Posted on 11/25/2007 4:59:27 PM PST by AmericanInTokyo
U.S. Diplomat Is Residing in North Korean Capital, Chosun Says
By Heejin Koo
Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- A U.S. diplomat has been residing in North Korea since mid-November, acting as a liaison between the governments of Washington and Pyongyang, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, citing an unidentified official in Washington.
The presence of the unidentified U.S. envoy, who is staying at the Koryo Hotel in Pyongyang, is an indication of improved relations between the two nations since North Korea pledged to disable its Yongbyon nuclear plant by the end of this year, the Seoul-based daily said.
The U.S. plans to send more envoys to reside in Pyongyang in preparation for normalized relations between the two nations, Chosun said. The two countries agreed to normalize ties under an accord reached in February aimed at scrapping North Korea's nuclear program that was also signed by South Korea, Russia, China and Japan.
North Korea began disabling its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, fuel-reprocessing plants and a fuel fabrication plant under the supervision of U.S. inspectors earlier this month. Kim Jong Il's regime has pledged to complete the process and provide a list of its nuclear programs by Dec. 31.
To contact the reporter on this story: Heejin Koo in Seoul at hjkoo@bloomberg.net
Here is the critical access point to the "New York Route".
You have been reading about the increasing appeasement and abject, naive idiocy of the Bush Administration embracing the Madeline Albright approach to Kim Jong il, here, regularly on FREE REPUBLIC.
The Koryo Hotel, Pyongyang, North Korea...
Pyongyang Koryo Hotel Changgwang Street, Tonghung-dong, Central District, Pyongyang Telephone: 011-850-2-321-7851
Ping!
It's apparantly TRUE.
BTTT
alert
If you can stream WABC, John Bolton is on with John Batchelor now
Thanks for the heads up.
Let us see if they take calls. If possible, I or someone else might get in to ask the question.
Conditions inside North Korea make most sub-Sahara African nations look like idyllic paradises.
If the North Koreans ever decided to invade the South, their advance would be halted by the first supermarket.
While I remain convinced that the State Department is the natural home of the traitors and incompetent in government service; I would rather we have someone on the inside talking with North Korea and proactively planning how to take care of the population in place instead of waiting for a starving horde to start moving south.
Just MHO...
There is usually a live thread for Batchelors’ program but not up yet.
He has Bolton on from time to time. After the break Bolton will be back on.
this guy is special.
Not entirely sure why all the negativity here. Unlike Clinton, Bush stuck to the multi-lateral talks route and it appears to be bearing fruit.
We have inspectors on the ground at NORK nuke facilities (yes, they tried to dump them off to Syria, but we’ve all seen how well THAT went.)
Carrots, sticks and pressure from China, Russia and Japan...
We know how quickly commie countries implode when exposed to the outside.
Thank you.
Ooooooh...! THE LEGACY...!
There was no agreement to dismantle and end the DPRK nuke effort, only an effort to "disable" it temporarily, in return for massive food and aid. The State Department keeps shifting their final positions, and gets more and more to the point of what the DPRK wants. They had initially insisted that it be disabled so that it would take several years to restart, they then caved and made it one year, now they have caved further and it is only a matter of months, according to most analysts, that the DPRK can RESTART their facilities. And, we have only stipulated the facilities that we know about. They have merely shifted resources, production, R/D, etc. to other locations within the DPRK as well as to third countries, i.e. Syria.
It would be the heighth of hypocrisy for me to critize Clinton/Albright/Richardson/Pritchard here on FR in 1999 and 2000, and then give the Bush Administration a "pass" in 2007, for esentially for doing the same thing, because they, well, er, are "the Bush Administration".
Sorry, cannot play such a partisan game with such a critical issue.
zannenn desuga, demo sou kamoshirenai....
Just great, Bolton ends with the North Korean - Syrian connection.
my sentiments exactly. It’s like “sheesh!, what’s next?!”
Bad things is, NORTHIES KNOW THIS TOO, BY NOW.
Talk about a weak position.
Sucks to be a negotiator and know the other side knows how desperate you are for a deal-at-all-costs and that you have no intention of "walking away from the table" even if they serve up a heaping, hot bowl of cow crap for you.
>>It’s apparantly TRUE.<<
Since we know there have been talks in NK, why is it surprising that we have somebody there?
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