[Interview : Yoo Ji-hae
] "Ambassador Sherman, thank you for talking to us today.
Let us begin with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il lastest visit to China. What do you think is the main purpose behind Kim's rare trip to Beijing[Interview : Wendy Sherman, Vice Chairman
Albright Stonebridge Group] There have been rumors for quite some time that Kim Jong-il is going to China and it was unfortunate that the timing of it coming so soon after the summit between Korea's President and Hu Jintao of China.
That said, certainly if the Cheonan investigation is complete it shows that if North Korea is anyway culpable for the sinking of the ship, there would be no way North Korea could go to China. So, if he was going to go anyway, hopefully when he went, China did a couple of things that would be useful for this process.
One, tell North Korea that there are in a lot of trouble, if it turns out that they are responsible for Cheonan.
Secondly, China urged North Korea to institute economic reform, because there are many, many suffering people in North Korea. And unless North Korea begins to change its economic practices, that suffering is going to continue and no one wants that suffering to continue.
[Interview : Yoo Ji-hae
] Do you believe 6-party talks are the ultimate way to realize denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, or could there be any other effective means to resolve the North Korea's issue[Interview : Wendy Sherman] "I think the 6-party talks are an important framework, because it is not only about the relationship that North Korea has to North East Asia, but it is also really the basis for security relationships in this part of the world. But the Cheonan sinking clearly put a pause in that expectation. So, I hope we will get back on track eventually but we have to deal with this investigation and take whatever action the facts lead us to take."
[Interview : Yoo Ji-hae
] "If North Korea is to say it is ready for the 6-party talks, then how should the South Korean government or the international community react to that[Interview : Wendy Sherman, Vice Chairman
Albright Stonebridge Group] I think probably it is not very attractive to begin those talks, until we know the outcome of the investigation. If North Korea is culpable, there has to be a serious response, not one that escalates things out of control, but a serious robust response that is appropriate to whatever the facts reveal. I think that only after that, if North Korea shows that it will follow through the commitments it has made already in the 6-party talks, that it affirms that no party should be an aggressor, that's not going to move this forward, then the time will come when the 6-party talks are possible again.
[Interview : Yoo Ji-hae
] " How do you envision North Korea after Kim Jong-il[Interview : Wendy
] "He is clearly in the middle of creating a succession process. Most people believe his youngest son is that successor. And so, we need to have a new paradigm, a new vision for North East Asia that we all reach collectively. And then North Korea has to decide whether it's going to join us or whether it's going to create further isolation and actually write its own downfall."
MAY 14, 2010
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Friday, SEP 03, 2010, (KST) 
