In the past, North Korea has used Western prisoners for propaganda purposes by securing visits from high-profile figures to the isolated dictatorship. Bill Clinton met with Kim Jong-il to secure the release of two U.S. journalists in 2009. Jimmy Carter was sent to fetch the Christian activist Aijalon Mahli Gomes in 2010. Bae and Miller’s release, the first under North Korea’s current leader Kim Jong-un, was a more low-key affair, involving National Intelligence Director James Clapper. (Either this strategy is bringing diminishing returns or the U.S. is running out of former presidents to send.)
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