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On the left, Euna Lee embraces her daughter and husband; on the right, Laura Ling embraces her husband. Photographs by Jae C. Hong/AP
Yesterday, the country witnessed the dramatic reunion between formerly imprisoned journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling and their families, a reunion orchestrated by former President Bill Clinton, his former Vice President Al Gore, and the White House. Though the White House was working to secure the release of Lee and Ling, Current TV journalists who were sentenced to 12 years in a labor camp by North Korea for illegally entering the country, and had considered envoys like Gore, Bill Richardson, and Senator John Kerry, it turned out that North Korea requested former president Clinton. Lee and Ling, who were being held in a guest house, both told their families in phone calls that North Korea would consider amnesty if "an envoy in the person of President Clinton would agree to come to Pyongyang and seek their release."
Gore, who founded Current TV, relayed the message to Clinton. CNN reports, "During the weekend of July 24-25, Clinton spoke with National Security Adviser Gen. Jim Jones about his willingness to take on this mission. Clinton ultimately agreed to go on the mission but made it very clear in every communication that this was purely a humanitarian effort." Clinton never spoke to President Obama directly before the trip and Clinton's wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, pointed out, "I want to be sure people don't confuse what Bill did, which was a private humanitarian mission to bring these young women home, with our policy, which continues to be one that gives choices to North Korea. Our policy remains the same."
Of course, Clinton's visit to North Korea, which gave the isolated country a chance to crow about its "humanitarian and peace-loving policy," has raised some questions. A Washington Post editorial states that while it's wonderful Lee and Ling are back, "the administration paid political ransom, both by acceding to Mr. Kim's demand for an American envoy of the former president's stature and by accepting a 'pardon' for the journalists rather than unconditional release." However, the NY Times editorial board finds, "Bill Clinton’s trip will have been well worth the effort if it laid the groundwork for truly productive talks on North Korea’s nuclear programs. Now it is up to President Obama to make it clear to Pyongyang that it is no longer good enough to make easily broken promises." And here's the Daily Show on the Fox News spin:
There's also the full Daily Show segment on the Big Dog's rescue of Lee and Ling after the jump. The Washington Post also has an article about how Clinton's connections played a part in the release, from Dow Chemical providing the plane to fly Clinton from NY to LA and how billionaire Steve Bing's 737 was the plane that went to North Korea. And the Times has an article on Clinton and Gore's appearance together yesterday and a look at their rocky recent history.
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those white house dudes really don't get along, do they?
Didn't know Laura Ling was married to Ricky Martin.
how is that Bill Clinton managed to get these girls back and not Obama?
Billy boy must be a smooth talker...
Kim Jong Il wanted tips on how to pick up the ladies. Clinton was happy to oblige I'm sure.
Unless I'm missing something, it sounds like the North Koreans simply decided to release the women and the price was having Bill Clinton come get them. I haven't read any account of the trip that mentions actual negotiating taking place during the trip. Bill Clinton specifically asked if release was a certainty before he left.
Seems like it. Faux news is naturally intimidating that *something* must have been exchanged, but as we're still pushing for NK eliminating their Nukes, not sure what it is.
its so beautiful when asian women are reunited with their white dudes. *sniff*
cynicist or racist?
Jealous.
It's not racist to make a comment on something that is completely obvious to anyone. It's statements like yours, and all of the other overly sensitive politically correct bozos, that water down true racism.
Is this how you idiots react every time you see an interracial couple, or is it just an internet thing?
"completely obvious to anyone"? what, that "it's beautiful *when* asian women etc etc?" the fact that they were both in interracial relationships was obvious, but did it merit the joke?
it's people like you, who insist on defending these casual acts of racism, that perpetuate racism and allow for worse.
also, who the hell says "bozo"?
weren't they spies posing as journalists aka the usual game? perhaps i mistook them for others.
A PR "victory" for north korea? who exactly is going to be fooled into thinking north korea is a peace-loving nation because they freed these two women after a visit from Bill Clinton? I'm thinking that maybe Myanmar, Sudan, Iran, and possibly Russia might publicly accept North Korea's version of events at face value (although in private, i'm guessing, even their leaders know that north korea's government is still a hostile, erratic, and brutal regime). Nobody else is going to see this and forget how North Korea starved over a million of its citizens 10 year ago, how it sells arms (and likely nuclear technology) to other rogue governments, and continues to flout all of its international commitments on nuclear accountability.
It actually shows just how deluded Kim Jong-Il is are that he thinks NK actually got something by having Bill Clinton show up and pose for some pictures. the rest of the world is not fooled by this (hopefully). Clinton did what he had to do to get those two poor women back, everybody knows it, and it's not going to change North Korea's bargaining position with respect to the six-party nuclear talks or any other ongoing international dialogues/negotiations.
besides, everything's gona change when the dear leadlelr dies in the next year anyway.
Totally agree. The price for their freedom was a dear leader photo op with Bill Clinton, and Bill went and did what he needed to do. That's all. Doesn't change anything except to provide another photo for the dear leader's wall.
I wonder if they went golfing. Bill's a big golfer. Kim could have shown him how to hit 11 holes in one in one round.
although i can see the point of people who say it's a slippery slope. rogue regime wants a face-to-face with a former U.S. president? just kidnap some americans! and that's what just happened in Iran. i wonder what the fate of those hikers will be.
You mean CIA operatives?
Now it's evident. These two reporters (let's stop with this pretentious 'journalist' appellation) work for Al Gore.
Gore's two employees enter a country illegally. (Think what happens when Mexicans enter the US illegally. Jail!)
To get the two miscreats out of jail, Gore's buddy, Clinton, does Al a favor and goes to NK to bring them home.
And everyone thinks this is the start of a New World Order.
LOL
Wow. Do you ever actually read what you write? "Miscreants" or "miscreats" [sic]. It's amazing how much hatred you harbor toward two women who never did anything to you and who were almost certainly imprisoned on trumped-up charges. Somehow, in your feeble mind, being even near the border is crime enough for a long stretch of hard labor, not to mention one of the journalists having a pre-existing medical condition. And all through this, you have the unmitigated gall to call others miserable misanthropes.
I think I understand now. You're like that guy that shot up the gym because he hadn't had sex in 19 years. That's why you begrudge these two women with loving husbands and families their freedom. Do everyone a favor and get yourself a prostitute.
Damn Lisa Ling scored big time, dude is handsome
He looks like Gob from Arrested Development.
ah... how can you not love George Oscar Bluth?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36lfTfTuj9g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4qOKybOKXs
He looks like a douchebag with asian fever.
well obviously, she is rather unattractive by asian standards, clearly yellow fever
'Aint no party like an "I just got released from a North Korean labor camp" party!
I'm happy they have been released, but they also sparked an international incident and have given North Korea a reason to feel that they have some upper hand on the US now.
Not only that, but if any of us were stranded in a foreign country, we'd have to squander our own resources and savings getting extricated from the situation, rather than rely on Bill Clinton and get a free ride home on a private State Department jet.
Sorry if I sound jealous, but lots of havoc has been caused, and the 6 figure book deals that Euna and Lisa are sure to score (if not 7 figures) will also not help my sympathy for them. I hope they donate all proceeds towards funds for expats kidnapped abroad, in which case I will bow down and apologize.
Bill Maher's new rule on Friday night should be "all Americans need GPS when traveling in shady parts of the world." (ie. the 3 backpackers now being held captive in Iran). Enough is enough.
Laura Ling (sister) does great documentaries for NatGeo, apparently that is part of the Ling heritage.
I agree with you if it had been me or you we'd be screwed.
http://freedomuptime.com/2009/08/05/laura-ling-and-euna-lee-freed/
just for the record, it wasn't a state department jet, it was some billionaire friend of bill's jet.
they work as "journalists" for a network that a former vice president started. they have connections, so they got the helping hand (insert sex with bill for freedom innuendo here).
if you want a get out of labor camp free card, go make some connections.
they are reporters, so obviously they will be writing a book. i'm just curious if they will write it together or seperately. ...and if the made for tv movie will be a lifetime exclusive.
Pays to work for a boss that has high end connections. Even better if your sister is a TV personality. Private Jets and former Presidents negotiating on your behalf are not there for everybody. However, if you are regular Joe, might as well get used to some nasty Iranian jail.
According to the Times they have no special connections and they were supposed to be up a creek without a paddle lol
That's bullshi* they had no connections my a$$.
Just wondering what sort of story they were hoping to do sneaking into NK. That it's an absolute shithole? No kidding, real big scoop.
They were doing a report on human trafficking. From Change.org:
"The cross-border trafficking between China and North Korean primarily affects women and girls. They are sold as brides and forced into serviles marriages. Some North Korean women are promised greater job opportunities and education in China, along with freedoms not granted in North Korea. Too often, those jobs are forced prostitution or domestic servitude. Women in this region of the world are incredibly vulnerable to trafficking, due to the dire economic situations many of them face and the heavy corruption and criminal activity in the region."
Thanks.
I've read about NK's crimes in this area, it's not a secret. Not sure what more these women might have found out other than to wind up in the same situation. Another news story on the topic won't change a thing. A regime change might.
Figures that you and "thefacts" just automatically buy the NK line that the women actually violated the border. Oh, but then there are the confessions that you gladly believe, even if they were probably coerced with threats that the women would never see their families again if they didn't confess.
And just a little lesson for the omniscient "thefacts": when Mexicans illegally enter the US, they don't get 12 years hard labor. They get deported to Mexico.
Thanks for putting words in my mouth, or keyboard rather. I never said or assumed any of those things. You really are deranged.
Putting words in your mouth? Really? Then what exactly did you mean by "Just wondering what sort of story they were hoping to do sneaking into NK." If they didn't cross the border, how did they sneak into NK? I wouldn't want to go anywhere near that filthy thing you call a mouth. The only thing filthier is your mind.
This is another interesting read: NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote about their imprisonment last night month:
"Another possibility, which I incline to [believe], is that Ling and Lee may have been sold to North Korea by a local guide. If the guide said that it was safe to cross, or that they were still on Chinese territory, they would have believed him. Moreover, by some accounts they were working on a story about human trafficking — there’s a good deal of trafficking of North Korean women and girls into China, into prostitution and to be wives of peasants — and the traffickers could well have tricked them in exchange for a reward from North Korea. A couple of years ago, I set up an interview with a trafficker in that border area, but then backed out when he demanded money; the traffickers may realize that the people to demand money from aren’t the journalists but the North Korean officials."
Epic. 2 women reporting on human trafficking sold into human trafficking. Must have been a miscommunication.
Of course, here in the USA there is no trafficking and forced prostitution of Asian (or Slavic or Hispanic) women. No!
All those ads in the Voice and Craigslist are just come-ons. Those massage parlors in Flushing really just give massages. Those services that provide Russian brides are only joking.
These two reporters had to travel 10,000 and create an international incident, when the same problem exists here throughout American, and no one gives a damn?
It's easy to pick on a nutty dictatorship. Why weren't they interviewing enslaved women in Chinatown brothels in NYC or San Francisco? Might that prove too embarassing for Al Gore?
These reporters need to set their prio
Same, old "thefacts." Point out that he's lacking facts (Mexican illegals get repatriated, not jailed as he claims) and he just ignores it and continues on his tirades.
Ms. Ling, 32, is the younger sister of Lisa Ling, a television journalist who reported undercover in North Korea for National Geographic in 2006. In the piece, “Inside North Korea,” Lisa Ling posed as part of a medical team that used a hidden camera; her report exposed some of the hardships of living in North Korea and criticized the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/25/world/asia/25korea.htm
NK should have added more charges for visa fraud.
Uh, what? Did you bother to read the paragraph you quoted? Lisa Ling did the hidden camera investigation. Why should NK charge Laura Ling with visa fraud?
Jon Stewart Rocks
I bet those two did a lousy job at their work camp; failing to plant enough rice and not gathering enough twigs and branches for the chilly months ahead.
It's very smart to give an enemy the chance to look good.