By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/unban3korea020710.html
UNITED NATIONS, February 7 -- As the UN's four person team approaches North Korea, sources tell Inner City Press that they will be proposing a UN special envoy. The last was Maurice Strong, until allegations of corruption removed him from the post.
"Swedish," say most sources. Sweden's current Ambassador to Pyongyang, since 2005 and certainly ready for a change, is Mats Foyer. His embassy represents U.S. interests in North Korea, so some might think it strange for him to assume a UN role.
Foyer's predecessor as Swedish Ambassador in Pyongyang, from 2001-2005, was Paul Beijer, currently Swedish Ambassador in Bulgaria. He served as a senior advisor to the Swedish foreign ministry on DPRK issues from 2005 to 2008.
Beijer's views may be gleaned from the following Q & A:
Q: You have served as the Special Advisor to the Swedish Government on Korean Peninsula Issues and as Swedish Ambassador to the DPRK in Pyongyang. What do you think is the best course of action for the international community, and the EU in particular, in the recent crises with the North Korean weapon tests?
Beijer: The DPRK has chosen a path of economic, political and cultural isolation for a very long time. This makes it less susceptible than most countries to the measures in our "toolbox" for international relations. I therefore don't believe there is a "quick fix" to the North Korean nuclear issue.
To leave the DPRK in continued isolation, would, in my personal opinion, not lead to constructive results. Patient diplomacy, dialogue and exchanges holds out the best hope for greater stability and perhaps a resolution to the nuclear issue in the longer run. That being said, I realize that in this age of short political time horizons this is not an easy course for the international community to stick to for a protracted period of time. The Six-Party talks were, and are, a good way to impart an element of long-term stability to a negotiated resolution of the nuclear crisis. These talks should continue.
The EU is contributing very constructively to that process by supporting it, and at the same time not insisting on a seat at the negotiating table. A seven-party process would, for purely practical reasons, be more cumbersome and less likely to lead to a good result.
Like any other effort, the Six-Party process in the end requires North Korea to perceive that it is in its own interest to reach a result. So far, I'm sorry to say, that does not seem to be the case. But the DPRK's own situation is not static, and patience is therefore required on the part of the international community. We too must be able to play a waiting game.
Other sources, though, say that Ban Ki-moon and his most special advisor Kim Won-soo just might propose a South Korean. It would seem to be a conflict, but if Kim Jong-Il accepts, it would be a coup. Watch this site.
