UPDATED! 2 Journalists Pardoned!

[C.C.Sinned]

nah,. he didn't have too Slick Willy had a sure thing with Kim

 

[netrox]

it is not uncommon to ask former President/Ambassador/Secretary/etc. to serve as a special envoy for a special circumstance. However - I have read articles that White House has denied that Clinton is not serving for Obama and repeatedly stated that Clinton's visit to North Korea was a private mission.



U.S. journalists head home from North Korea


an apology? wtf?

The girls ADMITTED they ILLEGALLY entered NK.

Bill Clinton apologized for their ILLEGAL acts and saved them.

Repukes are so butt hurt over this and will try everything to criticize Bill Clinton, never mind that he saved two girls.

 

[Jiro]

The girls ADMITTED they ILLEGALLY entered NK.

Bill Clinton apologized for their ILLEGAL acts and saved them.

Repukes are so butt hurt over this and will try everything to criticize Bill Clinton, never mind that he saved two girls.

yea... of course they admitted it. You're out of your mind to not admit to anything they want you to admit to especially when you're locked up in North Korea :roll:

 

[Barbaro]

Gov. Schwarzegger and CA officials applaud for Clinton's work, and are glad those journalists are home safety.

Hypothetically, is it easier to appease a dictator into releasing those journalists is a sign of weakness or strength?

 

[netrox]

yea... of course they admitted it. You're out of your mind to not admit to anything they want you to admit to especially when you're locked up in North Korea :roll:

You are NOT supposed to enter NK in the first place! Duh!

 

[Jiro]

You are NOT supposed to enter NK in the first place! Duh!

The women were arrested in March while reporting from the border between North Korea and China and sentenced in June to 12 years in prison on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign.

North Korea Says Two Convicted Journalists Admitted 'Criminal Acts'

SEOUL, June 16 -- North Korea said Tuesday that two American journalists it has sentenced to 12 years in a labor camp admitted at their trial that they entered the country illegally to vilify the North's human rights record.

It was the first explanation from the government of Kim Jong Il about why Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were detained in March while working on a story about North Koreans who flee to China, were given sentences last week that many outsiders have described as unusually harsh.

North Korea released its account of the closed trial just hours before President Obama met at the White House with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to discuss how to deal with provocations from the North.

The two journalists were arrested on the North Korean side of the Tumen River after entering the country illegally from China, said the statement, which was released by the official Korean Central News Agency.

"We have just entered North Korean territory without permission," a narrator said on a video found in the reporters' possession, the statement said.

Two others in the reporting team that crossed the river, producer Mitch Koss and a Korean Chinese guide, managed to flee, the statement said.

There have been no definitive independent accounts of where the journalists were when they were detained. Members of their families in the United States have apologized on their behalf if the two did cross into North Korea. The U.S. government has asked that the women be released immediately on humanitarian grounds.

But North Korea's statement made it clear that the journalists had been convicted of much more than just wandering across a border.

"At the trial, the accused admitted that what they did were criminal acts, prompted by a political motive to isolate and stifle the socialist system of North Korea, by faking moving images aimed at falsifying its human rights performance and hurling slanders and calumnies at it," the statement said.

North Korea is widely regarded as having one of the worst human rights records in the world. A U.N. human rights report this year describes the North as a place where ordinary people "live in fear and are pressed to inform on each other."

In a statement Tuesday night, Ling and Lee's families said: "We appreciate that the Government of North Korea released the account of the charges against Laura and Euna. Whatever those charges to which they have confessed, we are sorry and know that they are as well. We desperately hope that the Government of North Korea will show compassion and allow Laura and Euna to come home to their families."

The detention and sentencing of the two journalists have become part of a complex political and military crisis this year on the Korean Peninsula, as North Korea has launched missiles, detonated a nuclear bomb, threatened war against its southern neighbor and vowed never to give up nuclear weapons.

The secretive communist state, which has annoyed even historical allies China and Russia, is thought to be in the throes of succession, as the country's ailing leader prepares to hand off power to his youngest son.

Ling, 32, and Lee, 36, worked for Current TV, a cable and Web network co-founded by former vice president Al Gore. They have told their families, in letters and in phone calls allowed before their sentencing, that they were frightened but being treated relatively well.

Their five-day trial was held in Pyongyang's Central Court, the top court in North Korea, and no foreign observers were allowed.

But interpreters were provided to the two reporters, the government statement said. It also said that Ling asked for an attorney and was provided one, while Lee declined legal representation.

The journalists appear to have become bargaining chips for North Korea in its gamesmanship with the United States. In the past, the Pyongyang government has released Americans who have entered the country illegally. It also has a history of brinkmanship, turning confrontation into negotiations that end up rewarding it with food, fuel and other concessions.

Analysts in South Korea and Japan have said in recent days that the women are unlikely to be sent to the worst labor camps in North Korea, which are reserved for enemies of the state.

Human rights groups estimate that about 200,000 North Koreans are held in those camps. Survivors of the camps who have escaped to South Korea describe food shortages and relentless work, and say that those who were injured or became ill often died for lack of medical care. Those who try to escape are publicly executed, survivors say.

Analysts said Ling and Lee will probably be held under relatively humane conditions until the succession drama in Pyongyang is resolved -- and then be released to the United States as a token of North Korea's readiness to resume bilateral negotiations.

Release might not come soon, however, several analysts said.

"The North Koreans are caught up with other important things now," said Lee Young Hwa, a North Korea expert who teaches at Kansai University in Japan. "So, unfortunately, the two journalists can't come out for a while. Precisely because of that they sentenced the two to 12 years. One year would be too soon for the North to deal with."

Ling suffers from an ulcer, according to her family. Lee has a 4-year-old daughter.

In its announcement Tuesday, North Korea's tone was defiant.

"We are making this announcement in order to publicize to the world criminal acts Americans committed amid unprecedented confrontation on the Korean Peninsula," the statement said.

It also said that the sentence cannot be appealed.

so it's not just illegally entering North Korea....

 

[Everglade85]

Gov. Schwarzegger and CA officials applaud for Clinton's work, and are glad those journalists are home safety.

Hypothetically, is it easier to appease a dictator into releasing those journalists is a sign of weakness or strength?

Well, let me put it this way.

During the past eight years, the United States took the route of trying to be a strong and feared country. And look where it got us.

Two wars that have cost thousands of lives and seriously drained our country's economy. Wars that have also created a rise in insurgencies in the middle-east and the threat of terrorism.

Policies that have caused deteriorating relationships with our allies as well as fueling hatred of Americans worldwide.

I think diplomacy, however one may call it, signals that the United States is willing to step forward and make amends to the world's problems. That is the true test of our nation.

 

[Jiro]

Well, let me put it this way.

During the past eight years, the United States took the route of trying to be a strong and feared country. And look where it got us.

Two wars that have cost thousands of lives and seriously drained our country's economy. Wars that have also created a rise in insurgencies in the middle-east and the threat of terrorism.

Policies that have caused deteriorating relationships with our allies as well as fueling hatred of Americans worldwide.

I think diplomacy, however one may call it, signals that the United States is willing to step forward and make amends to the world's problems. That is the true test of our nation.

let's see..... during the past 8 years.... it was terrorist-free attack on American soil by foreigners... and the technology & security have greatly improved by miles.... and the insurgencies have long been there for decades.

The economy had nothing to do with the wars. It was largely caused by previous Administrations' incompetence - for ie. real estate bubble burst and Enron/Madoff cases.

 

[Frisky Feline]

Glad the gals went home. Thanks to clinton's charisma.

 

[Grummer]

i wonder if the girls were really spies.. and like Jiro, I am sure Kim Jong got something out of it, bet on it. This perhaps was an exchange for some economic boost like, food to cover their shortages, to which, it would even be likely been manipulated over long period which is longer than the public might 'remember' as politics always has a way of making us 'forget'.

 

[Daredevel7]

I am SO confused.... as for those who are against what Bill Clinton did, are you saying that you prefer for those girls to rot in hell in NK for 12 years? Especially when what they did would probably result in just a fine here in America......

I honestly don't understand all these "HE SHOULDN'T APOLOGIZE!"/"HE SHOULD APOLOGIZE" comments coming from the same type of people..... you guys are REALLY specific and inconsistent on when to apologize.

I find it kind of sad that people automatically assume that US made a deal "with the devil" in order to obtain those girls. I understand that sometimes that is just the real world, but that's not why. It's because they are SO SURE that talking will never work so they won't even bother trying. It's sad really. To me, that's a loss of humanity.

 

[Phillips]

Great for ladies released but something's going on inside private room with Clinton and Kim Jong!!

 

[C.C.Sinned]

I am SO confused.... as for those who are against what Bill Clinton did, are you saying that you prefer for those girls to rot in hell in NK for 12 years? Especially when what they did would probably result in just a fine here in America......

I honestly don't understand all these "HE SHOULDN'T APOLOGIZE!"/"HE SHOULD APOLOGIZE" comments coming from the same type of people..... you guys are REALLY specific and inconsistent on when to apologize.

I find it kind of sad that people automatically assume that US made a deal "with the devil" in order to obtain those girls. I understand that sometimes that is just the real world, but that's not why. It's because they are SO SURE that talking will never work so they won't even bother trying. It's sad really. To me, that's a loss of humanity.

I'm happy slick willy put on a pair of knee pads and did whatever it took to free those girls....

 

[Jiro]

I am SO confused.... as for those who are against what Bill Clinton did, are you saying that you prefer for those girls to rot in hell in NK for 12 years? Especially when what they did would probably result in just a fine here in America......

I honestly don't understand all these "HE SHOULDN'T APOLOGIZE!"/"HE SHOULD APOLOGIZE" comments coming from the same type of people..... you guys are REALLY specific and inconsistent on when to apologize.

I find it kind of sad that people automatically assume that US made a deal "with the devil" in order to obtain those girls. I understand that sometimes that is just the real world, but that's not why. It's because they are SO SURE that talking will never work so they won't even bother trying. It's sad really. To me, that's a loss of humanity.

would it be a loss of humanity if we traded nukes for 2 girls?

 

[netrox]

would it be a loss of humanity if we traded nukes for 2 girls?

You are going too far. He does NOT have the authority to trade nukes for girls! As far as I am aware, it's a private mission.

 

[Jiro]

You are going too far. He does NOT have the authority to trade nukes for girls!

we'll never know if Clinton speaks for Obama or not. Well - not nukes per se but more like.... "material" needed for nuclear process.

As far as I am aware, it's a private mission.

that's what the media said, yes. Take it with a grain of salt

 

[Jiro]

link

Lee and Ling are employed by Gore's California-based media company, Current TV. The women were arrested in March while reporting from the border between North Korea and China. In June, they were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign.

interesting... I know something was fishy in here...

 

[Barbaro]

I am SO confused.... as for those who are against what Bill Clinton did, are you saying that you prefer for those girls to rot in hell in NK for 12 years? Especially when what they did would probably result in just a fine here in America......

I honestly don't understand all these "HE SHOULDN'T APOLOGIZE!"/"HE SHOULD APOLOGIZE" comments coming from the same type of people..... you guys are REALLY specific and inconsistent on when to apologize.

I find it kind of sad that people automatically assume that US made a deal "with the devil" in order to obtain those girls. I understand that sometimes that is just the real world, but that's not why. It's because they are SO SURE that talking will never work so they won't even bother trying. It's sad really. To me, that's a loss of humanity.

Oh, yes. Talking still works in many ways. Dictators and corrupt ones are well known for making deals. When you have to use a dirty tactic that is unsuitable to the eyes of the Western world. Dirty tactics must be used when corrupt ones want to see, then will go for it. Corrupts love to be worshiped, and look down. Apologize can be used as a tactic to take advantage of the situation. It's effective. Seen plenty of dealings with corrupt politicians and diplomats. It may look easy, but it takes a difficult effort to negotiate it.

My dad and relatives can vouch for that. My dad is a diplomat and a scientist. My cousins work with UN, British Embassy and the Mexican government for a long time. it's really ugly. DC had been after my dad for years, because he is so good with tactics, and knows naturally how to deal with corrupt one. You have to be very charming, ambitious, witty, blunt, and aggressive, and use the right tone, then You will not always get what you want, but it is better to get it than nothing.

It's true that the private settlements still exist; they have the ability to deceive to the media.

The 15 nation UN Security Council imposed sanctions on NK after its nuclear test. China voted for that, but never implemented it- the partial arms embargo, and ban on trade in nuclear and missile technology were left unenforced. The dictator refuses to listen to the UN. That's a loss of humanity to the world.

 

[Barbaro]

link


interesting... I know something was fishy in here...

It appears that Gore remains under Clinton's shadow. Still can't escape it. Why couldn't Gore go there and negotiate with NK leader in the first place when his options were running out?

 

[Jiro]

It appears that Gore remains under Clinton's shadow. Still can't escape it. Why couldn't Gore go there and negotiate with NK leader in the first place when his options were running out?

exactly. Those 2 unfortunate journalists were employed by Gore's company. Naturally - Gore should be the one to go there and apologize.

when I first saw this picture -

I was thinking - WTF was Gore doing in here? what business does he have with this?? then I read some more and learned that 2 journalists were employed by Gore.....