Krauthammer on North Korea's Release of U.S. Journalists: 'It Was a Hostage Ransom. No Question at All'

The video and transcript aren't up yet for last's night Fox News Special Report. For now, check Fox's story, "Pardoned U.S. Journalists Return Home From North Korea, Reunite With Families."

Charles Krauthammer's comments are below the related videos:

And Krauthammer comments are posted at National Review (via Memeorandum):

Well, it's the return of hostages in exchange for stuff. And we will learn about that stuff. It's clear that this was wired in advance.

There probably was an apology [offered by President Clinton in Pyongyang]. After all, the secretary of state, the president's wife, had said openly, as we saw earlier, that we were sorry about the incident, and we were asking for amnesty, which was implying the legitimacy of the arrest and the trial. So we have already issued an apology.

Secondly, it is obvious that he was an envoy of the Obama administration, despite our denials. This is the one time in history in which the official news station of the North Koreans told the truth, but it does happen once every 50 years.

But thirdly, there was obviously a quid pro quo. The first of it we saw because we had Kim Jong-Il, who has had a stroke- - he's been wobbly and unsteady, and you can understand in a dictatorship like his how that begins the rumors of succession — so by standing up in the photos that we just saw, obviously engaged with Clinton, he looks like he is back in charge. That helps him personally.

Secondly, by getting a very high level envoy — you can't get higher level than a former president of the United States — it does help the North Koreans in their legitimacy.

And it's a demonstration of direct negotiations with the United States, which is what Pyongyang has always demanded. So...it got a lot.

And it probably has gotten stuff that we haven't even heard about and we may never hear about — aid in food and oil. All of that stuff will happen quietly in the future.

But it was a hostage ransom. No question at all.

I think so, and I don't think the U.S. had much choice on this one. North Korea took advantage where they could, mercilessly, and once again prolonged the regime's legitimacy and its quest for nuclear status.