Former President Clinton Meets With North Korean Dictator: UPDATE: Ling and Lee Pardoned

Former President Bill Clinton is in North Korea, hoping to get the North Korean dictator Kim Il Jung to release two Americans, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, from prison. Both were tried and convicted on trumped up charges, and now the former President is giving Kim the attention he craves.

What is Clinton going to give North Korea in exchange for the release of the two Americans?

Clinton "courteously conveyed a verbal message" to Kim from President Obama, North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. But White House spokesman Robert Gibbs denied that Clinton was carrying any message from the Obama administration.

Kim and Clinton had "an exhaustive conversation" that included "a wide-ranging exchange of views on the matters of common concern," KCNA reported.

Earlier in the day, Gibbs confirmed Clinton was on a "solely private mission to secure the release of two Americans," but gave little detail on his itinerary .

"We do not want to jeopardize the success of former President Clinton's mission," Gibbs said.

KCNA did not disclose the purpose of the visit in its three-line dispatch. However a source with detailed knowledge of Clinton's movements told CNN late Monday that he was going to seek the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, both reporters for California-based Current TV, a media venture launched by Clinton's Vice President Al Gore.

Yang Hyong Sop, the vice president of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly, and Kim Kye Gwan, the vice foreign minister, met Clinton, KCNA reported.

Lee and Ling were arrested while reporting on the border between North Korea and China and sentenced in June to 12 years in prison on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign.

North Korea needs time and space to work out the kinks in its nuclear weapons and missile programs. They need energy and food from outside North Korea because without such humanitarian aid, mass starvation and death would be all too common.

North Korea's regime oversees a vast gulag archipelago where political prisoners go to die. It is an evil regime, and having Former President Clinton engage in such high level talks lends far too much prestige to this dictatorship.

While securing the release of Ling and Lee would be great, I fear that the price will be far too steep for the US, South Koreans, and the long tormented North Korean people who live under the ruthless dictatorship for all too long.

UPDATE:
Reports indicate that the North Korean regime has issued pardons for Ling and Lee. I wonder what the US is giving up in return. There's always something in the bargain. North Korea plays the game better than most and knows how to maximize its interests. What will the US be forced to pay down the road? Increased humanitarian aid that enables the regime to spend more on its military budget? Holding back on missile defense systems operable in the region? Cash?

I suspect that the price isn't going to be cheap. After all, that's why regimes such as North Korea act as they do. They know they can get away with it.