The headline at the New York Times says, "Bill Clinton meeting North Korea leader, media report." You might be able to drop that "media report" qualifier when you have a picture of Clinton and Kim Jong-il together right next to it. Jong-il looks wan and depleted, and the rumors about his health are obviously true. Reportedly, he had a stroke last year, and may also have pancreatic cancer.
Clinton is in Pyongyang to help negotiate the freedom of two journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who were filming a television documentary in the country. Secretary of State Clinton has been seeking "amnesty" for the two women, and Bill's being in North Korea to negotiate that amnesty is the cover story for his being there. Other items will surely be discussed.
The White House is calling this a "solely private mission," though one wonders how that works when the former president is the husband of the administration's Secretary of State. There have been only two other high profile visits to North Korea in the past 20 years--Jimmy Carter in the 90's and Madeline Albright, then Secretary of State, in 2000.
The two women work for CurrentTV, which was co-founded by former Vice President Al Gore. NPR said this morning that Gore had offered to travel to North Korea himself. The Times reports that the two women "were researching a report about North Korean women sold through human traffickers and refugees who had fled to search for food in China."
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