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North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is on a surprise trip to China while former US president Jimmy Carter is in North Korea trying to secure the release of an American man jailed there since January. The purpose of Kim’s China trip is not yet clear, nor the significance of its timing against Carter’s visit. Anchor Marco Werman finds out more from Joel Wit, a former State Department official and scholar on US-North Korean relations.

• 38 North

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MARCO WERMAN: Former president Jimmy Carter appears to be extending his visit to North Korea. Carter’s there to try and arrange the release of detained American teacher, Aijalon Gomes. He’s serving an 8-year sentence for entering the country illegally. But North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Il, is reportedly in China. Joel Wit is a former State Department official, and a visiting fellow at the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University. He has no doubt Gomes will be freed.

JOEL WIT:  Jimmy Carter would not have gone to North Korea unless the North Korean’s assured us ahead of time that he would be released. So, I would be totally shocked if Jimmy Carter came back without this young man.

WERMAN:  Last year we had President Clinton going to North Korea to release two young American journalists. Now this trip by Jimmy Carter. Do you see a silver lining to these kind of little release American junkets in North Korea?

WIT: Yeah, well there’s a silver lining depending upon how these trips are used. If a former president goes to North Korea, picks up these people, comes home and doesn’t discuss anything of substance then there’s really not much of a silver lining. But it’s really hard for me to believe that these presidents are going there and when the conversation turns to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program or other activities by North Korea, that these presidents are kind of putting their hands over their ears and saying, no I can’t talk about that. So there must be something going on here.

WERMAN: Next month North Korea is supposed to have this big meeting on successions, who will succeed Kim Jong Il. What is your understanding of the latest in North Korea’s succession business?

WIT: Look, it’s a done deal. His third son is going to succeed him. It’s just a question of the process and how that moves forward. I think the press speculation about jockeying for position and the military versus the party and all this stuff is nonsense. I mean it’s a done deal. His third son is going to succeed him. And what they’re trying to do now, and I think it’s moving forward fairly smoothly, is just to put in place this superstructure that makes sure that the succession is smooth.

WERMAN: Tell us why son number three? What’s so special about him? What’s wrong with number one and two?

WIT: Well, there are all sorts of rumors about the others. One son, the number one son, was caught trying to enter Japan illegally to go to Disneyland, so that says something about him. Number two son, it’s not clear what the problem is with him. Once again there have been rumors about him that he is too effeminate. But it’s hard, it’s really hard to tell what’s going on inside the inner circle of the Kim family.

WERMAN: Joel Wit, a visiting scholar at the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University and the founder of its website, 38North.org. Joel, appreciate it. Thank you.

WIT: Thanks a lot.

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