North Korea pardons US reporters

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Former president Bill Clinton’s surprise visit to North Korea appears to have won the release of two American journalists. North Korea’s news agency says Laura Ling and Euna Lee have been pardoned. They were arrested last March and convicted of violating North Korea’s border. Clinton arrived in a private plane in Pyongyang today to try to win their release. He was greeted warmly and had a meeting with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-Il. The announcement of a special pardon from Kim himself came several hours later. >>> Click here for the latest from the BBC.

Criticism for journalists freed by North Korea

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Today on The World, South Koreans are welcoming Pyongyang’s release of journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee. Some see it as a sign that North Korea may be ready to re-open dialogue and calm tensions on the peninsula. But some North Korea activists are still concerned that what Ling, Lee and many other reporters have done in northeast China, has put their work in jeopardy. From Seoul, Jason Strother reports. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) >>>Click here for the latest BBC coverage.

US journalists sentenced in North Korea

A court in North Korea has sentenced two American journalists to twelve years’ hard labor. The White House says the charges are without merit and the journalists should be freed. The World’s Jason Margolis has the story. Listen