BEIJING — Former President Jimmy Carter is heading to North Korea today with a to-do list that includes breaking the long impasse over the nation’s nuclear program, nudging the regime forward on human rights and possibly securing the release of an imprisoned U.S. citizen.
Carter is hoping to secure a face-to-face meeting with leader Kim Jong-Il, who snubbed him in August when the former president traveled to North Korea to pick up another American, Aijalon Mahli Gomes, a Christian activist who was held for illegally entering the country.
But a meeting seems likely this time around given the luminaries with whom Carter is traveling — former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland and former Irish President Mary Robinson — and Kim’s fondness for photo opportunities with visiting dignitaries.
The four are members of The Elders, an independent group of world leaders founded by Nelson Mandela.
Speaking with reporters Monday in Beijing, Carter was coy about whether he had been promised a meeting, saying only “it would be a pleasure if we could.” The 86-year-old Carter said his primary concerns were humanitarian.
“In almost any case when there are sanctions against an entire people, the people suffer the most and the leaders suffer least,” he said. “We believe that the last 50 years of deprivation of the North Korean people to adequate access to trade and commerce has been very damaging to their economy, as well as some problems they may have brought on by themselves.”
In a rare admission of failure, North Korea has been actively soliciting food aid in recent months. The U.N.’s World Food Program is putting the finishing touches on an emergency aid package that is expected to be announced shortly.
