President Obama says US government ‘extraordinarily relieved’ at release of 2 journalists

Obama hails journalists’ release from North Korea

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama proclaimed the U.S. government “extraordinarily relieved” Wednesday over the release of two American journalists from North Korea.

Speaking on the White House lawn just before leaving on a trip to Indiana, Obama said, “The reunion we’ve all seen on television, I think, is a source of happiness not only for the families but also for the entire country.”

Obama made no mention of the tense relationship between Washington and the regime headed by Kim Jong Il, and he said that “all Americans should be grateful” to both former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore “for their extraordinary work.”

Obama said that he had spoken with the families of Laura Ling and Euna Lee once the pair was safely on aboard Clinton’s private jet en route to the United States from North Korea. Clinton’s diplomatic trip to North Korea secured the release nearly five months after the arrests of the two reporters who work for Gore’s San Francisco-based Current TV.

Obama also spoke briefly with the former president, and expressed his gratitude for Clinton’s service. He said he expects to meet with Clinton to discuss what transpired during his high-level meeting with Kim as a private envoy representing the United States.

“I suspect that President Clinton will have some interesting observations from his trip,” Obama said in an interview on MSNBC.

No prominent Western leader has met with Kim since the North Korean leader reportedly suffered a stroke last year.

Obama said the former president was on a strictly humanitarian mission.

When asked whether the release of the journalists could lead to a breakthrough on other issues like North Korea’s nuclear program, Obama said that would depend on the actions of the communist regime.

“We just want to make sure the government of North Korea is operating within the basic rules of the international community,” Obama said.

North Korea’s state-run media reported that Clinton traveled to North Korea with a message from Obama and delivered an apology about the incident to Kim. The White House denies both reports.

“If there wasn’t a message, there certainly couldn’t have been an apology,” spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Asked to describe the meaning of the past 24 hours in terms of the troubled U.S.-North Korean relationship, Gibbs said, “We view this as different events. … The best way to change our relationship with North Korea would be for the North Koreans to decide that it’s time to live up to the responsibilities and the agreements that they themselves have entered into.”

Clinton arrived at a Los Angeles area airport earlier Wednesday with the two freed journalists. In a statement released by his New York office, he said he was “very happy” that the release could be worked out with North Korea’s leaders.

Clinton called their plight a “long ordeal,” and said he was gratified that they “are now home and reunited with their loved ones.”

The former president said that he shared “a deep sense of relief with Laura and Euna and their families that they are safely home.”

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday she isn’t counting on a breakthrough in relations with North Korea, but she held out hopes of a thaw.

“Perhaps they will now be willing to start talking to us within the context of the six-party talks about the international desire to see them denuclearize,” she said on NBC’s “Today” show.

Hillary Clinton, traveling in Africa, said her husband agreed to serve as a special envoy to Pyongyang after the North Koreans sent word through the two detained journalists and their families that his visit “would be the best way to assure their release.”

A senior administration official described a lengthy process of “due diligence” to make sure that the North Koreans were seriously willing to release the women to the former president.

“We, through a variety of means, tested that proposition and to our satisfaction were convinced that in fact the North Koreans would, in response to President Clinton visiting Pyongyang, would release the journalists,” the official said Tuesday night.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to outline some of the secretive preparation for the former president’s trip.

The official would not detail how those conversations took place, but added that the administration insisted that the North Koreans acknowledge that the Clinton visit would not be part of any broader negotiations between the two countries or connected to negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear program.

“The North Koreans confirmed to us directly that they accepted his visit in a private capacity that exclusively focused on the humanitarian purpose of releasing the two Americans,” the official said.

The United States and North Korea have no formal diplomatic relations, but have communicated through channels at the United Nations and through intermediaries in the past.

U.S. diplomats and nuclear experts have visited the country and stayed for long periods last year, before the North pulled out of international disarmament talks and kicked out weapons inspectors.

The former president held discussions with some of Obama’s national security advisers and experts on the Korea issue ahead of the trip, including at least two face-to-face briefings, including one meeting last weekend at his home in Washington, the official said. But the official added that Obama did not speak directly with Clinton before the trip.

Associated Press writers Anne Gearan in Washington and Matthew Lee in Nairobi, Kenya contributed to this report.