북한 평양을 다녀온 브라이언 훅 (Brian Hook) 미 국무부 고위 관료 인터뷰

북한 평양을 다녀온 브라이언  훅 (Brian Hook) 미 국무부 이란/북한 핵 담당자 인터뷰

PBS 방송 인터뷰 : 2018.05.11

미국이 "비핵화"에 대한 보상으로 북한에 밝은 미래를 제공한다고 했는데, 그것이 구체적으로 무엇인가?

북미수교(평양에 미 대사관 설치), 주한 미군 철수, 평양에 트럼프 타워를 건설하는 것이냐?에 대한 앵커 질문에는 브라이언 훅이 답변하지 않았다.  

브라이언 훅은 앵커 질문들에 즉답은 회피했다.  그리고 공식적인 답변만 했다. 북한이 북미 정상회담 전까지 핵실험과 미사일 실험 중단, 그리고 북한에 억류되었던 미국인 3명을 석방한 것을 브라이언 훅이 칭찬했다. 

만약 북한이 비핵화라는 '큰 가정'을 실천한다면, 미국은 북한에 "전도 유망한 미래"를 제공할 것이라고 대답했다.

북미회담이 실망스러우면 트럼프가 회담장을 걸어나올 것이고, 북한에 대한 최대압박을 가할 것이다.

하지만 북미회담이 성공할 것이라고 트럼프는 희망적으로 낙관하고 있다.

 

Nick Schifrin: On North Korea, you have talked about irreversible steps toward denuclearization. 

What does irreversible look like? And how long does it take? Can it actually be done by the time the first Trump administration’s four years is up?

 Brian Hook: Yes, it can be. And that really depends on the will of the North Koreans to make that possible. And our policy is the complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization of North Korea.

 And so this is going to be what the leaders will be discussing in Singapore on June 12. 

Nick Schifrin: North Korea has been very clear it’s willing to talk about denuclearization. What is the U.S. willing to offer in response? Embassy in Pyongyang? Removing some troops from South Korea? 

I had one South Korean official joke to me that they should open Trump Tower Pyongyang. What is the U.S. willing to offer? 

Brian Hook: The U.S. is willing to offer a very bright future for North Korea and its people. And that is premised, though, on a very big if. 

They have to dismantle their nuclear program. 

(CROSSTALK) Nick Schifrin: But what does that bright future look like? What does it mean? What will you actually offer? 

Brian Hook: Well, I think this is going to be the purpose of really the summit between the leaders is to discuss and to listen very carefully to what Kim Jong-un has to say and then also to have him hear from the president and what our goals are. But he is hopeful that this meeting will be a big success. 

If it isn’t, that’s perfectly fine. Our campaign of global maximum pressure will continue, and so we are just taking a different approach. We have had 27 years of U.S. diplomacy in North Korea. It has failed to achieve our national security objectives, and so we’re just taking a new approach. 

We are not going to repeat the mistakes of the past. We’re going into this eyes wide open, but very hopeful.

 Nick Schifrin: Quickly, you have talked about a big success. The president has talked very optimistically. But it seems that the risk of the summit is that it could be near the edge of a cliff. 

What happens if the summit doesn’t go well? 

Brian Hook: We don’t view it as it being near the edge of a cliff. We have put in place an unprecedented diplomatic campaign. This campaign has achieved a lot of very good and early results. North Korea’s halted nuclear tests. They have halted missile tests. They have released thee Americans in the last few days. 

So these are early positive results. 

But this is just the early stages of our pressure campaign. We hope the summit goes well, but we are very prepared that, if it doesn’t, because we have a diplomatic strategy in place to achieve our national security goals. 

Nick Schifrin: And the president will walk out of that summit if he doesn’t feel it’s going well? 

Brian Hook: The president is prepared to walk out of the summit at any point. But, as he said, he’s very hopeful that it will be a success. 

Nick Schifrin: Brian Hook, thank you very much. 

Brian Hook: Thank you.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/u-s-willing-to-offer-very-bright-future-if-north-korea-denuclearizes-says-state-department-official