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Bill Richardson: 'It's difficult to deal with North Korea'
Editor's Note: CNN Access is a regular feature on CNN.com providing interviews with newsmakers from around the world.
SANTA FE, New Mexico (CNN) -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, ended three days of talks with North Korean envoys Saturday. CNN national correspondent Bob Franken spoke with him in Santa Fe shortly after the talks concluded. FRANKEN: Governor, here's what confuses so many people. On the one hand we have this picture of cordiality here and the professed interest by the North Koreas to, in fact, talk this out. And at the same time, there are all these belligerent actions that seem to be taking place. Why is that? RICHARDSON: When you negotiate with North Korea, this is what happens. On the one hand, before negotiations, they're upping the ante with a lot of belligerent initiatives and statements, and then you negotiate with them. This has always been the case when I've negotiated with North Korea. I remembered going to get an American pilot out [after he was shot down when his aircraft crossed the border]. I arrived in North Korea, and the first thing they told me is I had to pay -- the United States had to pay -- for the ammunition that knocked the plane down. And so, they're upping the ante just as you're trying to take an action. So this is typical North Korea diplomacy. They're very good at it. They're negative. They up the ante. They've got several tracks going. You just have to know how to deal with it. FRANKEN: Is that what was going on inside your conversations? RICHARDSON: Well ... I've known Ambassador Han [Song Ryol, North Korea's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations] a long time. [The talks] were cordial. They were good. The atmosphere was good. We were very frank. We covered almost every issue, but at one point I said, "You know, Han, it doesn't help when we try to talk and make things a little better that you're withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty today. You know it doesn't give good vibrations." And he says, "Well, I understand." But we kept talking. But [the talks] were a little tense sometimes. They're very dogmatic, the North Koreans. They're very programmed. They have their policy statements. They don't want to diverge from them. They're very doctrinaire. They don't negotiate like others -- quid pro quos. They have their standards, and you have to just work [with] that. It's almost an art form to talk to them. FRANKEN: But let's be specific. You brought up, obviously, the withdrawal, as you said, from the nonproliferation treaty. You brought up, you told us, their missile testing, et cetera. You brought up all the issues that were on the table. Would they snap back at you? What was their response? RICHARDSON: Well, their response basically was ... we're ready to talk about these issues. Secondly, they say, we're ready also not to build any nuclear weapons. We're ready to discuss the verification concerns that you have over our nonproliferation activities. We're ready to freeze the nuclear plants in North Korea, but we need to talk. So this is not like United Nations or formal diplomacy. This is almost negotiating in a bizarre atmosphere, in a totally different environment. This is why it's difficult to deal with North Korea.
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