By Kim Young-jin
North Korea is likely to send signals to Washington through former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Google Chairman Eric Schmidt who are visiting the isolated state this week, analysts here said Tuesday.
The watchers said the Kim Jong-un regime is likely to take advantage of the visit to send a message that Pyongyang wants to rekindle diplomacy.
Such a gesture would fall in line with its recent reconciliatory rhetoric aimed at the incoming Park Geun-hye administration here.
The unofficial visit appears to be a “typical track to communicate in the absence, or ahead of, government-to-government contact,” Sejong Institute analyst Paik Hak-soon said.
Park Young-ho of the Korea Institute of National Unification said Pyongyang wants to “convey the signal that it is ready to do business with the second Obama administration.” But he cautioned this was likely a tactical gesture aimed at planting the idea that reforms are ahead for the impoverished regime.
Richardson has long been a diplomatic troubleshooter for Washington, but the State Department has stressed that the visit has nothing to do with the U.S. government, which is working to sanction Pyongyang for its Dec. 12 long-range rocket launch.
The former governor said he plans to meet with diplomats, and defense and economy related officials. He is expected to have a press conference at Beijing Airport, Thursday.
Park said a North Korean overture could resemble its recent peace offensive toward Seoul. In a rare New Year’s address, Kim Jong-un underscored the need for better ties between the North and South, in an indication it will test the diplomatic waters under the Park administration.
Watchers say that while Pyongyang may have increased its leverage with it successful rocket launch, which demonstrated it is advancing in nuclear weapons technology, it still needs to improve relations with regional players in order to kick start its economy, which is suffering from soaring inflation and a lack of capital.
The visit has garnered extra interest due to the inclusion of Schmidt. Analyst Park said his inclusion could give the impression that the North was interested in attracting foreign investment.
Pyongyang operates an internal intranet system but only a handful of people are thought to be allowed access to the World Wide Web.
Since 2011, graduates students at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology have been allowed to access the Web including Google for research projects. The university is funded by outside Christian organizations.