Broader Issues on Table in Pyongyang
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: While Negotiating Journalists' Release, Clinton and Kim Widened Talks to Security, Regional Concerns

WASHINGTON -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, in more than three hours of discussions with Bill Clinton in Pyongyang, drew the former U.S. president into a wide-ranging discussion of security and regional issues.

Former U.S. officials and diplomats say the meetings, attended by the top ranks of Pyongyang's security establishment, were part of a renewed campaign by Pyongyang to stimulate direct negotiations with Washington over the country's nuclear program.

President Barack Obama and his aides stressed Wednesday that they weren't viewing Mr. Clinton's trip as anything more than a humanitarian mission focused on securing the release of two detained American journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling.

Mr. Clinton returned to California Wednesday morning on a private jet with Ms. Lee and Ms. Ling, who had been arrested in March at the Chinese border and later sentenced to 12 years hard labor for illegally entering North Korea. Mr. Clinton's one-day visit secured their release.

"We were very clear this was a humanitarian mission," Mr. Obama said in an interview with MSNBC Wednesday. "We have said to the North Koreans there is a path for improved relations, and it involves them no longer developing nuclear weapons."

Mr. Clinton and his delegation were tight-lipped Wednesday about what transpired during a 75-minute meeting with Mr. Kim on Tuesday. They also attended a two-hour banquet hosted by the North Korean leader and his country's pre-eminent national-security body, the National Defense Commission.

U.S. officials briefed on Mr. Clinton's mission, however, are already outlining a broad discussion with Mr. Kim that focused on significantly more than just the two imprisoned Americans.

These U.S. officials indicated that Mr. Clinton expressed to Mr. Kim the necessity that his regime end a nuclear program that's feared to be stoking a broader arms race across Asia and the Middle East. >>> Jay Solomon | Thursday, August 06, 2009

US Journalists Return Home from North Korea with Bill Clinton
THE TELEGRAPH: Euna Lee and Laura Ling, the two US journalists freed after 140 days in captivity in North Korea, have returned home with Bill Clinton to a tearful reunion with their families in Los Angeles.



Euna Lee, 36, and Laura Ling, 32, were flanked by the former US president Bill Clinton, whose meeting with the reclusive Jong-il had secured their liberty during a surprise 20-hour visit to Pyongyang, as they gave their first account of their escape from a 12-year sentence of hard labour.

"Thirty hours ago, Euna Lee and I were prisoners in North Korea," said Miss Ling, struggling to remain composed. "We feared that at any moment we could be prisoners in a hard labour camp. Then suddenly we were told that we were going to a meeting.

"We were taken to a location and when we walked through the doors, we saw standing before us president Bill Clinton. We were shocked, but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives [was over].

She added: "Euna and I would just like to express our deepest gratitude to president Clinton and his wonderful, amazing, not to mention super-cool team ... and the United States Secret Service who travelled half way around the world, and then some, to secure our release." >>> Toby Harnden in Washington | Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Bill Clinton Secures 'Pardon' for Imprisoned Journalists after Meeting North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il
TIMES ONLINE: Bill Clinton burst back on to the global political stage yesterday in the unlikely setting of North Korea — and orchestrated an immediate and spectacular diplomatic coup.

Within hours of the former US President shaking hands with Kim Jong Il, his reclusive host, North Korea announced that two imprisoned American journalists would be pardoned and released. Laura Ling and Euna Lee, sentenced to 12 years of hard labour in June after being convicted of spying, are expected to be on board Mr Clinton’s private jet when he leaves Pyongyang today.

“We are counting the seconds to hold Laura and Euna in our arms,” their families said in a statement.

Mr Kim’s “special pardon” was a sign of North Koreas’s “humanitarian and peace-loving policy”, the state’s official news agency said.

The appearance of the world’s most gregarious former head of state in the rogue state took all sides by surprise. It also suggested that President Obama is prepared to use the formidable political skills possessed by the husband of his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, when it suits him.

Mr Clinton’s success raised hopes that North Korea may soon be enticed back to multinational disarmament talks, after three months of mounting tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.

The breakthrough came after what the North Korea media described as “sincere and exhaustive discussions” on a range of matters between Mr Clinton and Mr Kim. The North Koreans said the former US President had flown to Pyongyang bearing a “courteously conveyed” personal message from Mr Obama.

The White House denied that a message had been sent and described Mr Clinton’s trip as a “solely private mission”. Behind the scenes, the Obama Administration had approved the trip after North Korean officials were said to have told the journalists’ families that they were prepared to release them to Mr Clinton. The families then approached the former President.

In another striking break with tradition, footage of Mr Clinton’s arrival and images of his meeting Mr Kim were aired almost immediately on North Korea’s tightly controlled state television channel. >>> Leo Lewis in Tokyo, and Tim Reid in Washington | Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Clinton in Nordkorea: Botschafter ohne offizielle Botschaft
STERN.DE: Fakt ist: Ex-US-Präsident Bill Clinton hat in Pjöngjang Nordkoreas Machthaber Kim Jong Il getroffen. Fraglich bleibt, ob Clinton geschickt wurde. Während nordkoreanische Medien behaupten, Clinton habe eine offizielle Botschaft überbracht, spricht das Weiße Haus von einer "ausschließlich privaten" Reise.

Die USA haben überraschend Bill Clinton nach Nordkorea geschickt, um die Freilassung von zwei inhaftierten Journalistinnen zu erwirken. Als erster hochrangiger US-Politiker seit neun Jahren traf der Expräsident am Dienstag mit Staatschef Kim Jong Il zusammen. Clinton habe "höflich" eine mündliche Botschaft von US-Präsident Barack Obama übermittelt, hieß es in einer Meldung der amtlichen nordkoreanischen Nachrichtenagentur KCNA. Kim habe sich dafür bedankt. Bei dem Gespräch habe es einen "weitreichenden Meinungsaustausch" gegeben. Das Weiße Haus dementierte umgehend, dass Clinton eine Botschaft Obamas überbracht habe. "Diese Berichte treffen nicht zu", sagte ein Sprecher am Dienstag. >>> AP/DPA | Dienstag, 04. August 2009

Bill Clinton Meets North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il for Talks
TIMES ONLINE: Bill Clinton, who flew into North Korea today on a surprise mission to secure the release of two American journalists, was taken from the airport into a rare face-to-face meeting with the regime’s “Dear Leader”, Kim Jong Il.

The unexpected summit meeting has raised hopes across the region that North Korea may soon be enticed back to multinational disarmament talks after three months of mounting atomic tensions and provocation.

North Korea’s official news agency reported that Mr Clinton and Mr Kim engaged in “sincere and exhaustive discussions” on a range of issues and that the former US president came armed for his encounter with a “courteously conveyed” personal message from Barack Obama. The White House quickly denied there had ever been such a message.

In another striking break with tradition, footage of Mr Clinton’s arrival and images of his meeting with Mr Kim were aired almost immediately on North Korea’s tightly-controlled state television channel – an indication, said close observers of North Korea, of how the visit will likely be used by the regime to parade its out-manoeuvring of the US.

It appears that the groundwork for the talks were well-laid and that Mr Clinton is likely to return to the US with the two journalists in tow on Wednesday. Although nominally carried out in a private capacity, Mr Clinton’s visit is believed to have the double purpose of both freeing Laura Ling and Euna Lee from their sentence of 12 years hard labour and of bringing North Korea back to the negotiating table on nuclear weapons.

Relations between Washington and Pyongyang have deteriorated rapidly since May after the unpredictable regime test-fired what it said was a nuclear device and declared the six party” multinational disarmament talks with South Korea, China, Russia, Japan, America “dead in the water”.

The Pyongyang state news agency put what experts said was a predictable spin on the visit, declaring that Mr Clinton had first appealed for the release of the two American prisoners and then for the opportunity to meet Mr Kim – a request that was graciously granted. >>> Leo Lewis | Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Bill Clinton Arrives in North Korea to Free Journalists
TIMES ONLINE: Former US president Bill Clinton is understood to have landed in Pyongyang earlier today for a surprise visit to North Korea as relations between the United States and the regime continue to sour and mystery surrounds the health of its enigmatic "Dear Leader".

The regime's mouthpiece, the Korean Central News Agency, said in a bulletin this afternoon that Mr Clinton had been greeted at Pyongyang's airport by two senior government figures - the vice president of the presidium of North Korea's parliament and the vice foreign minister.

"A little girl presented a bouquet to Bill Clinton," ran the rest of the report.

Diplomatic sources suggest that Mr Clinton, who is the highest-profile American to visit North Korea since Madeleine Albright's trip nine years ago, may be granted an audience with Kim Jong Il as early as today.

Reports from Seoul based on South Korean intelligence suggest that the former US president will use the two-day trip to "negotiate robustly" for the release of two American journalists currently serving 12 years of hard labour in a North Korean prison.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were both working for a television company run by Mr Clinton's former vice president, Al Gore, were arrested for a "grave", though unspecified, crime on the North Korea-China border earlier this year.

The two were imprisoned on a charge of committing "hostile acts" and for plotting to produce a smear campaign over human rights issues. >>> Leo Lewis | Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Bill Clinton überraschend in Nordkorea: Früherer US-Präsident bemüht sich um Freilassung von Journalistinnen
NZZ Online: Der ehemalige amerikanische Präsident Bill Clinton ist überraschend in Nordkorea eingetroffen. In Pjongjang will er sich für die Freilassung zweier amerikanischer Journalistinnen einsetzen, die im Juni zu zwölf Jahren Arbeitslager verhaftet worden waren.

Der frühere amerikanische Präsident Bill Clinton ist überraschend nach Nordkorea gereist, wo er sich laut einem südkoreanischen Medienbericht für die Freilassung der dort festgehaltenen zwei amerikanischen Journalistinnen einsetzen will.

Von Chefunterhändler empfangen

Die amtliche nordkoreanische Nachrichtenagentur KCNA meldete am Dienstag, Clinton sei auf dem Flughafen von Pjongjang unter anderem vom Chefunterhändler für Atomfragen, Kim Kye Gwan, begrüsst worden. >>> ap/sda/dpa | Dienstag, 04. August 2009

Related / liée:
La Corée du Nord arrête deux journalistes américaines >>> C.J. (lefigaro.fr) avec AFP | Jeudi 19 Mars 2009

La Corée du Nord arrête 
deux journalistes américaines
Photo d’Euna Lee et Laura Ling (AP) grâce au Figaro
LE FIGARO: Pyongyang accuse les deux reporters d'avoir franchi la frontière. Mais selon des médias sud-coréens, les gardes-frontières les auraient arrêtées sur le sol chinois.

Le cas de deux journalistes travaillant pour une chaîne du câble risque de compliquer un peu plus les relations, déjà tendues, entre Washington et Pyongyang. Les autorités nord-coréennes détiennent depuis mardi deux journalistes américaines pour un délit présumé de violation des frontières, a confirmé le département d'Etat américain jeudi. La sino-américaine Laura Ling et sa collègue américano-coréenne Euna Lee ont été interpellées alors qu'elles filmaient le long du fleuve Tumen, qui marque la frontière entre la Chine et la Corée du Nord.

Une certaine confusion règne quant à l'endroit exact de leur arrestation. Les médias sud-coréens, qui ont révélé leur détention, affirment que les jeunes femmes auraient été arrêtées alors qu'elles filmaient sur la rive chinoise du fleuve et que donc les gardes-frontières nord-coréens auraient fait une incursion en sol chinois pour les interpeller. Les journalistes auraient ignoré plusieurs avertissements des soldats nord-coréens les sommant de cesser de filmer. Mais selon une source diplomatique citée par l'AFP, les reporters qui travaillaient pour Current TV, une chaîne basée en Californie, se seraient trop approchées de la rive nord-coréenne et auraient tourné sans le savoir en Corée du Nord. Laura Ling et sa collègue réalisaient un sujet sur les réfugiés nord-coréens qui empruntent le fleuve pour fuir la dictature de Kim Jong-il. >>> C.J. (lefigaro.fr) avec AFP | Jeudi 19 Mars 2009

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