Condi Going to Pyongyang?

Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard, citing a report from NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, reports that Secretary Rice intends to accompany the New York Philharmonic to Pyongyang this February.  I’m agnostic on the visit of the orchestra, but  a visit  from America’s senior diplomat will rightly be interpreted as an expression of American approval.

This begs a question:  approval of what, exactly?  North Korea is ignoring its obligations under Agreed Framework 2.0, is still  lying about the full extent of its nuclear programs, and proliferating (at best) nuclear technology  to every shady client with the purchase price.  Then there are the hostages, the terroristic threats from its state radio, the concentration camps, the flagrant violations of U.N. resolutions,  the missile tests, the selective misallocation of food aid,  missile proliferation,  baby-killings, counterfeiting, and dope dealing.  North Korea’s behavior has not improved on any of those issues.

To paraphrase a great line from a great movie, what has Kim Jong Il ever done for us?