Laura, Euna, Bill and Jong-Il

Now that everybody's had time to breathe that collective sigh of relief that the two journalists captured, tried and imprisoned in North Korea are free, it's time to announce the big winners of the escapade.

Let's recap: two Hot female American hostages fall into Kim Jong Il’s hands right as he’s fueling a missile and preparing for a nuke test. What are the odds of that?

"Journalists" Laura Ling and Euna Lee are looking at a million dollar HarperCollins book deal with a movie likely to follow. The women were sent to China in March to do a report for Al Gore's Current cable TV network about North Korean refugees pouring over the border. For Ling, it was a chance to step out from under big sis Lisa's shadow, For Lee, she could kick her resume up a notch: she reportedly had little journalism experience and counted making a yoga video as a career highlight.

I have read both English and Chinese accounts of the North Korean post-trial report and looked at Google translations of the original version in Korean. Nowhere in that report does it specifically identify who actually held the video camera at the Tumen River border area on March 17.

Many suspect it was not Euna Lee, as reported in the US, but one Mitch Koss, who has always held the camera in previous Current TV assignments in China. There were 3 people from Current sent to do this story in Yanji, China: "executive producer/cameraman" Koss is the one who escaped capture by North Korean sentries (along with the ethnic Korean local guide who is a citizen of China) and his job title is.

Ling and Lee were the "silver and bronze" medalists in the escapade, Bill Clinton got the gold. He's the only guy the North Koreans were willing to talk to and negotiate with. Hillary Clinton, in an interview with NBC's Andrea Mitchell said her husband "was so relieved and so happy to be bringing these young women home. I think it's, in a way, even more personal since we have a daughter approximately the same age. And he told me it was, you know, a very moving experience. He can't wait to get them reunited with their families."

Before the world knew what was happening, Bill Clinton dazzled the North Koreans with his starpower while getting the two hot babes out of the dictatorship - and who is the biggest fan of Bill Clinton in North Korea? None other than Kim Jong-Il himself!

The North Korean Economy Watch blog has put together a throrough timeline w/updates!

Ling, Lee and Clinton have risen closer to the top as a result of all this, and MORE POWER TO EACH OF THEM!!! The lesson here: make your accomplishments seem effortless as you work on the hearts and minds of others.

Tags: Laura Ling, Euna Lee, Bill Clinton, Current TV