UW professor holds North Korea talks

[TacticalPeek]

Sunday, June 12, 2005

UW professor holds North Korea talks

By Kristi Heim

Seattle Times staff reporter


A University of Washington professor has done what U.S. political leaders have failed to do for more than a year: hold talks in North Korea aimed at averting a nuclear crisis.

While official negotiations have been stalled since last June, veteran East Asia professor Donald Hellmann visited North Korea for three days last week to conduct what he called the first international academic conference ever held there.

Hellmann said he was moved to help organize the conference out of frustration over the stalemate between the United States and North Korea over North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

"Our policy regarding North Korea has simply not worked," he said by phone from South Korea.

"I wanted to do by example what I thought ought to be done: to assemble people from the negotiating parties and get their views on the table."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2002331391_korea12m.html

[merwin]

1. I love UW :-)

[whistle]

2. Good for the professor, now what will Bush's and Condi's....

...reactions be to a private U.S. citizen trying to regain diplomatic sanity for the U.S. be?

[flamingyouth]

3. My alma mater.

I actually had a class with Professor Hellmann while I was there; he is an amazing man. :thumbsup: