Richardson to Visit Pyongyang
by Richardson ~ March 30th, 2007. Filed under: America, Diplomacy, North Korea, U.S.-Korea Relations. No, not Richardson of DPRK Studies, but Bill Richardson:
Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson plans to travel to North Korea for meetings with government officials from the hardline communist nation.Richardson plans to make the trip in early April, officials familiar with the trip told The Associated Press on Friday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because plans were still being completed.
Let’s revisit Richardson’s position on North Korea, shall we?
We need to return to the table and hammer out the details of a comprehensive solution to North Korea’s nuclear threat. We also need to start an aggressive, bilateral dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea - including what concrete economic benefits will come North Korea’s way if it cooperates on dismantling its nuclear program. [snip]We must turn North Korea away from its nuclear brinkmanship and toward providing a stable food supply and more opportunity for its people. This means direct engagement from the highest levels in Washington employing all the tools at our disposal. [Boldface mine.]
Let me reiterate that North Korea is not engaging in nuclear brinkmanship to provide “a stable food supply and more opportunity for its people.” As I wrote before, this is not some student protest for more bread and circus. It is personally exasperating to me that many policymakers and analysts continue to ascribe The Economically Rational Man paradigm to North Korean behavior. North Korea wants economic gains, we will supply them, and, presto, problem solved.
There is an internally consistent logic to the behavior of the North Korean leadership, but it is not, I suspect, motivated by economics, but by much more primitive exigencies of survival and security of those in power.
As for Bill Richardson’s upcoming trip, what I do not know now is whether his trip is on his own political initiative or at the behest of the Bush administration.
March 30th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Considering I just saw him on the Daily Show promoting his new book and plugging his presidential candidacy, I’d say this little show is of his own personal initiative. Nothing like truckling at the feet of a dictator (Bill Richardson’s particular specialty) to get your name in the news.
March 30th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Yeah, I’m not lovin’ it.
March 30th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
Working on these videos and trying to find material for them — I was struck by how little has gotten out of Korea.
Google around for images of the famine or the like.
My brain still retained the information from a couple of the books and reports on the NK famine I’ve read —– info about how the government kept the groups from freedom of movement and tried to keep a strick handle on images they could take….
….but it really didn’t sink in how sucessful the regime has been, not just at keeping stuff out, but keeping it in….
……and we play to them…..
Sure, we’ve got google earth and such. We also have some images thanks to extremely brave and noble people who snuck in cameras and snuck out videos….
but, what has more influence in the world, it seems to me, are the images of Bill Richardson and clones doing a photo op in Pyongyang.
Or, images like we get from Diance Sawyer and the like….
When you know what else is going on in NK and just over the border…
and you see how much of a black hole there is on influencial images or promotion of what is going on there….
and you figure how much damage to recognition of the reality a Diane Sawyer or Bill Richardson can do with their images…..
It could start to piss a man off…..
April 8th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
Fox News reported that Richardson cleared the trip with the National Security Council. That, to me, means that the administration authorized the trip, and the administration would not have authorized the trip unless the leadership signed off on it.
The plot thickens.
April 8th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
Maybe they think Pelosi and Richardson falling over themselves to have have film of them being statemen-like with people who Bush said he hates will not be received by the voting masses as Pelosi and Richardson clearly seem to think it will….?
April 9th, 2007 at 1:07 am
Well, Pelosi’s visit was opposed by the administration… quite clearly.
Bill Richardson’s, however, has Bush administration backing written all over it — which, I grant, is my speculation. I suspect, but cannot prove, that Richardson has been acting as a backdoor channel from the Bush administration to Pyongyang.
April 11th, 2007 at 11:50 am
By the way, Fox News reported that Victor Cha accompanied Bill Richardson to Pyongyang, and was spotted there.
This trip clearly had the administration backing.
April 11th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
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