AP: Clinton: Reporters' release instructive for US
By Andrew Demillo, Associated Press Writer LITTLE ROCK, Ark
8/12/2010
Former President Bill Clinton on Thursday said the release of two detained American journalists whom he helped free from North Korea last year provides some instruction for the United States and its relationship with the reclusive country. Introducing journalist Laura Ling as she spoke at his presidential library, Clinton said he was proud to have played a role in her and Euna Lee's release from North Korea.
Clinton said the two reporters "got caught up in this global drama that really had nothing to do with them and what they did or didn't do."
"In the end, what happened proved that North Korea sooner or later will have to make an accomodation with the rest of us and try and run a country where their people are better off year in and year out," Clinton said.
Laura Ling and her sister Lisa spoke about the monthslong ordeal at Clinton's presidential library in downtown Little Rock as part of the Frank and Kula Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture Series.
Ling and Euna Lee were reporting for Current TV a media venture founded by former Vice President Al Gore when they were apprehended in March 2009 for briefly crossing into North Korea from China. They were working on a report about North Korean women who were forced into the sex trade or arranged marriages after defecting to China.
They were convicted of entering the country illegally and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor. They were freed 4 1/2 months later after Clinton met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
Ling said she's talked with Clinton on occasion since her release, and that he checks in on her family. Ling had a daughter in June, who she named Li Jefferson in honor of the former president it's his middle name.
"We refer to him in our family as our rescuer-in-chief," Ling told The Associated Press in an interview before her appearance at the library. "Now to be here in Little Rock at the presidential library is very meaningful and special to us."
The two said the book gave them an opportunity to tell the story that Laura Ling was working on when she was captured but never got to air.
"Though my perspective has changed and I'm focusing on family, journalism and the work that I've done raising awareness about such issues like the humanitarian crisis taking place along the border with China and North Korea are still very close to my heart and I'm still very passionate about them," Ling said.
Ling said she wants to continue to raise awareness about the trafficking of women between the two countries, but wants to stay in the country for now.
"I hope I can continue to use my voice to call attention to this issue," Ling said. "In terms of actually jumping on a plane and going off to some hot spot, I will probably stay closer to home for a little while. ... There are a lot of issues in our own backyard that deserve attention."
During her speech at the library, Laura Ling said that Kim Jong Il had requested Clinton as an envoy because he had always wanted to meet the former president.
"I was at the moment preparing to go to a labor camp because I didn't think it was possible," Ling said.
The former president said the way Ling and Lee conducted themselves made him proud to be an American, and also credited Lisa Ling for her work on helping win her sister's release.
"If you ever get in trouble, you want a sister or a brother like Lisa," Clinton said. "She was like a dog to the bone."
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