Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - This morning, Bill Clinton left Pyongyang together with two American journalists, arrested in March last for illegally entering North Korea and sentenced to 12 years forced labour. Euna Lee and Laura Ling received a "special pardon" from Kim Jong-il, who ordered their immediate release. But the success of the diplomatic mission of the former U.S. President is shadowed by doubts.
Yesterday, Clinton met North Korea’s "Dear leader" for about three hours, first in a face to face interview, then at an official dinner. Meanwhile the official state agency KCNA announced the release of two journalists, decided by the dictator himself. Anonymous sources of the U.S. government report that the two journalists are "in very good health."
The U.S. administration has clarified some aspects of the diplomatic mission of the former president and husband of the Secretary of State: Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36, in recent weeks have called their families from prison, explaining that "Pyongyang had implied a private visit from Clinton, would have led to their being released”. Washington decided to accept the offer from North Korea, paving the way for the mission.
Official North Korean sources state that the nuclear issue was not mentioned and report of a "verbal message" from Obama relayed by President Clinton. A detail that the U.S. administration strongly denies, explaining that this was a private mission. Analysts and experts on North Korean issues are however expressing doubts over the success of the visit by Bill Clinton to North Korea and suggest that the real winner is Kim Jong-il. The "Dear leader", in a photograph session with Clinton, showed good state of health, dissipating - in part – rumours over his actual condition. North Korea has also strengthened its position on proposed direct talks on the nuclear issue with the United States, putting an end to Six Party talks.
The exclusion of China, Japan and South Korea - which along with North Korea, the United States and Russia formed the negotiating table – has created discontent within the political leadership of the three countries and may destabilize the regional balance. According to Kim Kwang Heung, a leading figure from the dissident North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity (NKIS), the North wanted to "ease the pressure and new sanctions decided by international diplomacy." Hong Soon Kyung, president of the association which brings together North Korean dissidents, adds that Pyongyang is experiencing "serious difficulties" which it seeks to solve through "bilateral talks with the U.S.."
Doubts are also expressed by John Bolton, the senior figure from the Bush administration, for whom Clinton's mission to Pyongyang "destabilizes" a series of diplomatic initiatives that are the responsibility of his wife Hillary. "It is dangerous to negotiate with terrorists - says Bolton - and this is a bad signal that we send to rogue states in general, because it encourages their behaviour."
A not too implicit reference to the arrest of three U.S. citizens ordered by Tehran in recent days, deemed guilty of having illegally crossed the Iranian border. It remains to be seen how the U.S. administration will act to secure their release.
