Part 19 (1/2)

ON S STEVE B BING'S PRIVATE PLANE, Euna and I were given a separate room with two beds. I was exhausted after having not slept in three days. But I was too wired to rest.

Our families had packed a bag for each of us that was filled with snacks for the plane ride and clean clothes to change into. My family sent goodies they knew I loved, but ironically they were Korean snacks. Even though I hadn't been given anything like this in North Korea, it seemed too awkward to eat Korean-style popcorn at a time like this. I was craving a slice of pizza.

Euna and I sat at the front of the plane along with President Clinton, John Podesta, brothers Doug and Dr. Roger Band, and Justin Cooper. David Straub and Min Ji Kwon were sitting close by. They were all huddled around us with looks of concern. President Clinton asked us how we felt and wanted to know if we'd been treated fairly. I told him that while there had been violence when we were first apprehended, since then, we hadn't been mistreated. I was in a state of shock and disbelief that after nearly five months of being held captive, I was now looking into the eyes of the former leader of the free world and telling him our story. I wanted him to know how sorry I was that all of this had happened, but that I hoped his meeting with Kim Jong Il might have a positive impact on the state of U.S.North Korean relations.

I told the president that we knew for certain we were going home when we saw the photo of him and Kim Jong Il on the evening news. I commented on Kim's beaming grin compared with his stoic expression.

”I had to practice that,” he said, smiling. ”Seriously, I wanted to be very careful not to smile or smirk. Hillary and Chelsea had to coach me.”

The president also told us one of the reasons why he thought Kim was so intent on having him make the trip. He said that during their meeting, Kim told him how much he had appreciated the phone call Clinton made to him to express his condolences when his father, Kim Il Sung, pa.s.sed away in July 1994. According to Clinton, Kim told him, ”You were the first one to call me, even before any of my allies, and I've always remembered that.”

I learned from President Clinton and his colleagues that, to their surprise, unlike other heads of state, who tend to make grand entrances with huge processions, Kim Jong Il had been accompanied by North Korean authorities who seemed very relaxed around the Dear Leader. When Kim arrived to greet President Clinton, the first thing he said, with great pa.s.sion and confidence, was ”I've always wanted to meet you.”

President Clinton commented on how important it was to have Dr. Roger Band present because he could evaluate the North Korean leader with a medical eye. According to Dr. Band, one of Kim's arms, which appeared to be immovable, seemed to indicate the effects of having a stroke. Clinton commented on how lucid Kim appeared despite his questionable health.

Apparently, when Clinton's team first arrived, a North Korean woman official rushed up to the group and asked about a letter from President Obama that she expected the group to have. I learned that delivering a letter from Obama had been part of previous conversations having to do with visits by other potential envoys, but it was never discussed or agreed upon as part of Clinton's visit. During the former president's trip to Pyongyang, no letter was delivered and no gifts were exchanged, save for a bouquet of flowers that was presented to Clinton as a welcoming gesture.

It is hard to overstate just how unique and momentous Clinton's visit was. Unlike a typical meeting that includes the former president, where his staff carefully crafts and prepares his schedule and security detail, visiting North Korea is like entering a black hole. There are no guarantees. While the former president always travels with Secret Service protection, the seven men accompanying Clinton had to take extra special precautions. The Clinton team, the Department of State, the White House, the U.S. Secret Service, and other U.S. agencies had to manage an extraordinary set of challenges and meticulously plan for best-and worst-case scenarios in order to pull off a kind of trip that had never been made before. On the plane I could see the loads of black bags that contained various communication devices and other equipment specially chosen by the Secret Service agents for this trip. I was told that while Clinton and his team stayed in a palatial guesthouse with ornately manicured grounds, one Secret Service agent stayed on the plane along with the two pilots for the entirety of the visit so as to make sure the plane was secure.

I was grateful to the former president and his team for all they had done for Euna and me. Since their visit to the so-called Hermit Kingdom was unprecedented, they were operating in unknown territory. I couldn't imagine the enormity of the risks involved and what they had to prepare for. I appreciated hearing some of what went on, but I know there was a great deal that happened in preparation and on the ground that I didn't know about.

It was fascinating to hear President Clinton's a.s.sessment of the reclusive Kim and his account of the balancing act he and his staff had to perform during their visit. He told us about the two-page itinerary that had been planned for his team upon arrival, including visits to various monuments. They politely excused themselves from the activities, saying they were too fatigued from the traveling.

Before President Clinton met us at the hotel, he and his staff were taken to a meeting with a high-ranking official, who, yelling at the top of his lungs, went into a tirade about how terrible the United States is and how much damage President George W. Bush had done.

Later that morning, John Podesta, Doug Band, David Straub, and Min Ji Kwon went to a separate ”apology ceremony,” which took place in the colossal guesthouse. President Clinton did not attend this portion of the itinerary. For safety reasons, the team made sure that no person was ever alone at any given time, so Clinton's top aide Justin Cooper stayed behind with the president in his stately quarters. The ceremony involved more irate North Korean authorities bas.h.i.+ng the United States and chastising Euna and me for our crimes. Clinton's team bit their tongues, smiled politely, and apologized for Euna's and my actions. They had one objective, and that was to get us home.

Aside from these formal bursts of outrage, the North Korean officials escorting Clinton and his crew were generally courteous and hospitable. Originally, the plan had been for only John Podesta and Doug Band to meet Euna and me at the hotel, but when President Clinton requested to see us, the North Koreans obliged.

The Dear Leader hosted a dinner for President Clinton and his colleagues that was also attended by North Korea's nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-Gwan, among others. The elaborate fourteen-course meal included steaks, fine French wine, and an entire fish for each person. It was clear the North Koreans had gone to extreme lengths to put together the lavish affair. During the meal, Doug Band quietly stepped out to call Secretary Clinton's counselor and chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, on the satellite phone the team had brought along. It was the only communication made between one of the Americans on the ground in North Korea and the United States. He wanted to let Mills know that they were alive and well.

”This is really something!” President Clinton said to us, beaming. ”You know, when I got the call from Al and the request from your families to come here, I was talking it over with Hillary and Chelsea. And Chelsea said, 'Dad, you have to go. What if it was me over there?' When Chelsea said that, I knew we had to come get you girls. I'm so happy right now.” Sitting next to him at that moment, I was captivated not only by the former president's charisma and electrifying charm, which is so often talked about, but by the real concern he has as a parent and a father.

President Clinton went on to talk about a special performance that Kim wanted him and his team to attend. It was an acrobatic performance featuring ten thousand children in a stadium filled with a hundred thousand people who were awaiting their arrival. Clinton pretended not to hear the invitation, and left John Podesta and Doug Band to do the backpedaling during dinner. While Kim Kye-Gwan, who was seated next to Doug Band, continued to insist that the group watch the performance, Podesta and Band took turns yawning, politely trying to emphasize how exhausted they were from the day's events. In the end, the team did not attend the grandiose performance. It would have looked bad to the outside world to see the former president yucking it up at a performance with the leader of one of the most repressive regimes on the planet.

President Clinton also talked about some of the recommendations he gave to Kim, including releasing a group of South Korean fishermen and a South Korean businessman who were also being held by the North Koreans.

”I told him, you see what happens when these girls go home and how the international community reacts,” Clinton said. ”You'll get a similar reaction if you release the South Koreans.”

Clinton also advised Kim to allow Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, to come to North Korea to discuss how the two countries could move toward getting back to the six-party talks.

Within six months of our release, Kim Jong Il acted on all of Clinton's suggestions, and following the trip by Bosworth to Pyongyang, North Korea seemed to be making real steps toward reengaging in nuclear disarmament talks. I'd like to think that President Clinton's visit paved the way for improved relations between the United States and North Korea. Only time will tell.

LISA.

MY PHONE RANG ABOUT an hour after Doug's last e-mail. ”Li,” my sister said, ”I'm on President Clinton's plane!” an hour after Doug's last e-mail. ”Li,” my sister said, ”I'm on President Clinton's plane!”

”Oh my G.o.d, baby!” I screamed. ”Did you know he was coming?”

”No, it was a surprise.”

”I'm so excited to see you!” I also told her that there would be media on the ground when she arrived and that she might want to express some words of grat.i.tude.

”Okay, I will,” Laura said. ”I'm going to try to get some rest. I'll call you in a few hours. Tell Iain and Mom and Dad that I love them and will see them soon. I love you, Li.”

I could hear the freedom in my sister's voice.

”Oh, wait!” I interrupted. I couldn't let her off the phone without asking one more thing that I had to know. ”What's President Clinton doing right now?”

Laura chuckled. ”He's sitting right here with me watching me talk to you on the phone.”

That made me smile.

LAURA.

WHEN I I HUNG UP HUNG UP the phone with Lisa, President Clinton told me how well she had carried herself publicly, saying all the right things to the press at the right times. the phone with Lisa, President Clinton told me how well she had carried herself publicly, saying all the right things to the press at the right times.

”My sister is relentless,” I said. ”I couldn't have gotten through this without her.”

We landed at an American air force base in j.a.pan to refuel and get some breakfast. It was our first non-Korean meal. I piled eggs, waffles, and fresh fruit onto my plate. David Straub had to advise me to go easy, that my stomach might not be used to Western food after having been deprived of it for so long.

Two flight attendants got on board with us in j.a.pan for the remainder of the trip. It was then that I learned that when Clinton and his team were headed to North Korea to retrieve Euna and me, they stopped to refuel in j.a.pan before heading on to Pyongyang. This was because they wanted to ensure that the plane had sufficient fuel so that they wouldn't have to purchase any gas from the North Koreans or to take any petroleum from them upon their departure. Additionally, the Secret Service agents felt it would be safer for the attendants to stay over in j.a.pan while Clinton and his staff were in North Korea. Having them in Pyongyang would only present additional liabilities.

When we were back in the air, I tried to get some rest, but the excitement of seeing my family kept me up. Justin Cooper told me that I could feel free to use the Internet, but the thought of browsing the Web for news or checking my e-mail, something I hadn't done in five months, seemed too overwhelming. As Clinton worked on his Sudoku puzzles and dozed off at the front of the plane with his gla.s.ses perched on the tip of his nose, I decided to write the speech that I was expected to give upon our arrival. Not knowing if anything I was writing was sounding coherent, I read the speech to John Podesta and Doug Band and called Lisa to go over it with her on the phone.

At the back of the plane, I changed into some clean clothes that my family had sent along. As we made our way closer to California, a strange feeling washed over me. I found myself wanting the ride to last a little longer. Though I couldn't wait to see my family, I was also nervous about seeing how they had changed. I imagined my father and mother looking older from worry. I wondered if Iain would look at me in my pale, weakened state and still have the same loving eyes as before. After being isolated for so long, I feared the throng of media that awaited us. I had spent a career reporting on other people and issues; now Euna and I would be the ones being spotlighted. I did not want that kind of attention. I called Lisa to calm my nerves.

”Don't worry about a thing, Baby Girl,” she said. ”We're all here waiting for you. Mom has your favorite soup ready.”

LISA.

A CONFERENCE CALL WAS CONVENED CONFERENCE CALL WAS CONVENED with several members of the White House and State Department press offices at 7:00 with several members of the White House and State Department press offices at 7:00 P.M P.M. on August 3. It was decided that the press would be alerted around midnight that the plane was landing in Burbank. A member of the White House press office then said something that shocked me.

”We've asked President Clinton to remain on the plane while Miss Ling and Miss Lee come down to greet their families,” the White House contact said.

I wasn't sure I had heard him properly. ”Excuse me, did you say that President Clinton would be staying on the plane?” I asked.

”That's right, Lisa,” the voice confirmed. ”This is about the ladies being reunited with their families, and we'd like to have just them come down the steps.”

”Uh...don't you think that would look really awkward if President Clinton doesn't at least come down after traveling all the way to North Korea to get the girls?”

”I'm sorry, Lisa. We feel strongly about this decision.”

I was utterly dismayed by this. How would it look if President Clinton just stayed on the plane? What would people think? I was dumbfounded. I realized the sensitivities involved from a geopolitical standpoint: the U.S. government didn't want the world to think that North Korea had been rewarded by a Clinton visit. There's no question that rumors would fly from every direction about what the U.S. government would be trading in exchange for the release of the girls. I understood why the Obama administration wouldn't want to invite speculation on this, but surely President Clinton's absence upon the plane's arrival would provoke far more questions. Another conference call was convened at 11:00 P.M P.M. and the plan hadn't changed. I brought up my concerns again, but they were shot down.

”We feel strongly about the decision for President Clinton to remain in the plane, Lisa,” a voice on the conference call firmly insisted.

Just after midnight, Laura called again. She wanted to discuss her speech and to make sure to get the names of people to thank. ”Don't forget Amba.s.sador Foyer, Linda McFadyen, and Kurt Tong and the entire State Department,” I reminded her, even though she had yet to meet Linda or Kurt.