Clinton goes to Korea

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Former U.S. President Bill Clinton made a surprise visit to North Korea and met its reclusive leader on Tuesday to try to win freedom for two jailed American journalists in a move that could re-energize nuclear talks.

Clinton, husband of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, had what North Korea's KCNA news agency described as an "exhaustive conversation" over dinner with the ailing Kim Jong-il and top North Korean officials.

Arriving in an unmarked jet on a trip to North Korea he had hoped to take before leaving office in January 2001, Clinton was presented with flowers by a girl dressed in traditional costume before he was led to a black limousine and driven away.

Confusion rose quickly about the delicate diplomatic negotiations he was engaged in. The North Korean news agency said Clinton passed on a verbal message from U.S. President Barack Obama.

"Kim Jong-il expressed thanks for this," KCNA said of the message. "He welcomed Clinton's visit to the DPRK (North Korea) and had an exhaustive conversation with him. There was a wide-ranging exchange of views on the matters of common concern."

But the White House denied Clinton carried a message from Obama. "That's not true," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters in Washington.

Clinton's objective was to gain the release of two journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling of U.S. media outlet Current TV co-founded by Clinton's vice president Al Gore.

They were arrested on the North Korea-China border in March and accused of illegal entry. A North Korean court sentenced both of them last month to 12 years hard labor for what it called grave crimes.

SIDE BENEFIT?

Clinton's visit could have a side benefit of improving the atmosphere between the United States and North Korea that could restart talks over the isolated state's nuclear weapons.

North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye-gwan, was among those greeting Clinton -- whose administration was reported to have considered bombing the North's Yongbyon atomic plant in the early 1990s during a prior time of tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

"As soon as he arrives, he will be entering negotiations with the North for the release of the female journalists," South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted a source as saying.

Many analysts predicted Pyongyang would use the journalists as leverage to wring concessions from Washington, which sought to place U.N. sanctions on the North for a May nuclear test.

The White House described Clinton's visit as private.

"While this solely private mission to secure the release of two Americans is on the ground, we will have no comment. We do not want to jeopardize the success of former President Clinton's mission," Gibbs said in a statement.

Clinton's trip followed months of military provocations by the impoverished North, which has turned its back on negotiations with regional powers, including the United States and China, to convince it to give up ambitions to build an atomic arsenal.

In Washington, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said it was not clear whether Clinton had been authorized to discuss policy issues.

"It would be nice if it's the foundation for a better relationship," Graham, a prominent member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told NBC's "Today Show."

Yun Duk-min of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security in Seoul said the visit held out the possibility of "a dramatic turnaround by North Korea that could lead to a new phase of negotiations."

"WRONG SIGNALS"

It is the second time a former U.S. president has headed to the communist state to try to defuse a crisis. Former president Jimmy Carter flew there in 1994 when tensions were running high, again over the North's nuclear weapons program.

Carter helped broker a deal at that time whereby Pyongyang suspended construction of a 50-megawatt plutonium reactor in exchange for heating oil and other energy aid.

A former White House staffer to Bill Clinton said it seemed likely that Clinton would be successful.

"The fact that he's there on the ground, I think means that a lot of groundwork has been done. I can't imagine that he's not going to leave without those two," the official said.

Secretary of State Clinton, flying to Kenya for a trade conference, enraged Pyongyang's leaders last month by likening them to unruly children seeking attention.

One analyst said that was exactly what the former president's visit was doing -- rewarding "bad behavior."

Clinton's arrival coincides with mounting speculation over succession in Asia's only communist dynasty. Several reports suggest that an increasingly frail-looking Kim Jong-il, 67, has settled on his third son to take over.

"It's just what they (North Korea's leaders) need," said B.R. Myers, an expert on the North's state ideology at the South's Dongseo University.

It allows the government to show to a domestic audience, facing deepening poverty, that the nuclear weapons program is making the outside world take it more seriously and the visit will be certain to be portrayed as tribute by the United States.

And it will confirm to North Korea that bad behavior will be rewarded further, Myers said. "It sends all the wrong signals."
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http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090804/n_top_news/cnews_us_korea_north
 
I was planning to post this up too. @~@

But you got here before me. XD

_46154284_clinton_jongil_aug09.jpg

North Korean media have shown images of Mr Clinton and President Kim​

Well I doubt this will do anything, but meh symbolic things matter. :p
 
Peter Kirkland said:
Well I doubt this will do anything, but meh symbolic things matter. :p
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You doubted it, ay? So did I, but check this out:

North Korea: 2 US journalists pardoned

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Il issued a "special pardon" for two American journalists and ordered their release at former U.S. President Bill Clinton's request, North Korean media reported Wednesday.

The move to release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, sentenced in June to 12 years of hard labor, reflected North Korea's "humanitarian and peaceloving policy," the Korean Central News Agency said in a dispatch from Pyongyang early Wednesday.

Clinton landed in the North Korean capital on Tuesday on a quiet mission to negotiate the freedom of the two women working for former Vice President Al Gore's Current TV media venture. During his visit, he held rare talks with Kim — the reclusive North Korean leader's first meeting with a prominent Western figure since reportedly suffering a stroke a year ago.

The KNCA report said Clinton visit was ending Wednesday but left unclear if he had yet left.

Lee, 36, and Ling, 32, were arrested in March after crossing into North Korea from China, where they had been reporting on North Korean defectors. They were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for illegal entry and engaging in "hostile acts."

Washington had pushed for their release, with Clinton's wife, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, requesting they be granted amnesty.

State media said Clinton apologized on behalf of the women and relayed President Barack Obama's gratitude. The report said the visit would "contribute to deepening the understanding" between North Korea and the U.S.

Earlier, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs denied Clinton went with a message from Obama.

The two nations fought against one another during the 1950-53 Korean War, and do not have diplomatic relations.
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And then people ask me why I like Clinton.
 
I don't particularly like him, but I've always had an admiration for how he can get his way. :D
 
Did no one smile at the realisation that (regarding the two reporters) the headlines could so easily have read "Clinton brings back home 2 Asians"
 
I just became cynical about Politics as a whole...soooo.. D:

Well just happy that these types of good news can still happen~
 
My theory on how he did it.

He went in, had a few beers with Kim, sat down and jsut chatted, something to the effect of, "Look, you got these girls and they're making you look bad. You don't want to look bad do you? Besides, you have to take care of them when we are ever willing to take them off your hands. And it's not like they are going to harm you or your county. Just give em back to us. Here, have a box of cubans."

And Kim goes, "yeah, okay."
 
No, No. The thing is Kim Il Jong is a huge fan of Clinton, and when he saw him. His mood changed....
 
I'm glad Clinton was able to do thjis. Nice to seee them home, maybe this could signal Hilliary Clinton for 2012 lol.

On an non-serious note, who wants to bet those girls owe him a special favor a few months later....
 
So, how do you think Hillary felt when Bill came home for dinner and said, "Hey honey, I just rescued two hostages. what'd you do as secretary of state today?"
 
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