Former US President Bill Clinton met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il in Pyongyang, North Korea on Tuesday, North Korea’s state-run news agency KCNA reported.
Clinton arrived in Korea earlier in the day on a mission to negotiate the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, both reporters for California-based Current TV, a media venture launched by former Vice President Al Gore.
North Korean President Kim Jong Il has pardoned and ordered the release of the two U.S. journalists, state-run news agency KCNA said Wednesday.
Lee and Ling were arrested while reporting on the border between North Korea and China and sentenced in June to 12 years in prison on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign. The two American journalists who have been held in the reclusive communist nation since March 2009, the White House confirmed.
“Clinton expressed words of sincere apology to Kim Jong-Il for the hostile acts committed by the two American journalists against the DPRK after illegally intruding into our territory,” the news agency reported.Kim and Clinton had “an exhaustive conversation” that included “a wide-ranging exchange of views on the matters of common concern,” KCNA reported.
North Korean President Kim Jong Il has pardoned and ordered the release of the two U.S. journalists, state-run news agency KCNA said Wednesday.
Lee and Ling were arrested while reporting on the border between North Korea and China and sentenced in June to 12 years in prison on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign. The two American journalists who have been held in the reclusive communist nation since March 2009, the White House confirmed.
“Clinton expressed words of sincere apology to Kim Jong-Il for the hostile acts committed by the two American journalists against the DPRK after illegally intruding into our territory,” the news agency reported.Kim and Clinton had “an exhaustive conversation” that included “a wide-ranging exchange of views on the matters of common concern,” KCNA reported.
“Clinton courteously conveyed to Kim Jong-Il an earnest request of the U.S. government to leniently pardon Ling and Lee and send them back home from a humanitarian point of view.”
“The meetings had candid and in-depth discussions on the pending issues between the DPRK and the U.S. in a sincere atmosphere and reached a consensus of views on seeking a negotiated settlement of them.”
Yang Hyong Sop, the vice president of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly, and Kim Kye Gwan, the vice foreign minister, met Clinton on his arrival, KCNA reported.
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