August 6, 2009 First full day of freedom for journalists pardoned from North Korea Play video

(NECN/ABC) This is the first full day of freedom for two American journalists who were held prisoner in North Korea. They came home yesterday after former President Bill Clinton interceded with the regime there. Now that they're safely back, and experts are already disagreeing over what the episode really means.

A tearful reunion between husbands and wives, mother and daughter, after 5 uncertain months. It's hard to argue with the immediate results of Bill Clinton's trip to North Korea.

"Thank you, it feels good, thank you so much for your support," said the recently freed Euna Lee.

It is the long-term policy implications that trouble some. "Well Kim Jong Il clearly got a lot of mileage out of this photo op. It shows to his own people that he can bring this internationally renowned figure, the former president of the United States, to Pyongyang to meet with him," said Columbia University professor Charles Armstrong.

Three Americans are currently being held by Iran. What will leaders of that rogue state now demand? That's the question being asked by critics, who fear a dangerous precedent has now been set. PETER BROOKS HERITAGE FOUNDATION "We could get in a situation here of a moral hazard where, by rewarding bad behavior, we're only going to get more of it," said Peter Brooks of the Heritage Foundation.

A former adviser on North Korea for both Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush thinks Americans should focus on the good will displayed

by the North Koreans, not the precedent. SOT Fomer Envoy to North Korea "I think they are signaling that they want to do something differently. I would recommend that we take this opportunity," said Jack Pritchard.

The National Security Council began their debriefing of Bill Clinton last night at an undisclosed location here in Washington, asking the former President for his impressions of Kim Jong Il.

ABC's TJ Winick reports