WASHINGTON -- From the TV clips out of North Korea, Rep. Bill Richardson looked for all the world like an accidental diplomat who had just bumbled into a dangerous international incident.
A New Mexico Democrat not particularly known for his expertise in foreign affairs, he had arrived in North Korea on a human rights mission but found himself the top-ranking U.S. official in an unfriendly country that claimed to have shot down a U.S. Army helicopter, killing one of the two pilots aboard.
With his suit rumpled and tie askew, the visibly anxious Mr. Richardson was identified in press accounts as the Clinton administration's best hope for prompt recovery of the dead pilot's body and release of the second pilot.
Not exactly a pin-striped presence.
But maybe the right one, say foreign policy analysts and political associates of Mr. Richardson. And his presence at a world trouble spot is hardly accidental.
"I think this is an awkward incident for both sides, and one that needs a little bit of political brokering," said John D. Steinbruner, director of foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution. "I would assume he has that instinct."
During six terms in the House, Mr. Richardson, 47, has in fact made political brokering a specialty.
He blossomed over the past two years as chief deputy whip for the Democratic majority, a job that found him wheeling and dealing and lining up votes for such controversial Clinton proposals as the 1993 tax increase, the crime bill and the North American Free Trade Agreement.
"He's very talented, very organized, and he knows what members want and don't want," said Rep. Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, a fellow member of the Democratic leadership. "He really hustles."
In many of his efforts Mr. Richardson has been an ally of Mr. Clinton and an agent of the House Democratic leadership, but he is not shy about striking out on his own -- particularly on foreign policy.
As a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, Mr. Richardson in February led a delegation to Myanmar (formerly Burma), where he became the first foreign visitor to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, opposition leader and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, who was placed under house arrest in 1989.
Mr. Richardson pressed Myanmar's military government to negotiate with the opposition leader. Those talks began in September.
In July, the congressman flew to Haiti at the invitation of Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, then Haiti's dictator, who was hoping Mr. Richardson could talk President Clinton into resuming negotiations about the return of the elected government, rather than sending U.S. troops.
In comments later echoed by former President Jimmy Carter, Mr. Richardson said that he found General Cedras to be much more conciliatory than the Clinton administration portrayed him.
President Clinton finally authorized Mr. Carter in September to begin what proved to be successful negotiations for General Cedras' departure that averted the invasion.
"Bill Richardson is very much an important player in foreign policy," said Wendy Sherman, assistant secretary of state for congressional relations, who noted Mr. Richardson was one of four lawmakers who represented Congress recently at the Latin American trade summit in Miami. "He stays in very close touch with the administration, but he has interests all over the world."
But Mr. Richardson is also stands out as unabashedly hard-working and ambitious in a body where nearly everyone is known for such traits.
Typical of Mr. Richardson's initiative and sheer energy level was the itinerary for the five-nation human rights trip that took him to North Korea on Saturday after stops Friday in Hong Kong and Beijing. He still hopes to go onto South Korea, Indonesia, East Timor and possibly to Myanmar, after the problem in North Korea ends.
The congressman arrived in Pyongyang on Saturday afternoon local time. He was notified by North Korean officials that the helicopter had been downed, but the fate of the pilots was unclear.
At a meeting Sunday with Foreign Minister Kim Young-namm, Mr. Richardson was the first American to be formally notified that one of the pilots had been killed.
He expected to learn more at a second meeting with Mr. Kim today, which State Department officials hoped would lead to a resolution of the matter.
"The best thing they could do is allow him to come out with the surviving crewman and the pilot's body," said Donald Gregg, former U.S. ambassador to South Korea. "If that doesn't happen, the next thing is going to be what Richardson says when he comes out. If he comes out and says they are behaving in a very erratic and uninformative way, that gives them a real black eye."