The Secretary of State “announced”:http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/02/119421.htm the appointment of “part-time North Korea envoy Stephen Bosworth”:http://www.totalwonkerr.net/1861/part-time-envoy on Friday.
Acting Deputy Department Spokesman Gordon Duguid had some “excellent adventures”:http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2009/02/119416.htm trying to explain what the job is.
Any other questions? Yes, please.
QUESTION: Secretary Clinton in Seoul announced that Steve Bosworth would be the new Special Representative to North Korea.
MR. DUGUID: Yes.
QUESTION: I’m wondering if you could explain a little bit the difference between Special Representative and Mr. Sung Kim’s position as Special Envoy to the Six-Party Talks.
MR. DUGUID: Okay. We did this a couple of weeks ago. A special envoy, in diplomatic parlance, has the authority to negotiate. A special representative, in this particular case, as well as in Ambassador Holbrooke’s case, is an authority who coordinates across the board for the United States. So Sung Kim will remain our Special Envoy and he will handle the day-to-day contact and discussions with our Six-Party colleagues. And Ambassador Bosworth will be the special representative coordinating the overall U.S. Government effort.
QUESTION: Will that be a full-time position or a part-time position?
MR. DUGUID: It will be a position that will take up a lot of his time. The question is leading to – will he be based in this building the entire time? Sorry. Of course, it’s a full-time position, but I mean, I don’t understand the question properly.
QUESTION: Okay. Yeah, he’s – it’s been reported that he’ll remain the dean of the Fletcher School?
MR. DUGUID: That is correct, he will.
QUESTION: Okay.
MR. DUGUID: Yes.
QUESTION: So it’s more like a part-time position?
MR. DUGUID: I won’t – I wouldn’t characterize it that way. He will be fully engaged in the – in the effort to try and denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. That is work enough for anyone, but he will also retain his current position.
QUESTION: So he will be based in this building?
MR. DUGUID: He will have an office here.
QUESTION: So it’s almost as if he were the U.S. ambassador to North Korea if U.S. had relation with North Korea?
MR. DUGUID: No, that’s not correct. The – Ambassador Bosworth will be our senior official handling North Korea issues and reporting to the Secretary of State as well as the President. The Secretary has asked Ambassador Bosworth to oversee U.S. efforts in the Six-Party Talks to achieve verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner. He will serve as our senior emissary for U.S. engagement with North Korea in close consultation with allies and partners. With regard to the Six-Party Talks, his involvement will facilitate high-level engagement with the North Koreans and other members of the Six-Party Talks. He will work closely with Sung Kim on this.
QUESTION: Will he travel to Pyongyang?
MR. DUGUID: I don’t have any plans – travel plans for him at the moment.
QUESTION: You seem to be suggesting that Bosworth will have a role and a dialogue with the North Koreans outside of the Six-Party.
MR. DUGUID: I am not. He is our senior–excuse me–Special Representative for the Six-Party Talks.
QUESTION: But he is going to be above the Special Envoy for the Six-Party Talks? Or who is going to decide? Who’s going to be the boss relative to —
MR. DUGUID: Secretary Clinton is the boss.
QUESTION: And so the two of them are equal?
MR. DUGUID: The two of them are working on the Six-Party Talks. Sung Kim does the day-to-day negotiating, and Ambassador Bosworth will work across the process in – for the U.S. Government. Therefore, Sung Kim is doing the State Department part on a day-to-day basis, and Ambassador Bosworth will work across the process coordinating all the U.S. Government efforts. They will work in close consultation.
QUESTION: How is Ambassador Bosworth’s job not a part-time job if he’s maintaining his other position? I mean, can you defend that in any way?
MR. DUGUID: I refer you to – well, I refer you to his – you know, Ambassador Bosworth himself on what he will be doing with his current position. He will not be leaving. But the work that he will do will fully engage his talents as we need them.
QUESTION: Right, but I mean, he’s not going to – if it’s not his only job, how is that not a diminished role than it was under the Bush Administration?
MR. DUGUID: The role that the Ambassador will play will be significant. He will lead our efforts and it will be – not be any diminution of the responsibilities that previous special representatives have had.
QUESTION: Not in terms of responsibilities, but in terms of effort.
MR. DUGUID: I think that he will engage 100 percent of his effort when the Secretary calls upon him to engage in these matters.
Yes. In the back, please.
QUESTION: Just wanted to clarify. Is Ambassador Bosworth – is he going to be attending head of delegation meetings when they have Six-Party meetings, or will that Sung Kim who will attend those meetings?
MR. DUGUID: I don’t think we’ve got that down for you yet. We’ll make the announcement of our delegation when we have those meetings, and it will be based on the conditions at the time.
You can “watch the video”:http://www.state.gov/video/?videoid=13775861001, too. The fun and games start at 1:54.