Christopher R. Hill replaced James A. Kelly as Washington's top delegate to the six-party talks in February.



Mr. Hill, a career diplomat, is generally thought to have more influence within the Bush administration than Mr. Kelly did. Mr. Hill is also believed to have played a key role in convincing hard-liners in the administration to pursue negotiation and engagement with the North. Christopher R. Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and former U.S. ambassador to South Korea, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon.

Christopher R. Hill replaced James A. Kelly as Washington's top delegate to the six-party talks in February.

The people at the table

July 25, 2005 ? At the fourth round of the six-party talks, beginning tomorrow in Beijing, all the participating countries except North Korea and Russia will be fielding new delegates. Foreign and South Korean diplomats in Seoul said yesterday that the personnel changes amount to an attempt to bring new energy to the multilateral talks, in the hopes that this round will produce serious progress in the attempt to end North Korea's nuclear weapons programs. (Those diplomats added, however, that the 13-month impasse since the last round of talks did not reflect on the past negotiators' performance.)

Here is a look at who will be representing each of the six countries.

[Excerpt]

Hill a supporter of talks' format

Christopher R. Hill replaced James A. Kelly as Washington's top delegate to the six-party talks in February. Mr. Hill, formerly ambassador to Seoul, also replaced Mr. Kelly as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

Mr. Hill, a career diplomat, is generally thought to have more influence within the Bush administration than Mr. Kelly did. Mr. Hill is also believed to have played a key role in convincing hard-liners in the administration to pursue negotiation and engagement with the North.

In the past, Mr. Hill has served as U.S. ambassador to Poland, and was a special envoy on Kosovo from 1998 to 1999, when he was a member of the U.S. delegation responsible for the Bosnia peace settlement. Reflecting on the success of the peace talks in Kosovo, Mr. Hill once related his previous experience to the six-party talks, saying "[back] then, everybody said it won't work."

He has been a firm supporter of the six-party format.

Washington has yet to say whether it will raise the issue of Pyongyang's alleged highly enriched uranium program at the fourth round. Washington has claimed that North Korea has admitted to having a uranium-based weapons program.

The reported existence of the uranium program was a catalyst of the current, ongoing North Korean nuclear crisis.

When this story was posted in July 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:



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Special Events for RPCVs Join the NPCA in DC for Advocacy Day on July 28 NPCA to hold Virtual Leaders Forum on July 29 RPCV's "Taking the Early Bus" at Cal State until Aug 15 "Artists and Patrons in Traditional African Cultures" in NY thru Sept 30 See RPCV Musical "Doing Good" in CA through Sept RPCV Film Festival in DC in October

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July 17, 2005: This Week's Top Stories C. Payne Lucas writes "Can we win the war on HIV/Aids?" 11 July Director Vasquez hints at expansion in Bangladesh 17 July Why didn't I spend my life helping others? 17 July John Beasley returns to the islands of Micronesia 17 July Jennifer Field to study glacier melting 17 July Tucker McCravy works with Serendib in Sri Lanka 17 July David Vick writes "Waging civilized warfare" 16 July Tom Petri says Nelson helped to promote civility 16 July Peace Corps Director Visits Volunteers in Mongolia 15 July John Bridgeland writes "An example for Boomers" 15 July Robert Blackwill says India and US have a great future 15 July Peace Corps debuts new internet recruitment tool 14 July Eight New Country Directors Appointed 13 July Shelton Johnson Honored for Buffalo Soldier program 13 July Bill Lorenz leads trek for Sudanese refugees 12 July Emilie Pryor says Peace Corps ignores Lariam problems 12 July DDN is Award Finalist for reporting on PC Safety 11 July Randy Lewis to hire 200 people with cognitive disabilities 10 July Maryland needs people like Tom Lewis 10 July Dan DeWayne puts on music festival 10 July

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July 9, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Mike Honda says Democratic Party in paradigm shift 6 July Peace Corps Suspends Program in Gabon 8 July Thomas Tighe says Thailand is faring better 8 July Michael Parmly appointed top diplomat in Cuba 7 July Paul Timmreck got his start trailing garbage trucks 7 July Shays says London explosions should be wakeup call 7 July Tom Murphy says: Be Vigilant, But Not Afraid 7 July Gov. Doyle saddened and outraged by London Attacks 7 July RPCV Films organizing Film Festival 6 July Terez Rose writes Aid for Africa – Will the G8 Help? 6 July Carl Youngberg takes ballet to Honduras 6 July Kafatia faces a mandatory eight years in prison 6 July Bill Moyers says LBJ hated FOIA law 6 July Andy and Trudy Anderson work with The Hunger Project 5 July Thomas A. Dine deplores the attack against reporter 5 July Mime Troupe tackles history, politics and the World Bank 4 July Francis Mandanici says investigation could lead to impeachment 4 July Beth Bedinotti says motherhood is "toughest job" 1 July Director Vasquez Visits Volunteers in Eastern Caribbean 1 July

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July 8, 2005: PC suspends program in Gabon Peace Corps announced the suspension of the program in Gabon citing the high cost of the program. In addition, a 2003 Inspector General report documented safety and security costs of $1 million that would be necessary to keep the program operating successfully. Background: In 1998 Peace Corps Volunteer Karen Phillips was was found murdered in the weeds about 100 yards from her home in Oyem, Gabon. Her killer has never been brought to justice.

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