[imText1]Head of the American delegation to the six party talks, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Christopher Hill has been gathering much attention since his unofficial nomination on the 5th (local time) as North Korea policy coordinator to examine the Bush Administration’s North Korea policy.
In line with the “2007 National Defense Authorization Act” which came into effect last October, the policy coordinator as proposed by the U.S. Congress will assume the responsibilities of examining the Bush Administration’s North Korea policy and then submit a report on the investigations. According to law, the appointment of policy coordinator should be made before the 16th.
The role of policy coordinator will involve investigating security and human rights issues, and the North Korea policy on the whole ▲ present a reconciliatory policy directed at North Korea and issues such as nuclear armaments, ballistic missiles and security ▲ assume the duty of offering U.S. guidance at the six party talks and assume duties to fine tune the position of each department, presenting a coherent driven policy.
Accordingly, if Assistant Secretary Hill who has been acting as the window to North Korea’s negotiations does accept the role of policy coordinator, it is forecasted that U.S.-North Korea talks will become more dynamic as displayed recently where China acted as the mediator and Assistant Secretary Hill met with Kim Gye Gwan North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister, in Beijing.
In addition, North Korea solicited Assistant Secretary Hill to visit North Korea on two occasions in October 2005 and June 2006, as the issue of illicit funds related to Banco Delta Bank intensified. Hence, if he is appointed as policy coordinator, it appears that the chances for direct talks between the U.S. and North Korea will increase.
Nevertheless, on the opposite scale there is criticism that the North will not welcome Assistant Secretary Hill as the unofficial policy coordinator.
From North Korea’s position, though Assistant Secretary Hill has understood and attended to North Korea’s situation very well, he is not a figure important enough to accurately relay their status, nor influential enough to change the direction of the U.S. Administration’s North Korea policy.
On a different note, the policy coordinator during the Clinton Administration, former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry was considered to have demonstrated power even though it was through the reliance of the ruling party to further influence Congress.
During the North’s first nuclear threat in 1994, former Secretary Perry devised a hard-line policy “Precision-guided munitions” to disintegrate North Korea’s nuclear facilities and while verifying North Korea’s surrender of nukes to the very end as the Clinton Administration’s North Korea policy coordinator in ’99, he even proposed inducement policies for U.S.-North Korea amity such as the “Perry Process.”
In amidst a situation where hopes and concerns regarding Assistant Secretary Hill intersect, if he is appointed as the policy coordinator it is possible that he will be sent to Pyongyang early next year. Explicitly, a policy coordinator must draft a report on the North Korea policy within 90 days and present to the president and congress, which could entail a visit to Pyongyang.
On the other spectrum, Robert Einhorn, former Assistant Secretary for non-proliferation at the Department of State appeared on Radio Free Asia (RFA) and said “Though Assistant Secretary Hill is a suitable candidate for North Korea’s policy coordinator, the important thing is to what extent President Bush will endow him power” and “If the president does offer absolute power, then he will be able to use his exclusive authority to conduct negotiations with North Korea.”
