U.S. not ruling out Al Gore going to Pyongyang on detained journalists

By Hwang Doo-hyong

WASHINGTON, June 4 (Yonhap) -- The United States Thursday did not rule out the possibility of former U.S. President Al Gore flying to North Korea to negotiate the release of two American journalists detained for alleged illegal entry while working on a story.

"This is such a sensitive issue, I'm just not going to go into those kinds of
discussions that we may or may not have had," State Department spokesman Ian
Kelly told reporters. "The bottom line is that these two young women should be
released, but I'm not going to go into any kind of details on what we will or
won't do."
Talks have abounded that Gore will be visiting Pyongyang in his capacity as the
chairman of Current TV, a San Francisco-based Internet news outlet, for which
Euna Lee and Laura Ling work.
North Korea said earlier in the day that the trial for the two reporters will be
held at 3 p.m. (Korean time), without elaborating.
A State Department official confirmed that the trial was held on time, but added
that the Swedish ambassador in Pyongyang, Mats Foyer, who handles consular
affairs involving American citizens in North Korea, was denied access to the
trial.
Foyer has met with the journalists three times each since their detention on
March 17 on the Chinese border with North Korea.
Lee and Ling face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of espionage as they are
under trial for alleged illegal entry and "hostile acts."
It took several months for any U.S. citizens held in North Korea to be freed in
the past.
A U.S. pilot was detained in North Korea in 1994 when his military chopper was
shot down after straying across the border, and another American citizen, Evan
Hunziker, swam the Yalu River to North Korea from the Chinese side in 1996.
They both spent several months in the North before New Mexico Gov. Bill
Richardson, then a U.S. congressman, visited Pyongyang to successfully negotiate
their release.
U.S. officials hope the trial signals their early release, just as with American
journalist Roxana Saberi, who was set free by Iran weeks ago on a suspended
prison term after getting an eight-year sentence for espionage.
Scott Snyder, director of the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy at the Asia
Foundation, however, said that it may not be the case this time.
"I'm a little bit concerned, given the internal focus on political succession,
that the North Korean -- that the North Koreans may not be conducting business as
usual, in which case it would be very unfortunate, but it's possible that the
journalists could be held there for a longer period of time," Snyder told a
forum.
Allegations are that North Korea's ailing leader, Kim Jong-il, has been engaged
in a series of provocations since the inauguration of Obama in January in an
apparent move to ensure a smooth power transition to his third and youngest son,
Kim Jong-un.
Kim Jong-il anointed Jong-un as his successor soon after the second nuclear test
late last month due to his weakening health after a stroke he apparently suffered
last summer.
North Korea is said to be aiming to use the detained journalists as a bargaining
chip for resumption of bilateral talks on its nuclear weapons and ballistic
missiles.
Appearing on a television program last week, Richardson said, "Obviously, they
see the two women as possible bargaining chips. Now, what the North Koreans want
more than anything is they want to deal directly with us. They don't want the
other countries involved."