North Korea frees journalists after Clinton visit

NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong Il has issued a “special pardon” for two American journalists and ordered their release at former US president Bill Clinton’s request, North Korean state media reported yesterday.

The release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, sentenced in June to 12 years hard labour, reflected North Korea’s “humanitarian and peace-loving policy,” the Korean Central News Agency said.

Earlier yesterday, Clinton met Kim as part of a mission to free the journalists.

Lee, 36, and Ling, 32, both reporters for former vice-president Al Gore’s Current TV, were each sentenced to 12 years “reform through labour” after being convicted of illegal entry and “hostile acts”.

They were detained on March 17 while on a reporting trip to China. North Korean authorities claim the journalists strayed on to its territory in a bid to take part in “hostile acts”.

State media said that Clinton and Kim shared “a wide ranging exchange of views” during the meeting.

It added that the former US head of state “courteously” conveyed a message from Barack Obama.

The White House has remained tightlipped over the trip. In a brief statement yesterday, press secretary Robert Gibbs said: “While this solely private mission to secure the release of two Americans is on the ground, we will have no comment.

“We do not want to jeopardise the success of former president Clinton’s mission.”

The visit comes following months of tension on the Korean peninsula.

The testing of an underground nuclear device and the firing of rockets by the North earlier this year has led to a war of words.

After accusations from US secretary of state Hillary Clinton that North Korea was behaving like an “unruly teenager” over its nuclear stance, the North’s state media referred to her as a “funny lady”.

Yesterday’s head-to-head with Kim represented the first meeting with a high-profile western figure since the ailing North Korean leader reportedly suffered a stroke last year.

Meanwhile, Iran has arrested three Americans who strayed across the border from Iraq on allegations they illegally entered the country. A lawmaker said authorities are deciding whether they will be accused of spying.

Officials in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region said that the three – Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Joshua Fattal – were tourists who inadvertently crossed into Iran on July 31 while hiking in the region. Friends and family say they were adventurous travellers who accidentally stumbled into the wrong place at the wrong time.

Their arrest and Iran’s accusations could spark a new standoff with the US. Earlier this year, the countries faced off over journalist Roxana Saberi, who was held for more than three months and accused of spying.

Earlier, the hardline Fars news agency quoted the deputy governor of Iranian Kurdistan province as saying the three illegally entered Iran and were arrested.