North Korea Feels 'Owed' Direct Talks

Bill Clinton's trip to North Korea may have been a "private mission," but North Korean officials feel America owes them a favor for the release of journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling—and they'd like their payment in bilateral talks, a request that the Obama administration rejected. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson met with a pair of North Korean diplomats in Santa Fe on Wednesday and explained: "They feel, the North Koreans, that by giving us the two American journalists, that they've made an important gesture.” He continued, "They do feel they are owed a gesture on the U.S. part.” Richardson added, "I don't believe that should be the case because this was a humanitarian gesture that needed to happen." The governor, who has worked with North Korea and was Bill Clinton’s ambassador to the United Nations, said the officials approached him for the meeting and that he "detected for the first time... a lessening of tension, some positive vibrations." The group will reconvene Thursday to discuss renewable energy.