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Former U.S. governor Bill Richardson and Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt are expected
to North Korea this week. The Associated Press says the delegation will
arrive in Pyongyang on this Monday. Choi You-sun has the details. Former New Mexico
Governor Bill Richardson and Google chief Eric Schmidt are set to visit North Korea
early this week. Without mentioning exactly when the pair will
arrive in the North, Richardson's office, in a statement released Saturday, said the
former governor will hold a press conference in Beijing on January 10th.
It's likely Richardson and Schmidt will make the trip before Thursday, and some media outlets
have even reported the delegation will travel to Pyongyang via Beijing for four days starting
Monday afternoon. Responding to Washington's uneasiness about
the upcoming visit, which was already postponed once due to the State Department's request,
Richardson said he believes something positive will come out of it.
He then stressed his group will neither be representing the U.S. government nor Google
in North Korea.
"This is a very sensitive time in diplomacy with North Korea. We're not happy with what
the North Koreans have been doing, but I'm a private citizen. This is a private humanitarian
mission."
Last week, the State Department said Richardson's trip would be ill-timed as it comes when the
international community is discussing punitive measures to take against North Korea after
Pyongyang fired a rocket into orbit last month. Richardson says he doesn't expect to meet
with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but he plans to discuss the release of Kenneth
Bae, a Korean-American currently detained in the North, with senior officials in Pyongyang.
Bae was arrested last November for what the North claims was a crime against the state.
Choi You-sun, Arirang News.