'The nightmare of our lives was finally over'
Updated on 05 August 2009
A triumphant return for Bill Clinton - with the two American journalists he sprung from the ordeal of a North Korean jail. James Blake reports.
In a tearful reunion with their families, two American journalists have described the moment they were released from a North Korean jail - after the dramatic intervention of former President Bill Clinton.
Clinton secured the release of Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36, after talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.
The two journalists, who worked for Current TV, an American cable television company founded by Clinton’s former vice-president, Al Gore, were reportedly seized by North Korean guards on 17 March. They were subsequently charged with entering the country to carry out "hostile acts".
Ling said she and Lee both feared they could be taken at any moment to a hard labour camp when on Tuesday they were led instead to a location where Clinton was waiting for them.
"We knew the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end," she told reporters.
Ling thanked all those, known and unknown, who had campaigned for their release. "We could feel your love all the way in North Korea. It is what kept us going in the darkest hours."
Clinton was received with a round of applause and an embrace from Gore.
"President (Barack) Obama and countless members of his administration have been deeply involved," Gore said.
A White House spokesman said the Obama administration is "enormously pleased" at the safe return of two journalists.
