♪ host: it is monday, june 8, 2009. welcome to "washington journal" and we will start the program asking you about two journalists in north korea. you can call in on whether north korea should be back in on the terrorist list. president clinton'president bara as secretary clinton made comments yesterday. you can send this a tweak in your comments or questions.

you can always e-mail us also at journal.org. the story too late for most morning editions -- here on "the los angeles times" -- two u.s. reporters get 12 years in north korea. here in another, the road about north korea convicting two reporters. there were sentenced to 12 years in labor prison. the u.s. is considering placing the dictatorship back on its list of state sponsors of terrorism. the court tried american tv reporters and convicted them on an unspecified "grave crime" against the nation and of illegally crossing into north

korea. those working for former vice president al gore's tv were arrested on reporting about the trafficking of women. it is unclear whether they strayed into north korea or grab by border guards. secretary clinton reported on the front page year -- the u.s. weighs steps for intercepting the korean shipments. barack obama administration signaled sunday that it was seeking a way to interdict, possibly with china's help. north korean sea and air shipments suspected of carrying weapons or nuclear technology. the administration also said it was examining whether there was a legal basis to reverse former

president george bush's decision last year to remove it from the list of states sponsoring terrorism. >> if we do not take significant and effective action against the north koreans know we will spark an arms race in northeast asia. no one wants to see that. we are sharing with other countries our calculus of the risks and dangers that lie ahead if we do not take very strong action. >> there was a letter saying that north korea should go back on the list. would you do that? >> we will look at it. there is a process for it. we want to see recent evidence of their support for terrorism. we're just beginning to look at it. >> the senator says that they never stop with these actions. >> we take very seriously.

there were obviously been taken off the list for reasons and that is now being courted by their actions. host: and for your calls concerning this matter. independent line, good morning. caller: yes, but we probably need to do more. north korea exists only because it is a buffer for china, nothing more than that. we need to do with north korea -- to deal with north korea. we need to deal with it in a harsh way. host: what does that mean exactly? caller: if we allow north korea to continue down the path it is on, we will be in a position to give up more and more and be more compromising. it is imperative now that --

when things are not as bad as they're going to get if things continue on, we need to be harsh chanel and very firm in our resolve with getting the release of these individuals. these two journalists are important because of the way the report and who they know here. host: thank you. here is new jersey and john, a democrat. caller: i am a first-time caller. we need to be tough on these terrorists. obama has got to quit pandering to these countries. thinking that he can sit down and talk to a terrorist like this guy from iran. this will not work. host: did secretary clinton's comments sound like pandering to

you? caller: yes, for the most part. like i say, i am a democrat. we have not been attacked since 2001. we're getting soft with these countries and it will come back -- one morning we will wake up and there will be in our backyard. people used to fear us. the problem is that people do not respect us and the no longer fear the united states. host: north korea convicted two u.s. journalists, both working for current tv in north korea. the associated press report this morning from "the washington post" looks further into this.

this piece writes that many analysts believe there's a good chance that the two women will be free. they're being used as bargaining chips in its standoff with the south korea and the united states which are pushing for u.n. sanctions to punish the north for its latest nuclear test. by sentencing them to prison north korea has paved the way for political pardon and a diplomatic solution says a professor of north korean studies in seoul. he noted that a part in can only be issued after conviction. good morning, on air independent line. caller: yes, i believe the president obama should take immediate, firm action. but do it in a way where we can

get support from around the world. he should first go to the united nations and ask them to intervene. if not, it is simple and can be done by executive order. anyone who does business with north korea this not do business with the united states. very plain, simple, cut and dried. host: two stories this morning. the conviction of the journalists and the comments from secretary clinton yesterday, concerning putting the north koreans back on the terrorism list. in the piece this morning, while mr. obama is willing to reopen the six-party talks that mr. bush began, the other participants -- he has no intention of offering new incentives to give the north to fulfil agreements previously.

all these agreements were recently renounced by north korea. chicago is next. caller: good morning. listening to the previous callers it is upsetting to think someone wants to think about paranoia. i believe that this man wants to keep these reporters as some kind of bargaining chip. to ask our president to jump the gun is ridiculous. mrs. clinton is doing the correct thing and checking everything out and making sure does not escalate any more. it is not going to make us look weak. you cannot just jump the gun for every little thing comes along.

host: the president and his family are back from their trip overseas. on this front page, the obama's inch and fans as the first family's visit rekindles warmth in an age-old alliance. good morning. caller: make sure that you turn down your television or radio. host: go ahead with your comments. caller: i'm in college right now and ever since i was in middle school there was war overseas and you find out that north korea has built nuclear-weapons and then they go off jumping on the world stage in crazy stuff

like that. he should not jump the gun on stuff like that but should not leave it to the side. [unintelligible] should not take this lightly because if north korea develops weapons they could start selling them to other people. host: this is from reuters. the report that north korea threatened today to retaliate with extreme measures if the united nations pushed before last month's nuclear test with washington saying that it may put pyongyang back, terrorism list. the response would be to consider sanctions against us as a declaration of war and answer with extreme, hard-line measures -- that is according to a commentary on the north korean newspaper.

secretary clinton was on this week with george stephanopoulos on sunday morning. she commented on the fate of the two journalists. they had not yet been convicted. >> i have been involved directly in working with our team as they have made a purchase and request for information through the channels we use with north korea. the swedish ambassador and pyongyang is taking care of our interests there and has visited both young women now three times. i have taken every action that we thought would produce the result we are looking for. we think the charges against these young women are absolutely without merit or foundation. we hope the trial ends quickly. we hope that there will be sent home. >> have you gotten any hopeful

signs back? >> we have gotten some responses, but are not sure exactly who will make this decision and what the reasons for the eventual decision are. we have been very careful in what we have said because clearly we do not want this pulled into the political issues we have with north korea or the concerns being expressed in the un council. this is separate, humanitarian, and the girls should be let go. host: should north korea be back on the terrorism list? north korea, on a our republican line. caller: yes, if this continues. since they have chosen this direction to take against these two young women just doing their job, so the speak, and there were certainly not sent over

there with any intention of going into north korea, and one has a small child and it the other is a sister -- i'm not sure which has the child. host: lynn, do you think that the north koreans intended all along to find them guilty and were using this as a political measure? caller: yes, yes, absolutely. i did not think for one minute that there would be found not guilty. someone else said it would have shown that there were taken without reason. i prayed this would not happen because one of those, the sister

was a cast member for a while and also a child actors. i may be wrong on that one but i think so. -- she was also a child actress. host: thanks for your call. next up is on our democrats' line. caller: north korea is trying to bully countries into what they want. that is not going to get any country anywhere. it is not really solving anything. you're setting yourself up for conflict. conflict in today's world is not something we need right now. host: you think that the u.s. is

setting itself up for conflict? caller: no, it is north korea. it is not that we are trying to do it, but the way that north korea is doing it -- in a sense they're the one trying to test the united states for what they can get away with. that is not solving anything. if you can work things out and talk peacefully instead of trying to go out and get nuclear power -- that, to me, the world needs more peace and love. all this about nuclear power, if it is not helping the country to make people's lives better, why would you want to sit there and develop nuclear weapons just to say, oh,, i got this just in case you mess with me.

host: the next caller is from cape cod on their our independent line. what your thoughts on north korea? caller: i think anything we need to do that will help in the short term get these two people freedom and into safety is what we need to do. i used to be republican. i love the way the administration is handling this. in a calm fashion. it goes right along with obama's speech the other day. in the long run i think it will be much more effective policy. host: do you think the north koreans are holding these two as bargaining chips? caller: based on everything i have heard not only are they doing that, but they're doing what other administrations have done -- like the nazis in germany, they are looking to cause trouble. i don't know why. host: these two reporters are

working for al gore's current tv. this piece reports that al gore and may go there to negotiate the release of the two american journalists on trial and now convicted for illegal entry. st. louis, good morning on our democrats' line. caller: i don't think they should be put back on the terrorism list. they have not done this like we have been doing. i don't know how we can have a leg to stand on after iraq, after what we have done to people in guantanamo and afghanistan. we don't even allow people to have a try. we torture them. we know that the media is run by the pentagon, so who's to say

there were not over their spying? host: 84 the comment. you can also send this in e- mail. -- thank you for your comment. north korea has a population of more than 22 million people. they're not going to attack anyone. they're putting its chest, looking for reactions. the previous caller was talking about 1 ton of. here is "roll-call" this morning. on may 20, 50 members of the senate democratic conference work on the record as nimbys when it comes to bringing prisoners from guantanamo bay to the u.s. but once the president presents his plan mid-summer and had to close it, this democrats will probably be asked to reverse their stance.

it is an issue that many in the party see as politically perilous. florida, a republican caller. caller: what were the circumstances? i have been following this, but what were the circumstances they got caught? there were on north korea's property? what do they expect? who do they think they're bucking up against? these are people who are crazy, they are nuts. i was in korea 13 months. in 1963, 1964 and they never showed me nothing over there. yes, i was in the service. host: washington, d.c., good morning on air democrat -- on our democrats' line. caller: i don't see what it would achieve to put them on a terrorist list. will it gayness?

a thing barack obama has the right approach. just take it easy, to get soft. -- what will that gain us? just putting them on made up lists those not achieve anything. host: back to a piece about this issue, putting korea back on the terrorism list. the u.s. waste steps for intercepting shipments. mr. obama has decided who will not offer north korean new incentives to dismantle the nuclear complex that the north had previously promised to abandon. good morning to roger on our independent line from dallas. caller: this is a failure of foreign policy by obama. when president bush was in office the democrats blamed all of our troubles with north korea on him. president obama suggested that

he would be able to get along with troublesome countries better than bush did, but he has not. the north koreans are being very disrespectful to the united states. they are testing nuclear weapons, firing missiles. now the have kidnapped reporters. they are really challenging obama and making him look weak. host: on the nuclear issue here is a story in "the boston globe" about uranium. obama seeks a global uranium fuel bank. the plan would counter runs withiiran's weapon quest. it is part of a strategy to stop iran from obtaining nuclear weapons -- president obama plans to seek the creation of the

first-ever international supply of uranium that would allow patients to obtain fuel for civilian nuclear reactors to limit the capacity to make bombs. "the new york times" has a story about "the boston globe" and their efforts to stay afloat. members of labor unions -- months of labor acrimony at the paper will come to a head today when members of the newspapers' largest union are to vote on deep cuts in wages, benefits and job security. if employees rejected it will cut their pay 23%. the union has vowed to challenge a unilateral reduction with federal regulators though it may not be able to block one from taking effect.

that raises the prospect of continued conflict with the globe's owner "the new york times." caller: i am an old veteran from the korean war. i remember something that others do not seem to remember -- korea was cut in half of the 30th parallel by stalin and determined. the only way the country has not been put back together is because the united states is sitting on a piece of mainland asia and that is the way that we wanted it -- to stay in asia. it was just a way of continuing the second world war, the part of the cold war. there's something very curious that we are continually

north korea, starving them, doing all we can to get a response. we're getting a response. host: so, you see our continued presence in south korea as provoking north korea? caller: of course it is. north korea and south korea several times have come close to reunification and the american press starts to go do their thing for the pentagon. and then north korea reacts. the only reason we have not invaded them is because they have got that atomic bomb. host: here's hampton, va. on our democrats' line. caller: thank you so much, c- span. i enjoy your guests, especially the men who spoke just a few minutes ago. i would like to say that i hope these young ladies will be able to come back, and do important

journalistic work here in the u.s.a., nonetheless, while they are in north korea i don't think we should take a bully attitude of sanctioning and pointing our fingers to the bad boys of north korea. the journalists know that they take on missions that are possibly dangerous for themselves. i hope that our country stands by then, but i don't think we can accuse north korea of making sure that their borders are protected. we don't go over their borders and we don't want them to come over to our borders. we have thousands of service people guarding south korea, so we need to give the same respect. the journalist know the risks they're taking on. we cannot decide in the case to believe them.

it would be as if we have a north korean coming in and start taking snapshots of wall street or yours or my house. we would be outraged. we have to have a better mentality in the u.s. that when we take risks we cannot always blame the other people. host: 84 your comment. here is a comment -- thank you for your comment. here is a tweet. the entire concept of the terrorism list rests on ludicrous sbre-rattling and is useless for democracy. good morning, new york. caller: yes, i am a, vet and north korea should never have been taken off the list. until this people wake up there will be too late. host: where did you serve, bill?

caller: i serve in vietnam. communists are animals in a these people claim, they used to be conservatives, republicans ra -- you'd be intelligent to realize that these people want us dead. i have seen tragedy's from the north vietnamese that would blow your mind. host: there's a long opinion piece about north korea by henry kissinger. this is the headline. china faces challenges that are perhaps more complex than those facing the united states. if present trends continue, and did pyongyang manages to maintain its nuclear capability, the proliferation of nuclear weapons throughout northeast asia and the middle east becomes

probable. china would face nuclear-weapons and all surrounding states. but if beijing exercises the full extent of its pressures without an accord with america it has reason to fear chaos along its borders. one more opinion hear from jeff and detroit. caller: there's an old senate goes the more things change, the more they stay the same. i was in the service. you know, to me, to be honest with you, i think all of this talk is just another distraction from the real problem. it is the economy. you have some real problems here in detroit this summer. people are out of work. unemployment is over 20%. the corporate media is