2007.06.22: June 22, 2007: Headlines: COS - Korea: Figures: COS - Cameroon: Diplomacy: Washington Post: Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill completed a surprise two-day trip to Pyongyang, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. official to travel there since the crisis over North Korea's nuclear ambitions began nearly five years ago
Peace Corps Online:
Directory:
Cameroon:
RPCV Christopher R. Hill (Cameroon) :
RPCV and Diplomat Christopher R. Hill (Cameroon):
2007.06.22: June 22, 2007: Headlines: COS - Korea: Figures: COS - Cameroon: Diplomacy: Washington Post: Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill completed a surprise two-day trip to Pyongyang, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. official to travel there since the crisis over North Korea's nuclear ambitions began nearly five years ago
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill completed a surprise two-day trip to Pyongyang, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. official to travel there since the crisis over North Korea's nuclear ambitions began nearly five years ago
Hill visited the North Korean capital at the sudden request of the country's government, and -- in a shift in policy -- the United States did not demand any concessions as a condition for the trip. Hill had long lobbied to travel to Pyongyang, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other top officials had insisted that North Korea had to earn such a high-profile gesture by first shutting down its nuclear reactor. State Department officials said that Hill's trip came about unexpectedly this week while the U.S. negotiator was traveling in Asia, consulting with the Japanese, the South Koreans and the Chinese about restarting the six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear programs. North Korea sent a message noting that it -- along with Russia -- was also part of the six-party talks and, thus, should be included in Hill's consultations. Rice discussed the proposal with Bush before approving the trip, with Vice President Cheney not raising any objection. 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.
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill completed a surprise two-day trip to Pyongyang, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. official to travel there since the crisis over North Korea's nuclear ambitions began nearly five years ago
U.S. Official Wraps Up Sudden Visit To N. Korea
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 22, 2007; Page A01
Caption: U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill (L) shakes hands with North Korea's U.S. Affairs Department Director Li Gun, upon Hill's departure at Pyongyang airport in Pyongyang June 22, 2007. REUTERS/Kyodo (.
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill completed a surprise two-day trip to Pyongyang early today, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. official to travel there since the crisis over North Korea's nuclear ambitions began nearly five years ago.
Hill visited the North Korean capital at the sudden request of the country's government, and -- in a shift in policy -- the United States did not demand any concessions as a condition for the trip. Hill had long lobbied to travel to Pyongyang, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other top officials had insisted that North Korea had to earn such a high-profile gesture by first shutting down its nuclear reactor.
But the aging reactor at Yongbyon is still operational, and this week the United States also arranged for North Korea to receive millions of dollars that the U.S. Treasury Department had previously deemed the fruits of illicit activities.
The Bush administration -- which once all but barred bilateral contacts between North Korean and U.S. diplomats -- has sought to portray such shifts in policy as part of a natural evolution. But former administration officials who had once fought internal battles over North Korea policy said yesterday that the administration appears to be weakening its negotiating position by making so many concessions so quickly.
"Meeting and engaging with North Korea bilaterally is appropriate," said Michael J. Green, who was the top Asia specialist at the White House in 2005 and is now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "But the administration has to be careful about shifting goal posts. North Korea has not shut down their reactor, and they have extracted all of their demands -- demands they had been told they would not get unless the reactor was shut down."
Many of President Bush's core conservative supporters also expressed distress over the administration's move. "This is another mistake that will convince the North Koreans that they have the whip hand and the State Department is desperate for a deal," said John R. Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack rejected notions that the administration has changed direction. "There are always accusations of 'Well, you know, the administration has come unmoored from its principles and its policies, and it's shifting policies,' " he told reporters. "I would submit to you that this is not a change in policy."
State Department officials said that Hill's trip came about unexpectedly this week while the U.S. negotiator was traveling in Asia, consulting with the Japanese, the South Koreans and the Chinese about restarting the six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear programs. North Korea sent a message noting that it -- along with Russia -- was also part of the six-party talks and, thus, should be included in Hill's consultations. Rice discussed the proposal with Bush before approving the trip, with Vice President Cheney not raising any objection.
The visit came about so quickly that Hill was accompanied by only a small group of State Department colleagues, rather than the standard delegation that would have included representatives from the White House and the Pentagon.
Hill has long believed that he could make more progress if he met with a wider range of North Korean officials than just the nuclear negotiators. He was scheduled to meet with the North Korean foreign minister, but it was unclear whether he would be granted a meeting with Kang Suk Ju, the first vice foreign minister and right-hand man of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. Kang has directed North Korea's nuclear diplomacy since the early 1990s.
"Kang is the buffer," said Charles L. "Jack" Pritchard, president of the Korean Economic Institute.
Footage from Associated Press Television showed Hill arriving at Pyongyang's airport in a small jet amid a steady downpour. His five-member delegation was met by Li Gun, Pyongyang's deputy nuclear negotiator.
"We want to get the six-party process moving," Hill, standing under an umbrella, said in the footage. "We hope that we can make up for some of the time that we lost this spring, and so I'm looking forward to good discussions about that."
After his meetings, Hill told APTN before departing Pyongyang: "We had a good discussion about the way forward at the six-party talks." He declined to provide specifics. But he said that he met with Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun and Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye Gwan, his negotiating counterpart.
North Korea had pledged in February to disable its Yongbyon reactor, but it missed an April deadline because of a dispute over $25 million in North Korean-linked funds that had been frozen because of a Treasury Department investigation. North Korea demanded a wire transfer, but for months no bank would agree to accept the money because about half of it appeared linked to North Korean money-laundering and other illicit activities.
That dispute was apparently resolved this week, after the Federal Reserve Bank of New York wired about $23 million to the Russian central bank last week. (About $2 million could not be transferred because North Korean officials could not obtain the appropriate release from account holders, U.S. officials said.) Russian officials announced yesterday that the funds were to be transferred to a Russian bank in which North Korea has an account, finally giving Pyongyang access to the money.
North Korea has said that once it receives the money, it would invite International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to begin discussions on the closure of the facility, which produces weapons-grade plutonium.
Since the reactor was restarted in 2002, North Korea has obtained enough plutonium to make as many as a dozen weapons.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: June, 2007; RPCV Christopher Hill (Cameroon); Peace Corps Korea; Directory of Korea RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Korea RPCVs; Figures; Peace Corps Cameroon; Directory of Cameroon RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Cameroon RPCVs; Diplomacy; Rhode Island; Peace Corps Library; Peace Corps Directory; Peace Corps History; Bulletin Board; Peace Corps Headlines
When this story was posted in July 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
 | Dodd issues call for National Service
Standing on the steps of the Nashua City Hall where JFK kicked off his campaign in 1960, Presidential Candidate Chris Dodd issued a call for National Service. "Like thousands of others, I heard President Kennedy's words and a short time later joined the Peace Corps." Dodd said his goal is to see 40 million people volunteering in some form or another by 2020. "We have an appetite for service. We like to be asked to roll up our sleeves and make a contribution," he said. "We haven't been asked in a long time." |
 | Public diplomacy rests on sound public policy
When President Kennedy spoke of "a long twilight struggle," and challenged the country to "ask not," he signaled that the Cold War was the challenge and framework defining US foreign policy. The current challenge is not a struggle against a totalitarian foe. It is not a battle against an enemy called "Islamofascism." From these false assumptions flow false choices, including the false choice between law enforcement and war. Instead, law enforcement and military force both must be essential instruments, along with diplomacy, including public diplomacy. But public diplomacy rests on policy, and to begin with, the policy must be sound. Read more. |
 | Ambassador revokes clearance for PC Director
A post made on PCOL from volunteers in Tanzania alleges that Ambassador Retzer has acted improperly in revoking the country clearance of Country Director Christine Djondo. A statement from Peace Corps' Press Office says that the Peace Corps strongly disagrees with the ambassador’s decision. On June 8 the White House announced that Retzer is being replaced as Ambassador. Latest: Senator Dodd has placed a hold on Mark Green's nomination to be Ambassador to Tanzania. |
 | Peace Corps Funnies
A PCV writing home? Our editor hard at work? Take a look at our Peace Corps Funnies and Peace Corps Cartoons and see why Peace Corps Volunteers say that sometimes a touch of levity can be one of the best ways of dealing with frustrations in the field. Read what RPCVs say about the lighter side of life in the Peace Corps and see why irreverent observations can often contain more than a grain of truth. We'll supply the photos. You supply the captions. |
 | PCOL serves half million
PCOL's readership for April exceeded 525,000 visitors - a 50% increase over last year. This year also saw the advent of a new web site: Peace Corps News that together with the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps serve 17,000 RPCVs, Staff, and Friends of the Peace Corps every day. Thanks for making PCOL your source of news for the Peace Corps community. Read more. |
 | Suspect confesses in murder of PCV
Search parties in the Philippines discovered the body of Peace Corps Volunteer Julia Campbell near Barangay Batad, Banaue town on April 17. Director Tschetter expressed his sorrow at learning the news. “Julia was a proud member of the Peace Corps family, and she contributed greatly to the lives of Filipino citizens in Donsol, Sorsogon, where she served,” he said. Latest: Suspect Juan Duntugan admits to killing Campbell. Leave your thoughts and condolences . |
 | Warren Wiggins: Architect of the Peace Corps
Warren Wiggins, who died at 84 on April 13, became one of the architects of the Peace Corps in 1961 when his paper, "A Towering Task," landed in the lap of Sargent Shriver, just as Shriver was trying to figure out how to turn the Peace Corps into a working federal department. Shriver was electrified by the treatise, which urged the agency to act boldly. Read Mr. Wiggins' obituary and biography, take an opportunity to read the original document that shaped the Peace Corps' mission, and read John Coyne's special issue commemorating "A Towering Task." |
 | Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace Corps
Senator Chris Dodd (RPCV Dominican Republic) spoke at the ceremony for this year's Shriver Award and elaborated on issues he raised at Ron Tschetter's hearings. Dodd plans to introduce legislation that may include: setting aside a portion of Peace Corps' budget as seed money for demonstration projects and third goal activities (after adjusting the annual budget upward to accommodate the added expense), more volunteer input into Peace Corps operations, removing medical, healthcare and tax impediments that discourage older volunteers, providing more transparency in the medical screening and appeals process, a more comprehensive health safety net for recently-returned volunteers, and authorizing volunteers to accept, under certain circumstances, private donations to support their development projects. He plans to circulate draft legislation for review to members of the Peace Corps community and welcomes RPCV comments. |
 | He served with honor
One year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on this website on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have just received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor. |
 | History of the Peace Corps
PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help. |
Read the stories and leave your comments.
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
Story Source: Washington Post
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Korea; Figures; COS - Cameroon; Diplomacy
PCOL37992
76
