responsibilities as a very important nation, not only in Asia, but an important [one] on the world stage.

MS. DODEN: There are allegations, though, that the world has in fact become less safer as a result of war against terrorism. Terrorist attack in Iraq and elsewhere are being reported on a daily basis. Do you believe that the world has actually gotten safer?

SECRETARY POWELL: Yes, I think the world has become safer, but not all terrorism has been eliminated. President Bush made it clear right after 9/11 [the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks] that terrorism would be a long term, continuing problem, and that all of us had to come together to fight terrorism. And so we still see problems in Iraq and other parts of the world where terrorists attack civilized nations, terrorists attack democracies. And we must not be afraid of terrorists and say, "Oh dear, let's not get involved." We all have to get involved. And I am pleased that Japan is playing such an important role in the global war against terrorism, and specifically, to help in Iraq.

The world is safer because there is no longer a Saddam Hussein who fills mass graves with innocent people, who terrorizes his own people, who is developing weapons of mass destruction. And so we have a new, a new era in that part of the world. There are still difficult challenges ahead, but we can see how it influenced Libyan behavior, influenced Iranian behavior, and we have to stay the course. And we need to be strong and bold as we help the Iraqi people, and I'm glad that Japan is prepared to play such an important role.

MS. DODEN: But there is one thing that still puzzles us. You have said that you had not seen smoking gun, nor concrete evidence about the connection between Saddam Hussein and terrorist organizations. Furthermore, WMD [weapons of mass destruction] have not been found. How, then, can the war be justified?

SECRETARY POWELL: I think the war can be justified by the fact that for a dozen years, the international community asked Saddam Hussein to account for his weapons of mass destruction.

The United States intelligence agencies, the intelligence agencies of most of the major nations of the world and the UN inspectors themselves believed and felt and knew that Saddam Hussein had the intention to develop weapons of mass destruction, had programs to develop weapons of mass destruction, and did have weapons of mass destruction, weapons which he used against his own people, which he used against Iranians some time ago.

Should we assume that, because of some change in his attitude we should not be worried about such weapons? The answer was, we were worried and we took the problem to the United Nations and demanded that he answer the questions that the United Nations had put to him for years. He refused to answer and he suffered the consequences -- he is no longer in power.

Now whether or not we will find large quantities of existing weapons of mass destruction remains to be determined. We are continuing to do that work, but nobody should be in any doubt that he presented a threat to the region and to the world.

We have never claimed that there was a smoking gun connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida and terrorists, but there were certainly indications that gave us concern. And I believe the President, [British] Prime Minister [Tony] Blair, [President Jose Maria] Aznar [of Spain] and the other leaders of the world were correct in forming a great coalition to eliminate Saddam Hussein and his regime.

MS. DODEN: I see. Let me go on to DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea].

Multi-party talks in DPRK has yet to produce substantive results as of yet. The date of the next six-party talks has not been decided. How seriously is the U.S. committed to pursuing this diplomatic channel?

SECRETARY POWELL: Very committed. I mean, these, these matters take time. I'm reasonably confident that another round of six-party talks will be held in the not-too-distant future. But even though we may not be having a formal meeting, a lot is happening. We are in close consultation with our Japanese friends, our Chinese friends, Russian friends and South Korean friends. And we want to make sure that the next formal round of talks show real progress and are not just another opportunity to exchange well-known views.

So we're preparing the ground for those talks in a way that the talks will show progress. I'm so pleased at the fact that all of North Korea's neighbors have joined in this multilateral effort to persuade North Korea to eliminate its weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons programs, in return for security assurances from its neighbors and from the United States. And when we get to that point, and both sides make those kinds of commitments, then we can do other things with North Korea to improve the lot of its citizens, and to resolve other outstanding issues. And I'm pleased at the cooperation we've received from the Japanese Government.

MS. DODEN: But would you still say that all options are kept on the table, including the military options?

SECRETARY POWELL: It is imprudent to remove any option. Why would you do that? But the principal option that President Bush and Prime Minister Koizumi and the other leaders are pursuing now is a diplomatic option.

President Bush has made it clear that he wants to find a political, diplomatic solution to this challenge, and I think we can.

If we were interested in the military option, we wouldn't have gotten the six-party talks organized, so we're looking for a diplomatic solution. The United States does not seek war. We are not looking for enemies. We are seeking to solve problems -- problems of the kind presented by North Korea's nuclear weapons programs.

MS. DODEN: But there are still concerns in the international community that the U.S., backed by a doctrine of preemption, will ascend to towering preeminence as hyper-power. How would you refute to that?

SECRETARY POWELL: It's wrong. If you look at how the U.S. has conducted its foreign policy, we have reached out to our friends and partners. How can a claim like that be made at the same time that we re working so closely with our friends in the region to deal with six-party talks with North Korea?

Are we preempting? Are we attacking somebody? We have told North Korea we don't intend to attack it. We are saying that this is a problem that has to be worked out between North Korea, its neighbors, and the United States of America: diplomacy, politics, multilateralism, partners coming together trying to solve a problem.

Yes, we keep all options on the table because we, we have to do that. But we're looking for a diplomatic solution. I think that puts the lie to the comment that you just quoted to me about us acting as a hyper-power.

MS. DODEN: Well, thank you very much, Mr. Secretary.

SECRETARY POWELL: You're welcome.

MS. DODEN: Do join us again.

SECRETARY POWELL: You're welcome.

2004/20

(end transcript)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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