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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 SEOUL 001235 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; August 05, 2009 
 
TOP HEADLINES 
------------- 
 
 
Chosun Ilbo, All TVs 
Bill Clinton Delivers "Obama Message" to Kim Jong-il 
 
JoongAng Ilbo 
Excited Pyongyang... Prudent Washington 
 
Dong-a Ilbo, Hankook Ilbo, Segye Ilbo, Seoul Shinmun 
Clinton Makes Surprise Visit to N. Korea... Meets Kim Jong-il 
 
Hankyoreh Shinmun 
Clinton Discusses "Issues of Common Interest" with Kim Jong-il 
 
 
INTERNATIONAL NEWS 
------------------ 
 
According to North Korea's state-run media, former President Bill 
Clinton made a surprise visit to North Korea yesterday and met with 
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. The North's state-run media noted 
that the former U.S. president discussed "issues of common interest" 
with the North Korean leader and delivered oral messages from 
President Obama to Kim. (All) 
 
White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs, however, denied that the North 
received oral messages from President Obama, saying: "That wasn't 
true." (Chosun, JoongAng, Hankook, Segye) 
 
Former President Clinton's primary mission to Pyongyang is 
apparently to free the two U.S. journalists, who have been detained 
in the North for 141 days.  Clinton's presence may have an impact on 
political issues, including the North's nuclear issue and improved 
relations between the U.S. and North Korea. (All) 
 
 
MEDIA ANALYSIS 
--------------- 
 
Former President Clinton's Visit to N. Korea 
Former President Bill Clinton's surprise visit to North Korea 
yesterday received top play in the ROK media.  Meanwhile, according 
to Yonhap News, citing North Korean media, the former U.S. President 
departed Pyongyang today with two U.S. journalists who have been 
held for 141 days since they were arrested on March 17, after North 
Korean leader Kim Jong-il granted a special pardon to the 
journalists. 
 
Most ROK media focused their coverage on yesterday's reports by 
North Korea's state-run media that the former U.S. President met 
with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to discuss "issues of common 
interest" and delivered oral messages from President Obama to the 
North Korean leader.  However, according to media reports, White 
House Spokesman Robert Gibbs denied that North Korea received such 
messages, saying: "That wasn't true." 
 
The ROK media also observed that former President Clinton's primary 
mission to Pyongyang was apparently to free the U.S. journalists but 
that the political weight Clinton carries as a former U.S. president 
and as the husband of the incumbent Secretary of State has given 
rise to speculation that he was on a broader mission to find a 
breakthrough on issues, such as the North Korean nuclear problem and 
improved relations between the two countries. 
 
Conservative Chosun Ilbo, in an inside-page article entitled "'The 
Door of Dialogue' on the Edge of a Precipice... Are the U.S., N. 
Korea Heading Toward Comprehensive Negotiations?" raised the 
possibility that Washington may have proposed a comprehensive 
package to North Korea.  The report also cited some ROK analysts as 
commenting that it would not be easy for the two countries to 
 
SEOUL 00001235  002 OF 010 
 
 
improve bilateral ties, given the North's unwillingness to give up 
its nuclear ambitions. 
 
In an accompanying article, Chosun also wondered whether Clinton's 
visit will lead to the release of an ROK worker who has been held 
incommunicado in the North for 128 days.  An ROKG official was 
quoted as saying: "There has been no news directly from North Korea, 
but we have high expectations that the detention issue will also be 
resolved in the not-so-distant future once the American journalists 
are released." 
 
Newspapers carried the following inside-page headlines: "U.S., North 
Korea Explores Solution but the Two Koreas? ... ROKG Concerned" 
(right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo); "Clinton Has Unprecedented Dinner 
and Amicable Dialogue with Kim Jong-il... Will Rapid Progress Be 
Made in U.S.-North Korea Relations?" (conservative Dong-a Ilbo); and 
"Chilly Summer for the Two Koreas... Will Seoul Be Left Out in the 
Cold?" (moderate Hankook Ilbo) 
 
- Editorial Comments 
 
Conservative Chosun Ilbo editorialized: "The Clinton-Kim Jong-il 
meeting is a sign that direct talks between the U.S. and North Korea 
have effectively started, after the North's second nuclear test and 
its long-range missile launch.  It is only a matter of time before 
the two countries start bilateral negotiations. ...  Clinton's visit 
to the North has also disclosed the limitations of sanctions against 
North Korea through the UN." 
 
Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo editorialized: "We truly hope that Mr. 
Clinton's visit will serve as a turning point in comprehensively 
resolving the North Korean nuclear issue by changing the situation 
from confrontation to dialogue.  (The U.S.), however, should not 
repeat the past mistake of dancing to the North's tune while only 
seeking dialogue with the communist state.  Accordingly, (the U.S.) 
needs to, for a while, maintain a two-track strategy toward North 
Korea of tougher sanctions and dialogue.  Furthermore, the U.S. 
should closely consult with its allies, such as the ROK and Japan, 
under the principle that North Korea possessing nuclear weapons can 
not be tolerated." 
 
Moderate Hankook Ilbo's editorial stated: "Former President Clinton 
is the highest-ranking of the officials who have been mentioned as 
possible special envoys to negotiate the release of the U.S. 
journalists.  In other words, Clinton's visit has greatly saved the 
North's face.  By taking corresponding measures in return, North 
Korea should not miss this good opportunity to get out of 
international sanctions and isolation." 
 
Left-leaning Hankyoreh Shinmun editorialized: "The problem is the 
Lee Myung-bak Administration's attitude.  The Lee Administration has 
plunged inter-Korean relations to its worst level by pushing for a 
hard-line policy toward North Korea.  Now is the time for the Lee 
Administration to face up to the rapidly changing environment and to 
quit the hard-line policy that has contributed only to the ROK being 
excluded from discussions on Korean Peninsula issues." 
 
 
OPINIONS/EDITORIALS 
------------------- 
 
PREPARE FOR RAMIFICATIONS FROM CLINTON'S N.KOREA VISIT 
(Chosun Ilbo, August 5, 2009, page 35) 
 
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton has won the release of two 
American journalists held in North Korea with a surprise visit to 
the Stalinist country.  His wife, Secretary of State Hillary 
Clinton, had stated a few times in the past that negotiations for 
the American journalists' release is one thing and that the North 
Korean nuclear issue quite another. 
 
It will be difficult for Washington to conduct nuclear disarmament 
talks with the North and invalidate the very UN sanctions on the 
North it has lobbied so hard to implement.  If it negotiates with 
 
SEOUL 00001235  003 OF 010 
 
 
Pyongyang, the U.S. would have to do so within the framework of 
Six-Party Talks, and will find it difficult to abandon the recently 
established principle of not rewarding the North for just returning 
to the negotiation table. 
 
But Clinton's visit must have come with the blessing of President 
Barack Obama, and chances are that Clinton carried a personal letter 
of message addressed to Kim Jong-il from Obama.  The message will 
not just have mentioned the two journalists.  Obama sent the most 
prominent American he could possibly send.  The Clinton-Kim Jong-il 
meeting is a sign that direct talks between the U.S. and North Korea 
have effectively started, after the North's second nuclear test and 
its long-range missile launch.  It is only a matter of time before 
the two countries start bilateral negotiations. 
 
Clinton's visit recalls Jimmy Carter's in 1994. Visiting the North 
amid the first nuclear crisis, Carter reversed the situation by 
lifting U.S. sanctions on the North and achieving an inter-Korean 
summit.  But it merely eased the tension for a while and did not 
touch upon fundamental issues.  The North has since carried out two 
nuclear tests and now even behaves like a nuclear power.  That gives 
rise to fears that Clinton's visit might repeat the pattern. 
 
Hearing the news of Clinton's Pyongyang visit, many may feel 
perplexed and even betrayed by the U.S.  But the development is 
merely a manifestation of the dynamics of international politics, 
which are nothing but the pursuit of national interests.  The ROK 
will have to look at the situation coolly and realistically.  What 
the U.S. fears most is for terrorist organizations hostile to it to 
acquire nuclear weapons from North Korea. Removing the danger is the 
top U.S. priority.  It is needless to ask what Washington will 
choose if its national interests clash with the ROK's position. 
 
Clinton's visit to the North has also disclosed the limitations of 
sanctions against North Korea through the UN.  In matters concerning 
the ROK's national interest, we should harbor no illusion about UN 
authority.  So long as North Korea has an ally in China, it will not 
fear war, and sanctions against the North cannot be effective. 
 
The U.S. and North Korea will, at some point, sit at a negotiation 
table.  In the negotiations, the North Korean nuclear issue will be 
discussed along with the entire question of the Korean Peninsula, 
and the agenda will include the replacement of the armistice with a 
peace agreement.  And the peace accord is directly linked to the 
presence of the U.S. Forces Korea. 
 
It cannot be ruled out that Obama himself will visit Pyongyang for a 
summit within a few years. In that process, the North will attempt 
to freeze the ROK out.  The ROK was already sidestepped in the 1994 
Geneva accords between the U.S. and North Korea.  Washington may 
have notified Seoul of Clinton's Pyongyang visit in advance, but 
it's doubtful if the visit was preceded by full cooperation with 
Seoul. 
 
If Washington-Pyongyang negotiations can denuclearize the North and 
guarantee a complete peace on the Korean Peninsula, there is no 
reason why we should not welcome them.  But if the process leads to 
the North being recognized as a nuclear power, we must resist it as 
strongly as we can. 
 
The question is what we can do.  The government should assure the 
public that it is making adequate preparations for all possible 
scenarios.  National unity is essential. A specific diplomatic 
strategy comes next. 
 
When Carter visited the North, Kim Il-sung said, "We have neither 
the intention nor the ability to develop nuclear weapons."  Twelve 
years later, the North tested a nuclear device. The chief U.S. 
nuclear negotiator at the time Robert Gallucci said, "We've been 
completely deceived."  We have to watch whether Clinton's North 
Korea visit will replicate that disaster, and prepare for any 
ramifications with a cool head. 
 
 
 
SEOUL 00001235  004 OF 010 
 
 
CLINTON'S VISIT TO NORTH KOREA COULD BREAK NUCLEAR DEADLOCK 
(Hankyoreh Shinmun, August 5, 2009, page 31) 
 
Amid a downward spiral in North Korea-U.S. relations since the 
launch of the Barack Obama Administration, former President Bill 
Clinton's surprise visit to North Korea yesterday has grabbed the 
world's attention.  The visit's official purpose is to bring home 
the two U.S. reporters being detained in North Korea, but the world 
is watching to see if any improvements in the nuclear talks and the 
North Korea-U.S. relationship are also made. 
 
Clinton's visit is of interest in two regards.  First, as a former 
president and husband to the current U.S. Secretary of State, he is 
considered to be a figure that exercises great influence over the 
foreign policy of the Obama Administration.  Moreover, Clinton has 
the strongest record, out of all of the U.S. presidents who have 
served, of bringing North Korea-U.S. relations close to 
normalization.  Both the 1994 Geneva Accords that resolved the first 
nuclear crisis and the October 12 Joint Communique that 
fundamentally changed the framework for North Korea-U.S. relations 
were concluded during his presidency. 
 
Second, experience has shown that prior nuclear deadlocks between 
North Korea and the U.S. were broken after the U.S. sent 
high-ranking figures to North Korea.  The most representative 
example of this was during the nuclear crisis in 1994, when former 
President Jimmy Carter brought about a turning point in resolving 
the crisis through talks in Pyongyang with North Korean leader Kim 
Il-sung.  Observers are saying Clinton's visit, in comparison, has 
been more closely coordinated with the U.S. Administration, which 
lends it more weight. 
 
Both North Korea and the U.S. are currently keeping quiet about the 
details of Clinton's visit, but experts say it could serve as a 
crucial opportunity in changing U.S. policy on North Korea from one 
of pressure to dialogue.  They say whether that dialogue takes place 
within the framework of the Six-Party Talks or within a separate 
framework will still be an issue, but regardless, the visit signals 
that North Korea-U.S. dialogue will begin in earnest.  In fact, 
before the visit took place, the two countries engaged in attempts 
to resolve the nuclear deadlock through the New York channel.  In 
particular, ever since Kurt Campbell assumed the position of 
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in 
June, the U.S. has appeared to be open to the possibilities of a 
potential policy shift while preparing a "comprehensive package" 
acceptable to North Korea.  North Korea, on its part, has been 
refraining from engaging in provocative actions. 
 
The problem is the Lee Myung-bak Administration's attitude.  The Lee 
Administration has plunged inter-Korean relations to its worst level 
by pushing for a hard-line policy toward North Korea.  Now is the 
time for the Lee Administration to face up to the rapidly changing 
environment and to quit the hard-line policy that has contributed 
only to the ROK being excluded from discussions on Korean Peninsula 
issues. 
 
 
EXPECTATIONS AND CONCERNS OVER CLINTON-KIM JONG-IL MEETING 
(JoongAng Ilbo, August 5, 2009, Page 34) 
 
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton paid a surprise visit to 
Pyongyang yesterday and met with North Korea's National Defense 
Committee Chairman Kim Jong-il.  The North Korean media reported 
that they had substantive talks about matters of mutual concern. 
Mr. Clinton's visit is the second time that a former U.S. President 
has headed to North Korea, after former U.S. President Jimmy Carter 
visited there during the first nuclear crisis in 1994.  While 
looking at another "surprise show" of U.S.-North Korea relations, we 
feel complicated because there are both expectations and concerns 
about the Clinton-Kim Jong-il meeting. 
 
As the White House Spokesman said, the official purpose of Mr. 
Clinton's visit is to negotiate the release of the two U.S. female 
journalists detained in the North for five months.  The journalists, 
 
SEOUL 00001235  005 OF 010 
 
 
Euna Lee and Laura Ling, were arrested on March 17 by North Korean 
soldiers while reporting from the border between North Korea and 
China and were sentenced last month to 12 years of hard labor for 
illegal entry and committing hostilities against the North.  It is a 
severe punishment beyond common sense.  We expect that Mr. Clinton's 
visit will lead to the safe return of the journalists and will also 
serve as an opportunity for Pyongyang to free an ROK employee of the 
Kaesong Industrial Complex - who has been held in the North for five 
months - and the crew members of the ROK fishing vessel "Yeonan," 
which was seized in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) last week. 
 
The reason why we cannot help paying close attention to Mr. 
Clinton's visit, despite the USG's position of keeping the 
humanitarian issue separate from the North Korean nuclear issue, is 
due to the weight that the former U.S. President carries, not to 
mention the gravity of the situation.  While uncertainty was growing 
in the North Korean regime due to Kim's health problem and the 
succession issue, Pyongyang pushed the situation on the Korean 
Peninsula to the edge by conducting a second nuclear test and 
test-firing a barrage of missiles.  In response, the U.S., along 
with the international community, has been strengthening sanctions 
against the North.  Against this backdrop, the U.S. and North Korea 
had closed-door negotiations about the release of the female 
journalists, and it was highly meaningful that the two sides agreed 
that such a political heavyweight as Mr. Clinton should visit 
Pyongyang.  While pressuring the North, the U.S. has also dangled a 
comprehensive package of incentives to persuade it to take 
irreversible steps toward denuclearization.  North Korea, for its 
part, has raised a need for U.S.-North Korea high-level talks. 
 
We truly hope that Mr. Clinton's visit will serve as a turning point 
in comprehensively resolving the North Korean nuclear issue by 
changing the situation from confrontation to dialogue.  (The U.S.), 
however, should not repeat the past mistake of dancing to the 
North's tune while only seeking dialogue with the communist state. 
Accordingly, (the U.S.) needs to, for a while, maintain a two-track 
strategy toward North Korea of tougher sanctions and dialogue. 
Furthermore, the U.S. should closely consult with its allies, such 
as the ROK and Japan, under the principle that North Korea 
possession nuclear weapons cannot be tolerated. 
 
The ROKG should calmly look at the current situation and lay the 
foundation for breaking the deadlock in inter-Korean ties.  It 
should also carefully analyze the outcome of Mr. Clinton's visit 
through close cooperation with Washington, and, if necessary, should 
consider making a bold proposal for a turnaround in relations with 
the North through the President's congratulatory speech on the 
August 15 Liberation Day. 
 
 
PAYING ATTENTION TO SITUATION FOLLOWING CLINTON-KIM JONG-IL MEETING 
 (Hankook Ilbo, August 5, 2009, page 31) 
 
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton arrived in North Korea yesterday 
on a special flight and met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. 
It appears that he made a private visit to negotiate the release of 
two U.S. female journalists, who have been detained in North Korea. 
However, since he is a prominent figure and the visit is 
symbolically important, the purpose of his visit may not be just to 
free the two journalists.  In 1994, during the first North Korean 
nuclear crisis, former President Jimmy Carter visited North Korea to 
achieve a breakthrough.  We hope that Clinton's visit will serve as 
a dramatic turning point for U.S.-North Korean relations to change 
from confrontation to dialogue. 
 
Of course, we should avoid hasty optimism.  North Korea has not 
changed its basic position to achieve the status of a nuclear state. 
 Also, North Korea still faces international sanctions and pressure 
due to its second nuclear test and long-range rocket launches.  Some 
observers point out, reasonably, that a one-time meeting between the 
former U.S. President and current North Korean leader will not ease 
the standoff between the U.S. and North Korea.  This is why the U.S. 
government has underscored the need to separate the journalists' 
detention from political issues. 
 
SEOUL 00001235  006 OF 010 
 
 
 
However, it is indisputable that the visit by former President Bill 
Clinton, who is the husband of the incumbent Secretary of State in 
charge of U.S. diplomacy, will likely serve as a starting point to 
change U.S. policy on North Korea.  It is well known that while in 
office, former President Clinton made efforts to fundamentally 
resolve the North Korean nuclear and missile issue.  Clinton reached 
the Geneva Agreed Framework with North Korea in 1994 and tried to 
visit Pyongyang in 2000.  Since it seems that Clinton held 
wide-ranging discussions with Kim Jong-il on pending issues, this is 
likely to bring an improvement in negotiations regarding the 
normalization of diplomatic relations.  Another good sign is that he 
(possibly) delivered President Obama's verbal message to Kim 
Jong-il. 
 
Former President Clinton is the highest-ranking of the officials who 
have been mentioned as possible special envoys to negotiate the 
release of the U.S. journalists.  In other words, Clinton's visit 
has greatly saved the North's face.  By taking corresponding 
measures in return, North Korea should not miss this good 
opportunity to get out of international sanctions and isolation.  If 
North Korea returns to the ROK, both Hyundai Asan-employee Mr. Yoo, 
and the ROK ship it seized last week, this could serve as a dramatic 
breakthrough.  The ROKG should carefully watch any change in 
U.S.-North Korea relations following Clinton's meeting with Kim 
Jong-il and make sure that this situation is used to our advantage 
to improve strained inter-Korean relations. 
 
 
FEATURES 
-------- 
 
¶N. KOREA FREES U.S. REPORTERS AFTER BILL CLINTON VISIT 
(Chosun Ilbo, August 5, 2009, pages 1 and 3: EXCERPTS) 
 
By Reporter Lim Min-hyuk 
 
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton has won the freedom of two 
American journalists who were sentenced to hard labor in North 
Korea.  Clinton went on a surprise visit to Pyongyang on Tuesday to 
win the release of Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who have been held for 
141 days since they were arrested on March 17 while working at the 
China-North Korea border near the Duman (or Tumen) River.  Press 
reports said the two journalists were traveling back to the U.S. 
with Clinton. 
 
The North Korean state media said Clinton and his entourage arrived 
in Pyongyang by air on Tuesday.  North Korean leader Kim Jong-il met 
with Clinton and received a "verbal message" from U.S.  President 
Barack Obama, they said.  They added that Kim later pardoned the two 
reporters and ordered their release. 
 
The political weight Clinton carries as a former U.S. president and 
as the husband of the incumbent Secretary of State has given rise to 
speculation that he was on a broader mission to find a breakthrough 
in Washington-Pyongyang relations. 
 
An ROK government official earlier indicated most of the 
behind-the-scenes negotiations for the journalists' release had been 
finished before Clinton's trip, saying U.S. and North Korean 
officials held "intimate talks" through the North's UN mission in 
New York until Clinton's visit to the North materialized. 
 
ROK and U.S. government officials are stressing that Clinton visited 
the North as a private citizen.  The U.S. has maintained the 
principle that it is necessary to separate the journalists' 
detention, a humanitarian issue, from political issues including the 
North Korean nuclear problem. 
 
But experts doubt that such a prominent figure would only play a 
simple role in securing the journalists' release.  Prof. Kim 
Yong-hyun of Dongguk University said, "Clinton's visit to the North 
is a big event that can turn the current mode of confrontation 
between Washington and Pyongyang into a mode of dialogue.  We should 
 
SEOUL 00001235  007 OF 010 
 
 
view his visit as the beginning of overall change in the U.S. policy 
toward North Korea." 
 
Experts speculate that the North Korean media's quick reporting on 
the visit shows how eagerly the North expected something bigger from 
his visit than a mere ransom for the journalists. 
 
Experts point out that the North rejected U.S. proposals for visits 
by the special representative for North Korea policy, Stephen 
Bosworth, former U.S. vice president Al Gore, or New Mexico Governor 
Bill Richardson, because it wanted someone more prominent. 
 
Yun Duk-min, a professor at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and 
National Security, said earlier that if Clinton met with Kim, "there 
is a high probability that the North Korean nuclear talks will 
resume."  The ROK official said the meeting between the two would 
allow the North to convey its position on the nuclear issue directly 
to the U.S. government. 
 
 
BILL CLINTON MAKES S-E-C-R-E-T NORTH TRIP 
(JoongAng Daily, August 5, 2009) 
 
By Correspondent Choi Sang-hyun and Reporter Lee Young-jong 
 
Mission involves the release of jailed journalists 
 
Former United States President Bill Clinton arrived in North Korea's 
capital city of Pyongyang yesterday in a bid to negotiate the 
release of two American journalists detained since March. 
 
North Korea's state-run media reported during their noon news shows 
that Yang Hyong-sop, vice president of the Presidium of the Supreme 
People's Assembly, and Kim Gye-gwan, vice-minister of Foreign 
Affairs, greeted Clinton at Sunan Airport. 
 
Although North Korean media reported some details, such as Clinton 
receiving a welcome bouquet from a little girl at the airport, the 
reports did not specify the purpose of his trip.  Whether Clinton 
will meet the North's leader, Kim Jong-il, remains unclear. 
 
No announcement about the trip was made by the U.S. government until 
9 p.m. yesterday. 
 
"While this solely private mission to secure the release of two 
Americans is on the ground, we will have no comment," said White 
House spokesman Robert Gibbs in a statement.  We do not want to 
jeopardize the success of former President Clinton's mission." 
 
The U.S. Embassy in Seoul also declined to comment earlier in the 
day.  Although a Korean-language interpreter from the embassy was 
captured on TV news upon Clinton's arrival at the airport, U.S. 
diplomats in Seoul were tight-lipped, insisting that they have no 
information on the trip. 
 
While working on a story about North Korean defectors at the Chinese 
border, Euna Lee and Laura Ling - both reporters for 
California-based Current TV - were arrested by the North on March 17 
on charges of illegal border crossing.  The North's Central Court 
put the two on trial on June 4 and convicted both of them for 
committing grave crimes and slander against the North Korean people. 
 They were each sentenced on June 8 to 12 years at a labor camp. 
 
Lisa Ling, the sister of Laura Ling, was quoted by U.S. media 
yesterday saying that the family did not want to comment on the 
Clinton trip.  "Everything is just so delicate," she said to the Los 
Angeles Times.  "We're going to wait it out a while longer. We're on 
pins and needles." 
 
The newspaper also reported that a U.S. official, who declined to be 
identified, said the Clintons were approached by the journalists' 
families when it became clear that Pyongyang would permit the former 
president to travel to the North. 
 
 
SEOUL 00001235  008 OF 010 
 
 
Clinton's trip came after his wife, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary 
Rodham Clinton, publicly pleaded for the release of the women last 
month.  Diplomatic sources have said the North requested a 
high-profile figure to pay a visit to discuss the fate of Lee and 
Ling and that Washington and Pyongyang talked about the possibility 
through diplomatic channels in New York. 
 
On July 24, Sin Sun-ho, North Korean ambassador to the United 
Nations, held a rare media conference and said his government was 
interested in direct talks with the Barack Obama Administration on 
issues of "common concern." 
 
An ROK government official said last week that Washington and 
Pyongyang had struck a deal through direct and indirect contacts 
that the two journalists were to be granted amnesty.  "It was just a 
matter of who will visit North Korea and when," the source said at 
the time. 
 
Clinton is the second former U.S. President to visit North Korea. 
Only days after North Korea walked out of the International Atomic 
Energy Agency to push forward with its nuclear arms programs in 
1994, former President Jimmy Carter traveled to Pyongyang and met 
with then-North Korean leader Kim Il-sung. 
 
At the time, Clinton was serving his first presidential term, and 
tensions between Washington and Pyongyang had reached a breaking 
point.  Carter's trip changed the situation dramatically, and the 
Clinton Administration signed the Geneva agreement with Pyongyang 
later that year to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. 
 
During his presidency, Clinton also considered visiting the North 
himself, although no such trip took place while he was in office. 
 
With Clinton's trip, optimism prevailed yesterday that the two 
American journalists would be released. 
 
While the Lee Myung-bak Administration did not issue an official 
comment on the trip, a Unification Ministry official said it was 
extraordinary for the North's media to air reports about Clinton's 
visit so fast.  "Unless Kim Jong-il greets a visitor such as the 
Presidents of China and Russia, it is rare that the reports are 
aired fast," the official said.  "This means Pyongyang is putting 
importance on his visit." 
 
Clinton reportedly arrived at the airport around 10:48 a.m., and the 
North's media reported the news in less than two hours.  He also 
flew directly from the United States to North Korea, not passing 
through the ROK or China, according to U.S. media reports. 
 
Experts are optimistic about Clinton's trip.  Noting that Clinton 
commands respect in North Korea, Victor Cha, a Georgetown University 
professor who served as a Bush Administration adviser on North 
Korea, was quoted as saying by U.S. media that it is possible that 
no agreement was prearranged for Lee and Ling's release.  "But it 
would be very difficult for the North not to give these people up" 
to a former U.S. president, he said. 
 
Others agreed.  "Clinton will not go home empty-handed," said Liu 
Jiangyong, a professor of international relations at the Institute 
of International Studies at China's Tsinghua University, calling the 
trip a positive sign and an important breakthrough in U.S.-North 
Korea relations. 
 
Although some spoke about expectations that stalled U.S.-North Korea 
relations may ease and that Pyongyang may return to the deadlocked 
Six-Party denuclearization talks, it was unclear whether Clinton 
would discuss security issues aside from the reporters' release.  In 
June, the U.S. State Department made clear that the reporters' 
detention and the nuclear crisis are two separate matters. 
 
Tensions in the region have intensified since North Korea fired a 
barrage of missiles and conducted a second nuclear test earlier this 
year.  The North has also threatened to test an inter-continental 
ballistic missile and restart its frozen nuclear program. 
 
SEOUL 00001235  009 OF 010 
 
 
 
It is also not clear how the situation will influence the ROK 
government's efforts to free its citizens held in the North. 
Inter-Korean relations have hit their lowest point in years, ever 
since the Lee Administration took office in February of last year. 
 
An ROK worker at the Kaesong Industrial Complex has been detained in 
the communist country since April on charges of defaming the North's 
administration.  Then on July 30, an ROK fishing boat with four crew 
members strayed north of the border and was tugged away by a North 
Korean patrol boat. 
 
Pyongyang has snubbed a series of requests by Seoul to discuss these 
issues. 
 
 
ROK SHOULD NOT BE LEFT OUT AMID SUDDEN IMPROVEMENT IN U.S.-NORTH 
KOREA RELATIONS 
(OhmyNews, August 5, 2009) 
 
North Korea has sought to bypass the ROK government now and in the 
past, particularly, the conservative ones, in its efforts to improve 
relations with the U.S.  In 1993, during the first North Korean 
nuclear crisis, the Kim Young-sam Government rejected inter-Korean 
talks when U.S.-North Korea dialogue was making progress.  This led 
to the ROKG wielding less influence (over the North Korean issue) 
and paying for the North Korean light-water reactor project, 
following the signing of the Geneva Agreed Framework. 
 
Now that the former U.S. President has visited North Korea to pursue 
dialogue with North Korea, it will be hard for the U.S. to put much 
emphasis on the U.S.-ROK alliance in the face of North Korea's 
attempt to bypass the ROK.  We should not forget the grim reality 
that even though the Japanese government, (the U.S.') key ally in 
Northeast Asia, voiced opposition to the Six-Party Talks (in the 
past), citing the reason that the issue of Japanese abductees should 
be resolved (first), the U.S. reached the October 3 agreement with 
North Korea. 
 
Tensions, which have been escalating (on the Korean Peninsula) in 
recent months, stem from confrontation between the U.S. and North 
Korea.  However, amid the worsening situation on the Korean 
Peninsula, North Korea has shunned military clashes in inter-Korean 
relations.  But if the Lee Myung-bak Government rejects ROK-North 
Korea talks, as the Kim Young-sam Government did, it is very likely 
that things will make an abrupt turn when (the mood for) U.S.-North 
Korea talks are improving.  I think that North Korea will be very 
likely to resort to military provocations against the ROK, such as 
naval clashes in the West Sea, going beyond a war of rhetoric when 
using phrases like "sea of fire."  North Korea's reaction to the 
Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG), a U.S.-ROK joint exercise, which will 
take place from August 17 to 27, may signal which approach the North 
has taken and which options the ROK should take. 
 
The two Koreas, which have lost trust in each other, are now 
undergoing a long cooling-off period.  The Lee Myung-bak 
Administration is following the previous Kim Young-sam 
Administration's misjudgment that North Korea will soon collapse and 
the Bush Administration's misjudgment that the North can be brought 
to its knees through sanctions.  As long as the Lee Administration 
maintains its current position toward the North-in which a true 
North Korea policy is missing and only a response to Pyongyang's 
policy towards the South exists - we are in more of a crisis than 
ever before. 
 
If former U.S. President Clinton's visit is successfully concluded, 
a likely "package of gifts" (that the former President will bring 
with him from the North) will include a proposal to the ROK, just as 
former President Carter's "gifts" included a proposal for an 
inter-Korean summit.  Depending on what decision the ROKG makes, 
Seoul could either bring on a thaw in inter-Korean ties or put a 
worse strain on the relationship, thereby inviting isolation. 
 
Fortunately, the ROKG expressed a willingness to resume humanitarian 
 
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aid to the North - which has been on hold since the second nuclear 
test - by approving the application of a private aid group (World 
Vision) for a visit to the North on July 31, and by approving a plan 
on August 3 to provide 3.4 billion won to ROK aid groups. This will 
be the first time after Pyongyang's second nuclear test on May 25 
that a private aid group will be allowed to enter North Korea. . 
However, these gestures are not enough.  Seoul's humanitarian food 
aid and a proactive proposal for dialogue are necessary.  The Lee 
Administration should seriously consider making these proposals 
through the President's August 15 Liberation Day speech. 
 
If dialogue is wrapped up as submission, and confrontation and 
sanctions are wrapped up as a political victory, the ROKG's 
influence over the Korean Peninsula will inevitably weaken further. 
Since its inauguration, the Lee Administration has advocated 
practical diplomacy.  If Seoul still adheres to this doctrine, now 
is the time to carry out its "practical diplomacy" from a strategic 
perspective. 
 
 
 
STEPHENS