Under Secretary Bolton on Fuji TV

John R. Bolton
Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security
Interview with Fuji TV July 23, 2004 (as broadcast)

FUJI TV: What is the main point of the lesson to be learned from Libya?

U/S BOLTON: The way to get Libya integrated back into the global economy and civilized political discourse was to renounce weapons of mass destruction, which he has done and carried through on his commitment. If we could get Kim Jong Il or the mullahs in Iran to make that same kind of strategic decision to renounce weapons of mass destruction, then the way forward would be clear.

FUJI TV: Well do you think Pyongyang is willing to be taught this lesson?

U/S BOLTON: I think - as Dr. Rice said the other day - perhaps Kim Jong Il could call Colonel Qaddafi and they could have a conversation about this subject. I think that what it tells us - all of us who are involved in the six-party talks - is that we should consider our respective policies from the perspective of how it might influence Kim Jong Il's cost-benefit analysis - to help establish the external factors that will lead him to the strategic decision to give up weapons of mass destruction.

FUJI TV: Well, in a recent speech you said, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." What exactly did you mean be that?

U/S BOLTON: We are not going to be fooled again. In the Agreed Framework, the North Koreans were able to have it both ways. They received economic benefits for seeming to freeze their plutonium program and at the same time, on a clandestine basis, they were pursuing the uranium enrichment route to nuclear weapons. So they did have the best of both worlds. We are not going to let that happen again. We want a complete resolution of the issue and we want a totally denuclearized Korean Peninsula.

FUJI TV: Mr. Jenkins's presence could be a political problem between Japan and the U.S. How do you see this situation getting resolved?

U/S BOLTON: I think it's been a real tribute to the closeness of the alliance, and while many events still need to occur, I think the way ahead is for our two governments to stay in very close touch as we have with Ambassador Baker and your government here.