Gov. Bill Richardson is once again gaining international attention for his diplomatic skills.
This time, his long relationship with the North Koreans paid off in allowing him to help smooth the way for the implementation of that nation’s agreement shut down its nuclear weapons program.
The North Korean government agreed on Feb. 13 to do so, but had done little to meet the 60-day deadline to begin shutting down the program. The country was insisting it would do so only after $25 million in frozen funds were released.
The money in dispute was in a Chinese bank and was frozen in 2005 after the
Richardson, who was in
The
The first step will be to let in U.N. inspectors and begin drafting terms for shutting down North Korea’s nuclear reactor, which Richardson expects to happen as soon as the money is released.
“The North Korean government told us that, with that issue resolved, (it) would move promptly, within a day after receiving the funds,”
Though the agreement was result of a bipartisan effort in the
When the North Koreans want to talk with an American, they call on
It’s no accident that Richardson and the North Koreans wanted to get together to talk days before a deadline arrived on fragile agreement that could have easily fallen apart.
“This is one of the most important reasons Bill Richardson is the best qualified to be the next president of the