Aug 04 2009
Who’s Footing Gore’s Bill?
Diplomacy always comes at a cost, which is why I do not think that former President Bill Clinton’s charm and eloquence were the only key to securing the release of the two U.S. journalists from North Korea’s infamous labor camps. The release can be viewed as a success from an American standpoint, but did Clinton bring up an issue with the North Korean government about the other estimated 200,000 slave laborers stuck in their labor camps?
My other question is: How much money or incentives did Current TV or the U.S. government put up for the negotiation?
Background info:
May 17
Two U.S. Journalists and employees of former VP Al Gore’s California-based Current TV are seized by North Korean border guards for illegal entry and conspiracy charges.
June 8
The two journalists are sentenced to 12 years of slave labor in a North Korea labor camp.
August 4-5
Former President Bill Clinton arrives in North Korea to meet with leader Kim Jong-Il to negotiate the release of the journalists
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is a tough quid pro quo leader in need of some much needed funds to maintain his struggling communist country. He would not risk his Machiavellian persona for the illusion of a world without tension. There are many reasons why Kim Jong-Il must have gained from this transaction and two easily come to mind:
1) The two journalists have key insight into North Korea’s secretive labor camps in a manner that no outsider had access to previously, which translates into more scrutiny from human rights groups and possible lucrative book deals for the journalists.
2) There was no logic in sentencing the journalists for 12 long years (to send a strong message to the West) if diplomacy was all that was needed to secure their release. Five years would have sufficed if the journalists were not worthy collateral.
On the other hand, if he did release the hostages without any conditions, then that would be a clear sign of a new beginning with the West and Kim Jong Il’s regained sanity; the Obama Administration must seize this small window of opportunity for a change in tone.
