{"id":24145,"date":"2010-12-08T08:23:50","date_gmt":"2010-12-08T15:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=24145"},"modified":"2010-12-09T06:46:29","modified_gmt":"2010-12-09T13:46:29","slug":"richardson-making-%e2%80%98private-visit%e2%80%99-to-north-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/12\/richardson-making-%e2%80%98private-visit%e2%80%99-to-north-korea\/","title":{"rendered":"Richardson making \u2018private visit\u2019 to North Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Heath Haussamen \/ NMPolitics.net<\/p>

Gov. Bill Richardson (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> will make a \u201cprivate visit\u201d to North Korea next week to meet with government officials, Reuters<\/a> is reporting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a private visit. He is not delivering a message,\u201d a senior U.S. official was quoted by the news organization as saying.<\/p>\n

The visit comes at a volatile time. Earlier today, the top U.S. military officer warned North Korea that the United States\u2019 commitment to helping South Korea defend itself is \u201cunquestioned.\u201d He also pressed China to \u201cuse its enormous leverage to rein in the North,\u201d The Associated Press<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

Tensions have been high since North Korea shelled a South Korean island last month, killing four people, including two civilians, and injuring 18. In March, the sinking of a South Korean warship, which has been blamed on North Korea, left 46 sailors dead.<\/p>\n

Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has negotiated with the North Korean government several times since he became governor in 2003, both in North Korea and Santa Fe.<\/p>\n

However, since a federal investigation derailed Richardson\u2019s nomination to be U.S. commerce secretary<\/a> and damaged his public image, the U.S. government has sent Jimmy Carter<\/a> and Bill Clinton<\/a> on trips to North Korea instead of Richardson.<\/p>\n

The governor did meet with North Korean diplomats<\/a> in Santa Fe last year.<\/p>\n

Richardson leaves office at the end of the year. His spokespeople have said he plans to continue living in Santa Fe and, despite reports, isn\u2019t interested<\/a> in a lobbying job in Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe plans to live in Santa Fe and drive around the country visiting Major League ballparks after term ends,\u201d Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos has told The Santa Fe New Mexican<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Update, 4:45 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Associated Press has confirmed Richardson\u2019s trip<\/a>, but reports that he won\u2019t be carrying any message from the U.S. government.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am increasingly concerned with the recent actions by the North Koreans, which have raised tensions and are contributing to instability on the Korean Peninsula,\u201d Richardson said in a statement to the AP.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPDATED: Gov. Bill Richardson will make a \u201cprivate visit\u201d to North Korea next week to meet with government officials, Reuters is reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[112,116],"class_list":["post-24145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-bill-richardson","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24145\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}