Spare rib diplomacy in Pyongyang

By Nikki Jecks
BBC World Service

FROM THE BBC WORLD SERVICE More from BBC World Service

Bobby Egan, a New Jersey restaurateur whose speciality is barbecue joints and spare ribs, has become an unlikely middleman between North Korea and the United States.

On the surface, Bobby Egan might look like any other small town New Jersey businessman.

His accent is straight out of the popular American TV drama The Sopranos and he admits having brushes with the law in his youth; he once toyed with joining the mafia.

These days he runs Cubby's, a barbecue restaurant in Hackensack, popular for its menu of all-American dishes.

But for the past 17 years Bobby Egan has also acted as an unofficial go-between with the North Korean delegation at the UN and the White House.

The North Korean diplomats are mostly shunned by fellow missions, restricted in their movements by the US and discouraged by their own government from fraternising with foreigners.

But Bobby Egan has won their trust with his unusual brand of diplomacy - free meals, fishing expeditions and football games.

I would say at this point better to make them a friend than a foe Bobby Egan

His story is complicated - as is his relationship with the US authorities who are fully aware of his unusual friendships - but he has a unique insight into one of the most isolated countries on Earth.

"I had complete access to their whole country," he told the BBC World Service.

The North Koreans "are a powerhouse in that region, and I would say at this point better to make them a friend than a foe".

Informal contact

Mr Egan first came in touch with the secretive North Koreans via another unlikely contact - the Vietnamese mission to the UN.

In the late 1980s he got involved in the issue of whether POWs remained in Vietnam and Laos following the end of the war there.

He formed what he calls a "relationship" with the Vietnamese mission to the UN, simply by calling them up and offering to help with the issue.

It was the Vietnamese who in turn recommended him to the North Koreans as something of an "honest broker".

Soon after, an informal relationship was started.

"[UN Ambassador Ho Jong] told me that Kim Il-sung, who was the leader at the time, was open to possible dialogue with the US, and would I be interested in assisting them," he said.

Despite his unusual connections, Bobby says that not only were the North Koreans keen, so too were the Americans.

Bobby says the North Koreans were sincere in their relationship with him

"I've made some very good friends at the Department of Defense; we share intelligence, nothing is held back," he said.

"I've always had people encourage me to get them out and find out more about them and show them what the West is about, that they don't have anything to fear."

His contacts with the North Koreans have allowed him to see a side of the "hermit" state that few manage to see.

He has visited the country four times, and overseen the delivery of aid supplies there as well.

"The North Korean government has made mistakes, like every other government," he said tentatively.

But, he says, they do understand that their self-imposed isolation has come at a cost.

"That's why they've had a guy like Bobby Egan showing them the different systems we have in the United States - I don't have to tell them their system's broke; they know it," he said.

"They know that it's time to change and that's why they are exploring these relationships with the West."

"Misunderstood"

He also believes the West should acknowledge the part it played shaping the North Korea of today.

"They are somewhat paranoid, but maybe there's a reason for that," he says, referring to Korea's division into two by America and Russia following the end of World War II.

They were actively exploring ways to change and mend relations with the West Bobby Egan

Today Bobby firmly believes North Korea is misunderstood.

"I think they are crying out for recognition. They're saying 'How about us?' They went years and years and years and didn't test a nuclear device."

He believes the "Axis of Evil" speech by former President George W Bush was the trigger, ratcheting up rhetoric on both sides, and ultimately resulting in North Korea reactivating a nuclear reactor and expelling international inspectors.

Since then intensive diplomatic efforts to reign in North Korea's nuclear ambitions have stalled.

So can Bobby Egan, restaurateur from New Jersey, convince North Korea to come out of isolation and give up their weapons programme and reach a rapprochement with the West?

He deflects the suggestion, and instead says the best chance is with the current US president.

"That's too big a job for me, that's a job for Barack Obama."