2009 imprisonment of American journalists by North Korea
[1][2] The North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pardoned the two on August 5, 2009, the day after the former U.S. president Bill Clinton arrived in the country on a publicly unannounced visit.
[11] Their guide Kim Seong-cheol and cameraman Mitch Koss evaded capture by running away faster but were later detained by officers of China's Public Security Bureau.
[1] They reported that an investigation proved Lee and Ling to have crossed into North Korean territory with the intent to produce and broadcast a "documentary slandering the DPRK", and that the two admitted to committing "criminal acts".
[2] Lisa Ling read a statement on July 9 in which she stated her sister had indeed broken North Korean law; the two had recently spoken by telephone for the third time.
[19] Because the United States has no diplomatic relations with North Korea, the contact was handled through the Swedish ambassador in Pyongyang, Mats Foyer, who also visited the two reporters.
[17] However, it was later reported that the State Department would call on North Korea for "amnesty" for the two journalists; The Washington Post interpreted this as an admission by the U.S. government that the two are indeed guilty of an offense.
[26] William Stanton, the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Seoul, reportedly expressed a similar but stronger view, calling the two journalists "stupid" and arguing that their arrest was "distracting from bigger issues" in April 8 remarks to several U.S. congressional staff visiting South Korea.
[27] Other South Koreans, including religious and human rights figures, similarly blamed Lee and Ling for actually endangering the subjects of their reporting.
Lee Chan-woo, a Christian pastor who ran various North Korean refugee aid programs in China, had his house searched by Chinese police on March 19 and was then deported from the country in April.
[37] KCNA also reported that the National Defence Commission of North Korea hosted a dinner in honor of Clinton, but did not go into detail about what was discussed at the reception.
[38] In the early morning hours of August 5, KCNA announced that Kim Jong Il had issued a pardon to Lee and Ling.
During their stay Clinton and his party paid a courtesy call on Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly.
Clinton expressed words of sincere apology to Kim Jong Il for the hostile acts committed by the two American journalists against the DPRK after illegally intruding into it.
Clinton courteously conveyed to Kim Jong Il an earnest request of the U.S. government to leniently pardon them and send them back home from a humanitarian point of view.
The meetings had candid and in-depth discussions on the pending issues between the DPRK and the U.S. in a sincere atmosphere and reached a consensus of views on seeking a negotiated settlement of them.
Kim Jong Il issued an order of the Chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission on granting a special pardon to the two American journalists who had been sentenced to hard labor in accordance with Article 103 of the Socialist Constitution and releasing them.
Clinton courteously conveyed a verbal message of U.S. President Barack Obama expressing profound thanks for this and reflecting views on ways of improving the relations between the two countries.
[43]Gore told reporters that "President Obama and countless members of his administration have been deeply involved," in the effort to bring the journalists home.
[45] Hillary Clinton, on a multi-nation trip in Africa when Lee and Ling returned to the U.S., said that the Obama administration was "extremely excited" to see the two journalists reunited with their families.
