US journalists return home after North Korean pardon

BURBANK, Calif. – Two American journalists freed by North Korea returned home to the United States on Wednesday for a jubilant, emotional reunion with family members and friends they hadn’t seen in nearly five months.

The jet carrying Euna Lee and Laura Ling, reporters for Al Gore’s San Francisco-based Current TV, and former President Bill Clinton arrived at Burbank’s Bob Hope Airport at dawn. Clinton met with communist leader Kim Jong Il on Tuesday to secure the women’s release.

Lee emerged from the jetliner first and was greeted by husband Michael Saldate and 4-year-old daughter Hana. She hugged the girl and picked her up before all three embraced in a crushing hug.

Ling embraced her husband Iain Clayton as teary family members crowded around.
Thirty hours ago, Ling said, “We feared that any moment we could be sent to a hard labor camp.”

The reporters were granted a pardon by North Korea on Tuesday, following rare talks between Clinton and the reclusive North Korea leader. They had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for entering the country illegally.