Two U.S. journalists detained for months in North Korea for illegal entry and several other unspecified charges arrived stateside on Wednesday, a day after former U.S. President Bill Clinton secured their release.
The two journalists, Euna Lee; a Korean-American, and Laura Ling; a Chinese-American, arrived at Burbank airport in Los Angeles on a chartered flight alongside Clinton on Wednesday morning, and were reunited with their families.
Soon after their arrival at Los Angeles, the two reporters expressed their "deepest gratitude" to Bill Clinton and his "wonderful, amazing" team, and said that they were looking forward to spending "some quiet, private time" with their families.
Lee and Ling were each sentenced to 12 years of hard labor earlier in June, after being found guilty of crossing illegally into North Korea illegally from the Chinese border. They were arrested on March 17 along the North Korean border with China, and were on assignment for former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's Current TV network at that time.
The two were granted pardon and released on Tuesday, just hours after Bill Clinton held negotiations with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. Following his talks with Clinton, Kim granted the two journalists a "special pardon," and ordered their release.
Ling, who spoke to reporters at the airport on behalf of both journalists, said that they were surprised and relieved at their sudden and unexpected meeting with the former U.S. President in North Korea, and added: "We knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end."
Clinton had arrived in North Korea on a surprise visit on Tuesday to try to secure the release of the two women American journalists convicted by the Stalinist nation for illegal entry and an unspecified "grave crime." Soon after his arrival in North Korea, Clinton met the two American journalists in what was described as a "very emotional" meeting.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday praised Clinton's "extraordinary humanitarian effort" in securing the release of the two reporters, and expressed hopes that the two journalists would enjoy their reunion with their families in the coming days.
"The reunion we've all seen on television, I think, is a source of happiness not only for the families but also for the entire country," Obama said.
"I want to thank President Bill Clinton -- I had a chance to talk to him -- for the extraordinary humanitarian effort that resulted in the release of the two journalists. I want to thank Vice President Al Gore who worked tirelessly in order to achieve a positive outcome," he added.
Separately, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday that Clinton would brief President Obama's national security team on his successful mission to Pyongyang, and rejected North Korean reports that the former president had apologized on behalf of Washington for the actions of the two reporters. He also denied President Obama sending any such message with Clinton for the North Korean leader.
The U.S. and North Korea were on opposite sides in the 1950-1953 Korean War and Bill Clinton is the highest-profile American to visit North Korea since ex-secretary of state Madeleine Albright visited the communist country in 2000.
As the United States does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea, previous diplomatic efforts to secure the release of the two detained journalists were carried out by Sweden, which represents U.S. interests in the communist Korean state.
The latest development comes as the U.S. administration is making serious efforts to pressure Pyongyang to back off from its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and rejoin the stalled six-nation talks on its disputed nuclear program.
North Korea pulled out of the six-nation negotiations on its disputed nuclear program in April after the UN Security Council adopted a declaration condemning Pyongyang for launching a rocket on April 5 and imposed sanctions on three North Korean firms.
Though North Korea insisted that it launched only a communications satellite, the U.S, Japan and South Korea believe that Pyongyang test-fired a long-range missile under the pretext of launching a satellite into space.
Since then, North Korea expelled U.S. nuclear experts and IAEA inspectors monitoring the dismantling of North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex from the country, conducted a nuclear test and test-fired several ballistic missiles.
Following North Korea's nuclear test on May 25 in defiance of previous UN resolutions, the UN Security Council passed a new resolution imposing tougher new sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear test and recent missile launches. Pyongyang, however, responded to the latest UN sanctions by threatening war and pledging to expand its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
North Korea agreed in 2007 to roll back its disputed nuclear program in exchange for aid during an earlier round of the six nation talks in Beijing, involving the two Koreas, the U.S., the UK, Russia and China. But the nuclear disarmament process was stalled again in December after negotiators failed to reach an agreement on the means of verifying Pyongyang's account of its disputed nuclear program.
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