I must have sleepwalked through this part of Morning Edition.

I’m appalled . . . during the entire first half of the interview, Mr. Hill appears to be scratching his head in bewilderment. He first believes that the NoKors won’t meet the deadline, which is fast approaching because there’s no indication they’ve invited the inspectors in.

And then, wrt to the $25 million bank issue, he notes that the NoKors won’t move ahead until it’s resolved. This puzzles him:

But they keep saying they need this bank issue resolved. And the trouble is is that it is resolved. I mean the money has been returned, its available, and so it’s a little puzzling to us that they say they need it resolved because it is resolved.

And then he goes on to say he can rely on what his negotiating (!) partners commit to!

It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘glory’,” Alice said.

Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. “Of course you don’t—till I tell you. I mean ‘a nice knock-down argument for you!’”

“But ‘glory’ doesn’t mean a ‘nice knock-down argument,’” Alice objected.

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—nothing more nor less.”

“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean different things.”

“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be the master—that’s all.” (Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass, Chapter VI)

Brian