Discussion Questions

Aired August 28, 2003

Representatives from the U.S., North Korea, Russia, South Korea and Japan are meeting in Beijing, China this week for talks aimed at eliminating North Korea's nuclear program.

1. What is the status of North Korea's nuclear weapons program? Why are the U.S. and other members of the international community concerned about the proliferation of nuclear weapons in North Korea?

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2. What is the United States' position on North Korea? According to Jai Quinggus, Chinese political analyst, why is there so much distrust and suspicion on the part of U.S. and North Korea? Why do you think the U.S. rejected North Korea's key pre-condition that the two countries sign a non-aggression treaty?

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3. Why are diplomats from Japan, Russia, South Korea, the U.S. and North Korea meeting in Beijing, China this week? If diplomatic efforts in Beijing prove unsuccessful, what action is the Bush administration planning to take?

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Related Links

CNN.com: Rift-free start to N. Korea talks (http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/08/27/nkorea.talks/index.html)

Holt, Rinehart and Winston: Understanding North Korea (http://go.hrw.com/hrw.nd/arbiter/pRedirect?project=hrwonline&siteId=1578&pageId=11746)

CNN.com Special: North Korea Nuclear Tension (http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/nkorea/)

The Thirtieth Anniversary of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (http://www.ucsusa.org/global_security/archive/page.cfm?pageID=1056)

Keywords

North Korea, nuclear weapons, proliferation, diplomacy, Beijing, interdicting