NKorea releases US journalists

US: The families of two US journalists jailed in North Korea said Tuesday they were “overjoyed” by news that former president Bill Clinton had secured their release on a historic trip to Pyongyang.

“The families of Laura Ling and Euna Lee are overjoyed by the news of their pardon,” they said in a statement, which also praised the work of US President Barack Obama’s administration.

“We especially want to thank president Bill Clinton for taking on such an arduous mission and vice president Al Gore for his tireless efforts to bring Laura and Euna home. “We must also thank all the people who have supported our families through this ordeal, it has meant the world to us. We are counting the seconds to hold Laura and Euna in our arms,” the statement said.

Clinton secured the release of the two female US journalists after a surprise mercy dash to meet veteran communist leader Kim Jong-Il.

Kim agreed to pardon the TV reporters after Clinton “expressed words of sincere apology,” the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

Clinton later flew out of North Korea with the pardoned American women, who were expected to be reunited with family and loved one in Los Angeles early Wednesday local time.

Ling and Lee were arrested in March while reporting near North Korea’s border with China and sentenced in June to 12 years of hard labor. Los Angeles, Wednesay, AFP