"North Korea says it has detained a US citizen" by Jean H. Lee | Associated Press, December 22, 2012
PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korea said Friday that a US citizen has been detained after confessing to unspecified crimes, confirming news reports about his arrest at a time when Pyongyang is facing criticism from Washington for launching a long-range rocket last week.
The man was identified as Pae Jun Ho in a brief dispatch issued by the state-run Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang. News reports in the United States and South Korea said Pae is known in his home state of Washington as Kenneth Bae, a 44-year-old tour operator of Korean descent.
He's got an undercover alias, huh? A tour operator?
An expert said he is likely to become a bargaining chip for the North, an attempt to draw the United States into talks. Five other US citizens known to have been detained in North Korea since 2009 were eventually released.
See: North Korea Finds a Friend
He's got an undercover alias, huh? A tour operator?
An expert said he is likely to become a bargaining chip for the North, an attempt to draw the United States into talks. Five other US citizens known to have been detained in North Korea since 2009 were eventually released.
See: North Korea Finds a Friend
North Korean state media said Pae arrived in the far northeastern city of Rajin on Nov. 3 as part of a tour.
Rajin is part of a special economic zone not far from Yanji, China, that has sought to draw foreign investors and tourists over the past year. Yanji, home to many ethnic Korean Chinese, also serves as a base for Christian groups that shelter North Korean defectors....
The CIA's Christian cover!
The announcement of the American’s detainment could be a signal from the North that it wants dialogue with the United States, said Cheong Seong-chang, an analyst at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea.
Then by all means let's talk!
He said trips by former US presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter to North Korea to secure the release of other detained Americans created a mood for US-North Korea talks.
So whom do we send?
The announcement of the American’s detainment could be a signal from the North that it wants dialogue with the United States, said Cheong Seong-chang, an analyst at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea.
Then by all means let's talk!
He said trips by former US presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter to North Korea to secure the release of other detained Americans created a mood for US-North Korea talks.
So whom do we send?
‘‘North Korea knows sanctions will follow its rocket launch. But in the long run, it needs an excuse to reopen talks after the political atmosphere moves past sanctions,’’ Cheong said.
Cheong said he expects that the American will be tried and convicted in coming months. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has the power to grant amnesty and will exercise it as a bargaining chip, Cheong said....
"Ex-New Mexico governor, Google official in N. Korea" by Choe Sang-Hun | New York Times, January 08, 2013
SEOUL — Bill Richardson, the former governor of New Mexico, led a private delegation including Eric Schmidt, Google’s executive chairman, to North Korea on Monday, a controversial trip to a country that is among the most hostile to the Internet.
Richardson, who has visited North Korea several times, called his trip a private humanitarian mission and said he would try to meet with Kenneth Bae, 44, a South Korea-born US citizen being held on charges of ‘‘hostile acts’’ against North Korea after entering the country as a tourist in November.
‘‘I heard from his son who lives in Washington state, who asked me to bring him back,’’ Richardson said in Beijing before boarding a plane bound for Pyongyang. ‘‘I doubt we can do it on this trip.’’
The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency confirmed the US group’s arrival in Pyongyang, calling it ‘‘a Google delegation.’’
Richardson said his delegation planned to meet with political, economic, and military leaders and visit universities.
Schmidt and Google have kept quiet about why he joined the trip, which the State Department advised against, calling the visit unhelpful. Richardson said Monday that Schmidt was ‘‘interested in some of the economic issues there, the social media aspect,’’ but he did not elaborate.
That's the public cover and official position. No way they went without clearance from Washington.
Except for a tiny portion of its elite, North Korea’s population is blocked from the Internet. Under its new leader, Kim Jong Un, the country has emphasized science and technology but vows to intensify its war against the infiltration of outside information.
That's the public cover and official position. No way they went without clearance from Washington.
Except for a tiny portion of its elite, North Korea’s population is blocked from the Internet. Under its new leader, Kim Jong Un, the country has emphasized science and technology but vows to intensify its war against the infiltration of outside information.
But Richardson’s trip comes at a particularly delicate time for Washington. It has been trying to muster international support to penalize North Korea for launching a long-range rocket, which the United States condemned as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions banning the country from testing intercontinental ballistic missile technology.
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"Google leader chides North Korea" by Andrew Jacobs | NY Times Syndication, January 11, 2013
BEIJING — Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, returned from a four-day visit to North Korea on Thursday with a message for the reclusive nation’s young new leader: Embrace the Web or else.
Schmidt, part of a private delegation led by former governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico that also sought to press North Korea on humanitarian and diplomatic issues, said the country risks falling further behind if it does not provide more access to cell service and the Internet.
“As the world becomes increasingly connected, their decision to be virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world, their economic growth and so forth, and it will make it harder for them to catch up economically,” he told reporters at Beijing International Airport. “We made that alternative very, very clear.”
And what do you tell Israel?
Their visit, the highest-profile delegation of Americans since Kim Jong Un took power upon the death of his father in December 2011, comes at a precarious time for US-North Korean relations after the North’s rocket launch last month drew condemnation.
And what do you tell Israel?
Their visit, the highest-profile delegation of Americans since Kim Jong Un took power upon the death of his father in December 2011, comes at a precarious time for US-North Korean relations after the North’s rocket launch last month drew condemnation.
The State Department was not thrilled with Richardson’s freelance diplomacy, at least not publicly.
A spokeswoman described Richardson’s visit as not “particularly helpful” given that the United States is seeking to rally support for tougher international sanctions against the North.
Some specialists on North Korea have characterized the self-described humanitarian mission as naive, saying it will ultimately serve the North’s propaganda needs.
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Related: North Korea loosens restrictions on foreign cellphones
The ritual of handing over phones was part of an exhaustive security check that most visitors face in North Korea.
Schmidt had to turn his over, but the scolding must have took.
The ritual of handing over phones was part of an exhaustive security check that most visitors face in North Korea.
Schmidt had to turn his over, but the scolding must have took.
