- Writer: AFP
- Published: 4/08/2009 at 08:59 AM
South Korea's best-selling newspaper said former US president Bill Clinton was to arrive in North Korea later Tuesday to try to secure the release of two detained American journalists.
Former President Bill Clinton, July 15 in New York City. A South Korean newspaper said former US President Bill Clinton was to arrive in North Korea later Tuesday to try to secure the release of two detained American journalists.
Chosun Ilbo, in a website report citing a diplomatic source, reported that Clinton -- the husband of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- was on his way to Pyongyang by chartered plane.
The newspaper gave no other details such as the time of his arrival, saying the US government would soon make an announcement.
"I understand that no US government officials are included in former president Clinton's delegation," the source was quoted as saying.
A South Korean foreign ministry official handling US affairs told AFP he could not comment. "It should be confirmed by the US government," the official said on condition of anonymity.
A US embassy spokesman in Seoul said he had no information. In Washington, State Department spokesman Andrew Laine said: "I have seen the reports but at this time I don't have anything on them.
"I am certainly reaching out to our folks to find out more information," Laine added in a hastily arranged telephone briefing with reporters.
Laura Ling and Euna Lee were arrested on March 17 near the border with China while reporting on refugees fleeing the impoverished North.
A Pyongyang court in June sentenced them to 12 years of "reform through labour" for illegal entry and an unspecified "grave crime".
The pair work for California-based Current TV, co-founded by Clinton's vice president Al Gore.
Relations between the communist North and the United States and its allies are at their worst for years following Pyongyang's second nuclear test on May 25 and subsequent United Nations sanctions.
The North on July 4 -- US Independence Day -- test-fired seven ballistic missiles in defiance of the sanctions, but also indicated last week it was open to dialogue with Washington.
North Korea's official media have said Ling, 32, and Lee, 36, had admitted to a politically motivated smear campaign against the communist state.
It said they crossed the border illegally "for the purpose of making animation files to be used for an anti-DPRK (North Korea) smear campaign over its human rights issue".
Media freedom groups have slammed the sentences against the pair, while their families and Hillary Clinton have appealed for their release on humanitarian grounds.
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