Jailed US journalists arrive home from Korea

The White House said it was “enormously pleased” with the release today of two US journalists held by North Korea.

As the pair arrived on a private plane near Los Angeles with former president Bill Clinton, a spokesman said President Barack Obama was waiting for full details of the trip.

Mr Clinton travelled as a private envoy to Pyongyang for talks with Kim Jong Il, the leader of the reclusive communist state.

The spokesman reiterated that Mr Clinton did not carry a message from Mr Obama to Kim.

“If there wasn’t a message, there certainly couldn’t have been an apology,” he said.

Mr Obama said the women's reunion with their loved ones was "a source of happiness not only for the families but also for the entire country.''

He made no mention of the overall tense relationship between Washington and the regime headed by Kim Jong Il, and he said that “all Americans should be grateful to both former President Clinton and Vice President Gore for their extraordinary work.”

The jet carrying Euna Lee and Laura Ling, reporters for Al Gore’s San Francisco-based Current TV, arrived at dawn after Mr Clinton met Kim yesterday to secure the women’s release.

The journalists were arrested near the North Korean-Chinese border in March while on a reporting trip for Current TV.

Ms Lee emerged from the jetliner first and was greeted by husband Michael Saldage and four-year-old daughter Hanna.

Ms Ling embraced her husband Iain Clayton as tearful family members crowded around.

Thirty hours ago, Ms Ling said, “We feared that any moment we could be sent to a hard labour camp.”

Then, she said, they were taken to another location.

“When we walked through the doors, we saw standing before us President Bill Clinton,” she said to applause. “We were shocked but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end, and now we stand here, home and free.”

Mr Clinton came down the aircraft stairs to applause.

The reporters were granted a pardon following rare talks between Mr Clinton and the reclusive North Korea leader. They had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labour for entering the country illegally.