Reuters reports that, emboldened by the election, hard-liners “are pressing once again for a more coercive approach” to North Korea if six-party talks fail.”
“Much will turn on whether Secretary of State Colin Powell and Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, main advocates of diplomacy with North Korea, and Undersecretary of State John Bolton, a key hard-liner, stay on in Bush’s second term,” Reuters speculates. “Powell and Kelly are rumored to be leaving at some point while Bolton is seen as wanting a promotion, perhaps to deputy secretary or deputy national security adviser.”
I hear Michael Green, NSC senior director for Asian affairs, may replace Kelly instead of taking a slot Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. Green would be a voice of sanity, relatively speaking.
