the Seoul , South Korea , bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times . `` Well , I think most of the people that I talked to in Washington earlier today were of the opinion that Bill Clinton is a big enough personality that would not risk the loss of face of him showing up in Pyongyang and returning empty-handed , '' Glionna said . Clinton 's high profile has led critics to accuse him of upstaging his wife , Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , especially when he was making headlines while campaigning for her unsuccessful 2008 presidential bid . His first major verbal stumble during that campaign came in the run-up to the New Hampshire primary when he told a crowd that then-candidate Obama 's claim to have been an early and consistent opponent of the Iraq war was `` the biggest fairy tale I 've ever seen . '' In the ensuing media uproar , many Democratic activists -- African-Americans in particular -- came to believe that the former president had belittled Obama 's entire campaign effort . And while stumping for his wife in heavily black South Carolina , he seemed to try to minimize the
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Nearly a decade has passed since Bill Clinton left the White House , but despite becoming a private citizen , the former president never left the public eye . Former President Clinton receives flowers from a girl Tuesday upon landing in Pyongyang , North Korea . While much of his time has been devoted to global philanthropic interests and speeches , Clinton has never strayed too far from the campaign trail and remains one of the world 's most recognizable statesmen . Clinton , 62 , jumped back onto the world stage Tuesday with an unannounced trip to North Korea on a mission to negotiate the release of two imprisoned American journalists . North Korean President Kim Jong Il later pardoned and released the journalists . They were traveling back to the United States with Clinton on Tuesday night . The United States has no diplomatic relations with North Korea . Clinton arrived to a warm welcome in Pyongyang . Watch more on Clinton 's North Korea trip '' There is a lot of nostalgia in Pyongyang for his administration , when relations between North Korea and the U.S. were stronger , said John Glionna ,