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Former energy secretary to visit N. KoreaRichardson will be on private mission with U.S. supportFrom Elise Labott  Gov. Bill Richardson visited North Korea several times as a Clinton administration official. SPECIAL REPORTYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSWASHINGTON (CNN) -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson plans to visit North Korea next week to try to persuade Kim Jong Il's regime to give up its nuclear weapons, the State Department said Friday. State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said Richardson would travel as a private citizen, not as an envoy of the Bush administration. Richardson is not carrying a message from the United States, Ereli said, but the governor did consult with the State Department before accepting the invitation and is expected to brief officials after his return. Richardson was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and energy secretary during the Clinton administration, and he has maintained contacts with North Korea. He took several trips there as ambassador, and in 2003 he met with top North Korean officials in Santa Fe shortly after Pyongyang admitted to having violated the 1994 Agreed Framework in which it agreed to freeze its nuclear program. Ereli said the administration would provide Richardson an Air Force plane "for his courtesy and convenience, and that is because he is a former Cabinet official." Richardson met with Assistant Secretary Chris Hill, the lead U.S. negotiator at six-nation talks aimed at convincing North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions. "We briefed him on our policy and our dealings and the state of play with North Korea," Ereli said. "As a result of our discussions with Governor Richardson, I think we both share an interest in seeing North Korea make the right decision with regard to ending its nuclear program and choosing a path of reintegration with the international community." Last month North Korea agreed in principle to give up its entire nuclear program, including weapons -- a landmark agreement that was announced in a joint statement from the most recent round of six-party talks in Beijing. As part of the agreement, the United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea "stated their willingness" to provide energy assistance to North Korea, as well as to promote economic cooperation and to talk about a civil nuclear energy program for North Korea at "an appropriate time." But North Korea wants the United States to provide light-water nuclear reactors as soon as possible to demonstrate Pyongyang's right to peaceful nuclear activities. The United States says North Korea must first abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs, return to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and abide by International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. (Full story) A fifth round of six-party talks is scheduled for early November. 
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