05 August,2009 08:44 AM IST | | Agencies
FormerUS president Bill Clinton yesterday secured the release of two female US journalists jailed in North Korea after a surprise mercy dash to meet veteran communist leader Kim Jong-Il in Pyongyang.
North Korea said Clinton delivered a special message to Kim from US President Barack Obama during his historic trip, which followed acute tensions over the North's nuclear and missile tests.
The families of Laura Ling and Euna Lee said they were "overjoyed" at the news that Kim had agreed to pardon the reporters and commute their 12-year jail terms of hard labour.
N Korea had accused them of spreading anti-regime propaganda.
