(3rd LD) Ex-U.S. President Clinton in N. Korea, expected to seek journalists' release

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with details)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL Aug. 4 (Yonhap) -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton arrived in North
Korea on Tuesday, the communist nation's state media confirmed, a surprise trip
apparently aimed at winning the release of two detained American journalists.
Clinton's visit also raised hopes of a breakthrough in long-stalled efforts to
resume the six-way talks on Pyongyang's nuclear program.
He landed in a Pyongyang airport and was greeted by North Korean officials,
including chief nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan, North Korea's state news agency
KCNA reported.
"A little girl presented a bouquet to Bill Clinton," the KCNA said in a brief
dispatch. It did not give other details, such as Clinton's itinerary and purpose
of the visit.
While both the U.S. and South Korean governments kept mum on his trip, diplomatic
sources here said that it is intended to bring Laura Ling and Euna Lee back home.
The female reporters from the San Francisco-based media group Current TV,
co-founded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, were arrested on March 17 near
the China-North Korea border while reporting on refugees fleeing the impoverished
North. They were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor by the North on charges of
illegal entry and "hostile acts."
The sources said the North will hand them over to Clinton as Pyongyang and
Washington have effectively completed related talks through Pyongyang's
diplomatic mission to the U.N., known as "the New York channel."
Clinton, whose administration had engaged in extensive negotiations with
Pyongyang, is expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il later Tuesday and
fly out of the country on Wednesday, according to one of the sources.
Clinton, although basically on a humanitarian mission, may help pave the way for
direct talks between Pyongyang and Washington and the resumption of six-way
disarmament negotiations that also involve South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan,
analysts agree.
The U.S. reportedly planned to send Gore as a special envoy but the North
rejected the offer, apparently in hopes that Washington would send a top-level
government official authorized to discuss pending political issues.
The Obama administration, however, has maintained that it will not link the
journalists' detention with the current nuclear issue. Clinton is apparently a
compromise choice, saving face for both sides.
Another source said that Clinton is accompanied by civilians from his foundation,
not U.S. government officials.
Shortly after his retirement in 2001, the former president established the
"William J. Clinton Foundation," with the stated mission of strengthening
people's capacity to meet the challenges of global interdependence.
The North withdrew from the six-party talks after firing a long-range rocket in
April and conducting a second nuclear test the following month. In response to
those provocations, the international community imposed stiff sanctions on North
Korea through U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874.
In 1994, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter made a surprise visit to Pyongyang to
negotiate a resolution to the North Korean nuclear crisis.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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