SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - A State Department spokesman says New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is going to North Korea on a private visit.
The governor's office has offered no immediate details on the trip, which comes at a time of heightened tensions two weeks after North Korea shelled a South Korean island.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Wednesday that Richardson will not carry any message from the United State government.
Richardson has traveled to North Korea several times, most recently in 2007 to recover the remains of American servicemen killed in the Korean War.
Richardson was ambassador to the United Nations in the Clinton administration and for years has served as a roving diplomatic troubleshooter, including missions to North Korea, Sudan, Cuba and Iraq.
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