Clinton, Kim Hold "Exhaustive" Talks

Former President Meets Kim Jong Il During Surprise Trip, State Media Reports; Jailed U.S. Reporters Believed To Be on Agenda

(CBS/ AP)  Last Updated at 1:45 p.m. EDT.

Former President Bill Clinton met Tuesday with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on the first day of a surprise mission to Pyongyang to negotiate the release of two Americans, holding "exhaustive" talks on a wide range of topics, state-run media said.

Clinton "courteously" conveyed a verbal message from President Barack Obama, the official Korean Central News Agency said in a report from Pyongyang. Kim expressed his thanks, and engaged Clinton in a "wide-ranging exchange of views on matters of common concern," the report said.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, however, denied Clinton went with a message from Obama. "That's not true," he told reporters.

Clinton was in communist North Korea on a mission to secure the freedom of Americans Euna Lee and Laura Ling, reporters for former Vice President Al Gore's Current TV media venture who were arrested along the Chinese-North Korean border in March and sentenced in June to 12 years of hard labor for illegal entry and engaging in "hostile acts."

His landmark visit, which was not announced in advance by North Korea or the U.S., comes at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Pyongyang, foes during the Korean War of the 1950s, over the regime's nuclear program.

North Korea in recent months has conducted a nuclear test and test-fired an array of ballistic missiles in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, with Washington leading the push to punish Pyongyang for its defiance.

CBS News reported exclusively last week on new overtures from the communist state seeking direct talks with the U.S.

CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk says Clinton's visit could be, in the minds of the North Koreans, equivalent to direct talks with the U.S., owing to his unique connection to the Obama administration.

It's only the second visit to Pyongyang by a former U.S. leader. Jimmy Carter traveled to North Korea for talks with Kim's father, Kim Il Sung, in 1994 in a groundbreaking meeting during a time of similar tensions.

Clinton's meeting with Kim would be the notoriously reclusive North Korean leader's first with a prominent Western figure since Kim reportedly suffered a stroke a year ago, sparking questions about the future of the nation he controls with absolute authority.

Kim, said to have a taste for fine wines and fancy gourmet food, also is believed to suffer from chronic diabetes and heart disease. The man who once sported a noticeable pot belly has appeared gaunt and gray in recent months.

Though Clinton was in North Korea on a private basis, his visit was treated by North Korea as a high-profile visit, with senior officials — including Kim Kye Gwan, the vice foreign minister who serves as the country's chief nuclear negotiator — meeting him on the tarmac.

CBS News security analyst Juan Zarate told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith that Mr. Clinton's visit stands to benefit both Pyongyang and Washington.

"Both sides are looking to win," said Zarate, who adds that North Korea has seemingly achieved exactly what they had hoped to by detaining the Americans and using them as pawns: "High level recognition."

Footage from the APTN television news agency showed the arriving Clinton exchanging warm handshakes with the officials and accepting a bouquet of flowers from a schoolgirl.

Kim later hosted a banquet for Clinton at the state guesthouse, Radio Pyongyang and the Korean Central Broadcasting Station reported.

Photos in state-run media of the visit showed Kim, with a broad smile, standing next to a solemn-looking Clinton. The two also posed with Clinton's party in front of a mural, and another picture showed the men and others seated around a conference table.

Though Clinton does not hold office, his stature and good relations with Pyongyang could yield positive results, analysts said.

"This is a very potentially rewarding trip. Not only is it likely to resolve the case of the two American journalists detained in North Korea for many months, but it could be a very significant opening and breaking this downward cycle of tension and recrimination between the U.S. and North Korea," Mike Chinoy, author of "Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis," said in Beijing.

There was no word in state media on the status of Clinton's negotiations to secure the release of Ling, 32, and Lee, 36. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton last month urged North Korea to grant the women amnesty, saying they were remorseful and that their families were anguished.

At left: Euna Lee, left, and Laura Ling were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for illegally entering North Korea.

Politico.com also reported Tuesday that, according to an unnamed source in Washington, the North Korean regime has said it will hand over the two journalists to Mr. Clinton. The report claims family members asked the Obama administration to send the former president, a mission which was approved after weeks of secret planning.

Lee, a South Korean-born U.S. citizen, is married and has a 4-year-old daughter in Los Angeles; a native Californian, Ling is the married younger sister of TV journalist Lisa Ling.

Clinton's administration had rocky but relatively good relations with Pyongyang, and both he and Gore, his vice president, had been named as possible envoys to bring back Lee and Ling. Also mentioned was New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who in the 1990s traveled twice to North Korea to secure the freedom of detained Americans.

"Because of his history with North Korea, former President Clinton could be just the right man for the job," says Falk. (Read more from Falk on what could be one of Bill Clinton's toughest tasks yet.)

However, the decision to send the former president was kept quiet. A senior U.S. official told reporters traveling Tuesday with Hillary Rodham Clinton that the White House would not comment on the trip to Pyongyang until the mission was complete.

"While this solely private mission to secure the release of two Americans is on the ground, we will have no comment," Gibbs, the White House spokesman, said later in a statement from Washington. "We do not want to jeopardize the success of former President Clinton's mission."

In New York, the Committee to Protect Journalists said it was encouraged by reports about Clinton's trip.

"This is welcome news and we are pleased to see movement in this case," said Bob Dietz, the group's Asia program coordinator. "The fate of these two women should not be linked to broader issues on the Korean peninsula, and to see both sides make a move toward the release of these reporters will bring some relief to them, their families and friends."

CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen reports that presence of North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator at the airport to greet Clinton may be a sign that this visit may be about more than just bringing home two American women.

"I think it's not just about journalists. It will serve as a turning point in the U.S.-North Korea relations," said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor at Seoul's Dongguk University.

[robinspp]

For GOP's and fox; it is end of the road. They bark like street dogs. People are not going to lesion to them.

[Joe_NY_15]

I hope they don't "lesion" to us.....lesions are abnormal tissue caused by disease....but they have been "listening" to us, hence the rejection and destruction of your Welfare-care bill.....bye bye Spendicrats in 2010-2012

[robinspp]

Obama is following Christian philosophy; with love you can achieve everything. War brings hatred and enemies.

[caliguy55]

Bravo to President Clinton for securing the release of these two journalist. Every true American is happy that this matter was brought to a peaceful and successful conclusion. Of course, the Republicans have already begun to spit out their negative BS as they know neither George W. Bush, nor any member of the Republican Party, could have achieved this resolution. With the latest Gallup poll showing 30 states as being solidly Democratic and only 4 states as being solidly Republican, the 2010 elections are shaping up to be a real disaster for the "party of no" brains. If every true American will do what they know is right, and vote Democratic in 2010, we can smash the G.O.P. beyond recognition as anything but a regional political party.

[jschmidt27]

Well the reporters worked for Al Gores media company. So Bill had to go. If they worked for Fox they'd be there for a long time. Wonder how much this trip will cost us in payment to Lil Kim

[erasmus111]

"North Korea says two American journalists have been pardoned"


SEE! I knew Billy could do it. Everybody LOVES him. : )

[Joe_NY_15]

Everybody ? as in rogue terrorist dictators just LOVE him !!! that's some great company....who else, Chavez ? Mahmoud ?

[erasmus111]

by Constitionalist August 4, 2009 10:43 AM EDT
Has everyone forgotten that it was ol' slick Willy that sold our nuclear secrets to China, who of course turned them over to North Korea. Of course he has a good relationship in that part of the world.


He has a good relationship in every part of the world except yours. Bill Clinton is well liked.

[veteran71]

Wingnuts fear Bill Clinton. He created the most successful economic climate in US History and the first budget surplus in generations, immediately after years of Wingnut Rule in which they told us it wasn't possible.......and now they're all but done, just a couple more election cycles from extinction.....poor droolers......LOL

[jschmidt27]

Yes Bill had a good economic climate with the tech bubble bringing in record revenues. Of course Bush had to clean up the mess after the bubble burst. Bill had an easy 8 years.

[sddemocrat]

I admire Bill Clinton for his efforts to help get two Asian-American women freed. Sometimes, these delicate negotations are best left to people dictators respect.

[Bigtaco2002]

You just remember, you great liberals ----

the administration could have asked "Former President George W. Bush" to represent America...

but then, no one gives a kid, the one holding a gasoline can, the matches to play with!

You go, Obama! Good strategy. Use the Clintons. If they can go and represent the United States, free 2 Americans and release some tension(s) between the U.S., N. Korea and the World...so be it.

I'll let you know one thing --- there are no repubs or right-wingers needed for the next 10 years!

[picklepants7]

i do wish we had a border patrol and policy like north korea's. sneak in illegally and bamo you're in jail.

[pepperwood2]

Jurors in Manhattan federal court recently heard a voicemail message from then-Senator Hillary Clinton to her former top fundraiser Norman Hsu, who has pled guilty to a $20 billion Ponzi scheme that involved misleading investors about his contacts with key Democratic leaders.

[SAMTORRES66]

Bill can get more done in a week, than Cheney in 8 yrs......

[TheMasses2009]

You're comparing a past VP to a past President of 2 different eras.
Your partisan hate is showing .................

[veteran71]

Cheney may have had the title of VP but everyone knew who was calling the shots, and it wasn't the little drunken idiot son.....LOL

[brianp55]

Just be thankful it isn't Jesse Jackson.

[far_point200]

I thought Hillary was Secretary of State!

She's probably just keeping Bill busy and out of trouble.

Or he is in fact there to get Obama's new instructions for US corporate nationalization and for controlling the proletariat from comrade Kim Jong II.

[specialty8]

Veteran71, just take Barney, he will plug that mess up but you might not be back for awhile.

[TheMasses2009]

I'd rather rely on the kid's show Barney.
At least he makes some sense.

[gunownerdan]

When Clinton was president he gave North Korea lots of money and lots of fuel in exchange for basically nothing.
I hope he doesn't do something stupid like that again!

[Benton09]

At least he's trying to do something constructive, while W is walking behind Barney picking up pieces of 'Cheney' in his cushy walled in North Dallas neighborhood.

[specialty8]

Awe, Clintstone is doing all of this out of the goodness of his heart. Have you ever heard of the Clinstone foundation that still receives millions from the sell outs he gave away?

[veteran71]

I have to go take a healthy Cheney right now, and then I'll wipe my Shrub.......I'll be back....

[chonder2]

Yeah,its simillar to Halliburton who enriched VP Cheezy on the backs and lives of US citizens

[specialty8]

Slick Willey is back on the job. Obama knew with all Bill gave them he might be able to give them more and make this thing look like a success.

[chonder2]

I took a Cheney, and whiped it with Scooter.

[pepperwood2]

Hillary, must have run out of Her Smart options & Her Medication. This Clown always comes out of the Closet to get his 15 minutes when Hillary has to be placed in Seclusion.

He and Madeline Not So Bright, should make a trip to Rwanda and see how they are welcomed. Nothing to fear now, as millions of the Rwandans were massacred during his watch. Its enough to make you puke!

[chonder2]

I'm sooo wone wee,just sooo wone wee.

[chonder2]

Just like your hero, Jesse Helms would respond. It's not in America's best interest.

[hamiltongrad]

North Korea = Suadia Arabia = Syria = Iran = Hamas = Hezbollah = PLO.

No freedoms for wgjcc , backwards, evil, intolerant, not to be trusted. No rule of law. Why not scrap the UN, and set up a new "League of Democracies".