The Dark Side of the Digital Revolution By ERIC SCHMIDT and JARED COHEN (Google and north Korea)

This is something everyone who studies unconventional warfare needs to read: e.g., a way to contribute to being able to coerce, disrupt or overthrow a government or occupying power. I criticized Mr. Schmidt for his visit to north Korea but between this essay and his daughter's excellent essay I am glad they went though I now wish it had been on their own and not with Governor Richardson. (Had they gone on their own they probably would have met Kim Jong-Un before Dennis Rodman.)

V/R

Dave

• THE SATURDAY ESSAY
• Updated April 19, 2013, 2:59 p.m. ET

The Dark Side of the Digital Revolution

Google's Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen, fresh from a visit to North Korea in January, on why the Internet is far from an unalloyed good to the citizens of dictatorships around the world.

By ERIC SCHMIDT and JARED COHEN

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324030704578424650479285218.html#printMode

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen, director of Google Ideas, talk with WSJ's John Bussey about what they hoped to accomplish from a visit to North Korea, and their observations about the country's technological potential and its likelihood of embracing the Internet. Photo: Getty Images

How do you explain to people that they are a YouTube sensation, when they have never heard of YouTube or the Internet? That's a question we faced during our January visit to North Korea, when we attempted to engage with the Pyongyang traffic police. You may have seen videos on the Web of the capital city's "traffic cops," whose ballerina-like street rituals, featured in government propaganda videos, have made them famous online. The men and women themselves, however—like most North Koreans—have never seen a Web page, used a desktop computer, or held a tablet or smartphone. They have never even heard of Google (or Bing, for that matter).

Even the idea of the Internet has not yet permeated the public's consciousness in North Korea. When foreigners visit, the government stages Internet browsing sessions by having "students" look at pre-downloaded and preapproved content, spending hours (as they did when we were there) scrolling up and down their screens in totalitarian unison. We ended up trying to describe the Internet to North Koreans we met in terms of its values: free expression, freedom of assembly, critical thinking, meritocracy. These are uncomfortable ideas in a society where the "Respected Leader" is supposedly the source of all information and where the penalty for defying him is the persecution of you and your family for three generations.

North Korea is at the beginning of a cat-and-mouse game that's playing out all around the world between repressive regimes and their people. In most of the world, the spread of connectivity has transformed people's expectations of their governments. North Korea is one of the last holdouts. Until only a few years ago, the price for being caught there with an unauthorized cellphone was the death penalty. Cellphones are now more common in North Korea since the government decided to allow one million citizens to have them; and in parts of the country near the border, the Internet is sometimes within reach as citizens can sometimes catch a signal from China. None of this will transform the country overnight, but one thing is certain: Though it is possible to curb and monitor technology, once it is available, even the most repressive regimes are unable to put it back in the box.

Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen preview their essay in Saturday's Wall Street Journal on their observations during a recent trip to North Korea. In this excerpt from an interview with WSJ's John Bussey, they discuss whether the country can allow some access to the Internet.

What does this mean for governments and would-be revolutionaries? While technology has great potential to bring about change, there is a dark side to the digital revolution that is too often ignored. There is a turbulent transition ahead for autocratic regimes as more of their citizens come online, but technology doesn't just help the good guys pushing for democratic reform—it can also provide powerful new tools for dictators to suppress dissent.

Fifty-seven percent of the world's population still lives under some sort of autocratic regime. In the span of a decade, the world's autocracies will go from having a minority of their citizens online to a majority. From Tehran to Beijing, autocrats are building the technology and training the personnel to suppress democratic dissent, often with the help of Western companies.

Of course, this is no easy task—and it isn't cheap. The world's autocrats will have to spend a great deal of money to build systems capable of monitoring and containing dissident energy. They will need cell towers and servers, large data centers, specialized software, legions of trained personnel and reliable supplies of basic resources like electricity and Internet connectivity. Once such an infrastructure is in place, repressive regimes then will need supercomputers to manage the glut of information.

Despite the expense, everything a regime would need to build an incredibly intimidating digital police state—including software that facilitates data mining and real-time monitoring of citizens—is commercially available right now. What's more, once one regime builds its surveillance state, it will share what it has learned with others. We know that autocratic governments share information, governance strategies and military hardware, and it's only logical that the configuration that one state designs (if it works) will proliferate among its allies and assorted others. Companies that sell data-mining software, surveillance cameras and other products will flaunt their work with one government to attract new business. It's the digital analog to arms sales, and like arms sales, it will not be cheap. Autocracies rich in national resources—oil, gas, minerals—will be able to afford it. Poorer dictatorships might be unable to sustain the state of the art and find themselves reliant on ideologically sympathetic patrons.

And don't think that the data being collected by autocracies is limited to Facebook posts or Twitter comments. The most important data they will collect in the future is biometric information, which can be used to identify individuals through their unique physical and biological attributes. Fingerprints, photographs and DNA testing are all familiar biometric data types today. Indeed, future visitors to repressive countries might be surprised to find that airport security requires not just a customs form and passport check, but also a voice scan. In the future, software for voice and facial recognition will surpass all the current biometric tests in terms of accuracy and ease of use.

Today's facial-recognition systems use a camera to zoom in on an individual's eyes, mouth and nose, and extract a "feature vector," a set of numbers that describes key aspects of the image, such as the precise distance between the eyes. (Remember, in the end, digital images are just numbers.) Those numbers can be fed back into a large database of faces in search of a match. The accuracy of this software is limited today (by, among other things, pictures shot in profile), but the progress in this field is remarkable. A team at Carnegie Mellon demonstrated in a 2011 study that the combination of "off-the-shelf" facial recognition software and publicly available online data (such as social-network profiles) can match a large number of faces very quickly. With cloud computing, it takes just seconds to compare millions of faces. The accuracy improves with people who have many pictures of themselves available online—which, in the age of Facebook, is practically everyone.

(Continued at the link below)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324030704578424650479285218.html#printMode

Teenage Daughter of Google Chief Spills The True Story on North Korea Visit: Puts to Shame Free Press, Dad, and U.S. Government

This is definitely worth a read.  Sophie Schmidt made the trip worth it.  Her irreverent, humorous and un-politically correct yet very perceptive observations while accompanying her father and Governor Richardson illustrates some wisdom beyond her years. Her complete article with photos from her web page is entitled “It might not get weirder than this”.  Again definitely worth a read on many different levels but I sure wish more senior people who travel to north Korea could be as good observers as her and not be taken in by the propaganda and attempted manipulation by the north.  However, after publishing this, I am sure the only time she will get to travel to the north again is after Korean Unification is achieved.  But this is the key excerpt that demonstrates her understanding of the north:

Ms Schmidt then offered a health warning on how much credibility her observations should be accorded: “#1 Caveat: It’s impossible to know how much we can extrapolate from what we saw in Pyongyang to what the DPRK is really like.  Our trip was a mixture of highly staged encounters, tightly-orchestrated viewings and what seemed like genuine human moments.  We had zero interactions with non-state-approved North Koreans and were never far from our two minders (2, so one can mind the other).”

V/R

Dave

Teenage Daughter of Google Chief Spills The True Story on North Korea Visit: Puts to Shame Free Press, Dad, and U.S. Government

20 JAN

By Nate Thayer

http://natethayer.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/teenage-daughter-of-google-chief-spills-the-true-story-on-north-korea-visit-puts-to-shame-free-press-dad-and-u-s-government/

Google chief executive Eric Schmidt may now regret inviting his 19 year old teenage daughter, Sophie Schmidt, along on his world headline grabbing, secretive trip to North Korea last week.

Sophie Schmidt was one of the nine members of the high powered delegation which included her dad, representing the world’s most prominent powerhouse, Google corporation, in the new internet age of borderless, free, uncensored flow of  information to the most restricted closed and censored society on earth. Other members included her dad, former U.S. presidential candidate, Ambassador to the United Nations and governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, and other powerful but very tight lipped hi tech and government types.

Together they have revealed virtually nothing of the purpose, encounters, impressions, and success of the trip to North Korea.

Cartoon posted by hid daughter on blog post writing about her trip to North Korea

Until teenager Sophie posted a startling frank, detailed, and revealing blog today, accompanied by typical American teenage bluntness and snarky, that blew away the powerful American mucky mucks scripted silence, revealing all the public interest really needed to know.

Now, really, was that so hard?

North Korean ID card of Sophie Schmidt, teenage daughter of Google chief

The quite entertaining and enticing young Ms Schmidt got right to the point.

Titled “It might not get weirder than this”, Sophie’s blog post began with the caveat “ Pro tip: Max browser window (for width), keep scrolling and blame Google Sites (and this two-column structure idea of mine) for limited functionality.  Proper slideshow at the end with larger-version photos. Apologies to folks with f’d up layouts” which was followed by a highlighted note before her incisive and insightful musing on the Google delegation 4 day visit began: “Disclaimer: I am a North Korea amateur and can only share what it’s like to be part of a NK-bound delegation. Straightforward trip report here: no discussion of meeting details or intentions–just some observations.”

She began with a photo of the North Korean Custom form to be filled out upon arrival in Pyongyang. “Do note #1 and #6: leave your “killing device” and “publishing’s of all kinds” at home.  Got it. We carried a ton of cash (USD) since that was the only way to pay for anything.”

“Do note #1 and #6: leave your “killing device” and “publishing’s of all kinds” at home. Got it.” wrote Ms Schmidt

She then detailed the ambience of their surroundings. “We also met our handlers, two men from the Foreign Ministry, whom we gave code names. Unusually, both men had lived in the US, in addition to other countries, as embassy staffers…. How on earth do they reconcile the differences they see between their experience abroad and what they’d always been told?” adding “It was a nine-person delegation in total. We left our phones and laptops behind in China, since we were warned they’d be confiscated in NK, and probably infected with lord knows what malware.”

(Continued at the link below)

http://natethayer.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/teenage-daughter-of-google-chief-spills-the-true-story-on-north-korea-visit-puts-to-shame-free-press-dad-and-u-s-government/

EXCLUSIVE: FOREIGNERS NOW PERMITTED TO CARRY MOBILE PHONES IN NORTH KOREA

The operative word is "carry".  As in foreigners will be able to carry their cell phones but not be able use them so they will be as effective as a paperweight.

Excerpt:

Despite this new development, tourists are currently neither able to roam on North Korea’s domestic KoryoLink network nor purchase local SIM cards, meaning that despite being allowed to carry their handsets, they are unusable. 

Again, keep in mind image first politics.  But Richardson and Schmidt went to north Korea and did not get to see or help get released Kenneth Bae.  They saw the computer "Potemkin Villages" and I will bet they asked about cell phones. In fact they probably matter-of-factly made a comment along the lines of "you should let foreigners carry their phones."  They were probably responding to a question such as how can we make people like north Korea and they casually responded with a "carry cell phone" comment.  Of course the north Koreans parsed every word exchanged and someone came up with the idea that sure we can let foreigners carry their cell phones but we will not allow them to put sim cards in their phones and we certainly will not allow international access through their phones.  So they were able to literally take the advice of Schmidt and Richardson.  I mention this because Richardson at least should understand how the north will exploit anything and everything they can and of course interpret and spin anything said to their benefit.

V/R

Dave

EXCLUSIVE: FOREIGNERS NOW PERMITTED TO CARRY MOBILE PHONES IN NORTH KOREA

CHANGE IN NATIONAL POLICY COMES JUST DAYS AFTER GOOGLE CHAIRMAN'S VISIT

HTTP://WWW.NKNEWS.ORG/2013/01/EXCLUSIVE-FOREIGNERS-NOW-PERMITTED-TO-CARRY-MOBILE-PHONES-IN-NORTH-KOREA/

 January 19, 2013

NK NEWS can exclusively reveal that only days after Google chairman Eric Schmidt’s visit to North Korea, tourists may now bring cell phones into the country without having them confiscated by immigration officials at the border.

Up until now, bringing mobile phones into North Korea has been strictly forbidden, with all handsets confiscated at customs and only returned on exit. Despite this new development, tourists are currently neither able to roam on North Korea’s domestic KoryoLink network nor purchase local SIM cards, meaning that despite being allowed to carry their handsets, they are unusable. 

The news that cellphones can be legally brought into North Korea comes just days after Google’s Eric Schmidt and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson’s returned from a high profile trip to North Korea. At that time, there had been no reporting on what had happened to the delegation’s cell phones upon entry to the DPRK. It is possible that they may have been the first group to benefit from the new policy. Either way, coming so soon after the Google trip, it can be read as a signal of North Korea’s possible softening of its stance toward communication technology, and its increased interest in understanding the ways it can engage with advancements in the field.

According to Richie Fenner, a tour manager at China based Young Pioneer Tours who reported the news today, explained that GPS enabled devices are allowed in the country. He told us:

When we were coming in on the train, they asked us to show us our phones. The customs official asked if the first one he looked at had GPS, which it didn’t, so he handed it back. But then with the iPhones and other modern phones when we told them they had GPS, he just handed them back and gestured that we just put them in our bag.

Thinking that the phones might just be sealed upon the group’s arrival to Pyongyang, Fenner explained that to his surprise the local guides explained a new policy meant that foreigners can now keep their cell phones in their possession. But that didn’t mean they could be used. Fenner explained, “Wthout a North Korean sim card, the phones are useless. I asked if we could get North Korean SIM cards and our guide said that it might be possible in the future”.

(Continued at the link below)

HTTP://WWW.NKNEWS.ORG/2013/01/EXCLUSIVE-FOREIGNERS-NOW-PERMITTED-TO-CARRY-MOBILE-PHONES-IN-NORTH-KOREA/

Google in North Korea: Pyongyang kowtow or smart diplomacy?

This quote is probably the best summation of the current status of the Kim Family Regime.  A pretty good analysis by some non-Korea watchers.  I would not have as much optimism as their slight level.

The problem is that the DPRK seems very comfortable serving as a case study for the more things change, the more they stay the same. Even though new power dynamics appear to be at play within the Kim Jong-un regime, the ways in which his government leverages international insecurity to achieve political objectives—through missile launches, arms proliferation, and nuclear tests—continue to fit the status quo pattern of behaviour set by his father, Kim Jong-Il. So far, we’ve witnessed only minor modifications.

V/R

Dave

Google in North Korea: Pyongyang kowtow or smart diplomacy?

18

Jan 2013

By Eddie Walsh and Mark Jansson

http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/google-in-north-korea-pyongyang-kowtow-or-smart-diplomacy/

When Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson headed to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) last week, they certainly turned some heads. Many viewed their trip as undercutting Western efforts to secure even stronger sanctions following the North’s ballistic missile launch last month. They also have been chided for providing Kim Jong-un an opportunity to ‘convey a sense of legitimacy and international recognition and acceptance’ to his people. With a nuclear test apparently looming not far over the horizon, then why did Schmidt and Richardson journey to the Hermit Kingdom?

Well, it’s difficult to imagine that Schmidt was there to seize on the unrealised market potential of the North. Although some might speculate that DPRK may be ready to shift its Internet approach, there’s scant evidence to back that up that claim. North Korea is far more intent on developing cyber weapons than it is on building a digital economy and providing its people with a better standard of living. Even in the absence of a strong digital backbone, DPRK has emerged as one of the top cyber warfare states (and proliferators) in the world. The simple fact is that the DPRK doesn’t need Google to continue to advance its space, cyber, missile, nuclear, and conventional weapons programs. Until the regime prioritises its general economy alongside its military industrial complex, an open Internet policy is more of a liability than an asset.

While there have been glimmers of hope that Kim Jong-un might depart from his father’s isolationist tendencies, ‘experience tells us to be skeptical’, as Evans J.R. Revere so eloquently puts it. The problem is that the DPRK seems very comfortable serving as a case study for the more things change, the more they stay the same. Even though new power dynamics appear to be at play within the Kim Jong-un regime, the ways in which his government leverages international insecurity to achieve political objectives—through missile launches, arms proliferation, and nuclear tests—continue to fit the status quo pattern of behaviour set by his father, Kim Jong-Il. So far, we’ve witnessed only minor modifications.

(Continued at the link below)

http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/google-in-north-korea-pyongyang-kowtow-or-smart-diplomacy/

'Google Delegation' Becomes Propaganda Tool

No kidding.  Our theme song for dealing with north Korea should be the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again."  Every time we deal with north Korea we should be playing that song.  Richardson and his expert advisers should have known better.  This is classic north Korean propaganda and a blind man should have seen this coming:

“There’ve been these lectures about how, with the world enthused at how we managed to conquer space under the sage leadership of the Marshal (Kim Jong Eun), even a delegation led by the head of a famous American Internet company came to pay a congratulatory visit to our country.”
 “The whole world, including America, was astonished by the success of the launch of our artificial earth satellite,” the lecturer reportedly continued, going on, “The enemy, cowed by the power of our strong country, even sent a congratulatory delegation.”

V/R
Dave

'Google Delegation' Becomes Propaganda Tool

By Choi Song Min [2013-01-15 21:22 ] http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk01500&num=10235

The North Korean authorities are now using the recent visit of Internet search engine Google’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, in post-“Gwangmyungsung-3” launch public propaganda lectures. A source from the northerly city of Hyesan told Daily NK today, “There’ve been these lectures about how, with the world enthused at how we managed to conquer space under the sage leadership of the Marshal (Kim Jong Eun), even a delegation led by the head of a famous American Internet company came to pay a congratulatory visit to our country.” “The whole world, including America, was astonished by the success of the launch of our artificial earth satellite,” the lecturer reportedly continued, going on, “The enemy, cowed by the power of our strong country, even sent a congratulatory delegation.” That’s not all: according to the source, the visit of Schmidt, who was in North Korea as part of a delegation led by former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, his advisor Tony Namkung, the head of Google Ideas Jared Cohen and Professor John Delury of Yonsei University, has featured in not only newspaper and television broadcasts but also on the so-called "3rd Broadcast," the fixed line radio system wired into the fabric of homes and public buildings across North Korea. (Continued at the link below) http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk01500&num=10235

Google can help N. Korea through many other programs: experts

I am afraid that the kind of help the regime will want from Google will not be the kind we want it to receive.  It will want to develop and use software to monitor and surveil its own people as this could be a great addition to help them keep the Songbun system functioning.  It will want to use it to reverse engineer software and then find ways to hack it and use it for spyware at home and abroad) and malware globally.  I would be very wary of any deals between Google and the regime because things might not turn out in ways that Google might envision.  That said, such deals could also provide us with opportunities.  In the long run I would err on making a deal to gain more access and influence inside north Korea but I am afraid few have the stomach for developing and sustaining a long term influence operation against the regime and to influence the population to prepare for eventual regime collapse and unification.  Instead Google and other foreigner will be exploited in ways they cannot imagine (but should – as Richardson and Schmidt should have imagined they would be and were used).

V/R

Dave

2013/01/12 04:35 KST

Google can help N. Korea through many other programs: experts

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2013/01/12/13/0401000000AEN20130112000100315F.HTML

By Lee Chi-dong

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- Although this week's trip to Pyongyang by Google czar Eric Schmidt remains controversial, the California-based firm may be able to search multiple ways to help North Korea, experts here said Friday.

   Schmidt made a four-day trip to North Korea earlier this week, along with former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, drawing keen international attention.

   Peter Hayes, director of the Nautilus Institute, said Richardson was the apparent driving force behind the trip, which was opposed by the U.S. government.

   "Eric Schmidt was likely the 'juicy bait' to seal the deal with the North Koreans (on the trip)," Hayes, a long-time Korea watcher, said in an article co-authored by Roger Cavazos, an associate at the think tank.

   After his visit to Pyongyang, Schmidt said he had urged the communist regime to start work to connect its people to the outside world through cyberspace.

(Continued at the link below)

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2013/01/12/13/0401000000AEN20130112000100315F.HTML

How North Korea Reported Schmidt’s Visit

More evidence that Richardson and Schmidt were tools of the regime (or just tools).

This happens on nearly every visit. With all of Richardson's north Korean expertise and the expert advisors he has, he should have been well aware that his visit would be exploited to strengthen the legitimacy of the Kim Family Regime and Kim Jong-un.  Their visit fully supports the regime's "Image First Politics"  affecting both target audiences – domestic by reinforcing Kim has a leader to whom foreigners come to kowtow and internationally as this gives the perception that he is interested in the modern world and modernization giving hope to all those who think the north is about to open up and reform.

V/R

Dave

• January 11, 2013, 4:17 PM KST

How North Korea Reported Schmidt’s Visit

ByAlastair Gale

http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2013/01/11/how-north-korea-reported-schmidts-visit/tab/print/

Google Inc. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said the message he gave North Korea was “very, very clear”: you need the Internet to save your economy.

Associated Press

Executive Chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt stands near a statue of the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung during a tour of the Grand Peoples Study House in Pyongyang, North Korea on Jan. 9.

But the message that North Korea relayed from the trip was—unsurprisingly–very, very different.

Domestic coverage of the group led by former Gov. Bill Richardson and Mr. Schmidt contained nothing about what the visitors told their hosts. Rather, as is common with high profile overseas guests, the narrative provided by Pyongyang was about how the group came to learn and pay their respects to the ruling family.

After noting the arrival of “a delegation of the Google Corp.” on Monday, the state news agency reported on Wednesday that the group visited the mausoleum that houses the bodies of North Korea’s founder, Kim Il Sung, and his son, Kim Jong Il.

“The members of the delegation paid high tribute to the statues of the peerlessly great men,” reported the Korean Central News Agency.

The group’s visit to the massive library in the center of Pyongyang known as the Grand People’s Study House was also noted. There, the visitors were “briefed on the fact that people and students acquire knowledge about modern science and technology and improve their cultural attainments,” according to KCNA.

The web site for Rodong Sinmun, the North’s biggest newspaper, carried the same report. By Wednesday, North Korea’s media had at least figured out the correct name of Mr. Schmidt’s company, referring to it as Google Inc.

Web site North Korea Leadership Watch notes that state television had similar coverage of the delegation, as well as footage of the group visiting tourist sites and the elite Kim Il Sung University.

(Continued at the link below)

http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2013/01/11/how-north-korea-reported-schmidts-visit/tab/print/

Google Bamboozled by North Korea?

At the link, Claudia references my congressional testimony last March.
V/R
Dave

Google Bamboozled by North Korea?

January 8th, 2013 - 12:51 am

http://pjmedia.com/claudiarosett/google-bamboozled-by-north-korea/

As if there isn’t enough trouble in the world, the executive chairman of Google Inc., Eric Schmidt, has taken it into his head to visit North Korea. Schmidt is touring the world’s leading totalitarian state as a member of a private group led by a former U.S. congressman, cabinet secretary, United Nations ambassador and New Mexico governor rolled into one, Bill Richardson — whose previous trips to North Korea have served mainly to dignify the Pyongyang regime.

Richardson’s current roadshow, with Google’s Schmidt in tow, seems to have generated some excitement at North Korea’s state propaganda organ, the Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA. KCNA has revamped its web site, including a new gmail contact address (though the address apparently doesn’t work)  and more colorful variations on the same old propaganda, including a special section on North Korea’s recent ballistic missile test   “Successful Satellite Launch,” and such classics as an account of the launch in Ecuador of the works of third-generation dictator Kim Jong Un, glorifying the revolutionary accomplishments of his late father, tyrant Kim Jong Il, and his grandfather, the Stalin-installed founder of the North Korean state, Kim Il Sung. On this same retooled KCNA web site, the private visit led by Richardson is heralded as “Delegation of Google Corp. of U.S. Arrives.”

(Continued at the link below)

http://pjmedia.com/claudiarosett/google-bamboozled-by-north-korea/

Google's N. Korea visit could harm U.S. sanction plans

It is likely that it will hurt plans for sanctions.  Of course it has been nearly a month since the launch and there has been no significant response from the UN Security Council so with no timely discipline the spoiled child will continue to act out.  

But the real issue is that the regime is likely to view this visit has official because Kim Jong-un and his advisors cannot believe that the US would allow Richardson and Schmidt to make the trip if they did not want them to come because of the north's mirror image analysis.

It is possible that they could obtain the release of Kenneth Bae but Richardson and Schmidt should be seen simply as Kim Jung-un's tools to support his "Image First Politics" strategy.  Yes, they are tools.

V/R

Dave

Google's N. Korea visit could harm U.S. sanction plans

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/01/07/bill-richardson-google-eric-schmidt-visit-north-korea/1814931/

Oren Dorell 7:43p.m. EST January 7, 2013 Comments Share

North Korea's new leader could use the visit to claim international legitimacy in his own country and to show other countries it is preparing a new era of openness.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Former governor says visit is 'a private humanitarian mission'
• State Department says trip is 'ill-advised'
• U.S. pushes U.N. for more penalties on regime

A visit to North Korea by former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and Google chairman Eric Schmidt could harm U.S. efforts to sanction the dictatorship for refusing to curb its nuclear program and missile production, Korea experts say.

The U.S. State Department complained Monday that the visit by Richardson and Schmidt was poorly timed given that the United States is trying to persuade the United Nations to further sanction North Korea.

"We think the timing is ill-advised," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

The reason for State's objection is that North Korea and its allies in China will use the visit to convey "an image of openness and receptivity to the outside," said Evans Revere, the State Department's deputy chief negotiator with North Korea during the Clinton administration.

The visit helps the regime "convey a sense of legitimacy and international recognition and acceptance to its own people" at the very moment that the State Department is preparing to respond with sanctions in the U.N. Security Council, Revere said.

Richardson described the visit as "a private humanitarian mission." He said he hoped to meet with U.S. citizen Kenneth Bae, who was born in South Korea and arrested in North Korea during a tourist visit in November.

(Continued at the link below)

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/01/07/bill-richardson-google-eric-schmidt-visit-north-korea/1814931/

Richardson Defends Mission to Pyongyang

I think the Governor's hubris is showing (because he implies he knows better than those in the USG or ROKG).  His "mission" is indefensible.  He has probably been one of the most exploited envoys the Kim Family Regime has ever used.

V/R

Dave

• January 4, 2013, 9:21 p.m. ET

Richardson Defends Mission to Pyongyang

By DION NISSENBAUM

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323374504578221940877389354.html?mod=WSJASIA_hps_MIDDLEFourthNews#printMode

WASHINGTON—Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson played down objections from the Obama administration and said Friday that he would go ahead with plans to lead a private humanitarian trip to North Korea less than a month after the Asian nation carried out a widely condemned long-range missile launch.

Mr. Richardson and Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt will leave next week for a three-day visit in which the former Clinton administration official is expected to press North Korea to release a Washington state tour guide operator being held by the government.

The Obama administration privately convinced Mr. Richardson to delay the trip until after South Korea's presidential election on Dec. 19, Mr. Richardson said. This week, the State Department publicly prodded the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations to again postpone his plans.

"They are well aware of our views that the timing of this is not great from our perspective," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Friday.

Despite the appeals, Mr. Richardson said he would go ahead with the trip.

"There is never a good time to go to North Korea because there's always something negative happening there," he said. "I understand their concerns."

Mr. Richardson said the missile launch would be among the issues he raises in talks with North Korean leaders, along with the nation's nuclear ambitions and its humanitarian record. The two men aren't expected to meet with North Korea's new president, Kim Jong Eun.

The fate of the American held by North Korea emerged as a bigger concern this week when Mr. Richardson was contacted by the family.

Jonathan Bae, the son of Kenneth Bae, a 44-year-old Korean-American reportedly detained late last year by North Korea while leading a small tour of the country, wrote to Mr. Richardson and urged him to take up his father's case.

"The son contacted me the day before yesterday and said: Please bring my dad home," said Mr. Richardson. "I think that's compelling."

Jonathan Bae and Kenneth Bae's mother both declined to comment on Mr. Richardson's trip.

For more than a quarter century, Mr. Richardson has traveled to North Korea on a variety of diplomatic and humanitarian missions. He said he has delayed previous trips at the request of the State Department. In 1996, with State Department support, he helped secure release of an American civilian accused of spying on North Korea.

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