Standoff with North Korea

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China has informed the Bush administration that North Korea has changed its formula for new talks over Pyongyang-s threat to make nuclear weapons. Earlier this week, William Perry, Defense Secretary for the Clinton Administration, warned that it is increasingly possible that terrorists could buy such weapons and plant them in an American city. Perry, who's not known for crying wolf, cautioned that today's division between Pentagon hawks and State Department doves makes US policy dangerously unclear. What are the prospects for all-out war? Should the US negotiate or try for -regime change?- How many North Korean refugees should be welcomed to America? We hear from a former ambassador to Asia, a historical sociologist and a specialist on US-Asia relations with six books to his credit.
  • Reporter's Notebook: Too Old to Get Behind the Wheel?
    Los Angeles County officials are undecided whether to file charges in yesterday-s deadly episode at the Santa Monica Farmers- Market. George Russell Weller, an 86 year-old with a spotless driving record, plowed through two blocks of pedestrians and venders, killing nine and injuring dozens more. The incident raises questions whether there should be age-based driving limits or mandatory testing? We hear from a former state Senator Tom Hayden, who authored such a bill, and a gerontologist from the International Longevity Center.

Kessler-s article on William Perry-s warning of war

Kessler's article on US-North Korea talks

State Department Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs

State Department on North Korea

Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney