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Describing his upcoming trip to North Korea as a 鈥減rivate humanitarian visit,鈥� former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson says he will proceed with his plans 鈥� despite a State Department preference that he not.

Mr. Richardson plans to visit the troublesome pariah state with Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt, but State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Thursday that the US considers this an inopportune moment for Richardson to make one of his signature North Korea forays.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 think the timing of this [trip] is particularly helpful,鈥� Ms. Nuland told reporters, before adding that, on the other hand, 鈥渢hey are private citizens, and they are making their own decisions.鈥�

Why not 鈥渉elpful鈥�? The US is always wary of any action that might be construed as rewarding the North for bad behavior. In that vein, a high profile trip right now by a prominent former US diplomat 鈥� Richardson also served as the US ambassador to the United Nations 鈥� might seem uncomfortably close to Pyongyang鈥檚 successful launch of a long-range missile last month.

Nuland said it was 鈥渃orrect鈥� to assume that her comment that a trip now would not be 鈥渉elpful鈥� referred to the Dec. 12 missile launch. The North Korean government claimed at the time that the missile had launched a weather satellite, but South Korean scientists examining recovered fragments concluded the missile was designed to be capable of launching a nuclear warhead.

The US is working with Asian and European allies at the UN to try to stiffen existing international sanctions on North Korea to signal that destabilizing actions like the missile launch won鈥檛 go unpunished. From the US perspective, even a private diplomatic mission at this point softens that message.

In an interview Friday with CBS News, Richardson said he was aware of the State Department鈥檚 concerns, but he added that since he and Mr. Schmidt would be traveling as private citizens, 鈥渢hey shouldn鈥檛 be that nervous.鈥� Richardson did not say exactly when he will travel, though it is expected to be sometime this month.

Explaining why he calls the trip a 鈥渉umanitarian visit,鈥� Richardson said his primary purpose will be to seek the release of detained Korean-American Kenneth Bae, whose arrest North Korean authorities announced last month.

Richardson said he has maintained contact with the North Koreans during the past 15 years, and he noted that he has 鈥渂rought back鈥� American 鈥渉ostages鈥� including members of the US military, and negotiated the return of the remains of US soldiers who perished in the Korean War.

As for the State Department view that this is not the time for a trip to North Korea, Richardson took the opposite perspective, saying recent worrisome actions made this the right moment for dialogue. Noting his concern 鈥渁bout the nuclear proliferation of the North Koreans,鈥� Richardson said, 鈥淚 thought it was important that there be an opportunity to talk to them at this very important juncture.鈥�

He noted recent 鈥渕ixed signals鈥� from the North鈥檚 new young leader, Kim Jong-un, and acknowledged that he hoped his visit might 鈥渕ove the North Koreans in the right direction.鈥�

Richardson did suggest some sensitivity to US concerns, however, noting that he already postponed the trip once in December 鈥渁t the request of the State Department.鈥� But he cited South Korea鈥檚 Dec. 19 presidential election as the reason for the postponement, and not the North鈥檚 missile launch.

Left unexplained was Richardson鈥檚 intentions to bring Google鈥檚 Mr. Schmidt on the trip with him. Insisting that 鈥渢his is not a Google trip,鈥� Richardson told CBS that he invited Schmidt as a 鈥渇riend鈥� and because he saw it as a way to give the visit a 鈥渂roader perspective.鈥�

Schmidt is a prominent advocate of universal access to information via the Internet, while North Korea maintains among the world鈥檚 tightest restrictions on web access. On the other hand, Mr. Kim is said to be fascinated by technology and interested in exploring means of expanding his hermit state鈥檚 connections with the outside world.