MTP Transcript for Oct. 15

MR. RUSSERT: Three and a half years ago, President Bush made this firm commitment to the people of the United States and the world. Let’s watch.

(Videotape, May 23, 2003):

PRES. BUSH: We will not tolerate nuclear weapons in North Korea.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT: Will the president hold to that pledge?

MR. BOLTON: I think President Bush has made it very clear that he wants to have a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the problem posed by North Korea’s continuing pursuit of nuclear weapons and delivery systems. That’s part of the reason why we’ve pushed for these very strong sanctions in the Security Council, to deprive North Korea of the ability to continue its nuclear weapons and other programs of weapons of mass destruction. At this point, the choice is really in North Korea’s hands; if they would come back to the six-party talks, if they’d comply with the declaration that they themselves joined in in September of 2005 to eliminate their nuclear weapons programs, they could have a much brighter future for the, for the impoverished people of North Korea. The choice is theirs at this point.

MR. RUSSERT: Then let’s discuss nuclear accountability. Will this administration say to the North Koreans, “If we find that you are the originators of any nuclear materials that hit the U.S. or our allies, there will be full retaliation against North Korea”?

MR. BOLTON: Well, I think it’s very clear to the North Koreans that, as the president said a couple of times in the past few days, we’re going to meet all of our defense commitments to our allies—South Korea and Japan—in the region, we’ll increase defense cooperation with them, and we will undoubtedly defend ourselves if we need to. But the point here is that by working multilaterally through the Security Council, twice now in three months, we’ve made it clear that we’re trying to get North Korea to see reason and abandon these programs. Libya was also pursuing nuclear weapons until it came to the conclusion it was safer giving up nuclear weapons than continuing to pursue them. That’s North Korea’s choice to make now.

MR. RUSSERT: How concerned are you that North Korea would decide to flood South Korea or China with millions of refugees?

MR. BOLTON: Well, I think the, the possibility of refugee flows is very much on everyone’s mind. And what we would like to see is the possibility of what our policy has been since 1945 when the peninsula was supposedly temporarily partitioned after World War II, and that’s peaceful reunification under a democratic government. But the immediate concern is that North Korea not use the threat of refugee flows to intimidate its neighbors. That’s their typical bargaining style, and it’s a style we have to resist.

MR. RUSSERT: Has North Korea’s nuclear capability increased during the Bush presidency?

MR. BOLTON: I, I think we have no way of being certain of that one way or the other, but that’s why here, confronted with this attempted nuclear test by the North Koreans, we’ve sought and obtained these very sweeping sanctions. This is an example of multilateral diplomacy, it was a unanimous vote by the Security Council, and I think it’s going to put enormous pressure on the North Korean regime.

MR. RUSSERT: Former Secretary of State Jim Baker said, “I believe in talking to your enemies. ... It’s not appeasement to talk to your enemies.” Why not sit down one-on-one with the North Koreans, look them in the eye and draw the line?

MR. BOLTON: Well, we have sat down one-on-one with the North Koreans in this administration on multiple occasions. The first was when we confronted them with their evidence—the evidence we had of their violation of the agreed framework. We’ve had discussions with them one-on-one in the context of the six-party talks. We could have more discussions with them one-on-one if the North Koreans would come back to the six-party talks. They were offered as recently as a couple of months ago in Kuala Lumpur the possibility of a foreign minister-level meeting with Secretary Rice in a six-party environment, they rejected that. The difficulty here of conversations between North Korea and the United States doesn’t lie with the United States, it lies with North Korea.

MR. RUSSERT: The North Koreans have said, and the Iranians have said, that “The lesson of Iraq is that the U.S. will invade you if you don’t have nuclear weapons. And therefore, we’re going to have a nuclear capability to help prevent a pre-emptive attack.” What’s your response?

MR. BOLTON: I think that both the North Koreans and the Iranians have been pursuing nuclear weapons for decades—the Iranians for close to 20 years, the North Koreans for at least 15 years and maybe more. This was a course of action that they had decided upon and were implementing long before the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. And again, you know, the president has said on any number of occasions, both with respect to Iran and with respect to North Korea, that he wants a peaceful and diplomatic solution.

MR. RUSSERT: Bottom line, will North Korea have a nuclear bomb when George Bush leaves office?

MR. BOLTON: I think the president’s spending every effort he can make. He personally has engaged in extensive diplomacy this week. Secretary Rice will be going to the region. We’re working with our friends and allies, we’re working in the Security Council, we’re working in the International Atomic Energy Agency. There’s not much more multilateral or bilateral diplomacy we can imagine here. And we’re putting pressure on North Korea. The real question now is what Pyongyang is going to do.

MR. RUSSERT: And if they do nothing, but continue to develop their program, what do we do?

MR. BOLTON: We’re going to continue to ratchet up the pressure, make it clear that their international isolation is only going to increase, and we’re going to make it, to the extent we can, impossible for them to continue the program through making sure they don’t get the materials and technology and equipment they need to continue these programs.

MR. RUSSERT: May we have to use a military option eventually?

MR. BOLTON: The president never takes the military option off the table, but he has said more times than we can count, he wants a peaceful and diplomatic solution.

MR. RUSSERT: Ambassador John Bolton, we thank you very much for your views.

MR. BOLTON: Thank you.

MR. RUSSERT: Coming next, our Senate Debate series continues. This morning, all eyes on Minnesota where Republican Mark Kennedy faces off against Democrat Amy Klobuchar. They debate right here on MEET THE PRESS. Twenty-three days to go until the midterm elections.

(Announcements)

MR. RUSSERT: Our MEET THE PRESS Senate Debate series: Minnesota. The candidates square off after this station break.

(Announcements)

MR. RUSSERT: And we welcome Democrat Amy Klobuchar, Republican Mark Kennedy.

Welcome, both.

REP. MARK KENNEDY (R-MN): Good to be here, Tim.

MS. AMY KLOBUCHAR: Good to be here.

MR. RUSSERT: Let me pick up on North Korea, Mr. Kennedy. If the North Koreans simply ignore these sanctions, or the Chinese don’t enforce the sanctions, what do we do? Do we use military action to stop their nuclear program?

REP. KENNEDY: I think we need to continue to ratchet up the diplomatic efforts. You know, we’ve had two U.N. resolutions unanimous. And we also need to continue to push China. China has the novel—nozzles that they can push on food, on energy. They have far more influence over North Korea. If they’re going to be a world power, they have to act like a world power.

MR. RUSSERT: But President Bush said, “We will not tolerate nuclear weapons in North Korea.” Do we hold him to his commitment?

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