(9 Apr 2005) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of room with Selig Harrison seated with reporters at table
2. Medium shot of three reporters seated
3. SOUNDBITE: (English): Selig Harrison, Director of the Asia program, Centre for International Policy
"Now North Korea is not prepared to discuss dismantling its nuclear weapons until a complete normalisation of all economic and diplomatic relations with the United States."
4. Reporters seated
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Selig Harrison, Director of the Asia program, Centre for International Policy
"They are ready to return to the six-party talks without preconditions relating to the agenda of the six-party talks, but want the United States first to apologise for the 'outpost of tyranny' statement by Condoleezza Rice, or to make another gesture of respect."
6. Reporters
7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Selig Harrison, Director of the Asia program, Centre for International Policy
"General Ri Chan-bok - Colonel-General is his formal title, he's a ranking general who's the representative at Panmunjong - made a very clear warning that North Korea would retaliate militarily in the event that the United States should attempt to enforce economic sanctions with any type of naval quarantine or blockade."
8. Harrison with reporters
9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Selig Harrison, Director of the Asia program, Centre for International Policy
"There has been a major policy shift in Pyongyang in recent weeks. The hardline elements there are riding high. The army has increasingly asserted it's control over nuclear policy. We have lost the opportunity that we have had for the past years to negotiate the type of step-by-step denuclearisation agreement favoured by China and South Korea but opposed by the Bush administration."
10. Medium reverse shot of Harrison
STORYLINE
North Korean leaders say they won't return to the six-party talks on nuclear disarmament until Washington apologises for remarks made by its Secretary of State or offers a similar gesture of respect, a U.S. scholar said on Saturday after visiting North Korea.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in January called North Korea one of the world's "outposts of tyranny," and suggested last month that the reclusive state might face sanctions if talks fail.
Speaking in Beijing, Washington-based researcher Selig Harrison said North Korean officials told him that they would return to six-nation talks only if Washington apologised for the "tyranny" comment, or made another gesture.
Furthermore, Harrison said a senior North Korean general and negotiator at Panmunjong warned that Washington-implemented sanctions would trigger a military response by Pyongyang.
"There has been a major policy shift in Pyongyang in recent weeks. The hardline elements there are riding high. The army has increasingly asserted it's control over nuclear policy," Harrison said. "We have lost the opportunity that we have had for the past years to negotiate the type of step-by-step denuclearisation agreement favoured by China and South Korea but opposed by the Bush administration."
North Korean officials rejected an earlier proposal to give up the North's nuclear programme in stages in exchange for aid, Harrison said.
Harrison said the change in stance reflected the growing strength of military hardliners, frustration at the relationship with Washington, and enduring fear that the Bush administration might attack.
Three sets of talks on U.S. demands for the North to give up its nuclear ambitions have produced no settlement.
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