That's me standing above and between President Carter and North Korean President Kim Il Sung.
President Carter is back in North Korea for the first time in 16 years. He’s there trying to secure the release of an American who was arrested for making an illegal crossing into North Korea.
In 1994, I was privileged to lead a CNN team providing exclusive coverage of President Carter’s historic inaugural visit to North Korea. North and South Korea were on the brink of war, with likely U.S. involvement. President Carter worked magic to convince North Korean leader Kim Il Sung to back down, averting what could have been a calamity (the Korean War in the 1950s left millions dead).
President Carter’s trip was the second of my 10 visits to North Korea, the world’s most most mysterious, bizarre, and fascinating nation.
I’ll write more about those trips later.
