There’s been a flurry of activity on the North Korea trip; here’s a link to some of the good stuff.
First of all, Slate has a great background on the Gov’s history with N.K. that everyone should check out. Gov. Richardson has negotiated with the North Koreans in the past, which does some explaining as to why they want to deal with him again–and why the Bush administration has been forced to admit that in this instance, it’s going to take an experienced Democrat to solve the North Korean problem.
It’s important to remember that the North Korean government has asked, several times, to deal with Gov. Richardson directly:
A few times in the past year, as the prospects for arms talks have soared and plummeted, the North Koreans have invited Richardson to visit, most recently in May, according to the governor’s spokesmen.
But of course, mindful of national security concerns, the Governor has declined until now. (It would be pretty strange for a Governor to freelance national security policy, even if he would do a good job at it; Richardson didn’t go until the Bush administration asked him to, essentially.) Fred Kaplan is very optimistic about this trip, saying that if a deal is going to happen, this is a time that seems ripe; everyone needs it to. The prospect is almost too exciting to think about. To have Bill Richardson be able to take credit for a deal on nuclear weapons with North Korea… I can barely even speculate. No, I won’t curse it, you can’t make me curse it by speculating.
Needless to say you should check out the Slate story. Also yesterday, there was a good story about the Governor touring nuclear facilities in North Korea. Makes it clear the kind of high-level access that’s being given here and also gives a little detail on the “carrot” the Governor is dangling. And finally, courtesy of KOBTV, a great quote that shows why you want Democrats negotiating security policy:
“I am also going to try to help with the situation in connection with humanitarian issues relating to the possibility that some of the humanitarian relief agencies may have to leave,” Richardson added. “I want to make sure that the vulnerable and children are not harmed.”
Securing nuclear weapons is the top priority in North Korea. But securing a better life for the people who live there counts for a lot, too. Kids don’t get to pick what country they’re born in. I’m glad we’ve got Gov. Richardson down there, that’s all I’ll say.
I haven’t forgotten about The Big Mo’, and will be updating with a new edition in the coming days; I just sense we’re in the middle of a big spike in Richardson media attention and I want to ride that for a little while before getting all reflective and analytical about it. Anyway, exciting times.