Chris Hill (Possibly) Heading for P’yang

Hill has already left for Tokyo and Beijing; the stopover in Pyongyang is still unconfirmed.  In Japan, I suppose we can expect Hill to tell his hosts to forget about ever seeing their abducted citizens again, to hurry up and pay ransom, or perhaps both.  In China, after performing a full kowtow before  Jiang  Zemin, Hill will  not mention the impending repatriation, torture, and execution of the dissident  Yoo Sang Joon or any other North Korean refugee.  Ever so stealthily, America has shifted to a “die in place” policy.

The Chosun Ilbo quotes South Korean sources and speculates that Hill would tell the North Koreans to hurry up and come clean on their declaration of their nuclear programs, which is supposed to encompass materials, weapons, and proliferation as well.   I doubt that the  North Koreans will feel  much urgency  about that,  given how  pliable the United States has been about other recent deadlines.  From the Chosun Ilbo piece, you can infer that they still haven’t admitted to having a uranium enrichment program.   The Daily NK  says that the North Korean declaration is already overdue, and that their plutonium count is running considerably below our estimates. 

The genius of North Korean diplomacy lies in their diplomats’ ability to persuade credulous counterparts that reform and transparency are just around the corner — year after year, after year.

These developments  won’t make it easier for Hill to get money from this Congress, which suggests a new and emerging irony.  Democrats often blame the Republican Congress for the collapse of the first Agreed Framework.  How ironic if a Democratic Congress will reject the second one, proferred by a Republican administration.