http://www.onpointradio.org/stand-alone-player?fileUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bu.edu%2Fwbur%2Fstorage%2F2009%2F08%2Fonpoint_0805_1.mp3&fileTitle=Bill%20Clinton’s%20North%20Korea%20Mission&starttime=
Wednesday, August 5, 2009 at 10:00 AM EDT
Bill Clinton’s North Korea Mission
In this photo released by Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service in Tokyo, former U.S. President Bill Clinton meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Tuesday. (AP)The Obama administration dispatched Bill Clinton to Pyongyang to meet the North Korean dictator, pose for the propaganda shot, and bring out American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee.
The job done, the White House put to rest all the Beltway gossip about whether the president, the secretary of state, and the former president would serve the country or their own egos.
But the big questions are still unanswered. Up next, On Point: Bill Clinton’s mission to Pyongyang, and what it means for the US, North Korea, and an administration facing a world full of problems.
You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.
-Jane Clayson, guest host
Tom Ashbrook is on vacation.
Guests:
Joining us from Seoul, South Korea, is Evan Ramstad, Korea correspondent for The Wall Street Journal covering the Clinton mission and the release of the American journalists.
Joining us from Seoul, South Korea, is Evan Ramstad, Korea correspondent for The Wall Street Journal covering the Clinton mission and the release of the American journalists.
Joining us from Busan, South Korea, is Brian Myers. He is a researcher of North Korean ideology and propaganda at Dongseo University, where he heads the International Studies department, and author of a forthcoming book on North Korean propaganda titled “The Cleanest Race.”An American citizen, he has lived in South Korea for eight years.
Joining us from New York is Michael Crowley, a senior editor at The New Republic. His most recent article, “The Decider,” looks at the Obama foreign policy team. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, GQ, and Slate.
And joining us from Aspen, Colo., is Mitchell Reiss, diplomat-in-residence at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He held several top diplomatic positions in the George W. Bush administration and has extensive experience negotiating with North Korea, including as chief negotiator for the United States in the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization in the Clinton administration. He was United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland, with the diplomatic rank of Ambassador, until stepping down in 2007.
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