Bill Richardson, former New Mexico governor and U.N. ambassador, said Sunday that Kim Jong Un is playing to three different audiences with his recent nuclear threats.
“First, he’s playing to the North Korean generals, they run the show — the military,” Richardson said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday. “He’s playing to the Korean Worker’s Party, the leadership there. Secondly, he’s playing to his own people. He got burned by that missile test that failed and he feels he has to buttress his domestic standing. And I think the third thing that he’s doing is he’s testing the new South Korean president. Every year or — every five years or so when a new South Korean president comes in, North Korea does a provocative act.”
Richardson said that eventually a “new diplomatic track” will be necessary to get to Kim Jong Un and deal with the situation.
