Video: Richardson: US should engage North Korea

>>> former new mexico governor bill richardson previously served as u.s. ambassador to the u.n. and traveled to north korea eight times. governor, good morning.

>> good morning, carl.

>> you have called north korea a tinder box right now and said the 24 to 48 hours following the announcement of kim's death would be critical. it's been about 36 hours . do you see trouble brewing ?

>> not yet. so far it looks like the party elite, the people of north korea and most importantly the military leadership is rallying around the son, kim jong -un. the north koreans are very ceremonial, pomp and circumstance , symbolism. the funeral is an indicator that he is being elevated and statements made that he is the leader. the key is going to be whether he in effect is the leader. there could be some power struggles. the concern is that he might take some aggressive action to show his mettle as some say he did two years ago when the south korean ship and the island were bombarded. but again i think the early signs is that he's consolidating his leadership, there's a transition going on just as when his father took over from the great leader, buried some 17 years ago, so right now it's too early to tell.

>> how would you be advising the oval office at this stage?

>> well, so far i believe the administration is doing a good job, calm, collected, no provocations, urge all countries in the surrounding area, china, japan, south korea to play it cool . but i would engage the north koreans if the signs are good that they're going to continue some of the recent thawing that they have done. for instance, i would engage them. i would give them food aid . this is a humanitarian gesture. people there are starving. i would encourage the south and the north to continue their dialogue to lessen tensions. i would try to get the six-party talks going again to try to get north korea to reduce its nuclear arsenal in exchange for food and fuel. it's very tough to bargain with them. they're unpredictable, they're mercurial, but what you don't want is to isolate them. this is a country that may have six to eight nuclear weapons , a million men in arms, they have missiles, aggressive. we have 25,000 troops. so it's a tinder box . we've got to be very careful.

>> for that reason, governor, the " wall street journal " says the best policy at this point may actually be to get tougher, to isolate further, more pressure, more sanctions and this is not the time, they say, to engage or make any promises or put out any carrots.

>> i think that's totally the wrong approach. efforts in the past to isolate them havex,qju)q". they detonated their nuclear weapons , they shot missiles, they bombarded the south koreans. i think at a time when there's a transition, reaching out a little bit, after they indicate where they want to go, is the best way to go. dialogue, diplomacy and not isolation. it's not easy to deal with them. they're unpredictable, they don't keep their word all the time, most of the time, but they're a dangerous country. the best thing to do is engage them.

>> governor bill richardson , thank you for your time. it is

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/45735460/

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