PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: For more now on the unofficial meetings between North Korea and Governor Bill Richardson, we are joined by Wendy Sherman, who was a special advisor on North Korea during the Clinton administration. Good morning -- thanks so much for being with us.</s>AMB. WENDY SHERMAN, FMR. SPECIAL ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT ON NORTH KOREA: Good morning. Good to be here.</s>ZAHN: Thank you. You've just heard a little bit of what Suzanne Malveaux having to say about the Bush administration saying that Bill Richardson will not be there in an official capacity. He does not speak for the administration. But CNN, at the same time, is being told that the administration is passing along a message to the envoys through Bill Richardson that the United States may be willing to give assurances in writing that it has no intention of attacking North Korea. Does this strategy make sense to you?</s>SHERMAN: Well, I think that the Bush administration has decided, as Suzanne reported, to use whatever channels are available to have some direct communication. I would hope that the informal conversations with Governor Richardson, who does know the North Koreans, would lead to government-to-government talks in the near future, because that's the channel we ultimately have to get to. North Korea is looking for a guarantee of its regime survival, and it needs to do that directly with the United States, because they see the United States as the greatest threat to its survival.</s>ZAHN: OK, if that's what North Korea is looking for, is that something the United States can guarantee, particularly if they're talking about not negotiating right now and the North Koreans have just withdrawn from this important treaty?</s>SHERMAN: I think the withdrawal from the NPT, the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty, in its most optimistic sense is really just another piece of negotiating strategy now that the United States has said it might give written assurances to the security of North Korea. Perhaps the withdrawal from the NPT is an effort to get a little bit more out of the deal when negotiations finally begin.
Interview With Ambassador Wendy Sherman