 Did North Korea free the detained US journalists on goodwill or did they have any 'ulterior motives' behind it? How will the US handle its 'unruly child'. Earlier last month North Korea finally agreed to release the two US journalists it had detained since March 2009. Laura Ling and Euna Lee were arrested near the North Korean - Chinese border while reporting on human rights abuses with a focus on North Korean women who flee to China, a topic that upsets North Korean officials.
The journalists were sentenced to12 years of “reform through labour” for illegally entering the country and committing a “grave crime.” The detention gained disapprovals from the international community who demanded for a subsequent release. The trial itself was shrouded in secrecy and no members of the public or foreign observers were allowed inside the court. Additionally, the women were unable to appeal because they were convicted by North Korea's highest court.
Although the US State Department consistently requested North Korea to release the journalists on humanitarian grounds, it was former President Bill Clinton's un-official trip that led to the release. Bill's trip was reminiscent of one 15 years ago by former US President Jimmy Carter when Clinton was in office, also at a time of tensions over North Korea's Nuclear Programme. It was in 2001 when George W. Bush adopted a hard line policy on Pyongyang after which efforts on normalising ties between the countries went dead.
The bilateral ties between the two countries are no better today. The Obama administration has expressed willingness to hold bilateral talks but only within the framework of the 6 Nation disarmament talk in place of 2003 that North Korea has abandoned. Simultaneously, the US is also considering putting North Korea back on Washington's list of states that sponsor terrorism due to the recent reactivation of nuclear activities owing to the fact that North Korea has recently launched a long range rocket, conducted nuclear tests, test - fired a barrage of ballistic missiles and restarted its atomic programme in defiance of International criticism and the United Nations Security Council. The regime has also threatened to test launch a more advanced Taepodong - 2 missile from a newly built base in the north - west unless US apologises for condemning its April rocket launch.
The nature of the arrest and alter sentence of the US journalists seemed as if it was heavily orchestrated from the beginning. By detaining the women, North Korea sent a strict message to all international journalists that it was not going to tolerate any trespassing on its borders. But the bigger gain came in terms of getting US recognition since North Korea has been demanding one-on-one talks with the US after it walked away from the nuclear talks in 2008 and hence the recent scenario–US believes–is a provocative tactic of the regime, consistent with previous behavior of being America's 'unruly child.'
US policy towards the regime has always been unconventional at best with sporadic attentions to placate the country from exploding. Hence former US President Bill Clinton was chosen to head the 'private diplomatic mission', which succeeded in giving North Korea enough to get the journalists back without sacrificing the prestige of the US government. It also helped US to get back to the negotiating table to resume talks to denuclearise the Korean peninsula, which has been gridlocked.
The regime however took advantage of the trip by issuing statements that the trip would enhance bilateral relations between the two countries and that the pardon to the journalists reflects North Korea's humanitarian and peace loving policy. The North Korean news media also claimed that Obama sent profound thanks for freeing the journalists and has reflected views on ways of improving the relations between the two countries. However, the White House denied that President Obama had sent a message with Clinton to be passed on to Kim.
Experts are mixed in their belief whether this international theatrical performance has succeeded in its mission, only time will tell if North Korea has finally grown up. 
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