According to a briefing by White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on Wednesday, Clinton’s trip was a “private mission” given to him by President Barack Obama.
Gibbs also emphasized that Obama and Clinton had not talked since Clinton’s last visit to the White House in March. And he added that the tab for Clinton’s chartered airplane to and from North Korea was not picked up by the government.
“When their families, Vice President Gore and the White House asked that I undertake this humanitarian mission, I agreed,” said Clinton in a statement on Wednesday.
“I know the president is enormously thankful for his service,” said Mr. Gibbs. “And look, I think if the president is ever looking for people to help, former presidents are always a pretty good group to try.”
‘Private Visit’ a wise move?
According to some analysts, the White House may have made a wise move keeping the mission ‘unofficial.’
The White House made the visit unofficial rather than official in order to retrieve the journalists for “humanitarian” reasons while trying not to compromise the U.S. foreign policy and negotiate their position on other issues, said Stephen Yates, senior fellow in Asia Studies with the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D.C.
“I think that the White House spokesman was trying to have some distance between policy and diplomacy,” said Mr. Yates. “So they made a specific mission of getting the two journalists released. If nothing else, that was a smart negotiating posture, because we didn’t want Kim Jong Il and others to believe that they can get some kind of reward for holding hostages.”
In return for the release of the two, it was reported by North Korean state media that Clinton apologized for the journalist’s actions, something Yates doubts.
“I have no way to know whether President Clinton actually offered an apology or what the message was he carried from the administration,” said Mr. Yates. “But I presume that he would not have gone that far without some message to convey and to want to bring back.”
“I presume … they have to talk about more than just the status of the journalists,” said Mr. Yates. He added that some possible topics such as nuclear programs and human rights might have been addressed.
Other Korea observers speculate that Clinton’s visit could serve as a propaganda coup for Kim.
Gordon Chang, author of North Korea Takes on the World and columnist for Forbes business magazine, said Clinton’s visit “clearly” served as a source of propaganda for North Koreans.
“People, of course, look at the photo of Clinton and Kim Jong Il side by side and how happy Kim looked,” he said.
He then noted the photo with Kim lecturing Clinton and his delegate members.
“It’s like Kim Jong Il was giving guidance to the United States. Clearly Kim is going to use these photos to bolster the regime,” he said.
He said that despite the release, North Korea’s nature still remains unchanged.
“It’s still a totalitarian regime,” he said.
Lee and Ling are both American citizens and journalists for Clinton’s former Vice President Al Gore’s San Francisco-based Current.TV. They were arrested on March 17 at the China-North Korea border while documenting trafficking of women in the region.
Clinton and the two journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling arrived at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California at dawn on Wednesday.
