| The US Treasury Department isn't the only government agency with a lot of openings left unfilled. |
The U.S. administration has not yet lined up its North Korea specialists within the State Department, leading in the view of some critics to delays in dealing with North Korea's impending rocket launch and the detention of two American reporters in the North.
Robert Einhorn, a senior adviser in the Center for Strategic and International Studies, had been expected to take charge of strategies for North Korea's weapons of mass destruction as the next U.S. undersecretary for arms reduction and non-proliferation. But he has suddenly declined to accept the offer.
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Ellen Tauscher, a seventh-term Democrat member of the House of Representatives, has been nominated in his place.
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Kurt Campbell, a former deputy assistant secretary, has not yet been nominated as assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific Affairs. Stephen Bosworth, who worked part-time as special representative for North Korea policy, has returned to his job as dean of Tufts University's Fletcher School after visiting nations participating in six-party nuclear talks.
There is speculation that the reason the two reporters are still being held in the North is that there is no "control tower" for North Korean issues at the State Department. No senior American officials have officially demanded their release in the week since they were captured. The U.S. is ostensibly trying to solve the problem through quiet diplomacy, but in reality there is no senior U.S. government official who wants to take the initiative.
| The Hildebeast is off doing other things, Bill Richardson is nowhere to be found, Chris Hill is -- thankfully -- off the case, and there are no adults at the Nork desk at Foggy Bottom. And the Norks are about to test-launch an ICBM. Wonderful. |
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