{"id":14700,"date":"2013-01-03T17:01:44","date_gmt":"2013-01-03T17:01:44","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2013-01-03T17:01:44","modified_gmt":"2013-01-03T17:01:44","slug":"US-politician-defends-North-Korea-trip-with-Google-head","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=14700","title":{"rendered":"US politician defends North Korea trip with Google head"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson dismissed US government concerns over his planned trip to North Korea with Google chairman Eric Schmidt, in an interview today.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I know the State Department is a little nervous,” Richardson said on CBS This Morning, “but we did postpone this trip already.<\/p>\n

“Eric and I were going in December, and at the request of the State Department, we postponed it because of the South Korean presidential elections.<\/p>\n

“We’re not representing the State Department, so they shouldn’t be that nervous,” he insisted, saying that the men were planning a private mission to urge the release of a US citizen held in North Korea.<\/p>\n

The United States today criticized the visit, saying it was ill-timed in the wake of Pyongyang’s widely condemned rocket launch last month.<\/p>\n

But Richardson said the visit was linked to North Korea’s arrest and planned prosecution of a US citizen of Korean descent, Kenneth Bae.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I heard from his son, who wants to get him released,” Richardson said, highlighting his past efforts at negotiating with Pyongyang.<\/p>\n

“I’ve brought back American servicemen. I’ve brought back American hostages. I’ve negotiated for the remains of our soldiers from the Korean War.”<\/p>\n

The former governor said he had invited Schmidt to join the trip because “he’s interested in foreign policy, he’s a friend of mine,<\/strong> and I felt that it was important that there be a broader perspective of our visit.”<\/p>\n

But he said Schmidt was going as a private citizen, and not as a representative of Internet giant Google.<\/p>\n

Pyongyang has in the past agreed to hand over detainees to high-profile delegations led by the likes of former US president Bill Clinton, and some observers suggested it may have requested Schmidt’s participation in this case.<\/p>\n

Source AFP<\/em>
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