2006 Minnesota Senate Debate: on Foreign Policy

Amy Klobuchar: When North Korea crosses line, there have to be consequences

KLOBUCHAR: As a prosecutor, I know that when people cross a line, there’s got to be consequences. And in foreign affairs, it’s the same thing. I believe these sanctions are incredibly important; we can’t have North Korea begin to be some kind of weapons factory.

Q: If the North Koreans ignore the sanctions, what do we do?

KLOBUCHAR: We have to keep ratcheting things up. We have to keep working with our partners. But one of the things that went wrong here is that these multilateral discussions broke down, North Korea walked away from the table, and I believe we have to keep talking. It’s good that China’s part of this, but if it’s moving in the right direction and if we believe it’s in our national security interests, we should be talking to them directly. I mean, even during the Cold War we kept talking to Russia. And so the discussions are important, and we need to keep the diplomatic pressure on.

Mark Kennedy: Use diplomacy and China to pressure North Korea on nukes

KENNEDY: We need to continue to ratchet up the diplomatic efforts. We also need to continue to push China. They have far more influence over North Korea.

Q: Pres. Bush said, “We will not tolerate nuclear weapons in North Korea.” Do we hold him to his commitment?

KENNEDY: But he also said that we want to have a peaceful and diplomatic solution. So we have to push every channel we can to achieve it in a peaceful and diplomatic way, not taking anything off the table.

Q: If Bush leaves office with nuclear devices in North Korea, will it have been a failed policy?

KENNEDY: We need to take every step we can to prevent that from happening.

Q: If the North Koreans ignore the sanctions, what do we do?

KLOBUCHAR: We have to keep ratcheting things up. Keeping the military option on the table is key, but sanctions are the first step, Unlike how we handled Iraq or where it was “Go it alone,” we have to work with our allies.