The Clintons Get It Done: North Korea Releases Journalists During Bill’s Visit

Well, that didn’t take long. Hillary had earlier called North Korea to account, and Bill went in and sealed the deal.

Andy Barr at Politico:

North Korea has ordered the release of the two American journalists detained since May following former President Bill Clinton’s meeting Tuesday with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

According to North Korea’s state news agency, the two journalists – Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36 – were pardoned after being visited by the former president.

“Kim Jong Il issued an order of the Chairman of the DPRK National Defense Commission on granting a special pardon to the two American journalists who had been sentenced to hard labor in accordance with Article 103 of the Socialist Constitution and releasing them,” read the report from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency.

Clinton met with Kim shortly after landing in Pyongyang Tuesday.

The former president, in a surprise visit, supplied Kim with a verbal message from President Barack Obama. The report said Clinton’s message was “courteously” conveyed. Thus far, neither the White House or the State Department has given any details about what message Obama sent to Kim or whether it touched on tensions created by North Korea's budding nuclear weapons program.

Kim and the former president then sat down for what the state media described as a “wide-ranging exchange
of views.”

Following his meeting with Kim, Clinton spoke in person to the two journalists, according to ABC News, which cited a government source.

“This is thrilling it’s a wonderful opportunity for these two women to come back to America,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said shortly after the journalists’ release during an interview on MSNBC.

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The Clintons Team Up to Rescue Journalists Imprisoned in North Korea

It’s good to see Bill Clinton representing America on behalf of two female television journalists imprisoned in North Korea. Although a private mission, the former president is actually assisting his spouse, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has been working on the case for some time.

The NY Times’ Mark Landler and Peter Baker report:

WASHINGTON — Former President Bill Clinton landed in North Korea on Tuesday to negotiate the release of two American television journalists sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for illegally entering North Korean territory, according to a person briefed on the mission.

Mr. Clinton flew into Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, in an unmarked jet early Tuesday morning local time, Central TV, a North Korean station, reported. The White House confirmed the visit on Tuesday, but said it was a private, not public mission, and therefore that it could not comment on its details.

Television footage from Pyongyang showed Mr. Clinton being greeted at the airport by North Korean officials including the chief nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan and Yang Hyong-sop, the vice parliamentary speaker. The footage showed him smiling and bowing as a young girl presented him with flowers.

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