Clinton visit leads to pair being freed.NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong Il Kim Jong Il or Kim Chong Il (born Feb. 16, 1941, Siberia, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Son of Kim Il-sung. He was designated his father's successor in 1980 and became North Korea's de facto leader on his father's death in 1994. pardoned two American journalists and ordered their release today during the visit of former US president Bill Clinton, it was reported last night. Mr Clinton's visit came amid heightened tensions over North Korea's string of nuclear and missile tests in defiance of United Nations resolutions and calls from Washington DC for amnesty for the two reporters. Laura Ling ling: see cod. and Euna Lee, reporters for former vice-president Al Gore's California-based Current TV media venture, were arrested in March on a reporting trip to the Chinese-North Korean border. They were sentenced in June to 12 years of hard labour for entering the country illegally and engaging in "hostile acts". Mr Clinton is the second former US president to visit North Korea. Jimmy Carter visited Pyongyang in 1994, when Mr Clinton was in office, and met then-North Korean leader Kim Il Sung Kim Il Sung (kĭm ĭl s  ng), 1912–94, North Korean political leader, chief of state of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (1948–94); originally named Kim Sung Chu. , the late father of current
leader.
That visit came amid spiralling nuclear tensions and led to a breakthrough accord between the two sides months later. Analysts said the communist regime was expected to use the reporters to win concessions from the USA. |
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