In Release of Journalists, Both Clintons Had Key Roles

[spanone]

WASHINGTON — Former President Bill Clinton left North Korea on Wednesday morning after a dramatic 20-hour visit, in which he won the freedom of two American journalists, opened a diplomatic channel to North Korea’s reclusive government and dined with the North’s ailing leader, Kim Jong-il.

Mr. Clinton departed from Pyongyang, the capital, at about 8:30 a.m. local time, along with the journalists, Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36, on a private jet bound for Los Angeles, according to a statement from the former president’s office.

The North Korean government, which in June sentenced the women to 12 years of hard labor for illegally entering North Korean territory, announced hours earlier that it had pardoned the women after Mr. Clinton apologized to Mr. Kim for their actions, according to the North Korean state media. The White House, which had implicitly blessed Mr. Clinton’s mission, said it would withhold comment until officials had a chance to speak with the former president.

Mr. Clinton’s mission to Pyongyang was the most visible by an American in nearly a decade. It came at a time when the United States’ relationship with North Korea had become especially chilled, after North Korea’s test of its second nuclear device in May and a series of missile launching.

It ended a harrowing ordeal for the two women, who were stopped on March 17 by soldiers near North Korea’s border with China while researching a report about women and human trafficking. They faced years of imprisonment in the gulaglike confines of a North Korean prison camp.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/world/asia/05korea.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print

[havocmom]

1. Of couse. And the both were big enough to set egos aside and get the job done

Bravo, team Clinton. Putting public ahead of personal. Mature diplomacy and common sense. And Obama is big enough not to worry about being upstaged. Teamwork, doing what it takes. Good on 'em all.

[BlooInBloo]

2. I'm glad Bill was given the opportunity to go over there too - excellent work all-around.

[noamnety]

3. What I'm not seeing in all the reporting

is any real discussion of what deals were negotiated.

All the news seems to be focusing on entertainment-tonight style reporting, clinton sent a letter of condolence, so they released two prisoners ... like we're talking about miss manners, and they released the prisoners because of clinton's charm. TV news was no better, discussing how it reflects on hillary.

I could do without all the fluff.

Obviously some kind of deal was made, which implies we caved on something. Isn't that slightly more important than if hillary looks like she's going shopping?

Is it too much to ask for them to actually report the part that has political importance?

[Horse with no Name]

5. Surely you have a link or a source

for that?
Because I heard them all say that he was not there in an official capacity.
And you can bet your ass if he gave anything to NK...it would be broadcast all over the world by now.

[noamnety]

7. see post 6

"The journalists' release followed weeks of quiet negotiations between the State Department and the North Korean mission to the United Nations, said Daniel Sneider, associate director of research at Stanford University's Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center."

The negotiations are the story, the personalities are the entertainment fluff.

The reporting so far is mainly about the personalities. If you are asking for a link talking about the details of what that negotiation cost us - no, I can't give it to you because I can't find it. That's my point.

[BlooInBloo]

6. All I've been able to find suggests that any deal was done before Bill got on the plane...

With Bill (or Kerry) flying over for a visit being the last required piece of the puzzle.

The negotiations began around a month ago, when they had Hilary walk back her "unruly" comment, and suggest "amnesty" would be acceptable.

What specifically happened between then and now, I have no idea.

This is the most detailed I've yet found. Likely it's speculation like everything else is at the moment:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/04/north-korea-welcomes-bill_n_250682.html

North Korea accused Ling, 32, and Lee, 36, both of former Vice President Al Gore's Current TV media venture, of sneaking into the country illegally.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged North Korea last month to grant them amnesty, saying they were remorseful and their families were anguished by their detention.

The journalists' release followed weeks of quiet negotiations between the State Department and the North Korean mission to the United Nations, said Daniel Sneider, associate director of research at Stanford University's Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center.

Clinton "didn't go to negotiate this, he went to reap the fruits of the negotiation," Sneider said.

Pardoning Ling and Lee and having Clinton serving as their emissary served both North Korea's need to continue maintaining that the two women had committed a crime and the Obama administration's desire not to expend diplomatic capital winning their freedom, Sneider said.

"Nobody wanted this to be a distraction from the more substantially difficult issues we have with North Korea," he said. "There was a desire by the administration to resolve this quietly and from the very beginning they didn't allow it to become a huge public issue."

The families of Ling and Lee said they were "overjoyed" by the pardon.

"We are so grateful to our government: President Obama, Secretary Clinton and the U.S. State Department for their dedication to and hard work on behalf of American citizens," the families said in a statement. "We especially want to thank President Bill Clinton for taking on such an arduous mission and Vice President Al Gore for his tireless efforts to bring Laura and Euna home."

I suppose it'll be several days before we get a full coherent account of how all of the moving parts worked on this one.

[medeak]

8. John Kerry deserves the accolades

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/04/clinton.analysis/

[noamnety]

9. That's the kind of personality fluff I'm not interested in.

No offense to Kerry OR Clinton. My point is that serious journalism shouldn't be about their celebrity status, it should be about whatever "humanitarian" deals were made.

[medeak]

10. it's not fluff to me

but just interesting re the dynamics

[sandnsea]

12. This paragraph probably gets close

"Bill Clinton's mandate was solely to discuss the fate of the journalists. But administration officials have said for months that releasing the women could provide a face-saving opportunity for North Korea to come back to the negotiating table if it so desires. It was probably no accident that Kim Kye Gwan, North Korea's top nuclear negotiator, met Bill Clinton at the airport and stood with him in pictures."

Considering nobody negotiates nuclear arms nonproliferation better than Kerry and he was involved in the negotiations,they probably provided a means for North Korea to gracefully enter talks and gain humanitarian food aid they've been seeking.

I think it's reasonable to celebrate the return of these women for a day before they start pushing for the details. I'm sure it's all Gibbs will be asked tomorrow.

[Jennicut]

11. Bill Richardson said on CNN that Bill Clinton was not there to offer any deals

except to sit and listen to Kim Jong-il. Turns out the guy talked to Clinton about every issue he could think of and also wanted Clinton to come as he had never come in the 90's...some of it was saving face as well. We may never know if there was a "real deal".

[FrenchieCat]

13. Bolton, is that you?

[Horse with no Name]

4. We need to open lines of communication with those we disagree with

that is what diplomacy is all about.