Could release of journalists thaw DPRK-U.S. ties?

By Zhang Binyang, Gao Haorong

PYONGYANG, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Will the testy relationship between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) thaw a bit now that former U.S. President Bill Clinton is back home with two American journalists who had been detained for four months in the DPRK?

Some analysts say the amnesty the DPRK granted the two journalists, sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for entering the country illegally, could become an opening for the two countries to begin direct discussions.

The release of Euna Lee and Laura King was "a manifestation of the DPRK's humanitarian and peace-loving policy," the official KCNA news agency said about Clinton's surprise 20-hour humanitarian trip to Pyongyang.

The DPRK announced earlier this year it was abandoning the six-party disarmament talks involving the two Koreas, Japan, Russia, China and the U.S.

The DPRK also launched a long-range rocket, conducted a nuclear test, test-fired a barrage of ballistic missiles and restarted its atomic program in defiance of international criticism and the U.N. Security Council.

Clinton's successful visit came at a time when the DPRK insisted that it would never return to the six-party talks while the United States was attempting to gather support for more international sanctions against it.

At a meeting of Southeast Asian nations in Phuket, Thailand, last month, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged the DPRK to renew the talks.

She reiterated that the United States and the other parties would push for a package of incentives and opportunities, including normalizing relations between Washington and Pyongyang.