North Korea frees U.S. journalists Lee and Ling

Former president Bill Clinton brought home two freed U.S. journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, from North Korea after a rare talk with leader Kim Jong Il. The North Korean dictator pardoned the women for entering the country illegally; they had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor during the time of their arrest.

Lee and Ling returned to the U.S. with Clinton within 24 hours of his arrival to Seoul for a humanitarian trip. Clinton arrived in an effort to free the journalists, whose captivity has troubled and been protested by many Americans during the past five months. According to reports, Lee and Ling appeared healthy upon boarding the plane to their flight home and were reunited with their families in Burbank, Calif.

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100% Support for Kim Jong-il

Kim casts his own ballot. Source: aljazeera.net

Surprise surprise! North Korea’s leader, the notorious Kim Jong-il was just re-elected in a nationwide election.

In an unsurprising result Kim was re-elected by voters in Constituency 333 with 100 per cent support, the official KCNA news agency said on Monday.

The report said voters renewed their “unshakable determination to devotedly safeguard” the North Korean leader. Read more.

Of course, what would you expect with no opposition candidates for positions within the N. Korean parliament?

Posted by Maria Iu