Bill Clinton leaves North Korea with two US journalists

Bill Clinton today secured the release of two female American journalists held in North Korea for five months after the country's top leader Kim Jong Il granted a "special pardon" to them following a surprise diplomatic mission by the former US president.

Clinton, accompanied by the two television journalists left the North Korean capital Pyongyang for America, said Matt McKenna, spokesman for Bill Clinton.

"President Clinton has safely left North Korea with Laura Ling (32) and Euna Lee (36)," he said.

North Korean media reported that Clinton had apologised to Kim Jong-Il for the behaviour of the two journalists who were arrested in March for illegally entering the country through China.

"Kim Jong Il issued an order... on granting a special pardon to the two American journalists who had been sentenced to hard labour... and releasing them," North Korean state-run news agency KCNA reported.

It also claimed that Clinton expressed "words of sincere apology to Kim Jong Il for hostile acts committed by Ling and Lee against North Korea after intruding into it from China".

However, the US denied that any apology was made.

"The answer is no," an official was quoted as saying by the US media on whether Clinton offered an apology.

The reporters of the California-based Current TV - a media venture launched by Clinton's former vice president Al Gore "are en route to Los Angeles where Laura and Euna will be reunited with their families," McKenna said in a statement.

Japanese media reported that they had landed in Japan en route to Los Angeles. A chartered plane carrying Clinton and the two American journalists landed at a US military base in Japan for refuelling.

In a surprise and unannounced move, Clinton reached Pyongyang yesterday to hold talks with the North Korean authorities and seek the release of the two journalists.

Clinton met the North Korean leader Kim Jong II. He was received at the airport by Kim Kye Gwan, North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator.

Earlier in the day, the White House and the State Department refused to entertain questions related to the visit of Bill Clinton to North Korea.

"While this solely private mission to secure the release of two Americans is on the ground, we will have no comment," White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said in a statement.

A US administration official said today that the North Korean regime had sought a visit by Clinton to their country as a pre-condition to the release of the journalists.

In a background briefing, an administration official said in mid-July, Lee and Ling told family in phone calls that North Korean officials said the pair would be released if Bill Clinton was sent as an envoy, reported Politico.

"Overjoyed" by the release, the families of journalists thanked Clinton for the mission and former vice president Al Gore for his "tireless efforts to bring Laura and Euna home".

Al Gore also expressed his joy after the journalists employed by the television network he set up were freed.

In a joint statement with the network co-founder Joel Hyatt, he paid tribute to their "courage and initiative" during their ordeal in prison.