I guess we will see in the near future if Stephen Bosworth actually means these words or not:

- North Korea must release two journalists before a U.S. envoy visits Pyongyang to revive stalled talks on nuclear disarmament, a diplomat said Sunday.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee are charged with illegally entering North Korea through China in March. The two journalists work for former U.S. Vice President Al Gore‘s San Francisco-based Current TV.

U.S. special envoy Stephen Bosworth is concerned North Korea will use the journalists as a bargaining chip if he tries to restart nuclear talks before they are freed, an unidentified South Korean diplomat told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.  [UPI]

I’m sure Bosworth isn’t naive enough to already know this, but these two women are already bargaining chips.  North Korea isn’t going to give them up unless they get something in return.