Ed Markey: We Have to Assure North Korea We Don’t Want to Topple Their Regime

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:

ACOSTA: "Does the trump Administration, do you believe, have a coherent strategy for dealing with this? What did you make of this talk of going after the Chinese and the south Koreans when it comes to trade as a form of leverage? What did you make of that? Was that an effective course of action, do you think?" 
MARKEY: "I think that it’s clear that there has been a 22% increase in trade between China and north Korea from last July to this July. That’s a big problem. We have to insist that the Chinese cut off their oil, begin to dramatically ratchet down the oil they send to fuel the economy. We have to cut off the slave labor revenues that flow back into North Korea, cut off their export of textiles, shut down the business relationships which North Korea has with partnerships around the world. And so ultimately cut off the luxury goods that flow into North Korea for the Kim regime, the elite at the top of their pyramid, very narrow elite at the top of their country. We can do this. We just need the Chinese to understand that this is the last clear chance, and we’re going to need diplomacy, we’re going to need the United States to talk to China and Russia and other countries, but we’re also going to N the United States to agree that we will talk to the North Koreans. Because it’s that one-on-one negotiation that the North Koreans want, and we want to assure them that we do not want to topple their regime. Otherwise their only fight will be an ICBM bomb."