Top U.S. Expert on North Korea Steps Down
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS - [The New York Times]
August 26, 2003
WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 - A top State Department expert on North Korea who advocated a policy of incentives as well as penalties to persuade the nation to abandon its quest for nuclear weapons has resigned, officials said today.
Jack Pritchard, the special envoy for negotiations with North Korea, is departing at a critical moment, days before six-nation talks begin in China to pressure North Korea to drop its efforts to reprocess spent fuel rods for weapons. He was criticized last week by a senator for being out of sync with the administration's policy.
Mr. Pritchard's departure on Friday points to a division in the administration over how best to handle the isolated, unpredictable and highly militarized government of Kim Jong Il nearly eight months after the North expelled foreign inspectors, the experts said.
Mr. Pritchard, who has had long experience in talks with the North, including a stint on President Clinton's National Security Council, is identified with a more conciliatory stance toward the North. He long advocated a carrot-and-stick approach, with incentives to North Korea for good behavior.
But a more confrontational position, favored at the White House and expressed by John R. Bolton, the under secretary for arms control at the State Department, gained ground in recent weeks, and at least one Republican senator complained to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell about Mr. Pritchard's approach.
Senator Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican who is chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, sent a letter to Mr. Powell last week complaining about "mixed messages" coming from the administration regarding a fierce July 31 speech by Mr. Bolton.
In a speech titled "A Dictatorship at the Crossroads," Mr. Bolton denounced the North Korean leader, saying, "To give in to his extortionist demands would only encourage him and, perhaps more ominously, other would-be tyrants around the world."
North Korea denounced the speech, called Mr. Bolton "scum" and said he would be barred from the talks. Meanwhile, some State Department officials complained that the speech had complicated their efforts to revive negotiations.
According to Senator Kyl's letter, Mr. Pritchard recently told a top North Korean envoy at the United Nations that Mr. Bolton's remarks were only "personal" views.
Mr. Pritchard said this evening that he had submitted his letter of resignation on April 18, but had stayed on in the job at the request of superiors. The Bolton speech, he said, had nothing to do with his departure; he said the North Koreans had raised the speech in a recent meeting, but he denied saying it reflected Mr. Bolton's personal view.
"The North Koreans brought up with me Mr. Bolton's comments, and I didn't say anything," he said. "The N.K.'s for their own purposes made the allegation that I characterized these as Bolton's private views."
Mr. Pritchard, however, has long been involved in an ongoing argument with more hawkish officials in the Pentagon and the White House over how to deal with the North. Tonight he did not say why he had resigned, saying it would "be inappropriate for me to speak at a moment when talks are just beginning."
Senator Kyl sent copies of his letter, which asked Mr. Powell to take "corrective action" against Mr. Pritchard, to Vice President Dick Cheney, Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage and Mr. Bolton.
Philip T. Reeker, the State Department's deputy spokesman, denied today that Mr. Pritchard had been forced out and praised him for his years of service.
"He has played a significant and valued role in the administration's efforts to deal with the challenges posed by North Korea and its pursuit of nuclear weapons," Mr. Reeker said. "My understanding was the decision to depart at this time was a personal one, one that he had been making for several months, and made the effective date on Friday."
But North Korea experts said Mr. Pritchard was known to be uncomfortable with the evolving American policy. A 28-year veteran of the Army, Mr. Pritchard was a driving force behind President Clinton's trip to Vietnam in 2000, and he accompanied Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright to North Korea for meetings with Kim Jong Il that year.
North Korea recently agreed to the six-party talks, which are scheduled to begin on Wednesday.
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