Clinton, U.S. journalists leave North Korea after pardon

By Jonathan Thatcher

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Wednesday it had pardoned two jailed American journalists after former U.S. President Bill Clinton met the reclusive state's leader Kim Jong-il, a move some analysts said could pave the way to direct nuclear disarmament talks.

Clinton's spokesman said the former president had left Pyongyang with the two reporters and they were flying to Los Angeles.

"President Clinton has safely left North Korea with Laura Ling and Euna Lee. They are enroute to Los Angeles where Laura and Euna will be reunited with their families," spokesman Matt McKenna said in a statement.

Washington, which is keen not to be seen to reward the isolated North for its recent nuclear and missile tests, insisted the meeting was a private one by Clinton.

But Pyongyang, desperate for the recognition that direct talks with the Obama administration would bring, made clear it saw the visit in a much more official light.

The North's KCNA news agency said Clinton and Kim "had candid and in-depth discussions on the pending issues between the DPRK (North Korea) and the U.S. in a sincere atmosphere and reached a consensus of views on seeking a negotiated settlement of (the two journalists)."

The two reporters, Euna Lee, 36, and Laura Ling, 32, who work for Current TV, an American TV outlet co-founded by Clinton's vice president, Al Gore, had been sentenced to 12 years hard labor for illegally entering the North and committing "grave crimes."

"The families of Laura Ling and Euna Lee are overjoyed by the news of their pardon," said a statement posted on a website created to support the two journalists.

But there were immediate questions about what Clinton had discussed with Kim beyond the fate of the two reporters.

COURTEOUS

KCNA insisted Clinton had "courteously conveyed a verbal message of U.S. President Barack Obama expressing profound thanks for this and reflecting views on ways of improving the relations between the two countries."

The White House denied any message from Obama.

David Axelrod, a senior adviser to Obama, told MSNBC television that Clinton was on a "private humanitarian mission" and that "I don't think it's related to other issues."

But South Korea's Chosun Ilbo daily said in an editorial: "Regardless of what the U.S. administration says, the Clinton and Kim meeting signals the start of direct bargaining ... It's a matter of time when U.S.-North bilateral talks begin."

Clinton, husband of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was the highest-level American to visit the reclusive communist state since his secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, went there in 2000.