N. Korea holds out bouquet in lieu of olive branch

By Sam Kim

SEOUL, Aug. 5 (Yonhap) -- A bouquet for arrival, a bouquet for departure.

The simple protocol for former U.S. President Bill Clinton's visit to North Korea
may have seemed hardly unique had exchanges between the two countries been moving
in gear and with progress in nuclear negotiations common.
But the scene on Tuesday of a North Korean girl offering a bouquet of flowers to
the former U.S. leader when he made a surprise visit to the communist state was
in stark contrast to the chilled mood that exists between Pyongyang and
Washington.
Clinton, who served as president from 1993-2001 and is the husband of incumbent
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, touched down in the reclusive nation
with the mission of winning the release of two American journalists detained
there since March.
It took less than 24 hours for him to pull it off, reaping the fruit of
undisclosed negotiations believed to have been under way since the journalists
were arrested at the Chinese-North Korean border on charges of "illegal entry"
and "hostile acts."
On Wednesday morning, Clinton was seen on APTN footage ushering the two
gaunt-looking journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee of San Francisco-based Current
TV, into an airplane that would later take them to Los Angeles to be reunited
with their families.
Another North Korean girl, similar in appearance to the one that offered a
bouquet upon Clinton's arrival and also wearing a red scarf around her neck, was
seen present at the Pyongyang airport.
Clinton, whose face remained sullen compared to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il
as the two were seen meeting in photos the previous night, softened up briefly,
apparently making sure the girl had her share of warm remarks from him.
"It's a routine protocol for a visiting dignitary, but it colorfully contrasts
with the current mood between the two countries," Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea
studies professor at Dongguk University, said.
He also noted a row of ranking North Korean officials, including the nuclear
negotiator, waving enthusiastically towards Clinton's airplane as it readied for
take off.
"North Korea probably wanted the world to see the reception and the farewell, the
warmth in them. Every piece of footage from North Korea is controlled and
regulated before being released," he said.
The trip by Clinton came as Washington and Pyongyang remain locked in a
protracted standoff over North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
North Korea conducted its second nuclear test on May 25, weeks after it launched
a long-range rocket that the U.S. and its allies feared could be developed
further into a ballistic missile tipped with a nuclear warhead.
The launch drew U.N. condemnation, which in turn led to North Korea declaring as
unnecessary the six-nation talks aimed at dismantling its nuclear weapons
programs.
The White House said the visit by Clinton was "solely private," suggesting the
nuclear issue would be dealt with separately from the journalists, who had been
sentenced to 12 years in a prison camp.
The two received a "special pardon" from Kim, the communist state's official
media reported early Wednesday.
Analysts said it was unlikely that the visit to North Korea by one of the most
prominent U.S. figures solely focused on the humanitarian mission.
"The White House fears its allies thinking that it is breaking out of the
international defile formed to impose sanctions on North Korea," said Baek
Seung-joo, an analyst at the state-funded Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.
"It does not want to look selfish."
"But it's implausible that Clinton only talked about the journalists. Too much is
at stake, and a visit like his is an opportunity too valuable not to exploit for
a diplomatic thaw," he said.
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday night that
Clinton conveyed U.S. President Barack Obama's "verbal message" to its leader,
Kim, and that the two held "exhaustive" and "wide-ranging" discussions. The White
House denied sending a message.
"What matters as much is whether Kim had a message to send to Obama through
Clinton," Baek said. "It was probably more than a bouquet and a pair of
journalists that Kim sent Clinton home with."