Kim Jong-Il Was 'Fully Engaged' During Clinton Visit

And Clinton freed them with pure charm

(NEWSER) - Laura Ling and Euna Lee didn't go quietly when the North Koreans arrested them. In an interview with Larry King on CNN , Ling reveals that the men who arrested them beat them into submission. Though she admits they had crossed, briefly, into North Korean territory, she says they were actually arrested on the Chinese side of the border. “They wanted to get us back to North Korea and do whatever they could to get us back. So they hit me.” More»

(NEWSER) - The two US journalists pardoned today by North Korea are on their way back to the US with Bill Clinton, reports MSNBC. Euna Lee and Laura Ling are on Clinton's plane and heading to Los Angeles to be reunited with their families, a Clinton spokesman says. The two, due to land in the morning, had been detained since March on charges of spying. More»

(NEWSER) - Bill Clinton's trip to North Korea is generating all kinds of debate. A sampling:

• John Bolton on Fox: The hawkish former UN ambassador calls the trip a "classic case of rewarding bad behavior. ... Obviously, all of us want to get them out, but we want it done in a way that doesn't increase the risks" to other Americans "seized by despotic regimes."
• Jack Cafferty, CNN: Given the recent Hillary bashing from the North, this is "very, very strange. ... But the women, their families and the rest of us will take it. Way to go, President Clinton."

(NEWSER) - Getting Laura Ling and Euna Lee out of North Korea was a cakewalk compared to the real diplomatic struggles between the Obama administration and the rogue nation, writes Nicolas Kristof. The New York Times columnist, who has visited North Korea five times, used to favor engagement with Kim Jong-Il's regime. But amid growing evidence that the North is offering nuclear weapons technology to Burma, "I've reluctantly concluded that we need more sticks." More»

(NEWSER) - The same sprawling network of business and political contacts that caused trouble with Hillary Clinton's confirmation as secretary of state helped her husband secure the release of Euna Lee and Laura Ling, the Washington Post reports. Private donors paid for Bill Clinton's trip to North Korea, and the former president handpicked the team that came with him, which included his former chief of staff. More»