Tag: Steve Bing
Jailed Journalists and Bill Clinton Return to the US, Courtesy of Steve Bing.
by MikeScholtes on Aug.06, 2009, under Journalists
Jailed American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee returned home to the United States on Wednesday, together with former President Bill Clinton, on a jet that belongs to film executive Steve Bing.
Since it was made clear from the beginning that Clinton’s trip to North Korea to attempt to secure the release of the journalists, who had been jailed for 140 days, was a purely private one, he apparently relied upon his old friend Bing to provide his transportation. The jet is owned by Shangri-La Entertainment, the company that the movie mogul owns.
The freed journalists were reunited with their families upon landing at the airport in Burbank, California. Ling’s father Douglas told ABC News that he had never had any doubts that his daughter and her colleague would eventually be returned home safely but for her part Laura Ling said she and her colleague Ms. Lee were stunned by Clinton’s arrival.
Speaking at a brief press conference she said “”We feared that at any moment we could be sent to a hard labor camp, and then suddenly we were told that we were going to a meeting. When we walked through the doors, we saw standing before us President Bill Clinton. We were shocked, but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end.”
For his part Bill Clinton admitted that he undertook his mission at the request of his former Vice President Al Gore, who runs Current TV, the media outlet that the two journalists were working for when they were arrested. “When their families, Vice President Gore and the White House asked that I undertake this humanitarian mission, I agreed,” Clinton said in a written statement. “I share a deep sense of relief with Laura and Euna and their families that they are safely home.”
Although the White House distanced themselves from the mission, former Vice President Al Gore said “President Obama and countless members of his administration have been deeply involved in this humanitarian effort,” Gore said, speaking at the arrival of the two reporters who worked for the channel he co-founded, Current TV. “They have really put their hearts in this.” While President Obama said meanwhile “We are obviously extraordinarily relieved” and “very pleased with the outcome.”
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that “at some point” Obama will meet with former President Clinton to discuss his meeting with Kim Jong II, but nothing has been planned yet.
