Which former president assisted in getting Euna Lee released from North Korea?”
N Korea frees US reporters after Clinton visit Aljazeera.net – 20 minutes ago North Korea has pardoned and released Laura Ling and Euna Lee two months into a 12-year jail sentence following a meeting between Bill Clinton and the government.
uesday, August 4, 2009 North Korea pardons US reporters By Michael Ireland Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA (ANS) — North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has issued a special pardon to two detained US journalists, the country’s state news agency reports, as cited by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The news comes hours after former US President Bill Clinton made an unannounced visit to Pyongyang on what was described as a private mission. The BBC said North Korean media say Clinton has now left North Korea but it is not known if the journalists are with him. Clinton is the highest-profile American to visit since ex-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in 2000. The BBC’s Kim Ghattas, in Washington, said it was expected that the two journalists would fly back to the US with Clinton, although that has not been confirmed. “Kim Jong-il issued an order… granting a special pardon to the two American journalists who had been sentenced to hard labor,” the
North Korea said on Wednesday it had pardoned two jailed American journalists after former U.S. President Bill Clinton met the reclusive state’s leader Kim Jong-il, a move some analysts said could pave the way to direct nuclear disarmament talks. Clinton’s spokesman said the former president had left Pyongyang with the two reporters and they were flying to Los Angeles. “President Clinton has safely left North Korea with Laura Ling and Euna Lee. They are enroute to Los Angeles where Laura and Euna will be reunited with their families,” spokesman Matt McKenna said in a statement. Washington, which is keen not to be seen to reward the isolated North for its recent nuclear and missile tests, insisted the meeting was a private one by Clinton. But Pyongyang, desperate for the recognition that direct talks with the Obama administration would bring, made clear it saw the visit in a much more official light. The North’s KCNA news agency said Clinton and Kim “had candid and in-depth discussions
