Remarks by the lawyer of congressman conyers regarding the women who accused him of sexual harassment. If you missed it you can find it online at cspan. Org. Starting now, take you live to a discussion about diplomacy and north korea. This is being hosted by the u. S. Institute of peace in washington, d. C. Live here on cspan. I was waiting for a cue. Great. Thanks. I was waiting for a hi sign and we dont need one. Its not like all that. Usually you wait for the guy in the headset to give you like that and we are a little bit less formal today. Thank you for being here to this presentation from america abroad. Its a show that brings social issues at home. Im todd. Ost of the takeaway from international and wnyc. I have been excited as i have been preparing because the issue of north korea is rising to the forefront of americans minds. These are experts here with me and you are well versed in this topic as well and Many Americans for the first time in a long time are starting to think a lot harder about north korea, about the potential threat and about what it means for them and everybody in washington is thinking about it as well. Im glad that you are here and im glad to be part of this. Im joined by four panelists who bring a wide range of perspectives on north korea. First is our host, frank, who is the u. S. Institute of peaces expert focusing on Korean Peninsula issues from 2001 until this year. Frank served as Senior Advisor for north korea in the office of the secretary of defense. Welcome. Frank thank you. [applause] todd thats it. He is your host, after all. Jean was the First American granted access to north korea, and in 2012 she became the chief of the Associated Press pyongyang pure bureau. Shes a global fellow at the wilson center. [applause] and an a. P. Reporter which makes you my colleague in the press. Jean former a. P. Reporter. Todd anthony is at the end. Senior fellow for the defense of democracy. Former government expert on targeted financial measures, sanctions against hostile regimes. He was part of the sixparty talks on denuclearization, and a nonproliferation advisor for the United States and hes here to guide us through some of the questions of sanctions as we move forward. So its good to have you, anthony. He deserves a hand. [applause] you all know glen ford who is furthest to my right. Member of the European Parliament for 25 years focusing on asia related issues. North korea on the brink, author. Glen, good to have you as well. [applause] so before we start our discussion, lets start with the news. Its a good place to start. The latest Ballistic Missile launch from the North Koreans. Now, north korea claims this flew toon altitude 10 times the height of the International Space station. That might not mean as much but it went so very high that it can go so very far. Now that missile could land on chicago or maybe cleveland or maybe even my hometown of hershey, pennsylvania, if kim decided that was a place he wanted to hit. Lets hear from u. N. Ambassador haley. I think we have audio. Ambassador haley we have never sought war with north korea and today we dont seek it. If war becomes its because of continued acts of aggression like we witnessed yesterday. And if war comes, make no mistake, the north korean regime will be utterly destroyed. Todd the United States ambassador to the united nations. Frank, let me start with you since youre our host. This latest test, the latest in a long series of Ballistic Missile tests that we all watched, does it change the state of play in a fundamental way, the fact this missile we are well aware not only could reach the west coast but the continental United States, is this a continuation of a new positioning for north korea or do you see something fundamentally different . Frank well, thank you, todd. So youre right, the test that north korea conducted earlier this week is the latest version of their Ballistic Missile. It was the very large missile, had advanced second stage capability and it can pretty much range is 8,000 miles. It can cover all of the United States. I wouldnt call it necessarily a fundamental shift in a Technical Capability sense. We knew this test was coming. They conducted similar tests in july, two i. C. B. M. Tests. If theres a fundamental shift i would say its more could potentially be more in their political posture because kim jong un has said before he wants to simultaneous develop the Nuclear Weapons program as well as the economy and now with this test he stated that north korea has finalized the Nuclear Weapons force. So we may be looking for a shift in north koreas regime towards more economic development. We may even see a pivot to an opening engagement. Todd one bit of speculation or analysis that i heard is we will track developing weapons, developing the economy, suggesting kim is looking for space now now hes proven he has this capability, back off, leave me alone, let me restructure my economy without interference from the americans or from the South Koreans, do you buy that sort of strategic take . Frank thats what he said since hes implemented that its called the line, dual track, development of the Nuclear Weapon. I believe since 2013. Well see. It remains to be seen in upcoming months whether that policy will move forward now that hes secured his Nuclear Weapons. Todd one of the features of this show is input from people around the world and from listeners and viewers. This is a videotape clip from a student at Hancock Academy of Foreign Relations in south korea. Lets play this clip. This is probably in korean so for the benefit of some of you i will translate after a minute ere. [speaking korean] todd i want to learn more about the specific ideologies that President Trump might have. Since the Nuclear Issue is a problem for the entire world we must understand each countrys policy. And then she asks if she had a many for President Trump and her response is, please study the history. Using twitter does not mean you are communicating with the people. Who wants to talk about twitter . Anyone want to talk about twitter . Glen, im going to go to you. Well talk more about the substance but i want to you talk to about twitter for a moment because this is a very new way of communicating on the world stage. How the e a sense of north interprets twitter messages from the president , whether assaulting or bombastic, do they ignore them . Glen no, they certainly talk about them. I was in pyongyang last week talking about with the people in the Korean Workers Party. They talked about trumps twitter feed. Being british i am aware of him on twitter. After that one one really wonders. Having retweeted some of the most vial and material from the extreme neo nazi right in britain which is actually false videos seems to be wouldnt encourage North Koreans very much. His recent contribution this morning on twitter with respect to north korea was less than fully helpful in the sense one has to understand for the North Koreans, like it or not, i mean, kim jong un is almost a god. And if youre insulting if youre insulting him it makes it very difficult to get to come to the table. They are quite willing to put up if you want insults or threats of being wiped out, thats fine. They understand that. But actually going to the far. Of is a step too just look imagine what would happen in japan if you insulted the emperor. We know what happens in thailand if you insult the king. You get 20 years in jail. Todd who is reading twitter in north korea . A small handful of elites . Glyn the people who matter at the top, they get a daily they get an equivalent of references news which is a daily compli lakes news. Its being covered. I mean, part of the problem is they have all the information but understand what it means necessarily, they can talk about local Election Results in france or whatever, not necessarily capable of understanding. One of the problems they have with the United States, its a very different system from their own. They got to understand checks and balances and they dont understand the people in the same administration are actually saying Different Things at the same time. Todd jean, let me go to you and talk more deeply about american strategy. Its clear or seems clear the Trump Administration has abandoned strategic patience, the doctrine of the Obama Administration or have they . They have got to Great Lengths to rhetorically abandon strategic patience but if you notice a substantive difference, substantive shift in strategy or even tactics aside from the twitter feed from this administration than from the one or the two before it . Jean well, lets talk about that twitter feed. I will answer that. Todd go right ahead. Jean because of the differences we are seeing from obama era policy and strategic patience and the Trump Twitter feed is rhetoric. The rhetoric coming from the twitter feed is not only confusing to the North Koreans, also confusing to the South Koreans because it doesnt jive with the policy that the secretary of state is putting out there when it comes to dealing with north korea. The rhetoric, part of the strategy of strategic patience is, its kind of like when you have a naughty child, there is a theory you perhaps shouldnt give that attention the child is craving. Put it in the naughty corner. But part of that policy was to kind of ignore the provocations and not to kind of feed it. But what were getting with these really kind of crazy tweets from the president s feed is a rise in this war of words between north korea and the United States. Certainly what i think people in south korea are worried about is both of these leaders raise the rhetoric to the point where they cant back down. Its not going to lead the region into some sort of conflict so its very confusing to people in south korea. I have to mention those of us here in the u. S. And the North Koreans. I have to remind you that we have a state of an armistice and a ceasefire in place on the Korean Peninsula. So militarily were limited to a certain degree if we abide by that armistice. North korea knows that and is really trying to push things just really up to the limit. But donald trump, the president can threaten all he wants in his rhetoric but there is a limit to a certain degree if youre going to follow the code of conduct to what you can do in terms of military action. Of course, they can go ahead and do it, but there is an armistice or a ceasefire that has been in place since 1953. Something to keep in mind. Todd we are going to talk a little bit more about military options such as they are a little bit later in the program. Anthony, sticking on the twitter theme for one moment, another feature of the president s twitter feed when it comes to the north is pushing the chinese and sometimes encouraging them, sometimes praising them, sometimes insulting them as well, trying to get them to ratchet up and crack down on their client state, north korea. Somewhat of a client. Is that effective, not just on twitter but maybe using real diplomacy . How far has the Trump Administration gotten on their with their calls to the Chinese Government to get tough on north korea from their end . Anthony right. When you ask the question about comparing the Trump Administration policy and the Obama Administration policy of strategic patience, the relationship with china i think is the biggest example of the difference. This is the First Administration that has really gone after china with sanctions for their facilitation of north koreas sanction evasion. There are many times they have gone after one chinese bank. They have gone after many numerous chinese nationals. I think the interesting part to your point about public talking about how xi and trump have a close relationship, but its clear in private theres a tough message being delivered because in the for the trumps trip to beijing he was very public in his praise for president xi and only a few weeks later he comes back and there is strong sanctions against chinese entities. Id also come back if i can come back for a second back to the question of does this missile test mean now were moving forward on diplomacy or is this a sign . I have to caution, first of all, we saw larger Missile Systems in the april parade. So this is not the end of north koreas Missile Program. Its not the end of north koreas dangerous Missile Program. There are probably larger missiles they are working on now. And i remember, it was only monday, the day before the test, where people were saying that this 70day pause in testing was an opportunity for negotiations. And thats not true. What we now learned is north korea was using that 70day window to build a lot bigger missile to reach the United States. I think we have to be very careful about suggesting that the North Koreans will all of a sudden throw up their hands and say, ok, now lets have a negotiation. They only want it on their terms and its not on denuclearization terms. Glyn whats changed, not for this missile test, kim jong un said thats the end of that program. I mean, in the sense if they retest in the near future, thats a loss of faith for him. He says its complete. We are in a much better position than we have been in the past. I have to say barack obama described his policy as strategic patience. I term it malign neglect. The sanctions were on and they ere squeezing north korea. It wasnt a denine operation by any means. The key thing to realize is the administration completely misunderstands chinas influence. So frankly on the economy china has some ability to hurt north korea. Of course he doesnt want to collapse the state. The last thing they want is the u. S. Troops on the banks of the yellow river. Todd or North Koreans pouring into china. Glyn that will be 10 million in south korea. Two million in china. The people that have the big problem are in the south. The point being is china has almost no political influence over north korea. They refused the foreign minister to come about six weeks ago so this notion that some people still have. The north Korean Workers Party is some kind of subsidiary of the beijing the Chinese Communist party is complete nonsense. The sooner people learn that the better. At the moment hes pushing on a lever with no fulcrum. Todd i want to speak on china for the next part of our question but jean, you wanted to mention missile. Jean i read about the completion of the testing or program a little bit differently. I read them they have begun the inal process of this Nuclear Weaponry which they have a couple tests they may conduct. We cant relax. And i think experts agree they have to master reentry. There are a couple components they have a weapons system that can truly threaten us. Thats why i think every single test is dangerous for different reasons. We need to keep in mind there is some political posturing. Kim jong un did say on january 1, i will complete this by the end of the year. He had to show his people he has this timeline and wants to complete it. I expected a test i know everybody is saying, whats up with this 75day lull. I had been expecting one in december because the times that i have been in north korea in december under kim jong un this has been a time for testing because december is the month that his father kim jong il passed away. There are a couple domestic reasons why kim jong un wanted to test this missile. Todd what better way to honor your relatives. Frank, you wanted to add something. Frank yeah. So china doesnt have as much political influence on north korea as people say but they do have the leverage so its a reiteration to anthonys point that china has increased and forced sanctions and we have seen that over the last six to eight months. Todd now. Thats good because i do want to stay with china because we have another contributor from china. This is an Office Worker in shanghai. She has this message for President Trump. Lets watch the clip and im going to use my abilities for translation yet again. Look at china and russia. We are on great terms. Why do you have to do what you have been doing . You should not dominate the game all by yourself. I think that most Chinese People share this view. Anthony, President Trump may agree with him. Here the u. S. Has been trying to delve china into this process and many officials in china want. China is split on how far to go in pushing on the North Koreans. Isnt that right . When you look at t