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When Bill Clinton went to Pyongyang

Published: August 5 2009 19:13 | Last updated: August 5 2009 19:13

Laura Ling And Euna Lee Arrive Home At Hangar 25...BURBANK, CA - AUGUST 05: Journalists Laura Ling speaks in front of Euna Lee, former Vice President Al Gore and former President Bill Clinton after Ling and Euna Lee arrive at Hangar 25 on August 5, 2009 in Burbank, California after being released by North Korean authorities yesterday. Ling and Lee, of San Francisco based Current TV, were both arrested by North Korea in March for illegally entering the country on the Chinese border. Yesterday they were pardoned by President Kim Jong-Il after a meeting with former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Ling and Lee had been sentenced to 12 years in prison in June.Getty

It was not long ago that the world had written him off as an ageing leader with little or no remaining grip on power. But Bill Clinton is back. So it seems is the other dear leader, Kim Jong-il. For a man who had just a few weeks ago been declared terminally ill – one Japanese academic had even claimed he was dead – North Korea’s dictator is looking quite sprightly.

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