Everyone can be happy that Bill Clinton won the release of two imprisoned American journalists on his surprise visit to Pyongyang yesterday.
Laura Ling and Euna Lee were reporting on refugees at the time of their detention in mid-March and were sentenced in June to 12 years of hard labor for crossing into North Korean territory. Back-channel negotiations have gone on for months between Washington and North Korea over the fate of the two women, and it appears likely that some understanding was reached before the former president risked making this high-profile trip. Let’s hope that understanding doesn’t include undeserved concessions on North Korea’s nuclear program or an agreement to ignore the plight of the country’s numerous other detainees.
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