How to Haggle With a Dictator

Bill Richardson has made eight missions to North Korea to negotiate the release of American captives. He sat down with Foreign Policy to explain how it’s done.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Panmunjom, South Korea, on April 27. (Korea Summit Press Pool/AFP/Getty Images)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Panmunjom, South Korea, on April 27. (Korea Summit Press Pool/AFP/Getty Images)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Panmunjom, South Korea, on April 27. (Korea Summit Press Pool/AFP/Getty Images)

Bill Richardson has been a governor, a congressman, and a Cabinet secretary. During a long political career, he carved out an unusual side job -- as a troubleshooter who persuades dictators to free American captives. In Foreign Policy’s podcast, he describes some weird and sometimes menacing moments on his missions. And he says if U.S. President Donald Trump insists on a full denuclearization of North Korea, his summit next month with Kim Jong Un will fail.

Bill Richardson has been a governor, a congressman, and a Cabinet secretary. During a long political career, he carved out an unusual side job — as a troubleshooter who persuades dictators to free American captives. In Foreign Policy’s podcast, he describes some weird and sometimes menacing moments on his missions. And he says if U.S. President Donald Trump insists on a full denuclearization of North Korea, his summit next month with Kim Jong Un will fail.

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