SEOUL AND WASHINGTON — North Korea's surprise "special pardon" of two American television journalists today may have reopened the channels of communication between the Obama administration and the secretive regime that for years has defied the world with its nuclear tests and political bombast.
After a whirlwind 24-hour visit that capped months of quiet diplomatic negotiations, former President Bill Clinton left Pyongyang on a private jet with the reporters after his talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, according to a spokesman for Clinton.
"President Clinton has safely left North Korea with Laura Ling and Euna Lee," Matt McKenna said in a statement. "They are en route to Los Angeles, where Laura and Euna will be reunited with their families."
Early today, television video showed the journalists, dressed in short-sleeved shirts, jeans and sneakers, shaking hands with Clinton as they climbed aboard the plane.
The two women were "enormously relieved and seemingly in very good health," a senior administration official said in a briefing.
The North's Central Korean News Agency reported that Clinton "expressed thanks [for the pardon] and delivered an oral message from Barack Obama on improving relations between the two countries."
It added that Clinton "delivered a sincere request from the U.S. government for a pardon and return [of the two journalists] from a humanitarian aspect."
In Washington, reaction from conservatives was generally muted. Democratic lawmakers heaped praise on the White House, even as administration officials said that Clinton made the trip as a private citizen.
Ling and Lee were on assignment for San Francisco-based Current TV in March when they were arrested by North Korean border guards. They later were sentenced to 12 years in prison for illegally entering the repressive state.
Reached at her home in Los Angeles, Ling's sister Lisa Ling said the extended families of both reporters were together Tuesday and were keeping in close contact with U.S. State Department officials regarding Clinton's progress.
"We are beside ourselves," Lisa Ling said of the release. "We are beyond thrilled and so excited that we will finally be able to hold them in our arms."
She called the long weeks since her sister's arrest in North Korea "the most unpredictable challenging 4 1/2 months of our lives."
