North Korea to Pardon Reporters After Clinton Apology

SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea will pardon two jailed US journalists after visiting former president Bill Clinton apologized to leader Kim Jong-Il for their behavior, state media reported Wednesday.

"The measure taken to release the American journalists is a manifestation of the DPRK's (North Korea's) humanitarian and peace-loving policy," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

Clinton on Tuesday had met Kim for talks during his surprise mission to Pyongyang to win the release of the two female reporters.

His was the highest-profile visit by an American to Pyongyang for nearly a decade.

TV reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee were arrested in March while on assignment near the North Korean border with China.

South Koreans watch news about US reporters currently jailed in North Korea © AFP Kim Jae-Hwan

The harsh sentences soured relations with the United States already strained by the North's atomic test in May, its multiple missile tests and its decision to quit six-nation nuclear disarmament talks.

"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 it," KCNA reported.

"Clinton courteously conveyed to Kim Jong-Il an earnest request of the US government to leniently pardon them and send them back home from a humanitarian point of view," it said.

Bill Clinton arrives in Pyongyang © AFP/KCNA/KNS

KCNA said Clinton's meetings with leader Kim and with his official number two Kim Yong-Nam featured "candid and in-depth discussions on the pending issues between the DPRK and the US in a sincere atmosphere and reached a consensus of views on seeking a negotiated settlement of them".

It said the former president's visit "will contribute to deepening the understanding between the DPRK and the US and building the bilateral confidence".

The agency did not indicate when the women would be freed but said Clinton's visit would end Wednesday.

The White House said Clinton's visit was purely private and declined to comment on it.