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Between a game of chess and chicken
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As North Korea removed U.N. monitoring equipment from its nuclear facilities, the rhetoric from Pyongyang fueled rising tensions on the Korean peninsula. CNN State Department producer Elise Labott spoke to Anchor Carol Costello about the U.S. position and policy regarding North Korea's nuclear moves. LABOTT: Well this diplomatic brinkmanship between the United States and North Korea falls somewhere between a game of chess and a game of chicken. The latest move, as you said, yesterday by North Korea removing that equipment from its nuclear facilities. And U.S. officials believe that North Korea is just trying to get the Bush administration to blink, that if they turn up the heat high enough they can push the United States to negotiate some sort of non-aggression pact which says that the United States has no hostile intent toward Pyongyang and offers the regime of President Kim Jong Il some sort of security guarantees. In fact, yesterday we heard from North Korean officials in the state-run media warning the United States if it doesn't come to the table and negotiate they'd be provoking a nuclear war, which could lead to uncontrollable consequences. And, Carol, as you noted, officials at all levels of the U.S. government are saying that as much as they want a peaceful solution, they'd like to solve this diplomatically. They're not going to be blackmailed. They are not going to reward bad behavior by North Korea and that the only way Pyongyang can gain the support of the United States is to make good on its pledges to stop developing this nuclear weapons program. COSTELLO: You know the timing of this has always surprised me because the United States supposedly is on the brink of invading Iraq. Why isn't North Korea afraid of that? LABOTT: Well, actually, officials believe that the North is trying to leverage the fact that the United States is focused on another crisis right now. They'd like some attention, they're trying to up the ante and get the United States to pay attention to them. But officials tell us that although they are, you know, a bit focused on Iraq right now, they have a one-at-a-time mentality regarding the "axis of evil" countries that President Bush laid out, North Korea, Iraq and Iran. And although they're focused on Iraq right now, certainly they'll get around to North Korea; and so they're really not balking at this right now -- Carol. COSTELLO: So, Elise, are any talks going on today on Christmas Day or are they taking a break? LABOTT: Well, unfortunately, Secretary of State Colin Powell is spending his holiday doing intense phone diplomacy. Yesterday he spoke to the Japanese foreign minister and over the past several days in touch with his counterparts in Russia, China, South Korea, European countries trying to defuse the crisis. In particular, the United States is pushing Russia and China, who have a great deal of influence in North Korea, to back down, allow some monitoring by the IAEA once again. But, Carol, given the path North Korea seems to be going down, officials acknowledge that the clock is ticking here.
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