North Korea says 2 U.S. journalists will be freed Aug 4, 2009

In this photo released by Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service in Tokyo, former U.S. President Bill Clinton meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, North Korea, on August 4. The two met Tuesday on the first day of Clinton's surprise visit to Pyongyang, holding 'exhaustive' talks that covered a wide range of topics, state-run media reported.

North Korea says 2 U.S. journalists will be freed

MSNBC

Announcement of pardon comes after Bill Clinton meets with Kim Jong Il

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has pardoned two jailed American journalists and ordered their release following an unannounced meeting with former President Bill Clinton, the North's state media said Wednesday. The release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee was a sign of North Korea's "humanitarian and peace-loving policy," the Korean Central News Agency reported. Clinton met with the reclusive and ailing Kim on Tuesday, shortly after landing in the capital Pyongyang. It was Kim's first meeting with a prominent Western figure since his reported stroke nearly a year ago. Washington had pushed for their release, with Clinton's wife, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, requesting they be granted amnesty.State media said Bill 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 was delivering a message from Obama. The official Korean Central News Agency said that Clinton and others left early Wednesday by plane. It didn't specify whether the journalists were among those who departed Pyongyang.  

Joy in California

In the U.S., the families of Ling and Lee said they are "overjoyed" by the news of the pardon.

"We must also thank all the people who have supported our families through this ordeal, it has meant the world to us," the families said in a joint statement. "We are counting the seconds to hold Laura and Euna in our arms."

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he joined all Californians in celebrating the good news. "Both women risked their lives to search for truth in an area of the world where the press is often censored, and I applaud those who worked to negotiate their pardon. Our heartfelt thoughts are with the families of Euna and Laura, and we wish them both a safe return to California," the governor said in a statement. Pyongyang accused Ling, 32, and Lee, 36, reporters for former Vice President Al Gore's Current TV media venture, of sneaking into the country illegally in March and engaging in "hostile acts." The nation's top court sentenced them in June to 12 years of hard labor after their conviction. Clinton's landmark visit, which was not announced in advance by North Korea or the U.S., comes at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Pyongyang, foes during the Korean War of the 1950s, over the regime's nuclear program.
North Korea in recent months has conducted a nuclear test and test-fired an array of ballistic missiles in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, with Washington leading the push to punish Pyongyang for its defiance. It's only the second visit to Pyongyang by a former U.S. leader. Jimmy Carter traveled to North Korea for talks with Kim's father, Kim Il Sung, in 1994 in a groundbreaking meeting during a time of similar tensions. Though Clinton was in North Korea on a private basis, his visit was treated by North Korea as a high-profile visit, with senior officials including Kim Kye Gwan, the vice foreign meeting him on the tarmac.

Handshakes and flowers

Footage from the APTN television news agency showed the arriving Clinton exchanging warm handshakes with the officials and accepting a bouquet of flowers from a schoolgirl.Kim later hosted a banquet for Clinton at the state guesthouse, Radio Pyongyang and the Korean Central Broadcasting Station reported.

"This is a very potentially rewarding trip. Not only is it likely to resolve the case of the two American journalists detained in North Korea for many months, but it could be a very significant opening and breaking this downward cycle of tension and recrimination between the U.S. and North Korea," Mike Chinoy, author of "Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis," said in Beijing.Lee, a South Korean-born U.S. citizen, is married and has a 4-year-old daughter in Los Angeles; a native Californian, Ling is the married younger sister of TV journalist Lisa Ling. The decision to send the former president was kept quiet. The White House said it would not comment on the trip until the mission was complete. In New York, the Committee to Protect Journalists said it was encouraged by reports about Clinton's trip. This is welcome news and we are pleased to see movement in this case," said Bob Dietz, the group's Asia program coordinator. "The fate of these two women should not be linked to broader issues on the Korean peninsula, and to see both sides make a move toward the release of these reporters will bring some relief to them, their families and friends."

Bill Clinton in North Korea: Flowers & High Hopes for two journalists Aug 2009

I'm very happy because I hope Bill Clinton can negotiate the release of the two journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee. Love Shelley

On Tuesday morning, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs released a statement calling former President Bill Clinton's trip to North Korea a "solely private mission," saying, "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."

The statement came following news last night that Bill Clinton had arrived in Pyongyang, North Korea, to negotiate the release of two American journalists recently sentenced to 12 years of "hard labor" after being convicted of "committing hostilities against Korea and illegal entry." 

The New York Times reports that the former president flew yesterday to North Korea in an unmarked jet and was greeted on the Pyongyang tarmac by both a young Korean girl, bearing a bouquet of white flowers, as well as North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye-gwan. The presence of the negotiator raised hopes that Clinton would also be able to open a dialogue about the North's escalating nuclear program. In May, the government conducted its second nuclear test and then launched several ballistic missiles. The journalists' capture was seen as a part of an overall campaign to force the West into engagement.

The Korean Herald reports that although the two journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, worked for Al Gore's Current TV network, the North Koreans rejected Gore as a possible envoy. It also reports that although North Korea has refused to participate in the "six-party talks" designed to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, the North indicted in July that it wanted to deal directly with the United States in talks and that Ban Ki Moon, the secretary general of the U.N. and a South Korean diplomat, urged bilateral talks.

Sec. of State Hillary Clinton has worked to secure amnesty and the release of Ling and Lee, but she has not commented on her husband's mission. She is currently traveling in Africa