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Posts Tagged ‘Lisa Ling’s Sister Pardoned’

Lisa Ling and sister Laura Ling

The sister of Lisa Ling,  Laura Ling and fellow journalist Euna Lee have been pardoned by North Korea due to the unselfish efforts of former President Bill Clinton.

President Clinton’s Mission to free American journalists  Laura Ling ( Lisa Ling’s sister) and Euna Lee has been accomplished. According to  North Korean media Kim Jong Il has pardoned the two American journalists and ordered their release during the visit of former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Read the following report from Reuters

SEOUL (Reuters) – Former U.S. President Bill Clinton made a surprise visit to North Korea and met its reclusive leader on Tuesday to try to win freedom for two jailed American journalists in a move that could re-energize nuclear talks.

Clinton, husband of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, had what North Korea’s KCNA news agency described as an “exhaustive conversation” over dinner with the ailing Kim Jong-il and top North Korean officials.

Euna Lee

Arriving in an unmarked jet on a trip to North Korea he had hoped to take before leaving office in January 2001, Clinton was presented with flowers by a girl dressed in traditional costume before he was led to a black limousine and driven away.

Confusion rose quickly about the delicate diplomatic negotiations he was engaged in. The North Korean news agency said Clinton passed on a verbal message from U.S. President Barack Obama.

“Kim Jong-il expressed thanks for this,” KCNA said of the message. “He welcomed Clinton’s visit to the DPRK (North Korea) and had an exhaustive conversation with him. There was a wide-ranging exchange of views on the matters of common concern.”

But the White House denied Clinton carried a message from Obama. “That’s not true,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters in Washington.

Clinton’s objective was to gain the release of two journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling of U.S. media outlet Current TV co-founded by Clinton’s vice president Al Gore.

They were arrested on the North Korea-China border in March and accused of illegal entry. A North Korean court sentenced both of them last month to 12 years hard labor for what it called grave crimes.